Disenchanted

Chapter 4

The past can only hurt you if you let it.

"I can't trust you to make any decisions for yourself, can I?" Rachel intoned, putting her hands on er hips and staring at Eun-sang's walk-in closet. Bright colors and expensive fabrics exploded across the racks, and yet all of them still had price tags. Only a small corner of the room, with a Jeguk uniform, a few pairs of jeans, and an array of denim and cotton, looked used at all.

"I didn't buy any of them, if that makes you feel any better," Eun-sang sighed, sprawled out on her bed again. She'd been woken up by an agitated Rachel that morning, who had insisted that she needed to prepare for the lunch date they had with Rachel's mom and Young-do.

"That's because I bought most of these for you!" she yelled. "Really, how can the heiress to the Jeguk Group not have a fashion sense?"

"Because I have you to pick out my outfits for me," the other girl cheekily replied. "Besides, it's just lunch with your mom and Choi Young-do, stop making a fuss."

"Um, hello? Choi Young-do being there is the whole point. You have to look your best to be your best. Let him know what he's messing with." Rachel pulled out a hot-pink, frilly skirt and stared at it in disgust. "Okay, I don't take credit for this one."

"It was a joke gift from Won-oppa last year," Eun-sang waved off. "So what you're saying is, I need to scare him off and he'll leave me alone?"

"Can anyone scare Choi Young-do off?" Rachel asked, rolling her eyes. "Just make the message clear that you're above his petty games, and he'll stop eventually."

"Young-do, how is school for you this year? I hope the transition hasn't been too difficult," Rachel's mom said cheerfully as she placed her fork down. If she, too, felt the palpable tension in the room, her tone didn't reflect it.

"I think school will be... interesting, to say the least." His eyes didn't leave Eun-sang as she quietly picked at her food.

"Well, with all the school you've been skipping lately, let's hope you don't fail," Rachel sniped from beside her.

"You're skipping school?" CEO Lee asked, her eyes turning back to Young-do. "You can't do that now, Young-do. It's not playtime anymore."

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" he gritted out, dropping his knife and fork onto his plate with a loud clang.

"Don't talk to my mom like that." Rachel cut in furiously.

The room fell into quietude again. Eun-sang couldn't help but sneak a peek at him - he was agitated and tense in his chair, his gaze intense as always. He obviously wanted to leave, and honestly, she couldn't really blame him.

Finally, Rachel's mother broke the silence. "Young-do, now that I'm going to marry your father, I really hope that we can form at least a friendship... you have to understand I don't want to replace your mother - "

"Don't talk about her!" he yelled, standing up from his seat and throwing his napkin on the table. "You don't know anything about her, and you can't understand, so stop trying! I may not be able to control this marriage but I can control our family relationships, and I can tell you that I don't want any."

Before he could leave the private dining room, however, Eun-sang stood up from her seat.

"Yah." Her voice shook from anger as she clenched her fists at her sides. "Apologize. Now."

"Why are you even here?" he shot back coolly. "Stay out of our family matters, Cha Eun-sang."

"This is my family too," she defended. "CEO Lee is the most caring, wonderful woman I know. She's been a mother to me my whole life, and Rachel, my sister. They're under Jeguk's protection. As far as I'm concerned, you're the one intruding on this lunch. Apologize."

"What about your own mother, Cha Eun-sang?" Young-do sneered. Her blood froze with shock; was he really going to go that low? "Doesn't it bother you that your own father thought your mother was such a disgrace that he wouldn't even let you take the family name? What power does a Cha really have in the Jeguk Group, passed down through generations of Kims?"

She couldn't speak. She couldn't breathe. Of all the things she thought Choi Young-do was capable, she didn't think he could cut her at the most tender spot. He was such a hypocrite, refusing to speak about his own mother but using hers as the first ammunition in his arsenal? How dare he?

The silence was deafening - even he seemed to realize the mistake he had just made, opening his mouth again -

"Get out."

All three teenagers in the room turned to look at CEO Lee, who was still sitting quietly at the table, her eyes cast downward at the napkin in her lap.

Her eyes flashed upwards at Young-do. "I said, GET OUT!"

It wasn't util he was safely out of her line of sight, and the two other women had embraced her, that Cha Eun-sang felt the tears on her cheeks.

It had been too long since she last cried.

The phone vibrated in her pocket just as she was opening her locker, just as the cursed mobile device had been going off all weekend - and even this morning. She knew who it was, but for some reason, she always checked anyway.

Call from: Do Not Answer

In the beginning, she'd been courteous and let it ring through voicemail. After the eighth call, however, she had started to just swipe the red ignore button on the screen. Yes, it was rude, but he deserved that, and more.

Rachel had believed his interest in her to be one of his petty games. But oh, how wrong she'd been. All it seemed he wanted to do was to break her down, tear her apart and steal her very soul.

He wanted to devour her.

If she was the Queen, he was the Devil.

And speaking of the Devil, she closed her locker door to face him.

Choi Young-do looked down at her phone, still buzzing in the palm of her hand. "Do Not Answer? Is that really the name you have for me? What's Myung-soo's name in your contacts?"

"It's 'Sweetiecakes,'" she said coolly, shifting the books she was holding and look him in the eye. She couldn't afford to be afraid of him anymore, not after what he had done. And really, what did she have to be afraid of? He had already hurt her in the worst possible way; there was nothing else that could top that, and he probably knew it.

"Change mine to that," he smirked, leaning against the locker. "Or I'll steal your phone and change it for you."

"Get out of my way, Choi Young-do. We're done here."

"We're not done until I say we are. You should have realized that by now."

"You may think your words rule this school," Eun-sang said dangerously, "but you're nothing, Choi Young-do. In these halls, and in this world, I am the Jeguk heiress. I am the Queen here, and everyone else is dirt. Don't kid yourself into thinking it works any other way."

She pushed passed him and didn't bother to look back.

Eun-sang and Bo-na were walking out of the broadcasting room when a student rushed past them, telling another that the midterm exam grades had finally been posted. The two heiresses looked at each other meaningfully before quickening their pace. The posted grades were surrounded by a horde of people, and Chan-young was already standing on the outside of the masses.

"Eun-sang-ssi, congratulations," one of the students called out. "Beating Yoon Chan-young is an accomplishment for sure!"

And sure enough, as more and more students realized that the Jeguk heiress had arrived and cleared a path for her, she saw her name at the top of the rankings, for the first time.

"Cha Eun-sang! How dare you steal away Chan-young's first place spot!" Bo-na teased. "I think I'm supposed to be mad at you for this."

"Chan-young, it looks you're going to have to study harder next time," Rachel, who had just arrived, added from beside her. "Is this really the first time you've lost?"

"Yah, my second place still trumps your third," Chan-young pouted. "Don't be so harsh on me. Eun-sang was just too good this time around."

It really was true - the only reason why she'd done so well, Eun-sang knew, was because she had studied incredibly hard in an effort to forget about Choi Young-do. He hadn't called her at all since that day by the lockers, and apparently he hadn't been attending school for the past few days after the test.

She swore it was subconsciously, but she felt her eyes search for his name on the list, trailing down to 100th place.

100th place.

She knew his IQ from her father's reports. He was undeniably intelligent, more so than 99.9% of the population if her estimations were correct. What was he doing in 100th place? Even if he hadn't studied, he probably should have been in the top 5 anyway. Did he simply decide to fill in all the wrong answers? And why?

At that moment, her phone buzzed.

From: Do Not Answer

12:47 PM

Let's have dinner.

Instead of replying, Eun-sang shut her phone off.

A few hours later, she turned her phone on in the library after school, noting the 5 missed calls she had gotten from him during the breaks between classes. Just then, it rang again.

"Stop calling me." Her first words were direct and to the point, leaving no room for argument - or so she thought.

"But that would take the fun out of things," he replied on the other end. His tone was playful, for some reason. "Besides, I want to eat jjajangmyun, but they only deliver for two servings."

Eun-sang rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair. "Buy two and eat one. You certainly have the money for it."

"I can't waste food," he gasped, exaggerating his scandalized tone. "Especially not in this economy."

"Then ask Myung-soo; it's an improvement from going to the clubs every night," Eun-sang sighed, twirling her pencil in her free hand.

"Why would I ask Myung-soo if I would just keep wishing that someone else was sitting with me instead?"

"I'm not going to waste my time with you. I have better things to be doing."

"I highly doubt that… haven't you seen Joon-young yet?" Young-do's tone, if it was possible, was even more mischievous than before.

She looked up to find Moon Joon-young - the boy in the cafeteria, she remembered - standing awkwardly in front of her. Looking closely, she observed the sheen of sweat on his forehead, and they was his hands shook.

"You see," Young-do kept on explaining over the phone, "the two of my friends in the cafeteria didn't appreciate getting their clothes dirty, so they're suing Joon-young here for doing it."

"Yah, Choi Young-do," she spoke angrily into the phone, "everyone in this school knows it wasn't him. Your stupid little games won't work."

"But in a court of law, who's the judge going to believe - the powerful heir to Zeus Hotels, who may or may not have a bribe up his sleeve, or the poor social welfare student with the outrageous claim that the Jeguk heiress did the crime herself?"

She didn't have an answer to that, because she knew he was right. No one was going to believe she did it - and she couldn't very well come out with it herself. It would ruin the Jeguk image and she'd probably be arranged into a marriage right away so that her future husband could control her "wildness."

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry," Joon-young whispered quietly, still standing in front of her.

It wasn't his fault. It was hers, and she recognized that. He had taken the abuse quietly; she had gone and made a mess of things. Eun-sang gritted her teeth. "What do you want, Choi Young-do?"

"Let's have dinner, and my friends will drop the case."

"You know, I wonder when people will want to voluntarily spend time with you without being threatened."

She swore his laugh sounded like the Devil's. "There's a car outside the gates waiting for you."

She'd expected to be dropped off at one of the luxurious mansions that befitted a family like his - she had even prepared herself for the fact that he might live in her very own neighborhood. Instead, the car brought her to the Seoul branch of Zeus Hotels, the building's many floors rising high into the air.

Even though she had visited many times, played in the lobby with Rachel as little girls when their parents attended conferences in the next hall over, came to see Won everyday when he threw a temper tantrum and moved out for a few months - she was intimidated. Every step she took, with the click-clack of her Louboutin heels, was another step closer to him.

What the hell was she doing?

"Miss Cha, Young Master is waiting for you in his room," the bellhop at the elevator said, handing her a slip of paper with the room number, and a keycard.

Eun-sang took the card carefully, holding it gingerly between her fingers as she entered the elevator and pressed the button of his floor. She fingered her name on the card - he had gotten it engraved especially for her, that bastard - before throwing it across the elevator space.

Staring at it would only make her nervous.

"I did get you the keycard for a reason, you know," Young-do drawled as he opened the door. "You didn't have to knock."

"I accidentally threw it out before I arrived," she said airily, inspecting her nails as if utterly bored wit his presence. "It's probably for the best, anyway; if anyone found the card, they'd ask questions."

"Then I would just answer that you're my girlfriend," he replied cheekily, standing out of the way so that she could enter the room. "I mean, obviously you want to be. That's why you kept the card in the first place, right?"

"Yah, Choi Young-do, are you stupid, deaf or both?" she asked angrily. "I said I threw it out. Of course, 100th place wouldn't be able to understand that."

"Ah, but you're lying." He edged closer to her, and she backed up slowly to keep the distance between them the same. "I don't appreciate liars."

"I'm not lying." Her back suddenly hit the door behind her, and her breathing quickened as Young-do approached her with a glint in his eyes. Once he was just mere inches away, she quickly squeezed her eyes shut.

He towered over her, leaning down and breathing against her ear. "Cha Eun-sang, who knew you were such a sinner…" She didn't realize she had stopped breathing until her lungs began to scream for air.

A brief rustle later, and she felt him move away from her. She cautiously opened her eyes to find Young-do with the keycard - okay fine, she had kept it, but only because it would be useful later! - in his hand, smiling as if he'd just had a satisfying meal.

He had stolen it from her blazer pocket! Eun-sang fumed silently, crossing her arms. There was no denying that he was attractive, but did he really have to use it to his advantage?

He tucker the card into his pocket before smirking at her. "Come on, let's go."

"What?" She stared at him in disbelief. "I thought you said you were ordering jjajangmyun."

"I said they deliver for two servings, not that they were delivering to me," he smarmed. "I thought first place would be able to tell the difference between those two phrases."

"Why am I even here," she muttered, turning back and unlocking the hotel room door. The farther away she was from him, the better.

"Food tastes better with company," he responded brightly, following her out as the door shut behind them. Eun-sang walked as slowly as possible, but Young-do managed to chuckle and walk behind her nevertheless. Roughly, she pushed the button for the elevator and watched as the numbers above it changed.

"So I guess this is going to count as our first date," he joked, putting his arm around her shoulders. "I better make sure to remember this forever, so you don't yell at me when on our anniversaries."

Before she could shrug his arm off, the elevator dinged as its doors opened. Eun-sang sighed, preparing herself for 30 seconds with Choi Young-do in an enclosed area, and turned -

- to see a flabbergasted Rachel, eyes wide open in shock, staring at them.

Sorry for the wait, my readers. Real life got in the way - and on that note, guess who was accepted into college?

I made a tumblr for this fic, for the sole purpose of interacting more with media. Chapters will be posted here first, however. I've made a few edits, but I'm also hoping to make gifs from this story, so please go check it out! The link is on my profile.

I'm so glad that there are more Heirs fics now, both on this site and on tumblr. I guess that finale really angered us YoungSang fans. If you haven't read "A Little Fall of Rain" by balladofyoungdo, please do - it has to be one my favorites right now. I guess these author's notes are becoming more like a recommendation corner, but that's fine by me.

There's also a Chinese translation of this fic by Duan - I don't have a link yet, but I'll post it on my profile when I do. Chinese happens to be my second language (although I'm horrible at reading and writing in it) so I was very excited to hear about the translation.

Let's hope the next chapter comes a bit quicker. Any thoughts and comments are always appreciated!