Chapter Seven:

Strange Bedpartners

...

Not long after the rain stopped, Rachel's eyes drifted open. The incessant downpour had lulled her to sleep, and its absence jolted her awake as if it were a requirement that was now lacking.

It took a few moments to recognise her surroundings. Lee Bo Na's house. How had she gotten there?The last thing she could remember was walking through the streets… and now she was curled up in Bo Na's bed.

Rachel sat up, swinging her legs to the ground. She didn't feel sick, but she felt… unwell? Cold… chilly, but not on her extremities, on the inside, to her core, as if she had been frozen for weeks and even when put in a warm place to defrost, she was still so very cold on the inside. It was like an ache.

Was she regretting her choice? No. But she could still mourn what she once had. Like mourning a pair of suede books ruined by the rain…

As if slowly returning her mind to the present, piece by piece, Rachel remembered that she had been soaked by the rain and looked down at her clothes.

What am I wearing?!

She gasped, plucking at the bright purple fluffy unicorn onesie that covered her from head to toe. Standing up and facing Bo Na's mirror, she took account of the pyjamas.

"Is that a tail? I think it suits you."

Rachel jumped at the man's voice behind her. How had she not noticed someone else in the room? She had been thinking about herself a bit much to notice anything, a small voice in her head suggested, but Rachel pushed it aside and turned, preparing a dirty look on her face.

It was with surprise, then, that she realised she was facing Choi Young Do.

The Choi Young Do she was accustomed to was charismatic and tall, with looks that ranged from darkly handsome in certain circumstances to almost plain in others. She liked that about him. He could be a chameleon.

She had not, however, expected to find him on the other side of Lee Bo Na's bed.

And he wasn't even darkly handsome.

Young Do was plainly cute.

His hair was ruffled and in total disarray. There was a mark on one cheek where he'd had it pressed against a pillow. His clothes, from what she could see, were from last night, but deconstructed; his jacket and tie were nowhere to be seen and his shirt was half unbuttoned, while the bedclothes covered what she hoped were his pants.

If there were no pants….

She shook her head furiously, trying to clear the image from it. It was a pleasant image and perhaps that was what shocked her most out of the situation. She was surprised to see Young Do in the bed, she was surprised to think he was cute, but she was shocked at her own thoughts toward him.

When had she considered him like that? She needed his help and he gave it. She didn't… think about him like that. She didn't have those sorts of feelings toward him.

Did she?


Young Do wasn't used to waking up naturally.

It was always an alarm, or a knock at the door, or a phone call, incessantly ringing louder and louder until he jumped out of bed to answer it.

After a few hours of worriedly watching Rachel sleep, he had shuffled over to the other side of the bed and, without really considering the fact, climbed into bed beside Rachel.

Within minutes, he was asleep.

What felt like seconds later, he was awake.

For once, when he woke up, he wasn't tired. He was warm and the bed was soft, and… Rachel was standing across the room?

When he spoke, it was with his usual smirk, but he knew he couldn't really pull it off as he wiped sleep out of his eyes. The words shocked her and she turned. Had she really not known he was there?

"Rachel?" Young Do prompted, when she said nothing.

Her eyes lost their glazed look, flicking abruptly to his face, "Hmm?"

"Nice tail."

She stifled a laugh and posed, one eyebrow cocked, challenging him to say more.

"It actually suits you," he added, grinning but serious. "Lee Bo Na should take you shopping more often."

Rachel hid a small smile. Instead of responding, she cleared her throat.

"Why were we in Bo Na's bed?"

Young Do sat up more straightly in the bed, and frowned, "Cha Eun Sang rang me last night. She said you were here, and sick, and that I needed to come and take care of you."

"Oh. Was I… upset? Or just… sick?" Rachel shifted uncomfortably.

"I think both. You seemed more shocked than anything, but being half-frozen probably had something to do with that as well," he concluded with a pointed look.

She paused for a moment, considering whether she should reveal the truth, but it was Young Do…

"I disowned myself. Mother disowned me. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but I'm no longer the daughter of Lee Esther and RS International."

Young Do climbed off the bed and came to stand in front of Rachel. Gently, slowly, he placed a hand on each of her shoulders and looked into her eyes.

"You are now and you always will be the daughter of Lee Esther. Whether you're the heir to RS or not, whether you're talking to your mother or not. But what's important is that you're happy. Are you happy, Rachel? Are you okay with this?"

She nodded, but a tear escaped down one cheek. Rachel hoped he wouldn't notice, but a flicker in his eyes made her think that he might have.

"I'm finally free to make my own choices… but I'm sad, too. I have nothing, Young Do, nothing."

His lips curved into a sad smile, and he tugged her into a warm hug.

"You have me."