A/n: I really don't know what to answer you guys, but thank you so much for keeping up with the story and for leaving comments. I am very thankful of of it all. I owe it to all the readers. And I'm kind of nervous uploading this chapter. Hope you like this one :)
Announcement: I'll be having a short vacation with family and friends and I might not be able to update this story for some time. I hope you guys understand. Have a happy week Guys!
"...I like it. I really like the kiss, our kiss Gaeul-yang. And I, saying that I like the kiss mean that I like you."
Drenched in sweat, Gaeul fold up straight and was panting. It was a dream, she had dreamed about it over and over again within a course of a few hours. She barely had some hours of sleep because she had been thinking of those words that were uttered by Yi Jeong. She had thought of it repeatedly and she had slept late only to found herself dreaming about it.
Gaeul shook her head rigorously.
She tried to reason out that maybe Yi Jeong's said those words unconsciously, given that he was having fever at that time, or that maybe he was still with the teasing game.
Yes, he is. What else would be his reason in saying such but to tease me? Gaeul nodded, likely to convince herself.
She honestly had no idea on what to feel, after the overwhelming confession of Woobin, Gaeul was again filled with a concoction of various emotions after hearing Yi Jeong feverish statement. However, she was even more surprise of herself because right at the moment she heard Yi Jeong, she was inexplicably delighted apart from being speechless. Those words seemed to accommodate that tiny space in her heart, filling it up and making it pulsate.
The thing she felt from both Woobin's and Yi Jeong's confession was far too different. It was so unlikely of her, but she didn't feel upset of the latter's confession, rather, she felt as if he was open and honest about it. Just like the kiss they had shared, Gaeul never felt violated or forced. It was gentle, subtle and sweet and even if she believed that it was just impulse that brought the situation in action, Gaeul wasn't scared, only confused and guilty.
Mindlessly, Gaeul brought her hand on her lips, tracing its contour, reminiscing the feeling of being kissed. How long has it been, since her last kiss? It was almost three years. Her last kiss was when she bid Junho goodbye before he left with Junpyo to head to the pier. The feeling was almost foreign to her - she had forgotten how sweet, how passionate and how conveying a kiss could be. And the feeling of Yi Jeong's lips against hers was nothing like those she shared with Junho.
Junho's kisses were always searching, consuming and demanding unlike Yi Jeong's which were gentle, subtle, giving and sweet. She could differentiate the two even if she had only shared a kiss with Yi Jeong once (She was clueless about the first one). And if Gaeul would be completely honest with herself, Yi Jeong's kisses had woken up those swarming butterflies in her stomach which had laid dormant for long. Not to mention the painful rampage of her heart against her cage, while they were kissing that moment.
No, Gaeul stop it!
Gaeul shook her head again rigorously wishing that shaking would flush the crowding thoughts away, to hide it in the deeper corners of her mind. That kiss, she should not give any significant meaning to it, it was simply a kiss and it happened without any reasonable reason, just a kiss. Or so she thought.
Slowly and decisively, Gaeul stood up the bed and readied herself. A few minutes later, she was dressed in a new set of clothes offered by the caretaker last night. She gave off a small and comforting sigh; it seemed as if it was what she needed before she went out of the room and see Yi Jeong. Gaeul went and stood in front of the room where Yi Jeong was in. Reluctantly, she reached and turned the knob and went in, only to be welcomed by an empty and clean room.
She instantly felt a bit claustrophobic and she started to panic, wondering if Yi Jeong had decided to leave her alone, but before she could even spun her heels to run out the room and down the stairs, an obviously familiar voice came just right behind her.
"Looking for me?"
Gaeul twirled and her eyes landed on Yi Jeong who was leaning immaculately gorgeous against the door frame with his arms folded in front. Without even realizing, a soft sigh came out from her and she started breathing normally.
"Uh... Yeah! I kind of thought you left already."
"Might have, but I can't unless you're with me."
There was a different vibe in the atmosphere and it didn't go unnoticed to Gaeul. And when she tried to look straight into Yi Jeong's eyes, her breath caught up on her throat because his gaze was way too different from the usual. It was deep and filled of something she couldn't decipher. Yi Jeong's gaze was too strong she had to avert her eyes away from him.
"Gaeul-yang, if it's about the kiss..." Yi Jeong started, but then he was cut short by Gaeul.
"It was a mistake, it was my fault. I'm sorry."
Her words were like a playback from the last night, the scene too. The only difference was Yi Jeong's all awake and conscious at present.
"I'm not", Yi Jeong uttered and Gaeul gasped.
His answer was all too familiar. Was it dejavu? However, Gaeul wasn't given any time to think about it, because her heart had quickly doubled in speed seeing that Yi Jeong was slowly walking his way to her. His gaze never leaving hers. She stood frozen, eyes all wide and she didn't realized that he was already in front of her until she felt his hand holding the side of her face.
"You weren't..."
As if reading what she was thinking, Yi Jeong finished the sentence for her, "I was sick and feverish but I'm not sleep talking, Gaeul-yang. I don't sleep talk."
Gaeul remained rooted and speechless, she was thinking of what would be the possible thing to tell him, to correct him that it was just a kiss and nothing more. She tried to open her mouth to speak, yet Yi Jeong beat her stupendously.
"I don't know when or how it started. What I know is that I am drawn curious of you. Everything about you, all those coincidental things that had happened between you and me, all the emotions that it had caused me; it made me more curious of you. I wanted to know how you could make me feel so detached from myself. I wanted to solve why I am this attracted to you, but even today, I am clueless and even more confused. All I know now is that I like the kiss we shared last night."
Gaeul blinked her eyes, trying to absorb everything that Yi Jeong had said.
"I don't want to burden you about this whole thing." He had taken the liberty of brushing her hair at the side of her forehead while he was talking to her, his eyes glued with hers. "All I want is to be honest with you, Gu Gaeul. I like the kiss, I like how it made me feel, I like you and I like to kiss you again."
He what? He said what?
Gaeul wasn't able to finish reciting her questions mentally because her mind turned blank. Maybe in the course of the situation, she had been nodding her head since the next thing that had registered in her brain was the feeling of Yi Jeong's lips brushing against hers, guarded but seeking. Did she said yes when he said he likes to kiss her again? Did she nod her head? Or did he just crush his lips to her when she did not respond and took the chance for himself? There was no time to answer anything because Gaeul was too preoccupied with the kiss and how she had reacted to it.
Her brain told her to push Yi Jeong away, yet her chest was too busy beating crazily to even listen to her. Another second past and her brain had been cleared away and was only thinking about the person who was kissing her. His lips, his touch, his scent, his warmth - she liked all of it, she wanted all of those only to herself. The feeling was so right although it might be nothing but wrong. But hell, who cares about the wrong thing when it felt so damn right?
At first, Gaeul did not respond and simply remained a statue while Yi Jeong was kissing her. But when Yi Jeong pulled out to breathe and delved down again to capture her then reddened lips, Gaeul responded and her response was answered by a sharp intake of breath from Yi Jeong. That short second when their lips had parted, Gaeul felt the warmth coming Yi Jeong was slowly fading and so she tiptoed and came after it.
She pulled herself up and followed where he had left. He kissed her again, searching and passionate, biting her lower lip, begging her to open up to him. Gaeul obliged and Yi Jeong deepened the kiss, pulling her more flushed against him, tracing her back with his hand and rested it right at the curve.
She was lost into a world of new discovery, that a kiss could be so different, that it could send thrill, spark and drowning electricity down to the core even if it was coming from someone else and not Junho. Her head was moving into spirals and her knees were ready to collapse. Unconsciously, her hand stretched up, making its way to anchor at the back of Yi Jeong's neck, keeping up with her shaking knees.
They kissed and kissed until they were both breathless.
"So Yi Jeong!"
A loud voice from the living room pulled them both from the huge bubble they had created together. Yi Jeong rested his forehead against Gaeul's, they were panting and contemplating on what to say to one another after the kiss they shared. To Gaeul's comfort, it was Yi Jeong to first say something, "its Jaekyung. Nothing to worry, you'll be home soon."
With still closed eyes, Gaeul nodded stiffly while she withdrew her arms from Yi Jeong's neck. Howbeit, she could only rest them on his shoulders, because Yi Jeong was still clinging to her, his arms remained on her waist and his forehead against hers.
"Yi Jeong..." But she was held hanging on her words as Yi Jeong planted a long and soft kiss on her head.
"Please don't tell me you're sorry", he pleaded.
Gaeul bit her tongue. She wanted to tell him she wasn't sorry, that she too liked the kiss, and that she did feel something amazing out of that kiss, but Gaeul stayed silent and just stared straight into Yi Jeong's ebony eyes. She wished he could read what she was thinking, though it was a game of chances, Gaeul was hopeful.
A small smile broke from Yi Jeong's lips, the accurate opposite of what his eyes reflected. Time ran in a slow, the atmosphere was getting heavy, and Gaeul was starting to regret why she had chosen to keep silent. She watched as Yi Jeong swallowed and opened his mouth to speak the words she had never expected to hear from him.
"Knowing you is a great pleasure, being your friend is a blessing and feeling this way towards you is amazing. If I knew you earlier, if I was there when your husband left, if it was me who comforted you, I may have you for myself. I'd do anything just to keep you with me, but I'm afraid that it won't happen. Still, I'm glad to share something with you. It's enough to open my eyes."
His tone was low, somber and shaking and Gaeul was so confused her voice cracked and an inquiry came out her mouth before she realized it. "What do you mean?"
"That I love the kiss. I love our kiss, Gaeul."
"I don't understand..." Her head was wrecking too hard and it only gave her something she was silently hoping for him to tell her, something similar to what he told her last night.
"...I like it, I really like the kiss. Our kiss, Gaeul-yang. And I, saying that I like the kiss mean that I like you."
"I want to share more moments with you. I want you beside me, hold you and be with you, even if you hate me forever because I keep on kissing you. But I can't do that because... Because... I'm..."
Gaeul had no single idea on what was running inside Yi Jeong's head and she had no clue on how much Yi Jeong wanted to say that he needs her than want her. That he needed to keep her with him and maybe in the process they would both heal and she would realize that there's a brighter journey ahead of her. And that maybe they could help each other, fix each other and eventually stay together.
It was the very first time that Gaeul saw how the suave and smooth talker So Yi Jeong was reduced into a stuttering and unconfident man. And the next thing she heard from him made her entire bubble, collapsed.
"I'm getting married."
...
Woobin was entirely clueless to why he went with Ha Jeakyung to fetch Gaeul and Yi Jeong, all he knew was he nodded his head and he was there seated uncomfortably, waiting for his best friend to show her face at the living room. He was too egocentric to even consider that it was Ha Jeakyung that had knocked some sense on him. That it could be a gamble to sacrifice an entire lifetime of friendship into a wreck of hopeless fight against what the universe really wanted.
He brushed everything aside once again. His concern wasn't about what he was feeling for Gaeul; it was what he wanted to ask for her - forgiveness. More than anything else in the moment, what Woobin wanted was for Gaeul to speak to him again. For Gaeul to open up to him and to see her smile like she used to have when he was there to listen and support her, to hear her say 'thank you for always being there' and 'you're the best'. Woobin missed her so much and he couldn't bear to wait for the time that he couldn't fix the gap between them anymore.
Woobin went not to insist that he was in love with her, but to apologize and be a friend to her again. He knew she was upset because he had uttered so many blunt words, telling her that she's a coward. To add to that, he knew exactly why Gaeul went with Yi Jeong into such a far place - it was because she wanted to breathe and get cleared of everything he had said to her, it was obviously because of him. And there he was waiting anxiously for Gaeul to see him.
After waiting for few more minutes, he and Jaekyung saw Gaeul going down the stairs with Yi Jeong trailing behind. She was looking intently on the steps that it was a bit late when she noticed that Woobin was there. Gaeul stopped midway and stared surprised at him. He saw her swallowed hard before she roamed her eyes around the place and saw Jaekyung beside him. Woobin gulped when Gaeul sighed. He watched her went down, still, with Yi Jeong behind her.
In a matter of seconds, Gaeul reached his spot and when he looked at her, he saw something in her eyes - a downcast glare of wide and moist orbs, which seemed as if she was asking him to get her out of whatever it was that she's escaping at. It took Woobin some moments to assess and set his bearing before a voice crack out from him.
"I'll take you home. Everybody's waiting for you, Cheesecake."
Maybe it was his imagination, but he saw Gaeul looked at him straight in the eyes and she smiled. That expression was enough for him to say that she's willing to let him bring her home.
"Gaeul-ssi", Jaekyung called, "thank you for taking care of this idiot. Hope he did not give you much trouble."
At that second, Gaeul glanced at Yi Jeong and they were caught with each other. Gaeul was the first one who broke the spell, and smiled slightly at Jaekyung. "It's nothing, Yi Jeong-ssi helped me a lot and what I did to him was the least thing I could do."
...
The ride was utterly silent, only the sound of the car engine ringing through the quietness. Woobin knew that there was something significant that had occurred between Yi Jeong and Gaeul, because his best friend, no matter how forgiving she is, would not dare to come and let him send her home wherein fact they just had a huge argument. Still, Woobin tried to keep his mouth shut and watched Gaeul from his periphery.
If there would come a plane to drop a bomb on them, they would never notice because both Woobin's and Gaeul's head were preoccupied with their own thoughts. And it was like a year of total silence before Gaeul pulled her feet to say what she was feeling inside.
"I made a huge mistake, and I'm afraid that I'm not sorry about it."
"Excuse me? What?" Woobin whipped his head to Gaeul. His heart rapidly ramming his chest and his brain was working so fast it made so many crazy assumptions he himself was not ready for.
"What do you mean mistake?"
Gaeul heaved a sigh. "We're supposed to not talk yet, but I need you just this moment."
Indeed, he understood what she meant, that she wasn't supposed to come and let him send her back home. She was still upset of him.
"Woobin-ah... I think... I think I'm caught into something I'm not capable of recovering."
Woobin rolled his eyes. He wasn't really into flowery words which girls used to say at times they were feeling emotional. However, flowery words made it a little easier for him to grasp reality than a blunt and straight forward words from Gaeul. Woobin got the idea as clear as the sunny sky - Gaeul's falling for someone. And he's dead sure it's not him and he could only pray it wasn't Yi Jeong.
Oh, please not him... He did wish it wasn't Yi Jeong and he's sure to lose the fight.
Even Woobin could not deny the fact of how much similarity Yi Jeong's personality is with his late brother, Junho. They both acted as Gaeul's knight in shining armor every time she's in trouble. And Woobin had blamed himself to why his intention towards Gaeul fell down to nothing. It was his careless actions and rusty behavior that put him into a lot of trouble, and as his best friend Gaeul became too much involved. He would end up beating some guys and Gaeul would come for his rescue only to end up being hurt because of him and there would be his brother coming to rescue the two of them. It started from there and then at the end she ended up with his older brother Junho - the goody best friend of Gaeul's brother Junpyo.
Of course Gaeul favored Junho. Everyone would favor the man who was the perfect son, the best of best friends and the intelligent boy next door. Junho and Gaeul's story was the ideal epic love story while his remained as a one-sided affair. And at present, Woobin was afraid that the past would turn into a repeat, to eventually crush him down, to fail him, to not favor him the second time around.
"The least thing you can do for me is tell it straight to my face because guessing was more of an aggravation than comfort." He said, preparing himself to the impending dread that would come out of Gauel's mouth any time soon, so soon.
"I'm dangerously hanging to not fall for Yi Jeong."
Gaeul said and Woobin felt like he was in the middle of a nuclear bomb which just blasted a second ago, and he was there being engulfed by the cloud of smoke and shrapnel.
Shit!
He was dying to curse Yi Jeong in all the languages he knew. Howbeit, his voice remained hidden, screaming inside his head. "Then if you don't want to fall for him, just fall for me instead." Woobin unmindfully uttered the word and he never did regret it from coming out so spontaneously.
"Woobin-ah", Gaeul sighed at the end of his name. "Do not be so hard on yourself. You know one could not choose on whom to fall for. And if I'm holding my feet together to not fall for Yi Jeong, that is my choice. As I chose not to acknowledge your confession, I have my reasons. Please do understand that I love you, so much, but not the way you want me to. And I still love Junho."
"And if that love for my brother faded in time, you'll fall for Yi Jeong, right?"
Gaeul did not answer. She has no idea on what to respond. "I... I don't know."
Woobin pulled the car on the curb, as the gates of the Gu mansion opened. He drove the car through and parked at cross the marbled veranda. He whipped his head and looked straight at the silent Gaeul.
"Within a course of a day, you changed drastically. It seems like you're not the old Gaeul anymore. At this point in time, Gaeul, you're not running away."
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
He nodded his head. Woobin realized that, that sorry of hers was the answer on the thing he was dreading for. Gaeul isn't hanging dangerously not to fall for Yi Jeong. She already had fallen for Yi Jeong, but she was still in the middle of an emotional limbo, confusion and denial.
"Don't worry. I know how to step out if I'm obviously losing the fight. I've done it before, I think I can handle it the second time around."
"Woobin..."
"Stop saying sorry. It's grating my ego rather harshly." He smiled to her, and it was forced and bitter.
"Just promise me one thing", his tone was challenging, "don't come to me crying if he hurt you or I'll punch the daylight out of that So Yi Jeong."
"It's not going to happen. I will never let myself fall for him." Gaeul uttered firmly.
You're already failing, Gaeul. Woobin concluded, but nodded to her dignified denial. "Then don't..."
...
A week had past and Gaeul was going crazy. It was unbearable to the extent that she was crying sleepless for three days. The emotions coursing inside were like a ticking time bomb without a detonation switch. Gaeul was powerless against what she was feeling inside. Her heart was stressed and overwhelmed, so ready burst in any minute.
Gaeul made a tiny and shaking step inside the premise of the circuit meeting hall. All eyes were on her as she was welcomed by the engineering and planning team. She saw Jaekyung on the head table, Junpyo on the opposite side and beside him, was Yi Jeong. He was seated intimidatingly on his seat, not even glancing at her.
The moment she saw him, all she wanted to do was to walk straight to him and confront him, but she knew it was being desperate. And that she also knew the reason why she was feeling off for a week, it's just that her pride won't let her accept the reason itself. All the crying she had for the past three days was enough for her to realize she had failed on her own battle of not to fall in love with Yi Jeong. She was crying for days due to the fact that she had given her heart to someone so openly, without her even realizing it, and when it occurred to her, she was hesitating to turn back to deny it.
And then she saw him again after a week, there seated across her with an unreadable expression on his face.
I'm getting married... That too, was one of the reasons why she wanted to confront Yi Jeong. If she had acknowledged the truth that she had already fallen for him, even in the heights of so many circumstances, and even if she still loves Junho. Gaeul was willing to give this entire thing a valid consideration. A chance to take another journey, but with whom? With Yi Jeong? He who was acting indifferent, treating her like a stranger the whole meeting? And he who went MIA for a week, without even asking if she had arrived home safely after he had confessed to her, after he told her he like her, and after they shared a passionate kiss twice?
"Gaeul are you okay?" Someone asked and held Gaeul's hand, squeezing it gently.
"Eh? Uhm, I'm okay Hana-ssi." She answered in a voice almost fading in every word and was a little surprise to the concern look that had crossed on Jaekyung's face.
"Okay, I'll go ahead." Jaekyung announce and diverted her attention to someone across the meeting table. "Engineer So, I'll go ahead, okay?"
Gaeul stiffened on her seat. It was not past a second when she realized that the meeting was over and then now. She was staring straight at So Yi Jeong who at the same time was staring unwavered at her.
"It's okay, Ms. Ha, I'll be staying for some more minute." Yi Jeong said to Jaekyung, but his eyes were in locked with Gaeul's.
She practically avert her gaze on the seat beside Yi Jeong which was where her brother Junpyo was seated, however he was not there anymore. Gaeul instantly concluded that her brother was feeling suffocated of Yi Jeong's presence and that's why he left the hall in a rush, leaving her on her own.
"Okay, see you at dinner then." Jaekyung's voice ringed from the door and the next sound Gaeul heard was the door being shut gently.
In reflex, Gaeul's heart ran in rapids and she was starting to breathe irregularly. Across her was Yi Jeong, he was seated at first, but Gaeul was startled when he stood abruptly and glided swiftly in front of her. Her head told her to relax and stay seated, yet what she did was the exact opposite. Gaeul bolt in her feet and was ready to skip towards the door and maybe ran after Jaekyung to keep away from Yi Jeong.
For the good week of extreme self-evaluation, and for the sole intention of confronting Yi Jeong, Gaeul realized that she wasn't ready to actually face him, and she was eager to flee and vanish at the moment. Nonetheless, her effort was useless because Yi Jeong was an inch from her and was already holding both her shoulders, pushing her back on her seat as he caged her with his both hand resting on the arm rest.
"I have to this because I know you're planning to run away from me." He explained looking down on Gaeul's tightly curled hands. Yi Jeong was aware that she's uncomfortable. "I'm sorry about what I did the last time. And if you hate me, it is okay, I understand."
Gaeul stared at Yi Jeong and all she wanted to do was throw herself in his arm, but she resisted. She stayed seated and he was in front of her, locking her in her seat in an awkward silence.
"Like I said before, I'm happy about everything that had happened between us." Yi Jeong uttered after a long pause.
"And I'm sorry too", she saw him swallowing hard before he went on. "I caused you so much trouble. And that maybe I made you very uncomfortable and confused. I'm also sorry to myself that I can't have you, that I needed to distance myself from you, that it took me too long to realize that I like you. I guess I needed to have a dose of three kisses from you to finally realize it and as it happened, it was too late for me..." He was talking rapidly and Gaeul was lost from his entire explanation.
Gaeul pulled herself up, it was a second late for Yi Jeong to move his head away and he was caught by Gaeul just in time, her lips on his. Gaeul intended it as a soft peck to stop him from talking because he's been explaining a lot to her lately and she was getting crazy about it all. She was about to sat back on her seat; however Yi Jeong was fast to hold her and keep from her position. Her eyes widened seeing him smirk down on her and kissed her again.
"Don't dare move or I won't stop kissing you." He threatened. "This is a punishment for you because you had sneaked three kisses from me already. Don't you think that I am supposed to be the one doing that?"
"What if I tell you I don't care?"
"Are you challenging me?" He whispered on her ear in a husky voice.
Gaeul felt a chilling sting traveling down her spine and for the very first time she felt scared of what her action might cause Yi Jeong. He told her that he's getting married and messing around with him would do no good and what if he was just toying her? Unmindfully, Gaeul shut her eyes and shook her head only to realize she had moved. And it didn't last a snap when she heard a 'tsk' from Yi Jeong and he was kissing her again and she was kissing him back.
"Is it too much to ask, if I want you to tell me not to marry?"
A/n: :) bless you all! Please give me some reviews TT (review review din pag may time ;)