Chapter 32 - Don Juan's Downfall
Author's Note: This chapter is WBxJK-centric because I needed to give their story a proper wrap-up before diving to SoEul. Hope you like it. =)
Dinner was kept simple. The servants hovered around, determined to make sure that Song Woo Bin's comfort was met, but he noticed this and waved his hand dismissively. Inwardly, he wanted to spend some quiet time with the heiress - something he could hardly admit up front.
After a brush with death and realizing that he was willing to get himself killed just to defend Ha Jae Kyung's honor, Song Woo Bin had an epiphany. It happened when he was bleeding and gasping for breath while fighting for his consciousness. The only thought that rang inside his head was to see Ha Jae Kyung. Above everything else, he wanted to see her before he happened to breathe his last. Then darkness crept in and his vision faded.
Maybe it was the loss of blood, or even the number of drugs that had been pumped into his body just to revive him, but the very first thing that he looked for when he woke up inside the hospital, was actually the heiress herself.
"What's wrong?" Woo Bin asked, noticing Jae Kyung was oddly silent and hardly touched her food.
"My month is up." She said grimly. "I'm leaving." Though her face was rigid, her eyes betrayed her. She was hurting, but she tried her best to keep it from Woo Bin.
Woo Bin smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry I couldn't give you a better farewell party. For all it's worth, I never expected I'd have a lot of fun having you around."
His words made the pain all the more unbearable, but Jae Kyung had already made up her mind. Her time with him was up. He was safe and alive. There was no need for her to stay longer.
"For tonight, can you please stay?" Woo Bin pleaded.
He was never one to plead and never one to say 'please'. If he needed something to happen, he'd have it at the flick of a finger, but he knew that his status and power never really did matter to Ha Jae Kyung. And so, Song Woo Bin, infamous Mafia Don and F4's reputed Don Juan, was reduced to a desperate man.
Jae Kyung sighed. "Alright. I'll stay tonight." After which, she stood up and turned her back on him. "I'm done eating." She didn't want him to see just how much this good-bye was hurting her.
"Yah, Ha Jae Kyung." Woo Bin called out.
Jae Kyung stopped dead in her tracks, waiting for him to speak but daring not to look back for fear of revealing too much of what she felt.
"I'd like to say thank you." Woo Bin began. "This whole month of being with you, I finally felt how it is to have a girlfriend. Though not exactly in the intimate department, I experienced having to deal with your tantrums. I experienced having to deal with a girl on her period."
He chuckled but went on.
"I experienced having someone actually worrying for me. I experienced being scolded, being teased, being made fun of. I experienced actually waking up with the same woman for days without thinking of how I'd end things."
He smiled, but Jae Kyung couldn't see it because her back was turned on him. And Woo Bin also couldn't see the tears forming in her eyes.
"I also experienced being jealous, and even hurrying home every day because your company was way better than anyone else's. For all of those things, thank you."
"Y-you're welcome." Jae Kyung croaked, and the first tear fell down her cheeks. "Finish your dinner. I'm going to bed. I'm tired." She added, trying to sound like nothing's wrong. Then, she walked away and finally allowed her tears to spill freely down her cheeks.
When Jae Kyung left, Woo Bin let out an exasperated breath. "Aigoo… I just poured out my heart and all she could think of was sleeping." He muttered dejectedly.
On the other hand, Ha Jae Kyung walked straight towards their shared room. As she looked around, she noticed how nicely she fit into the room. Her clothes were in his closet, and some of his clothes even got mixed up in hers because she wore them. Her make-up and vanity kit was on his dresser, along with his hygiene products. Their shoes stood side by side on the rack.
She realized that for the past month, she and Song Woo Bin had learned to accommodate each other's presence to the point that they looked like a married couple. The thought squeezed her heart painfully. She needed to calm herself down, and a shower would be perfect.
Before proceeding to the bathroom, she opened their shared closet to pick her pajamas. For a moment, her hands hovered in the stack of Woo Bin's button up shirts. She mentally debated whether she should pick one to wear.
"What the hell…" She muttered. "It's the last night anyways." She went ahead and picked out a light pink button-up shirt with black linings.
When she was finally inside the bathroom, it was only then that she allowed her strong persona to drop. She finally frowned and allowed herself to look dejected.
Jae Kyung has always prided herself in being independent. Even though she was an heiress, she could handle just about anything, except for one thing: she couldn't handle caring too much for someone.
Specifically, Ha Jae Kyung couldn't handle the emotional stress that came with caring too much for one person. She'd experienced it once when she cared for Goo Jun Pyo. At that time, she thought she was really in love with him. But she realized that she was wrong. She had been in love with the idea of a man being so in love with a woman that he'd openly defy all odds. She wanted to be the woman that Goo Jun Pyo would fight everything for. Luckily, she came to her senses in time.
Now, she was beginning to care too much about Song Woo Bin. And she didn't want that. He was living such a dangerous life. Caring too much for him would shorten her life by a hundred folds. Not to mention, he could surely break her heart into a million miniscule iotas - this, she was most certainly avoiding. That was why she was leaving before it was too late.
And tonight, tonight was their good-bye.
After almost an hour of spending a leisurely bath, Jae Kyung finally decided it was time to come out. After drying herself with the towel, she picked up Woo Bin's button-up shirt and put it on. As always, it looked like a dress on her.
As soon as she was out of the bathroom, she was greeted by the sight of the half-naked Song Woo Bin lying casually on top of the bed. He was freshly showered and only wore black drawstring pants. On his nose perched black-rimmed reading glasses while he read something on his tablet. The image undoubtedly affected Jae Kyung but she would never admit it. She should have been so used to his half-naked glory by now, but she wasn't.
Every time Ha Jae Kyung saw Song Woo Bin, she could feel just a tiny bit of admiration for him. Well, it was the same for all the other F4 members because admittedly each of them was impressive in their own right. But when she finally got to know the man behind F4's Don Juan, she was even more impressed.
"Oh, good, you're done. Come to bed, let's go to sleep." Song Woo Bin patted the bed space beside him as he looked at Jae Kyung expectantly.
Any person who heard the F4's Don Juan say those words out loud would surely flip out because he was actually inviting a perfectly sober woman to bed in order to sleep; 'sleep' being the most important term.
"You finished showering?" Jae Kyung asked, sounding completely at ease even though she was aware that they sound like a married couple.
"Yeah, I took a shower in the other bathroom. I needed extra help because my wound needed to stay dry." He explained and put to his tablet aside. "Speaking of wound, um, I need to change my bandages, so…"
"So?"
"So, I need your help." Woo Bin grinned at her and pointed at the rolled bandages by the bed-side table.
"You could have asked your helpers to change your bandages, you know." Jae Kyung deadpanned as she stepped towards Song Woo Bin.
"Well, yeah, but that wouldn't be too fun." Woo Bin pointed out.
Little did he know that 'fun' in Jae Kyung's vocabulary involved a little bit of pain. Two minutes later, Song Woo Bin was shrieking because of Ha Jae Kyung's expert hands in bandaging his chest wound.
"Ouch! Too tight! It's too tight!" Woo Bin growled in pain as Jae Kyung wrapped is chest tightly in fresh bandages.
"Suck it up! You got yourself shot so you have to bear the pain!" Jae Kyung retorted, pulling the bandages tighter around Woo Bin's chest.
"Remind me never to ask you to nurse me again." Woo Bin pleaded as soon as Jae Kyung finally managed to wrap up his chest.
"You better not get any more fatal wounds in the future because trust me, if you did, I'd just plunge a knife straight into your chest and murder you." Jae Kyung threatened, sounding completely psychotic but perfectly serious.
Woo Bin merely chuckled at her threat. "How can you even stab someone if you hate blood?"
"I'll close my eyes so I don't see the blood." Jae Kyung pouted but refused to yield.
"And if you miss?" He raised one gorgeous eyebrows at her.
"I don't miss. Shut up. Your argument is invalid. I'm tired and I'm going to bed."
Woo Bin only chuckled in response.
Jae Kyung, on the other hand, climbed to bed after setting aside the unused bandages. Getting fatally wounded wasn't a funny topic of conversation. Woo Bin may laugh at it now like it's nothing, but it's never funny once a life is in danger. She purposely faced away from Woo Bin as she tucked herself in bed because she didn't like how he made her feel.
"Hey…" Woo Bin slid down to bed beside Jae Kyung and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"Hm. Good night." She replied curtly.
"Are you upset?" Woo Bin asked again as he encircled an arm around her waist to pull her closer.
Jae Kyung did not reply. She closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep. She would much rather get this night over with and be done with leaving Woo Bin, than drag it on, because as of that very moment, she was hurting bad and she didn't like it. Good-byes were never her thing.
Woo Bin sighed. "I'm sorry if I upset you." The Don Juan was actually apologizing.
He slowly lifted her head and placed an arm below it as a pillow, while his other arm draped over her protectively. Jae Kyung's eyes slowly opened when she realized that Song Woo Bin was actually spooning her. The realization made her want to cry desperately.
"I-I've been thinking a lot these past few da-." Woo Bin began, sounding small and unsure when Jae Kyung suddenly cut her off.
"Stop. Just stop it. If you're going to say something nice, I don't want to hear it." She tried to sound as normal as possible but in the end, she couldn't stop sounding upset.
"So, I'm right. You are upset."
With a sigh, Woo Bin lifted himself up and transferred to Jae Kyung's other side, forcing her to face him. When she attempted to shift her own position to turn away from him, he prevented her from doing so by pulling her close with his arms, effectively trapping her.
"Let me go."
"I will, but first we need to talk."
When Woo Bin finally looked straight into her eyes, his featured greatly softened when he realized that she was trying to fight back her tears. Ha Jae Kyung was on the brink of crying but she was fighting with all her might not to.
"Do you know what drove me crazy at the hospital?" Woo Bin softly asked.
Jae Kyung remained silent.
"This." He smiled faintly. "I missed having you in bed, and I don't mean that with any sexual undertones. I'm even surprised myself." He smiled at her whole-heartedly.
"I told you to shut it." Jae Kyung remained grim and unyielding.
"Why?"
"Because you're acting all weird, and you're making this whole thing harder." She admitted, feeling a tiny prickle of tear sliding from her eyes. "You're not supposed to be nice to me. You're supposed to be mean. We're supposed to bicker and argue. And I'm supposed to be overwhelmingly glad that this will all be over soon."
"Are you?"
Jae Kyung frowned. "I hate good-byes."
"Could you explain that?" Woo Bin was intent on knowing what was wrong. "Are you upset because you hate good-byes? Or are you upset because of me?"
"Both." She sobbed.
Tears flowed down from Jae Kyung's eyes even though she willed them not to. Woo Bin wanted to know what he could do to make those tears go away, but it seems that his efforts to be nice to her only made her cry more. He was desperate to appease the heiress, so he decided to go by his gut instead of trying to comfort her with words.
Song Woo Bin allowed her to cry and wiped her tears away with his own hands. Silently, he caressed her hair and held her close as she sobbed.
"Sshh… I'm sorry for upsetting you. I know I could be such a jerk."
"Stop being nice already!" Jae Kyung whined.
She just couldn't get herself to admit that this nicer kind of Woo Bin scared the shizzles out of her. She was beginning to get seriously scared because he was telling her things that she couldn't imagine him saying. Him being nice scared her because her defenses against him were weakening. If Song Woo Bin as a playboy gangster was irresistible, this nicer and sweeter Song Woo Bin makes her want to fall straight for him without a parachute. And that couldn't possibly lead to anything good.
"Then what do you want me to do?!"
"I want you to be a jerk! I want you to be mean to me! I don't want you acting all nice because it seriously creeps me out!"
With a deep sight, Woo Bin sat up. "Fine, but whatever the consequences of me being a jerk, I won't be responsible. Just remember that you asked for this."
Without another word, he hovered over Ha Jae Kyung and effectively pinned her down the bed by lying on top of her. There was a playful glint on his eyes as he watched her expression turn into one of horror, then into one of aggravation.
"Yah!" Jae Kyung immediately stopped crying and glared at Song Woo Bin. "Get off me, you perv!"
"You asked for this." Woo Bin smirked.
"What the he-"
Jae Kyung was unable to finish whatever it was that she was about to say because Song Woo Bin effectively cut off her words when he covered her lips with his. F4's Don Juan effectively silenced the quirky heiress with a torrid kiss.
Wide-eyed, Jae Kyung's brain tried to process what was happening. The fact that Song Woo Bin was kissing her effectively froze her in place. He heart thumped wildly inside her chest and she didn't know what to do.
When Song Woo Bin finally ended the kiss and looked straight at her, Ha Jae Kyung's cheeks were flushed and her lips looked like they were thoroughly ravaged.
"I've wanted to do that for so long." Woo Bin whispered, his breath ragged and his heart thumping wildly.
Jae Kyung was too stunned to say anything. She remained wide-eyed, looking at Song Woo Bin like he grew another head, while her heart was busy doing cartwheels inside her chest. It was like her brain turned into mush that she couldn't even open her mouth to express an angry retaliation to his unexpected kiss.
Woo Bin, on the other hand, took advantage of the heiress' stunned silence. He planted a feathery kiss on her kiss and smiled fondly at her.
"You should really snap out of it now because if you don't, I'm going to keep kissing you. And if you still don't snap out of it even after then, I can't promise that I won't do anything more than kissing."
"Get off!" Jae Kyung forcefully shove Woo Bin off and stood up from the bed, breathing heavily with a seriously worried expression on her face.
"Glad you're finally coherent." Woo Bin playfully taunted.
"You shouldn't have done that." Jae Kyung's tone was accusing.
Woo Bin stood up from the bed as well and faced Ha Jae Kyung. "I shouldn't have, but I'm glad I did. I'm not sorry for the kiss. It's the only thing I feel I did right this whole evening."
Jae Kyung heaved out a deep breath, and frowned again.
"The last time I offered myself to a guy, I was turned down."
She looked at Song Woo Bin and found him listening intently. They both perfectly know who the guy she was referring to. It was a painful experience but she learned to live with it and move on. The after-effects of her crushing rejection were a little too hard to hide though.
"My ego was crushed and truthfully, I purposely avoided men."
Song Woo Bin took tentative steps towards Ha Jae Kyung and took her hand in his. He understood and knew that Ha Jae Kyung preferred to hide behind her mask of strength and independence rather than express her pains, so he knew exactly how much it hurt her to admit her frailty.
"Did you really love Goo Jun Pyo that much?" Woo Bin asked. He literally held his breath as he waited for her answer.
"No, I wasn't really in love with Goo Jun Pyo." Jae Kyung smiled bitterly. "I was in love with the idea of a man willing to fight against odds and willing to sacrifice everything for the woman he loves. I saw that man in Goo Jun Pyo, and I wanted to be the woman he loved."
Woo Bin breathed out in relief. "I'm glad to know that." He smiled encouragingly at her.
"But that experience burned me. I-I became too scared of men. I ditched the blind dates I was set-up with. I refused a lot of men and chose to live independently. And right now, what scares me is that I actually want to offer myself to you." She chuckled bitterly, her voice sounding hoarse and broken.
"I'm… honored that you consider such thought." He lifted up her hand in his and kissed her knuckle. "But I won't take advantage of you. Not because I don't want to. God knows how much I've wanted to do things to you. I won't, because you don't want to and I could be a gentleman if things call for it."
Woo Bin was actually surprised by her admission. It wasn't something he expected her to say. It very much warmed his heart to know that she was just as affected by his presence as he was with hers. He slowly pulled her towards him and embraced her tightly.
Jae Kyung, on the other hand, was quite flustered at how openly Woo Bin could declare how much he wanted her in his bed. He was blunt, but it was sweet and it made her feel desirable rather than cheap.
"Let's go to bed…" He whispered and led her back to the bed. "I'll admit that I'm going to have difficulty sleeping because of what you told me, but I want you to ignore me and just go to sleep."
Jae Kyung and Woo Bin resumed their positions in bed. Jae Kyung's back was facing Woo Bin, while he spooned her. They remained that way for some time, both trying to desperately go to sleep but unable to do so because of the other's presence.
Finally, they couldn't take it anymore.
At the exact same time, they both looked at each other and spoke simultaneously.
"Listen-"
"Yah-"
They both chuckled at the coincidence.
"I can't sleep." Woo Bin admitted.
"Me either."
"I was wondering if you'd be willing to stay…" Woo Bin admitted what was running inside his mind.
"I-I can't." Jae Kyung replied, long every bit as crestfallen. "I've put off my responsibilities for a while, and I can't put them on hold now. I promised my parents to handle our business after our month is up so I can't stay. I have a lot of catching up to do." She explained as she recalled the many phone call conversations she had with her mother.
"I understand."
"Besides, I think we need some time apart to sort out our personal issues and business. I really think that some time apart will do us some good." Jae Kyung tried to act positive but it didn't turn out like she wanted.
"So this is really our last night together, huh?" Woo Bin looked up the ceiling wistfully as he asked.
"Yeah, I guess, but we'll still be friends, right? We could still see each other."
"W-We can't." It was Woo Bin's turn to refuse and look at Jae Kyung apologetically. "There are people who want to get to me by hurting the people I deeply care about. I don't want you to be involved in my mess. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you."
"I-I understand."
"Hey, don't look so sad. This isn't really a permanent good-bye. We'll still each other every once in a while." Woo Bin caressed Jae Kyung's cheek and planted a feathery kiss on her forehead.
"I'll miss you." Jae Kyung involuntarily blurted out.
"I'll miss you, too."
For a moment, silence reigned again.
"Since we're being honest to each other, I just want to say that I really, really want to kiss you right now. Well, not just kiss you actually." Woo Bin bit his lip and sheepishly confessed.
Jae Kyung admittedly found his admission adorable, even the way he bit his lip and look away as he spoke, but she hushed her thoughts because she knew they were ridiculous. She actually found Song Woo Bin cute!
"And Jae Kyung, I-I think that I…" Woo Bin paused, looking frustrated. "For the first time in my life, I'm not happy with a woman leaving. I can't ,help but think that you're my karma." Woo Bin continued speaking, as he looked fondly at the heiress while caressing her cheek.
Jae Kyung bit her lip and momentarily struggled against herself, but when she finally spoke, she said the defining statement of how that night turned out to be. "If I asked you to stop being a gentleman tonight, would that make a difference?"
"Um…"
"It's just one night, what the hell?" Jae Kyung pushed herself forward and planted a chaste kiss on Woo Bin's lips.
It was Woo Bin's turned to be stunned. "Are you sure about this? Because if you're not, I'll have you know that it's torture enough that we're sharing a bed."
"I-I don't know." Jae Kyung confessed and blushed.
"How about I stop being a gentleman, and try to convince you instead?" Woo Bin replied, his fiery gaze on Jae Kyung, making her blush some more.
"Maybe you could." She breathlessly spoke and was soon silenced by Song Woo Bin's potent kiss.
That night, Don Juan and the heiress made love.
Although there were so many things that has yet to be resolved between the two of them, one thing was factually proven that night: they care deeply for one another more than they think.
The next morning, Song Woo Bin immediately looked for Ha Jae Kyung the moment he woke up. She was gone. He found his drawstring pants and the pink button-up shirt she wore last night neatly folded by the foot of the bed. On top of them was a folded note. It was from Ha Jae Kyung.
Mr. Don Juan,
Thank you for putting up with my antics this past month. It had been a fun run. I'll definitely miss you.
Last night, you asked me why I was upset, and I couldn't give you a straight answer. I guess I was too overwhelmed to sort out my thoughts. Now, let me tell you why I was upset.
I told you that I was in love with the idea of a man who would be willing to give up everything for the woman he loved. I always had the notion that if I fall in love, I'd fall in love with a man like that, a man who could love me unconditionally despite my many flaws and quirks.
And last night, I was upset because I think I'm actually falling in love with a man. And this time, I think I'm falling in love with the man himself, and not just some far-fetched idea of unconditional love and sacrifice. The whole thing scared me.
Anyhow, this is good-bye.
Good luck and live well.
-Ha Jae Kyung
To Be Continued…