When You Are A Bad Guy
"Stop the car here." Young Do grumbled at the driver, as they neared the convenience store. The driver did as told.
"You can go home." Young Do said dismissively, while stepping out of the car and straightening his jacket.
The family dinners with Rachel and her mother were getting on his nerves now. He pushed open the door of the convenience store, with a bit more force than required.
His anger evaporated when he caught sight of familiar looking dark, long and somewhat wavy hair.
She was standing at the cashier counter with her back to him, yet he knew it was Cha Ji Ah.
She turned around with a beer can in her hand, and moved towards him. He remained at the threshold of the store, ready to flash her a charming smile, and ask her if she were stalking him --despite the fact that he had been the one to come later-- but she didn't look at his face.
She bumped into his chest. Then stepped back clumsily to widen her eyes at him, as if surpised that he were not the door she had tried to pass through.
He lifted a brow at her in suspicion.
She scowled at him suddenly. "You w-e-ir-do! Why are you here again?"
Young Do's eyebrows shoot up. She stepped forward, and tried to push him aside weakly. He moved to give her way, but followed after her when she left the store. She trudged to the table outside the store, but didn't sit down. She opened the can of beer and took a sip.
"How many cans did you have?" Young Do asked with a frown.
She ignored him, and took another sip of the beer, and shuddered visibly. She was not wearing a high neck sweater that he was used to seeing on her.
Young Do stepped closer, and snatched the can from her hand.
"Ya!" She cried and lunged at him, but stumbled halfway. Young Do grabbed her arm to steady her, though she had already grabbed a chair.
She jerked out her arm from his grip. "Give me my beer back, you weirdo!"
"What?" Young Do felt a tinge of annoyance. She had called him weirdo earlier too. "Really?" He scoffed. "I am not a weirdo, I am just a nice guy trying to help a drunk girl. How did you managed to get this drunk on beer, anyway?"
"Liar. You are a bad guy." She gave him a sullen pout, and thrust her chin up, more childishly than Myung So.
Young Do gave a fake smile. "You are breaking my heart now, Cha Ji Ah."
At that moment Ji Ah lunged for her beer can again, but Young Do raised it high.
"Give it back." She whined.
Young Do brought the beer can to his lips, and began gulping it down.
"Ya! What are you doing?" Ji Ah tried to pull at his hand holding the can, but he turned away from her. She whimpered, and started pulling at his jacket instead.
Young Do finished the whole can, and grunted in satisfication, though his chest felt frozen due to the chilled beer. He handed the empty can back to Ji Ah.
She looked crestfallen, as she looked down at it sadly.
"Jerk!" She mumbled, throwing away the empty can, and when she looked up at him, he saw tears shimmering in her big round eyes. Young Do was taken aback.
She thrust her hands into the pockets of her white button up coat, before turning away from him.
He wasn't sure why, but he followed her.
"I will buy you more beer tomorrow if you want." Young Do grinned at her upon reaching her side.
"Go to hell." She sniffed, and stumbled sideways. Young Do grabbed her elbow again. She weakly pulled it out of his grasp, and he let her.
What was wrong with her? Why did she drink so much beer? He wondered with an uneasiness if it were because of the ink incident? She had appeared upset throughout the day at school, too.
She suddenly stopped, and glanced around with glossy eyes, as though in an unfamiliar place.
"Where do you live?" He asked her.
Ji Ah didn't answer, or even acknowledge him. She pulled out her hands, and placed them on her cheeks. "I feel hot." She pouted at the street.
Young Do felt a fluttering in his chest.
"Are you trying to seduce me?" He muttered huskily after a moment.
She ignored him again, and went back to walking. Young Do bit his bottom lip, watching her trudging ahead of him while he remained at his spot.
She stopped walking once again, and furrowed her brows at the sky for a few moments, before Young Do saw a tear slide down her flushed cheek in the pale streetlight.
"What is it with you?" He finally asked. What the hell was wrong with her?
"It's beautiful." She said quietly.
Young Do also looked at the sky, and decided to agree with her. "Eo, it is." He said. "But are you jealous of its beauty? Why is it making you cry?"
She looked at him this time, and something about her tearful gaze disconcerted him. "Because it's also sad.."
Also?
Young Do felt as if she were talking about herself and not the sky.
"Stop it. And go home." He told her, feeling really annoyed now. She looked at him as though he had said something extremely painful.
She moved toward him with an unreadable expression and tear stained cheeks. Young Do tensed when she came to stand right in front of him, closer than necessary, with her round watery eyes fixed on his face. He looked down at her, feeling uneasy and bewildered. Then she did something totally unexpected.
She took one more step closer and placed her head tenderly on his chest.
Young Do's breath hitched in his throat.
"Why is it so peaceful here, when you are a bad guy?" She mumbled.
He felt a chill roll down his spine. His lips parted and he felt a shaking inside hinself, while looking down at her fragile form, resting against him, with such warmth that was reaching inside his chest. He could feel her soft breaths.
Young Do clenched and unclenched his hands, raising one a tentatively to brush her dark hair out of her face. Tilting his head, he looked down at her.
Her eyes were closed. Her wet lashes rested on her equally wet cheeks. Young Do's hand paused close to her cheek, hesitating momentarily, before he gave in to the temptation and caressed her soft cheek gently with his knuckles.
She shivered noticeably, and Young Do felt something stir inside him.
He withdrew his hand, suddenly afraid of his own emotions and clenched them into fists by his side, while trying to calm whatever had kindled inside him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Ahjussi 1'.
'Ahjussi 2'.
'Choi Young Do.'
'The manager'.
'Woo Mi'.
Young Do held Ji Ah's cell phone in one hand and scrolled through her short contact list, while his other arm was wrapped gently around her, as she slumbered peacefully on his chest. There were no 'Eomma' or 'Appa' in her contact list, and he wondered if she didn't have parents, or she were simply not in contact with them.
There was no Kim Tan either, he realised gleefully.
Young Do decided to dial the most recent contact in her cellphone, which was 'Ahjussi 2'.
Someone picked up.
"Hello," Young Do said.
"Who?" A man grunted.
"Who are you to Cha Ji Ah?" Maybe that was not the right way to phrase it?
"Who are you?"
Young Do explained the situation, briefly. Ahjussi 2 sounded irritated while he told Young Do that he would be there to pick up Cha Ji Ah, before he disconnected the call rudely. Young Do scowled at the cellphone.
Ji Ah shuddered on his chest and Young Do wrapped his jacket around her, holding her tightly to him. His pulse gave a kick again and he tightened his jaw. Get a grip on yourself Choi Young Do.
He involuntarily breathed in the faint sweet scent coming from her hair. There was no one else in the street right now, as they stood with Ji Ah buried in his chest, hidden under his black leather jacket. Why would she even get drunk at this time, around here? Young Do mused to himself angrily, while waiting for this 'Ahjussi 2'.
He was surpised when this 'Ahjussi 2' came in a shinning black car to pick up Ji Ah. He was even more surprised to see 'Ahjussi 2'. It took him a moment, but Young Do recognized him. Young Do didn't know his name, but he had seen this man with Seo Nam Gil, a rich conglomerate who owned some shares in Zeus Group.
"I am Ahn Dan Te, her Samchon's secretary. He couldn't come right now, so I came in his place." He explained quickly, looking just as irritated as he had sounded on the phone.
Her Samchon's secretary, did he mean Seo Nam Gil's secretary? Young Do thought in confusion.
He reluctantly carried Ji Ah to the car --refusing to let this secretary guy carry her-- and laid her gently in the backseat.
The secretary guy thanked him briefly, before climbing into the car as well.
Young Do watched their car speed away and placed a palm on his chest where Ji Ah had rested her head.
It was still warm.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Young Do rubbed a towel on his wet hair, while his mind was elsewhere. Grunting, he laid down heavily on his bed, and pulled the thick brown blanket over himself. When he closed his eyes, her glimmering round eyes under the streetlight, appeared before him. Dull and painfully sad.
He opened his eyes, and placed a palm on his chest. There was an odd ache somewhere in there.
Water droplets dribbled down his neck, but he didn't notice.
Why is it so peaceful here, when you are a bad guy?
"Dam it!" He turned over, and placed an arm under his pillow, fidgeting to adjust himself more comfortably.
Sleeping was going to prove hard, tonight, he thought fleetingly. He wondered if she were sleeping just as peacefully in her bed as she had slept on his chest?
One more thing agitated him, as Young Do tossed and turned in his bed, trying to find sleep through his jumbled and excited nerves.
Who was Cha Ji Ah?
The first thing he had done after coming back to the hotel was to look up Seo Nam Gil and his family members. He found an old article about Seo Nam Gil's older sister: Seo Soon Jong. She had left South Korea long ago to marry some man, but to where? No one knew.
That was all on the internet.
He didn't find anything else other than that, as if someone had purposely removed the articles, because media would never leave anyone as affluent as Seo family alone.
Then Cha Ji Ah was this Seo Soon Jong's daughter?
But then why didn't it hit news when she came to Seoul with her parents? And why was she working parttime jobs if she were Seo Hyun Ju and Seo Dae Hee's granddaughter?
Maybe they didn't accept her as their granddaughter. That was possible.
Young Do's mind pondered over questions and possibilities, keeping him awake till nearly midnight. He made a mental note to get proper information about Cha Ji Ah, tomorrow.
She had just gotten more mysterious.
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This chaper is my favourite!
~Fawns~