His Obsession: Chapter 7

For so long I have felt alone, content to live with unrest.
Longing faded into countless nights that buried my weary heart.

There was one thing that Julia disliked more than an over excited Xiaoyu. A suspicious Xiaoyu. And the Chinese girl was definitely hitting her radar with all the mysterious grinning and sneakiness she was giving off. Hn. Sometimes she was honestly scared of the younger woman.

But Xiaoyu had said nothing more about Hwoarang or Steve, merely gave her a strange look and left Julia's apartment so she could get ready on time for her "date." And right now Julia was no longer in the mood to try and fool Hwoarang. Maybe it was because of her uncomfortable outfit, or perhaps because her friend was being a little strange, but right now she just wanted to change into some comfy clothes, grab some Ben & Jerry's, and curl up on the couch and watch some discovery channel.

Unfortunately, the universe had other plans. She couldn't complain about Steve, since he arrived right on time, looking completely innocent and gentlemanly.. ish.. So with a sigh, Julia left her apartment and towards Steve's car. He gave her a charming smile. "You look great, Julia."

"Steve, you do understand this isn't a real date, right?" Julia sighed, getting in his vehicle as he closed the door for her.

"Sure, but if I have to play along I might as well put on my best moves to make it more believable, right?" He winked.

"As long as your moves aren't perverted.." Julia muttered, getting out herself as they arrived at the club. The black heels that Ling urged her to wear were killing her feet, not to mention these underwear sucked. Mix the two together and you have a wardrobe nightmare. But she was a little fond of the white silk camisole she wore, although the skirt Ling forced her to wear was shorter than the ones she was used to. Meh.

Steve held her hand as they walked in the club, the lights bouncing everywhere and the music pulsing through her entire being. He led her through the throng of people and she made out the sight of a pink Xiaoyu and a well dressed Jin. And if she wasn't mistaken, Jin also adorned a blush. How... cute?

"Julllllia!" Ling squealed happily, not seeing the finished product since she left after she was done with the makeup. "You look so great!" She leaned in and whispered, "Hwoarang won't know what hit him."

"An anvil?" I hoped pitifully.

Suddenly, she gripped Julia's arm so forcefully that Julia suddenly wondered where the hell she packed such strength in such a tiny frame. "What?!" Julia asked, alarmed.

"Hwoarang's here." Ling whispered, then gasped.. "With.. with.. what's she doing here?!" She asked outraged.

Julia tensed and turned around slowly. He wasn't hard to spot, since he was the only one with that color hair and she was kind of used to spotting him. Her eyes gazed beside him, and thats when she felt it. A pang of hurt, and worst of all, jealousy. She was shocked to discover that Hwoarang did arrive, but with Nina.. what a surprise. Not to mention her outfit was.. well, she wanted to say disturbing, but every other man was looking at it as God's greatest gift to man.

It was like a second skin, her top. And its neckline was almost nonexistent, plunging down her middle in a dramatic v-shape. She was almost sure she would be witnessing a tragic slip of the shirt if Nina moved at all. And her skirt was way shorter than hers. And her gorgeous blonde hair was pulled up almost professionally. Suddenly, Julia almost felt plain looking at her.

She tore her eyes away and sighed, "This was a bad plan."

Xiaoyu scoffed, "So he brought a barbie doll, so what? Her boobs probably aren't even real, and come on, she doesn't even leave anything to the imagination. Not to mention Hwoarang looks bored with her. He's probably just trying to get a rise out of you since you're here with Steve. Men."

Julia opted to mention that she was doing the same thing with Steve, but decided against it. Knowing that Nina was Steve's mother (although they didn't seem like family) she looked at Steve to see if he saw Nina as well.

However, Steve was chatting amiably with someone she did not know, apparently not noticing or not caring to see for himself. He turned his head and gave her a smile, "Don't look too bummed already, we just got here."

Julia nodded, bored.

Steve pinched her cheek and grabbed her hand. "Well, if you want him to chase after you, you can't just stand here doing nothing. Lets dance, Jules!" She had no time to argue as she was rushed to the dance floor in a matter of seconds. Some fast paced techno song was playing loudly, and Steve grabbed her waist and started moving his body to the music.

Julia had no idea why, but she hated the way men looked while dancing. It looked so odd and amusing to her that she always hated dancing with men. So that was why when she started dancing, she couldn't help but to laugh out loud. Thankfully, her laughter was drowned by the music.

She shrugged and moved her body to the music, closing her eyes and letting it overtake her. She pretended that it was not Steve she was dancing with, rather it was a stubborn redhead whose eyes pierced into her very soul, giving her a sexy grin while she rubbed her body against his. His hand drifted down and she felt her skirt lift up, but rather than be alarmed, she made a sound of pleasure.

As soon as she felt his hands travel towards her butt, they were forcefully torn away. Julia snapped her eyes open in alarm, and that was when she saw it.

One moment Steve was right in front of her, and the next minute he was flying all the way across the dance floor. People gasped and moved away as his body descended on the floor, and she saw a flurry of red dash forward.

It was then that Julia pieced together what was exactly going on. Hwoarang was not dancing with her, but apparently, he was very, very angry about it.

Julia rushed forward as Hwoarang was hovering over Steve, punching him mercilessly into the ground. She shoved him off Steve with all her might, but he shrugged her off and lunged for Steve again, his hands wrapping around his throat.

"Hwoarang stop it!" Julia screamed, beating against his back.

"He had his hands up your fucking skirt, Julia!" Hwoarang growled, not taking his eyes off Steve, who was struggling against his vice grip.

"I said let him go, he can't breathe!" Julia yelled. Her words had no affect on him, so she took a deep breath and reared her fist back, and punched him in the face.

The force knocked him on his back, and he lay there, stunned. At that moment the bouncers finally decided to arrive, hauling Hwoarang to his feet and forced him towards the exit. He did not look at Julia once.

Angry and confused, Julia helped Steve to his feet. "You okay?"

Nevertheless, he managed a smile. "He can't kick my ass that easily." Julia looked at him skeptically and nodded, "I'm so sorry Steve for getting you in this mess.."

He held up his hand, "I'm used to fighting him." He winked. "But seeing that reaction, I think you got what you wanted. You might want to find him, though. Don't worry about me."

Julia thanked him repeatedly, and then walked to the exit that Hwoarang was most likely thrown out of. A figure blocked her way, however, and she looked up into cold blue eyes. "You'll cause nothing but trouble for one another, Julia Chang." Nina's voice cut through her haze.

"Not now, Nina." Julia muttered, trying to walk around her. Nina blocked her yet again.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." She said, a small smile on her lips.

Julia was beginning to get pissed off. "Why the hell not?"

"He got pretty pissed off when Steve was feeling you up, he lost his cool. And what did you do, Julia? You punch him." She snickered, "I bet he's got a poor, broken heart now. Tsk tsk, Julia Chang, I thought you were smarter than that."

"What? I punched him because he was trying to kill Steve. Its not like anyone else was trying to stop him." Julia sighed, exasperated.

Nina laughed loudly. "He wouldn't have killed Steve and you know it. You panicked, and hit him, in defense of another man. He picked you, over and over again, Julia. But you were too blind to ever notice that." She lit a cigarette and shook her head. "Love is always blind. Pity."

And with those last words ringing through Julia's head, Nina sauntered around her and towards the bar. Her words were swimming around in her brain, and suddenly, Julia felt so utterly stupid. She shouldn't have ever tried to make Hwoarang jealous, or even go as far as she did. Because of her actions, he was hurting, and it was all because of her. Why would she ever want to do that, if she did in fact care for him?

A hand on her shoulder startled her, and Julia turned to see Ling staring at her with a mixture of sadness and apology. "Julia, I.."

"I'm going home." Julia said quickly. "Go have fun with Jin, don't worry about me. I'll be fine." She stepped away and out the exit, and headed for her apartment. She had no idea where Hwoarang could be now, but something told her the last thing he wanted was to see her.

The night was cold and windy, her pace quickened through the streets to get home. It wasn't that far of a walk, she supposed. She grabbed her keys and turned the corner to her apartment. She walked to her door and unlocked it, but a noise to her left stopped her from moving. Turning her head, Julia was shocked to see Hwoarang standing against the wall.

She opened her mouth to say something, but the words stopped at her throat. He was staring at the ground, and she had no idea what he was thinking then, and she felt like crying. "I'm sorry." She whispered.

They stood there for a long moment, those words lingering in the cold night air. Julia felt as though time were suddenly going too slowly, or that maybe it was the wrong thing to say. But as soon as she stepped away, intending to just leave it at that and go inside, a firm hand grasped her arm roughly, preventing movement.

Julia looked at him and opened her mouth to speak, but the look in his eyes - eyes that were finally looking at her - made her stop short.

"You look beautiful tonight." Hwoarang said softly.

Julia watched as his hand reached towards her and his body shifted closer, his face inching towards hers. Suddenly the air was thick, hot, and she felt as though it hurt to breathe. She held her breath as his lips were so close to hers, wondering, hoping. His hand touched the side of her neck, and he leaned in and kissed her cheek softly.

Julia let out a breath as he moved away from her, backing towards the street. He paused, "Then again, you always do."

And in a blink, he was gone. Disappeared.

But for some reason, she felt like crying even more now.

READ! I know, its been forever. Hopefully theres still readers out there. I kind of rushed through this, still, so I apologize if its not up to standards. Thank you all for reading, and reviewing, it means a lot. I'm not satisfied with the Steve and Nina stuff, but I figure since they aren't really main characters here, I could just leave it as I wished. ALSO: If you guys want more Hwoarang/Julia to read, I've got a story I'm building up, you can read it at my Livejournal. Its part of a challenge. Hope you can, it'd mean a lot. If you desire so, the link is in my profile. :) :)

Anyway, til then. Ciao!