Stephanie Hwang
I lean on the door that I've just closed on Kim Taeyeon. I slide down it slowly and sigh thinking about what has happened tonight. I've met the most attractive man on earth today. He looked like an asian mix between Matt Bomer with a little bit of Hugh Jackman. The man looked so aggressive and intimidating from a far, but when you got closer to him his eyes were warm and kind, just like how he spoke. At first when he approached me I was a little scared, even his walk was freighting, and so was his posture. I thought he was a total creep for asking me such blunt questions at first, but then I saw the look in his eyes and his warm touch wrapped around me like a silk blanket, I was at ease. His brown hair was perfectly combed to the side and looked so soft; the kind that you can run your hands through 100 times, he had hazelnut eyes that were so inviting and kind but when you get a glimpse of his back you see this tall man about to knock somebody out. Why does he look so intimidating, it almost makes him unapproachable.
I take off my shoes and walk upstairs to my bedroom and kneel down as my dog Prince starts barking and running around me like he just saw squirrel.
"Hey Prince. I missed you" I lean down giving him a kiss on the head.
"I think I just met the most attractive man in the world today, he's funny, charming, and kind. Well I think he's kind, he's nice to me at least. But he acts so differently towards other people. I think he's different Prince-ah." I say with a smile.
Prince just looks at me and tilts his head to the right a little bit.
"He's like my Prince Charming, the ones you see in movies and books, the kind that saves you from the bad guys and sweeps you up like you're his princess and his everything."
Prince just lays on my lap for a few minutes, before sleeping quietly.
"Don't worry Prince-ah, you'll still be my Prince." I say as I stroke his ears.
I pick him up and he starts whining in my hold, nudging against my arms. He looks up at me with beady eyes and I sigh.
"He's not like Nick, at least thats what I think. I'm hoping he's . . . different." I glance at the clock;12:48 AM the clock read. I put him on my bed as I take off my dress and get ready for bed.
The night was silent as the ambiance was filled with the sounds of waves washing ashore and a distant boat giving it's final horn. My thoughts were pretty hectic though, it'd call them noisy if I could label them something.
I've never met someone who's so warm and makes me feel like I'm living in a fairy tale and in instance. It's almost as if he's someone that will protect me from all the bad things in life and who won't hurt me or make me cry. He may be the one who accompanies me to my happy ending. Not like the last "Prince Charming" who broke my heart and shattered it into pieces. Not like the last.
But this fairy tale, or whatever we as a society label as the 'perfect life' is something you sohuldn't strive for. It's decieving, it lies, it doesn't show you the battles, the pains you go through.
The battles I went through in the pass has altered my perception of anything else I do in the future. I don't trust anyone, I can't look at someone the same and think if they have a second agenda, or if they're really just a colleague trying to be kind or if they're just a person just trying to be a friend.
I can't help but question Taeyeon when I met him. He had this aura around him that made him so mysterious. There's something about him that I can't pick out. He asked too many questions, and even then those questions were weird. He wanted to drive me home and yet I also questioned that. It wasn't normal to me. Throughout the night, despite having an unexpectedly good time, I had so many doubts about him.
There's no trust, I can't trust him. I have to question everything. He could be the same as every guy I've met. A heartbreaker.
Touching the bed one last time, sinking into the pillow made me fall asleep instantly dreaming about that asian Matt Bomer look a like. All I see is just his face, plastered onto his body. Pretty weird if I say so myself, but a girl can dream.
Getting up the next morning was basically a frantic race against time as I scrambled to get up for the last day of work. I overslept and had to beat the clock as I barely caught the bus. When I arrived, I took a look at the quaint school that I'll work at for the last time before departing from it forever. I took a deep breath and walked in the school, reminisce the old times and thinking about what I'll do next after I leave.
Working as a teacher was pretty fulfilling, I got to be close to little growing masses of energy. I teach them things to help them learn, to grow and to foster that curiosity in their small minds and thats what I like most about being a teacher. It starts with me to develop them.
But my life alone hasn't been pretty. The past few months I've been struggling to even get a teaching position so I end up subbing, but 3 months ago the kindgerten teacher at this school went on a leave and they needed a temporary replacement at that time, so thats where I came in.
One of my weaknesses is that I get so attatched to people, or thins really easily. So it was pretty hard to find out that the teacher was coming back and I wasn't needed anymore so I got laid off. Today was my last day to say bye to the kids, and back to a day to day subbing job in which I'll only see students or kids one or twice and probably never encoutner them ever again till I get a stable position.
But the moment I stepped out at 7 PM was a bitter sweet one. I smiled and to my coworkers who welcomed me with open arms. I had just finished packing up while having long conversations throughout the evening with my students's parents who bid me a good farewell. I forgot that the last rounds of bus's came at this time, being so caught up with everything else. I was carry my belongings in a cardboard box sprinting down the icy sidewalk trying to catch the bus that I unfortunately and coincidentally missed. It was no joke; I am so unfit.
I look down at my wrist to see my watch that read 7:25 PM. and with the winter season approaching the days got shorter and it got dark real fast. I adjust my coat pulling it closer to my chest as I breathe out to see my own breath dissipating in the air. I grip the cardboard box tighter and hastily make my way through the shortcut to the second bus stop down the dark ally way.
It reeked of urine and cigarette smoke as I walked past the red brick walls that were nicked in the corners with the walls covered in endless gang graffiti. A couple of homeless men were scattered along the walls beside dumpsters or some of the nooks and crannies between the old buildings trying to catch a glimpse of warmth.
I quicken my pace as I heard a distant dog bark and some drunkards. I swear I felt and heard someone behind me breathing down my neck as I increase my speed down the alley way, sometimes I question my intelligence to as why I'd go down a damn dark path at 8 pm at night.
When my feet crunched on a plastic bottle, it echoed through then arrow path of dirty buildings which freaked me out even more before a hunched back male in tattered trench coats with a bottle in one hand and a cigarette barely hanging on to their mouths emerged from the abyss and or shadows and grabs and shoves me against the wall.
I flinch at his touch and kick and scream as the echoing of my dropped box hits the floor and rings in my ear. Memories and flashbacks run through my mind in the split second and I feel like I'm watching myself be put in that same horrid position I was at a few months before.
"What are you doing here all alone? You need a big strong man to help you carry that miss?" The man hisses in my ear while his other hand drops the bottle on the floor letting it shatter as he grasps my arm tightly.
I struggle to even move as he pins me straight up the wall with their legs in between mine feeling me up. A hand travels up my shirt, ripping the shirt. Enough that the buttons pop and fly out.
I thrashed in his hold and hot tears escapes violently. I pushed, hit, kicked and yelled with all my might but I'm just not strong enough. I felt like I was in that same dark room all over again, being beaten and beaten till I can no longer stand.
"Help! Ple-" A hand covers my mouth and jerks my head back to the brick wall almost knocking my out unconscious.
"Shut up, no ones going to help you! Don't even try to bring attention to yourself you slut. You're mine tonight." He smothers his lips onto mine aggressively attacking my face and I move my leg kicking him in the groin, he pulls back with pain as he grabs his sacred area. "Fuck!" He groans out.
"Someone! Please help!" I shout and scream exhaling all the air in my lungs hoping that my efforts would get noticed. I stumble on my knees as I run through the mans legs. My head was throbbing so bad, it was like pulsing every second and every moment.
"You fucking bitch!"He shouts and I hear him getting up to catch up to me. I couldn't run fast enough before he thrusts back into the wall again and slaps me right across the face. The side of my head hits the back wall and I slump down on the floor clearly dazed out of reality and my vision starts to fog up. I felt a metal rod being inflicted on my body multiple times and the stinging pain and throbbing aches it created along my body started to settle in.
The last thing I saw was a tall familiar figure pulling the man off of me, punching him square in the face shouting profanities at him. The dark rich melodic tones fill my ears despite it being angry. A jacket is draped over me like a blanket and I succumb to the warmth. I feel the soft touch on my shoulder and back as I get picked up gently in their arms. My head is pounding, and my heart is racing even faster, where this person is taking me I don't know. I'm too tired to fight back.
"Stephanie? Hey, it's me." I open my eyes slightly just to see a dimly lit room and Taeyeon's blurry face hovering above mine. My head is still pounding and my right shoulder feels like it's been battered and beaten to a pulp. I feel my body ache everywhere even though I'm snug on a coach probably worth more than my house and a blanket made of Egyptian silk imported around more countries than I'll ever go to.
I basically freaked out and sat right up, effectively bonking my head to his. I slump down into the sofa looking down to my hand when I felt something soft in them. I open my palm just to see a slightly bloodied hanker chief with the initials 'T.Y' engraved in the corner.
"Ow." We both said in unison. He chuckles quietly as he reaches out for the glass of water beside him, handing it to me and two pain killers.
"Thank you." I manage to croak out despite my dry throat, I even lost my voice.
"Are you okay? Your cheek got a little bit cut so I kind of fixed it for you temporarily. We can go to the hospital later or if you want I can bring my doctor here?" He helps me tilt the glass up to my lips, waiting patiently as I sip the water slowly.
"I-I'm okay." The tears began to form as I remembered what happened before I passed out. Almost dying in a dark alley, the trigger of my past, and then the heroic save?
He nods his head and looks away from me briefly. "So um, what were you doing in that passage in the dark?" He started playing with the end of the blanket looking dejected.
I turn away just to see my reflection in the big glass pane in front of me and Taeyeon staring at the reflection too, grinning slightly but expressed his concern through his brown orbs. I felt like crying but I had no more to cry. I haven't been touched like that since my breakup. I thought I was free at last but it triggered so many memories. I stayed quiet, biting my lip hoping that it'll stop anything from coming out. I heard him sigh and he ran his hand through his short brown silky hair.
"I was in a business meeting and I was just leaving the building when I heard someone scream from the back so I turned around to check it out and there you were helpless against a wall with some sleazy man on top of you. I called out for you but you blacked out before I could even say anything else." He says, softly tapping my shoulder but I refuse to turn around, for him to see me like this.
"Sorry to burden you. I should get going, thank you for helping me." I say slowly peeling the blanket off of me and handing back his satin cloth as I get up but he places a hand on my knee stopping me. I stare at it for the longest time. I wanted to get that hand away from me but strangely I didn't make an effort to.
"No, keep this. You also need to stay because I don't think you should go out like that alone in the dark anymore. You're not a 100% ready to handle the world yet and I have a guest room you can stay in, I don't mind. You're not a nuisance to me and I insist." He drapes the blanket over me and I obediently lay back down on the soft pillow still holding onto the silky cloth. I feel the bumpy initials in between my fore finger and thumb.
Great, now I feel like a useless lump leeching off this guy because I'm not capable of even walking outside without getting jumped.
I sigh and I feel his fingers caress my hand. "Tae, I need to shower. I need to wash away the bad things please." Tears start to well in my eyes and I couldn't keep it in.
He slowly picks my hand up and half carries me to the bathroom. He places me on the marble counter and ran the water. He checks it twice before excusing himself to get a shirt for me. I looked around at the luxurious space. White and black colours with a silver accent. Everything was made out of marble, all the little furniture was made out of like sleek metal.
He lives well. I sigh and take a breath in, uncomfortable with the environment.
"Couldn't find anything, but since you bruised the side of your arm you should wear a button up, since you know putting on t-shirts can hurt?" He stutters. I reached out for the shirt but wince at the pain. He quickly steps in and looks at me with concern. "Can I, help?" He says, his hands touching the hem of my blouse.
I nod and with slightly shaking hands helps me pull my shirt off. I look away embarrassed and shy. He slowly and cautiously unbuttons my shirt and I heard him gulp. I flinch at the pain when he pulled it off me and he stopped and looked at me. I nodded and he kept going, his brows furrowed as he was concentrated.
I looked at the hand hovering above my body. The fingers that were holding onto hem of my shirt were slowly lowered. I looked up and saw his eyes become some dark, icy and angry.
"It's so bad. I didn't realize you got hurt this bad." He whispered so lightly. His hand had trouble keeping still and it trailed my cuts and bruises gently. It hurt it I felt so trapped under him, not that it was a bad thing. It made the pain become muffled and I couldn't feel it as much.
He brought a towel up to wipe off the dried blood around my torso and with every swipe he gulped down the big rock in his throat. I don't even know how I'm allowing myself to let him touch me or see me this bare in front of him. I don't know how.
My hand reaches up to my shoulder and it grazed his hand. We both stopped and I slowly irked myself to look at him. He flashes me a quick smile and I cover myself up and he stutters through his last words and quirkily smiles at me before leaving.
I take a deep breath and slowly enter the luxury tub. My body aches and I could barely limp to the edge. As soon as I laid my body inside, I felt the jets on my body and I started to relax at the comfort of his tub.
Minutes pass and I see his silhouette through the door. "Hey, are you okay? Did you faint in the tub?" His rich voice was heard from the other side of the door.
"Um." I mutter as he barges through the door before walking out with his body faced away from me. I thank the god for the bubbly soap that covered my upper area.
"Holy sh-shit. Sorry I didn't hear anything and I thought you like died. Not died but like something happened? Sorry I shouldn't have done that." He had so many jitters that he couldn't even say those words without stuttering one bit; adorable.
I step out of the tub and wrap myself up with the towel. I stand behind him and poke him in the back.
"Can you help me? I can't put your shirt on." I say shyly, I don't think it was even audible.
He turns around and sheepishly smiles before propping me up on the bathroom counter. I knew he was trying to not eye me and at the same time I tried looking away but it never works. He helps me slip on the shirt as I covered myself up with the towel. One by one he buttons the shirt up and I can hear his loud gulp in the bathroom. By the time he got to the middle button, I brushes his hand away softly, wanting to do it myself. He's trying hard not to stare and I thank him for that. I bit my lip hard to suppress the awkwardness.
I felt myself have this rush of adrenaline. This hot feeling started to creep up my body and I tried so hard to not look at him. But I caught a glimpse of him, and oh my god he's perfect. Is he even real?
He helps me up to lean on his body as he half carried me to his bed. He sits me down and pulls out a stool, rummaging through his nightstand for a plastic box.
"We have to clean the cut on your arm and bandage it. Sit pretty and I'll do the rest okay?" He chuckles and I smiled back showing my sincere gratitude towards him.
He pulled my bra strap and shirt off gently, and I felt my face heat up again. I look away and shut my eyes at the pain every time he dabbed alcohol on it. His concentrated face is really something I kind of liked about him. But then again, I like a lot of things about him already.
"It's okay, I'm here. You won't die. I'm a certified professional magical arm slash wound healer, rest assured your satisfaction is 100 percent guaranteed." Cheeky Taeng is the best type of Taeng.
Something about him that makes him light up the mood in this room makes him a lot more attractive. I'm falling for him too fast and it's dangerous, way too dangerous for me and my fragile heart.
My body kept jerking every time he dabbed the towel on my arm. He starts frowning and I was afraid I upset him but he walked out of the room and came back with a little stuffed monkey plushy.
He smiles goofily and places it on my lap. "His names George. He enjoys long walks by the beach, deep conversations, and bananas."
I immediately grabbed it to look at it. It kind of resembled him, a baby monkey is exactly what Taeyeon was. Cute.
I couldn't stop smiling. A big hunky guy like him owns a stuffed animal? Sign me up.
"All done love." He says quietly looking at me with sad eyes. He switches between my shoulder and my eyes and I catch his jaw to stop him. Which really surprised me because I didn't know I had the courage to do that.
"You are so adorable." I caress his tight jawline and rough 5 o'clock shadow. I felt ourselves getting closer and closer as I stare into his brown eyes. It looked so sad and the way he locked gazes with me made my heart beat faster. It skipped beat after beat.
He leaned in closer, looking at me intently and I felt so protected and just trapped in his gaze. His lips tugged upwards and I kept grazing my thumbs on his cheek.
This is so bad, so so so bad. There was no way I could stop it though. Something inside me just turned off and my guards are falling piece by piece the more time I spend with him.
Dangerous yes, and it could be incredibly fatal if I don't be careful.
He smiled a bit wider and leaned closer. I held my breath when he gently kissed me on the lips. I kissed him back, and when he parted his lips from mine I looked at him with an ever growing pain in my chest. He broke it off first.
My heart shook for a while, I probably got the wrong message. Who am I kidding, a playboy billionaire wanting to settle down with a girl like me? I guess my accusations were wrong when he pulled me closer and kisses me again. My hand got lost in his hair and I felt his hand graze the side of my arm. When we pulled back we both smile and stare at each other for a little longer.
"Sleep in my room, I'll sleep outside. Call me if you need anything okay?" He gets up from the stool but I grab onto his rough masculine hands with all my might.
"Taeyeon, please don't go. Just stay with me for today, for tonight. Or long enough for me to fall asleep. Please?" He hesitates and stops his movement locking my gaze. He grazes my hand softly with his thumb before clasping his hand onto mine and laying his other hand on top.
He sits down on the stool again, pulling it closer to the edge of the bed gently tucking my hair behind my ear and touching the fresh cut on my cheek gently.
"I'll be here when you wake up, go to sleep okay?" He whispered so softly.
I give him a quick nod and I'm quickly shrouded by the thought of sleep and knowing that I'm protected I can feel at ease.
I woke up the slight snore and warmth on my hand caused me to stir. My vision was fogged and when it cleared up I saw the man who saved me last night sleeping on my hand, his mouth ajar and light snores came out of it. He looked so cute, but what's with his angry scowling sleeping face?
My hand hesitated to retract my hand from his resting head. I didn't want to wake him but I wanted to touch him. I slowly pulled my hand back till the side of his face rested on the sofa. My hand kept shaking for no apparent reason while I reached out for him to caress the side of his head.
My hand kept grazing it, getting lost in his perfect smooth hair and I rubbed the shell of his ear gently. He knits his brows and slowly opens his eyes to meet mine. He shook his head in confusion at first, but started to smile goofily when he finally understood what was going on.
"Good morning. How did you sleep?" I ask him still rubbing my hand on the back of his head.
"I think I should be asking you that." He says groggily with his husky voice, oh my.
"I don't know, by the pooling wet spot of drool I'd say you had a pretty good sleep." He jerks up with wide eyes and touches the corner of his mouth. He frowns cutely when he finds out there was nothing.
"Just kidding." I giggled.
All of a sudden he sits up closer to me. He starts to cup his hands on my cheek and I feel myself heat up. He looks right into my eyes with an all serious expression and I felt a little bit overwhelmed. I turn my head to the side snapping our gazes and he sits back down a bit shy.
"Sorry, uh that was really weird I didn't know why I did that. Just wanted to check how you were healing up."
"Oh. I'm fine. Thanks." I mumble feeling uncomfortable with him.
"Yeah, it looks better from what I can see." He stutters his words and rubs the back of his neck awkwardly.
"I need to go home." I peel the covers off me and was about to stand up.
"I'll take you home." He perks up rather quickly and gets up.
"That's okay, you've done a lot for me Taeng. I think I can go home myself."
"No I insist. Not after what happened last night."
"Taeyeon-ah, I don't th-"
"Stop it. Just let me take you home so I know you're safe and that I've seen it with my own two eyes. I don't want to bicker Stephanie, but please let me do this." His stern look intimidated me really. He gave off such an icy vibe that made me a bit scared to refuse his offer.
I know a little bit about him after our encounter at the gala, I still can't help but be a little sceptical of him.
"Do you want to have breakfast at least? I know a good restaurant, I mean if you want to go. Or I can bring my chef and we can eat here. He's pretty go-"
"No Tae, I just want to go home. Please just take me home." I plead and start to move to the door. I hear him shuffle and then drape his suit jacket over me. He held out my belongings that was neatly folded and piled towards me. I grabbed it and slipped my shoes on before he opens the door for me.
The ride home was so awkward. He didn't say anything and I didn't either. I just saw the profile of his face and I was praying to god he didn't see me checking him out.
When we stopped at my houses front curb I opened the car door he told me to stay and he rushed to my side and opened the door for me and helped me walk to my door. He took the keys from my purse and help me unlock it as I leaned against the wall.
"Thank you Tae. I really don't know how to repay you. To be honest I wouldn't know what could've happened to me if you weren't there. Thank you, for everything." I slip the jacket off of me and hand it to him along with his handkerchief. I was reluctant to hand over the monkey plush but I did it anyways. He pushed my hand back and shakes his head.
"Keep it."
"These belong to you not me."
"Hey, just keep it. It'll make me feel better." He says with a tight smile.
I look down with the items in hand and the awkward silence was inevitable. I hated it so much but I just stood there.
"This means that I get to keep George right?" I said, holding up the monkey plush in my hand.
He chuckled and nodded his head with his hands in his pocket looking so charming.
"Um, I should probably get inside. I don't want to take up more of your time since you know you're a busy person and you like have things to do and so do I but you know I still don't want to bur-"
"I'd like to see you again." He says as he cuts me off, staring at the floor awkwardly. I swear we look like awkward teenagers on our first date. I tried to hide my smile and excitement inside me but a part of me told me no, that's not right. This thing, relationship, budding friendship. It won't be right and it will lead back to what happened a few months ago.
"Oh, okay. Um. I'll call you." He nods his head and I can see his small smile. He kept kicking up the gravel underneath his feet with his hands in his pocket.
I went on my tip toes to plant a kiss on his dimpled cheek before whispering a thank you in his ear and turning the door knob and going in, closing it quickly behind me.
My heart was beating so fast, it's was the gala night all over again.