Chapter 126: Him & Me II

[Yuk Hee’s POV]

I watched from my window as Vanness’ car pulled out of the apartments’ compound.

“It’s not over yet, Jang Kyu Jin,” I said to myself.

He’d started avoiding me like a plague the moment he got back to Taiwan, and I could only guess that he’d realized what I was up to. I can’t imagine why he didn’t want to give us a chance. Did our childhood mean so little to him?

Sure… I’d put him at the back of my mind the moment I left Kwangju. I remembered how we tearfully said goodbye the first time we had to part; when his parents sent him to America. I remembered how I found him to be better looking when he’d just gotten back to Kwangju. But when my parents told me we were moving to Taiwan, I thought nothing about Skye and I decided to make a new life for myself. That was until I saw him on the television in one of S-Cube’s MVs. I knew that I still hadn’t forgotten him, and that he was meant to be part of my life.

I cannot believe that this Hae Rin is so important to him and that he would choose her over me. I’ve seen her pictures and her MVs. She was the usual sweet and delicate beauty. The kind with the big eyes, and reminded you of Japanese anime characters. I found her cuteness annoying. She reminded me of the girls who were the bane of my existence in high school; the girls who made fun of me because I was tall and plain. If it wasn’t for my father’s money, I would not have the face I did today. I denied it whenever someone asked, but it was true that I’ve had some work done. Only my parents knew the truth.

I tapped my manicured nails on the wine glass I held, contemplating my next move. Maybe it was time I went into show business. I had the physique all along, but lacked the face. Now that I had both, I should just go for it. It would help me get closer to Skye. I made a mental note to call the agent who’d approached me sometime ago. He’d probably be able to get me into one of the entertainment companies in Seoul.

“Jang Kyu Jin… you’ll come to your senses soon enough,” I said softly as I stared at the red liquid in the wine glass. “You don’t know it yet, but you’ll be mine… you’ve always been mine.”

[Sierra’s POV]

Another grueling day had ended, and Yun Ho and I headed back home; my temporary home with TVXQ.

“Tired?” he asked me.

“Ani,” I smiled and started rummaging through my bag.

“What are you looking for?”

“My phone,” I said.

“Did you lose it?” he asked me.

“I’m not sure,” I said. “I just suddenly wondered where my phone was.”

“Is it at the HQ?” he asked me.

“Maybe,” I said. “I can’t find it in my bag.”

The phone was a present from Jae Joong. He’ll probably get upset if he found out that I’d lost it.

“Let’s turn back,” Yun Ho said and he made a U-turn at the next traffic light.

“Komawo,” I said.

“No problem. I know Jae Joong gave you that phone,” he said.

“How did you know?”

“I helped pick it,” he said.

“Oh…” was all I could say.

“Aren’t you going to tell me that I have good taste?” he joked.

“You have good taste,” I smiled.

“Thank you. That was a very sincere comment. It touched my heart,” he said with a straight face, and I had to giggle.

“Someday… some girl is going to be very lucky,” I said.

“Lucky? Why?” he asked.

“Because she will marry you, and you are the perfect man,” I said.

“If I were the perfect man, you’d still be with me,” he smiled.

“Well… Jae Joong’s pretty perfect himself, so now that I have him, you have to be someone else’s. I can’t be too greedy,” I said.

“True…”

“And you are perfect…” I said. “There are also flaws in perfection.”

“You’re doing it again,” he laughed.

“What am I doing?”

“Twisting your words to make them sound logical… you do it so much that eventually you even lose your train of thought and it ends up as a huge incoherent concept.”

“I do not,” I said.

“Yes, you do,” he laughed. “I used to tell you to stop. Remember?”

“You just didn’t want to listen to me. There’s nothing wrong with my theories,” I said.

“Yea… and you never back down.”

“Jung Yun Ho…” I said.

“Ne?” he replied.

“Keumanhae,” I said.

“Araso,” he laughed. “You always win.”

“Yes, I do,” I laughed.

We reached the HQ building and thankfully, they were not closed yet.

“We left something behind,” Yun Ho told the guard as we walked in, and he just nodded as we rushed in towards the meeting room we were in, earlier.

I flipped on the switches and started looking around for my phone.

“Found it,” Yun Ho said as he held up the phone for me to see.

Just then, the door closed with a loud bang, and we could hear someone punch in the codes from outside to lock it.

“Not again?” I groaned.

“Yah!” Yun Ho yelled and banged on the door. Then we heard the sound of footsteps as the person walked away.

“I can’t count how many times this has happened,” I said.

“Well… at least we’re not in darkness,” Yun Ho said, and he’d spoken too soon.

Just as he finished his sentence, the lights went out.

“Yun Ho…” I called out.

“Yea… I’m right here,” he said and he flipped open my phone so that we had some light.

I walked slowly towards him and reached out for his arm.

“Sit down,” he said, and he pulled out a chair for me.

As I sat down, he started dialing the number of the building’s front desk on my phone.

“Yoboseyo… ye… choneun Yun Ho-imnida. Ye… Dong Bang Shin Ki leader, Yun Ho-imnida.”

As he explained our predicament to the front desk, I rolled the seat towards the table and lay my head on it. I took a deep breath and sighed. Why was I always the victim of such predicaments?

“Ye… please send someone to open the door quickly. Ye… komapseumnida,” he said, and he hung up.

“Anyone coming?” I asked him.

“They said they’ll need to call the supervisor in. Apparently he’s on leave today,” he explained.

“Then who the hell locked us in?” I said.

“I don’t know… but you seem to attract such people,” he laughed.

“I really hope this is an accident,” I said. “I can’t take another anti-fan prank.”

“I don’t think you have that many anti-fans,” Yun Ho said as he pulled out a chair to sit beside me. “Your phone,” he said as he handed it to me.

“Komawo,” I said. “If someone was here, I may have to change my number again. He probably saw my phone.”

“Yeah… We can run to the shop and get that done tomorrow,” he said.

“It’s fine,” I replied. “I’ll go with Jae Joong before you guys leave for Japan.”

“Worried?” he asked me, after a brief moment of silence.

“Mwoga?”

“Are you worried about him being away?” he asked.

“Ani,” I said. “I just worry if he works too hard. You guys work extra hard when you’re in Japan.”

“It’s not home ground. We need to,” he said.

“I understand.”

“You can come visit,” he suggested.

“I have a drama to film, remember?” I said.

“What a coincidence…” he said.

“Yep… life’s full of coincidences.”

“Well… if you had no drama to film, you have no money either. You’ll just need to bear with your schedule.”

“I know,” I said. “Why do you always speak to me like you did when I first debut?”

“Why?” he said. “Because it still feels like it to me. I still find that you haven’t been able to adapt 100%.”

“I’m fine,” I said. “I’m practically a veteran now.”

“3 years does not make you a veteran,” he smiled.

I was starting to be able to see his face now, in the darkness, since my eyes were adapting.

“Arayo… sonbae,” I joked.

“Choayo… nuna,” he teased me back.

“You’ve never called me that,” I giggled.

“I think I should. With you dating Jae Joong and you being older,” he said.

“You don’t even call Jae Joong ‘hyung’.”

“Right…” he said.

“You even had me call you ‘oppa’ in the past.”

“Ah… yes… those were the days,” he laughed.

“3 years…” I sighed. “It’s been 3 years already.”

“Missing home?” he asked.

“No,” I said. “I’m just wondering what I have been doing in this past 3 years. It seemed as if I’d just gotten off the plane yesterday.”

“Yea… and dated me and Jae Joong in 1 day,” he laughed.

“Hehehe… chaemin-anikka?” I said sarcastically and punched him lightly on the arm.

“Waegeurae?” he whined, but was still laughing. “You’ve done a lot in these 3 years. Why do you sound so disappointed?”

“Something’s missing,” I said.

“Your grand wedding?” he said.

“Maybe…” I said wistfully.

“You’re not serious, are you?” he asked me.

“Of course not. As if Jae Joong and I can afford to do that now.”

“Right…” he said, and there was that silence again.

The room was starting to smell musky from the carpet and lack of ventilation, and I suddenly felt feverish. I rubbed my eyes and stretched, trying to shake off the feeling.

“Waegeurae?” Yun Ho asked me, sensing I was uncomfortable.

“I’m feeling feverish, and a bit dizzy,” I said.

“I think it’s because the room is stuffy,” he said. “Come here,” he added and he rolled over and pulled me gently towards him so that my head rested on his shoulder.

“Yun Ho,” I protested and tried to pull away.

“I know how you are when you don’t feel well,” he said. “Don’t tell me you don’t need this.”

“It’s more of I can’t,” I sighed, but stayed there anyway.

“We’re just friends. This is nothing for friends,” he said.

“Single friends, maybe,” I said, and I just closed my eyes and pretended it wasn’t Yun Ho I was leaning on.

I think the both of us fell asleep in the darkness and in each other’s comfort, because when the door was finally opened, we didn’t pull apart in time. Just as I managed to open my eyes and try to pull away, we were greeted with a flash of light.