by Con Template
When Tae Hyun finally parted his lips, all of her assumptions dissolved.
"How the hell did you get a bloody nose?"
She was mentally tossed against a wall from his unexpected question, which had absolutely nothing to do with her showing concern toward Ji Hoon. Apparently, she wasn't very good at reading him after all. And as the night lingered on, Yoori would come to realize that her lack of knowledge to the inner workings of Kwon Tae Hyun's mind would extend further than the non-verbal misunderstanding beside the elevator.
“There is a God who falls.”
13: 10:48 P.M.
Once Yoori found Ji Hoon's men, the same ones she saw when they walked into the hotel, she promptly told them that Ji Hoon was up in the VIP suite and that he needed them. They were initially confused until they saw Tae Hyun waiting for Yoori by the revolving doors. A dawning bout of knowledge illuminated in their eyes and they immediately understood what occurred in the VIP suite. With unmatched speed, the five men ran into an elevator and went to their boss's aid.
Grabbing a couple of tissues from the coffee table in the lobby, Yoori stuffed some in her pocket. She started to wipe her bloody nose with the tissue while approaching Tae Hyun and the revolving door.
The cold air swallowed them when they walked out into the wintriness of the night. Yoori was cold, but much to her own sadistic delight, Tae Hyun was colder since he was drenched from head to toe.
It was a childish thought but she was still extremely resentful toward the guy.
"Give me your keys," she ordered, turning to Tae Hyun once they reached the curb where his black Mercedes sat. "I'm driving."
She fought the inclination to be uncivil with him. Though she had the urge to give him the biggest piece of her livid mind, she maintained self-control. She had all the opportunity in the world once they got home.
He gaped at her like she was crazy.
"Why are you driving? I can drive," Tae Hyun combated, shivering in the cold. It was the first time she had seen him shudder from any breeze.
Yoori snorted at the dried splatters of blood on his face and clothes. Who was this guy kidding? He was so fucked up that Yoori was sure they’d get into an accident if he were the one behind the wheel.
"Give me the keys," Yoori repeated. Her voice bore of impatience.
Under standard situations, it would be expected that Tae Hyun would continue to combat her wishes. Despite this, Yoori knew that Tae Hyun, being as perceptive as he was, knew it was best to give her what she wanted, especially if he wanted even a remote chance of getting on her good side. And judging by his demeanor, he knew he needed all the points he could get to be on her good side.
Tae Hyun sighed while digging his right hand into his pocket. He pulled out the key to his Mercedes and handed it to her. He didn't look too happy when the key exchanged hands but he kept his dissatisfaction to himself.
The lights to Tae Hyun's Mercedes blinked in response when Yoori and Tae Hyun pulled the respective car doors open. The soft beeping of the car hummed melodically until Yoori shut her side of the door. Being vertically challenged in comparison to the vertically triumphant Tae Hyun, Yoori readjusted her seat and fixed the mirror in the car to best suit her needs. She was ready to drive off when she saw that Tae Hyun winced in pain when he clicked his seatbelt shut. However, when she turned to look, Tae Hyun, as expected, was cool and collected while showing no signs of pain.
Poser, she wanted to say to him but curbed the inclination for another urge overwhelmed her senses.
His face was veiled with faint blotches of dried blood and remnants of water.
This sight bothered her.
Distracted by this, she reached into the depths of her pocket and pulled out the clean tissue she took from the hotel. Rolling them into a little ball, she readjusted in her seat and faced a confused looking Tae Hyun.
He was surprised by what she was getting ready to do.
It was pure instincts on her part.
Her hands reached out and she started to clean his face of the blood that stained it. She didn't like that the blood sullied his face. She didn't like that there were remnants of water marked on him, making him more receptive to the cold weather. She didn't like that he was obviously hurt and she didn't like that the only thing she could do was clean the surface of the maladies.
Tae Hyun remained unusually quiet. His dazed eyes focused on her as she continued to free his face from blood and water. There was a light of tenderness and apprehension in them. He was dying to talk to her but didn't know where to begin. The longing in his eyes made her believe that he actually missed her. She wasn't sure if she was right, but the thought did lift her spirits slightly.
His light breathing warmed her hands when she finished wiping away the last droplet of blood near his lips, revealing remnants of bruising and small cuts on various corners of his skin.
Before she could catch herself, her fingers rested on either side of his cheeks, the smoothness caressing her own fingertips. She could feel his attentive gaze on her and it caused her cheeks to flush.
Her heart pounded.
Was it hot in here or was it just her?
Her apprehensive eyes met his and almost immediately, Yoori was reminded of how much she cared for him and how much she missed him. Equally as prevalent, she was also reminded of how disappointed she was with him and how much she hated him for not being there for her when she needed him the most. She hadn't forgotten what he did and she wasn't sure if she ever would. The acidic anger in her stomach began to form as she relived the events of the night before...
Unknowing of these thoughts and now ready to break the tense silence, Tae Hyun parted his lips, "Yoori…"
Animosity streamed through her after he said her name. Being civil was now out of the question. She was ready to blow Tae Hyun out of the water with her unfiltered feelings.
"Yoori...I…Holy Fuck!" He flinched once Yoori grabbed a handful of his cheeks and started to ruthlessly pinch him. "Ow – OW. Damn it! Choi! Choi Yoori!" he shouted in agony. He tried to pry himself from the claws of life that Yoori had imparted unto him.
Yoori scrunched up her face in resentment and applied more pressure to his cheeks.
"Did you think I was just going to go back home with you and everything would be okay?!” she berated at the top of her lungs. “How could you leave me last night, you asshole? What kind of friend are you?!"
She continued to pinch him. He was hurting like hell, but she didn't care. Surely his pain was no match to what she felt last night.
By now, Tae Hyun was trying to pull himself away from her hold. He had his head pulled back but unfortunately for Tae Hyun, the seatbelt he wore didn't give him much leeway. Yoori knew that the only reason why he was still in her grasp was because he didn't want to push her away. She knew that Tae Hyun would never push her or do anything to hurt her. She damn well used this piece of knowledge to her advantage.
"Yoori! Ow, ow, ow!” he groaned, slamming his temple against his seat in anguish.
She started to shake. Her fingers were starting to hurt now.
"Yoori! Ow! Damn it, assistant! You’re killing me!"
Noting the violent shade of red coursing over his face, Yoori alleviated the pressure of her pinch and tore her shaking fingers away from his cheeks.
"Who the fuck do you think you are coming back and taking me home like nothing happened?!" she roared loudly, the anger multiplying within her as she watched him rub his cheeks in agony.
His piercing eyes laid on her. He looked like he couldn't believe what she was asking him. "Would you rather I not come to get you?” He sat up straight, the same fury dancing through him. "Do you know how long I’ve looked for you? I ran around the whole fucking city for you. And this is what I get?"
"What took you so damn long?"
He gaped at the absurdity of her second question.
"Choi Yoori…" he began slowly, lowering his hands from his burning cheeks. "Does it look like I have some
radar or some spider sense that makes it easy for me to find you? You weren't at your apartment, you weren't at Chae Young's, you weren't at the mall, and worst of all, you didn't even have your damn cellphone on you. I couldn't have a bunch of Serpents looking for you because I didn't want to make it public that you were outside alone. I couldn't call and I didn't even know where to begin to look for you. So yes, I'm sorry that it took awhile but I did the best I could."
She made a rude noise at his reply. The idiot would've never had to run around if he didn't leave her in the first place. Unable to hold back her emotions, Yoori poured it all out to Tae Hyun.
"You're sorry it took so long?" The resentment sizzled inside her. "How can you sit there and apologize for taking forever to find me when it was your fault I left in the first place?" A stream of pain slithered up her throat. She was beyond reason. She was consumed with emotions – raw emotions.
"You left me!" she shouted. "I begged you not to leave that night! I told you that I needed you! I opened my heart to you and you left! You left and you never came back – ”
"I can’t come back to someone who doesn’t wait for me!" he suddenly argued. His voice and gaze were filled with the same frustration and anguish.
"You—” She froze. “What?"
He leveled his eyes with hers. "Where were you when I came back?"
Yoori was flabbergasted. "What…what are you talking about? Did you expect me to wait for hours on end? You only started looking for me today! I didn’t see you until tonight – "
"10:48,” he replied calmly, his eyes never leaving hers.
Yoori paused, her breathing heavy. She swallowed past the uncomfortable thickness in her throat.
Her voice was low, confused. "10:48?"
"I came back at 10:48 last night," he said again. "I came running back for you and you weren't there. Where were you?"
His voice splashed onto her pale face like a bucket of cold water.
Where was she?
Where was she at 10:48 last night?
She was in the streets hailing a cab. She was in the streets crying her eyes out as she hailed a cab to escape to Chae Young's. She was in the streets crying and wondering how he could leave her and not come back for her.
"I—I left at 10:47," Yoori stammered, feeling her heart lift at the fact that he returned just moments after she left the apartment.
Though her bitterness faltered slightly, it didn't falter enough to diminish the anger that had built up within her. It didn't matter if he came back that night, she reasoned. It didn't matter because he shouldn't have left in the first place.
"Well, you shouldn’t have walked out the door and left in the first place!" she shouted again, unwilling to submit the white flag and forgive Tae Hyun for what he did. She shook her head at him. "How could you?"
"I walked out the door…but I didn't leave."
Yoori froze.
She stared at him, utterly dumbfounded. "You...you…you didn’t…you didn’t leave?"
"You asked me how I could leave you," he elaborated, his compelling eyes growing more poignant. "I walked out but I didn't leave."
Her mind was reeling. "Y—You—"
She stopped.
It was then that she understood.
"You were in the hall the entire time?" She didn't give him a chance to answer. "What were you doing out there? I thought you left!"
"I couldn't leave you,” he replied, his eyes filling up with something he rarely showed: emotions. Raw emotions; raw emotions that mirrored Yoori's. "I kept hearing your voice in my head, begging me to stay, and I couldn't leave."
"Why…why didn’t you come back inside?" Her voice was strained and nearly broke.
She could feel the anger seeping out of her and a sense of relief taking its place.
Kwon Tae Hyun…
Kwon Tae Hyun…why was he doing this to her?
Why didn't he leave and why didn't he come back inside?
"What do you want me to say, Yoori?" he shouted with the same frustration. His eyes brimmed with impatience. He wasn't impatient or irritated with her. He was frustrated with himself. "I'm not perfect. You threw a bomb at me and I needed time to clear my head. I couldn’t leave you, but I couldn’t go back inside either. So I just stood there and stared at the door while I tried to process everything."
"How long were you standing out there?" she asked thoughtlessly, her voice faltering while her thoughts became scrambled. She couldn't even think.
"I stood in front of that door for 37 minutes," he said quietly, frustration brewing, not only out of his voice but from his posture as well. He was so confused that he didn't know what to do with himself. "I thought if I could steal a few moments alone, then I'd be able to quickly process everything and figure out what was happening to me." He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes, recalling what occurred. "I stood there and I couldn't even think. All I could hear was the sound of your voice before I closed that door. All I could hear was the sound of your voice breaking..."
He opened his eyes and ran a frustrated hand through the strands of his wet hair. He looked agonized as he stared at the dashboard.
"I didn't know what the hell I was doing…standing out there. It should've been so easy to leave but I couldn't. It should've been easy but I couldn't take a step away from that door. I stood there until I couldn't stand anymore. After 37 minutes, I fell by the wall beside the door and I kept thinking that I should leave. I didn't understand why it was so hard for me to leave so I just sat there. Everything inside me felt like it was being ripped apart and all I could hear, all I could see, and all I could think about was you."
His distressed eyes flickered to meet her thoroughly shocked ones.
"I had no idea what was happening. It was the first time...the first time in my life where I wasn't being rational. The realization ripped through me and ate at me as I tried to gather my thoughts. Nothing was coming together for me though. It got so bad that I rose to my feet and ran off toward the stairs. I figured it would've been easier to leave you if I physically distanced myself from you."
He shook his head to himself, a self-deprecating laugh whispering from his lips.
"But the further I ran down, the harder it became. I ran until I couldn't run anymore. I ran until my mind contained one thought, one realization: I couldn't leave you even if I tried. I turned around and I came back. I came running back for you. I came back and—"
"I wasn't there," Yoori finished for him, regret vibrating in her voice. She felt fragmented, possessed with disappointment. She stared at him quietly, the anger dispersing out of her eyes as quickly as it penetrated them.
They were silent, their panting chests breathing together.
Tae Hyun was quiet while he stared at Yoori, his eyes urging her to say something else. Yoori was quiet as she stared regretfully at Tae Hyun, her frantic mind running through the events of last night like a movie.
She could see it so clearly now…
She could see herself waiting in front of that doorway while Tae Hyun was outside…staring at that same door. She could see herself crying against the wall when she realized she wasn't good enough for him to come back for when in actuality, she was enough for him to sit outside against the very same wall, agonized that he couldn't leave her in the first place. She could see it so clearly as she walked out that door and stepped into the elevator with tears brimming her eyes… She could see Tae Hyun sprinting up from the stairs and back into the hall as she descended down the elevator.
It was all so clear now, but one thought grew prominent in her mind.
She could see herself giving up on Tae Hyun when he didn't give up on her—when he couldn't give up on her.
How terrible was that?
Her heart ached as this realization rooted itself within the core of her emotions. She could see it so clearly and she could feel all the disappointment bear down on her. She was no longer disappointed in Tae Hyun but disappointed in herself, disappointed in herself when
she gave up on him.
Dazed with regret and guilt, Yoori lowered her weakened eyes and quietly readjusted herself in her seat. She didn't even know what else to do.
"Can…can you drive? I don't think I'm up for it anymore," was all that she voiced out.
She didn't wait for his answer. She was already opening the door to her side of the car. Her mind was too blurred with thoughts. It was blurred with so many emotions that she couldn’t distinguish them from each other.
With no contention, and understanding her frazzled state, Tae Hyun unbuckled his seatbelt, got out of the car, and promptly got into the driver's seat.
After Yoori situated herself in the passenger seat, Tae Hyun helped her by buckling the seatbelt for her. His visage was overcome with concern when he placed a gentle hand on her cheek, holding her eyes with his.
"Yoori—"
"Let's go home," Yoori interrupted.
It was her subtle way of telling him that she needed time to herself – that she needed time to think.
She needed time to think about all of this.
“Just because you’re more powerful than human. . .”
14: The Story of Boomerangs
Yoori was surprised when Tae Hyun agreed to her needs, withdrew his hand from her cheek, and began to drive home. She was surprised because Tae Hyun wasn't normally this compliant. He typically had a lot to say and would be fighting with her, forcing her to talk to him.
It could be that he was being understanding, it could be that he was doing all that he could to get her forgiveness or it could be both but Tae Hyun was quiet as he drove. He was quiet when they finally made it home. He was quiet when they took the elevator back up to the apartment. He was even quiet when Yoori, wanting a distraction, motioned for him to unbutton his shirt so that she could help wipe away the blood from his body. It bothered her that the blood had seeped through his shirt.