Her stalker was a girl?
“Boss!” A voice sprinted through the aisle, garnering Yoori’s attention. She took her eyes off the faceless stalker and watched as Jae Won ran toward her. He panted relentlessly after stopping beside her.
“I heard you scream! Are you okay?” he panted, taking a moment to glance at the stalker, whose face was still covered by her bangs. “What the hell happened?” Jae Won asked distractedly, trying to get a good view of the girl’s face.
Yoori beamed proudly, happy that she was able to take care of herself without Jae Won’s help. “That stalker was following me and was getting ready to attack me. Luckily, I was able to – ”
“Honey?” Jae Won squeaked, his eyes nearly popping out of his sockets once he recognized the stalker’s face. A look of panic flooded over his countenance. He hastily ran past Yoori to help the “stalker” up. Sounds of the “stalker” rubbing her chest and heaving for air could be heard as Yoori stood there, baffled.
“Honey?” Yoori parroted. The confusion within Yoori intensified when she turned to see Jae Won helping the stalker girl up.
Astonishment slammed into Yoori after the full features of the girl’s face were revealed.
“Damn it, Yoori! I haven’t seen you in forever and the first thing you do is fucking attack me?!”
A mixture of bewilderment and recognition cascaded over Yoori’s shocked face. Almost disbelievingly, she said, “Chae Young?”
“For every lie. . .there is a truth.”
07: Denial
“Chae Young? Oh my God, Chae Young?” Yoori squeaked out.
She squinted her frantic eyes to make sure it was actually her friend.
Lee Chae Young was dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans with white sneakers and a white jacket that had remnants of Cheerios stuck to it. Yoori knew the impossibly terrible had occurred: she assaulted her best friend.
Feeling every ounce of regret a human could bear, Yoori ran over to the Cheerios infested tiles where her friend stood. Chae Young heaved and coughed for air while Jae Won helped to flick the residual Cheerios off of her shoulder length hair.
“Chae Young, I’m so sorry!” Yoori cried when she reached her friend.
Chae Young moaned in pain. She rubbed a hand over her assaulted chest. Jae Won helped rub her back while he continued to gaze at her worriedly.
Yoori went on, guilt clawing at her. “I didn’t know it was you.”
Chae Young gaped at Yoori with incredulity. She eyed Yoori’s glasses. “How could you not know it was me when you’re wearing glasses?”
Yoori opened her mouth to explain. She was cut off by Jae Won.
“See?” Jae Won shouted, clearly annoyed with Yoori for hurting his girlfriend. “I told you these non-prescribed vanity glasses would ruin your vision one day!” With his anger intact, he suddenly reached for her glasses and proceeded to rip them off of her ears.
Yoori flinched, thrown for a loop when he did this.
“Don’t touch my stuff!” she snapped when the shock passed, startling Jae Won. He stared at her and her glasses. A pang of grief infiltrated his eyes when he realized that he overreacted.
Unfortunately for Jae Won, his pang of grief was about to multiply.
“Yeah, don’t rip her glasses off like that!” Chae Young abruptly screamed, glaring at Jae Won, who jumped in fear at the sound of her roaring voice. “You could’ve hurt her!”
Jae Won’s frenzied eyes began to water. His expression mirrored that of an ant dying underneath the contempt of a magnifying glass on a sunny afternoon. At that moment, it became clear to Jae Won who the real bosses in his life were.
“I’m sorry,” he squeaked out. A fleeting moment passed before he was able to speak again. He turned to Yoori. Muttering a string of scolding curses to himself, he respectfully bowed his head down. “I’m really sorry, Boss Choi.”
Under normal circumstances, Yoori would’ve smacked Jae Won silly before she accepted his apology. Violence aside, her main priority was making sure her best friend was alright and figuring out why the hell she stalked her in the first place.
Yoori turned her attention back to Chae Young. “And you. Why the hell were you sneaking around? Do you know how much you scared me?”
Chae Young made a disgruntled noise. “Oh yeah, apparently I felt all your fear.”
Chae Young continued to rub her chest in pain. The sight of this caused Yoori to soften her stern expression. She had never felt more horrible. Who in their right mind would assault their own friend – especially a friend they hadn’t seen in forever?
After she steadied her breathing, Chae Young explained her side of the story. “You were wearing your hat and I was thrown off by your stupid glasses. I wasn’t sure if it was you. I didn’t want to scare you and have you run off before I got a good look at you. That’s why I was being sneaky. You kept on turning around, being all ninja and shit and scaring me. Finally, I had to just run to you and get a close up view. When I got closer, I knew for sure it was you. I was getting ready to call out your name...but then I got attacked before I ever got a chance to say anything.”
The rubbing on her chest grew more intense.
“You, of all people, should know that I have the worst reflexes,” reprimanded Yoori.
She folded her arms in defense. She felt guilty, but Chae Young should’ve known better! She recalled the countless times in the past where Chae Young would sneak up from behind her and playfully poke her waist. Long story short, it took more than a dozen broken trinkets of dishes and cups for Chae Young to stop sneaking around in the diner—or anywhere for that matter.
At Yoori’s response and reminder, Chae Young receded with her bitterness, blinked to surrender, and nodded in concurrence. She also clearly recalled the same incidents.
A momentary air of silence perused through the aisle before Yoori and Chae Young both looked at the glasses Jae Won held. In the same instance, Jae Won’s eyes darted from Yoori to Chae Young. Yoori was reminded of a crucial fact. Chae Young and Jae Won also realized a crucial fact.
A long overdue, light of realization dawned in each of their eyes. Their words synchronized like the chorus of a symphony when they all asked: “You two know each other?”
This question acted as the catalyst that jumpstarted a slew of other questions.
“Boss, how do you know my girlfriend?”
“Honey, how do you know Yoori?”
“How the hell did you two become a couple?”
Leaving Yoori to hang on her own question, the couple turned to one another and began to answer each other’s questions instead.
“Yoori’s my boss, the one I told you about,” Jae Won answered swiftly. “How do you know her?”
“Yoori’s the best friend I told you about. She used to work with me at the diner.” Chae Young turned and gaped at Yoori when she processed the term “boss.” “What the hell have you been up to, Yoori?”
Yoori smiled wryly, her eyes slithering to Jae Won and then back to Chae Young. “I should ask you the same question. But before we do that…” With absolutely no warning, Yoori lunged herself forward. Her arms were stretched out toward Chae Young. Happiness heaved inside her when she wrapped Chae Young in a warm embrace.
First things first, a long awaited embrace between them was needed.
“I’ve missed you so much,” Yoori whispered, her voice breaking slightly. She tightened her embrace around Chae Young. It had been too long since they’d seen each other. What a twist of fate to meet again like this.
“I’ve missed you too,” Chae Young whispered, tightening her embrace on Yoori.
Yoori’s smile remained. She sighed, her throat ready to erupt with all the gossip in the world. “I have so much to tell you.”
■ ■ ■
“You guys kissed?” Chae Young squeaked out in amazement.
Yoori bashfully nodded to Chae Young as Jae Won gave her a blank stare.
Granted, having Jae Won sit with Chae Young and
Yoori, legs crossed and all, on the floor in the corner of the vacant area of the grocery store wasn’t the ideal “girl talk” for Yoori, she, herself, knew that she couldn’t be too picky. She had to catch Chae Young up on everything and she couldn't be mean and kick Jae Won out of the conversation. It would be rude to kick Jae Won out of the mix just because he’s a boy. Though she nodded inwardly at that belief, the stream of words from Jae Won's mouth tempted Yoori to retract that thought.
“That’s why you two were acting so damn awkward,” Jae Won commented. He shook his head reprovingly. It was clear that Jae Won recalled informing her that he wasn’t sure if Tae Hyun should be trusted. However, affected by Chae Young’s presence, he kept his opinions to himself. No doubt he didn’t want to get yelled at again.
“Shh!” Yoori scolded, putting a finger in front of her lips to emphasize her point.
She didn’t have time for interruptions. For the past hour, Yoori had caught Chae Young up with everything. From the happenings of the diner incident (being blackmailed), living with Tae Hyun as his assistant (handcuffs and sleeping in the same bed included), being chased by Ji Hoon, and getting initiated by the Advisors. Yoori shared everything. Well, almost everything.
Since Jae Won was sitting there, Yoori filtered out the information about her amnesia, the fact that there were snipers involved during her initiation (and that she instinctively fought back), and that there was a strong possibility that she was An Soo Jin. Anything up to date, apart from those pieces of information that she felt she should keep to herself, Yoori shared with Chae Young and Jae Won.
“We kissed before so it’s not that big of a deal,” said Yoori, replying to Chae Young’s earlier reaction about their kiss under the gazebo.
“Yeah, but that was a ‘start talking to me’ kiss," Chae Young contended. "That didn’t count. You guys didn’t even know each other. But this one…this was an actual kiss. I mean, I thought you said there was tongue involved. There was tongue, right?”
Feeling shy that Jae Won was listening to everything, Yoori merely blinked as her wordless confirmation.
A squeal of approval emitted from Chae Young’s mouth.
Everything was nice and dandy until Jae Won’s voice came bouncing in to ruin the nice girl talk. “Did he say you were salty again?”
The girls’ eyes grew agape at his thoughtless question.
Having no more patience with Jae Won, and embarrassed that he could bring up the “salty” observation from Tae Hyun, Yoori retaliated by stating, “Your ass is fat.”
A shocked gasp ran out of Chae Young’s mouth while Jae Won’s eyes enlarged.
“Yoori!” Chae Young shouted. She intertwined her hand with Jae Won’s as her means of comforting him. “Was that really necessary?”
“Why are you checking out my ass, boss?” Jae Won retaliated, hurt that everyone was criticizing his behind.
“I wasn’t, you little brat!” Yoori argued, suddenly feeling like she was arguing with her younger brother. “You’re sitting down for God’s sake! I’m just trying to shut you up!”
It was a low blow but Yoori was unwilling to offer any apologies for what she said. It was never a good idea to provoke her when she was at her wit’s end and Jae Won did just that when he kept teasing her. She could only handle one person teasing her and it sure as hell wasn’t Jae Won.
“Okay, you two,” Chae Young appeased, patting both of their stiff shoulders. “Let’s make peace.”
Yoori nodded, taking in a deep breath. Maybe she overreacted a little bit. “Okay, I’m calm. I’m cal –”
“No wonder he said you were salty,” Jae Won mumbled under his breath.
And that was what pushed Yoori over the edge.
“You know what?” Yoori began steadily.
A dramatic silence took hold of them when Yoori held up three fingers that were lined up in a sequential line. She mentally smirked. This comeback always had the “shut up” effect on people.
As expected, Jae Won furrowed his brows in confusion. Walking into the trap, he asked, “What are you – ”
“Don’t read between the lines, honey,” Chae Young instructed, grabbing Yoori’s wrist and pulling it down with a frown.
Yoori blinked bitterly. She forgot that Chae Young was there with her whenever she used that move on patrons who pissed her off.
“Anyway,” Chae Young began soothingly, bringing a bitter Yoori and a confused Jae Won back on topic. “What happened afterward? Did you guys start confessing your love to one another under the moonlight?”
Yoori ogled Chae Young.
The thought of her and Tae Hyun having a confession under the cloak of the moonlight was too strange. It didn’t fit their personalities. This belief was shared by Jae Won, who snickered at his girlfriend’s question.
Ignoring the strange alternative universe where Tae Hyun and herself would ever end up confessing their love for one another, Yoori continued on with the story. “Well, after the kiss, I was slapped back to reality. I imagine he was too. We started panicking when we realized we were kissing each other. Next thing I knew, we pulled ourselves away from one another, proceeded to tell each other that we had too much to drink, and after that, my ass fled back to the lake house. It’s been more than a couple of days since we’ve been back in Seoul and the awkwardness has been unbearable." Yoori felt a disappointed tug in her heart. "We speak when we have to but the majority of the time, we don’t speak at all.”
“Oh God, the morning after effect,” Chae Young groaned out loud. She sighed and shook her head at Yoori. “Why can’t you tell him that you like him?”
“Whoa, stop right there,” Yoori interjected with a raised hand. Her eyes bloomed at Chae Young’s incorrect observation. “Let’s get a couple of things straight. I don’t like him like that. I have a small crush on him because he’s cute.”
Maybe hot is the better word, Yoori supplied in her mind.
She could see Jae Won smirk in her peripheral vision. It was as though he heard what she was thinking. Doing her best to ignore him, she shifted her full attention to Chae Young. “But being superficially attracted to him aside, I don’t like him like that.” A rush of discontent loomed in her heart when she was reminded of something else. “Plus, Tae Hyun would be a nightmare of a guy to fall for. He told me himself that he refuses to fall in love. He said that it would distract him from more important things. What girl in her right mind would fall for a guy when he says that?”
“Wow,” Jae Won replied with a raised eyebrow. “That was a long answer when, ‘I don’t like him’ could’ve sufficed.”
Chae Young smiled coyly, sharing the same sentiments as her boyfriend. “It sounds like you’re trying to convince yourself rather than trying to convince us.”
Unnerved, Yoori self-consciously played with the crochet of her beret. “We’re just friends,” she proclaimed feebly, already knowing that it was a weak argument.
“Is being ‘friends’ the new term for liking someone?” Chae Young asked, turning to Jae Won. She was genuinely curious. No doubt, she was also reminded of the term Kang Min and Hae Jin used so freely.
“Yeah, apparently the saying, ‘we’re friends’ and ‘your ass is fat’ is popular in this damn grocery store,” Jae Won answered indignantly, pissed that anyone would dare to insult him.
Yoori rolled her eyes at Jae Won’s bitter comment while holding back another insult.
Chae Young nodded to appease the second round of argument that was ready to commence if someone didn’t put out the flames right away. “Well, anyway,” she started, turning back to Yoori. “Only you would know how you truly feel about him.”
“Yes. Thank you,” Yoori stated appreciatively, unable to hide her smile. Oh how she missed her friend. “God, Chae Young, I wish you were there with me in the beginning. I mean, I feel like I lifted this big boulder off my chest. For once, I feel like I can breathe again.”
Chae Young pursed her lips. “Yeah, I’m glad someone’s chest is feeli
ng better,” she replied with warm sarcasm. She took a moment to rub her chest before saying, “Why did you send me that shifty text message about having a family emergency? All we had was the surveillance tape of you talking to some guy in a red cap and you following him after he left seconds later. Do you know how mad I was? I thought you lied about the emergency, got wooed by a stranger and left to go marry him or something. I can’t believe you got blackmailed by the King of Serpents. We were just talking about the Underworld that day too!”
Yoori nodded. Oh the webs of life, she thought.
“I didn’t want you to get involved in the Underworld stuff. I figured if we were supposed to meet again…then we would. And here you are.” Her eyes swung toward Jae Won. His hand was intertwined with Chae Young’s. “Apparently you got involved in the Underworld stuff without me having to pull you in.”
Yoori smiled at the unexpected couple before her: her best friend who was like a sister to her and her bodyguard who was like a brother to her. “This is the part where you guys tell me how you became a couple,” she prompted happily.
Chae Young obliged, a huge grin radiating on her face. “Do you remember that idiot short-term ‘boyfriend’ I had?” Chae Young began. Though her voice was filled with distaste, her smile remained. “You know…the one who cheated on me at the nightclub with the hostess?”
Yoori nodded, recalling the last conversation they had before she met Tae Hyun.
“Jae Won was at that nightclub too. I remember seeing him from across the room and thinking he was really cute…”
Jae Won hid a cheeky grin when he heard this.
“But I got distracted with the cheating asshole. After I kicked that dumbass in the shins, I caught Jae Won’s eyes and he started to pursue me. You know, wooing me at clubs, staying late to pick me up when I closed the diner, taking me out...” Chae Young beamed, leaning in closer to Yoori to whisper, “I like him a lot. At first, I wasn’t sure. I thought I was just infatuated because I have a thing for bad boys.”
The Fall of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 2) Page 10