The King of Serpents troubled because he doesn't know what he wants? This was an entirely new development.
"I've been taken aback by this abnormality myself." He playfully regarded her. "So Choi Yoori, any suggestions for a remedy to help me sort out my internal conflicts?"
"You really can't have both?" she suggested hopefully, not understanding why the decision was so difficult for him. If it were Yoori, she would fight to keep both. She wasn't afraid to admit that she was selfish and greedy like that – just like all human beings.
He shook his head. "It's one or the other."
"I see," she said, instantly understanding this special predicament. It was one of those situations where the choices played out like divided forks on a road, each a roadblock for the other and each leading the decision maker down two separate paths. If you choose one, you must give up the other. If you're undecided and choose both, then you end up going nowhere with either.
Smiling sympathetically, she gave Tae Hyun the one, perfect universal answer that would help to resolve anything.
"Follow your instincts," she advised simply, truly believing in her pearl of wisdom. "Whatever you want more, your instincts will go after that in the end."
Yoori observed the light of indecision in his eyes. She immediately understood that the decision was a much tougher one than she originally assumed it to be.
Tae Hyun nodded inattentively. He allowed his eyes to draw away from her. The air of concentration that emitted from Tae Hyun told Yoori that he was actually taking her advice into consideration. She watched him carefully, curiosity gleaming like diamonds in her gaze. Was he actually choosing right now? Her internal question was answered by the progressing silence.
Yes, he was indeed making his decision.
The hushed breathing between Yoori and Tae Hyun became the only vocalization that graced the dark bedroom. Tae Hyun grew lost in the internal battle within himself. Yoori blinked quietly and waited with bated breath. She watched as his long fingers played with the fabric of the bed, as if peeling away at his reasoning. His eyes were locked on an undetected area of the comforter like he was trying to figure out which decision was the true apple of his eyes. His contemplative breathing grew more intense, hinting to her that he was almost done with his decision.
Throughout the duration of this, Yoori was so curious. She wondered what his string of reasoning was and, more importantly, what his final decision was. Did he choose the first one or the second one?
"Have you made your decision?" she finally inquired, curiosity ripping off the last shred of her patience.
His eyes locked with hers. "I think so."
"What'd you pick?"
"The first one," he answered carefully, the cautious tone in his voice making it appear as if he was also trying to convince himself that it was the right choice.
Taking inventory of his doubt, Yoori grimaced in disappointment. To her, it seemed that Tae Hyun, rather than following his instincts like she had suggested, instead took it upon himself to follow his rationale – two completely separate and conflicting entities.
Unable to restrain her observant nature, Yoori threw all reservations out the window and called him out on that. "You don't seem so sure."
"Choi Yoori," Tae Hyun began, ignoring her remark. The subtle urgency in his voice caught Yoori's undivided attention. It scared her, how truly conflicted he appeared. "Do you remember when I told you that to get in a position of power...some actions are unavoidable?"
"I remember," she confirmed. Her concern for him heightened. Why was he bringing that up?
He smiled bleakly. "Good. Every now and then, make sure you remind me, alright?"
However much she was puzzled by how they ventured onto the discussion at hand, she decided to go along with the conversation. Though he didn't show it, she could feel his desperation. Whatever his reason, Tae Hyun really wanted to have this conversation with her. She could feel it.
"When will I know you'll need a reminder?"
"When I look distracted."
Yoori looked at him uncertainly. Thoughts of her amnesia came into play. "To be perfectly honest, I don't have a good track record of remembering stuff. I might fail you."
Tae Hyun’s smile indicated to her that he was confident she’d do well to remind him when it was necessary.
He remained quiet for a couple of seconds after, eyeing her keenly. It was like there was something else bothering him. In place of voicing it, he simply closed his eyes and pulled the cover to his neck.
"Good night, Yoori." He followed that statement with a big yawn before he nuzzled his face into his fluffy white pillow.
Closing his eyes, Tae Hyun's breathing became light as he drifted off to sleep. The confliction that once hounded him was no longer present in his relaxed visage.
Dread coursed through Yoori. Her eyes flicked over a sleeping Tae Hyun. This time, she was sure that he wasn't going to wake up to chat with her again.
"‘Night," she whispered back, disappointed that their conversation was once again cut short.
Sleeping there, engulfed in the darkness and stillness, Yoori was tempted to dig deeper into their conversation. She wanted to poke at Tae Hyun and wake him up so they could continue talking.
Yoori was introduced to a different side of Tae Hyun tonight – a side that although despondent upon introduction, was a side that she desperately wanted to interact with again. He didn’t behave as a revered King in the Underworld. No, he simply behaved like any other human being. A human being who was not only vulnerable, but a human being who was also relatable.
Yoori sighed at her absurd desire.
After fighting off the temptation to wake him up, Yoori nuzzled the left side of her face into her pillow. Her initial plan was to close her eyes and drift off to sleep. She instead found herself staring at Tae Hyun's sleeping countenance. The illumination from the moon touched his face perfectly, making it appear like he was glowing.
Yoori was mesmerized.
As her gaze on him remained, she found herself aching when she recalled the desperation in his voice when he spoke to her about his internal conflict. Whatever it was that bothered him, Yoori truly hoped that he would get all of that sorted out soon.
Though a part of her didn't understand why she cared about him and his internal conflict so much, her mind reasoned that it was probably because Tae Hyun was the first person she had ever spent so much time around and the first person she formed a bond with. Even though the usual contents of their conversations revolved around them going at each other's throats, Yoori knew that it didn't overshadow the strong bond she felt with him. Tae Hyun was someone that she truly cared about and even his secretive nature wasn't enough to deter her from empathizing with him when he was troubled.
She exhaled, clenching her hands together when a bout of longing tingled through them.
She wanted to lift her fingers up and trace the outlining of his perfectly sculpted jaw. It glowed underneath the moonlight, beckoning for her to touch him. It was a strange moment for Yoori. All she wanted to do was reach out and touch him, comfort him. But when she heard a soft murmur escape from his sleeping lips, all temptation flew out of the window and rationale returned.
Yawning quietly and finally convincing herself that it was due time to stop staring at Tae Hyun, she closed her tired eyes in preparation for a much needed slumber. After pulling the comforter over herself, Yoori slowly fell out of consciousness. As she drifted off to sleep, Yoori failed to consciously realize that she was actually replaying a significant part of their earlier conversation in her head. A part of the conversation that may have sounded trivial at the moment, but would have a significant meaning in the future...
"Do you remember when I told you that to get in a position of power...some actions are unavoidable?"
"I remember.”
"Good. Every now and then, make sure you remind me, alright?"
"When will I know you'll need a reminder?"
&nbs
p; "When I look distracted."
Finally losing consciousness, it didn't occur to Yoori that the next time she verbalized those words, it wouldn't only be to serve as a reminder to Tae Hyun about the necessary things he would have to do to become the Lord of the Underworld – it would also serve as a reminder about the necessary things she would have to do as well.
“You have to show no remorse.”
26: An Hour with Skulls and Scorpions
It was the slight touch of the mid-afternoon rays that woke Yoori up from her dream about the two lovers – the one about the girl wanting to kill herself and her lover trying to convince her not to. Murmuring quietly, she tugged the covers over her head. She attempted to drown out the rays and steal a couple more minutes of sleep. But as she tossed and turned, the content of the dream becoming slowly forgotten in her head, she knew stealing a few more moments of sleep was impossible – especially when she realized that she was tossing and turning diagonally, essentially invading someone else's side of the bed.
Crap!
With all this tossing and turning, how close was she to Tae Hyun and that naked chest of his?
She frightfully opened her eyes and anticipated one of two things: she expected to wake up to see Tae Hyun sleeping soundly beside her, completely oblivious to her tossing and turning (this would be the ideal option), or if he wasn't sleeping, then she anticipated to open her eyes to see him smirking at her as he makes a comment about knowing that she wants him, even when they're sleeping (this was obviously the less ideal option).
As luck would have it, Yoori quickly realized that there was a third option she didn't anticipate seeing.
Apparently, Tae Hyun wasn't even in bed.
Wide-awake, Yoori sat up on the bed. Perplexity presided over her. She was relieved that she didn't wake up in Tae Hyun's arms but it was disconcerting to see that he was missing. Her eyes wandered the room in worry. Where was he?
Throwing the covers off of herself, Yoori was prepared to go out to the living room to find him when she noticed a piece of white paper fluttering off the counter. Still situated in bed, she placed one hand on the mattress for balance. She reached her right hand out to lift the piece of paper off the floor. Upon retrieving it, she pulled herself back up and held the paper in front of her. Her eyes shook off the last of its sleepiness when she saw that it was a note from Tae Hyun.
A mentor is in town.
I'll be out all day.
You probably didn't remember and
I didn't want to wake you
but have fun on your day off.
Don't do anything I would do.
— TH
"Day off?"
She reread the note.
Still sleepy, her brief disorientation remained for a couple more seconds before she finally recalled that her day off from Tae Hyun was apparently a weekly thing. As her alertness returned, it didn't take her too long to figure out the implications of her day off and what she needed to accomplish today.
One hour.
Ji Hoon’s proposition sprang into her mind.
A new spell of internal conflict engulfed her. It was probably terrible, she mused, staring at the note. It was probably terrible that even though she was happy to learn that her “day off” was a weekly occurrence, she found herself missing Tae Hyun's company. She never took it into account before but this was actually the first morning, since the night Tae Hyun first took out the cuffs, that she spent a morning without him. Not that she was attached to him or anything! It was just weird for her because she was so used to him being around.
The awfulness didn’t end there. Her internal conflicts lingered onto someone else. It was also probably really bad that as she reread the part where Tae Hyun wrote, “Don't do anything I would do,” the face of Lee Ji Hoon popped into her mind.
Along with the image of Ji Hoon came the memory of their last meeting and what he promised her.
She knew that when Tae Hyun wrote, “Don't do anything I would do,” it was his subtle way of requesting that she doesn't meet up with Ji Hoon. Although she felt more loyalty toward Tae Hyun than Ji Hoon, she still wanted to be selfish and put Tae Hyun's needs behind her own.
How could she abandon the one opportunity to learn more about the infamous An Soo Jin from the one source that mattered? How could she abandon the one opportunity to gather evidence to further prove that she wasn't the Scorpion girl?
She inhaled with anticipation.
The unquenchable addiction to learn more about An Soo Jin gushed over her in the early afternoon. In that instant, Yoori knew what she had to do.
Jumping out of bed, she knew it was horrible that she couldn't control her desire to learn more about An Soo Jin. It was also awful that, even though she had already missed Tae Hyun's company, a small part of her was also excited to see Ji Hoon. This was such a bad idea but a tempting one nonetheless, and for today, even though her gut was telling her not to go, Yoori decided to give into temptation.
As she grabbed a towel and ran straight for the bathroom, Yoori decided to abandon all internal conflicts that pertained to Tae Hyun and Ji Hoon.
Today was her day off.
And the only thing that mattered was her and An Soo Jin.
■ ■ ■
Sitting outside on one of the mall benches, excitement streamed over Yoori whenever she heard a car zoom past. Because with every passing car, Yoori would think that it was Lee Ji Hoon stopping by for their "date.” Unfortunately for Yoori, as she watched the thousandth car pass by, she couldn't help but conclude that she was probably getting stood up.
The truth was, it definitely would've helped if she had actually scheduled a meeting with the guy before coming to the mall and waiting outside for the past five hours like a fool.
It was an understatement to say that her excitement to learn about the Scorpion girl had since died down. She shivered from the cold.
This is what I get for giving into temptation, she thought scornfully. The sun began to set and the air around her became chillier.
This was what she got for going against Tae Hyun's note and doing something he would do. This was what she got for thinking that she meant that much to Ji Hoon for him to remember that he was supposed to meet her here this week. He probably moved on to another girl already.
She took out her phone and glanced tiredly at the screen. 6:47 P.M. Looking around, she observed that there were less and less people on the streets. She deduced it must’ve been because of the cold.
Though her black jeans and white zip up jacket did a wonderful job of protecting her body from the evening breeze, she really didn't have any protection for her face. Her teeth chattered loudly.
"Goddamn, it's cold!" she finally screamed irritably.
She folded her arms and brought them closer to her chest. She began to mutter her infamous incoherent cuss. Pissed off, Yoori concluded that Ji Hoon must have really lost interest in her if he hadn't arrived by now.
"So much for learning more about An Soo Jin," she grumbled.
Indignant that her ego was bruised (and extremely disappointed that she couldn't learn more about An Soo Jin), Yoori decided that enough was enough. It was time for her to go home.
Decision set, she got up from her seat and began to make her way back to Tae Hyun’s apartment.
For Yoori, the only good thing about going home this early was that Tae Hyun might be home. And if anything, he could cheer her up and make her laugh. Or make himself laugh by making fun of her – whichever came first. Regardless, she was excited to see Tae Hyun again. It had only been half a day but she was ashamed to admit that she really missed him already. At least it was always entertaining when she was around him. That was for sure.
She walked for a good minute when a voice called out to her.
"Have you been waiting for awhile?"
She whipped her head around, already knowing who the voice belonged to. A mental smirk formed in her head. It was indeed Lee Ji Hoon.
Sitting c
omfortably in his car, Ji Hoon wore a white dress shirt and light grey pants that more than complimented his tan skin. He couldn’t have looked more comely while driving his Mercedes at the slowest of speeds.
"No," she lied. She turned around and began to walk again. Though she was vaguely happy that he actually appeared, the guy was already really late and she was already really pissed off. There was no way in hell she was going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that she waited for him.
As she quickened her pace, Ji Hoon continued to trail his car along the sidewalk.
He pouted at both her reply and her cold treatment toward him. "Aw really? I really thought you waited. My heart was ready to leap out of my chest in joy."
Her silence lengthened.
Ji Hoon laughed. He glanced quickly at the road to make sure he wouldn’t accidentally run something – or someone – over. When the coast was clear, he returned his attention to her.
"I'm sorry you had to wait. I had an important meeting before this. Then after that meeting, I stopped by a teashop to get us something warm to drink. You wouldn't believe the line. I had to beg the couple in front of me to let me past them because my girl was waiting for me in the cold."
Your girl? She wanted to shout out at him. However much she wanted to, she fought the urge to scream at him and just kept the silence going. She knew better. He was just trying to make her mad so she would talk to him.
When it became clear that his tactic of calling her “his girl” didn't work, Ji Hoon moved on to something else. "Would it make you feel better if I told you I've been waiting for you all week?"
Sighing as if knowing that he couldn't be effective with getting her to talk to him while he was still behind the wheel, Ji Hoon went from driving 5mph to 50mph. After speeding forward, he managed to stop a couple of feet away from Yoori. Without delay, Ji Hoon got out of the car and rushed right over to her. Upon reaching her, he stood frozen in front of her, effectively blocking her path.
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