Jake was surprised when his wife suddenly ended the call after someone broke into the house. He tried to call for her so many times, but he couldn't reach her at all. Jake gazed at his friends who were happily talking to each other and stood up from his seat causing his friends to look at him blankly.
"Where do you want to go, Jake?"
Jake grabbed the key to his car and fixed the mask on his face before answering them. They stopped drinking and got so confused when Jake suddenly look so anxious.
"I need to go home. My wife needs me."
His friends were annoyed, "But we have just met."
"Can you stay here longer?"
"Why did you choose your wife over your friends?"
"You're not a real man at all."
Jake ignored them as he paid for the drink by using his card.
"Jake, do you want to leave us this way?"
Jake rolled his eyes,
"Go fuck yourself. My wife needs me."
As soon as he left the bar, he got into his car quickly as his fans caught his presence. They gathered next to the street and took out their phones to record the moment. Jake was too busy. He didn't want to waste his time by greeting his fans in this current moment. So, he drove his car to the house at full speed.
After a few minutes of driving the car from the city, he finally arrived at the house. His eyes got widened when the door of the house opened widely. There's no light in the house. Jina was true, the electricity got cut off.
He parked his car after switching off the engine and directly went into the house to look for his wife. As soon as he got into the house, he was surprised when he saw Hansuk and Jina together at the dining table.
Jina sat on the chair with her head lowered, didn't realize that Jake was there with her. Hansuk took a drink of his tea and smiled sweetly when he spotted Jake who was standing at the door.
"Jake, you're here."
Jina immediately lifted her head to see Jake and got off the seat before approaching her husband. Jake didn't take his gaze off the guy who was with his wife. He coldly stared at him, was so suspicious about what Hansuk did to Jina earlier.
"What is happening?" Jake asked Jina seriously.
Jina parted her lips, then was surprised when Jake pulled her to stand behind him and talked to Hansuk who was approaching both of them with the baseball bat in his hand.
"Why did you come to my house?"
Hansuk calmly replied,
"As you can see, the electricity got cut off. I realized that Jina was alone, so I decided to accompany her."
Jina just remained silent on his back. Jake gazed at the baseball bat in Hansuk's hand and took a glance at the broken door that was caused by the same man.
"Do you need to break the doorknob when you can knock on the door and ask her to open them for you?"
Jake asked back, his tone was still cold and firm causing Jina to be scared to interrupt their conversation.
Jina probably recognized the tone that he used right now. Jake was mad and serious. He often used this tone when he got mad at her.
"I knocked on the door, but she didn't give any response."
"I thought she was in danger when I heard her crying. So, I broke the doorknob."
Hansuk smiled again.
"Don't worry. I will fix them."
He then took a glance at Jina,
"After I fix them, I can taste her."
"Cooking skills."
He continued and chuckled at his words.
"And Jake, if you're husband to her."
"You shouldn't leave her alone at this time. She just got sick. She couldn't stay in the dark at all."
"I was glad that I was with her."
"Shouldn't you thank me, Jina?"
Hansuk took a step toward Jina and again, Jake kept his girl away from the suspicious man. Jake pointed his finger at the gate of his house and strictly talked to Hansuk.
"Leave. I'm with her now."
"So, leave."
"I don't like your behavior, Mr.Yoo."
"If this kind of thing happens again, don't hesitate to call me instead of approaching my wife when I'm not home."
"I will leave my number for you. Text me or call me if something happens. I will come immediately."
"So, stop butting into our business anymore. Or else, I will report you to the police station for breaking into my house and stalking my wife secretly."
Hansuk chuckled, "I'm not stalking your wife."
"You're stalking my wife."
Jake replied immediately and pointed his finger at the gate again, forcing Hansuk to leave them alone as soon as possible.
****
* Jina pov *
"Why did you let him get into the house?"
Jake asked me as Hansuk finally left. He turned his body facing me and waited for me to answer impatiently. I was scared. I couldn't say anything at all. I got scared of so many things right now.
Firstly, it's because of the darkness, secondly, it's because of the sudden appearance of Hansuk, and lastly, the presence of Jake in front of me. I was scared and he made me more scared when he asked a question impatiently. Seems like he wanted to kill me on the spot for letting Hansuk go into the house.
I didn't reply to him at all. I couldn't look anywhere else because it scared me. The darkness in the mansion. Just if I looked at the kitchen or the room, I would end up crying because I could feel that a monster or evil soul was standing there, watching me and Jake together.
Jake waited for me to answer again. He brushed his hair out of his face, and bend his body lower to my height causing me to slowly look at him straight into his eyes. He gazed at me,
"What's wrong with the gaze?"
He asked me in a whispering tone. His reaction hurriedly changed when tears dropped on my cheeks. He looked at me in confusion and wondered why I had suddenly cried in front of him.
"He just wanted to help me. That's why I let him in." I nervously spoke with more tears rolling on my cheeks.
"Why did you trust someone that easily? How do you know that he wants to help you? He brought a baseball bat in his hand and broke the doorknob aggressively. Don't you feel suspicious of him?"
I mumbled,
"I trust him because he is a friend to Lee Heeseung. Both of them know each other. That's why I just let him in."
Jake sighed heavily.
As he was about to raise his voice to me, I cut him off by holding his sleeve with my gaze fixed on the floor.
"Please don't raise your voice to me. I'm scared."
"Please don't be mad at me for once."
I said to him softly, didn't dare to look into his eyes because I was scared that he lost his patience again.
He crossed his arm and directly stared at me while thinking of any words. He took a deep breath, shut his eyes to control his feeling, and waited for me to stop crying patiently.
As soon as I saw his gaze, I cried harder because I could feel something strange in the house. My mind created a lot of scenes. The faces of evil souls and monsters crossed my mind causing me to get so scared. At the same time, memories from the past keep recalling in my mind making me so hard to control myself.
Jake raised his eyebrows when I couldn't stop crying. "Oh my god, I can't understand women."
I went closer to him and opened my arm to hug him but he quickly stopped me by holding my shoulder and bending his body to my height again.
He stared into my eyes for a long time making me stop sobbing in tears. I wiped tears that keep rolling on my cheeks and cleared my throat.
"Have you done crying? Can you speak now?"
I slowly nodded.
"Honestly, I don't like Yoo Hansuk."
He spoke up, this time he talked to me nicely after I told him to not raise his voice at me. I waited for him to continue his words.
"He is so suspicious. So, don't interact with him anymore."
"But he is Heeseung's friend," I replied.
He sighed again,
"Alright. Just do anything you want."
this time he walked away from me. My eyes widened when he walked towards his room without waiting for me.
"Jake."
He abruptly stopped on his way and faced me.
I walked towards him,
"Can I sleep with you?"
He widened his eyes,
"Are you out of your mind after having multiple emotions at one time?"
I played with my fingers,
"But Jake,"
He shook his head,
"No."
I stood in front of the door speechless. I waited for him to open the door for almost two minutes but he didn't give any response. So, I went to the couch and grabbed my phone, and kept the flashlight on for a long time because I was so scared to be alone in the darkness.
I tucked my face onto the pillow and forced myself to sleep before the battery of my phone died. Just if the phone died, it would be the end of me. This was one of the disadvantages of having a mansion. Everything would be so scary once the electricity got cut off.
I was so scared to go upstairs, it would be so much scarier if I went there alone. So, I decided to sleep until the morning comes. That's all I can do. Even though I knew that the electricity would come back, I still wanted to sleep instead of waiting for them to get a fixed.
The fact that the doorknob was broken made the whole situation got scarier. Jake has placed something to stop the door from opening by itself, but it still moved like the wind blow into the house. The sound of the door. I swear it was so scary.
I didn't know if I was imagining things or what, but I could see someone standing outside the door for a long time.
Without wasting any time, I ran away from the living room and went straight to Jake's room before knocking on the door hard. I felt like I was mentally unstable.
This was way too hard for me to handle. I tried to remain cool, but I failed. There are too many things in my mind. I felt like I wanted to cry again.
"Jake! Jake!"
I knocked on the door harder but didn't turn to look at the back. I knocked on the door again when I could feel something was following me from behind. My body was shivering, I was so scared as my body got so hot.
"Jina, what's wrong with you?" He yelled out in frustration. I couldn't speak because I was too scared.
As soon as he opened the door, I quickly ran into his embrace and hugged him tightly. I tucked my head into his embrace and shut my eyes tightly without breaking the hug.
Jake was too stunned to speak. His hand was still on the doorknob while his free hand was holding the phone. He opened his arm and didn't even give any reaction to the sudden scene.
"There's someone following me. There's someone at the door. There's someone at the door, Jake."
Jake shut the door of his room as he finally back to the sense. He threw his phone to the bed and held my shoulder to break the hug.
"Do you want to get a penalty?"
He asked coldly, putting me away from him before dragging me to the door again. I shook my head, and gripped his wrist, so he couldn't push me out of the room.
I looked at him directly into his eyes and shook my head when he looked at me back.
"Please, Jake. Just this time."
"There's someone at the door, Jake."
"I'm telling the truth."
He pinched his head in frustration,
"How many times do you want to burden me, Han Jina? Aren't you tired of doing all of this to me?"
I got on the floor,
"I'm begging you, Jake. This time. Just this time. Let me stay with you for a while. Just this time."
"I'm begging you, Jake."
He ignored me by getting on the bed and taking his phone. I was still at the door, and watching him silently because he looks so cool living in the dark.
I went towards him, reached my hand to pat his shoulder, and again, he shrugged it off before looking at me in annoyance.
"What do you want?"
"Can I lay next to you?"
Jake put his phone down,
"Are you going wild? What's wrong with you?"
He rolled his eyes and moved his body away to give me space laying next to him.
"I would give you a penalty after this. The penalty will be added if you keep crossing the line between us."
I nodded, "I will do the penalty."
I lay on the bed, just facing his back silently.
He took a glance at me,
"Turn your body away. Don't look at me."
I command his wish, then changed the position.
I couldn't sleep at all. I was exhausted after everything happened but I couldn't sleep at all. My eyes opened wide and my body got energized.
I stared at the picture of Yurim on the new frame silently as I could see everything in the room and turned my body to see Jake again.
He read some comments about himself on social media, and without knowing I lean my body closer to him until our shoulders touched each other.
Jake widened his eyes and moved his body away from him.
"Move away. Why do you want to stick by my side?"
I just watched him reading the comment.
I could see that Jake got so heartbroken after reading them. He was sensitive when his heart broke into pieces. He was sensitive about everything. He tried to look for good comments but all he received were negative comments about him.
some of them told him that he dislike his acting skill. they compared him with other actors in the same industry which made Jake upset about it. He tried so hard to pretend that he was good with it, but I could read his face.
I reached my hand to his phone and kept it with me because I don't want him to continue reading the unnecessary comments causing Jake to turn his body to face me surprisingly.
He got into the sitting position and pulled my hand as I hid the phone under my back. He needed to lift me, so he could get the phone back.
"You shouldn't read them. It's not healthy." I told him, but my opinion didn't matter to him.
"Get up." He said.
I stayed in the same position and refused to follow his command. He got pissed off.
Without any hesitation, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into his embrace as he lifted my upper body to take the phone.
I placed my arm around his neck automatically, then accidentally pulled him closer to me as he placed me in the sleeping position again.
We looked at each other for a long time because we were so surprised to see the scene. Jake was just a few inches from me. This moment suddenly reminded me of the moment when I needed to do the kissing scene with Jake for his next movie.
This time, it wasn't for the acting anymore.
This scene happened without any planning. I stared into his eyes as he stared at mine, and finally, could breathe properly when he pulled my arm away from him and got in his actual position, continuing what he was doing as if nothing happened.
"You deserve more than a penalty, Han Jina."
****
It was three in the morning and the electricity came back. Jake woke up from his sleeping as the light automatically switched on. Since Jake couldn't sleep in the light, he decided to switch off the light and came back to the bed.
As he was about to get off the bed, he stopped when he realized that Jina was hugging him from behind. She wrapped her arm around his waist and tucked her head on his back while sleeping peacefully.
Jake turned his body facing her and grabbed her arm to take it off his waist, but instead, Jina went closer to his embrace and now, tuck her head on his chest.
Jake silently stared at her face, then shrugged her away before getting off the bed and switching off the light. As soon as he got on the bed, he grabbed his pillow and blanket, and slept on the couch instead of sleeping next to his wife.
****
I woke up at almost 10 in the morning and got so confused when Jake wasn't with me anymore. I looked around the room and parted my lips when I saw him dressing up in front of the huge mirror that he got from his sponsor. He just needed some touching as he needed to go to the salon to get his hair and make-up done.
I got off the bed and walked toward him as he has trouble tying the necktie around his collar. He kept repeating the same thing and untied them because it looks so messy.
"Do you need my help?" I asked him.
He took a glance at me through the mirror and shook his head.
"I will ask for my make-up artist to help me."
"Since you're awake, you should leave my room and goes straight to your room." He said while fixing the necktie.
I ignored his words, gently pulled his sleeve, and looked at him as I faced him.
"Let me help you," I said softly, reached my hand to the necktie, and tied them without staring at him back.
"Do you have a pre-recording for the variety show today?"
I smiled, "You look like you're going to do a recording for Knowing Bros."
"Wearing a school uniform--"
He suddenly cut me off by putting my hand away from him and leaving the room immediately. I was speechless. I was all alone in the room.
I followed him from behind, was about to bid him goodbye but he already left with his car without taking a glance at me who was at the door.
****
"How are you doing at home?"
I answered Namjin softly,
"Jake left for his work. I'm all alone."
"When will you come back to work?"
"It got extended to 30 October."
"Do you want to go out with me tonight? I heard that Junghwa handle a small reunion for us tonight."
"Junghwa?"
Namjin sighed, "Junghwa was our classmate in the college. We took the same course as him. He was the one who was so loud."
I chuckled softly as I remembered.
"Is that mean our classmates will attend the reunion too?"
"Yes. It's been a long time since we haven't met them. Should we go this time?"
"Let's go."
****
After almost an hour of the ride, Namjin and I finally arrived at the popular barbeque and steamboat restaurant that was located in the middle of the city. I felt quite glad because people didn't recognize me as a wife to Jake.
I walked into the restaurant with Namjin and greeted Junghwa and my classmates who were having a deep and long conversation with each other. As soon as they saw us, Junghwa brought me and Namjin to the empty seat and asked the staff to serve us more meats and noodles for us.
This felt so great. I haven't attended this kind of meeting for a long time. I felt so happy to meet my friends again.
They were still the same. Junghwa and Yongguk were still best friends. They were the noisiest in the classroom back then.
Woram and Ahnjoo were with us too. I still remembered them, they were the only students who could speak up for their rights to the lecturer.
This kind of meeting also made my memories of mine cross my mind too, especially that one moment when I was too in love with Heeseung and told my classmates everything about him.
I felt so foolish. He was my first love. That was the first time I experienced the feeling of falling in love with someone. I was glad that I could control my feeling now. I needed to act as if nothing happened in front of him, or else he would find out my feeling for him.
"I heard that you got into an accident. Are you good now?"
I nodded in response to Ahnjoo. Junghwa responds after taking a few shots of the alcohol.
"Of course, she is good. She has the perfect husband in her life. Jake would take care of her all day long."
Namjin sweetly smiled and cheered the drink with Junghwa as the man kept mentioning Jake in front of me. It was just a few minutes after the meeting, but he was already drunk.
I talked to Ahnjoo and Woram for minutes and looked at Namjin as she gripped my wrist while whispering something next to my ear. I raised my eyebrows in confusion,
"What's wrong?" I asked her softly.
Then, my attention got distracted when I saw Heeseung coming into the restaurant alone. He was surprised to see me too. I got confused when he came toward my table and sat on the empty chair which was in front of me.
Junghwa drunkenly greeted him.
"Heeseung, you finally come."
Yongguk did the handshake with Heeseung and poured drinks into the glass excitedly. I lowered my head for a long time and didn't look at him because I was so nervous. I had no idea that he would come to this meeting.
And then, I remembered that Junghwa was also a best friend to Heeseung. I remained silent and didn't greet him as others did. He gazed at me silently and smiled at his friends when they told him to drink more.
"Why are you here, Jina?" He spoke up.
I took a glance at Namjin and gave a signal to bring me away because I couldn't handle staying here anymore.
Heeseung asked again,
"Why are you here, Han Jina?"
I slowly lifted my head to him. Before I could give a response, Junghwa suddenly cut me off.
"Don't you know her, Heeseung?"
Namjin widened her eyes and told Yongguk to stop Junghwa from exposing the truth.
"It's Han Jina. She was in the same course as me. We were classmates."
Junghwa groaned when Yongguk shoved meat into his mouth. The guy spits the meat away and continues talking to Heeseung.
"Both of you were in the same college together!"
"Hey hey hey, Han Jina."
Junghwa pointed his finger at me.
"You always told us that you love him."
"Don't you remember?"
I widened my eyes and avoided Heeseung's gaze on me.
"You told us that,"
"You want to be his secretary."
"So, you work so hard to be with him."
"You said that you love him at the first sight."
"You always told us how mesmerizing he was to you."
"Don't you remember?"
Namjin cleared her throat,
"Shut your mouth, Junghwa."
I immediately stood up from the seat and patted Namjin on the shoulder before leaving her with them. I walked out of the restaurant, then called Jake to pick me up.
I stood in front of the restaurant and took a step away when I realized that Heeseung left the restaurant too. We made eye contact for a while but I broke it off by stopping the taxi by the street.
"Han Jina." He suddenly stopped me by holding my hand and pulling me away from the car. I refused to look at him. I didn't want to do that. I felt like I wanted to cry again. The secret that I kept for five years has been exposed in front of him.
I have been exposed in front of Heeseung.
"Are you pretending for the whole time..."
"Han Jina?"