Attention.
When he first laid his eyes on her, he immediately knew one thing. She was trouble. Judging from the way she shyly walked inside the classroom, he knew that she was completely unaware of the attention given to her by her classmates who were either swayed by her beauty or envious of her beauty. Either way, she was simply oblivious of the eyes watching her every move. Of course, she was unaware. She had her head hung low, hoping that no one notices her. Unluckily, her attempt of going unnoticed went in vain. Lee Mirae caught everyone's attention. She caught Kanemoto Yoshinori's attention.
From that moment, Yoshinori has set his eyes on the girl. He would look at her in class, not in the open though. He would sneak a few glances at the girl, taking in how she would chuckle brightly at whatever the girl she called her friend had whispered to her. Mina. Yoshinori has always thought of the girl as someone whom he wouldn't want to be associated with. She seemed so suspicious to him. She just gave off an unsettling aura that made Yoshinori unconsciously dislike her. From the way he would catch her looking at him then get flustered when he caught her gaze. From the random boxes of milk that he would secretly leave on his desk, not knowing that the same boy who sits on the chair knew. From the way she would spark up some conversations with him which by the way didn't in any way pique his interest. He had arrived at the conclusion that he hated her. Hell, he even wanted to kill her.
But he wouldn't do that. He wouldn't do that because she's Mirae's friend. He didn't want to blow off Mina's head because losing a friend would make her sad. All the more because Mina was her lone friend.
Confusion.
He didn't understand why she didn't have a few more friends. She's exactly the type of person whom people would want to befriend. Watching how she would interact with Mina, Yoshinori figured that she was the type of person who would intently listen to someone's stories even if it would go on for days. She was the type of person who would randomly bring out the corniest joke just to put a smile on someone's face. She's the type of person who cares. So why is Lee Mirae stuck with Mina when she could have a lot more people in her bubble? Yoshinori couldn't think of any reasons why.
Not until he overheard her and Mina talking on one of the empty rooms while he was on his way to the room only accessible to them. He found out the exact reason why. Mirae is a person who couldn't put her trust on someone. Well, at least not immediately. He realized that the reason why she's only keeping other people within arm-length is because she's afraid. Afraid that she would trust someone so fast only to be betrayed after. He realized that between Mirae, Mina included, a wall so high and mighty has been built and the only way to walk past that wall is to break it.
Break.
That was what seemingly happened that faithful night. Kanemoto Yoshinori has broken the wall Lee Mirae has put up. It may have been the worst way to break her walls but still, he ended up destroying them. Honestly, the boy never wanted Mirae to see him as someone who kills. He would've wanted Mirae to just know him as the snobbish and cold boy that wouldn't bat an eye to anyone except his friends. But this is what fate led them to. The horror in Mirae's eyes when she saw Yoshinori with a gun on his hand and a dead man lying on his own pool of blood brought a tight feeling to Yoshinori's chest. But he masked it. He masked it so well that Mirae feared him as well. He saw through her. He saw how her eyes judged him. He saw how she gulped and took a slight step back. And he would be lying if he said that it didn't hurt him. It hurt him in ways that a person could only imagine. And he wasn't someone who gets his feelings hurt. He wasn't supposed to get hurt, at least not emotionally. But there he was, concealing the burning feeling on his chest. He knew that everything changed after this faithful encounter. He wouldn't have been surprised if she ran for life. But she surprised him when she agreed to Doyoung's offer of driving her home. That's when he realized something. Lee Mirae somehow trusted him. And it was all that mattered to him. He vowed that night that he would do everything to protect her in his own little ways. He didn't exactly know the reason why he wanted to protect her though. He just wanted to.
Anger.
He was beyond mad that day when he saw how Seoyeon and her little clique picked up on Mirae. He badly wanted to lash out at them. Like Mina, he wanted to kill them. Especially when he saw her helpless state. She looked very fragile and vulnerable to him. It took all his willpower not to rush to her side, wipe those tears away and put his lips against Mirae's. He wanted to kiss to give her assurance. Not the best way to give assurance and possibly not the only way but to Yoshinori, it would've been the perfect way. He wanted to pour out all his bottled emotions into a kiss to tell her that it's okay, or at least, it's going to be okay. But of course, he held himself back. He didn't want to scare off the poor girl. He didn't want to give her more reasons to have an unsettling feeling against him. Besides, why would he even want to kiss her? It's not like he likes likes her, right? Right.
Denial.
Kanemoto Yoshinori was in denial. He didn't want to admit to himself that he has developed some liking for the girl who is peacefully sleeping on his guestroom's bed. He didn't expect Mirae to agree to live with him. Well, maybe he did. He knew that she feared for her life and to cling to Yoshinori and the rest of Treasure would be the best and only way for her to be safe so she took the offer to temporarily live with the boy.
People were after her and she knows that she couldn't protect herself. If she was the girl from years ago, she would've simply let herself killed but being the girl that she is now, she wanted to live. She just want to have a longer shot at life that's why she found herself inside Yoshinori's house. Yes, she knows that Yoshinori is someone who kills and if she get on his wrong side, she's done and gone. But she would rather be with Yoshinori and try to stay on his good side rather than to wander around town with her life on the line. She understood what is happening. From the moment they revealed to her that the feared yet respected group of boys from her school was some kind of gang, she knew that she had stepped into a mine. One wrong move and poof, she's gone.
Shift.
When she looked at him with concern in her eyes, Yoshinori knew one thing. He's really in trouble. Way more trouble than himself. When she told him to be safe, he knew he's gonna lose. Lose a battle against his own self. A battle he created to draw a line between reality and his own stupidity. He knew for a fact that there's no way that the girl would end up as his. There is no way, he was so sure of that. Who would want to be with someone who kills? Definitely Mirae is not that kind of girl. But Yoshinori, at the back of his mind, secretly hoped that one day, she would look at him differently. Not only with concern in her eyes when he's badly hurt. He wanted her to look at him with concern in her eyes when he stupidly bumps his toes against the dresser, when he cut his hand with a paper, when something gets into his eyes. He would want those things to happen. Yeah, he's stupid to think about those when they are clearly not going to happen. Or so he thought.
When he found her straddling his lap and responding to his kisses, he knew for sure that something has shifted and that he loved that shift. He laughed to himself when he saw how flustered she was, how she avoided eye contact, how she tried to avoid her. He couldn't even deny it anymore. He likes Mirae.
Progress.
Day by day, the bond between the boy and the girl became tighter. The girl cared for the boy, the boy cared for the girl. Although they didn't immediately put a label to the brewing something that they both have for each other, they knew for a fact that they have moved on from the I-am-only-keeping-you-safe stage. They spent a lot of time with each other, enjoying each other's presence along with Mirae building friendship with Yoshinori's friends. It made him happy to see her make new friends aside from Mina especially since she continued to bug the hell out of him, the unsettling feeling about her growing each day. And it wasn't only him who felt that way, even his friends did. Even Junghwan did feel that something was off about the girl. But Yoshinori decided to push that to the back of his head. If ever his intuitions were true though, he wouldn't hesitate to blow off her head.
Finally.
When Mirae finally agreed to be Yoshinori's girlfriend, he was genuinely happy. When she told him that she didn't see him as the monster he thought he was, he knew that Mirae was a keeper and there is no way that he is letting her slip out of his hands. He would never let her go, no matter what.
Not until he learned who Mirae was. Lee Mirae is Lee Minhyung's daughter. He felt out of it. He couldn't wrap his head around the fact that the Mirae is the daughter of the person who is making their lives miserable, the same person who took their youth and innocence away from them. He just can't look at Mirae without thinking about her connection to Lee Minhyung. He knew that it wasn't her fault that she was her father's daughter but he couldn't also ignore the fact that she's her father's daughter. For him, this was some kind of sick joke and he wasn't having any of it. That's what he distanced himself from Mirae. He tried to hate her. Keyword: tried. He knew he couldn't. Not when he's so in love with her. So he did what he had to do, he put a space between him and her. Then the emptiness came, the separation anxiety came, the longing came. Before he knew it, he was on her room asking her to help him with his math homework. Something they both knew was a lie. There is no way that he would need some help in math. After all, he's a freaking math genius.
Jealousy.
He hated how Mirae hugged Yoonbin so tight when they reunited. He hated it more when he learned about the history between his friend and his girlfriend. Mirae shared her childhood with Yoonbin. She grew up with him. He is her bestfriend. He knew a lot of things about Mirae that he doesn't know. He was jealous but he wasn't crazy nor was he irrational. Yes, it irked him but he wouldn't pull a gun on his own friend. After all, Mirae assured him. Heck, even Yoonbin told him that they're just friends. Mirae and Yoonbin care for each other. They love each other, platonically, that is. Yoshinori understood it. After all, he knew platonic love really exists.
Pissed.
When Mina finally revealed her true self, Yoshinori was beyond pissed. He should've put a bullet to her head. He hated the hurt expression painted on his girlfriend's face. She was betrayed by the person whom she called her friend. He hated how Mirae almost gave her up for her friend when she learned that Mina liked him even before. She felt like she got in between her friend and her boyfriend. She was ready to let Yoshinori go. For once, he hated how selfless she was. He wanted her to learn how to put herself first before thinking about others because for so long, she has put herself behind. Yoshinori wanted her to choose her own happiness first.
Betrayal.
He didn't know what happened. He just woke up one day feeling annoyed at how his friends became so close to his girlfriend. How openly Jaehyuk and Jeongwoo would tease the older girl. How Asahi would confide with her. How Junghwan and Haruto would hug her out of the blue. It just annoyed him. He knows he shouldn't but the burning feeling inside of him keeps getting warmer. So warm that it starts to consume him. Before he knew it, he found himself in a room across Lee Minhyung who was smugly looking at him. He made a deal with the same person he vowed Mirae's mother to protect her from. He just made a deal with the devil. He just betrayed his friends. He betrayed Mirae. He betrayed himself.
There's nothing he can do now. He can no longer stop the growing anxiety lingering inside him. He cannot lose Mirae. He cannot lose her to his friends who are seemingly getting closer to her as days go by. As these thoughts began to cloud his rational mind, he began seeking help from the last person whom he wanted to be associated with. After all, he is Lee Mirae's father.
And he knows that Lee Mirae, despite everything that happened, still listens to her father.
Lee Minhyung knows that as well. He's still one of Mirae's weakness and he's willing to exploit it for his own good. In exchange for her daughter, Kanemoto Yoshinori would lure Treasure into a trap. A trap that would eventually lead to their end. It's a win-win situation for them. Lee Minhyung would finally be able to take down his biggest rival gang while Kanemoto Yoshinori's anxiety over his friends will be put to an end.
Although his rational mind keeps on telling him that the people whom he is putting into danger are his friends, his family even, his irrational and clouded mind wins over.
With them gone, you won't have to worry anymore. Lee Mirae will be yours. Only yours.
And that is what he wanted.
He wanted to own her.
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I finally updated (yay!). The next chapter will be the last one before the epilogue so yes, we're nearing the end of this book </3.
Anyway, what do you think will happen in the end? Do you think another plot twist will happen or will Yoshi live up to the branding that people have given him?
I mean, he's a bad boy after all.