Ch.3
Hoseok wanted to talk to you? Why on Earth would he want to do that? While it made absolutely no sense to you, you agreed. After everything you put him through, you figured he deserved to be listened to. From what happened in high school, but also making him chase you around campus. At least he didn't trip and fall down the hill with you. His clothes were fine unlike your white puffy dress. That was still depressing you if you were being honest. Getting stains out wasn't easy. You usually try so hard to keep all your clothes clean. There are never wrinkles and are properly taken care of. The maids at your house know that your handmade clothes are the most precious things you have.
From how gloomy you were to see your dirty clothes, Hoseok has been speaking to you in a light voice. It was quiet and calming although it reminded you of the way people spoke to children. Is that what he saw you as? You might as well be. But if he really is a fashion major here then he should understand the pain of accidentally ruining clothes like this! Has he ever witnessed anything more tragic? It was tempting to cry, but you were just grateful that he didn't laugh at you. Hoseok could have easily turned the situation to make fun of you. Hoseok could have rubbed it in and gotten some form of revenge. But he offered you a hand and a smile.
People like him exist?
It was too hard to believe even with how kind his treatment towards you has been so far. Was he planning to trick you? If so, you weren't having it. You didn't have time to be made fun of like that. Though considering Hoseok came from a poor background from what you remembered, it would be foolish of him to pick a fight. He was coming across as very peaceful. Hoseok hadn't brought up high school the entire time he helped you out. You were sitting on the bench while he's been removing mud from your heels for the past couple minutes.
"Your heels are all clean now, okay? Promise you won't cry anymore?" Hoseok crumbled up the tissue, standing up to toss it into the trash.
"I still want to cry..." You admitted. Your pout was stubborn on your face as you touched the skirt of your dress. Hoseok dusted off his hands while he watched your sad form. How bad did you look? "We can talk now if you still want to."
"You sure?" Hoseok tilted his head. He was about to sit next to you until you randomly shot up from your seat. He leaned his head back, not expecting you to jump onto your feet and face him.
"But first! I have to apologize, okay? Give me a second." You shook your hands out. Okay, here it goes. Do it exactly as planned, (F/n).
Hoseok blinked in confusion, not sure of what you meant by apologizing. He stayed standing while you lowered yourself to the ground. The plan was in motion! Hoseok looked around the campus before staring back down at you. Shame was thrown out the window. Father would be furious to see you going down on your knees, but this has been haunting you since forever. Placing your hands on the ground, you brought your head down so Hoseok could see your sincerity. You want his forgiveness!
"Get up! What are you doing!?" Hoseok sounded panicked. He looked around him again in case anyone was watching. "Kang (F/n), get up!"
"No, Hoseok! I ruined your life a year ago and I'm so sorry!" You shouted, staying in your deep bow. "Please forgive me!"
"You...what? When did...oh." Hoseok understood what you meant. At first he tried to look through his memories for anything you did wrong against him. He never interacted with you. The only time he even got noticed by you to his knowledge was the day before graduation. That had to be what you were apologizing over. "(F/n), you didn't ruin my life. It was embarrassing and hurtful, but I'm over it."
"Over it!?" You shot your head up, surprising Hoseok once again. He jumped in the air and clutched his chest, unable to keep up with you. Your emotional state was all over the place from feeling gloomy to outrage. Did you want him to be mad at you? Not exactly...it's just that things were not going at all like how you had planned. "Hoseok! I've been miserable while you were over it?"
"Ah...I guess so?" Hoseok shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. "Look, I'm kind of used to not being the typical handsome guy. That doesn't really bother me..." He held his hands out to you again to get you off the ground. You wanted to scoff at his words since they were pure utter nonsense. "Hearing that stung a little bit, but it was mainly just having it be said to everyone in our grade that sucked. We're not in high school anymore and it's been a year since then anyway."
"Well...does that mean we're okay?" You blinked at him innocently. Hoseok nodded as you grinned back at him. "Good! Because I just wanted to say that I never once mocked you for your appearance! It was just Yewon and she was a total b*tch about it for some reason. She tried to make me be the bad guy even though I told her to stop calling you names." You quickly informed him, stunning Hoseok yet again. From running away in fear, close to tears, anger, and now comfortably revealing your bad blood with an old classmate, you were something else. "I was telling her to knock it off once and for all when she shouted that awful lie you and everyone heard."
"Oh, that's what happened?" Hoseok raised a brow, immediately gaining an eager nod from you.
"Yep! Besides Hoseok, I actually thought you were very handsome from the moment I laid eyes on you and even now! You're a complete heartthrob and totally my type!" You happily stated causing Hoseok to choke on air. His eyes widened, confused on how you were spilling this all out so easily. There was no filter when you spoke. Why should you hold back in the first place? There was no reason to feel shame and it felt so liberating to have it all out in the open! You squealed happily as Hoseok's face turned beet red. "I just wanted you to know that I would never think poorly of you."
"R-Right, I...you're so honest, wow." Hoseok was struggling to collect his thoughts. You kept smiling at him before tugging him down to sit on the bench. He looked like he was going to pass out.
"Now that we got that cleared out of the way, let's talk about what you wanted to talk about!" You clapped your hands.
Hoseok looked like he was going to need a couple minutes. That was understandable considering how forward you could be. It was just a habit of yours if you were being honest. Father and brother never filtered their words once. Not to you, the staff at home, or to their business partners. Thanks to that, you're almost the same. While you find it easy to speak bluntly without a second thought, it's only to your family that you do have to think. Even though it was pretty easy to just shout what you want at Kyunghwan. It was mainly Father who you had to bite your tongue around. You're working on fixing that though.
You held back when you were in high school. You were honest with your words, but you were quiet when you shouldn't have been a lot of the times. Hoseok may forgive what happened though you wouldn't forget it. You'll state everything on your mind! Even if it makes Hoseok's entire face turn red. You smiled at him, watching Hoseok put himself together. He wasn't prepared for your statement. You didn't even know you had a type but if you did, he fit it perfectly. Hoseok chuckled as he shook his head before facing you with a smile.
"Alright...before I had to chase you and this whole thing happened, I just wanted to let you know that I was actually excited to see you here," Hoseok said. Your brows jumped to hear this. He could tell you didn't believe him, but he continued. "I know we didn't necessarily leave off on the best note, but it's crazy that someone from high school is here. You gotta admit that."
"Okay, yeah. I had the same thoughts too since I would have assumed everyone went to college earlier or went to work." You crossed one leg over the other. "This is also a Fashion Institute and not once did I see anyone else into fashion at school...well, you showed hints."
"The alterations?" Hoseok raised a brow as you nodded. "Yeah, I already stood out as the poor kid. I figured I might as well try to be confident if I'm going to stand out."
"I really liked it." You smiled. Hoseok couldn't look at you whenever you complimented him. Could he not handle it? It made you want to laugh at how adorable he was. He didn't even realize it. He looked so cool and casual with his clothes though talking to him was entirely different. "What made you want to come here?"
"It's a bit of a long story." Hoseok warned you. You quickly shifted on the bench to get more comfortable. Soon you were giving Hoseok a beaming smile as the okay.
"Go for it!"
Hoseok never stopped smiling when he 1told you his story. For some reason you couldn't get over how much you loved his smile. It was infectious and instantly had you returning one. As you listened to Hoseok, it shocked you that the two of you never became friends. He should have talked to you or you should have approached him. Hoseok would have been a lot more exciting than anyone else in your grade. He's poor, but so what? How poor could he possibly be? You didn't even realize what that meant for Hoseok.
His story started ever since he was young. Hoseok's mom runs her own shop tailoring outfits. If anyone ever wants a suit tailored to be a perfect fit or have a hem fixed, his mom was the one to go to. You were thrilled to hear his mother owned a business! You were excited to hear if she potentially had other businesses overseas, but Hoseok immediately shook his head. His mother's shop was a small space that got a few visitors a day. She got enough work to manage though there have been times where they've worried about it closing. The shop sat in between a smelly fish market and a dentist.
He learned how to sew before he learned how to write. It was just a simple needle and thread. It started out messy, but he eventually got good enough to help out his mother. He was practically working with her when he was in middle school. Hoseok loved working with all kinds of fabrics, sewing, and seeing how customer's faces lit up. All just from the clothes they wore. It gave them joy and confidence. It was a job overlooked by many, but Hoseok admired what his mother did. He instantly wanted to do more. Hoseok wanted to make clothes of his own.
The only resources Hoseok had were limited to his family owned computer and the magazines in the dentist office. Hoseok couldn't afford to keep buying magazines. He would just sit in the dentist's waiting room, looking over the magazines as if they were textbooks. While Hoseok gravitated toward more urban wear, he figured it would be important to familiarize himself with all types of fashion. Hoseok didn't realize the owner of the dentist office specifically bought a subscription to a fashion bundle just for Hoseok. Suddenly, Hoseok was studying Vogue, Elle, Allure, and GQ. There were others that he would just stare at, trying his best to figure out how the clothes were put together.
"I got a job at the fish market. Just a small job that gave me money since I couldn't rely on my parents. Not with my Eomma making ends meet with the tailoring business and Appa constantly on the road as a truck driver." Hoseok crossed his arms. You were staring at him in complete awe. It never occurred to you that someone would have to go through so much to follow their dreams. The only obstacle you had was your family which you handled. Hoseok had to prepare himself since he was in middle school. "I saved up enough money to buy fabric and would try to replicate the designs I saw on magazines. I'm still not that great with women's clothes, but I've gotten good with men's wear. Especially suits."
"That's awesome, Hoseok, but...how did you have time to study? If you got a scholarship to our private school." You curiously tilted your head, watching Hoseok sigh softly.
"Oh, that was torture." He still managed to chuckle. "The scholarship was mentioned to my grade at the beginning of the year. Only one student in the entire district was able to win the scholarship if they completed all the requirements. Even then, I had to write an essay and hope that the judges believed in me."
"Woah..." You were stunned.
"Volunteer hours, grades had to be up, teacher recommendations, school involvement, and also just trying to give the judges a reason to pity us," Hoseok told you. "I figured going to a private school would look really good to colleges. I just needed to behave and keep my grades up the entire time which I did."
"You could have entered college only a few months after graduation though." You were impressed. Hoseok could hear it in your tone, but he shook his head.
"Not really...I needed to make a portfolio worth looking at, but everything costs money." Hoseok sighed. He took a gap year like you for a similar reason. "I took a job at a thrift store to save up money for the portfolio and college. I'm still working there just hoping I don't end up with debt that I'll be working the rest of my life to pay off."
"Oh...I took a year building my portfolio too." You fiddled with your fingers. To be honest, you didn't even think of the price it costed when coming to this college. All you thought about was your dream. Hoseok had a lot riding on his passion and whether this degree would be worth it or not. It was mindboggling to hear his story. Hoseok was rubbing his hands with his eyes on the ground when he shared. Was he embarrassed? "Hoseok?"
"Yeah?" He looked back at you.
"Are you embarrassed that you're poor?" You questioned. Once again, Hoseok didn't expect that from you. He sat up and cleared his throat. You continued to stare at him, unsure if you said something wrong. "It's okay to be poor! I'm sure being poor can be fun!"
"Ah...it's..." Hoseok quickly shook his head. He looked like he wanted to say something, but only smiled at you. "It has it's perks and downfalls, I guess. I'm sure being rich is the same."
"Being rich...hmm." You thought about it as Hoseok looked at you. He was amused that you were trying to share.
While you didn't necessarily have to work hard to earn money and be careful on your spending, there were other things that bugged you. Maybe it was just specific to your family. The first thing being that you guys weren't really a family. They want to make you a trophy wife and force you to marry this dude just so they could keep getting richer together. You were just a chess piece in their twisted game...you were glaring at the ground without realizing it. Hoseok noticed your bitter expression as he slowly brought his hand on your shoulder.
"(F/n)?" Hoseok's touch making you jump. He quickly pulled his hand away, watching you jump up onto your feet. "Y-You okay?"
"Uh, yeah!" You grinned. Normally you would try to give off the illusion that you had everything together with your outfit. That just wasn't happening when it looked like you wrestled someone on the ground. "I mean, as okay as I can be with a stained dress..."
"I'm still sorry about that." Hoseok bowed his head.
"It's not your fault." You sighed, picking up the thin hem of your dress. The stains weren't too terrible but considering how your dress was a pure white...it looked horrific. Enough to make you want to cry all over again. You stomped your feet like a spoiled child, whining softly at the unfair tragedy. Hoseok responded quick as he got onto his feet.
"Don't cry! It'll be okay!" Hoseok nervously assured you. His eyes scanned your face, looking for clues on what to do next. You had a pout as you waited for him to speak. How was it going to be okay? You were miserable! "Uh, how about this? Let me clean your dress. I can tell it means a lot to you so I'll hand wash it and make it good as new. Does that sound good?"
"You'll clean it?" You repeated softly. Hoseok relaxed now that you were calming down again. He nodded until you were smiling back at him. "Okay! That'll make us even then!"
"Yeah, totally." Hoseok sighed in relief.
"I'll call my driver to bring me extra clothes. Follow me!" You excitedly took Hoseok's wrist. He didn't have time to process what was happening. You were constantly going from one place to another without warning. Hoseok almost tripped but managed to keep up with you.
Mansu was called yet again with the order to bring a new outfit. This wasn't something you wanted to make a habit of. You just needed something quick to switch into. Hoseok promised he would have it returned to you in less than a week. You would hold him to his word on that then! This would officially make the two of you even. Supposedly. You still weren't over the fact that Hoseok brushed that incident in high school without too much thought while you've dwelled on it for the past year. Then you made him chase you on campus which was still embarrassing. Now that you thought about it, how does this make the two of you even?
Hoseok said he felt responsible for making you trip and getting the dress dirty. You didn't really think it was his fault, but if it cleaned his conscious then you would let him clean your dress. Mansu arrived eventually with the BMW looking new as ever. The clothes were inside as Mansu stepped out. He stood guard of the car, raising a brow at Hoseok's presence and your dirty dress. Mansu quickly grew concerned but you told him everything was fine. Without another word, you got in the car and changed into a basic outfit.
The white stained dress now sat inside a bag. Mansu walked to the driver's side when you stepped out of the car. He had the vehicle ready to take you home whenever you wanted. Hoseok's eyes were wide when you held the bag out to him. Was he shocked to see you in such boring clothes? It really wasn't like you to go out like this. The tank top and pants were something you wore when holed up in your sewing room. Though in reality, Hoseok's eyes were stuck on the car and the fact that you had a driver. A driver who just listened to you like this was normal. And it was, but for you.
"Here's the dress." You placed the bag in his hands. Hoseok took it carefully, not knowing what to say. "Please forget you ever saw me in such dull clothing."
"W-What?" Hoseok finally snapped out of it. He wasn't even focusing on your clothes until now.
"Be careful with the dress!" You walked over to the car, opening the door up. "Bye bye!"
"Bye..." Hoseok held the bag close to his chest. A year away from rich kids was making this all seem shocking again.
*~*
Who would have ever thought that you would bump into Hoseok again? You thought that would never occur! You were ready to live the rest of your life regretting that day. Thank goodness you did find him again and talk things out. The outcome was a lot better than you would have ever imagined. It was terrifying at first to see him and be completely unprepared, but Hoseok was so kind! He's incredibly forgiving which you couldn't thank him enough about. Though it was tempting to pinch his arm when he said he wasn't handsome. Has this man looked in a mirror before!?
Have others told him he wasn't that much to the point where he believes in their lies? Was Hoseok insecure? Or...oh goodness. You're so insensitive! What if Hoseok can't afford a mirror? Should you buy him one? The thought had you scrambling on your phone with a credit card in hand, but you stopped. Logic was finally setting in when you had time to think about it. There's no way that's possible. He may not own a mirror, but he's definitely had to have seen his reflection at least once in his life. There's probably a mirror in his mother's shop and there should have been some in the men's bathroom in high school.
You might not need to buy Hoseok a mirror after all. He should know he's attractive anyway! Other than that, you've been bored at home. It's not like you had friends to go out with. Not even fake friends to trick you into renting out an entire hotel in a foreign country for the weekend. That wasn't too unfortunate though. But for the sake of your entertainment, you had to do something! Maybe it was your clothes that were bringing your mood down. So you did what any other girl did and checked your closet to switch it up. The bad part was that none of your clothes were speaking to you at the moment. This could only mean one thing!
It was time to make yourself a new top!
You wasted no time going into your sewing room. There was already an idea popping up in your head. There was no exact reference for what you had in mind. There were just bits and pieces that you enjoyed from what you saw on Pinterest. You could scroll on hours just getting inspired. The two fabrics that you immediately pulled out were the crystal organza and a crepe pongee silk you owned. You practically had a small fabric store inside your sewing room. It was everything!
You made a quick sketch of what you envisioned. Just having a visual idea was a lot more helpful. You made it as clean as you could, but you also so badly wanted to get started. The first thing you did was drape some muslin onto the dress form that you owned. You just needed to pin the mockup to make sure it would fit your size. Muslin is just a bland fabric you always use when draping. After you made a decent mockup, you went straight to cutting the actual fabric by using the cut pieces of muslin as a template.
"(F/n)!" It was your brother calling your name. Were you going to listen? No~!
Ignoring him happily, you cut out all the pieces for the bodice in both the organza and pongee. The pongee was just going to be lining for the bodice. Music was playing softly as you lined up the two fabrics. You hummed along, pinning around the edges to make sure it was even. You were just going to baste around the edges. Your precious sewing machine was already set on a straight stitch. Basting just meant temporary stitches that you would eventually remove. This was a lot of effort for a top, but the thing was...you decided to make it into a one piece pantsuit. Didn't that sound fun?
"(F/n)! Can't you hear!?" Kyunghwan barged into your sewing room. He slammed the door hard enough to make you feel like the room was shaking. Inhaling quietly, you set down your fabric and slowly turned around to smile at brother dearest. What could he possibly want?
"Kyunghwan, you never come in here. What's with the change?" You tilted your head, crossing one leg over the other. Your sewing room was your safe place only because Father and Kyunghwan never came inside.
"Stop acting like a b*tch." Kyunghwan walked over to you. What was he doing? Furrowing your brows, you stood up to question what he was doing in your room only for him to shove your shoulder. You fell back in your seat with the back of your neck feeling hot. The wheels on the seat made you drift a foot away from him, but you stayed close to see him grab your phone.
"@sshole!" You kicked his leg. Kyunghwan gritted his teeth, tolerating it as he turned on the screen of your phone. "What do you want!?"
"Where are your fiancé's calls? My calls?" Kyunghwan shoved your phone in your face. "He's been trying to contact you. Texting, calling, and even asked me to know what was going on."
"That's what this is about?" You glared at him, snatching your phone from his hand. You stood up from your seat to ram your heel into his leather shoe hard enough for him to feel it. Kyunghwan loudly cussed, bouncing back as he hunched in pain. "I've blocked the both of you! That's why! Why would I ever want to talk to two pieces of sh*t?"
"Stupid—" Kyunghwan hissed.
"Say it! It's nothing I haven't heard from you before!" You yelled, quickly pulling out your fabric scissors from your desk drawer. You didn't hesitate to point it at Kyunghwan. His nostrils were flared, annoyed by the temerity you had. "Maybe you should actually learn how to work at Abeoji's company instead of cussing at me."
"You dare point scissors at me? The Kang's first child and only son?" Kyunghwan scoffed. You rolled your eyes right away at the title he seemed so fond of. If he didn't have those titles to define his entire personality, what would he do? "You should learn that it's better to shut your d*mn mouth and sew quietly. I'd sew your mouth shut if I could."
"You're so..." You gripped the scissors tightly. He frustrated you so much, but you couldn't even begin to describe it. Kyunghwan finally straightened his posture, acting like he won. He grabbed your wrist and twisted it roughly enough for you to drop the scissors. A small yelp escaped you, but it luckily was more uncomfortable than painful. Your wrist would be fine though you were still furious. "I feel bad for whoever marries you in the future."
"Don't worry about my future. It's yours this family is depending on." Kyunghwan lowered his voice for the last part. It was threatening enough to make you want to take a step back from him.
You did your best to stand your ground though. If your gaze could burn then Kyunghwan would be left in ashes. He annoyed you so much...a sigh left your nose as he turned away from you. It was about time he left your sewing room. You hope you never see him in here again. As soon as Kyunghwan was gone and you were alone again in your room, you couldn't help the scream that was escaping out your throat. Grabbing your pin cushion, you threw it on the ground and threw your tantrum. You can't stand him! One of these days you're going to punch the lights out of him!