This chapter was written by CzaPed, my partner.
CHAPTER 7
“May I take your order, Sir?” Yeo Been asked her favorite customer with a broad smile. The young lad who was already grinning met her eyes as soon as she came out of the kitchen and was expectantly waiting for her to come to his spot. The two just looked at each other for a whole minute before the guy hesitantly took the menu card from Yeo Been and cleared his throat.
“Hmm, what will you recommend for me tonight?” The guy asked, throwing her a playful look.
“Yah! Just order already!” Yeo Been punched Joong Ki’s shoulder. He was sitting in his usual spot in Arno’s Diner and was patiently waiting for her to come out from the kitchen. It was the last day of midterm exams and everyone was celebrating, half of the semester has come to an end and tonight marks the start of their freedom and a 3-week long break. Yeo Been and Joong Ki have agreed to meet at the diner since his exams concluded much later than hers.
“Aww! Fine, I’ll have…” Joong Ki taking his time browsing the small menu. “Ok, I’ll have… you.”
“What?” Yeo Been asked Joong Ki again, her 2-way radio earpiece producing static sound. “Sorry I didn’t catch that.”
“I’ll have you, to go.” This time Joong Ki said it clearly, wondering how she’ll react.
“Wha—? Wait, I can’t—argh!” Yeo Been readjusts her earpiece. “My earpiece must be busted. Anyway, you’ll have the usual?”
Joong Ki frowned but nodded. “Okay.” Yeo Been gave him a concerned look. “Why? What’s wrong? I’ll prep your order right away okay? I’ll get off in an hour anyway, wait for me!” The latter giving him his arm a squeeze before going back to the kitchen.
Joong Ki stared at Yeo Been until she disappeared from his view. He had planned to spend the rest of the night with Yeo Been but she needed to cover for a colleague at the last minute. ‘There goes our tickets to the concert,’ Joong Ki sighed. ‘It’s the end of midterm and Beenie can’t even celebrate today.’ He wanted to surprise her by taking her to a concert but did not foresee that she needed to work on her rest day. In fact, everyone in IU has gone celebrating, parties thrown here and there and bars and drinking spots are full to the brim with the students. Joong Ki thought that of all the students who were celebrating that night, Yeo Been deserved it the most.
“Here’s your hotdog sandwich!” Yeo Been re-emerged from the kitchen, holding his order. She was looking at him sweetly before adding, “I prepared it myself, just the way you like it: easy on the mustard, very little ketchup, lots of greens, in short, it’s tasteless!” She finished containing her grin.
“Share it with me then.” Joong Ki eyed his meal, taking Yeo Been’s hand, urging her to sit.
“You know I can’t—“
“Hey, can we get someone to attend to us here?!” Shouted a voice coming from a group of male students.
“I have to go, enjoy your sandwich!” Yeo Been said to Joong Ki as she hurriedly left to go to the other side of the diner.
***
‘Yes! 11pm! Finally waitress Beenie is clocking out!’ Yeo Been excitedly removed her apron, cap, and surrendered her earpiece to the counter. “See you tomorrow, Chef Toto!” She happily waved to the chef.
Yeo Been exited the diner in an almost prancing way, eager to meet Joong Ki in the parking lot when she was stopped in her tracks by an ice hockey stick sticking in front of her. She looked up and saw the same college guy who was previously at the diner. Yeo Been remembers him and his brother very well as they ordered repeatedly during her shift. They would demand for condiments, ice, napkins and would specifically request for her to attend to them to mop the spilled iced tea that she suspects they intentionally caused while exchanging knowing glances and snickers between them and their group. But despite their rudeness, she knew better than to argue with a customer and just kept her cool.
“Oops! Didn’t see you. My bad!” Said the guy in his fluid American accent, his breath reeks of alcohol. ‘They must have been drinking in the parking lot,’ she thought.
Yeo Been really wanted to leave so she just bowed her head slightly and attempted to step over the stick when the college guy raised his hockey stick even higher.
“Not so fast, Jeon Yeo Been.” Yeo Been was surprised to know he knew her name. He looked familiar, he and his brother, the famous Jang brothers.
“Look at her,” the second guy speaks while sitting on the hood of their car, “She must have drugged him to act like a puppy all of a sudden.” That earned a laugh from the rest of the group.
Yeo Been attempted to walk the other way, refusing to hear more of their insults at her. But she couldn’t help hearing what they had to say next.
“I know right! Now you understand me guys?” Hanseok addressed his peers before continuing, “I wouldn’t be this furious if that Joong Ki hadn’t hurt Hye Kyo. I kept my cool man, for too long, but this bitch right here and the A-hole kept parading in the campus. And Hye Kyo had to vent everything out to me!”
“Then go back to the US then, follow her,” said Hanseo, his brother.
Hanseok placed his arms around his brother’s shoulder. “I will, but not before I teach that asshole and this bitch here a lesson. There’s no sense wooing Hye Kyo if that bastard’s face is still angelic, right?”
Hanseo clapped at his brother’s reasoning emboldening his older brother more.
“You!” Hanseok pointing his fingers at Yeo Been. “Know your place, go back to your hole, and bring that aashole with you! Or else—“
“Or else what?” interrupted by a deep, taunting voice belonging to Joong Ki.
“Wow! Finally, Mr. Loverboy shows up! I must say—” Hanseok pointing his hockey stick to him and then to Yeo Been, “I must say that you two make a good pair. Had I known you have a very low standard—” Hanseok diverted his look to Yeo Been, “I wouldn’t have let you have Hye Kyo to yourself. This bitch—”
“Enough!” Shouted Joong Ki.
“I’m not done talking!” Hanseok’s eyes narrowed, he pursed his lips then forcefully shoved the tip of his hockey stick in Joong Ki’s chest. Joong Ki immediately retaliated by pulling the stick and throwing it to the ground. Hanseok took this as a sign to engage so he pounced forward, grabbing Joong Ki’s collar but the latter knee striked him in the stomach causing Hanseok to fall on his back.
“Gaesaekki! / Son of a bitch!” Hanseo came rushing to Joong Ki, using his body to bulldoze Joong Ki to the ground. Joong Ki let out a muffled grunt as his back hit a side of a car. He then steadied himself with his right knee, his left hand punching Hanseo in the face. Hanseok recovers from the ground, seeing his brother hit, he immediately hovered back to Joong Ki, his right hand clenched, descending fast to deliver a forceful blow when a female body moved in front of him, diving in to cover Joong Ki, her face in direct line to Hanseok’s fist and then—
Yeo Been receives the full impact of the blow, the left side of her face askewed as it felt the momentum of the punch, leaving a torn lip bleeding. Her small form thrown to the ground.
That took everyone by surprise, Hanseok and his brother, their friends and Joong Ki, who jumped to his feet and pulled Yeo Been gently by her arms, protectively ushering her head to his chest.
“Yah! You’ll pay for this!” Joong Ki threatened Hanseok and his group.
“Let’s go! This ain’t your fault bro, she got in the way. Attention-seeking bitch!” Hanseo walked back to their car, his brother followed suit. “Get in!” Yelled Hanseo to their 2 other friends.
***
Joong Ki worriedly drove to his flat, his eyes checking up on the girl seated on the passenger seat every few seconds. Yeo Been insisted on being dropped off to her dorm but Joong Ki wouldn't let her and insisted he bring her to the hospital.
“Please, no. It’s nothing serious, please,” Yeo Been pleaded.
“Okay. But I’m not letting you by yourself. I'll take you home, please let me,” Joong Ki bargained.
It was absolute to Joong Ki that he must be with Yeo Been tonight whether she wanted or not. His mind a blur as he drove, strong emotions each fighting to surface as he kept glancing at her from his rear view mirror. Hanseok and his gang wouldn’t zero in on her if it weren’t for him. And they shouldn't in the first place! He and Hye Kyo mutually agreed to end their relationship. He loved her and they separated, he was a hollow shell for months, but he picked himself back together and MOVED ON. Hanseok had harbored feelings for Hye Kyo but he knew his feelings weren’t reciprocated. It is Hanseok’s burden and not Joong Ki’s. The guy loves Hye Kyo, Joong Ki understands, to be Hye Kyo's shoulders in his absence is to be expected but Joong Ki can NO LONGER feel guilty if they have both decided to end their relationship and IF Hye Kyo was not being 100% amenable to it.
‘I am sorry Hye Kyo. For loving you and hurting you. But I love someone now. I love her not because I was longing to love again after you left. It just happened. You'd understand me if you feel you have loved a person before you even met her. I know you want me to be happy again Hye Kyo. And I am. Happier. With my Beenie.’
Joong Ki willed his thoughts away as he stalled his car in front of his property. Soon after, the automated gates opened revealing a 2 storey glass house overlooking the busier city center of Seoul. Joong Ki turned to Yeo Been.
“We‘re here.”
***
“Lights on,” Joong Ki said clearly, his rest-house looking residence illuminating at the voice command. His place was dotingly given to him by his parents when he moved to college ensuring that he will continue living a comfortable life despite his independence. An independence that came with a new car, a platinum credit card, and a personal butler, who was fortunately on vacation back in London. He wouldn't want his Beenie to feel awkward to another unfamiliar face. Not tonight.
“Please seat, Beenie.” He took her hand, her head was faced down during the whole 30 minute drive, never saying anything except her objections on going to the hospital. She didn’t respond to him when he asked her permission to bring her to his home. All Joong Ki heard was a suppressed sigh.
“Let me see it, Beenie.” Joong Ki used his fingers to lift her face, wincing as he saw how quickly the swelling progressed. Her lip was busted, and the area around it started swelling, reddened with the pool of blood like a bloody pulp. The skin around her left lower lip turned purplish, tainting her otherwise creamy white skin.
“This is going to sting a bit,” his hands delicately dabbing Yeo Been's lips with iodine-soaked cotton while she pressed the ice pack onto her lower jaw.
“I can do it myself.” Yeo Been tried taking the cotton ball from Joong Ki’s hand.
“No. Let me do this please.” Another sigh from her. Joong Ki sensed it was best to just focus on cleaning her bruises. She’s hurting physically and those bastards' words must have shaken her up. ‘I’ll make them pay, Beenie. No one can lay a hand on you again. I promise,’ he silently vowed as he continued cleaning the dried blood on her chin.
Joong Ki was applying the last layer of antiseptic ointment on Yeo Been’s lip when he noticed the hem of her blouse got wet from a drop and then another. He looked up and his heart felt like crushing. Yeo Been's eyes are reddened, she was crying.
Joong Ki knelt before her, his towering height compensated for his position, making his face almost at level with hers. The soft carpet cradling his knees and her bare feet.
“What are you doing, Joong Ki?” Her first words after a long time of keeping silent.
“I’m going to apply the antisep—”
“No, that's not what I meant,” she repeated again, tears falling anew. “What are you doing to me Joong Ki?”
“Beenie, no, oh God, don't cry, please.” His thumb wiping the tears from her eyes. He inched his face even closer, whispering to her. “It pains me to see you cry. Shit. This is my fault.” It dawns on him that Yeo Been was asking him about THEM.
“No. I let you. Against my better judgment, I let you get close to me. And I allowed myself to be selfish. But why are you doing this?”
“I have feelings for you Beenie. I lo—”
“Don't say that.” Yeo Been didn't let him finish, as if holding his words can stop him from having feelings for her.
“But I do. And I want us to be together,” Joong Ki continued.
“Can’t you see that being close to me only creates enemies for you? Can't you see the pitiful looks students throw at you when they see us together? Didn’t you hear what Hanseok said?” Yeo Been bursted, she wanted Joong Ki to realize what he felt for her won't do him any good.
“I don’t care what they think! And neither should you!” Joong Ki countered as he took her hands before bringing them to his chest. He felt he needed to prove himself. Like a debater in a heated debate, his mind frantic, afraid to lose the argument. So he pressed on.
“You think I didn't see this through?” Joong Ki was pressing her hands to his chest as he spoke. “I was asking myself why I always think about you. Why you never left my mind when I heard you at the rooftop. Why I need to show you how I feel everyday. Believe me, I have never felt this way before. So why am I like this to you?”
“It’s because I feel that we fell in love before. I feel like we’re in a story that readers root for, waiting for us to fall in love again, I feel like whatever character we become, I will naturally find my way to you. And you to me. I don't know if I make sense, but pursuing you now felt the natural thing for me to do. Beenie, you're personality and everything about you stands out to me. Like a piece of straw in a field. I will naturally pull you to me.”
“So please let me love you. Let yourself love. me. too.” Joong Ki punctuating each of his last words with a kiss to her wrist.
“What did I do to deserve you?” Yeo Been blinked her tears away, sniffed then continued, “I can live with people hating me, I'm used to it. But I can't forgive myself if you get hurt because of me. What happened at the parking lot can happen again and what if they do something more serious next time? God, I don't know what I'll do. I never want to see you get hurt. If I stay away from you, then they won't hate you anymore.”
“No, no!” Joong Ki disagreed vehemently, shaking his head from side to side. But Yeo Been had to speak her mind.
“I am way under your league anyway. Girls like me should know our place. At best, we can only fill gaps in a guy's life, patch them, heal them, and accept it when it's time for us to ‘step aside’ when it's over. Girls like me should only admire guys like you from a distance. You’re Song Joong Ki, no less. You and Hye Kyo should—”
Joong Ki can no longer contain his emotion. He can’t accept what he's hearing. He would understand and take it like a man if Yeo Been rejects him because she doesn't like him. But what he heard are all ‘excuses’ for her not to be with him. Because whether she admitted to him or not, EVERYTHING points to her liking him BACK. And if he dissected every moment they had these past days, his delusional head over heels in-love self would conclude that SHE LOVES HIM TOO. He can't stand it too, that his past still becomes a hindrance to his present. Hearing Yeo Been utter his past's name only made him realize that enough is enough. He and Yeo Been can only live in the present and into their future if he 'wiped' all doubts from Yeo Been's mind. And the only way he knew how to wipe it off is to KISS Yeo Been, while Yeo Been mentions his past's name, letting her know that it is only her, no memory nor lingering feelings remain. No more going back to the past. It ended. Done. He and Yeo Been only needed to seal the present. Seal their present with a KISS.
“Mmmf—”Joong Ki heard Yeo Been trying to speak so he reluctantly broke the one-sided kiss. He was too lost in the moment, focusing only on giving kisses, he realized just then that he wasn't getting the warmth back.
“I’m sorry. God, I did it again! Beenie, I'm not a pervert, I swear,” he said, embarassed.
“Joong Ki—” Yeo Been answered him, hesitantly. "/“I've never been, uh—” she trailed off.
“Never been kissed before?” Joong Ki asked, unable to believe, yet feeling elated. How lucky he is to give her first kiss- and all her firsts as well? ‘I will be the best boyfriend to you Beenie. So I will be your ONLY, and in the future, I'll ask you to m—’
“No, never. Plus my lips hurt Joong Ki.” Yeo Been pouted, not to look cute, but feeling embarassed about her honesty.
“Aww. Come here.” Joong Ki let go of her hands so he can comb his finger through her hair, tucking a rebellious strand behind her ear. “Kissing is about feeling—” Joong Ki said as he planted a chaste kiss on her lips. “Kissing is about letting go and be lost in the moment—” He gives her another, this time breaking contact after a little longer. “Kissing for me is only for the person I love aaaannnd—” emphasizing the 'and' to give a grand entrance to his next words. “And when you love the person who kisses you, you have to kiss that person back,” Joong Ki finishes before craning his neck for another kiss, not before he asks her, “Will you kiss me back?”
Yeo Been had to fight the urge to audibly scream ‘Yah!’ at him. Her lips would hurt after all. But this guy in front of her pushes his luck too much since they've arrived, Why? The bastard’s given her too many kisses her already!
“Will you kiss me back?” She heard Joong Ki say before she felt his lips again.
‘Certainly,’ her heart answered.
———
Thank you fo reading!
—Czary and Kei