Vincenzo tried really hard to relax in his small, quite apartment. After his lonely lunch, he tried to make himself busy with paperwork in his home.
But all of those work just couldn't distract him from all of this anxious feeling he feels right now. He looked at the white clock on the wall. It's 9 PM already. It's been 8 hours since his partner went to her lawyer alumni gathering. He tried to call her several times, but all of those went to voice mails.
After his third glasses of wine, he decided to go downstairs to Jipuragi's office, waiting for her. He figured after the event she will have to go back to the office and do the paperwork for their latest case.
2 hours later. Still no sign of her. Suddenly, he remembered her saying there's gonna be a drinking time with the alumni. "Should I call her again?" "Nah, no I don't want to inturrupt her." Yet his mind and his body won't sync, his hand keep reaching to his phone and press dial to her phone number.
Drinking out with her friends has been... Her habit recently. Thrice a week. And everytime he offered to accompany her, she's just refused. Which is odd. Considering they're always spent time together on cases and coffees.
Still no answer. "Ok, give it some time Vincenzo, call her 5 more minutes"
30 minutes later, a loud ringing erupted in the room. Vincenzo, who was accidentally drifted off to sleep, suddenly jolted to find his phone, where the sound came from.
"Yoboseyo?" His hoarse voice answered. He can hear the loud music through the phone.
"Heyyyy youuuu, mafia booooy. Come and get meeee." A slurred voice of a woman answered. His mind is kinda in delayed, probably due to the sudden wake up. Then his brain is suddenly re-activate.
"Byeonhosanim? Where are you now?" He instantly knows she's in a night club. "How can she be so careless? It's midnight already."
The reality hit him, she is in a nightclub, it's already past midnight and she is probably surrounded by men now. Since she so clearly stated before she went to the event there's gonna be drinking with men. And now he is definitely worried.
"Stay there. I'II come and get you."
After driving with rage and anxiousness, almost crashed a motorcycle that went by, Vincenzo finally arrived at the nightclub. How did he find the location? It's obviously the power or Mr.Ahn. He tracked Cha Young's phone number and gave the location to Vincenzo in under 5 minutes.
Vincenzo eyes wondered all over the crowded room, bumped into a couple who's dancing in a very sexual way. Suddenly his mind started to form an image where his partner dancing while grinding to the loud music with a man. Just by imagining it makes him wants to punch the nearest guy he found.
His eyes never stop searching for his partner, on the dance floor and near the bar. She is nowhere to be found. Shortly, he heard a voice screaming her name "Cha Young-ah!" A woman in Cha Young's age screamed and ran to the bathroom. Seeing this his mind instantly went blank. "Should I went to the women's bathroom? Just to check up on her? Or should I wait here?" His mind and heart kept fighting. It's exhausting.
Then, his heart won. He went into the women's bathroom and ignored the screams from women there.
He saw Cha Young sitting on the floor and her face is on the toilet sit, vomiting. Emptied out her stomach. He rushed to her side and said to her friend, to just let him hold Cha Young's hair.
"Byeonhosanim, let's go home." he said, while holding her hair and stroking her back, hoping to soothes her.
"Mafiaaaa booooy, you're heeereeee." Slurred Cha Young, making Vincenzo starlted, hoping her friends didn't hear her. She instantly locked her arms behind his neck.
Vincenzo saw this as an opportunity to lifted her body and carried her bridal style to his car.
They arrived at her house. He figured she should stayed in her home, considering she's so damn drunk right now and having her in his apartment won't... Solve things out.
He carried her to the house and dropped her in her bed, in her childhood bedroom. This is actually his first time to ever entered her room. It's quite.... Tidy. There's a desk full of papers in front on the window and next to it is a an end table almost glued to her bed.
Her eyes closed, her body reeks of alcohol. Vincenzo tried to get her blazer out of her when abruptly, he felt her hand on his arm. Squeezed his arm so tight and whispred slurrly "I want you to.... stay."
His heart sinked so deep. He knew that this is not only because she's hate being alone in this state, he can see her eyes when she said if he ever going to stay in South Korea after all of this shenanigans over. Her gaze constantly begging for him to not leave. Beg him to stay. And little did she knows, his heart did the same.
He can't deny this feelings anymore. He can't keep denying that her exsistence in his life, changed all of his plan. The plan to leave South Korea as soon as he got the gold. But now, he has a different kind of gold. The one that alive. The one that breathes happiness to his soul. The one that makes him feel alive again. She is not a part of his book, but somehow she's now the beginning and the end of every chapter. She is his perfect distraction.
He decided to stay by her side, holding her hand while she's asleep. All night long.
The morning finally came. Vincenzo has woke up early. His neck is trying to kill him since he slept on his hand near Cha Young's bed.
She's still falling asleep, peacefully. He cannot bare himself to not rub her pretty face. Eyeing her face structure and details. How can someone be this gorgeous?
His index finger travelled from her forehead, her cute nose, her lips and caressed her cheek, very carefully. Like she's a Vitral. Fragile but at the same time, magnificent.
His heart suddenly do a somersault because of the last night's mini confession that she had. He can't do this to her. He can't keep her hanging on like this. He needs to make this clear to her. To keep her out of this agony.
He decided to cook for breakfast, a simple plain toasts and sunny side up eggs. And poured a black coffee for her and him. He also picked her an aspirin to cure her headache.
While he's flipping the egg, he heard noises from her bedroom. He also heard her little whining. Complaning about her throbbing head.
"Byeonhosanim? You were still here? Where did you sleep last night?" Asked Cha Young, while heading to the dining table where he placed a tablet of aspirin and a glass of water.
"I stayed the night. Like you wanted me to." Vincenzo replied emphasizing on the like you wanted me to part. Like he was about to give her a clue, wondering if she's actually remembered her mini confession last night.
"What? Did I ask you to stay last night? I'm so sorry, Byeonhosanim." She did not need to apologize. It's on him. He blamed it all on his now-weakened heart. He cannot leave her. Even when she's in a deep sleep.
"Oh, yeah. It's totally fine." His mouth replied, yet his heart said "said the reason you won't leave her you denial bitch."
After they're showered individually, They're eating their breakfast silently on her dining table. They sit across each other. No one is even bother to start a conversation. It takes 3 minutes for one of them to finally break the thick tension in the room.
"You know, that is my habit of being drunk, being vulnerable and all." She said with a little fake laugh. "Saying you must stay."
Upon hearing this, for once.. his mind and his body finally in sync. He dropped his fork a little hard on the table and said, "No. Stop saying that as an excuse."
"You've been drinking a lot recently. And I was always the one who picked you up and stayed with you all night long and heard those fake excuses in the morning after. I'm sick of this."
He breathed those sentences in a single breath. It left her stay in place very still, gobsmacked with his sudden outburst.
"When you were sober, you were always asking about my departure. When will I leave, would I leave after all of this end. Then when alcohol hit your system, you told me to never leave."
She's just stay still... Barely breathing. His statements suffocating her lungs, startling her. Her warm face turned white, her palms started to form sweats. He knows. He knows her deepest desire.
"I don't know, Vincenzo-" she finally dropped the formal nickname, "You told me to be okay about you going. About you leaving me here all alone. But the feeling's overwhelming. It's much too strong." Her voice breaks. She cannot see his eyes, even his face.
Vincenzo got up from his sit, approched her to her left side and shifted her chair to face him. Her head hung low, her eyes stared at her joined sweaty palms. He kneeled in front of her, his hand rested on her hands.
"Look at me." He said, with a pleading tone. Her eyes still glued to their united hands. "Cha Young-ah-" he finally dropped the formal nickname too, "look at me." Then their eyes met.
He has built an unbreakable walls around his life all this time. But it turned out, a living soul in her body touched his walls and shattered it all.
He can't help but lose himself slowly to her soft yet strong gaze. Tears started to form on her beautiful brown eyes as he said, "I'm right here. I'm not gonna go anywhere."
A tear streamed down her cheek.
"We've been through so much together. We've both lost our dearest parents. We've both tasted the world's hell, regrets," he said with so much sincere in his tone. "And I'm not planning to repeat it again. This time," he paused and breathed, "I won't let it be."
She's sobbing her eyes out after he finished his purest confession, he immediately drag her into his arms. And oh this is so meant to be.
She's now facing him, her eyes puffy from all the crying. Vincenzo is now on her level, still kneeling. He lifted both of his hands and wiped her remaining tears on her soft rosy cheeks.
His eyes stared to hers. Searching for some doubtness. He found none.
His eyes dropped to her soft plump lips, and started to lean in. He sees her closing her eyes before he closes his and their lips finally meet.
Thousands of butterflies erupted in his stomach. Hundreds of fireworks exploded throughout his veins. It's crazy how a single kiss can affected his whole principal. his well plotted plans.
Her left hand found the back of his head and the other rested on his shoulder whilst his hands stayed on her cheeks, deepened up the kiss.
Their lips finally apart, he looked at her in the eyes and said,
"You're the best thing I never knew I needed, Cha Young-ah."