Kang Nari
It seemed that Gu Jun-Pyo had long left the school's premises as Woobin led Nari to his motorbike.
"Sorry princess, only one helmet. I promise you though, with or without a helmet, I am very good at it." Woobin winked at Nari as he put his helmet on.
Nari gaped at his statement.
"At driving, of course." Woobin looked at Nari with a teasing look through his helmet's gap before sliding glass over it.
Seeing the risk in his motorbike, Nari almost chickened out. Almost.
It seemed that ever since coming to Shinhwa, she was getting so many 'first' experiences.
She could always sue Song Woobin if they were to get into an accident.
Right?
"Yo, you getting on or what?" Woobin asked as he took the bike out of parking and revved up the engine.
Nari decided to take her chances with death and settled herself behind Song Woobin, maintaining an appropriate distance. Though through the sound of the motorbike, Nari couldn't hear anything, she saw Woobin's back as though he was laughing.
Suddenly, the bike jerked forward and Woobin abruptly pressed the breaks, making Nari crash into Woobin's back as her face pressed onto his shoulder blades.
"You see, princess, unless you want to fly off to another planet, I suggest you hang on tight to me as we ride." Woobin turned his face side where Nari's face was pressed and said those words to her after sliding his glass to reveal his teasing smirk.
Nari found herself questioning if it was too late to back out now. Just why had she asked him for help? She wondered.
Nari wanted to hang onto Woobin but the empty juice bottle in her hand stood as an obstacle.
Had she really been carrying this around the whole afternoon? Nari shook her head at her own foolishness as she looked at the bottle. Finding an absence of recycling bin or a trash bin, she just placed the bottle in the inner pocket of her coat.
She slowly wrapped her hands around Woobin's waist as he waited patiently for her to become comfortable.
"You ready, princess?" Woobin asked through the noise of the engine roaring. Nari heard it nonetheless.
Nari knew that Woobin asked the question with double meaning. Was she ready to face Jun-Pyo knowing that there would be consequences of her actions? Was she ready to put herself at further risk by deepening her enmity with Jun-Pyo.
Nari hummed in response, knowing Woobin had heard it.
Her response was all Woobin needed as he kickstarted his bike and flashed through the premises of Shinhwa. Nari instinctively tightened her hold on him as the speed increased and laid her head on his back, letting the momentary security comfort her.
It was already too late to go back. Her and Jun-pyo were now in a war which would only end if either she was on her knees in front of him or if he was on his knees in front of her. Nevertheless, she determined to see this war to an end.
Before Nari had realized, they had arrived at their destination. It looked like a private golf arena with miniature private golf grounds available as well. Nari didn't even realize such place existed near their school seeing as it wasn't too far from Shinhwa.
Nari got off the bike with her legs shaking. Realizing her condition, Woobin quickly got off the bike and held her by her arms to stabilize her. The vibrations of the engine were still shaking throughout Nari's body as she struggled to get over the ride.
She muttered a quick thank you to woobin, running her fingers through her hair to fix them as she tried distracting herself from the shakiness of her legs.
What immediately caught her attention was that she noticed a group of boys in Shinhwa's uniform coming out of the golf course. Nari furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she stared at them.
Shouldn't they be in class right now? The school was still in session so what were they doing in a place like this?
Suddenly, her eyes widened as the realization dawned on her. She looked at Woobin with a questioning look realizing he was already looking at them with his jaw clenched.
It was the only confrontation she needed as she watched the boys disappear from her field of vision.
They were the guys that harassed Jandi. And if her guess was right, they were just done meeting with Jun-Pyo. Probably to update him about the situation.
If there was a single doubt in her mind that Jun-pyo orchestrated all of this, it suddenly disappeared. Nari was no longer willing to offer him benefit of the doubt as she jerked off Woobin's hands from her frame and urged him to lead the way.
Their steps echoed as they reached in-door golf area with private courses.
"Yo, what's up?" Woobin announced himself they entered the room.
Gu Jun-Pyo was turned away from the door as they entered. Nari quickly surveyed the room to find golf sticks thrown to the floor. There were other things thrown to the floor as well.
It seemed like there was a fight here.
Just what had happened here?
Jun-pyo's voice brought Nari back to the conversation.
"Not now, Woobin. I am pissed as it is." Jun-pyo replied, still facing away from the pair. The tone of Jun-pyo's voice was as cold as sharp ice.
There was a trace of distress in his voice and his back was tensed. Nari realized that she should take this as a chance to choose some other time to confront him but before she could stop herself, her steps moved towards him.
"Look who's..." Woobin started but before he could finish Nari had already reached Gu Jun-Pyo.
Nari grabbed Jun-pyo's hand with her own bandaged hand and forced him to turn around to face her. Considering he was not only taller but heavier than her, it not only caught him by surprise but caused them both to stumble and crash into one another.
Jun-pyo's free hand automatically wrapped itself around Nari's waist as Nari tightened her hold on his hand.
"...here to see you." Woobin finished with his eyes wide open at the scene in front of him.
"On second thought, I will just wait outside." He muttered to himself, going totally ignored by the pair as he left the room.
It took Nari a moment to realize what had happened and the situation she had quite literally stumbled upon.
Nari looked up at Jun-pyo to find him looking down at her with wide eyes and mouth slightly open. Both of them had been caught off guard and were at a loss of words. In that split second, Nari couldn't help but look at Jun-pyo-- really look at him. He was objectively an attractive person, minus that weird hair style. His skin was flawless and an object of envy for many girls. What surprised Nari more was how long his lashes were. Albiet, Nari hadn't seen many men up this close, Jun-pyo had the longest eyelashes of everyone Nari knew. It made his eyes look soft despite the sharper jawline and nose.
Gu Jun-Pyo was truly beautiful yet handsome.
If only he wasn't a jerk and kept his mouth shut. Nari scoffed at his face as everything he's ever done to her and her friend came back to her mind.
She let go of the grip on his hand and gave a harsh shove to his chest, making him stumble back and crash into a metal cupboard. However, since he had still had his arm wrapped around Nari's waist, she, too, stumbled towards him and landed on his chest, pressing him further to the cupboard.
With her face against his chest, Nari could hear his heart beating against his chest at a rapid pace.
He should definitely get that checked out. Nari remarked to herself.
Jun-pyo let out a hiss as they both crashed. It seemed something had poked Jun-pyo in the back but Nari, surrounded by rage at embarrassment of her actions, failed to notice. In the process, the bottle kept in Nari's coat also crumbled, causing the cap to stab into Jun-pyo's torso. He was truly getting crushed from both side as it all went unnoticed by her.
In pain of the collision, Jun-pyo's breath picked up pace as his warm breath fanned down on the side of Nari's face, causing goosebumps to rise on her skin. She felt her cheeks feeling warm as if the temperature had suddenly gone up.
Jun-pyo wrapped the other arm around her waist and gently pushed her away from him, making her stand on her own, before he pushed his elbows against the cupboard to stand up straight. With both of their adrenaline high, they held each other's eyes almost as if to see who will back down and break the eye-contact first.
Jun-pyo, unable to handle the heat of her eyes, coughed and looked away as he muttered something illegible under his breath.
"You know if you're so fond of crashing, maybe you should take up wrestling as a hobby instead of going around tackling people." Jun-pyo remarked, his breathing under control as he gave a sharp glare to Kang Nari.
"You know if you have so much free time on your hand then maybe get a job and do something with your life instead of making others' life miserable." Nari retorted back with the same glare. She, however, was still panting as she said those words.
"I am warning you now, Kang Nari. I am not in the mood for your self-righteous antics." Jun-pyo warned.
Just has Nari opened her mouth to reply, he interrupted her.
"Leave." He ordered. It was almost as if the room had become the north pole, as an icy feeling hovered in the air.
Seeing no movement from her, Jun-pyo decided go around her and leave instead.
As Nari saw him go past her, she grabbed his hand and pushed him against the cupboard again, causing him to hiss in pain once more. Letting go of his hand, Nari moved closer to him and grabbed his collars instead, pulling his face down to her level and just inches away from her own. The harshness of her action had caused a few of his hair to escape their well-set place and land on his forehead in a rouge manner, his eyes and lips widened at her action.
With both of their breaths mingling together, the position appeared more intimate than threatening. Nari had truly overestimated her height. The action appeared better in her mind than in reality.
Nonetheless, since she couldn't back down, she decided to finish what she started.
"I am warning you now, Gu Jun-pyo. Let go of your bullying antics and leave Geum Jandi alone. What you did today crossed all limits. You sent people to physically harass her. Do you have any idea what you did?" Nari asked, her voice dropping to a lower decibel, her eyes glaring straight into his. Nari did not bring up the Miss G incident because she wasn't sure if it was Gu Jun-pyo behind the rumor but even without the rumor, what he did alone was horrific.
Jun-pyo couldn't help the blood that rushed into his face as he swallowed hard in an attempt to regain his composure. Trying to desperately reassert his dominance, Jun-pyo tightly grabs onto her waist with one hand and pulls her closer to him as her upper body gently collided with his.
"Sure. I can let go of your friend." Jun-pyo said. Seeing a glimmer hope in her eyes, he spared no effort in crushing that look.
"How about you take her place instead?" He suggested as a smirk crossed over to his face.
With his free hand, he took a strand of her hair and coiled it around his finger, momentarily moving his eyes from Nari's as she started panicking, unwanted thoughts and memories attacking her.
Bringing his eyes back to her face, he found her looking frantically around the room in an attempt to calm her incoming panic attack.
Jun-pyo released the hair strand and slid his finger across her jaw in a slow sensual manner and stopped at her chin. He gently propped her chin up, making her eyes clash with his once more. Her breathing quickened as she gazed into his, unlike before, calm eyes as his jaw clenched.
"I always see this look on your face, little lily. As if you're always walking on eggshells and living in a house of cards. One strong wind and everything will come crashing down." Jun-pyo whispered with a sweet-looking smile, bringing his face even more close to hers as their noses almost touched.
His soft voice terrified Nari even more than his anger. Such a shame he was this good-looking because he truly held a disgusting personality.
"So, unless you want everything you've built to come crashing down on you, stay out of my way." He warned, his voice sharp and clear this time around. With the finger he was propping her chin with, he harshly shoved her face to the side.
Kang Nari let out a short laugh. He was bluffing. He had to be. Though Gu Jun-pyo was intelligent, he wasn't someone to hold out on revenge for very long. If he had truly known anything about Nari, he would have already used it against her, especially with the way she slapped him last time.
She faced him once more and looked at him in the eyes as she moved her hand to her back and harshly grabbed his while the other went to his chest and gave him another push, making him crash to the cabinet once more.
"Gu Jun-pyo." She emphasized his name as she took a step towards him with her arms crossed to her chest.
"You think these words of yours scare me? They are nothing but empty threats." She looked up at him with a small smirk on her face.
"Not that you'd be able to relate but Geum Jandi is someone I care immensely about. I'll be damned if I simply stand by and watch as you torture her for your sick entertainment." She started.
Nari took a deep breath before continuing with her thought.
"I wouldn't mind hitting rock bottom for her. If I could protect the ones I love then I don't mind going head on against you." Nari declared as she took a few steps back and held her arms wide open to her side, almost as if offering herself to him.
"So, Gu Jun-pyo, do your worst."
With those final words, Nari turned around and walked out of the room with a new sense of strength in her. Gu Jun-pyo could only scoff as he watched her walk out on him.
Bonus Scene
Gu Jun Pyo
In moments of her leaving with Woobin, as he assumed, Jun-pyo could no longer keep control of his anger and went to the nearest wall and grabbed a golf stick as he started smashing everything in the room to the ground, the pain in his back long forgotten. As he was done, his hair was completely out place with some curls even ruined as they graced his forehead. He panted heavily, wiping the sweat that had build up on his forehead.
"Kang Nari. Kang Nari. Kang Nari." He repeated her name like a mantra.
"KANG NARI!" He yelled at no one in particular, trying to get his rage out. Why was she hellbent on threatening him and picking a bone with him? For a mere commoner, at that?
He took out his phone to dial Woobin but realized that like Jihoo, Woobin had betrayed him as well. Since when was he close to Kang Nari? He scoffed at Woobin's name on his contact list and opened their group chat.
"F4 den. now." He texted. Throwing the golf-stick to the ground, he left the room and drove towards Shinhwa.
How dare this girl, Kang Nari, challenge him when she was a girl with no background? A bloody nobody. His anger was instead taken out on the gas-padel of his car as he arrived with a loud noise at his private parking lot at Shinhwa.
Thankfully, the classes were still in session when he arrived, so he managed to get to the den without any interference. Last thing he wanted was to have to humble someone else and get annoyed in the process.
When he came in the room, he was surprised to find the room in the same state as the day Nari had confronted him. The burned tatters of her hankie still laid on the ground, the broken beads of her bracelet as they laid still, the pool table was still in the same condition with not even a single ball having moved.
A heavy feeling settled in his chest as he walked closer to the burnt remains of her handkerchief. He knelt down and gently shuffled through it. He could still make out a faint N through one of the burnt pieces.
"Why does she always have to push my limits?" Jun-pyo muttered, trying to lessen the weight on his chest, shirking from any responsibility. The sight of her bandaged hands earlier reminded him of that very day as the burnt pieces mocked at him for being walked over by a girl from nowhere. He could still hear the sound of her beads of her bracelet dancing on the floor as they broke away from their limit, the way she had that day.
Just as he was lost in thoughts, he heard the door open. From the smell of the perfume that walked in the room before he did, Jun-pyo knew in an instant it was Song Woobin. Not wanting to face the man who made him feel betrayed, Jun-pyo stayed rooted in his place on ground by the burnt tatters.
A pregnant pause took over the pair as they both stared at the floor before Woobin finally decided to break it.
"It was from her mother." Woobin whispered yet it was heard loud and clear by Jun-pyo in a room with pin-drop silence.
"Shut up." Gu Jun-pyo warned with his teeth gritted and fists clenched. The weight on his chest only got heavier.
"It was the only thing Nari had of her mother." Woobin continued, nonetheless.
"I SAID SHUT UP!" Jun-pyo yelled, his cheat heaving as the anger came back.
"No one told her to go against THE Gu Jun Pyo. It was foolish of her to do so and not expect any consequences." Jun-pyo justified his actions, at least tried to.
"Oh for God's sake, wake up Jun-pyo!" Woobin raised his voice slightly, something he had never done before.
"How low are you willing to go for your stubborn ego?" Woobin questioned.
"When are you going to realize that you crossed the line you shouldn't have and that it's time for you to put an end to this. NOW!." He warned.
"Oh so what? Now you're in love with her or something?" Jun-pyo snapped back as he got up from his place to face Woobin.
He could see Woobin visibly trying to control his anger as Woobin took a deep breath in.
"I have sisters, Gu Jun Pyo. Two of them." Woobin replied with his jaw clenched.
"I wouldn't want anything that happened to those two girls to happen to my sisters, emotionally or physically." He finished. Jun-pyo's eyes softened at the mention of Woobin's younger sisters. The twins were close to Jun-pyo's heart as well. They were only 9 years of age, and he would raise hell if something were to even bring slight annoyance to them.
"Going after a guy is okay but going after a girl is not my speed." Woobin tried making him see reason but Jun-pyo was surrounded by anger to even let any reason touch him.
Gu Jun-pyo truly cared for his friends and hated that they were slightly at odds with one another because of a third party. He loved them like brothers and did not like the fact that two of them chose someone else over him. It may sound childish but, in his mind, he felt betrayed despite knowing that what his friends had done was the right thing.
"Oh please, you only pity Nari because she reminds you of Hyejin. You think we don't see the similarities between the two?" Jun-pyo knew he had hit where it hurt with the way Woobin's body suddenly tensed up at the mere mention of Hyejin's name. Jun-pyo was sure Woobin was going to punch him when he clenched his fists but instead only thing Woobin did was close his eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.
An instant feeling of regret took over Jun-pyo's heart when he realized that he brought up something about Woobin he shouldn't have.
"What I do see resemblance in is you and Kang Nari. You and Kand Nari are more alike than you realize. Both are lonely shell of a people who only rely on others to fill that void." Woobin spat. His words made Jun-pyo's brain pause as he struggled to process them.
How in the world are him and Kang Nari the same? As if!
Seeing his friend ponder over his words, Woobin decided to make one last remark before leaving the room to avoid creating a further argument.
"You know, it isn't too late make things right, Jun-pyo. I hope you don't go past a point of reason and end up regretting everything in the future." Woobin warned before turning around and leaving.
Jun-pyo let out a scoff of disbelief at his words. Past the point of reason? It wasn't him that had crossed it but Kang Nari and her stupid commoner friend. The faint scar on his face from her slap tingled at the memories as his hand reached over to his cheekbone to caress it.
Jun-pyo hated to admit it but he actually liked it when she offered him her handkerchief, when she tried offering an olive branch through her gift. Only Kang Nari can manage to make an olive branch sound genuine yet mocking. He couldn't the small smile on his face as he remembered the note she written with the shoes.
What frustrated him more was that he couldn't figure out why he felt more irritated by the actions of Kang Nari than he did by actions of that laundry girl. He never lied to himself and denied the fact that Kang Nari was heavenly beautiful, unlike any woman he had seen before. And though he was often surrounded by plethora of beautiful of women, there was something about Kang Nari that frustrated him to no end and yet he still found her beautiful?
Why did she have to constantly have pit herself against him? Her stupidly overly protective beautiful face haunted his mind as her words kept echoing in his mind.
If I could protect the ones I love then I don't mind going head on against you.
I wouldn't mind hitting rock bottom for her.
I was wrong to think there is a human being under all that facade. I was wrong to have given you a benefit of doubt. I was wrong to have tried making peace with you.
If you think, I will scare easily of your empty threats, you are wrong.
He groaned as words of Song Woobin came back to him.
You and Kang Nari are more alike than you realize.
"If she and I are so alike than WHY IS SHE AGAINST ME AND NOT----not...." Jun-pyo trailed off, his voice going high and low within the same sentence.
Not what? He found himself asking.
He let out a short laugh as he was hit with a realization. In a moment, his mind went through all stages of grief. He turned around to face the tatters on the floor and kneeled down once again.
He shuffled through them once more and found the piece with the faint N still visible on it.
"Kang Nari. Kang Nari." He repeated her name in a rhythmic manner as a smile took over his face.
AUTHOR'S RANT
I promised and I delivered!
I think this might be my longest chapter yet!!
....well? What do you guys think! There was so much happening in this chapter to be honest. I feel like this wasn't as much angst as I wanted to be. It came out alot and I meant ALOT softer than I wanted it to be but I didn't really know how to improve upon it and make it more hardcore. But oh well, this version will have to stay up for now.
Nonetheless, a new name dropped this chapter.
Hyejin! Any thoughts?
And yes, Woobin has baby twin sisters. His counterpart in the manga did so I kept that constant about him. Imagine Woobin being all gentle and cute with his sisters. I would totally freak out!
Speaking of new names, a few new characters will be introduced in near future. I am trying to speed up the plot a bit as I feel like I have dragged this arch on a bit. Don't worry I will not rush over redemption or romance or other angst. It just means more chapters where alot more things are happening and hopefully that means longer chapters. Yay I guess.
What do you think Jun-pyo will do next?
Any theories and observations are welcome.
Next chapter will start off with a bang and a sprinkle of romance and end with new names and characters being dropped hopefully. (Hopefully because I am an expert at stalling and changing my mind).
I hope the next chapter is up within a day.
As always, let me know what you guys thought!
See you next time!!