A week later came the desired meeting of Taemin and his rich customer. And as promised, Gyu had dressed up in the black dress. Admittedly it was very revealing, one could see her cleavage, as well as her legs and by the fact that she had put her hair up with the barrette, she revealed a lot of her neck. Still, Gyu had vowed that she would make a good impression and be well-behaved. What the 23-year-old hadn't counted on, however, was the fact that this meeting would take place at the 'Victory'.
She could only hope that Terry was not here.
The business dinner took place in the VIP lounge of the popular club, sealed off from the people she had been among a week ago. You could see her dancing downstairs, though, through a pane of glass, like a seat compartment in an old locomotive. It was strange to be on the other side now, on the side of the rich, and as they sat at a round, glass table, waiting for the customer.
"Have you been here before?", Taemin asked the girl tensely.
"Yes, the night I was picked up."
Briefly, Taemin raised his eyebrows, then cleared his throat and put his hand over his mouth. "I think it's really cool here," he said, trying to soften Gyu's statement, "Victory is different from other clubs."
The girl nodded.
"Yeah, it's special."
Taemin nodded and pressed his lips together, he let his eyes wander and seemed to have found what he was looking for as well. His eyes flashed and he sat up straight in his chair.
"There he is," he said, adjusting his tie before standing up to greet the customer.
Said customer was an older man, around whose eyes small wrinkles were already visible. Many gray hairs were also already forming on the sides of his hairline. The first impression of him was polite, he bowed and even reached for Gyu's fingers to kiss the back of her hand. Then he and Taemin started their conversation about the plantation expansion. The fact that the guy kept glancing in Gyu's direction did not escape the girl, and she knew what her job was here. Still, she felt uncomfortable from the obviously lewd looks and unconsciously put her hand on Taemin's thigh to draw his attention.
Surprised by the gesture, Taemin looked at her questioningly while the customer in front of them continued to speak. He drew his eyebrows together to show Gyu that he didn't understand what she wanted.
So she threw the customer a brief, apologetic smile before leaning closer to Taemin to whisper, "I need to use the restroom for a minute ..." She was actually embarrassed to have to say that, which was why her cheeks colored slightly. But since she was sitting between the glass wall and her fiancé, he had to get up for her to go at all.
So he did so to let the girl pass.
"The restroom is in the back on the left," he informed her, pointing with his thumb behind him to the restroom areas that were also accessible to people outside the VIP lounge.
Gyu nodded, and as she stood up, she pressed her hands against her stomach. She felt a few stares on her, not only those of the man, but also those of his companion. Nevertheless, Gyu bowed to those present and sought out the restroom. However, she did not seek out the one that had been described to her, but made her way downstairs, where the party was in full swing. She just had to mingle with the people, even though she stood out quite a bit with her elegant dress. Even some of the girls gave her a skeptical look as she stood in front of the large mirror and turned on the water to cool her hands. Likewise to get rid of the whispering of the females, but Gyu slowly realized that it wasn't about her at all.
"Isn't he?" hissed one of the girls, clinging to her friend.
She nodded reverently, almost fearfully. "Yes, come, let's go quickly!" she hissed, pulling her friend outside.
Gyu followed the two girls with her gaze through the mirror until she spotted a figure behind her. Startled, fearing that one of Taemin's men had followed her even into the restroom, Gyu turned around. But it was a familiar face that stood before her.
A face that was very welcome to her.
Choi Yeonjun.
However, he was standing in the girls' restroom.
His eyes twitched all over her face as if scanning her, as if he wanted to make sure it was her. And sure enough, he recognized the lovely face, the dark hair and pretty eyes. He never thought he'd see her here, and stammered in, "Eh - ... you, here?"
"Yes ...", Gyu murmured softly and cleared her throat embarrassedly.
Actually, she should have guessed that Yeonjun or his friends were here, but she hadn't expected to see him standing here in front of her.
"Hi," the 23-year-old added, lowering her gaze slightly, "you ... probably shouldn't be here."
Immediately, Yeonjun shook his hand and was about to place it on the girl's upper arm, but paused when the rumor popped into his mind.
I wonder if it had already spread so far that even Gyu had heard about it.
At the same time, he felt incredibly guilty for not helping her that one night.
"Are you all right? Where did you go? Where are you right now?" he asked in response, ignoring the statement that he probably shouldn't be standing here in the ladies' room.
Surprised, she lifted her head again, looked into the pretty face of her summer nightdream and smiled. "You were worried about me?" returned Gyu as a counter-question, feeling touched because actually they hardly knew each other. But at the same time, the questions reminded her that she wasn't supposed to have contact with them, and she screwed up her face. "You shouldn't be here," Gyu affirmed again, but more urgently this time, "if they see you with me, they might hurt you."
Immediately Yeonjun looked behind, to the left and right, but he couldn't see anyone, which was why he gently pulled the girl further to the side by the wrist so they wouldn't be standing around so conspicuously in the middle. "Who, who took you?" he asked with a hiss, still holding her wrist. "Are you in danger?"
Sighing, she looked up at Yeonjun.
Should she tell him?
Wouldn't it be dangerous?
But on the other hand, Gyu felt such a need to explain her situation.
Her gaze lowered to his hand and she placed hers over his. "They ... call themselves Seochos, I don't know who they are or what they do, but definitely nothing good. My father sold me to them," Gyu said after all, speaking as quickly and quietly as he could. "I don't know if I'm really in danger, but they said that if I refused, then ..."
Horrified, the young man with full lips and today in bright blond hair drew his eyebrows together. He felt the coldness in her hand and indeed he was worried about her.
"Sold?" he breathed out heavily, hardly able to believe it. For him, the idea of selling someone was impossible.
Gyu wasn't an object after all.
"What did they say would happen if you refused?", Yeonjun finally did ask, glancing over his shoulder once more.
"That they'll make their lives hell," Gyu brought out as she remembered Kim Hyesoo's words. And her ice-cold stare. "I'm sure they'll kill everyone I care about. My father, Terry and ..."
"Fuck!" it escaped Yeonjun and he ran his hand tensely through his hair, rubbing the thumb of his other hand up and down her upper arm. "I know the Seochos, they're not joking." Sighing heavily, he stroked her shoulder, wishing he could have just taken her. But he knew that there were many Seochos here, and thus some bodyguards among them.
Gyu followed his example and sighed as well, tilting her chin slightly to the side as if to touch Yeonjun's hand with her cheek once it reached her shoulder. She felt his warmth and was comfortable with it, the first time in a long time.
"You'd better go. I don't want them to hurt you or worse."
Even though he knew that was true and that the Seochos really were ready for such bad things, he didn't want to just let them go. He had heard Terry's crying and the way Gyu was dressed was just as surprising. "Your best friend is worried, she doesn't know what happened, and I don't think she's just going to let go with those answers."
And Gyu could understand that, but she had no choice.
"Tell her I'm fine, and that I'm sorry, but it's too dangerous. I'm supposed to ... -," the 23-year-old put in, wiping her forehead with her hand. "It's okay. He's nice to me and I'll be fine."
Confused, Yeonjun frowned as that little word made him swallow hard. "Who, is he holding you?"
Immediately, Gyu shook his head, but also failed to look Yeonjun in the eye. "Not really. He - he's the leader's son. I'm supposed to be his wife. I'm supposed to marry him. In a month."
"His wife?! Marry?!" cursed Yeonjun, startled, and when another girl entered the restroom, she gave him an annoyed expression. Gyu's statements made him angry, and at the same time he was scared that something like that had happened to her, and at that, he didn't even know if that was all it was. Forced, he kept his gaze on the entrance.
Gyu noticed the tension of her counterpart and while Yeonjun was keeping an eye on the entrance, she had the chance to memorize his face once again.
It was probably a bad omen for her that he had crossed her path once again, because she would probably hold onto that moment for dear life.
"It's not your fault," Gyu whispered, reaching out and letting her hand trail up Yeonjun's cheek to the blonde hair. The gray was completely gone, but this didn't make him any less attractive. Instead, he made a completely new impression. "It's not your fault," she assured him.
The slightly cool hand on his skin was reassuring and he looked into the girl's dark, sparkling eyes. There was something about her that so enchanted him.
And he felt the urge to save her.
But he was no hero, he was a simple boy from a poor neighborhood.
"I ...-," Yeonjun began, hesitating a little. "I should have done something about it, though, but I didn't know how."
"You've done enough," Gyu replied with a smirk, but you could see a certain sadness on her face because this would probably be their last meeting. "I had the best night of my life thanks to you," she assured him, stroking his temple with her thumb before withdrawing her hand and sighing heavily. "I should go now."
She took a step to the side to walk past Yeonjun.
With his heart pounding hard, the young man went after her, grabbing her wrist, and before she knew it, he was pulling her through the crowd with a jerk. Even though he was visibly struggling to walk from the last beating, he pushed his way through the many people gathered, occasionally glancing back and forth to see if anyone was following them.
Surprised, Gyu gasped for air, but her legs moved as if by themselves.
What had gotten into him?
And why was she following him just like that?
"Yeonjun," Gyu snapped softly, but didn't know if he could hear her over the music, "what are you doing?"
It was dangerous, and it wasn't clear if they would make it far either, because Taemin had taken not only Sehun and Key with him, but a few other people to protect him.
It was literally impossible to escape.
But Yeonjun didn't care about that, he continued to drag the girl to the balcony where they had met, because from there they could get to the lower floors via the stairwell. He didn't even think about possible consequences, he just wanted to get Gyu away from here as soon as possible, because this time he didn't want to stand idly by.
He didn't want to be a coward.
But they didn't really get far, because when Yeonjun opened one of the doors, Oh Sehun was already standing in front of it and grabbed him by the collar. Due to the force with which the blond Choi was thrown forward and onto the floor, he had to let go of Gyu's wrist and received a kick to the stomach from the bodyguard. When he then also pulled out his gun and held it in Yeonjun's direction, Gyu let out a scream and ran towards the young man lying on the ground, got on his knees in front of him and bent over Yeonjun protectively.
Shortly thereafter, Taemin and Key also joined in on the action, but had surely caught most of it.
There was no mistaking what had gone on, and while Yeonjun held his stomach in pain, Taemin walked up to Sehun to lower the latter's arm with his weapon raised. "What's going on?" he asked anyway, looking down at Gyu who was still bent over the man lying on the ground.
"Don't hurt him, please," she pleaded with Taemin as she looked up at the latter, "it was my idea."
"They were going to run away," Sehun grumbled seriously, but lowered his arm a bit. It was quite surprising that he said so much in one piece at all.
Taemin, who had been sitting at the table with his customer until just now, had already wondered about his future wife's whereabouts and looked into her distraught, contorted face. Then his eyes moved on to Yeonjun, whom he had never seen before. He was annoyed that the information about a supposed friend had escaped him and sighed.
"You've already been forewarned," Key now spoke up. "You've been informed that violations will not be tolerated."
Gyu wrapped her arms around Yeonjun's head, but kept her eyes on Taemin. She knew it even without Key's reminder, but she hadn't expected Yeonjun to act this way. "Please!" she pleaded emphatically to her fiancé. "Please, just this once! It will never happen again, I'll do whatever you want, but please!"
Gyu had never shown herself so desperate and pleading before, rather she had always acted tough and strong, but the tone in her voice was really urgent.
And Taemin understood why.
There was no mistaking what was going on here, and he wrinkled his nose. Not because he understood that Gyu already had someone, but because he could hear his mother's voice in the back of his mind. It took a few agonizing seconds, during which the bodyguards were also waiting for an order, but instead of doing what would be expected of Taemin as the son of the Seocho leader, he ordered Sehun to put his gun away again.
Relieved, Gyu straightened up a bit and loosened her arms around Yeonjun's head.
She looked at him and smiled.
Even though the fear for his life still left a tortured impression, Gyu tenderly stroked his hair before finally standing up.
"Thank you ..."
Yeonjun let Gyu help him to his feet, holding his still aching stomach and scowling at Sehun. He had already been beaten up a week ago, and the thought of him serving as a punching bag buzzed in his head. Whether he should thank him for that, he didn't know, and rather than say anything, he remained silent.
"We're going," Taemin then suddenly said seriously and extended his hand to Gyu, inviting her to go with him.
Nodding, the girl headed for Lee and grabbed his hand, not even daring to give Yeonjun a glance lest she give Taemin or his bodyguards some silly ideas after all.
She was just glad that he had escaped with his life.