chapter 46
comeback minigame: spot the red flags🚩
"Honestly, Lee Suho," Yoon-ah rolled her eyes, hands resting on the heavy oak door of her grand residence. "You did not have to walk me back."
"Hm, you're welcome," Suho shrugged non-chalantly and tucked his hands into his pockets. It was all a facade, of course. She could tell by the lines under his eyes that he was barely holding back his excitement. He might not have told her what he had said to the older boy, but with him out of the picture, Suho was well on his way to getting closer to Jukyung.
A slow grin spread across her face. "It's hard to believe I'm saying this, but I had fun today."
"You only say that because you got to scruff him up, Yoon-ah," Suho chuckled.
Her own giggle died somewhere in her throat. It wasn't just the sound of her own name on his lips that surprised her, it was also Suho's laughter. She didn't think she had ever heard it before, and it was a damn shame at that. The simple chuckle completely transformed Suho's face, enunciating his smile lines and giving him a much more playful appearance. It was as though she had gotten a glimpse of who the boy was before...whatever happened to him.
She gazed silently at him, admiring the way the porch lighting highlighted his elegant features. Now more than ever, her fingers twitched at her sides in an effort to capture this moment on film.
His smile dropped and a blank expression set in on Suho's face all of a sudden. The boy cleared his throat and focused his gaze on his shoes. Yoon-ah felt a momentary twinge of regret. He may have understood her silence as displeasure over his unexpected warmth, when it was quite the opposite in reality.
She should have spoken up. Said something; anything to reassure him that she wasn't averse to his companionship- a revelation that would have been shocking to her maybe even two weeks ago.
A flicker of reluctance crossed Suho's face.
"Thank you for today," he said after a moment.
His voice was so low that Yoon-ah barely caught his words. "What did you just say?"
"Quit it." Suho's lips lifted in a smile. "I know you heard me just fine the first time."
He stepped back from the door, lingering on the porch stairs. There was a sense of hesitation on his part, which Yoon-ah shared. Her day had been much more enjoyable than she had imagined.
The first memories she had of Suho were vague. He had been at the school, top of his class even when she had joined a few years ago. There used to be something charming about the boy, and he was much friendlier, although he was still notorious for his gruffness. He was supposed to show her around the school. Perhaps the two would've been friends if Soojin had not overtaken his responsibilities in a curious twist of fate.
Yoon-ah idly wondered what their friendship might have been like if they'd lived in another universe, perhaps in a different time. It would have been nice if they could've chosen to enjoy each other's company voluntarily instead of being forced into it by unexpected circumstances. Wistfulness so strong swept through her, she felt a bit dizzy.
"It's time for you to go, isn't it?" Her voice was softer than usual.
Suho wrinkled his brows. "I believe so. It's pretty late."
A quick chirp from his jacket pocket ended their conversation before Yoon-ah could say any more. Suho pulled out his phone, frowning.
"Has Jukyung finally confessed her undying love to you? "
"Hilarious," Suho said dryly, although he had a slight tint to his ears. He exhaled heavily as he scanned the message, before sliding the phone back into his pocket. The frown didn't leave his face.
In any other circumstance, Yoon-ah would have asked what the matter was.
But he was Lee Suho, and she didn't quite know how to.
She didn't know what they were.
As it turned out, she didn't have a chance to wonder.
"Song Yoon-ah?" A male voice called out from the shadows. It was a clipper, heavier and more familiar than she wanted to admit.
Kim Ha-joon sauntered slowly up the driveway, his hands stuffed in his jeans. He smiled at her and cold tingles shot down her arms and into the tips of her fingers.
Heartache consumed Yoon-ah so suddenly that her senses were temporarily numbed. Suho grunted with surprise beside her, but she didn't hear it. There was an eerie stillness within her.
Her heart sunk in her chest, that brought about a change in gear. A moment where her emotions switched up and strengthened her soul for what lay ahead. Her gaze lay fixed on the older boy and on the bouquet of flowers he brought with him. It was the same assortment that had adorned her house's vases for many years.
The same flowers she once loved, that were now a reminder for all she had lost.
"Can we talk?"
Yoon-ah shook her head violently, trying to fight off the bile rising in her throat.
Dark eyes glinted behind the dense mass of hair that fell on Ha-joon's forehead and along the length of his neck. "Let me at least explain myself, Yoon-ah."
The brunette winced. His voice evoked memories of simpler days- tennis games on the weekends, his famed pizza recipe, and the feeling of sand between their toes as they walked along the beach.
Was it possible for someone's voice to elicit a rush of emotions like this? If it was, she wanted it to stop. Because it was a goddamn liar, nostalgia. She vividly remembered the good times- the catch games, the long evenings, the even longer waits outside the company's boardrooms, with only the older boy to keep her company. It awakened senses, memories, feelings in her that she had forgotten about, but kept out the unpleasant parts. Like a rose-tinted window into the past, it made her yearn for something that had long since turned poisonous, perhaps even deadly.
"You have no right to be here anymore."
Ha-joon gestured at her house, his lips pressed together in a wry smile. "I'm hurt. You've never made me feel so unwelcome here before," he said ruefully. "Then again, you were always kind to me, since my own home was hell. This was my only refuge, so I suppose it was simply your famed genorosity that compelled you to care for the likes of me?"
Yoon-ah swayed in her spot as black dots filled her vision. She was not sure what she feared more in that moment: losing consciousness or her self-control. "Be quiet."
"I have been trying to apologize for weeks," the older boy continued, disregarding her words entirely. "My life has been a constant shift from one place to another, but you have always been there. You're not just a loyal friend to me- you're my anchor. All I ask of you is to not throw it away like that."
A genuine look of regret flickered in his eyes. Perhaps a few years ago, she would have fallen for his ways of deception. He meant everything to her back then. Her childhood friend. The man her sister was in love with. Her future brother-in-law. Above all, he was her best friend of years, was he not?
He kept coming back to apologize. Again and again. Leaving that damned bouquet of flowers outside her doorstep every day. And even despite all his efforts, he seemed to know it wasn't enough.
Maybe if he could learn to mean it, then Yoon-ah'd be impressed. Yet his gaze lingered almost exclusively on her face, and it was evident his thoughts were only geared towards his own endgame. Now that she saw him for who he was, the game was truly over, wasn't it?
Her heart teemed under the pressure of his presence, not as a tangled knot, but as a ticking bomb. It filled her with overwhelming rage and anger and she wanted to yell out with fierce vengeance.
Yoon-ah suddenly felt an acute sense of regret at Seojun's absence. Only he was able to calm her down instead of eliciting her fury.
"Do you know him, Yoon-ah?" Her mind recognised Suho's voice somewhere in the background.
Yoon-ah blinked, her bleary eyes refocusing on her evening's companion. Suho was standing closer to her than she recalled, and there was a tense set to his jaw. The boy in front of her was completely different than the one she had been talking to before Ha-joon arrived. He seemed to have noticed her change in demeanor, had sensed danger around him. His guard had remounted, and he was ready for action at the slightest indication from her.
The older boy must have noticed Suho for the first time. His brows shot in the air and his eyes grew sharper as he scruntinised him. "Why do you look like that?"
Suho's head tipped in confusion.
"Like...that." His hand made a vague gesture at Suho's frown. He then chuckled quietly under his breath. "Who are you, anyway? Her new boyfriend?"
"I do not recall wanting to share my RRN with you," Suho retorted.
"Stop it, Ha-joon," Yoon-ah snapped. "I don't know how to explain this to you in a w
Her voice was low and firm, and despite the flash of irritation in his eyes, the other boy remained silent. On the contrary, he took a light step forward. Yoon-ah tensed up. She wanted to reach out for Suho, but it was him who shifted closer to her instead.
"I'll ask you again and for the last time," Suho cut in fiercly. "The property belongs to her, so who are you and why are you there?"
Ha-joon glared back at Suho with a scowl painted across his face, but backed away nonetheless. He sent a brief glance in Yoon-ah's direction, clearly expecting her to take the unsaid directive. To intervene. To not stand as she was, and intended to keep on doing.
Yoon-ah didn't react.
She wasn't sure how to.
Something was not right about the way Ha-joon looked at her, as if he were a sheepdog and she, his quarry. He had an aura of predatory ferocity about him that dispelled any doubts Yoon-ah had about his sincerity. There was nothing that the naive little girl within her could say to suggest that this was anything other than a business deal for him. There was no doubt in her mind that Ha-joon expected something from her. She would not be the only victim of any sort of trade with him, her sister would suffer as well. Tenfold, perhaps.
Yoon-ah's eyes hardened. It was hard to believe it hadn't occurred to her before. She reached for her back pocket and pulled out her phone without saying another word.
Ha-joon swiveled to look at her in surprise. His confusion was blatantly obvious. "Who are you calling?"
"Security. You overstayed your welcome when you showed up."
"Oh, Yoon-ah," Ha-joon let out a soft sigh, slowly ascending the porch steps. His voice sounded genuinely desperate and yet, she felt her own throat tighten with every step he took. Only a few feet separated them now, and Ha-joon did not intend to stop. The closer he got to her, the more difficult it was for her to breathe. Sharp tingles shot down the length of her arm, but Ha-joon didn't seemed to notice her growing discomfort. The bouquet of flowers hung limply in his clasp, and his free hand reached out for her.
A moment later, Suho's arm stuck out between the two, right beneath the older boy's nose. "You heard her," he said curtly. "Get out, you're making her uncomfortable."
Ha-joon uttered a sigh of unrestrained anger. "I suggest you step aside, kid."
"And I suggest you piss off, Ajusshi," Suho retorted, his tone snide.
A look of shock and disbelief rippled across the older boy's face, and Yoon-ah struggled to maintain her cool. It served Ha-joon just right, who assumed he could do whatever he pleased simply because she had taken so little action in the past.
After a moment of dumbfounded silence, he broke into an ear-splitting smile. "Stump it, kid. You don't know what you are getting yourself into." His piercing gaze turned in her direction, eyes glittering. "You haven't told your cute little boy toy anything yet, have you?"
Yoon-ah's momentary delight over his speechlessness quickly faded away. A shiver ran up her spine. Ha-joon's smile brought with it a terror far more intense than his mere presence. His smugness clearly implied he held an ace she didn't know about. And being in the dark terrified her, especially when he was involved.
On the other hand, her silence clearly satisfied him. Ha-joon let out a short bark of laughter. "The famed Song Yoon-ah - hiding, lying, avoiding the truth- as one would expect of her."
"You bastard-"
Yoon-ah held Suho back by his arm to keep him from swinging at Ha-joon. Known for being typically reserved, Suho's forceful defense of her was surprising. And quite honestly, it was endearing too. She couldn't help but become more fond of him in that moment and made a mental vow to at least try to be pleasant to him in the future.
"That's what I thought," Ha-joon snapped back.
Her brows shot up in the air. Yoon-ah clenched her jaw, unwillingly struck by the rat's presence in front of her. He had not only encroached into her estate, but also found it appropriate to ridicule her and her guest when he did not get his way. And she had just about had enough of his antics.
She stepped in front of Suho, eyes leveled with Ha-joon. "This will be the last time I warn you," she said coldly. "Leave."
The single word weighed heavily in the air and Ha-joon's smile faltered a bit. "You wouldn't do this to me."
Yoon-ah's lips twisted into a mirthless smile. It didn't reach her eyes, which regarded him with malice, through the gaze of a stranger. He was no longer the little boy she used to know. She would not hesitate to protect herself and her family from his capricious actions, no matter what and why. And in the end, her actions were motivated by love. For her family, her sister. For the little piece of her that needed closure. So, she was okay with whatever it took to accomplish this. "Try me."
Almost on cue, an ominous blunder of sirens was heard at a distance, growing louder by the second. Ha-joon's eyes flickered with fear, but he shook his head stubbornly. It was as though Yoon-ah had done exactly what he hadn't expected, but he was still impressed with her on a certain level.
"You never cease to surprise me." His backward stride sent him staggering down the porch steps. Ha-joon scoffed to himself. Softly. Light-heartedly. There was an air of amusement about his actions, as if this all were a game to him. Yoon-ah's veins burned with unadulterated hatred. "I'll be back."
Yoon-ah breathed deeply through her mouth to calm her throbbing muscles. She was silent for a long moment. "You won't." The edges of her vision were streaked with black dots, but her voice was ice cold, devoid of emotion. Her manner of speech seemed to wound him more than anything else she had ever done or said before, and pride welled up within her. "Not if you know what's good for you."
Ha-joon looked like he was about to say more as the sound of sirens grew louder. Yoon-ah's phone was once again set abuzz by another phone call. The brunette made no move to reach for the device, but Ha-joon's eyes filled with apprehension. He hesitated for a fraction of a second, and then turned on his heel and bolted away like the coward she had discovered him to be.
It didn't take long for the blue of his denim jacket to fade into the night and merge with the shadows, yet the moment seemed to stretch out forever. Yoon-ah's heart was racing and her palms were sweaty. It took a lot of self-control on her part to stand there, unfeeling and careless as she appeared. A multitude of emotions fought for dominance in her heart. It was overhelming.
The minute the boy was out of sight, her legs gave out from beneath her. Yoon-ah crumpled to the ground, her knees hitting the floor with a loud thud. Her hands shot out to clasp at anything that could hold her upright. She felt a dull ache where her knees had struck the concrete floor. It was likely that she scraped them, but she couldn't bring herself to care.
One person was only capable of so much self-control. It took tremendous energy and thought to master intense, tenacious emotions like anger. With the older boy present, that energy quickly fizzled out.
And god damn, she was exhausted.