Yn's POV
I was at work, on time this fucking time, making my coffee when Joo-ryung approached me.
"So, how did it go?" Joo-ryung squealed out like a fangirl.
"It went great, we stopped a woman trying to kidnap a little girl." I replied.
"Really!? That's actually pretty heroic." Joo-ryung commented.
"Yeah but, after we got back from the park...he kissed my forehead and left." I explained as a light blush appeared on my face.
"Ohh, that can be some progress." Joo-ryung stated. "Maybe he's the type to take things slow."
"Maybe so, I mean, it was just a hangout day...nothing more." I pointed out.
"But, maybe he would want to ask you out on a date one day." Joo-ryung assured.
"I-I-I really...don't know about dating." I sighed out.
"Why not?" Joo-ryung asked.
I bit my lip anxiously as a flashback began to play in my head.
It was during my Freshman year of high school. I was dating this one boy but I kept our relationship a secret from my family because I don't want them to disapprove of my relationship with him. The boy wasn't a perv or anything, he was a really nice guy who always walked me to the bus stop and sometimes bought me my favorite snacks.
As a teenager, hormones were polluting the air. That was when lust officially came into the mental picture. During one time, I was being a bit...seductive with my then boyfriend over text messages. It was a big mistake to do it over at my grandma's house however.
"Who are you texting?" My grandma asked.
"N-no one?" My 14-year-old self lied.
My grandma didn't believe me.
"So if you're not talking to anyone, then you would let me see your phone." My grandma stated.
I couldn't back out from that one because she would've forced me to have her go through my phone either way so I gave in. My grandma saw the messages and went nuts.
"WHO THE HELL IS THIS BOY!?" My grandma yelled as she shoved the phone in my face.
"H-he's my boyfriend." I replied trying to fight back the tears that were about to spill out of my eyes.
"NO THE HELL HE'S NOT! HE'S JUST TRYING TO GET ONE THING OUT OF YOU!" My grandma yelled.
I began to bawl.
"NO HE'S NOT! HE'S NICE GUY WHO ESCORTS ME TO THE BUS SPOT EVERYTIME AFTER SCHOOL!" I cried out.
Well, that sorta backfired as I felt a sting on my face.
"WATCH WHO THE HELL YOU ARE YELLING AT!" My grandma yelled at me. "You think you're so mature huh?"
I stood there, frozen while holding my cheek, until my grandma grabbed me by the arm.
"ANSWER ME!" My grandma screamed into my face.
"I never said that I was mature." I choked out.
"I'm so sick of your smart ass mouth!" My grandma yelled as she shoved me to the couch.
You were the one who asked!
"You think just because you're in high school, you can do whatever with whoever huh? New flash; Lemme find out that you trying to be fast with all these boys at your school and I swear I will forbid you to see this boy and I will disown you as my granddaughter!" My grandma threatened. "You remind me of your damn mother whenever she meets a guy who even makes her smile."
How could you say that about your own daughter?
"Get the hell out of my sight, fucking fast ass little tramp." My grandma ordered as I got up and slowly made my way back to the room.
After that incident, I broke it off with the boy. He understood and we remained friends, much to my grandma's dismay. I had a feeling that she didn't just want me near this guy or any guy at all but, he never did anything to harm or make me uncomfortable even after we broke up.
One day, he offered to walk me to the bus stop. Little did I know, my grandma was already at the school watching us walk together. She then hit the gas and drove up to us then got out the car.
"You! Stay the hell away from my granddaughter!" My grandma yelled at the boy.
The boy stood there, afraid of my grandma.
"Grandma st-"
She cut me off.
"How old are you!? Are you a child predator?" My grandma asked pointing at him.
Now, this dude is literally only a year older than me! He's a fucking minor like me!
"Ma'am, I'm 15-"
"I don't give a fuck if you're 55! Keep your shit in your pants and not in my granddaughter! I'm too old to become a great grandmother."
Grandma, why?
Everyone was watching this unfold and some even recorded it. I didn't know what to do in that situation other than stand there and watch my grandma attack this poor guy.
"Ma'am, I'm gonna need you to leave the campus before I call the police." The principal threatened my grandma.
My grandma grabbed me by the arm and dragged me to her car. I looked back at the guy and mouthed an apology. He gave me a weak smile as he waved goodbye.
I sighed as I stirred my coffee.
"So that's what happened? What did your mom say in this?" Joo-ryung asked.
"While she did sided with my grandma on the text messaging, she did believe that my grandma did overreacted at him and that he's a kid just like me." I explained. "Honestly, ever since that...I never felt like I could be never ready to date a guy because my grandma will always disapprove of my relationship."
"Wait, what about your mom?" Joo-ryung asked.
"She passed away when I was 16." I replied. "Since I was still a minor at the time, my grandma was the only legal guardian to have custody over me because my stepdad couldn't take me due to his blindness. Those past 2 years, it was hell; The insults, the ridiculing, the blatant disregard towards my feelings and what I want...I didn't even get to decide on if I want to go to prom or not because she thinks that I'll come back to her house pregnant!"
"Yn, let's not talk about this anymore, it's starting to hurt you." Joo-ryung spoke as she grabbed my hand and squeezed it tight.
"I'm sorry, it's just-"
"Don't apologize for being a victim." Joo-ryung cut me off. "What your grandmother did to you is an ugly thing to do to someone's kid, regardless of them being related or not."
"When I went away to college, I went no contact with her...it felt like freedom." I choked out.
"Yes, and you're a grown woman now." Joo-ryung stated. "She has no say on who you can and can't date so...don't be afraid to give a relationship another try."
I smiled at her as I grabbed my coffee and we both walked back to the lobby. The mailman came in with a package.
"Did you order something again?" I asked.
"No." Joo-ryung replied confused.
"Um, I have a delivery for Mr. Lee Dong Wook." The mailman announced.
Dong Wook walked in.
"Thank you sir." Dong Wook spoke.
When he grabbed the package, he accidentally knocked the coffee out of my hand and it splashed on my blouse. It was still hot so yeah, that was not a good feeling.
"Fucking hell!" I yelled out as I held my stained chest in pain.
"Aish! My apologies Ms. Ln." Dong Wook apologized as he grabbed a paper towel for me.
I grabbed the paper towel from him and tried to rub the stain off but it was no use.
"Dammit." I muttered out.
"Ms. Ln, follow me to my office." Dong Wook ordered as he led me to his office.
"Ah geez, I didn't mean for that to happen." The mailman groaned as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"I mean, it was an accident, don't feel too bad about it." Joo-ryung assured him.
"Hey, you're right...um, this is actually the first time you spoke without flirting with me." The mailman pointed out.
"I'm just not in a flirty mood." Joo-ryung admitted.
"Good! Because you suck at flirting!" Sung-tae called out.
"Shut up!" Joo-ryung yelled out.
I was in Dong Wook's office sitting down in the chair while Dong Wook sets his package down.
"Once again, I apologize about the coffee spill." Dong Wook apologized.
"No, no, I'm sorry for being in the way." I apologize as I looked down.
Dong Wook looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
"Huh? Why are you apologizing? You didn't know that it was gonna happen." Dong Wook pointed out.
"Right...sorry." I muttered out.
"Stop apologizing." Dong Wook ordered.
I kept my mouth shut this time.
Dong Wook sighed as he began to unbutton his dress shirt.
Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! What is he doing!?
"Ms. Ln, remove your blouse." Dong Wook ordered.
I turned bright red.
"W-why?" I asked.
"Just do it." Dong Wook commanded.
I hesitantly unbuttoned my blouse then brushed it off my shoulders until it was on the floor. Dong Wook walked over behind me and placed his dress shirt over my shoulders. I inhaled some of the cologne that was on the dress shirt.
"There, this should help." Dong Wook stated.
I was too nervous to turn around towards him without looking at his naked chest.
"T-thank you." I stammered out. "But what about you?"
"I always bring a spare shirt." Dong Wook replied as he reached into a bag and pulled out an extra dress shirt.
"Now why didn't you give me the spare one?" I asked.
Dong Wook's eyes grew a bit wide at the realization.
"I...uhhhh..."
Before he could come up with an answer, there was a knock on the door.
"Hey Mr. Lee, there-"
Joo-ryung walked in to see me wearing Dong Wook's dress shirt and him shirtless then felt her face turn red.
"Um...sir, there's someone in the lobby for you." Joo-ryung answered as she walked out the room.
"They must be here." Dong Wook spoke as he put the dress shirt on and walked out the room, accidentally knocking over his package in the process.
"Hmm, he accidentally knocked over his package." I thought to myself as I knelt down to pick it up.
I saw something stick out of the package, something black specifically. Curiosity got the better of me as I pulled the mysterious black thing out and realized that it was a black leather flogger!
Oh...my...God!
Ji-cheol's POV
Ji-cheol was closing up shop with Maggie. He was still recalling back to what happened on the weekend, which caught Maggie's attention.
"Yo Ji-cheol, you good? You've been zoning out for a long time." Maggie stated.
"Y-yeah, I'm good." Ji-cheol replied.
"Is it about what happened on y'all hangout at the park?" Maggie asked.
Ji-cheol looked at her in shock.
"How did you know?" Ji-cheol asked.
"That look in your eye man." Maggie replied. "Something happened, I could tell."
"Well, we did save a kid from being kidnapped." Ji-cheol began.
"Dude, I'm not slow, I know there's more to it than that." Maggie pointed out.
"All I did was kiss Yn on her forehead before I left." Ji-cheol explained.
"Really? Did you do it in a friend type way or in a I-like-you sorta way?" Maggie asked.
"I really don't know, if I were to kiss her in an I-like-you sorta way, I would've kissed her lips." Ji-cheol pointed out.
"You don't have to kiss someone on the lips necessarily to tell or show that you like them." Maggie explained. "It can be either on the cheek, forehead, or even on the hand."
"The question I got is...why did I do that? I mean, I think Yn's a cool girl to be around and what not but it's like...she's...I don't know. One minute I get flustered at the sight of her and the next minute I just see her as like someone that I wanna protect and care but not in a relationship type of way." Ji-cheol explained.
"What do you mean by "relationship type of way" Ji-cheol?" Maggie asked.
"As in a boyfriend type of way." Ji-cheol sighed out.
"Well dude, sounds like you confused about your feels towards Yn." Maggie stated. "I think you should see Anupam about that because he knows a lot about mental health and what not."
"I guess you're right." Ji-cheol admitted.
"I'll see you tomorrow dude." Maggie spoke as she walked off.
Ji-cheol then took out his phone.
Hey Anupam? Can I talk to you about something?
August 7th, 2022