07 | Sympathy?
"Can you believe it, oppa!"
"W-what?", Wonwoo snaps out of his thoughts, looking at the girl who's next to him. Minyoung pouts as the two of them walk, crossing her arms.
"That girl made me completely humiliated in front of the EJS staff! Her case was good, but still! Now I definitely won't get that job at EJS."
"Minyoung, it's okay. That girl was probably stupid", Wonwoo consoles his best friend, stroking her shoulder.
"We had to do a debate on an old news story and she was so ugh!"
"Really? What was the news story?", he asks.
"The fire and explosion 12 years ago at...never mind"
"Oh", Wonwoo replies bitterly, looking away from her..
The one that killed my father. And the one that...
"What did this girl say?"
"She just said that I couldn't become a reporter because of the assumptions I made about an old news story from a long time ago. She had solid points, but it completely beat down my proof!"
Wonwoo clicks his tongue, giving the phone back to her. "That girl has no idea what she's talking about"
"I know, but she probably got the job", she sulks, sticking out her bottom lip.
"Hey, why don't you work with my mom? You know her very well", he suggests.
"Really?", her brown eyes light up, looking at him.
"Of course, I can tell my mom to give you a role at YMC. Do you want it?"
"Yes! Oh my god, thank you thank you thank you!!", she throws her arms around him, jumping up and down. He tenses up, a light pink crawling up to his cheeks as he hugs her back. He closes his eyes, enjoying the warmth she radiates as the two of them hug.
Only if I could stay like this forever.
☼☽
Congratulations, Lim Eunha! You got the job at EJS Broadcasting! Please come in on Monday at 10:00 AM
Eunha looks down at her phone, grimacing as she shoves it back in her pocket, heading down the stairs.
"Hey, Eunha! Have you heard back from EJS?", Seungcheol asks, eating one of her cupcakes. She nods, sitting in front of him. "Really? What did they say?"
"I got the job", she replies, smiling slightly.
"Really? Guys! Eunha got the job!", he yells, clapping for her. "Aren't you excited?" She shrugs, grabbing an apple and starts to eat it.
"Eunha got the job?!", Soonyoung comes out of nowhere, looking at her.
"Yea...it's no big deal", she shakes her hand.
"No big deal? It's a HUGE deal!", Seungkwang exclaims, using hand gestures.
"Congrats, Eunha!", Minghao hugs her along with Jeonghan, squeezing her.
"We should celebrate!", Jun pumps his fists in the air.
"More cupcakes?", Seungkwang suggests.
"No, even better-- let's go to a club", Jun smirks.
"Is that alright with you?", Seungcheol looks at her, noticing the worry in her eyes.
"O-of course it's fine! But shouldn't we wait for Wonwoo-"
"Why are we going to a club?", he strolls into the room. He notices all of the guys crowding around Eunha, Seungkwang scowling and Seuncheol glaring at him.
"Because Eunha got a job at EJS", Minghao smiles brightly, oblivious to the fact that not all of them are on good terms with Wonwoo.
"Really?", he asks, looking at her. "They hired her?"
"If you're going to make fun of her, then shut it. You don't have to go out with us tonight if you're only going to hurt her", Seungcheol growls.
"I--nevermind. Fine, I'll go but can I bring Mingyu and Minyoung along?", Wonwoo groans.
"Who are they?", Eunha asks Wonwoo.
"None of your business. Now all of you go get ready", Wonwoo states, shooing them away. Some of them click their tongues as they oblige, heading up the stairs to go get ready.
"But I deserve to know. Even though you may hate me, we're still engaged"
"Again, none of your--"
"Tell me now"
"Fine. Mingyu is my best friend and Minyoung is the person I'm in love with", he states, grabbing a cupcake and biting into it. Eunha freezes in place, her eyes growing wide.
"So that's why you hate me?"
Wonwoo says nothing, looking at her from the corner of her and noticing how bad she feels towards him, but refuses to let her guard down.
"Well," she coughs, "I'm ready anyways so I'll just go watch TV", she turns around, walking away.
"Wait", Wonwoo turns around, stopping her in her tracks.
"Yes?", Eunha turns around to face him but her eyes not meeting his.
"You...I...You're going to where that?", he says a little too quickly. She rolls her eyes, walking away from him. Wonwoo laughs to himself, finding it weirdly cute when she gets upset.
☼☽
Arriving at the club was nerve racking for Eunha because she hates it when very sweetly people are rubbing against her and she hates the smell and taste of alchohol. The only reason she agreed to go to clubbing was because the rest wanted to.
It's just a club, Eunha not the ghettos.
"You okay?", Wonwoo asks.
"As if you care", she snarls, giving him a 'really?' face.
"I was just asking, god", he mutters.
"Hyung!", someone calls, waving at Wonwoo. He runs up to him, running his hand through his hair as he approaches the group. "Minyoung couldn't make it because something came up, but I'm here and I'm SO much prettier than her", he flips his non-existent hair over his shoulder. Eunha lets out a giggle causing Mingyu to notice her.
"Ooooh Wonwoo, who is this lovely lady?"
"Oh her?", he looks down at Eunha. "This is Eunha my umm..."
"I'm worker at his company. Lim Eunha, Pleased to meet you ", she sticks out her hand, smiling nicely.
"Nice to meet you...Miss Lim", he shakes her hand, returning the smile. He looks up at his hyung, raising a brow.
"Now, lets pARTYY!!! WOOP!", Soonyoung drags Eunha along, the guys following them into the club. They show the bouncer their IDs, heading into the club. Eunha grimaces as the boys all file in one by one, getting ready to get turnt as she shrinks back. The music is too loud for her taste, too many drunk people around and too many sweaty bodies close to one another.
"You sure you're okay? We don't have to go, you know", Wonwoo asks again, looking down at her. A slight hint of worry fills his voice, but it's not enough for her to notice.
"Yes, Wonwoo, I'm fine so stop caring", she crosses her arms, trying to appear confident even though her stomach is doing barrel rolls as she walks over to the bar.
"Would you like anything?", the bartender yells through the music.
"Do you have anything that's non-alcoholic?", she yells, hoping that the bartender hears.
"Sure! Here's some water, is that all?"
She nods her head, thanking the man and drinking it. Eunha frowns, noticing the slight taste of soju in it. She sighs, taking another sip of the water as loud music blasts through the speakers, people jumping up and down while two people are sucking on each others faces next to her.
"Why hellooo there missy", a cleary drunk guy stumbles up to her, resting his arm on the counter. "Wanna-- dance?", he hiccups, his eyes roaming all over her body especially in a seductive manner.
"No thank you", she responds, sticking out her hands and shaking her head.
"Come on baby~~ It won't be that bad~~", he takes her by both wrists, yanking her off of the stool and bring her to the middle of the dance floor, their chests touching. He buries his face in her neck, swaying his body to the music as his hands roam all over her body.
"S-Sir, stop", she tries pulling away from him which causes him to grunt, pulling her closer by the hip with one hand while the other travels up.
"Sir! Excuse me, stop!", she wiggles in fear, feeling the man's rough hand touch her cold skin under her sweater.
Wonwoo and Mingyu lean back on a wall, drinks in hand as they observe everyone.
"So why did Eunha lie and say that she was a worker when she's going to be your wife?", Mingyu asks, taking a sip of his drink.
"I was right, Mingyu. There's a 85% chance that she's Kim Seongyoo's daughter", Wonwoo responds seriously, taking a big gulp of his drink. Mingyu takes a step back, confused and shocked at his sudden statement about the girl he just met almost an hour ago.
"You're kidding--"
"I saw her crying in the bathroom about her father, I heard the news story that they were doing a debate on. Construction workers found Seongyoo's body at my father's old factory", he sighs, running his hand through his hair and taking another sip.
"And...?"
"'And' what?"
"You still hate Eunha because her father 'killed' your dad?", Mingyu questions, doing quotation marks on the word killed. Wonwoo hesitates on his answer, looking around the club as colored lights flash everywhere.
"I...I do. Her father could've tried harder to get his men out of the building with my dad"
"But Eunha's dad died with them, didn't he?"
Wonwoo curls his hands into fists, chewing on his gum and doesn't respond, feeling some sort of anger and sadness take over him.
"Look man, you might hate her for something that she couldn't prevent, but think about it from her view-- her whole family was put under shame for something that was poorly reported which led them into hiding or something. It even caused her to change her name from 'Kim Taehee' to 'Lim Eunha'! Those are two completely different names! Is that something you should hate her for-- her childhood being a hell?", Mingyu asks, desperate in changing his friend's idea about this girl. Wonwoo grits his teeth, tightening his fists until they turn white. "Does she really deserves your wrath?"
"She...she--", Wonwoo stops himself. He spots a girl struggling to get out of a guy's grasp, one hand traveling up her shirt while another one travels south. His eyes grow wide as he sees Eunha struggling to get out of the man's grasp, fear written all over her face.
"Eunha", he mutters, shoving his drink into Mingyu's hand as he quickly tries to get to her. He pushes through the group of people to only see a another guy punch the person who was all over her then dragging her out of the club.
"Y-Yah! Let go of her!!", Wonwoo yells, running out of the club and chasing them. He looks around the streets, spotting a familiar face sitting on the bench with a jacket draped over her shoulders.
"Eunha..!", he trails off, noticing her smile slightly when a familiar guy hands her a cup of coffee.
"Thanks, Seungcheol-ah"
Wonwoo knits his eyebrows together, touching his heart lightly. Seungcheol was the one who punched that pervert in the face and dragged her out of the club to be safe, probably asking her about what happened. He curls the hand over his heart tightly, feeling it sink again.
Wonwoo, what the hell is wrong with you?