Back to the present . . .
As Chaeyoung lay down on her bed, she thought of Jungkook. She remembered the wide opening of his eyes and the dropping of his jaw at seeing her and Taehyung together.
She mumbled to herself, “Of course I don’t need to explain anything. It’s not like we’re in a relationship or something.” She contemplated before continuing, “Then why did I sound so guilty and defensive back then? Argh! What was I thinking?”
Then her thoughts was interrupted by her ringing phone.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
“Hello!” Chaeyoung answered.
Jungkook answered at the other end of the line, “Chaeyoung? Are you home already?”
“Yes. And you?”
“Huh?”
“I mean, uh, have you gone home too?” She asked.
“Oh! Yes, yes. I went home right after I sent you out.”
“I see. By the way, thank you for your help earlier.”
“No problem. So uh . . .” It sounded like he wanted to say something but he did not finish what he was trying to say when Chaeyoung interrupted.
“Yes?”
“Do you have time tomorrow after work? Can we have dinner together?” He asked.
“Sure!”
“Great! See you tomorrow then.”
“See you tomorrow.”
“Good night! Sleep tight. Don’t let the bed bugs bite.”
She chuckled, “Good night!”
The next day, Chaeyoung carefully selected her outfit for the day. She picked a blush pink asymmetric blazer dress, matching it with a lovely pair of nude pumps. When she went to the dining room to eat breakfast, her parents were already there.
“Good morning!” She announced as she went inside the dining room.
“Good morning Chaeyoung! You look gorgeous today.” Her mother commented.
Then her father teased, “It looks like our girl’s going on a date tonight. Make sure to come home before ten, alright?”
“What? Why do I have a curfew now?” Chaeyoung complained.
“Because I don’t know this guy you’re going out with. Thus the curfew seemed necessary.” Her father explained.
“Fine!” Chaeyoung conceded as she began eating her breakfast.
“Though you do look especially pretty today Chaeyoung.”
“Thanks Dad!”
After breakfast, Chaeyoung cheerfully went to work looking forward to her dinner date with Jungkook. The day seemed to stretch out as Chaeyoung looked at the time every now and then. She became anxious as the hours went by.
After work, Chaeyoung rushed to the powder room to check her look. She retouched her makeup and sprayed a bit of perfume. Then she went out to meet Jungkook. He saw her when she was heading his way. Chaeyoung felt conscious when Jungkook openly stared at her as she walked towards him.
“You know that’s kind of rude, right?” Chaeyoung said.
“What?” Jungkook asked bafflingly.
She eyed him, “Pfft! So where are we going to eat?”
“Do you have a place in mind?” He asked. “By the way, you look rather pretty today.”
“And you’re really generous with your compliments,” She commented.
“Is that a bad thing too?”
“No, not at all.” She beamed.
He responded, “Good. Now what do you want to eat for dinner?”
“Hmmm. I forgot the name of the place, but it’s just a few blocks from here.” She answered, not ignoring his question.
“It’s okay. Let’s go!”
While they were walking, Jungkook kept on stealing glances from Chaeyoung. On the other hand, Chaeyoung was hesitating about explaining to Jungkook regarding last night with Taehyung or not.
“Jungkook, ah . . . about last night . . .” Chaeyoung started to say.
Then Jungkook interrupted, “What about it?”
“Umm, did you sleep well?” She blurted. Then she murmured to herself, “Of course, I did not need to explain anything. But then again, there’s no harm in talking about it.”
“Chaeyoung? You were saying?”
She answered in a blank state, “Huh?”
Before Jungkook could say anything, a man approached them.
The man said, “Hey Jungkook! I did not know you have a girlfriend. Why don’t you introduce us to each other?”
Chaeyoung was embarrassed at the comment of Jungkook’s friend. Even Jungkook was tongue-tied for a moment.
“No! I mean . . . Chaeyoung, this is Frank, my colleague. Frank, this is Chaeyoung, my friend.” Jungkook said.
Then Chaeyoung and Frank shook hands.
“Nice to meet you Chaeyoung, Jungkook’s friend.” Frank said.
Chaeyoung just smiled in response.
Frank grinned, “Hmmm. So Chaeyoung, do you have a boyfriend?”
Chaeyoung was shocked at Frank’s direct question. She looked at Jungkook as if to ask for help. But Jungkook looked as clueless as she was.
So she bluntly answered, “I don’t have one.”
“Nice! Can I have your number?”
“Ummm. No!”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want to.”
“Feisty! I like you.“ Frank boldly answered, giving Chaeyoung a flirty wink. “It’s alright. Maybe next time.”
When he left, Chaeyoung raised her eyebrows at Jungkook.
Jungkook explained, “Chaeyoung, I’m really sorry about Frank. Don’t mind him. He’s usually like that around girls he just met. But he’s a good guy.”
“Sounds like you are trying to sell him to me, are you?” Chaeyoung asked.
“No! Of course not!”
She smiled before saying, “That’s good. By the way, we’re here.”
The restaurant was called Veteres. The place was not very big but it looked so cozy. The entire place was filled with rustic pendant lightings which made the place warm and inviting. The furniture pieces around the restaurant were also exquisitely picked that the vintage ambience of the restaurant was highlighted.
“What do you think about this place?” She asked.
“It looked nice. Have you been here before?”
“No. It’s my first time here.” She looked around the place before adding, “Actually, there’s something I need to be honest with you.”
He looked puzzled before asking, “What is it?”
“Honestly there’s a specific reason why I chose to eat here.” She said. Then in a much lower voice, she added, “This restaurant is one of our clients. All the furniture pieces you can see here were ordered from us. I just wanted to check the place after my coworker told me about it.”
“Oh! Are you trying to brag about your product? Or, were you trying to sell it to me now?”
“Well, marketing is kind of my job. So it’s likely that I’m trying to market our product right about now. And since you are working in a construction company, perhaps you could do something about making a partnership with us.
He looked disappointed when he asked, “You mean to say, you lured me here to talk about business all night?”
“Of course not! We can talk about something else right after we’re done talking about business.”
“Seriously?” He said with his eyes wide open in surprise and confusion.
She giggled, “I’m just kidding. Though this restaurant is really one of our clients. When my coworker told me about it, I got really curious. She also remarked that their food is tasty. So we’re here to simply try the food and appreciate the place. There’s no talking about business at all. I promise.”
Jungkook looked relieved as he answered, “Great! I really thought we’d be talking about work.”
“Relax! Let us just enjoy our food.”
In the middle of eating their dinner, Jungkook looked at Chaeyoung intently. Then he asked, “Chaeyoung, about last night. I’m just curious. Who was that guy you’re with?”
She choked on her food. She grabbed her glass of water and sipped a bit. Then she coughed modestly before drinking more water.
“Are you alright?” He asked, looking concerned.
“Yeah. Just got too excited about the food. Sorry.”
“Eat slowly, we’re not in a hurry anyway.”
She just smiled, focusing back at her food.
“So Chaeyoung . . . that guy last night. Who is he?”
Crap! I thought my choking maneuver served a good distraction. Did I embarrass myself in vain after all? Chaeyoung thought to herself.
Then she gulped before mumbling, “T-Taehyung.”
“What?”
“He’s Taehyung.”
“Who is he?”
“Kim Taehyung.”
He rolled his eyes at her before asking her outright, “I mean . . . Is Taehyung your boyfriend?”
She sighed before answering, “Ex. He is my ex-boyfriend.”
He looked blankly at Chaeyoung, not knowing how to react at her admission.
She explained, “But we were not trying to get back together or anything. He called me last night, sounding very drunk and desperate. He said he wanted to meet.”
Then he interjected, “You weren't trying to get back together but you rushed out to meet him.”
She bowed her head down in shame. Then she whispered, “I know. I shouldn’t have, right? After what he did, it was stupid of me to even worry about him.”
“What do you mean? How did you two broke up?”
“Well . . . It was our third anniversary. I waited for him at the restaurant. But he did not show up. He only sent me flowers saying that he was sorry. I did not contact him after that. I waited for him to contact me first because it was all his doing. But he did nothing ‘til yesterday. That was the very first time he contacted me after that dreadful day. We did not even get to talk since he was already unconscious when I came.”
“You sound disappointed,” He commented.
“What?”
“N-nothing. Let’s just eat.”
For the rest of their dinner, Jungkook stayed quiet. Chaeyoung started to feel uneasy. She noticed Jungkook’s sudden mood change but she was oblivious to the reason behind it. So after dinner, she suggested that they go to a coffee shop.
He asked, “Are you sure it’s okay for you to be home late?”
“Of course!” She answered before remembering her father’s words from earlier. “Wait! What time is it?”
“It’s already 9:30,” He answered.
“Oh no! I need to go home.”
Then she grabbed his hand as they ran together towards the taxi stand.
“What’s wrong?” He asked.
“I’ll tell you later.” She answered.
While they were inside the taxi, Chaeyoung fidgeted on her seat. She kept looking at the time.
Then Jungkook asked, “Chaeyoung tell me what’s wrong. You seem like you have a curfew as you kept looking at your watch.”
She looked at him in shock. She was surprised at his accurate assumption. She calmly nodded and tried to sit comfortably.
“You-you still have a curfew?” He asked.
“I know. This in injustice right? But it’s my father’s words. I have to follow it or else he might get upset with me, the last thing I would want to happen.”
“Why? Is it that bad?”
“Kind of. You might be having vicious ideas right now. However when my father gets upset, he will make you do household chores for a week or a month. The number of days depend on the degree of your offense.”
“Really? I never heard of that kind of punishment before.” He sounded amused. “How long was the most number of days you’ve been punished?”
“Me? It was a month. Back in high school, I have been addicted to Korean dramas. Actually even until now. But back then, instead of studying I watched Korean dramas every night. Then . . . when we had our third periodical exams, I failed in most of my subjects. When my father learned about it and the reason behind my failure, he gave me that punishment. He also confiscated my laptop for one week.”
Jungkook grinned as he commented, “You were a silly kid then.”
“You could say that. My father reasoned that our punishment served as a way to help our mother with the household chores too. Also, he was trying to teach us to be independent.”
“Hmmm. It was nice of your father to punish you that way then.”
“I guess so.”
They reached her house a minute before ten. Chaeyoung hurriedly went out of the taxi and left Jungkook without a word. She repeatedly rang the doorbell.
When her father opened the gate, he peeked behind Chaeyoung’s back. He saw that the taxi they were riding was still outside so he tried to get out. But Chaeyoung forcefully pushed him inside and closed the gate behind her.
“Is he still outside? Why didn’t you invite him in?” Chaeyoung’s father asked.
“It’s already late. He also has work tomorrow so he must go home early.” She answered.
“Are you trying to hide him from me?”
“Of course not! Why would I?”
After greeting her mother and Alice who were watching television in the living room, Chaeyoung flounced off to her room. She was still catching her breath as she sat down on her bed.
She thought back to her conversation with Jungkook earlier about Taehyung. She found it hard to read Jungkook’s mind. He was listening carefully at her but he was oddly quiet during dinner.
She held her phone above her face, thinking about calling Jungkook. But she sent him a text message instead. She wished him good night before falling asleep herself.
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