Yoongi was about to call for Jae until she turned so suddenly and sprayed him with something.
"Aaargh!!!" Yoongi shouted in pain. He was sure it was pepper spray.
"Oh God! Oppa?" she said in panic trying to help a very tortured and temporarily blinded Yoongi who was suffering from the pepper spray.
He kneeled on the ground, trying to clean his eyes. He was tearing up crazily. "Help! My eyes!"
"Don't rub it!" warned Jae.
Yoongi was in hell. He couldn't see and he couldn't do anything. He felt Jae getting closer to him as she took his cap off and told him to lie down. She put something near his eyes and it stung even worse. He groaned. He was in pain to even think of any coherent thoughts. Then he felt her pouring water to his face and cleaning it with a cloth at the same time.
He could hear her babbling about not calling her out when he was walking behind her. Then she said she was sorry but he deserved it for walking behind her like that. She apologized again after that. Blinking his eyes was torturous and he was sure his tears were flowing like waterfall because of that spray. Crazily, he smiled. He was still oppa to her. The way she said it was solid and strong, and he was used to it since way back then. It gave him a hint that she wasn't as unaffected as she pretended to be.
"What the heck are you smiling for?" asked Jae as she hit his chest furiously. She poured water to his eyes again. At the rate she was going, Yoongi's shirt was already soaking.
"I think I might drown," Yoongi protested as Jae pour more water to his eyes.
"As long as you won't be blind for life, drowning sounds better," said Jae.
"Now I know where your priority lies," complained Yoongi as he pulled himself up in a sitting position.
"Stop being dramatic. You won't drown from a half litre of water," Jae wiped his face again.
Yoongi blinked his eyes. It was not as painful as before but his face still stung.
"What did you use just now to clean?" asked Yoongi.
"My facial wash. That's the only soap I have in my bag to clean the pepper oil away. You're not wearing any contacts, right?" Jae asked.
"No contact lenses," he confirmed. He touched his face. His face felt hot and puffy, and he was sure he looked like a dumpling now. "Don't you need to go to work?" asked Yoongi as he checked his watch.
"Friday is my day off at the store. I'm going home," replied Jae.
"You are going to walk all the way to Jongno-gu?" asked Yoongi in surprise. It is roughly 9 km away from Gangnam-gu and walking there is going to take some time. It is as good as a quarter of full marathon distance.
"I was going to take the bus. The last bus is at 12.30," said Jae. She looked at her watch. It was 12.30 on the dot and she was nowhere near the bus stop. She'd probably have to walk after all.
"I will drive you home," he offered.
"No way. I don't think you are fit to drive," Jae refused. In truth she didn't think he could see that well even after she cleaned his eyes. He probably need someone else to drive him home. Secondly, she was not even keen on letting him know where she lives.
"I can see well," Yoongi reassured her.
"Read this," Jae took a piece of paper out from her bag and showed him.
He read the words out clearly, proving that he could. "Now let me send you home. Consider that as a return for pepper spraying me," he said emphatically.
"It was your fault," Jae sulked. "You don't just jump on a lone girl who walks at night without getting the consequences. You should count your blessing that I don't carry a knife."
"That's illegal."
"I know but it did cross my mind once in a while."
"Anyone bothered you when you walk to the store?" he asked in concern.
"So far, no. You were the first person who did," she continued.
"Wow, I am so honored," he replied drily.
"Don't do that again. I'm serious. Never surprise me from behind. Especially at night on the streets. You're lucky they're not around tonight."
"They?"
"My guardian thugs," said Jae.
"Your what?"
"You heard me. I'm not going into details but sometimes, they're there watching me," explained Jae.
"You have problems with thugs?" he asked curiously.
"Had. Past tense. Now they're just there, protecting," she said.
"I sure want to know the story behind it."
"One day, who knows maybe you would. Never surprise me on the street, they might break your bones."
Yoongi laughed thinking it as a joke but stopped when he saw her face. "You're not serious, aren't you?"
"I'm dead serious. Don't test it to see if I'm right or not. For tonight, they're not here."
Yoongi shivered. " I won't. You made them sound like a ghost. Now let me send you home."
"That's how they operated. They could be really loud when they want to. Anyway, I can walk," she said stubbornly.
"If you don't let me, I'll let everyone knows what happened here."
"And I will let them know what happened before I sprayed you."
In truth, both of them would be in a huge trouble if word got out. It could ruin Yoongi's reputation as an idol and it could ruin Jae's reputation and cost her part-time job. Not to mention that Jae might be hunted by the ARMY both on social media and outside of it. The media and the haters would have a field day. Some journalists just love to twist their words and make thing even worse than it really was and the haters are always gearing up to spread any bad news far and wide. Both of them were just throwing empty threats and they knew it. They were just being hard headed.
"I'm not letting you walk 9 km because I made you miss your bus."
"It's not the first time I walk home," Jae was out of ideas. She honestly want to go home and finish her work. She had to send in her reel at 8 a.m. that day and the clock was ticking.
"I'm not moving until I drive you home."
"Fine, you stay, I go," Jae turned and walked but was stopped by Yoongi's hold on her hand.
"Please, do me a favour and let me send you home," he changed his strategy. If threatening didn't work. How about cajoling? "If you don't want me to send you home in my car, I will walk with you. Or you can walk, I will follow you in my car. I am not going to just see you go home alone without doing anything. Like you said, your guardian thugs are not around tonight. Your choice, take your pick."
He nearly danced as could see the wall cracked. Jae seemed hesitant.
"Don't make me feel guilty of making you miss the bus. Look, it's near to 1," he tried to convince her.
Jae sighed. The journey home would take about an hour if she run. 2 hours if she walk. Would she have enough time and energy to edit and send in the reel? "Fine, lead the way," she said begrudgingly.
"And don't you give me the wrong address," he said. "Exact home address and I mean it." He could see that Jae's was stunned. He could almost read her expression by now. Why was she so secretive about her place? She's not homeless, wasn't she?
They arrived at a building that looked like it was built around the 80s. It was old and he hoped that it was safe. Jae got that look in her eyes as if daring him to comment on her current residence. The building was a far cry from Jae's family mansion in Daegu. It was not exactly nice from the outside but it was what she could afford.
What really happened to Jae and Chin Hwa? Did something bad happen? Yoongi wondered.
"We're here. Thank you for the lift," said Jae as she gathered her bag.
"Is the place safe? The security, fire alarm, fire escape?" asked Yoongi.
"That's question 1, 2 and 3," returned Jae and Yoongi rolled his eyes.
"I could happily strangle you right now," said Yoongi.
Jae's eyes widened dramatically. She knew she was getting onto his nerves with that question, but it was fun, "First you mob me, then you want to strangle me?"
Yoongi sighed. He felt old. "Fine, whatever if you don't want to answer that."
"It's safe, never heard of break-ins or theft for as long as I was there. There are fire alarms and sprinklers inside," she answered.
"Do they work?" he asked again.
"What? The sprinklers? The alarm? You want me to go and check now?" Jae offered.
"No, just asking."
"Thanks for sending me home and sorry for pepper spraying you," said Jae as she got out from the car. She bowed and turned to the main door of the gosiwon.
Ahn Jae Hwa is still a mystery to him. The 2 questions a day limit was driving him nuts. He should get to the core question fast.
His face was still burning. The photographer would have to edit his face if the pepper burn showed up in the photo-shoot tomorrow. At the cost of knowing where Jae lives, he didn't mind it that much. He went home, lightly scratching his temple and cheek.