Chapter Fourteen
My hand found its way to his chest, pushing him away with a bit of force. I saw his jaw slightly clenched, stunned with the harsh action from me.
I gave him a sloppy smile, "there's really no need for you to come too close, Mr. Watanabe. It's inappropriate." I saw him staring at me, his ocean eyes started trying to drown me again.
But to my surprise, I saw him smirking, closing the gap again as his hand cupped my cheek. "Why? Does being close with me makes your heart go wild?" raising his brow he asked. His eyes drifted on my unsettled necktie.
His hand started settling down my necktie, I stiffed trying to hold my head up. The way his focus on that makes my heart beat abnormally.
"Do I have that effect in you, Mr. Park... hmmm," his voice was soft, seducing and attractive. Hee smirked again, the corner of his lips rose.
I let out a chuckle, slapping his hand away from my face. "I'm sorry to burst your bubble, Mr. Watanabe, but it's more likely disgusting rather than fluttering."
Confidence. He still has it. But I also earned the knowledge how to build a wall. I am wiser than ever. And I promised to myself I wouldn't be the same vulnerable as I was way back.
I saw his eyes avoiding my gaze, his back faced me as his feet found its way back to his couch.
I gulped when I felt a lump on my throat.
"Tomorrow morning, eight o'clock sharp, meet me here. We'll discuss the further details about your project proposal." his hand entertwined on the table, staring right through my eyes looking like he just get over from my harsh words.
"Can I just send a representative for that? I still need to go back to America because I'm handling a lot of my company's projects there." I asked.
"I hate inconsistency, Mr. Park. If you can't do it yourself, consider your proposal rejected." he smiled teasingly, as if he's telling me I need him.
I gritted my teeth, gathered the urge to throw him a stare. He was competing with me, throwing an intense gaze back.
"Okay. Tomorrow, eight o'clock." I said defeated.
There were silence for awhile but his phone started ringing under his table. I saw his eyes darted on it but he didn't pick it up.
"You can go now, Mr. Park. See you tomorrow," his eyes on his phone about to pick it up, he sounds like he's now shooing me away. I unconsciously nodded my head picking up my black sling bag walking out of his office without a word.
I saw some employees watching me as I walked out of Haruto's office. They are murmuring incoherent words which I'm not really bothered about at all.
Great. I need to stay here until he considered to partner with our company.
"I fucking hate his guts," I mumbled to myself, pressing a number on the elevator to the way down the lobby. "He didn't change at all, he's worse than ever tsk." I added, getting pissed over the situation awhile ago.
I should haven't let him go near me. I can step back. I can do better than that, I know. I can even drag girls out of my sight.
It's been seven years but why does it feels like it just happened yesterday? The way this heart reacts to him, I completely hate it.
I dialed Lance's number, giving a notice I won't be back for awhile. "Mr. Park, I miss you." I can hear William laughing out loud on the other line, teasing Lance for being clingy.
"Stop overreacting, Lance, I've been here just awhile ago." I told him chuckling.
"Anyways, I'll be back soon. Please look after the project for me." Lance is more trustworthy than the other two drunkheads, I know he can handle the company in my behalf.
Later that day, I had a lunch with my mom and Mrs. Yoon. I can't bring to mention about Haruto, it seems awkward to me uttering his name. It just feels... too out of nowhere that I'm talking about the person I asked them not to ever mention to me.
"How was the meeting with the HW Company, Jeongwoo-ya? You really got the charm, you were able to pull it off although your brother had been chasing them down for awhile," my mom chuckled, biting the green peese on her fork, her eyes smiling at me.
I was just thinking not to talk about it. My eyes focused on my plate, avoiding an eye contact as I just nodded my head saying "It was good, Mom. I'm still weighing the possibility of getting the proposal accepted but it could be done, hopefully."
"Really?! Have you met the CEO? I was always been curious about him. I attended a lot of parties but I've never seen him around." she asked excitedly. I don't know why my mom is much more outgoing than me, her social life seems fun.
"Uh, yeah, he was there," my eyes were shaking, trying not to stutter.
"Is he young? an old man?" she added. "He is Haruto, mom." Jihoon interrupted, walking towards the dining table with his black coat hung on his shoulder. My eyes widened.
"You knew?!" I asked, he shrugged his shoulder raising both of his hands as if he's surrendering.
"Calm down, Jeongwoo. I found out just now too, okay?" he took the sit in front of me.
"Haruto, that guy Jeongwoo has a big crush on?" My mom asked. Mrs. Yoon pursed her lips, holding onto a laugh.
"Excuse you, my beloved mom?" I tried to deny her words. She raised her brow at me smirking.
"Excuse you too, my beloved son, but there's no way you can deny that to me? I've seen you suffer-
"Okay, okay. It was him." I cutted her off from spilling some past memories, that's all in the past, and that won't happen again.
Jihoon and mom exchanged glances, both smiling ear to ear, teasing me when they both stared at me.
"I'm not into him, anymore." I said straightforwardly, slamming my fork on my plate making a noise. "We never said you are?" Jihoon said. I rolled my eyes at him watching him giving a big bite on his burger.
"No doubt why he accepted your invitation," my mom said afterwards. She was chewing on her food pretending she wasn't implying something impossible.
I coughed, trying to throw away the topic about business. "Junkyu came back, he will hold a party later at his club. Let's go together." Jihoon told me, as he wiped off some burger sauce from his lips. I was stunned to hear Junkyu came back already, he's been away for awhile too.
"Oh, okay. No problem." I said continued chewing on the hard piece of brocolli.
"What do you think about asking Watanabe Family to come over for a dinner?" Mom asked out of the blue. Mrs. Yoon flashed a smile.
"We'll get to see Mrs. Watanabe?" she sounds so excited. I never heard about Ms. Kim for awhile and I just heard from Jaehyuk that they held the wedding three years ago.
My brows arched, trying to comprehend the situation. "Yes, sis, I think we can shoot a mukbang. But we need to convince and pay her a big bill so we can get her join my vlog number five," their hands clasped together, facing each other as they giggled.
"Here they go again," Jihoon hissed under his breath. My mouth left open, dropping my jaw on the floor as I looked at Jihoon giving me a shrug of his shoulder. He's just so done with that vlogging agenda.
"This is what will happen if you get yourself no husband," Jihoon said out loud, making the old women hear purposely. They both hissed, now throwing Jihoon a deadly stare.
I couldn't help not to laugh at them. Seeing them bickering like this warms my heart. My life really changed upside down.
But...
"Mom?! Could you please not call out Watanabe Family for a dinner?" my face crumpled.
She just gave me a smile, shrugging her shoulder. I sighed, dismissing the thought. I can't really tell what's going inside my mom's mind.
"Haruto owns HW Company?!" Jae's loud voice echoed inside my room. He was biting his finger, he looks like he's in a deep thought.
I continued scanning on my computer, trying to finish some works because I'll go clubbing later. I remember my three idiot friends telling me how much they want to try clubbing here in SK.
"You asked that for the fifth time already, Jae," eyes glued on the screen, I told him, I glanced back at him to find out he's looking at me too.
My forehead crumpled when I saw a notification on my computer. Someone sent me a friend request in my new facebook account which is just filled of William, Leo and Lance's pictures. It's them who keeps posting stuffs there.
To my surprise, it's Haruto. His display picture is him in a suit and he's wearing specs, black & white filter.
He is really a CEO of the top selling company.
He just floodliked all my pictures down the first picture posted when I became friends with the three drunkheads.
He has so much time in his hands, huh? I envy him.
I didn't bother to click the accept button and continued doing the powerpoint for tomorrow.
Jae keeps mumbling things I couldn't hear properly because I was caught off guard when Haruto commented on a picture of me and a girl.
"you're enjoying too much, i see," it was William's sister, Daphney, a year younger than me. She's sitting beside me as my hand were snaked around her bare waist. I used to date her but we broke up because we both agree to do so. We're good. All my exes, we end up well, except for Addison who's still chasing after me.
"The hell is wrong with this jerk," I murmured to myself. I closed the tab and tried to focus on the presentation preparation. Jaehyuk on the other hand started scrolling on his phone, silence took over.
"He graduated here?" he whispered. He caught my attention when I laid on my couch, waiting for him to say more. "He never left South Korea?" he added. I furrowed my brows when he threw me a look. "Your mom told you before Haruto left South Korea, right?" he asked. I nodded my head. That was the truth, during Grade 12th, Haruto vanished like a bubble. My mom said he left with his Dad to London which I just accepted then, it's not like we have communication that time.
"That's odd, his background profile was just published now. And it was said he graduated here as the Cum Laude." that's weird for me because all this time I thought Haruto left... and I started hating him more that time. It just feels like he just really dropped me off.
I was thinking about what Jae told me until I finished my presentation. It was not like it's a big deal. But it was a mystery as to why Haruto left Tiger University.
He keeps making himself a low profile. He is being private. The thought that information about him as the CEO of HW Company was just published today, it might took him so much time to think about introducing himself.
"You're spacing out." Jihoon snapped on me, he's on his maong jeans and black polo. He sitted himself beside me, picking up the burger I bite on already.
"About Haruto, did you know he graduated here?" I asked. He shook his head. "Why?" he asked clueless.
I end up shaking my head trying to detach from that confusion. Maybe it's not for me to dig in.
It was already getting dark when we left the mansion to attend Junkyu's homecoming party in his club near Itaewon. Junkyu is a social butterfly, he is just too friendly the reason why he gains so much opportunity when he started doing his own business.
And he used to like me. That was all in the past and we just make fun of it now.
The club was just introduced to the public yesterday but it gained positive feedbacks and was casted on articles and blogs the reason why a lot came this night and the news about the owner himself being around made it a hot topic. Well, Junkyu is a heartthrob, as he always brags.
"Our friend is famous," Jihoon whispered in my ear when the loudness of music filled our ears. I laughed at it knowing it was sarcastic but he half meant it.
I saw bunch of girls clung on my brother's both arms, Jihoon flashed his flirty smile waving his hand at me as he let the girls drag him somewhere. I ended up shaking my head.
I saw familiar faces around, some I met during unity games at America and some are my schoolmates in Tiger University.
I felt a cold hand latched on my wrist and the charming guy in his white polo and maong jeans greeted my eyes. Doyoung.
"Dobby!" I excitedly hugged him. I felt his hand on my back, tapping it. His hand found its way to my hair, patting it when we detached from the hug.
It's been a week since he flew back here in S.K.
"I just know you'll come," his smile was bright like the usual bright boy that he is. I smiled back at him.
"Nice to see you guys but I need to excuse myself," I told Mina and her company.
Doyoung is now grabbing me in a table which is probably where the group is sitted.
I saw Junkyu waving his hand at us, raising a wine in his right hand as excitement drawn on his face. He looks fabulous on his black turtle neck with a necklace around it.
He playfully dragged me away from Doyoung as he said "You're still hitting on my Jeongwoo, huh." his eyes were intense but he was just being playful.
"My? I thought you forgot about your puppy love with Jeongwoo," Hyunsuk laughed which made my eyes dart on him. I went near him and give him a tap on his shoulder.
"Maybe, maybe not," Junkyu joked. I let out a chuckle not paying attention to his usual tricks.
"Welcome back, hyung," I told him after I found myself sitting beside Hyunsuk.
I wasn't expecting to see Yoshinori around but he threw me a smile when my eyes finally landed on him sitting beside Bang Yedam who's spacing out with his wine. He looks more good looking, he is now blonde.
"Ouch, hyung zone," Hyunsuk teased Junkyu. I laughed with them when Junkyu sat beside me pinching me hard on my hand. Junkyu is cute, far from my first impression about him when I was still a kid.
"Where's your brother?" there were silence when Asahi asked Yoshinori that question. I felt my feet froze. He's here?
Yoshinori's eyes drifted from the near table. I saw Haruto's reflex shining, despite the dimness he always stands out. But my heart jumped when I found his intense gaze staring at me. His eyes on fire, I am not being assuming but I saw his eyes staring at Doyoung's hand around my arms.
He looks different from the guy who's wearing a suit from awhile ago. He's wearing a white turtle neck covered up with a black coat—he's also wearing accessories on his ears and neck, his hair settled down a bit messy.
He looks cool around the girls who are with him in the table. He doesn't look bothered at all.
Hw raised his brow, looking at his brother. "Ruto-ya, join us," Junkyu said smiling. Haruto just gave him a small nod, still cold.
I feel like panicking inside. The situation from his office awhile ago flashed back at the back of my mind making me feel nervous all of a sudden.
I bit my lower lip, trying to calm myself.
"When will you go back in America?" Doyoung whispered in my ear. I looked back at him, his face near mine. "I still don't know when. How about you?" I asked back, trying to distract myself away from Haruto who's walking towards our table.
"I'll wait for you, then. We can have your check ups in Uncle Seo's clinic for awhile." He told me, a smile lingered accross his face. "Uh, why do you need to tell me about check ups," I faked sulking when I saw him laughed at it.
"You look lonely there, you're in a club, c'mon!" Hyunsuk said when Haruto was already standing in front of us. He just smirked "I'm not lonely, I just don't enjoy your company." everyone in the table growled, now teasing Hyunsuk for what he told Haruto.
"Tell me that was a joke, ruto-ya," Junkyu said chuckling. I was quiet, I couldn't even laugh with them. "It's not a joke, someone is not even laughing." he shrugged his shoulder, took the seat beside Yoshinori.
I can feel Junkyu's stares but I just ignored it because he will end up teasing me again.
How can he be this cool around me when I could barely hold my breath? I feel breathless when he's this near me... when he used to make me breathe. Ironic.
Maybe everything I have in mind was just all in the past. We're grown ups now, things changed, we changed.
Doyoung noticed my silence, he held me on my hand as he tried to meet my eyes. It was always calming whenever I have him beside me, because he knows when I am feeling different.
"You okay? Is your heart aching?" his question caught me off guard. My heart is really aching, not because it is my illness but because I thought I'm done with Haruto... but now that he appeared again, everything's coming back to me.
The pain. The heartbreak. The love... I thought already halted.
"I'm okay," I flashed him a smile. His stares struck right through my heart, as he was just simply sitting there on his seat drinking the glass of wine he has in his hand.
I was relieved when my brother came. "Jeongwoo, Addi is here!" I dropped my jaw. What the hell that girl is doing here? She will make a fuss for sure.
"What?" I asked him, my eyes widened. He just grabbed me on my wrist, pulling me out of the table simply giving the guys a notice.
"Addison, that model?!" the guys were stunned but I wasn't able to respond to it when Addi suddenly appeared in front of us. She threw herself in me, squeezing herself as she embraced me tightly.
She's tall considering she's a model and American.
"Addi," I tried to drag her away from me as she let me do so. "You never told me you're going here!" she's pouting. Addison is pretty, she's everyone's type. I dated her during second year college and we broke up just three months after that.
We just don't click. And I was never been too serious about dating at all.
"Why do I need to tell you?" I said straightforwardly. She pouted even more. "I told you stop coming to me, right. We talked about it, I thought we're already clear about that." I added. The guys in the table are now looking at us, trying to dig some information.
"Ya, don't be too rude to such gorgeous woman," Hyunduk interrupted. I rolled my eyes at him, giving him a warning. He pursed his lips, surrendering.
"I just missed you, though. I miss you beside me on my bed-
"Uh-oh," the guys whistled. I was embarrassed because it sounded weird. "Addison." I said firmly. "Stop messing around with me." I told her. I saw her smirking. "But I like messing with you especially when messing you on my-
"I swear to God," I hissed under my breath. I needed air so I just stormed out of the club and went to the veranda at the back. It's rude of me to just walk out but I don't really care.
I inhaled the fresh air as the cold evening wind blew my hair. My forehead crumpled when I breathed a smoke from a cigarette.
"Who the fuck is smoking," I blurted out. "Me." a voice from the back responded. It was Haruto.
I raised my brow at him "Throw it away." I told him simply and avoided my gaze. "It stinks."
He went near me, standing beside me his back laid down on the cold metal. I felt his stares again.
"Why do you keep staring at me?" I asked. "Just because." the usual response I get from him when I ask him things he don't know the answer to.
"Stop doing so, then. I hate it." I was frank, I really do hate it. Because it keeps pulling me under, and I don't want to see myself drowning again.
"Why?" he asked. I froze. He never asks me that before, a simple question but requires a brave answer. "Why does my stares bother you a lot when you can easily be touched by anyone?" he raised a brow at me.
I laughed at his question sarcastically. "I allow who can touch me. In your case, I don't allow anything." I am being too blunt, maybe because I have drank a bit already.
"We're strangers." I said simply. He didn't meet my eyes when I said that. It also pains me when I said it out of the blue.
"What if I tell you you're not a stranger to me?" he asked.
"Why? Will you tell me you used to know me as the pitiful lost boy back then?" the expression in his eyes shifted, as if what I said hurt him.
"Right?" I asked him again. I can feel the pain again.
"No." he just answered.
I laughed, shaking my head. All this time I never thought I am angry at him not until I saw him again.
"You dated a lot of people, I can see," he changed the topic. "Why? Is that a big deal? As if you never dated," I said rolling my eyes.
"I never did." he said simply.
I looked at him, his words from the past way back flashed back like a running water.
"Right. Junghwan owns that heart." I'm not sure if my voice cracked when I said that. I'm not being rude, but I just remember that maybe Junghwan is only the reason why he never dated anyone.
"I never dated anyone because I was desperately waiting for someone who's living in America."
"But he hates me."
A sad smile lingered accross his face, his eyes getting teary.
"You hate me."