a visitor from the past

If you were mine...

 

Slowly his eyes focused in on her and before she could do anything else he was stalking towards her – a crazy gleam in his eye – “I knew I'd find you again. Annyeong Hyoyeonah, did you miss me?"

 

Hyoyeon’s throat closed up but she couldn’t even scream if she wanted to since there were two other men backing him up.

 

As she cowered in fear, the man’s callused hand enclosed around her wrist while shaking her roughly, “Answer me! You’re Kim Hyoyeon, right?”

All Hyoyeon could do was shake her head and refuse to meet his eyes.

“Yah! Are you dumb? Why aren’t you speaking?”

 

The shock, the panic, the flashes of her pained past were too much for Hyoyeon. A ringing sound echoed through her ears and she could feel herself on the verge of losing consciousness. Her legs slowly started to give away.. I’d much rather be unconscious for what happens next.. but suddenly a strong pair of arms wrapped around her from behind – pulling her back up to her feet and drawing her to lean against himself – protectively.

“Yeobo,” a clear voice spoke and a hand simultaneously reached out to free her wrist from the man’s grasp. “Are you okay?”

 

It was Hyukjae.

********************************************************************************

Hyukjae had just finished a meeting with the Dance Institute director discussing his future plans and informing him that it would be his last semester with the school. As much as he hated to leave, he knew that it was time. His first venture had failed because he had been in such a hurry to prove himself in the real world, that he had neglected the importance of training and dedication to the basics. Raw talent only got you so far, you also had to work diligently to hone your craft – he had understood that the second time around and now, he was finally ready.

Perhaps it was the weight of this decision but he was somehow hesitant to go home quickly – the dance school had been his home away from home for as long as he could remember. Leaving it now – while fully appreciating just how important it was – was going to be hard. He wouldn’t even be able to return a third time..

“Aish, what are you thinking right now? It’s not like you’re leaving tomorrow, you idiot!” A cold wind blew across his face like an additional slap to jerk him awake.

Letting out a short laugh, Hyukjae shoved his hands in his pockets and started walking to the parking lot.

But something caught his eye.

 Across the street, about 20 meters ahead of him, he could see three gangster type men blocking a female’s path.

 

Instinctively he hurried towards them.

 

“Yah! Are you dumb? Why aren’t you speaking?” The man hollered as he shook the girl – who was now on the ground – like a rag-doll.

Drawing closer, Hyukjae gasped in shock – the blonde hair .. the girl was Hyoyeon. His feet seemed to fly as he dashed towards her – reaching right as the man began dragging her. He held her firmly, using his strength to keep them both standing.

**************************************************************************************

Hyoyeon almost passed out again – but this time it was from relief.

 

Hyukjae’s eyes carefully calculated the situation. There were three of them and just him alone – a fight wouldn’t be successful. He could try running to the car but he wasn’t sure Hyoyeon would be able to keep up. There was no other choice – he would have to act calm and placate the bastards.

 

Without letting go of the backhug, he turned to address the man in a firm but non-confrontational tone, “What is going on here?”

His opponent’s beady eyes narrowed suspiciously while sizing Hyukjae up, “I could ask you the same. Why are you interfering in my business?”

“Oh! Didn’t you hear me before? When you bother my wife, it becomes my business.”

“Wife?” the man spat out, “aren’t you too young to be married?”

“We’re both twenty six. That’s old enough.”

 

“T..twenty six..” the first trace of uncertainty was heard in the man’s voice.

“Yes,” Hyukjae replied matter-of-factly, “People in America get married early.”

“America”

“That’s where we are from! My wife actually was born and raised there so her Korean isn’t very good.”

“Eh.. is that so?”

“Yes, and I am sure that you’ve mistaken my wife for someone else. This is her first visit to Korea and she doesn’t know anyone here.”

 

“Hyungnim,” one of the henchmen coughed, “are you sure she is the girl? If she isn’t we could get in trouble with the cops again.”

Hyukjae could sense that Hyoyeon was slowly regaining her strength and after briefly catching her eye, his hands fell back against his sides.

 

It was unexplainable but the loss of his warmth made Hyoyeon feel vulnerable and scared again. He could simply snatch her away any moment. That voice! It shook her to her very core reminding her of the horrible nightmares that she had managed to suppress through years of trying.

 

“You okay sweetheart?” Hyukjae spoke in English turning her to face him. “Trust me” he mouthed silently before reaching for her left hand and covering it with his own.

 

“You’re not lying to me, you punk?” The man grabbed Hyukjae’s shoulder, now angry that his sense of exhilaration was over a false alarm. He had thought that his quest for revenge was finally going to be fulfilled.

“I don’t know what your deal is but we are tired and want to go home and rest so I’ll indugle your curiosity.” Hyukjae spoke convincingly. “This is my wife Tiffany and I’ve known her since we were little kids. We grew up in L.A and we are here for our honeymoon. Anything else?”

“T..tippani? Not Hyoyeon?”

“Hyo who? Her dad is American, why would she have a Korean name?”

 

“Hyungnim… I’m sorry but I think this brat might be telling the truth. Look at her hair – it’s blonde and she doesn’t look fully Korean.”

 

The man finally let go of Hyukjae’s jacket, eyes now filled with doubt.

“Okay,” he huffed. “Let’s just pretend this never happened, shall we?”

“I see no reason to make it a big deal.” He gave Hyoyeon’s hand a reassuring squeeze and bent down to grab her bags, “Come on sweetheart, let’s go back to the hotel. Aigoo my yeobo got a big shock.”

 

They walked towards Hyukjae’s car keeping up the ruse in case the men were following them.

Hyukjae glanced silently at Hyoyeon in the passenger seat – her breathing had resumed to normal but her eyes were as scared as before. Wordlessly, he reached over to buckle her seatbelt in and started driving.

 

Every few minutes he would glance sideways to check on her and was relieved to find that even her eyes were returning to their normal bright and alive state.

***********************************************************************

 

“Aren’t you going to ask me who that was?”

 

Finally, the silence was broken.

Hyukjae didn’t hesitate to answer, “Nope, we’re all entitled to our own secrets.”

Hyoyeon stared at him – unexpected.

“o..oh.. Thanks.”

He threw a friendly gummy smile her way.

 

They drove on for a while until Hyukjae pulled over, “I’ll be right back.”

He was surprising her a lot today.

She kept her eyes trained on Hyukjae as he hurried into a convenience store – focusing her thoughts on what he was up to so that she wouldn’t have to think about that horrific encounter.

 

Minutes later, he stepped out with a paper bag and walking to her side of the car, knocked on the window.

“Mind opening the door for a sec?”

“Huh?... oh yea… sure.” She unbuckled the seatbelt and moved to get out of the car but he stopped her.

“No, stay inside.. just, turn this way.” He gently moved her shoulders so that her body automatically faced him. He noticed the wide eyed look of utter confusion on her face – thank god she was back to being her usual animated self – and gave her a mysterious smile.

“Hmm.. let’s see…” he was speaking to himself as he bent down and ripped the bag open. Following his gaze, it was only then she realized that her knees were grazed and bleeding. Gently he applied the cream the shop assistant had recommended and then stuck on a couple of Hello Kitty Band-aids. “Sorry, these were the only kind they had.”

Hyoyeon found herself giggling despite herself, “I think they’re cute.”

********************************************************************************

 

They were back on the road again.

“You must be drained. Rest! I’ll wake you up when we get there.”

Hyoyeon closed her eyes obediently.

 

Keeping watch on her from the corner of his eyes, he turned off the radio station.

Of course, there were questions in his mind but it wasn’t his place to pry. All he cared about was that he had been there at the right time. He didn’t even want to imagine what would’ve happened if  – 

 

“That man," her voice broke through his thoughts.

 

 

"That man was my dad.”

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hyohyukOTP
i just finished the next chapter. tempted to update but will give it a day for other readers to catch up, so stay tuned XD

Comments

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leekimchoding #1
Hey author-nim where r u ? Hope u'll comeback and update soon asap
hyofandom #2
Authornim, it's been 8 months since your last update :( i'm still waiting for donghae's return, please update, pretty please!!
BrokenLips
#3
Chapter 25: Please update:D
littlehyo
#4
Chapter 25: still waiting hyohae :))
Hyohyuk87 #5
Chapter 25: I love it!!!! I want Hyuk to confess.....a real confession to Hyo aaaaahhhh!!!!! When are you going to update author-nim???? :)
lunarwing
#6
Chapter 25: lol the reference to the fish is hillarious!!! well hope you can update soon!
athena08
#7
Chapter 25: Hyukjae jealously.. hyo fish hyo.. I laugh at that part.. so funny.. hahaha a
mshyo23 #8
Chapter 25: Go team HyoHae!!!
Hyosookie
#9
Chapter 25: Junhyo is cute~~
Hyujae is jealous~ kekeke
but still #teamhyohae
mikansakura
#10
Chapter 25: JunHyo is cute ^_^