One More Time

AN: As promised, here’s the next chapter. Enjoy :) Some location names that I mention in the story have been changed slightly due to possible copyright issues.

Chapter 4

I stopped in my tracks and tightened my grip around my luggage. This wouldn’t be the first attempt on my life but I had bodyguards back then, I’m all alone now. I became hyperaware of Sunny’s every single move, unsure of what her next move might be.

“C’mon Kim Tae Yeon, you’re trained in 5 different kinds of martial arts, you can take that shorty on if she tries anything funny.” I muttered in a hushed tone.

“Did you say something? Why did you stop all of a sudden?”

“Wh-what, nothing. There was something stuck on my shoe, I wanted to get it off”

“Oh ok, let’s hurry up to the hotel. I’m dying to get some proper rest.”

I gave a slight nod and trailed behind her, I couldn’t exactly run off on my own in such unfamiliar territory. I thought up of every single worst case scenario and that heightened my paranoia even further. I was so focused on my train of thought that I hadn’t realised that we were finally in the hotel lobby of Egarick Residences. The 3 star hotel had a simple decor that gave off a homely feeling. I was so used to seeing extravagant hotel lobbies that oozed elegance and class that I had forgotten that there was a certain kind of beauty in simplicity as well.

Sunny, who had been uncharacteristically silent the entire time, gently nudged me and motioned to the check-in counter located in the middle of the lobby. I jumped at the sudden contact and quickly scurried towards the counter to check in. Whether by pure coincidence or not, Sunny’s room was right next to mine. That caused my suspicions to mount up even more. 

“Hey, what a coincidence! We’re neighbours! This is so great!” 

“Yeah, sure. I’ll be going into my room now.”

I swiftly entered my room and made sure that the front door was locked. I gave the small room a thorough inspection and let out a huge sigh of relief when I didn’t find anything suspicious. The entire room was painted white and had a minimalist theme. It was fully furnished with a small sofa set, a bed, a pantry, a full-sized mirror and a 42 inch television set. The entire room mainly consisted of a modest living room and a small bathroom at the back. At least I was safe in my hotel room. I glanced over at the clock and realised that it had gotten really late so I unpacked some of my essentials and left the rest of my luggage in the living room. All I wanted then was to have a refreshing shower.

Under the hot stream of water from the shower-head above, my mind started drifting towards Tiffany. A swarm of questions clouded my mind, most of them revolved around her motives. We had been going strong for years, she was there even before I Enterprises took off. I was just as confused about her parting words to me as anyone else was, what did she mean by finding out who did this? Maybe it wasn’t her fault? What if it was just an excuse? I had so many questions but absolutely no answers for them at all. I let out a groan of annoyance and got out of the shower.  I was in the midst of drying myself off when I heard the faint sound of the front door closing. I quickly wrapped my towel around my body and headed out to the living room. I found that suspicious shorty pacing around in my hotel room, confirming my doubts that she was out to get me. Thankfully, she hadn’t spotted me yet. I scanned the living room for my bag and saw my grappling hook poking out of it. I was doubtful about the protection that it would offer but figured that arming myself with something would be a better choice. I made a quick dive forward and grabbed it, springing up to my feet when Sunny turned around. I aimed my grappling hook at her and started firing questions.

“What are you doing here and how did you get in? My carry-on bag didn’t have a luggage so how could you possibly have known that it was mine?  Is it really a coincidence that my room is next to yours? Are you out to kill me? Start talking!”

“Calm down! One question at a time! I swear I’m not out to kill you and the room allocation was genuinely a coincidence. I saw you boarding the plane while carrying your bag and could recognize it because of my eidetic memory, honest! You dropped your key-card outside the door and I saw it, I let it myself in so that I could return to you. Last of all, why do you even have a grappling hook with you, who even does that? Please don’t tell me you plan on scaling the Golden Gate Bridge with that.” Sunny shot back while holding her hands up in the air. All of a sudden, Sunny erupted into peals of laughter and fell to the ground while clutching her stomach. I slowly let my guard down and stared at Sunny in bewilderment. 

“What on earth has gotten into you?”

“Look at yourself... in the... mirror.” She said in between chortles.

 I slowly raised my head and found my reflection staring back at me, I looked like an absolute mess. My hair was a ball of untamed crazy, some strands were sticking up  while some were clinging onto my face. If that wasn’t bad enough, I was equipped with my grappling hook and had a towel with little peas all over wrapped around me. I didn’t look menacing, I looked like a tiny frazzled cave woman with a fashion sense. My horrified expression made Sunny burst out into yet another round of laughter, much to my chagrin

“Just stay here, let me go dry myself off properly. No thanks to you.”

“Oh no, don’t let my laughter stand in the way of your ama-jjing ‘out of the shower’ style.”

“Just keep laughing you brat.”

“Oh I plan to, why didn’t I bring my phone along. Such a wasted photo opportunity.”

I scoffed at her as I headed back to the bathroom to change. After that episode, the suspicions I had towards Sunny were resolved. She did seem like a good person, albeit annoying. Plus, it would be nice to have some company. I exited the bathroom and found her fiddling around with my grappling hook.

“I will never understand why you would even carry this around.” Sunny said as she looked up at me.

“It’s better to be prepared for anything. By the way, do you want to go explore the city together tomorrow?”

“Really? Didn’t you think that I was an assassin out to get you? Why would you want to go out with me?” 

“Well I’m sorry I’m a paranoid person. So do you want to or not?”

“Ah ok ok, I was just joking.”

“Y...Yeah. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“See you later alligator!”

Sunny gave a slight chuckle before letting herself out of my room. I settled down in my bed with a small smile on my face, content that I had made a friend, haven’t had one of those in a long time. 

‘I hope tomorrow will be fun, it’ll be great to take my mind off things. I should probably check up on the progress reports too. Now, I just want some rest.’

On that night, I was finally able to fall asleep. For once, I wasn’t plagued with nightmares or the need to check up on my company. For once, things were peaceful.

“That was real close Sunny, you almost blew it. Eidetic memory? Seriously?”

“Stop reminding me about it Soo. I hope she doesn’t ask me to memorise town maps or anything. She might get suspicious again…”

“Don’t jinx yourself. Just remember what the job is.”

“Won’t forget, I have eidetic memory remember? Pffft. Make sure to monitor the Empress’s movements, we’re not sure of her motives yet.”

“Got it, take care of yourself. Soo Young out.”

Sunny heaved a sigh as the holographic image of Soo Young went out. 

“Tae Yeon-ah, I’m really happy that we became friends. Will you still want my friendship if you find out about everything? I hope you do.”

AN: Hi everyone, is this long enough? xD If not, please forgive this amateur writer. I’ll slowly increase the length of my chapters in the future. Please enjoy this chapter! 

Till Next Time :)