Chapter 4: A ticket to hell

After a proper rest and careful organization of my thoughts, it was safe to admit that I was hurt, disappointed and angry with Ji Yong. Moreover, I couldn’t stop thinking about that other man. Mr. Handsome, just who the hell are you? He talked about not wanting to go to school because of his migraine, something that used to happen a lot in the past with Ji Yong. As if seeing me in a high school uniform had somehow triggered his memories or something. He also knew my name and acted as if we had known each other for years. Heck, he didn’t even use honorifics. And since I woke up in his apartment, perhaps he was that man in the hotel room. Then did we kiss or was it just a dream?

There were too many unanswered questions and, this time, I figured that I couldn’t just leave things be. I needed answers and I was going to get them one way or another. Just thinking about Ji Yong, that rude bastard, made my blood boil. He had this special talent of getting on my nerves and I had forgiven him one time too many. Not this time – my patience had finally run out and I had reached my limits.

Kwon Ji Yong! I will find you and I will force you to talk!

After washing up and wearing whatever clothes I happened to grab from the wardrobe, I made my way to the old lady’s restaurant. I had a solid plan, food first because food always comes first and then I’d go to Mr. Handsome’s place to get some answers. He lived right in the heart of Gangnam and it would be impossible to not find his house. Plus, I hadn’t failed to memorize some landmarks, even though I had been really out of it when Ji Yong had taken me home

I had no idea about Mr. Handsome’s identity and all I knew he could be a gangster. Associating with him could land me into big trouble, even bigger than I could handle. I didn’t even know anything about his and Ji Yong’s relationship but since Ji Yong had helped him back at the apartment perhaps they were friends. But what the heck, my life anyway, so what difference would it make if I got into trouble?

It’s not that I wanted to go there, I needed to go there. I got this feeling that this would be my last chance to properly grab a hold of Ji Yong. After all, he was the only family left and I missed him terribly despite loathing him at the moment. I wanted to know what was going on with him and curiosity got the best of me.

*

Only after arriving at Gangnam, I finally realized that my hair was a mess and that I was dressed in a worn out track suit. With this kind of getup, it was a bit embarrassing to walk in the heart of Seoul, but there was no going back anymore. People gave me disapproving looks, probably thinking I was a jobless nutcase. Well, I wasn’t far from that… It has become so bad that I don’t even realize how poorly I dress anymore!

After aimlessly wandering around for a while I finally found the right building, I thought it was the right one judging by the small lion statues by the entrance. I remembered them clearly. When I walked in, the guard glanced at me suspiciously but said nothing which I found strange but had no time to ponder upon. In the elevator, I fixed my hair into a loose bun and quickly combed my bangs with my fingers. Just as the doors slid open I was ready straightening my clothes. Holding my chin high in the air I walked into the corridor and then stopped. There were four doors and I had no idea which was the right one. Riiiight….Didn’t think about this before.

After going through the name tags I still had no idea which doorbell to ring, one was a female name, so that left me with three doors.

Well, it’s all or nothing.

The first door was opened by an elderly man who looked at me with disgust and said that he was not going to give money to beggars. The second door was opened by a young woman; she gasped in shock and asked me to wait a bit then disappearing somewhere. When she returned she had a stack of bills in her hand. Forcing me to take them she prompted me to buy some new clothes and get a haircut. Then she slammed the door into my face.

Okay… It’s free money, anyway. I tucked the generous amount into my pocket and glanced at the last door. ‘Eun Han Sung’ said the name tag. I wonder if that’s his name... No one came to open that door.

Great, he is not even home!

Deciding that he must be hiding from Ji Yong’s orders or something like that, I kept ringing the doorbell nonstop, creating melodies with it and having all the fun I could. Then finally, the lock snapped and the door started opening. See, I knew it! A victorious smile spread on my lips.

“I swear whoever it is I’ll just…” A sleepy voice muttered before familiar face came into my view. The bruise on his face had gotten darker.

Everything happened so fast. His eyes opened wide and his jaw dropped, I parted my lips to greet him but that’s when he decided to slam the door shut. Somehow I managed to slip my foot between the door and the wall and then my vision filled with stars. A pained yelp spilled from my lips and immediately the door flew open, Han Sung’s worried face now coming fully into my view.

“My God! Why would you do that?”

He sounded more worried than it was normal.

“Are you all right?”

Seung Hyun stepped forward, now completely awake. His eyes ran up and down my body just like Ji Yong’s had the day before. But his gaze was different, more solid and distractingly captivating. Either he knew what he was doing or I was deprived of . Because the way his gaze slid over my body made me feel funny and that feeling gave me the creeps because it was never a good sign when feelings got involved.

His gaze fell on my foot and my gaze fell on his exposed chest, he was wearing only pajama pants, displaying his perfectly built upper body decorated by a few bruises. I swallowed and looked elsewhere, trying to not think about how loosely his pants seemed to be hugging his waist. So loosely I expected them to fall any second. I might have even wished for them to fall, please? 

Dara, you are sickening. But then again, is a strip show in the morning that bad of an idea? Am I asking too much from the fate?

When our eyes finally met the corners of his mouth lifted with mischief. “Like what you see?”

“Yes”, I answered without thinking. Crap… “I mean, what?” Just act cool. I leaned my forearm against the opened door without thinking and when it opened further my body swayed in its wake. I stumbled barely managing to keep my balance. By now my face must have resembled a ripened tomato.

Seung Hyun struggled to hold in a smile as he reached out and grabbed the door handle, saving me from an embarrassing contact with the floor. His eyes shook from laughter but he managed to keep a straight face.

“Give me a sec, I’ll go dress up.”

“Wait! No!” He is just going to leave me hanging. “Give me one minute, please.”

“Hey, don’t worry, babe”, he winked. “I won’t abandon you here, I promise.”

What? Babe? Did he just-

Before I could react the door had already been closed and I screamed inwardly, squeezing my hands into tight fists. After coming all the way there and making a complete idiot out of myself this was the result?

He is not going to come out anymore, is he? So what do I do now? Camp here and wait?  He will have to come out eventually. With arms crossed over my chest, I leaned against the wall and sulked. Hopeless, this is hopeless.

But against all odds the door actually opened after five minutes or so. Out walked Seung Hyun now sporting a pair of black skinny jeans that, may I mention, hugged his nicely shaped bottom in a perfect way, and a black hoodie with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows. He threw the hood over his messy dark brown hair and glanced at me, his eyes smiling brightly.

My jaw dropped at the heavenly sight, so y I almost drooled or I might have drooled. Feeling skeptical I quickly wiped the corners of my mouth with the back of a finger while following him to the elevators – like a stupid sidekick.<