CHAPTER 11: BACK TO REALITY

Waking up the next morning was somewhat hard. I wasn’t sure when we had fallen asleep, but when I woke up, my muscles were aching from all the walking and running around yesterday – and to add that I had slept in a very uncomfortable position. I opened my eyes slowly and felt them hurting because of the bright sunlight coming into the room – the blinds or the curtains hadn’t been closed. The next thing I realized was that I was still on the living room’s sofa, next to Myungjun, wearing the same clothes from yesterday. I stared at Myungjun, whose eyes slowly opened and then quickly widened as he realized I was lying down next to him. I winced further away from him, resulting as me falling down from the sofa with the blanket, and I let out a muffled yelp.

“Are you alright?” he asked, sitting up and looking down at me.

I got up quickly, throwing the blanket back at him. “Yeah”, I replied quickly. “I’m fine.”

He blinked his eyes and yawned while stretching his arms. His night hadn’t probably been that comfortable either since we had been lying down very closely to each other in an uncomfortable position, side by side. I didn’t remember us deciding to sleep there together so we had probably just fallen asleep while playing – we must’ve been very tired.

“Your face is swollen”, Myungjun pointed out and grinned at me.

I rolled my eyes and sat onto the sofa, pushing the boy down to the floor instead. “You should see yourself.”

He snorted at me before getting up. “I think we overslept again. It’s 11.30 already.”

“So no hotel breakfast today either”, I nodded.

“I’ll go and get us something to eat”, Myungjun offered. “The flight back to Seoul will leave in the afternoon.” After washing his face and chancing his clothes, he headed out of the suite.

While he was out, I took a quick shower and threw the used clothes back to the suitcase, this time dressing in simple, ripped jeans and a loose fit, powder pink t-shirt. I sat down on the sofa waiting for Myungjun to come back as my phone started ringing. I got up and walked into the bedroom where I had left it to charge. My eyes widened as I saw the name on the screen – it was my spiteful chief, Hwang Yikyung. With a sigh I picked up the call.

“Hello?” I said.

“Aeri. How is your honeymoon going?” the woman asked with the usual, mocking tone in her voice.

“It’s been great”, I said simply. “Why did you call?”

“It’s about your mission”, Yikyung went straight to the business. “You’re getting the part 2 of it. I assume you’ve gained the boy’s trust? Good. Now it’s your job to lead him to our area. The closer to the tunnels, the better. That way it’s easier to catch him.”

I felt a wrinkle forming between my eyebrows. “What are you planning on doing?”

“Nothing too evil”, she chuckled. “Some blackmailing. Once we have the chief’s son, we’ll be able to get big amounts of money. And then… we don’t need their gang anymore. The contract will be over, and you’ll be free.”

As loyal as I had always thought I was to my gang, I felt myself being ripped in half. One part of me wanted to do just as Yikyung ordered me to, and return to my gang, to my unit, to my sister, and to Eunwoo. But the other part of me was upset and terrified about the idea of turning my back to Myungjun and his gang now, right at the moment I had managed to gain their trust and friendship. For the first time in my life I felt my heart being unsure of what to do.

“We’ll be in contact later”, Yikyung stated. “Make it sure I can reach you at all times.”

As the phone call ended, Myungjun returned to the suite. He must’ve sensed the fact that I was upset. He was eyeing me with a questioning look every once in a while but didn’t make any questions. We ate breakfast in silence and I couldn’t think of anything else but the continuation of my mission. After we had eaten, I rushed off to pack the suitcase – even though there wasn’t really much to pack. I just wanted to stay far from Myungjun. I was so unsure about everything. I wanted to be loyal to my own gang, but to be honest, I didn’t want to hurt Myungjun or any other member of his gang. But how to compromise between the two? That was the biggest question I had ever asked myself. I wished I could have just disappeared forever. I also wished this would just be a bad dream. I had become too attached to the gang.

I managed to dodge bigger conversations with Myungjun for the rest of the time we spent in Jeju City, and since he fell asleep during the flight back to Seoul, I could just sit alone and think. I didn’t come up with any good ideas, so I was still left at a loss. I was scared, to be honest. I was scared of what could happen but I was also scared of myself and the fact I had let myself become like this. In my heart I wanted to return to the tunnels, but if it meant kidnapping Myungjun and hurting people who trusted me… I just didn’t know about it.

After the flight arrived I just wanted to hurry home and lock myself behind the door of my room, but Myungjun had seemed to notice something was wrong. As I walked with quick steps towards the main entrance, he grabbed my wrist. I was so immersed in my thoughts I got startled as I felt the touch on my skin. I turned around to stare at the boy.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Nothing”, I replied quickly.

He stared at me for a short while before shrugging his shoulders. “Alright then. The car must be waiting…”

The boy walked past me, carrying the suitcase Miyeon and Bin had sent us. I sighed and followed him. Had I made him mad? He seemed a bit hurt.

“Let’s stop at a coffee shop before going to the headquarters”, Myungjun said to the driver who nodded as he drove out of the airport’s parking area. The drive would be long. I’d have some time to think and maybe sleep.

After the two-hour car drive we stopped at a coffee shop. I felt like my whole head was covered by clouds as I had slept for a while and for a while, I actually forgot about the whole mess including the kidnapping of Myungjun. As we walked into the coffee shop, a very warm scent of freshly made cheese cake welcomed us. We walked to the counter and I was hesitating a bit as I thought of what to order. I had been drinking sweet, caramelised coffees for such a long time. I thought of the tea Myungjun had drank the day before and asked him to order it for me. The boy chuckled a bit as we walked aside, waiting for our drinks.

“No more caramel macchiato?” he asked, smirking.

I shrugged my shoulders. “The tea was good too.”

“Of course”, he said. “Tea is healthier too.”

I nodded. We became silent again. This time it didn’t feel as awkward as it felt earlier. As our teas were ready and we were about to leave the coffee shop, I heard the door open and close, and then a gasp followed. I was almost sure I recognized the sound but I was entirely sure just when the person called my name.

“Aeri?”

I turned around to see my two of my beloved unit members standing at the door. Sanha, and the one that had caused me so much heart pain lately – Eunwoo. I felt my eyes widening as I stared at him. He was really there, standing just a couple of metres away from us.

“Eunwoo”, I called out his name quietly.

I couldn’t help but to notice Eunwoo giving a quick glare at Myungjun before he looked at me again. “Have you been alright?”

“I’m alright”, I said and couldn’t hold back a smile. “We talked two days ago. Nothing has happened since.”

“Except we got married and went to Jeju for three days”, Myungjun snorted. “How is that nothing?”

Eunwoo glared at the boy again but clearly tried to control his tongue. He had always tried to be sophisticated and not to use lowly language towards anyone, and I could notice him fighting against his thoughts right now.

“Did you have fun?” he asked, trying to force out a smile.

“It was my first time out of Seoul”, I said, nodding, but still kind of dodging the actual question. I glanced at Sanha who looked more than just a little bit awkward.

“How are you doing, Sanha? Has Chanmi outdone you completely?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

“I’m doing good…” the boy replied quietly.

The situation wasn’t just awkward. The atmosphere was very tense and I could feel the electricity between Eunwoo, me, and Myungjun on the air. I wanted to get out of the coffee shop but just leaving wasn’t an option. It might have been an option for me but not for Eunwoo nor Myungjun.

I noticed Eunwoo’s eyes going down to the takeaway cup of tea I was holding, and then to Myungjun’s. I felt my heart skipping a beat. It didn’t mean anything to me, but to Eunwoo it might have meant. When it was just the two of us, he was always the one to order for the both of us, and often we would end up having the same caramel macchiato in our cups. Now I had been spending time with Myungjun and now I was drinking the same green tea as he did – and I had never once even tasted tea before leaving the tunnels. I glanced into the boy’s eyes, and he sighed.

“I wish we could see each other more”, he said. “We all miss you so much.”

I felt Myungjun’s fingers wrapping around my free wrist and had to stop my eyes from widening.

“Well, unfortunately that would be quite hard to accomplish”, he said. “She’s not part of your gang anymore.”

Eunwoo’s eyes narrowed. “Our gangs are cooperating now, we are basically united.”

I glanced at Myungjun, whose eyes seemed to send beams of lasers at Eunwoo. “At any rate, she’s my wife now. Wouldn’t it seem weird to the public to see him meeting an another guy? Especially since the wedding was just three days ago.”

I was genuinely surprised about the way Myungjun spoke. He was a lot shorter than Eunwoo but his aura just somehow overpowered Eunwoo’s and made him seem somewhat more powerful. He didn’t let his glare shake at all and I felt his grip on my wrist tightening. It wasn’t even near to uncomfortable – it just felt strange. It was almost like he was actually jealous. He couldn’t be, right?

“Eunwoo hyung”, Sanha said quietly. “I think we should order.”

Myungjun snorted and glanced at me before suddenly turning to stare at Eunwoo again. “Wait a minute… now I recognize you. It’s been while. Are you still in contact with Bin?”

I could hear the mocking, blaming tone in Myungjun’s voice and narrowed my eyes a little bit. What did he mean? I turned to look at Eunwoo who, for my surprise, looked like he’d explode any moment. His glare was honestly very scary. He let out a angry snort before turning around and rushing out of the coffee shop, Sanha following close after him. I stared after him with wide eyes and turned to look at Myungjun who let out a deep sigh.

“What was that about?” I asked. “Do Eunwoo and Bin know each other?”

“At least they used to”, Myungjun said shortly. “I think you should ask Bin yourself later. For now, let’s go home.”

I didn’t even notice Myungjun still holding my wrist until he gently pulled me after him and we walked out of the coffee shop, back into the car that was waiting for us. It took us a good 15 more minutes to reach the headquarters – just enough time to drink the tea that had cooled down a little bit during the scene with Eunwoo and Sanha. I was kind of sad and disappointed because of how the meeting had went. But of course I had known it deep down that Eunwoo and Myungjoo wouldn’t like each other. They were in different gangs, Eunwoo had feelings for me, he saw Myungjun as his rival. I sighed. Why did it have to be me, the one who had to be in this hard situation?

As we arrived at the headquarters, the secretaries in the lobby greeted us with a deep bow and a smile, so did the security men we saw in the hallway before entering the apartment. Miyeon, Bin and Minhyuk were all home, apparently they had all been granted a three-day holiday since their unit leader had gotten married. Our honeymoon had indeed been short, but what could you expect, the marriage was, in the end, just a paper contract. We didn’t need a real honeymoon.

“Did you have fun?” Miyeon asked me as I sat down on the living room’s sofa, between Myungjun and Miyeon.

“Yeah”, I said with a tired voice. “I forced Myungjun to play truth or dare.”

“Really?” Minhyuk asked. “Did he tease you a lot?”

“He did”, I replied, glancing at the boy. “But so did I.”

“I have no idea how you managed to get him to play”, Bin said, snorting playfully.

I couldn’t help but to think about the scene in the coffee shop when Bin talked. I wanted to ask him about Eunwoo, but I understood that I couldn’t just blurt something out. We’d need to be left alone. I’d ask him later.

The traveling had once again taken a lot of time off the day, so it had already been evening when we had come back home. The rest of the time flew by on wings as we, all 5 together, cooked together and ate dinner, and watched a movie curled up on the sofa.

It was close to 11pm I yawned for the first time. “I think I’m going to sleep now.”

“I moved your personal stuff to Myungjun’s room”, Miyeon said.

My eyes widened. “What?”

“Your room was emptied yesterday morning”, Bin stated.

“You know, married couples tend to sleep together”, Miyeon said and shrugged her shoulders.

I glanced at Myungjun who was half asleep on the corner of the sofa. It was true he had mentioned it before, that we’d get our own room after the wedding. But honestly, I had thought he was just teasing me back then. Apparently he wasn’t. My thoughts wandered back to the same morning – how flustered we had been after sleeping on the same sofa next to each other… if we’d need to share the bed from now on... I felt an uncomfortable twist in my stomach.

I glanced at Myungjun again. If we were to sleep in the same bed, I’d make sure to head to bed first. I wished the others good night and quickly washed up before heading to Myungjun’s – no, our – bedroom. It was the first time I had ever went there. In a way, it looked just like I had expected it to look – just like the rest of the apartment. Very clean, simple and modern, full of shiny white surfaces. I sighed as my eyes travelled to be king size bed in the middle of the room. Well, at least the bed was big.

I winced as I heard the room’s door open behind me. Damn it, I was too slow. Myungjun entered the room, looking quite sleepy. I glanced at him and awkwardly nodded at him before walking towards the bed. I sat on the edge of the bed, watching Myungjun disappearing into the walk-in-closet and closing the door behind him. I let out a deep sigh. I had been able to forget Yikyung’s orders for a few hours as I had been having fun. But now that I was surrounded by silence, it all came rushing to my mind. I don’t know if it was because of my sleepiness of if I had lost my mind, but I felt a huge urge to actually blow up and tell everything to Myungjun. At least I wouldn’t be living in a lie anymore – but I’d be in a big trouble.

In a moment Myungjun came out of the closet, sitting on the other edge of the bed and yawning. He turned to look at me. “You look troubled.”

“I am”, I sighed. “Actually – “

I guess I had been more on my toes than I thought. My sentence was cut short and Myungjun moved a bit closer to me on the bed and on that red second I winced away from him, getting up from the bed and standing next to the bed, staring at him like an idiot. I cursed in my mind. Why did I do that? Since when had I been so nervous around him?

“What’s wrong with you?” Myungjun asked, raising his eyebrows. “You’ve been weird for the whole day.”

“I’m…” I started, hesitating for a moment. “I’m trying to sort it out if I’m supposed to tell you or not.”

Myungjun got up from the bed, letting out a silent chuckle. “Don’t tell me your having some weird thoughts.”

The boy walked closer to me and I automatically took a step or two backwards. “What? No.”

“Then what is this about?” he asked. He was slowly approaching me and I couldn’t stop myself from backing away.

“Well, actually, I have something to tell you”, I breathed out. The boy was slowly stepping to my personal space and I wasn’t able to back away anymore. I felt the cold wall hit my back and I winced a little bit. What exactly was wrong with me? If I was normal, or mentally stable, I’d have smacked the heck out of this boy already. But instead, I had been surrounded against a wall and I had no way out.

“I have something to tell you too”, Myungjun stated, taking one last step closer before stopping. He leaned a little bit closer to me and placed his hand on the wall next to my head. My eyes widened and I stared at him in a surprised state, not able to open my mouth.

“To be honest”, the boy said quietly, his sleepy voice becoming raspier. “It wasn’t just coincidence we met that evening, on the alley. When I saved you.”

I felt a wrinkle appearing on my forehead as I raised my eyebrows. Myungjun chuckled and I felt his hot breath against my cheek, making me look away. His eyes had a very piercing look to them right now, and it almost made me feel uncomfortable.

“I was actually following you for a while”, he continued. “Not stalking, but following, a little bit. I saw you strolling around for a while and you looked a bit lost. I could have never thought you were actually a gang member on a mission. I wanted to talk to you, ask if you perhaps needed any help… and then, just maybe, take you for a cup of coffee.”

I slowly looked up at him again. It felt like the empty space between had shrunk down a lot, his face was just inches away from mine and the way he had tilted his head, his eyes wandering from my eyes to my lips and back, made my heart beat a tad faster. So he had followed me on purpose, actually thinking he saved me that day. He really had no idea of who I was.

“But what could I do”, he said, shrugging his shoulders a little bit. “I was on a mission too. I couldn’t risk it just to talk with you. But then you started fighting with that man and my protective instinct just kind of woke up. And here we are now. Who could have imagined I’d actually have to marry you?”

As the boy chuckled quietly, the situation started to slowly clear in my mind. Oh no. I had been following and ambushing the wrong guys during the solo mission Yikyung had given me that evening. They were indeed from an another gang but they weren’t the target I should have been chasing. Myungjun was. I had recognized the men from their leather jackets and the mask the other man had been wearing. And how had I known Myungjun was a gang member too? He had worn a black leather jacket and a mask that covered his face. The men I had ambushed were indeed from a gang and they were trespassing in our area but the real enemy I should have beaten up was Myungjun.

My eyes widened and I stared at the boy. He, naturally, didn’t understand the reason of my shock so he just chuckled, probably thinking I was just surprised about the things he had just told me. I blinked my eyes a few times, trying to gather myself. Basically none of that mattered anymore but if – just if – I had realized the boy’s real identity during that evening, I’d have never gotten blackmailed into the situation I was in right now. I felt my knees shaking. I wanted to sleep it all away.

Like a robot, I raised my hand, placed it on Myungjun’s shoulder and gently pushed him away, walking to the bed in a trance-like state. I buried myself under the thick blanket and didn’t move an inch as Myungjun followed me to the bed, still smiling by himself, and lied down next to me. He had basically just revealed that he did have some kind of feelings for me. And I had just found out Myungjun was actually the only reason I had gotten tangled in this mess. But in a way, it didn’t matter anymore. I had become too attached to this gang and its members and to be honest, I had no idea what I should do now. I had never been this unsure about anything.

I fell asleep with tears in my eyes that night.