...because of shared dinner.

Tangled in Your Heartstrings
Please Subscribe to read the full chapter

 

"Woah," Yerin's eyes lit up after seeing how spacious the bedroom was, "This is so big," she went inside, carrying all of her bags with her. The room had a queen-sized bed, with a dressing table beside it. The walls were pastel pink and the windows to the left of the bed had white curtains. There was also a closet and a small, flat-screen television in front of the bed. Yerin was in awe; the room seemed very cozy that she might not want to leave anymore.

"My dad would like it here," she remarked with a wide smile on her face, "Once he gets discharged from the hospital, I'll take him to a hotel like this."

Junhui just stood beside the door, watching Yerin occupy herself with being amazed by the bedroom. She was touching everything--the wall, the bed, the dressing table, and even the carpeted floor--it was pretty obvious that she was delighted by what she was seeing.

"She still hasn't changed," Junhui thought to himself.

 

"Oh, the pillows are so soft!" Yerin exclaimed as she took one of the pillows on the bed and hugged it, "Is this silk?! It is silk!"

"Ah, you're enjoying yourself too much," Junhui grinned, "I can't believe you are suddenly like this. A few hours ago, you were declining my offer," he added as he crossed his arms and gave Yerin a judging look.

Yerin averted her eyes from him, feeling a bit shy about what happened earlier, "I--I'm just in a tight situation right now. You're right; I can't afford to rent an apartment. What I am earning right now is just enough for my father's hospital bills, his medicine, and food," she sighed, before sitting on the bed, "But, um, Junhui, this room is too much. I'll feel bad for the rest of my life if I stay in this kind of room without paying."

"I told you," Junhui responded, "I won't charge anything. But if you insist, then just pay me ₩3,000 every month."

The considerate and extremely affordable price made Yerin smile even wider; the rental fee was so low, it felt like she was already living in her own utopian world, "Really?!" she clasped her hands in front of her, "Thank you so much!"

Junhui nodded, "Now fix your stuff here. Dinner will be served later," he said before leaving the room and closing the door.

 

Yerin let out a deep breath of relief. It seemed like a quarter of her problems had been solved already. She already had a place to stay, and she would have more time to save enough money to rent an apartment for her and her father once he felt better and got released from the hospital. She must admit, Junhui was a big help for her. If it weren't for him, she would still probably be standing in front of the restaurant, crying helplessly and cursing everyone who made her suffer like that.

"I guess he has really changed, eh," she thought to herself. Yerin then took her bags and opened them one by one to fix her stuff in her new room. She carefully took the newly-dried clothes and placed them inside the closet, her toiletries were placed on top of the dressing table, and her personal things on the drawers.

As Yerin opened the pocket of one of her bags, she saw a familiar item that immediately made her remember a lot of memories from high school. It was the gift she was supposed to give Junhui during their graduation. It was still inside the pink box, the ribbon still tied tightly.

Yerin took the box and let out a deep sigh, "Ah, it's been years. I thought I already threw this away."

Yerin had thought that she already forgot all of her memories from high school, but because of that unopened and unsent gift, she immediately remembered how she spent half of her high school life chasing after Junhui, trying to be friends with him. However, he did not like her back then. He even labeled her as 'annoying' and a 'nuisance'.

"Hm, I didn't even understand why he disliked me so much back then," Yerin thought to herself, "And now, I don't understand why he's being so nice to me," she furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to make connections with her thoughts and memories about Junhui, but sadly, she could not comprehend any of his actions towards her.

 

"Ah!" she exclaimed in annoyance, "He's such a difficult guy!"

 

-

The pork cutlets and sautéed vegetables looked scrumptious and for a tired and hungry Junhui, it felt like he could already live forever with those two dishes. Another perk of being his father's representative: the hotel's chefs could cook a separate and special meal just for him.

He was already on his fifth cup of rice, eating contently without a care in the world. The room was very silent that only the sound of his chopsticks can be heard.

"You know," he spoke, "When I was in London, we didn't eat rice that much. I missed eating rice and vegetables," he smiled, but his smile slowly disappeared after realizing that Yerin was staring blankly into space and hadn't even touched her food.

Junhui was puzzled, "Yerin, are you alright?"

"Huh? Ah," Yerin came to her senses and forced a smile. She was lost in her own thoughts that she almost forgot that she was supposed to eat already, "I'm fine. Do--don't worry," she said before taking her chopsticks and starting to eat.

Even though Junhui wanted to ask more about what she was thinking, he decided to let it pass. Yerin was just probably still shocked about what happened to their house, he thought to himself.

On the other hand, Yerin was still bothered by Junhui's actions. Thanks to her unsent gift for him that she was still keeping, her thoughts were a mess. She felt like it was suspicious for Junhui to just suddenly become nice to her, to the point of even helping her.

 

"Junhui."

 

"Hm?" a puzzled Junhui looked at her, "What?"

Yerin was quite hesitant, but her question must be answered first or else she would not be able to live in peace while she was staying at his place, "Why are you doing this?"

Junhui could not help but snicker at her persistence. He did not know if Yerin was not a good listener or just had short-term memory loss, but still, she was an interesting human being for him, "I've been answering that for how many times now? I'm just trying to make up for being an back then."

"No, that can't be it," Yerin protested, "You despised me back then; it's pretty impossible to just stop hating someone without any concrete reason."

"Well, that is my concrete reason, then," Junhui respond before taking another bite of the pork cutlet. Yerin just gave him a glare from the other end of the table. She was still unconvinced by his answer.

"You are hiding something from me!" she exclaimed.

"No, I'm not," he responded calmly.

"Then why are you alone here?"

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter

Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
kosasih #1
Chapter 17: Thank you so mich for updating this story..i've been waiting for ages for this lovely story..
nadineee #2
Chapter 17: omg!!! carving for more updates T_T
i love this story so much!!! fighting author-nim ❤❤❤
na_leia
#3
Chapter 17: Thank you for the updates. N yes, its still a lot readers that want to this story to continue.
na_leia
#4
Chapter 17: Thank you for the updates. N yes, its still a lot readers that want to this story to continue.
Romancetea_reader #5
Chapter 17: Author you updated! I was crying silently but then I saw you updated and I felt so happy, thank you so much! It was worth the wait, please update soon
yerinough
#6
Chapter 17: OHMYVDISBDJXBSJDBZKSBXISNSVSJBDNSHS IT UPDATED I ALMOST CRIED I LOVE THIS STORY SO MUCH ㅠㅠ
madamechordia #7
Chapter 17: omg author-nim, you're back TT how are you doing?
alexir08 #8
I miss your writings authornim...please do continue their story...we're still waiting for your comeback ?
Romancetea_reader #9
Author, it's been a year and 3 months. I hope you're doing well in life. It'd be such a waste if this story never gets finished. I understand if things in life are busy for you or you're currently facing personal problems. But please, don't leave us readers in cliffhangers :((

Until then, I'll just wait with a faint hope
Romancetea_reader #10
Chapter 16: Please update. This story is well written and interesting that I'm dying to know what happens next. It's 2020 already, take your time but please update as soon as you can