Chapter 22: Take my hand
Boys Over Flowers: ReloadedThe drive was long and silent. Ga Eul did not know what to say, and Woo Bin had too many things going on in his mind to form a logical statement. The scenery passing by gradually changed from the green countryside to the crowded urban landscape of the Seoul city. As he took the final turn before entering the street towards Ga Eul’s house, she reached out for the dashboard and held on to it. Woo Bin looked at her, sensing she wanted to speak, but was hesitating.
“Could we… could we forget the last few hours and move on as if it never happened?” mumbled Ga Eul hesitantly, without looking at him.
Woo Bin pressed the brake pedal and stopped the car a short distance before her house. He turned to get a full view of her face, who was still averting his gaze. Not hearing any response from him, Ga Eul gathered the strength to face him squarely and found his eyes, slightly glassy, looking back at her with myriads of questions.
“I do not know what I did to make you come to that conclusion. I have always regarded you as a very good friend, right from our New Caledonia trip. It is extremely difficult for me to accept strangers as friends, but with you it had been so easy. You made me laugh at the stupidest of things all the time. What did I do wrong to spoil it all like this?” spoke Ga Eul in one breath.
“You did not do anything wrong, I spoilt it all. I was being a fool to expect something way more than friendship. I am sorry, Ga Eul, I am so sorry,” replied Woo Bin slowly.
“I do not want to lose you as a friend,” she added, with tears glistening at the corners of her eyes.
“You won’t. I promise,” he replied, followed by a wide beaming smile.
He raised his hand and ruffled her hair playfully. Then he swiftly wiped the lone tear that was about to roll down her cheek and patted it lightly.
“Hey, my sunshine. No more tears, please. Thanks for giving me another chance after I let you down so badly. I will be your friend, the one who will always be by your side when you need him. Now, get back home. Your aunt must be worried by now,” he spoke with ease.
Ga Eul nodded her head with a sweet smile.
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Go Ha Jin did not realise how loud her gasp was when her ‘fiancé’ walked through the door into the big trial room. The two salesgirls smiled wide and clapped their hands together, as if to appreciate the magic of the moment.
“Wow, Miss Go, this must be quite a surprise for you too, isn’t it?” spoke the older of the two.
“Sir, why don’t you try the groom’s attire too?” chipped in the younger salesgirl.
“That sounds just amazing. And where would I get it?” he asked back.
Promptly he was shown the clothes rack with a couple of tuxedoes hanging.
“If you need any help, please holler us. We will be around,” saying that and smiling indicatively towards the couple, the two ladies left them in their privacy.
“Ji… Ji Hoo, what are you doing here?” stuttered Ha Jin as she saw him approaching her.
He smiled warmly and stopped at an arm’s distance from her.
“I told you, I wanted to see how my bride would look like in her wedding dress. You look beautiful, Ha Jin-ah,” he spoke as his eyes sparkled with appreciation.
Ha Jin’s eyes rounded up to the maximum extent possible, followed by her cheeks turning the deepest shade of red. She looked away from him and started twirling the skirt fabric in her finger.
“Stop joking, Ji Hoo,” she mumbled.
“I am not joking. Not at all. You stopped receiving my calls. There was no way I could reach you,” he replied, taking one step closer.
“What’s there left to talk about?” asked back Ha Jin.
Ji Hoo gently touched her shoulders and turned her towards the mirror, without letting go of his hold around her.
“About us, about you and me. See, how perfect we look together,” he said.
Ha Jin dared to look in the mirror in front, and that was the death of her. There was no doubt whatsoever that they did look perfectly beautiful together. They looked so real that she almost wondered if the reflection looking back at her was actually a framed wedding photograph. Ji Hoo picked up her left hand and grazed her fingers with his lips. Her body stiffened instantly. Sensing her sheer unease, he slowly let her free and stepped back. The sudden loss of the warmth around her made Ha Jin miss it at once, and she looked at his eyes through the mirror intently.
“Don’t make this mistake, Ha Jin-ah. You know as much as I do that you do not love So Bin. This marriage will not bring any happiness to either of you,” he spoke under his breath.
“And then what? Wait all my life for someone who will never love me back?” asked Ha Jin in a hushed tone, batting her eyelids to keep the tears at bay.
Her words stung him at once. He immediately pulled her in an embrace.
“I am sorry, Ha Jin-ah. I was so stupid to have dwelt in the past, whenever love knocked at my door. I guess I was so blind because I had never known how it felt like to be loved back. But I cannot let go of love once again, because of my stupidity. Please don’t leave me, Ha Jin-ah. I promise you, I will never let you go through such pain in your life,” Ji Hoo spoke.
Ha Jin could not stop her tears anymore. Slowly she raised her hands to hug him back and clutched his jacket.
“Let me be your genie who will make all your wishes come true, Ha Jin-ah. Let me be the only one in your life and the one growing old with you. Please, Ha Jin-ah, please stay with me,” he whispered in her hair.
She shivered in his embrace as she perceived the depth of each of his words. All she could do was bury her face in his chest and drench his shirt with her tears. As Ji Hoo tried to comfort her by caressing her hair and back, she clung onto him more, pouring her heart out.
“Shh, Ha Jin-ah, please don’t cry. Else, the ladies at the boutique will think I am such a nasty groom to make my beautiful bride cry like this,” he said smilingly and kissed her lips lightly.
“Appa and Omma will never agree to this,
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