Business
Romance in the Church (Hiatus)Youngjae’s hands were pocketed as he stood facing an unimpressed Yonggon. The other had his arms folded as he stared into Youngjae’s fearless eyes. Youngjae observed as the other took a deep breath before letting it out heavily. “I’ve been watching you,”
Though it hardly sounded like a threat, Youngjae forced out a scoff, “Since when?”
Yonggon kept calm as he replied, “You know when. Yesterday, after lunch,”
Youngjae raised a brow, “And?” he asked as he the corner of his lips.
The cook wasted no time to beat around the bush as he answered, bluntly, “Seyeon is a special case. If you don’t think you can handle what’s to come, it’s best you stop showing her any interest. Sometimes love can be picky and stubborn, and from what I’ve seen, you’re quite a handful yourself. I know men like you well. You don’t and won’t truly love her,”
Now it’s starting to feel like a threat, Youngjae thought. Though Youngjae has slept on and came to understand that Yonggon is not Yongguk, he still can’t help but feel uneasy whenever he sees the cook. But right there and then, Yonggon was slowly climbing onto his enemy list.
“Why do you think that? If you’ve really been watching me, you would have seen that I don’t do anything half-assed,”
“H-half what?”
Youngjae shook his head as he took a step closer to the taller male, which had the other stepping back one or two steps, “Continue to watch me closely, Mr. Yonggon. Who knows, maybe you’ll learn one or two things about and from me?” Youngjae, then, took his leave.
Quietly he joined everyone else in the lobby. Women and children of each family sat together in one corner; far from the main entrance. The man and father of the newborn who warned Youngjae of being in Japanese territory, Roe Chul, was standing a little in front and across from the children and women. Then, closer to the doors, Youngjae saw Seyeon and the two sisters Sunmi and Seul standing by and behind Shinhye. And in the last seating row, Jangjun and Himcha had helped themselves into one of the benches.
The atmosphere was gloomy and slightly chilly.
“Mister,” Youngjae felt something slipped into his hand. Quickly he pivoted his head downward and saw that it was Hwayeon. Her tiny hand fits perfectly into his as she squeezed his a little, “can I hold your hand?”
A genuine smile made its way onto Youngjae’s face as he hummed. “Did you sleep well last night?”
She nodded, “I did. I didn’t have bad dreams last night,”
For a moment Youngjae wondered what the context of her nightmares contains. Was it the typical monsters and ghosts dreams? Or did a real-life experience traumatized her? Did it have anything to do with Nonfinite? Or was it the reason she, her mother, and older brother ten-years-old Seunghun now reside at Rosemary Church? But before he could answer any of his curiosity, he caught Seyeon’s smiley glimpse from across the room.
Youngjae returned the facial expression before he felt someone’s presence beside him. Looking over, it was Yonggon who didn’t spare him a glance but said, “They’re here,”
Diverting his attention toward the front, he saw how Shinhye’s relaxed hands were now two bold fists. Then amidst the silent room, a hard bang could be heard as the front doors flew wide open. Youngjae felt Hwayeon flinched as she gasped and drew closer to his side before grabbing his hand with both hands.
Youngjae studied as more than thirty men made their way through the doors. And in no time they had the front part of the Church’s interior surrounded. Youngjae smirked a little. The dark and powerful aura they brought in was certainly strong and was that of what he had expected. However, he was more fascinated by Shinhye’s lionhearted posture. The other girls have backtracked a little, though she stood brave and alone.
“Hello, Seyeon,”
Immediately, Youngjae caught sight of the orange head Kim Sunggyu. The stranger’s eyes were focused on Seyeon and the face he wore was almost offensive. Youngjae thought about stepping in when he could tell that Seyeon was trying to ignore him, but Yonggon stretched out an arm in front of him. “Don’t do anything silly. Shinhye will handle this,”
Youngjae scoffed a hefty sigh, “For how long?”
The man didn’t answer him. Instead, he kept his gaze in front of him, as if it was the only direction he could see. Then coming up the steps, slowly, was another man’s loud footsteps. Youngjae noticed that everyone was now more tensed than they were before. When the footwork stopped, that’s when Youngjae could see the outline of a nameless person standing before Shinhye.
“The goods?” his voice had Yonggon breathing harder. And for a moment, Youngjae thought he could see Yonggon fuming.
This time Shinhye spoke,
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