p a r t : s i x
SMALL WORLD

Irene was back at her tiny apartment, she blank stared at the envelope she hadn’t even opened it yet. So much going on in her head. 

“It’s for my mom and the debt. Just for once and nobody will know. You’ll be fine Joohyun” she spoke in her head and trying to get some sleep.

••• 

The next day, Wendy called Irene and asked her to come to her house, to settle down the preparation for the painting session. She was kind enough that she even sent a car and a driver for her. It made Irene believed that there’s still kind people with pure heart left in this world. “Unlike Donghae!” she thought in her head but then quickly brushed it away because she didn’t want to think about that man in this happy day.

The car brought her to what she called as the neighborhood for the rich because it really looked like it was. Wendy’s house was big and inside was very artsy. Sure, she loved art. 

Wendy greeted Irene with a bright smile, it’s a smile that could lighten up her day when it’s cloudy outside. She felt so welcomed. They’re heading to the backyard while kept talking comfortably as if they’ve known each other for a long time. 

“Honey!!! I’m home!!” 

Not long after, a loud voice distracted Irene and Wendy. Immediately and at the same time, both looked at the source of the sound. They saw a man whose nose wrapped in a bandage and looked swollen with some bruises around.

“Oh, hi honey! You’re home already?” Wendy looked surprised and a bit worry. 

“Yes, the doctor said I can go home”

By the way they addressed each other, Irene noticed that the man who just came was Wendy’s lover, which later she introduced as her husband. “So you’re married? Your husband is a lucky one” Irene genuinely said. 

“Actually, we’re just married a few months ago” Wendy replied, a little blushing.

Irene gave the man a bow as he’s walking closer. The closer he was, the clearer Irene could see the  man. Soon as she’s sure with what she saw, she’s spontaneously gasped. She was shocked and didn’t expect that the man was actually… 

“Lee ert Hyukjae?!” Irene screamed inside her head. 

Wendy didn’t aware that Irene was gulping when introduced her to her husband as a special guest.

Meanwhile, Hyukjae was just as shocked. It was an awkward moment for him. He surely didn’t expect to see Irene in his own house. For instance, he’s sweating a lot and looked nervous. 

“Honey, I know you have to rest but can you help me for a while? Please show Irene-shi the way to our backyard. I got an urgent phone call” said Wendy to her husband while caressing his shoulder. 

Once Wendy, who looked very busy, went to somewhere else. Hyukjae threw an apologetic look toward Irene. There’s fear on his face, he looked so much different with the Hyukjae that she knew, who arrogantly almost slapped her.

Irene was still mad at him but the situation confused her. She wanted to yell at him but couldn’t. Wendy was such a sweetheart and how could she do that and made her knew about her husband’s bad attitude? “Damn it!” she could only swore under her breath. 

“Ya!!” Hyukjae whispered to her, his eyes scanned around to check his wife. “I said I will apologize to you, why do you have to appear in my house, in front of my wife especially?” He said seriously, still almost whispering. 

“Apologize to me? When did you say that? The last time we met you were about yo sl—“ Irene replied but the he cut it off, she didn’t know why but she followed to speak in the same manner.

“Husshhh! I swear if my wife hear this, I will—. , I can’t even do anything to you, you’re a little piece of !” He complained, carefully touched his swollen nose as if reminiscing something horrible that happened to his nose in the past. 

“Did you just call me what?!” Irene was boiled inside. 

“No, no, no. That’s just a slip of my tongue” Hyukjae tried to calm her down, remembering her wife was still somewhere in the house and might heard them. “I’m sorry, okay! I was drunk at that time. Just don’t tell him, okay?” He begged. 

Irene looked at Hyukjae at her most disdainful way. He was so shameless, she’s so done with him. But then she came to her sense about who was ‘him’ that’s he’s referring to. 

“Your boss, obviously. Who do you think can break my nose like this and going on like nothing happened? He even said going to break my legs and make me go bankrupt as well, I had to beg for a life to make him finally set me free” he explained, surely his life was flashed before his eyes.

“What’s the correlation with me? I don’t get it” Irene was in puzzle.

Hyukjae sighed and actually hated to explain the story to her because it’s simply hurting his pride.

As Hyukjae said, right after The Blue Moon incident, he called Donghae and tempted to get some advantages from it, thinking that Donghae would grant everything he wanted to prevent him from blowing it up to public.

The next thing, Donghae invited Hyukjae to have a sleepover talk regarding the matter, or the things that Hyukjae wanted as a bribery, to be exact. 

And that, unexpectedly, was his biggest mistake that earned him a big punch on his nose and the rest of his face. 

“What did you ask actually?” Irene asked, she’s feeling illegally happy that at least someone punched him.

“Y-you…” Hyukjae said, embarrassedly.

•••

In the conversation between them, Donghae expected that Hyukjae would ask for some money or a lifetime free pass to The Blue Moon. If that’s the case, he could easily fulfill it and got things done with him as soon as possible because he thought Hyukjae was such an irritating and unnecessary disturbance.

But what came out from Hyukjae’s mouth was unexpected. He asked Donghae to get Irene to apologize to him and to do everything he wanted for a day.

Donghae didn’t say anything but drank his wine till the last drop. He then gazed at Hyukjae sharply while loosened up his tie. His teeth are clenching as he make a tight fist out of his hands. Without a warning, just a few seconds after, when Hyukjae didn’t expect at all, Donghae stood up to reach Hyukjae’s collar fast and then his fisted hand flew right on Hyukjae’s nose like a wrecking ball. 

With that amount of strength Donghae put, Hyukjae collapsed down and heard a crack voice he believed from his nose. He’s about to pass out but Donghae gave him another punches as if he was a boxing pillow.

Meanwhile, Hyukjae was too shocked to complain why did Donghae suddenly do that. He was just laying helpless on the floor underneath Donghae. “Chairman Lee, why—“ he crooned in pain. 

“First, out of many girls in The last Blue Moon, why the did you put your dirty hands on her?” Donghae hissed as he’s standing up, wiping off the stain of Hyukjae’s blood on his hands with a handkerchief given by one of his people. 

“Second, who the do you think you are to threaten me?” he continued, was now back to his seat while Hyukjae was still sprawling on the floor. 

“Third, don’t you dare to touch her ever again. Put away your dirty mind about her!” he warned while pouring himself another glass of wine.

“Last but not least” he said and sipped the wine. “If you’re testing my water, you better know how to swim, or you’ll be drowning, Lee Hyukjae” he groaned while resist the earth not to punch him any more. 

••• 

“I have no idea Donghae would stand for his employees that much. I don’t remember he did the same way with other girls” Hyukjae said, his eyes showed how traumatized he was.

“Ex-employee, thanks to you I was fired!” Irene replied while still holding a grudge for Hyukjae. 

At that point, she was so fed up and disgusted with them for think of women as stuff they can treat as they like. Especially Hyukjae, for he already had a beautiful and kind wife. The amount of disrespectfulness, more than hurting her pride, it’s her heart that’s hurting more. 

The story that Hyukjae told her, however, made Irene grasping about what kind of man Lee Donghae was. He’s clearly demeaning her but at the same time fighting for her. If he’s on the same side in thought that Hyukjae was the wrong one, why did he fire her anyway. 

“Seoul is not my place…” he whispered and wished Wendy would comeback soon.

•••