Round Fifty-Three

 

Tiffany felt the warmth of the sun’s rays on her body as she left the land of dreams. It was nice and cosy and she wanted to carry on sleeping but her mental list of things to do made her open her eyes. She was pleasantly surprised to see Taeng’s face right before her very eyes. His eyes were closed and his mouth was slightly open. His cheek was flattened against the mattress as he was lying on his stomach. His leg was raised and bent while his arms were resting in a surrender position.

 

There was something about this sight that tickled her insides and she found herself giggling over him. This was the fifth consecutive morning she had woken up with him beside her since Halloween and she still was not used to seeing him and his sleeping pose. Although she was not used to it, she certainly did not mind it. She had to admit that it was a very sweet feeling and she liked it very much.

 

She has had little experience with sleeping with a man. Even in the days of dating Siwon, they did not sleep together. He always had to return home after their dates and she was certainly not allowed to sleep in his bed when she stayed over at his place. They were very conservative when it came to such matters. Taeng, however, obviously did not have any reserve when it came to her. He had asked her, point-blank, to let him sleep with her—albeit rather shyly.

 

However, Taeng had not had a chance to wake up with Tiffany sleeping by his side, despite the two of them sleeping together all night. The reason was simple—he had yet to wake up before Tiffany did. It turned out that he was quite the sleepyhead and for the past five mornings, it had always been Tiffany who woke up first. By the time Taeng stirred, she would have already left the bed to freshen up and prepare breakfast. Each morning, Taeng was saddened to find that her face was not the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes. It was her empty side of the bed that he saw instead.

 

Tiffany smiled as her eyes trailed from his face to his upper torso that was partially exposed. The covers had somehow been pulled down during the night and covered only up to his waist. Her heart thumped a little bit faster as she looked at him and she decided to stay in bed a little longer. It was the weekend after all and Taeng would be elated to finally be able to see her beside him when he woke up. So she to her side and continued to lie in bed, feasting her eyes on his torso.

 

She had been moderately surprised to see him climb into bed topless on the first night.

 

“I don’t like to sleep with my shirt on,” he had explained, “It makes me feel uncomfortable.” And he proceeded to get under the covers with nothing but his boxers on.

 

She had been fairly amused by his explanation but made no comment. Instead, she had snuggled as close to him as possible and traced invisible lines across his chest with her finger until she drifted off to sleep.

 

Now as she looked at him sleeping, she decided to speed up the process of him waking up. She pushed herself off the bed and leaned towards him. When she got close enough, she planted feather-light kisses on his shoulders and down his . She kissed her way down to the top of his boxers and that was when he stirred. His movements told her that he had woken up but she was enjoying herself too much to stop. She continued to kiss his , this time, kissing her way back up to his shoulders. She did not stop there and continued kissing up his neck to his jaw. His body quivered under her touch and it made her smile. She liked knowing that she could make him feel this way for her. She liked knowing that she was the one who could set his heart racing and blood pumping. She wanted to be the only girl who could do that to him.

 

“Good morning Taetae,” she whispered in his ear. She felt another quiver in his body and smiled wider still.

 

“G-Good morning Fany…” his voice trailed off and she wondered why. She followed the line of his vision and smiled knowingly. Her nightgown strap had slipped off her shoulder and the top of her was playing a tantalizing game of hide-and-seek with him.

 

“Is this what you wanted to see in the mornings when you wake up?” she her chest at him asked in her husky voice. Seeing him being so attracted to her was turning her on.

 

“Uh… no, no…” Taeng blushed immediately and looked into her eyes earnestly. “I really want you to be the first thing I see in the morning. Not just… your… boo…” His voice trailed off again.

 

“My what?” Tiffany asked teasingly. She knew exactly what he was going to say but she wanted to hear him say it.

 

“Your s.” Taeng’s eyes looked deep into hers and she knew that he was trying to find out if she was unhappy with his answer or not.

 

She decided to give him a definitive answer. She slipped the strap down her arm, allowing one of her s to become exposed. Taeng’s jaw dropped and she giggled. It was a fabulous feeling to see his reaction to her body. Although he had seen her a couple of times now, he still reacted as though it was his first time see her . He was too endearing to her. If he got any more endearing, he was going to pose a health threat to her for her heart may burst from the welling up of emotions inside or she may develop diabetes from all the sweetness he made wrapped her in.

 

“Opps,” she feigned surprise and pulled the strap back up onto her shoulder immediately. She saw Taeng swallowing hard and suppressed her giggles. His innocence was going to be the death of her one day but for now, it was fun playing and teasing him whenever she had the chance to. “Time to get up, Taetae… and since you’re up, you can make breakfast for us.”

 

“Okay!” Taeng leapt off the bed and dashed into the bathroom to wash up.

 

Tiffany chuckled and lay back onto the bed. She stretched herself luxuriously, raising her arms above her head and pointing her toes downwards as she watched him in action at the sink, getting ready to brush his teeth. And it felt so right. In that moment, everything felt so right.

 

~~~~~
 

Yoong was reaching the limit of his patience. He was aware that he was not the most patient person in the world. He knew that he had a rather short fuse and a rash personality and because of that, he tried his best to hold it back. However, he was stretched to his limits as he tried to hug Sunny without having her freeze up into a block of ice. He had tried everything—murmuring softly to assure her, rubbing her arms up and down to calm her, encouraging her to trust him—that he could think of but none of his methods worked. Each and every time he tried to hug her while they were at home, ended up with Sunny trembling and quivering.

 

He tried telling himself that it had only been five days and that Sunny probably needed a little more time to get over her traumatic experience. He tried telling himself to be patient. He tried telling himself to hold it in for Sunny’s sake. But there was only so much a man could take. It hurt him so to see her trembling. It hurt him so to see his cute and cheeky girlfriend turning into a wreck whenever he tried to be intimate with her. It hurt him so to know that she was not alright. And so, after another fruitless night at her house, he snapped.

 

“THAT IS GOING TO PAY!” he hollered as Sunny scooted up against the headboard yet again when all he had wanted to do was to hug her and tell her what a great morning it was.

 

“NO! PLEASE!” Sunny pleaded but Yoong was beyond caring.

 

He stormed down to his car after throwing on a t-shirt and jeans and drove off before Sunny could stop him.

 

“Sungmin! Get me Joongki’s home address now.” His tone made it clear that he was not to be questioned and he got the information he wanted in a jiffy. Upon looking at the address that was sent to him by Sungmin, he made a quick turn and headed towards Joongki’s house at top speed.

 

It was not long before he saw the gates of Joongki’s house. He parked his car to the side and waited. He did not have to wait long, for Joongki was leaving his house to go to work. He saw the car and knew at once that it was Joongki’s. Rage overtook his mind. He floored the accelerator and his car went from zero to a hundred in three seconds and overtook Joongki’s car. He swerved to the front of Joongki’s car and slammed on his brakes, forcing Joongki to slam on his as well.

 

As Yoong had expected, Joongki got out of the car angrily and marched forward to his car, giving him a perfect chance to jump out of his car and throw a clenched fist at the other man’s face. Joongki fell onto the ground at the impact and Yoong straddled him to throw more punches at his face. He was into throwing what would have been his fifth or sixth punch when he was pushed hard on one side and lost his balance. He got back up immediately and was about to punch the person who pushed him when he realized that it was a girl. A vaguely familiar looking girl. Had he seen her before somewhere?

 

“PLEASE! Please stop hitting my brother!” begged that girl who looked as if she was about to burst into tears.

 

“GET OUT OF MY WAY OR I’LL PUNCH YOU TOO!” snarled Yoong menacingly.

 

The girl looked frightened but held her ground and defended her brother bravely. Yoong squared his jaw and clenched his fists. He did not want to hit a female but his rage had rendered his better judgment useless. He raised his fist and was about to punch the girl when Joongki yelled.

 

“SON OF A !!! FIRST YOU PLAYED HER AND NOW YOU WANT TO PUNCH HER?!”

 

Yoong froze. Played her? What did Joongki mean by that? He looked at Joongki’s bloody face and gasped on reflex. Did he just do that? He must have looked as stunned as he felt because the next thing he knew, Joongki had pushed his sister aside and lunged at him. He found himself blocking blows from the other guy instead so he growled and threw punches of his own and it quickly spiraled into a full blown fight.

 

“YOU B*STARD! NOBODY TOUCHES MY GIRLFRIEND AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!”

 

“YOU HEAD! NOBODY TOUCHES MY SISTER AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!”

 

“WHAT’S YOUR SISTER GOT TO DO WITH THIS?! YOU FREAKING TRIED TO SUNNY!!! BASTARD!!!”

 

“I WAS ONLY TAKING REVENGE FOR MY SISTER HEAD!!!”

 

“I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING TO YOUR SISTER MEATHEAD!!!”

 

“DICKHEAD!!! YOU DON’T EVEN REMEMBER MY SISTER?!?!”

 

“STOP IT!!! PLEASE STOP!!!”

 

A feminine, high pitched voiced screamed at the two of them and they froze. With their hands still gripping on to each other’s collars, they turned towards the direction of the voice and shrank. It was Sunny and Yoong knew that this was not what he wanted her to see. He let go of Joongki immediately and stood up sheepishly.

 

“Sunny—” he began but his words caught in his throat as he looked at her distressed-turned-frightened look. Joongki had stood up also and it was evident that he still had an effect on her. He rushed to her side and held her hand as securely as he could. “Don’t be afraid,” he whispered comfortingly in her ear.

 

“I’m sorry. I apologize on behalf of my brother for what he has done to you.” Seulgi, Joongki’s sister, stepped forward and bowed low in front of Sunny. “I know that he was trying to stand up for me but what he did was wrong. Please forgive him.”

 

Yoong could not understand a word of what Seulgi was saying. “What are you talking about?!”

 

Seulgi turned to him calmly and said, “Don’t you remember what you did to me? You met me on the plane on the way back to Seoul. You made out with me and left me high and dry after that. My brother was only trying to get back at you for that.” Then she turned back to Sunny and lowered her eyes. “But he really went overboard. Please, I seek your understanding and forgiveness. My brother is really ashamed of what he did and wants to apologize to you but I told him that you wouldn’t want to see him so he hasn’t looked for you all this time.”

 

Yoong froze. It was all coming back to him and what he remembered made his blood run cold. Joongki tried to Sunny because of what he did to the girl he met on the plane?! His heart sank at the thought.

 

Suddenly, Joongki dropped to his knees and begged for forgiveness.

 

“Sunny, I’m sorry. I really am. Please forgive me although I know that I don’t deserve any kindness from you after what I did to you. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have used you to get back at Yoong. I see that now. Please… I really like you and it’s killing me to think that I hurt you so badly. I…I don’t know what else I can do besides staying out of your sight. Please…”

 

So it was true. Sunny had suffered because of what he did to Joongki’s sister. If he had not played Joongki’s sister, none of this would have happened. Yoong could not handle it. He could not. But before he broke down, he had to get Sunny out of this place.

 

“Sunny… let’s go. I’ll send you home now.”

 

He put his arm around Sunny’s shoulders and turned her around. She looked as though she had something to say but he did not want her around Joongki a second longer. He stole a quick look behind him and saw Joongki’s sister kneeling down beside Joongki to hug him. He turned away quickly. He would think about Joongki and his sister later. Sunny had to be sent home first.

 

~~~~~

 

“I’m sorry, Sunny. I brought all this upon you.”

 

Yoong kept his eyes on the road. He was sure that looking at Sunny would release the torrents of tears that he was holding back and he did not want to cry in front of her again.

 

“Yoong… please don’t think like that. You are the one who said that he is the one who is at fault, aren’t you? It’s not your fault, Yoongie.”

 

Yoong did not reply. He saw all too clearly the chain of events and how he had been the person who started it all. He remembered how the girl had told him that she was inexperienced and how he delighted in taking her ity with his fingers under the covers. He remembered how he callously threw her name card away into the first rubbish bin he saw and how he made empty promises to take her out to dinner. If he had just taken her to dinner and rejected her less cruelly, things would not have ended up like this. Joongki would not have had to take revenge for his played out sister. He had his fun but Sunny paid the price. Knowing that hurt him beyond description. And suddenly, he was not so sure if he was worthy of Sunny anymore.

 

~~~~~
 

“Yul, what colour do you want the tablecloths to be?” chirped Jessica as she flipped through the catalogue that Tiffany had collected from the decorator.

 

Tiffany rolled her eyes at the tone that Jessica used on Yul but said nothing. Her best friend’s boyfriend voice had always irked her to no end but it was evident that Jessica had piled on the sweetness when it came to Yul. It was a wonder how Yul could stand that saccharine voice but then again, she was not Yul and she was not in love with Jessica. It appeared as though Yul liked it—much to Tiffany’s amusement—for he smiled at Jessica and said, “I’m fine with any colour, baby. Why don’t you choose what you like,” in a way that made it clear that their attraction was mutual.

 

“But it’s our wedding and I want your opinion too,” said Jessica with a pout.

 

“Baby, if I chose black would you agree to it?”

 

Jessica shook her head.

 

“There you go. I like black, but it’s not a suitable colour, is it? Whatever I’m choosing will eventually be chosen by you anyway, so why don’t you make the decision.”

 

Yul’s rhetorical question displeased Jessica and she made no effort to hide it. Her frown, folded arms and stiff stance told the world out there all about her feelings. Tiffany decided that it was time to make herself scarce and excused herself to speak to Mr. Kim, the decorator.

 

~~~~~
 

Jessica was not happy with how Yul reasoned with her to say the least. He had made it sound as though she was a tyrant and would not consider what he liked at all. She wanted the decisions to be made together and not solely by herself. Why couldn’t Yul understand that?

 

Tiffany had excused herself most tactfully and she was thankful for that as she looked unhappily at Yul. She wanted a little bit more involvement from him.

 

“I want us to choose it together,” she said.

 

“You can choose it and I’ll agree to it.”

 

“That’s not choosing together.”

 

“Baby, let’s not make this difficult, shall we? We don’t want to take up too much of Tiffany and Mr. Kim’s time.”

 

“We are the customers. We will take as much time as we need,” Jessica huffed.

 

“You know that you shouldn’t think like that. Don’t be so wilful, Sica.”

 

“Yes, I’m wilful. Why can’t I be wilful? I want to be wilful. So sue me.” Jessica stood up angrily, kicked Yul’s shin and turned around before stomping away.

 

She ignored Yul’s calls for her to come back as well as Tiffany’s concerned shouts of her name. Out of the door she marched and when Yul did not come running out to get her, the anger she felt doubled and her blood was about to boil.

 

“Stupid Yul.” She pouted and decided not to wait any longer. It would look like she had given in to him and that was definitely not what she wanted to do—especially when he could not even be bothered with their wedding preparations. So she flagged down a taxi and headed home.

 

~~~~~
 

Yul was not pleased with Jessica. That much was evident from the look on his face. Tiffany smiled at him understandingly and patted his shoulder.

 

“Yul?”

 

“Yes? I’m sorry. Jessica is…” Yul waved his hand at the space where Jessica should have been and sighed.

 

“The wedding is very important to Jessi,” Tiffany began to say carefully,” and you are very important to her. She wants your opinion because she cares.”

 

“I understand all that but colours really aren’t that important to me and I’ll be fine with any colour she chooses. She just doesn’t seem to understand that.”

 

“Well, from her point of view, it might seem as though you don’t care enough.”

 

“I—” Yul saw no point in saying anymore. He sighed again. As much as he loved Jessica, he found her difficult to handle. He thought that he had found a way to handle her but boy, was he wrong. So far, he learnt that she was very susceptible to his physical advances on her and there were times when he had to play that card to win her over. But this time, they were in the company of Tiffany and Mr. Kim and he could not very well simply kiss her to calm her down which resulted in her storming out of the office, leaving him behind in it.

 

“You can make another appointment to choose the colours,” Tiffany suggested kindly.

 

“No, your time is precious and so is Mr. Kim’s,” Yul shook his head as he spoke, “I know which colour she wants. She was looking at this pastel pink colour for the longest time. That will be the tablecloth colour. Match it with white underneath. The ribbon for the chairs will be the same shade of pink as the tablecloth. As for the flowers, various shades of blue will be good.”

 

Tiffany looked at Yul, stunned. “Wow, as far as I know, that would have been Jessi’s choice as well. How did you know?”

 

“She probably doesn’t realize it but she’s been talking about flowers and colours for the past week or so. It’s not that difficult to ascertain the colours that she prefers from what she says.”

 

Tiffany chuckled. “Jessi, Jessi… you are one lucky girl.”

 

Yul grimaced. “The lucky girl is now an angry girl. And to be honest, I’m not feeling too happy right now either.”

 

Tiffany giggled and Yul could have sworn that something devious glinted in her twinkling eyes.

 

“Yul, I’m only telling you this because you were so spot on with Jessi’s choices.” She paused meaningfully before continuing, “Jessi likes it when you’re angry.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Tiffany cleared . “She likes it when you’re angry. That’s all I can say. Go figure.”

 

And Yul could only look at her, clueless, as she spun around and walked away.

 

~~~~~
 

“Taengoo, I’m sorry I mi—” Tiffany stopped short as she saw a beautiful girl giving Taeng a hug as he stepped out of the studio after yet another radio broadcast. Her jaw dropped further when she saw how happily he returned the hug and how wide his smile was as he hugged that girl. She figured that the girl must be the one he had mentioned previously. What was her name again? Gyu—what?

 

“Fany! You’re here!” Taeng exclaimed and ran towards her joyfully. “Here, you can finally meet Gyuri!” He pulled her towards the beautiful girl and grinned at the both of them. “Gyuri, this is my girlfriend, Tiffany.”

 

Gyuri extended her hand to her but she did not feel like shaking it at all. If anything, she felt like dragging Taeng away but she plastered a smile on her face and shook the offered hand anyway.

 

“Taetae has told me about you. Was that the friendship hug you were talking about, Taetae? It sure looked very friendly to me.”

 

She was pleased to see that Gyuri had lowered her head and was looking at the ground guiltily. In her opinion, that hug did not look friendly at all. In fact, it looked a little too intimate for her liking.

 

“Er…n-no… I’m sorry… I got too excited and hugged her a little too tightly.” Taeng’s eyes were cast low as well.

 

“I’m sorry too! I promise to watch myself the next time!” Gyuri apologized with wide open, earnest eyes that made Tiffany’s heart soften.

 

However, Gyuri’s beauty and Taeng’s closeness to her made Tiffany’s green monster rear its ugly head. She pulled Taeng close to her and linked her arm with his as she gave Gyuri her classic business deal clincher smile. It was one that was well practiced and could be produced no matter what the circumstance.

 

“It’s alright. I wouldn’t dream about imposing on your friendship with each other,” said Tiffany breezily.

 

Then she turned and whispered into Taeng’s ear, “Just wait till we get home, Romeo.”

 

She could feel Taeng quivering and her grin widened.

 

Taeng… you are so dead when we get back. So dead.

 

~~~~~

 

Seated at the bar in Seventh Heaven was a lanky, impishly good looking man. It was Yoong, who was getting drunk. But he did not care. He wanted to be drunk. He wanted to forget about Joongki and his sister and how he had been the cause of Sunny’s traumatic experience. Sure, he had blamed it all on Joongki, but after punching that man with all his strength, he had to acknowledge that he too, had some part to play in it. That it was also his fault that Sunny was almost .

 

“Yoong… why are you drinking all by yourself?” a sultry voice asked him from behind.

 

He grunted, ignored the question and gulped down another shot of tequila. He had lost count of the number of shots he had downed but it was the least of his concerns.

 

“Yoong… you look like you need company tonight.”

 

“Go away,” he growled.

 

“Tsk, tsk, tsk… is this how you treat ex-lovers of yours? You’re so cruel, Yoong. You used me and now you’re throwing me aside. What happened to the fun and flirty Im Yoong? I miss him.”

 

Yoong felt an arm snaking around his waist and tried to move it away. “Go away.”

 

“You can’t just chase me away, Yoong. I’ve been waiting for a chance to spend another night with you. You’re not getting away this time.”

 

Yoong turned his head around to get a look at the girl but his vision was blurred. “Who are you?”

 

The girl laughed airily and said, “I’m the girl you’re going to marry.”

 

He was not sure if he had heard her right but it did not matter to him anymore for he had lost his consciousness and slumped onto the bar, completely passed out.

 

~~~~~

 

Yul came home to an empty house. Jessica was not there. With a frown, he closed the door and went back to her car. If she was not here, she must be at her own home. He would look for her there.

 

~~~~~
 

Sunny was getting worried. Yoong had said that he would be sleeping over at her place but he had not arrived. It was past midnight and it was not like Yoong to be so late. Unable to wait any longer, she decided to call him.

 

She listened to his ringtone and waited for him to pick up the call. And it was much to her consternation when she heard a sultry, feminine voice answering instead.

 

“Who is this on the line?” went the sultry voice.

 

“I’m Sunny. Who are you?”

 

“I’m Hyesun.”

 

“And why are you answering Yoong’s phone?”

 

“Because he’s with me tonight.”

 

It was all Sunny could do to hold on and not drop her phone in shock.

 

~~~~~
 

“Yul! What a surprise to see you here! Are you here for unnie? She’s up in her room.”

 

Yul smiled politely at Mrs. Jung and nodded at Krystal who was coming down the stairs to greet him.

 

“Good evening omonim, Krystal. Yes, I’m here to see Jessica.”

 

“She didn’t seem to be in a good mood when she came back today,” remarked Krystal. “What happened? Weren’t you two picking out colours for the wedding?”

 

Yul smiled grimly and said, “We had a dispute, but I’m about to fix that.”

 

“Well then, go on up. It’s only natural for couples to quarrel but don’t let it drag on for too long.” Mrs. Jung gave Yul a gentle push.

 

“If you’ll excuse me…” Yul smiled and made his way up the stairs towards Jessica’s room.

 

He could hear Mrs. Jung’s happy sigh and what she said as he walked away.

 

“Such good manners. My dear daughter is such a lucky girl.”

~~~~~