Chapter 26 – Desperate Measures

Seohyun thanked any higher being out there for letting the week after the funeral pass without any more ‘surprises.’ Luckily, Yonghwa had recovered from his grief after the first two or three days. With the way he was, most people assumed he would be stuck in his guilt ridden state for at least a good month. Fortunately, everyone’s predictions had been wrong. Even so, Seohyun had a bad feeling about the vow of revenge Jae Hyuk made. As much as Yonghwa assured her that nothing would happen, her brain would constantly think about it.

Yonghwa rolled his neck a few times to get rid of the tense strain he felt from a long shift at work. His favorite person in the world surprised him with a warm touch on his tightened shoulders. “That feels great Hyun. I hate being such a newbie at the hospital. The sunbaes always give me the 14 hour ty shifts,” Yonghwa complained. 

“It’ll get better. And we both know they’re just jealous because they aren’t as great as you,” Seohyun praised. The young man sighed in pleasure when her delicate fingers pulled all the stress out of his body with her skilled motions. “Are your patients at least nice?”

“Yeah, they’re not too bad. You get an elder that doesn’t like doctors every once in a while but other than that, they’re good,” Yonghwa explained. He turned to face Seohyun once he felt that his neck was more than fine. “You should see Chae Young. Man she is crazy.”

Hearing a female’s name come out of his mouth brought a spark of jealousy into Seohyun’s bright eyes. “Who is Chae Young?”

“Chae Young is a crazy little girl that is around Krystal’s age I think. Every time I go in to check up on the other patient in her room, she jumps me,” Yonghwa joked, unaware that he was making his girlfriend angry. Seohyun’s classic nostril flare began to act up as he continued to giggle about how another woman dared to touch her man. Thinking like that made her feel like Hyuna, but she couldn’t have someone else pulling fast ones like that on her boyfriend.

“Ah… so that’s what you’re doing at work…” Seohyun trailed off angrily. “Here I was thinking you were taking care of patients. Now I see all you do is flirt with the female patients. Is she pretty? Yeah, I bet she is.” Yonghwa was left a little shocked by the way Seohyun responded. It was probably due to the fact that Seohyun never seemed like the jealous type.

“Yeah she’s pretty. Is that what you wanted to hear?” Yonghwa teased back. A burst of air made its way out of her fully flared nostrils as she gave him the evil eye. He was playing with fire, but he honestly didn’t mind if he got burned. It was much too fun to tease his darling girlfriend.

“Well then… Why don’t you just go ask Chae Young to have dinner with you tonight? I’ll tell your mom and grandma that you’re eating out tonight,” Seohyun shot back. She stood up with her chin held up high in disdain for the man sitting in the couch next to her. 

Yonghwa giggled when she mentioned ‘eating out.’ If he really wanted to, he could take that conversation in a whole different direction. In the end, he gave into his inner y teen and decided to mess with her head a little more. “Oh, I could be eating out tonight if you know what I mean,” he replied in a husky voice. With a swift motion, he tackled Seohyun to the couch and pinned her arms down forcefully.

“YAH!! You’re so erted! How could you even… eww Yonghwa you’re so nasty!” she squealed when she realized he was talking about him performing a certain ual action with her. Yonghwa smiled at the cute way she blushed and looked away from him in shame. Still, she hadn’t had enough for him to really get a laugh.

“Don’t lie darling, you know you would enjoy it,” he continued to ersely tease. “I know you would want me to.” Her insides began to boil as he spoke about doing unspeakable things to her. By then, Yonghwa was satisfied with the way she was blushing and he released some of the grip on her thin arms.

While he was still straddling her limp body on the couch, Yonghwa’s mother walked in to make sure that they had what they needed to make dinner that night. “Seohyun ah! Are you sure we have enough ingredients for the meal dear? Last time I checked… OMO! Sorry! I’ll… uh… Sorry!”

Yonghwa’s hands immediately let go of any part of Seohyun’s body that they currently held. Seohyun could only curl up into a little ball while she cursed her and Yonghwa repeatedly for being caught in that state. They had only been dating for a little under two weeks and they were already doing things to make people uncomfortable. “Omma… ah, sorry. You weren’t interrupting anything. Go ahead and ask Seohyun what you need,” he muttered before dashing up the stairs.

“Aigoo what am I going to do with this choding of mine?” the elder woman groaned. “Seohyun ah, you have to stay by his side or else I fear he will be a child for the rest of his life.” Seohyun gave her a shy smile before sighing in relief. She half expected his mother to be livid when she saw them in that state. Luckily, she seemed more than fine with it.

“Mianhaeyo eomeoni,” Seohyun apologized, adding a deep bow in for a greater effect. “We shouldn’t be acting like that when we’re just dating.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she warmly reassured the younger girl. “You two have been through so much to get where you are. I understand that you two have needs.”

Seohyun, not feeling comfortable talking about her ‘needs’ with her mother in law could only shift her weight awkwardly on her feet as she stood there. “Still, it’s not right for us to do that so early in the relationship. Not that we’re doing that stuff! Well… we… never mind! We’re not that close yet!”

“Seohyun ah…” the woman called in a loving voice. “Don’t worry about it. I trust you two. I know you guys are smart enough to make your own decisions. I’m just an ahjumma that’s here to watch out for you two. Don’t worry about me.” The tone of voice the woman was using almost made Seohyun feel as if she had a mother. It was the same voice her father used when he was assuring her that he trusted her.

“Kamsahamnida eomeoni,” Seohyun thanked with yet another polite bow. “I promise we won’t make any mistakes.”

Yonghwa’s mother smiled at the girl’s bashful behavior and decided to accept her gratitude quietly. Seohyun’s personality would just keep them apologizing and thanking each other if the conversation continued. “Thanks a lot for being with Yonghwa through hard times. I can’t thank you enough for being there for him,” Yonghwa’s mom commented. “He’s been so happy even though one of his close friends left him. Had you not been there to cheer him up, I wouldn’t know what to do.”

“Aniyo, don’t thank me,” Seohyun defended. “I owe Yonghwa oppa more than I could ever dream of repaying him. I’ll be grateful to him for the rest of my life. I promise that I will always be there for him.”

Yonghwa’s mother saw the choding standing on the staircase out of the corner of her eyes and let out a small chuckle. The way her son stared down at the well-mannered girl made her remember the way her husband would look at her when they first started dating all those years ago. “I’m sure he knows just how much he means to you,” she replied in an all-knowing way. “I can tell he definitely feels the same way.” The loving mother flashed Yonghwa a small smile, leading him to do the same towards her. “Come on then, let’s get a start on this dinner of ours.”

“Ne,” Seohyun politely replied, not bothering to look over to see that Yonghwa listened in on their small conversation.
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 Jae Hyuk sat patiently at a wooden coffee table at the café a block from the hospital he and Yonghwa both worked at. Hyuna asked the man to meet up to go over the details of their little revenge plot. If he were to be completely honest with himself, he couldn’t truly formulate a reason in his head as to why he was plotting against Yonghwa. It made him feel a little uneasy that he was just jumping into Hyuna’s game which could, for all he knew, be a game he would not have fun playing.

“Sorry for not being here earlier,” Hyuna apologized while he was still in his trance. “At least you’re here early.” Jae Hyuk almost rolled his eyes at the stuck up way she was speaking to him. They had only known each other for around 30 minutes, yet she was already speaking down to him. He was sure they were the same age. Then again, he supposed rich snobs would always be just that, rich snobs.

“I just got here,” he replied in an equally rude tone. “So, what is this about Hyuna.” The woman stiffened up at the way he was speaking so casually to her, but then again, she couldn’t care less.

“I have everything planned out from start to finish. There is no way Yonghwa and Seohyun will get out of this. Even if they manage to avoid a trap or two, they’ll eventually fall into my grasp,” Hyuna maliciously explained. Jae Hyuk could feel his spine tingle at the coldness of her voice.

“Back it up a little…” he spoke out. “I’m not in this to hurt the girl. I only want Yonghwa to have what he deserves for letting Min Young die.” Hyuna almost smiled at the stupidity Jae Hyuk exhibited. If only he knew that it was no one else’s fault but hers that Min Young died. Still that was a secret that was best kept secret.

Hyuna felt Jae Hyuk trying to analyze her motives with the way he stared into her eyes without any fear. It wouldn’t bode her well to have him questioning any part of the plan so she dropped her arrogance for the time being. “I have a score to settle with both of them. If you want to see Yonghwa hurt, she’s also got to be one of our targerts.”

“I’m not okay with hurting innocent people Hyuna,” he spat back. “I’m sure that by causing Yonghwa a little bit of pain, the girl will inadvertently get hurt as well.”

“Jae Hyuk… this won’t work out if you doubt me from the beginning. I’ve told you already. I have everything planned out from start to end. I assure you the plan is foolproof,” Hyuna deceivingly assured him.

“You better be right about this. What is it that you have in store?” he asked, being finally a little less uneasy about the whole situation.

Hyuna flipped her hair slightly while looking out through the window at the cloudy sky they had over their heads. It seemed to her like even the heavens were about to cry at the beginning of her master plan. Now that Jae Hyuk seemed to be 100% on board, there was no going back. “You’re in this until the end Jae Hyuk. The second you give up will be the second you land your in jail for conspiring along with me,” she threatened.

“Jail huh? I’d rather not get involved with you if you’re doing things that could land us in jail,” he unenthusiastically pointed out. Hyuna watched him sip his cup of coffee without so much batting an eyelash at her strongest glare. One thing was for sure: he was not someone that would so easily follow her. Then again, she knew his weakness.

“You wouldn’t want to see Yonghwa hurt after getting Min Young pregnant? Are you okay with the fact that all of her hard work to get into medical school went to waste because he decided she was an easy girl to play with?” Hyuna instigated. “Oh I guess you think it’s fine that Yonghwa left Min Young alone to die while he was out ing Seohyun’s brains out for a few days in Japan?

At that moment, Jae Hyuk stopped sipping his coffee abruptly. His calm demeanor shattered, forcing an aura of mal intent to surround him. “Bingo,” Hyuna thought cockily. It was almost hilarious to her how easy it was to get a man going once his love was put on the spotlight.

“Stop talking Hyuna. I don’t appreciate this kind of talk you know.”

“Well then join me. I can help you calm the rage and sorrow inside your heart. Min Young won’t come back, but you will definitely feel better when you see Yonghwa crushed under your feet,” Hyuna continued to sweet talk. Even the demons of hell themselves would applaud Hyuna’s snake tongue. Had she been a politician, she would have been a very successful one.

Unbeknownst to him, Hyuna was only using him. She had no intentions of crushing Yonghwa. The only person that she wanted to see under her crying for forgiveness was Seohyun. After so many years of getting all the attention, Seohyun still dared to take what she believed was hers. Even when Hyuna shined so brightly, that other woman still held the hearts of those around her without any effort. “First plan of action should be taken today. Are you ready?”

“What do I have to do?” Jae Hyuk asked in a more serious voice. “I need to get this over with as soon as possible.”

“Just act like you’re bringing Yonghwa here to this café because you want to talk to him,” Hyuna explained. Jae Hyuk threw a confused glance at her when she suggested that. The woman sitting in front of him seemed like the cold-blooded killer type. It struck him as odd that she was suggesting for him to have tea time with his enemy. “I’ll worry about the rest.”

“Is that all there is to it? I somehow feel like you could have done this without me,” he joked. “Whatever though. I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Don’t worry. I have this all planned out,” she smugly replied.

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Yonghwa followed Jae Hyuk closely from behind after having been asked to go to the café down the street together. The two men wearing white coats silently trekked to the tiny shop where the first stage of Hyuna’s plan would begin. He had no idea why someone that vowed to take revenge on him decided to have a change of heart only a week after. “We’re here.”

“Yeah…” Yonghwa trailed off. “Anyways, what did you want to talk about?”

“I’m here to apologize for being so aggressive towards you,” Jae Hyuk lied. Yonghwa looked at him with a glare full of suspicion. It was way too weird for someone who has hated him for around fifteen years to apologize out of the blue like that. “I can’t blame you for everything that happened to Min Young. It was my fault that she didn’t like me so I can’t be angry because of that.” It was killing Jae Hyuk inside to be so submissive, but it was for the sake of the plan.

“Um, okay?” Yonghwa responded in a questioning voice. “What’s the catch? I know you didn’t have a change of heart just because. Is there something else?”

Just then, Jae Hyuk felt a vibration coming from the phone in his pocket. From the corner of his eyes he saw Hyuna sitting out on the tables in the outdoor seating section. With the cues for him to start the plan, he excused himself from the table. “… I think I ate something bad. I need to go to the bathroom for a bit. We will continue our talk in a second though.”

“Go for it,” Yonghwa replied. The situation went from slightly strange to full out weird with the way Jae Hyuk was acting. Still, he supposed it was better than fighting with him the entire time. He sipped the coffee he ordered, when suddenly he saw a black haired girl walking in with her hands covering her face. “Hyuna?” he mumbled to himself. Then he noticed the way she had a black eye as she nursed it.

He walked over to the table she decided to take a seat at before taking a closer look at her face. “Yonghwa?” she cried in fake surprise. “Can you help me?”

“What happened?” he asked in a worried tone. She almost smiled when he fell for the bait instantly but she restrained herself. “Why are you hurt? Who did this?”

“Joon he… he got really angry and went on a rampage. I can’t believe he still hits his wife,” Hyuna lied through her tears. “Wait! Don’t tell anyone that I said that.”

Yonghwa felt pity for the girl, but kept his distance at the same time. It was not news to him that she was anything but a weak little girl that only knew how to cry. He definitely had his suspicions about whether her story was true or not. Even more bizarre was the way that she just so happened to be in the same place as him when Seoul was one of the largest cities in the world. “So Joon did this?”

“Don’t tell anyone please,” she sobbed. “He’s been getting worse and –”

“Everyone put your hands where I can see them!” a gruff voice yelled. Yonghwa turned around to see a few masked men holding black pistols in their hands. Now his day was officially weird. Guns were something not even mafia members carried in their country. Even more strange was the fact that they were robbing a café when there were bigger fish in the sea. “I said put your hands where I can see them!” A shot resounded within the small shop, forcing everyone’s arms up in the air.

“What the hell are you guys?” a voice called out. “Robbing a café? Really?”

“We’ve been hitting bigger targets the whole day. We’re just on a little coffee break is all,” the leader of the group explained with a chuckle. “I heard you folks in this neighborhood are a little loaded. After all, this café looks a little snobbish.” The man that spoke up against the thug closed his mouth instantly when he saw the gun pointed at his own head. “You seem to want to be the first victim.”

At first Yonghwa thought this was some kind of joke, but it seemed all too real once the thug shot his target in the leg. The bullet lodged itself into the man’s thigh, forcing a bloodcurdling yell out of him. “Who wants to be the next hero?” another thug laughed. “Ah… a doctor. How about you hand over all your money? I know you guys swim in it with the ridiculous amounts you charge.”

“Tch, like I’ll agree to help thugs like you,” Yonghwa scoffed. He was afraid, but not afraid enough that he would let them get away with it. While Yonghwa dealt with his current opponent, the people of the café were giving up hefty sums of money and their belongings to the leader. “Why don’t you guys go get a job instead of stealing like petty thieves?”

“Aish… you rich people don’t know how hard it is to make a living in this world,” the thug argued back. “Oh well, you won’t be so opposed to giving up your money if you’re dead. I’m sorry Mr. Doctor but I gotta make a living too.” Hyuna gave the man a small nod and sprung into action. Just as the masked man hit the trigger on his gun, Hyuna spun Yonghwa behind her, taking the full impact of the bullet.

“Oops, I missed,” he laughed. Hyuna flopped down onto the floor in pain as her bullet wound on her side began to ooze blood. “Your little girlfriend must really want you to be safe. I feel bad for her so I think I’ll let you guys go.”

Sirens sounded from nearby, indicating that the commotion they caused got noticed. However, this was all a part of the plan. The cops on their way weren’t really policemen. They were specially bought actors that Hyuna brought along so that they could easily hide her henchmen. “Time to bail guys. Sorry for the commotion everyone. See, I knew you guys were all packing cash. Sharing is caring after all! Later!”

“Hyuna!” Yonghwa yelled out in desperation. “Hyuna! Hyuna!”

“Yonghwa, are you alright?” Hyuna wearily called out. “As long as you’re fine…” With those words, her breath began to fail her. Yonghwa sensed her pulse weakening, prompting him to throw her onto his back. As much as he hated Hyuna, she had just saved his life, or so he thought.

Jae Hyuk heard the police sirens, prompting him to finish up his business in the bathroom. “Yonghwa! What happened? Oh this woman is bleeding profusely!”

“I can see that Captain Obvious! Help me carry her and the other guy down there to the hospital. They’re losing a lot of blood,” Yonghwa ordered. Jae Hyuk nodded his head and bent down to help the other injured person up. He had to commend Hyuna with the way the plan went. He honestly had no idea what she was thinking of when she explained it, but now he knew exactly what she was doing. He had to admit she really wanted her revenge if she would even take a bullet for it.

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Seohyun stood behind the window of the room where her ex-best friend currently slept peacefully. “How does it feel?” Yonghwa asked from behind. She turned to meet the man in the white coat with a downcast look in her eyes. “It’s a little saddening right?”

“Yeah,” Seohyun muttered. “I can’t believe I’m here watching her when she’s done nothing but hurt me in life.” Yonghwa threw an arm over her shoulder and brought her in close. He understood too well what she was saying. Hyuna had hurt them both in the past, yet they were standing by her side worrying about her.

“You know, I think even though she looks like a bad person…” Yonghwa trailed off. “She’s sometimes okay. It’s so strange for me to say that.”

“I know what you mean. I always thought that she was just really misguided with the way life treated her. I never really thought that she was evil to the core or anything like that,” Seohyun admitted. Hyuna’s plans were slowly coming to fruition. Those feelings of pity and compassion were just what she was looking for. Now that Seohyun and Yonghwa were starting to let go of some of their anger towards her, she would have a much easier time to carry out her plans.

Yonghwa then remembered the reason that Hyuna said she had that black eye. Joon never struck him as the violent type, but then again, he could be wrong. After all, he hadn’t seen what Joon became since he married the currently injured woman. “That black eye she has was caused by Joon. She told me not to tell on him. It looks like she’s not doing too well,” Yonghwa sadly explained.

“Where is Joon now?” Seohyun asked.

“He’s left for a meeting in the US. His secretary said he would be taking the next flight back once he arrived at the airport,” Yonghwa explained. “Let’s keep the black eye thing a secret okay? I don’t want to cause her any more trouble.”

“You’re right,” Seohyun agreed. “As much anger as I feel for her, I don’t want to let her have a hard time because of us. Should we call her grandma?”

“Let’s not,” he replied in a simple manner. “They haven’t seen each other for three years. The lady would probably die of a heart attack if we told her that Hyuna was just shot.”

Seohyun silently agreed with what her boyfriend was saying. It would be the best for everyone if this matter was all kept a secret. Once Joon came back from his business trip, he would have to deal with her issues. After all, they had no right to interfere in the lives of other people. Hyuna would probably not appreciate it if they told anyone about the current state of affairs without her consent.

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Hyuna opened her eyes only to close them rapidly when she was blinded by the lights in the room. Her head spun and she couldn’t really form a stable thought in her mind. “You’re finally up huh?” Jae Hyuk’s voice called from beside her. “Lucky me, I got assigned to be your doctor in charge. It must be fate.”

“Shut up idiot,” she moaned. “, I am feeling like I just got hit by a truck. How am I doing?”

“Well you got shot by a gun in a nearly fatal place, you were in the operating room for two hours, slept for around six, and you just woke up. That enough info for ya?” Jae Hyuk sarcastically replied. If Hyuna had the strength t o glare at him, she would have done so.

“I could have done without the sarcasm,” she wearily shot back. “So I take it that the guys got away well? I was kind of fainted so I couldn’t see them escape.”

Jae Hyuk ignored her question as he read the numbers on the machines and scribbled onto her medical chart. It wasn’t until he saw her try to glare at him that he decided to acknowledge her question. “Yeah, they got away just fine. The fake cops you ordered to patrol the area helped them escape,” he answered. Jae Hyuk began to fear a little for his life under Hyuna’s command. The woman was legitimately insane and it scared him,

“Good, I can’t be exposed yet,” she remarked. “How about Yonghwa? What has he been doing?”

“Him and his little girlfriend have been hanging around here. They’re genuinely worried about you. Those two must be really nice people to worry about a like you,” he crudely noted. Hyuna didn’t even flinch at his rude comments anymore as she was more than used to them.

“That was the plan.”

He still was in awe at the way Hyuna planned such an intricate event. She hired the thugs to break into their café just after she lied about Joon beating her. With that little shard of pity in his heart, Yonghwa would go a little easier on her. Then, she set up a fake shooting so that Yonghwa would be in “danger.” However, it was all a trap. She would jump into the way of the bullet in order to “save his life” and make him feel even sorrier for her. The fact that Hyuna took a bullet that could have killed her in order to get closer to Yonghwa was frightening.

Hyuna tried sitting up, only to be pushed back down by Jae Hyuk’s much stronger arms. “Lie back down. You nearly died today,” he pointed out. “You’re insane you know that? You got a thug to punch your face so it looked like your husband beat you. I can’t believe you actually let yourself get shot so that you would look like a nicer person to those guys. What else should I expect from you?”

“A lot more than that Jae Hyuk,” she coldly confessed. “I’m going to do whatever it takes to get my way. I’m already at their doorstep. With a bit of acting, Yonghwa will be easy prey for me. I’ll make sure to ruin his little relationship with Seohyun.”

“Whatever you say boss,” he chuckled. “I’m not as crazy as you so don’t think I’ll pull a stunt like that off.”

“You’ll do what I say if I order it,” Hyuna barked, forcing her to flinch in pain from her wound. “May I remind you that we are in on this together? If I go down, you’re coming with me.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah…” the doctor grumbled. “I’ll tell your ‘friends’ to come see you when I see them. I’m sure you’ll pull of another award winning performance when you all meet. Get more rest. You’re going to need it.”

Author’s Note: Sorry everyone for not updating as per my usual schedule. Writer’s block has been especially cruel this time around. I think I may have it all solved out so I hope I can write more often. So here we have stage one of Hyuna’s plans. She’s slowly going to work her way into making our gullible protagonists feel bad for her and then go in for the kill. Jae Hyuk is still a little hesitant, but I guess we will need him for the plot development. Hyuna’s a manipulative so even she can keep a rude guy like him in check as we saw earlier.

Honestly, the little café plan seemed ridiculous, but I really had no idea how to set up her taking the bullet for her. Also, the whole Joon beating Hyuna subplot will also play out in the end. I needed some way to set that up as well. P.S. Hyuna is a crazy since she let herself get shot, but I’m sure you all knew that.

Also sorry I didn’t reply to comments for the last chapter. I appreciate all the kind words you guys leave for me and I enjoy replying to comments a lot. However, I didn’t have time this time around. I’ll definitely keep up with this stuff more the next time around. Thanks to all for your continued support. Man my notes are really long : /