“Please, an ambulance…”

“It was a car crash…”

“Don’t worry miss, everything will be okay…”

“The driver was drunk…”

It was almost midnight when the phone rang.

“Hello…”

“I’m sorry sir, is Miss Sandara Park home?” – It was a man. His tone was way too serious.

“My sister…” – the young man, who had gotten the phone, was now fully awake. Listening to his sister’s name had surprised him – “…no, I’m sorry… Can I get your message?” – Why would anybody call his sister? And why at that time?

“Lee Chaerin was involved in a car accident.” – The caller spoke slowly – “She had given us this number.”

Lee Chaerin… CL!

“CL?!” – the young man nearly shouted. Lee Chaerin was his sister’s close friend – “Is she okay? What happened? What hospital is she at?” – He asked, taking his jacket, taking the car’s key.

“Hospital…?” – The caller replied – “She’s not at the hospital, sir. She’s at the police station.”

Midnight.

“Excuse me…” – a tall young man entered the police station – “I received a call and… I came to take Lee Chaerin.” – he said.

“Name.” – the receptionist, a voluptuous lady, asked eyeing the young man from head to toes.

“Park Sanghyun.” – the young man answered, not noticing the receptionist’s eyes traveling through his entire body.

“Oh, not you…” – he heard – “I told them to call Dara.”

Lee Chaerin, of course.

“If you want to spend the night on jail, I can just leave.” – Sanghyun replied to her provocation.

“Cut it out, Thunder. It’s over.” – she said apathetically.

That one sentence had driven Thunder mad. How could that woman be so careless?! Especially when she was perfectly fine while the person she had almost killed was in the hospital.

“You’re lucky nobody died!” – he yelled, walking close to the seats. His face getting red – “You know you could have killed someone, don’t you?! I don’t believe you were that stupid to drink and drive!!”

Chaerin didn’t even look at him. He could yell his lungs away if he wanted to, but she would not give ears to that loser.
Not receiving any attention didn’t stop Thunder’s scolding though.
“You’re mother…” – he started, but Chaerin’s sudden action cut him.

She had gotten up from her seat and raised a hand to slap him, and she would have done so, if not for his firm grip.
She had tried to slap his face, but he had held her arm.

Lee Chaerin had never met a man that had the guts to go against her. Who would?!

Thunder let go of her arm, not taking his eyes off of her.
Chaerin stared at him with such hate. The red mark on her wrist was not the reason.

“I’m sorry.” – Thunder spoke firmly. His intention had not been to hurt her, but if she had tried to hit him, he couldn’t just watch as she did so.

“Don’t ever touch me again” – Chaerin warned before leaving the building.

“Good luck, buddy.” – the police officer said, tapping Thunder’s shoulder lightly.

That night was going to be really long.

Because Chaerin’s car had been nearly completely destroyed and she had spent all the money she had on her pockets and wallet on drinks, she had not had another choice but to accept Thunder’s ride.

They had left the district without saying a word to each other and it had remained that way for an hour.

“I’ll… drive you home” – Thunder broke the silence.

“Drive somewhere else.” – Chearin said with authority.

Thunder had not liked that. Who would?! He was doing her a favor, he had driven to another district, he had paid her bail!! She should be far more than satisfied! And although he wanted to rub the facts on her face, he did not.

“You can spend the night at my place then.” – he spoke simply.

Chaerin didn’t answer.
It meant another hour of mortal silence.

When they arrived to Thunder’s small place, Chaerin’s first reaction was to laugh at it. There were toys, painting, masks, puppets, costumes and other childish things on the shelves.

“Do you play with these?” – she teased in a mean way, taking a puppet from its place.

“You can take a shower if you’d like” – Thunder spoke, taking the puppet from her hands and putting it back on its place.

“So there is a bathroom in this circus…” – she teased again, being mean again.

Thunder’s place was small, but it was home. There was one bedroom and one bathroom, but it was enough. The living room was well organized, aside from his masks, puppets, colorful papers, books and notebooks messing up the shelves.

“You can sleep in the bedroom. It’s over there.” – Thunder said, pretending not to listen to Chaerin’s humiliating observances – “Washroom’s over there and that’s the kitchen… There’s pizza on the fridge. You can use the microwave.” – he pointed the directions.

Chaerin rolled her eyes.
She took her jacket and threw it on the couch.

“Hey! You can’t…” – Thunder started, but his scolding was soon interrupted by Chaerin’s shirt being thrown at his face.