Chapter 6

Kwon Seohyun had finished her class and was on her way over to the Sherbet, just a couple blocks away. She should’ve been there about fifteen minutes ago and should be sitting by the counter, working on her assignment while talking to her brother’s best friend. However, the heavy rain held her back, forcing her to stay at the Student Centre until the rain lull. If she brought her umbrella along, she wouldn’t have to stay at the centre listening to the male students cheering and chanting over a game of pool. Instead, Seohyun only grabbed her backpack and sketchbook and chased after her brother, the moment she saw him in such disastrous attire. She might’ve managed to hold him back but as expected of the athletic Yul, she was no match to the older Kwon.

Sitting by the corner of the Student Centre, occupying the small round desk by the window; Seohyun tried to focus on her assignment set to due next week. Her elbow propped up on the table, letting her chin rested on the palm of her hand. While her free hand was holding the pencil between her index and middle finger, twirling it. She blinked her eyes, turning her gaze away from the book to the window.

The rain was not making the day easy for her. The same with the hectic indoor. She then quickly packed up her books and decided to head off to the Sherbets anyway. Gaining this concern look from her classmates, she showed a calming smile and said, “This place is giving me the headache. See you tomorrow.” Out to the door, she then stepped out to the wet sidewalk tugging on her coat. Zipper up to below her chin, Seohyun marched off in the rain, being careful not to slip.

It had been an unusual day so far, judging from what she had seen. First, it was her brother who decided to be such an immature person by wearing bizarre and embarrassing looking clothes to a place where the fashion sense was top-notch, Hollywood style. Luckily, on the way there, a woman whom she now known as Kim Hyoyeon had stepped up and save the day before, as Kim Taeng said, ‘unleashing Hwang The Terrible’.

Now, Seohyun kind of wondered why the man whom she often go karaoke with – also a sane brother figure right next to Lee Soonkyu– would described one of TREX most prized fashion designer by that name. Maybe they were just fooling around with it, just for fun. Though, she did witness the way how Hwang Tiffany treated her brother. She was cold despite her warming appearance. Seohyun could’ve come out of that closet and defend her brother but then, seeing someone, who can handle even though they only known each other just about 24 hours ago,  like Hwang Tiffany was refreshing. Seohyun think she might like it. At least, it’s not like the women Yul dated in the past that ended up spending most of their time showing off toe-curling aegyo and slobbering over Kwon Yul’s chocolate abs. Interventions were needed for that but mostly on the crazy women.

As much as she wants to see her older brother to settle down and have little Kwon running around the house, there are certain requirements she must put forth and the vital one of all was, whoever she is, she must not be as ‘Kkab’ as Kwon Yul. That’s the big deal. Standing by the traffic light, waiting for the light to turn red; Seohyun pulled up her collar, pressing them close to her neck as she felt the chill blowing in the cold weather. She should really pack that portable umbrella when she head off to school tomorrow. Better take an extra alert note on that.

Just as the drizzle almost soaking her back and bag, a dry shade was casted on her, blocking the cold rain. Her tug around her collar loosened. There was a shadow standing close at the corner of her eyes, alerting her that someone was kind enough to offer their umbrella to the half drenched girl. Turning her head over, about to thank the person; she quickly found herself smiling widely at the person who was holding the umbrella. “Krystal!”

A tall young woman with long jet black hair wearing a hoody and a baseball hat, just few years younger than Seohyun, Jung Krystal smiled along, matching up to the one on Kwon Seohyun’s face. It was surprising to see her there especially after the Jung informed that they were moving to America a year ago. Seohyun leaned forward and embraced her former theatre-mate. “What are you doing back in Korea? I thought you’re moving away.”

“We did.” Krystal replied, pulling away from the older girl’s arms. “My parents are there but I decided to come back to visit my sister. She’s been having a rough time so I thought having me around could lighten her up a bit. And I was in the bookstore when I saw you. So I thought, why not greet an old friend.”

The light went red. “Let’s walk,” Seohyun suggested, reaching for the latter’s arm as they both walked along the zebra line. Underneath the umbrella, the pair walked on by shoulder to shoulder as Seohyun said, “You never mentioned having a sister before, Soojung-ah.” The latter grinned when her Korean name was used. “What? Is she a long lost sister or something?”

“Haha. No!” Krystal replied, tucking on the older woman’s hand affectionately while her other hand firmly held the umbrella. “It’s just slipped my mind a lot. If I ever did mention her, even you won’t leave me alone.”

“I’ll just leave it to that.” Seohyun smiled, turning to face the latter.

Krystal grinned. “Thank you, unnie.”

The pair climbed the side-walk and headed to their right, just a block away from the Sherbet. As the restaurant was on sight, Seohyun then asked, “I’m going to the Sherbets, you wanna come with? We can talk more there if you want.”

“Uhm, sure.” Krystal agreed. “Got nothing to do anyway, I was supposed to look for my sister but I guess I can take a break.”

“Great. C’mon, Soonkyu Oppa makes the best pasta ever.” Seohyun quickly took hold of the umbrella, fastened her steps and literally had the girl running, struggling by the firm grip on her hand.

Krystal laughed. “So I actually get to meet the great Lee Sunsaengnim? If he’s as cute as you said, mind if I try to date him?”

“No way, he’s off limit!” The latter said. “Besides, he’s got an eye on someone.”

“Bummer!”

As the pair, happily ran in the rain, forgetting the umbrella Krystal had brought, had reached the destination and just few steps away from the front door; Krystal quickly seized a handful of Kwon Seohyun’s bag and pulled her back. Swiftly, she even had the umbrella up straight yet it titled forward a little covering their face. Confused, Seohyun tried to ask but was hushed by the youngest of the pair.

Krystal had her eyes glaring straight which prompted Seohyun to look at what made her so cautious all of a sudden. There was a couple stepping out of the restaurant. The man had this suave looking getup, along with his sleek shiny hair while the woman, looking sort of timid, had this coat on, held her head down and carrying a small takeaway box with the sticker ‘Sherbets’ on it.

“Let’s go.” Said the man, clicking on his car keys and had the front passenger seat door to his SUV vehicle opened to the woman. The latter followed suit and sat quietly, hugging the takeaway box close to her lap. Quick swing of his arm, the door shut tight. He then walked over to the driver seat and got in. Engine roared and the pair drove off south. As the car drove by, Krystal lifted the umbrella making their view whole again and stared off after it. She stepped out from under the umbrella and sighed.

Seohyun stepped forward and had the woman back under the umbrella. “You know them?”

“More than know.” Krystal replied, looking devastated. She slowly turned to the young Kwon and added, “That was my sister and the bastard who cheated on her…”

**********

In the meantime, while the situation with Jung Jessica being stuck between two, back at the TREX, sitting at her new temporary office; Hwang Tiffany was pinning in the fabrics she obtained from the storage below (thanks to Kwon Yul), hoping to recreate the masterpiece blazer she had worked on for months. Putting them on and then taking them back off again, then decided to put on a different layer of lighter color and then ripped them off entirely; Hwang Tiffany groaned as she slumped onto the couch. She glared at the mannequin.

Outside the door, Kwon Yul was sitting by after making the decision to stay out of his new boss’s way. After the argument they had at the stairway, it was harder for them to even be in the same room together and not lashes out on part numero dos of battle of the crazies.

“Stupid mannequin! Hold still! Don’t make me rip the out of you! ARGH!” Hwang Tiffany’s yells was heard even when the door was closed. Kwon Yul rolled his eyes, thinking that Hwang The Terrible was taking this too seriously.

‘It was just some ugly looking blazer.’ He thought, recalling back to how the original blazer appeared to him. ‘No way that thing even worth a million…’  He scoffed. ‘… or even wearable. Pfft. These folks are so silly, it’s ain’t even funny. If any of them cry over a small ripped piece of cloth, I’m calling the mental asylum to check them in.’

Kwon Yul leaned his head back against the wall and sighed. This was not what he hoped for. If he was at the station, he’d be polishing his helmets and belts and play helmets bowling with his best friend, Kim Taeng. He had the leader to blame for this. Kwon Yul then decided to shut his eyes. If this keep going, exhausted by hearing the constant whining from behind the door; he better seize this chance and pay the short nap he always have late in the afternoon. Beside with the rainy weather outside, it was the perfect time to doze off.

He crossed his arms, letting his head slanted a bit to the side and breathes slowly through his nose. Happy thoughts slowly come to his mind. ‘Mmm, puppies… bunnies…jellybeans… cotton candy… SoonSoon’s pasta with extra sauce… mmm… that ought to be good… oh crap, I’m getting hungry.’

‘… Mini Kimbap…’

“Kwon Yul!”

‘Ddoekbokki…’

“KWON YUL!!”

‘… Oh… cucumber-‘

“HEY IDIOT KWON YUL! GET YOUR IN HERE!!”

Kwon Yul snapped his eyes opened, getting tired of this insane workload. He rose up from his seat, marched to the door and said, “What’d you---“ He stopped straightaway.

On the floor, he saw the mannequin laid flat on its side with torn fabrics hanging on its body. Next to it, there were shreds of others, making a huge mess. But what concerned Kwon Yul was that Hwang Tiffany was sitting on the floor, kicking off her killer heels off, holding her hand tightly. Yul trailed his eyes from the latter’s pained expression to the hand. There was blood formed on her palm. It seemed like the fashion designer had a catfight with the mannequin and it was evidently clear that Hwang the Terrible was losing the battle.

Kwon Yul quickly headed out of the office. But came back in fast, with his messenger bag, which was delivered by Kim Taeng during the lunch break. Getting down to the floor next to the tired fashion designer, Yul took out his first aid kit and a tumbler filled with warm water. Out from the back of his pocket, he took out a packet of tissue and laid it on top of the kit. He reached for the fashion designer’s hand and took a look at the wound. “You didn’t do much damage, you’re good.” Yul said seriously. Placing his free hand over to the wound, pushed it on his knee; he then applied pressure on the wound while he flipped open the first aid kit easefully, taking out a small bottle of liquid soap and an antibiotic ointment.

The latter cringed hard when the pressure gotten heavier. She was about to yell at him for being too rough but judging from the look on his face, one she had never seen before, she stayed quiet. Pressure off, Yul proceeded in cleaning off the blood as he wiped a warm water dabbed tissue onto the palm and applied a little liquid soap. He then coated it back again with the warm water from his tumbler.  Next, sitting properly now, Yul took out an antibiotic ointment, twisted the cap open and dabbed lightly onto the wounded palm.

Tiffany twitched, trying to pull her hand away. But Yul held on tight and started to blow lightly. It was weird to Tiffany. Here’s the man who had ruined her life in just one day, destroyed her best creation and had the most childish personality she ever known off and with just one injury sustained by her, Kwon Yul had turned into this calm, collected and caring young man. He was rough and now, she never thought he would be this delicate in dealing someone like her especially with the way she treated him. She started to stare, her mind wandered off from her bleeding palm, which now had been sealed with a sterile large bandage.

Checking his patient’s hand again, he lightly traced his finger on the edge of the bandage to check for swellings. Luckily, there weren’t any. Yet. Once that done, Yul got up to his feet and started over to the fallen mannequin. Lifting it off the ground, he then placed at against the wall and then proceeded in picking up the torn threads.

Silence engulfed the pair. Tiifany got up to her feet and settled onto the couch while Yul cleaned up the room, including his belongings. “Take a rest,” came his voice, sounded so mellow and straightforward. “Pretty sure you don’t want stitches to go with that, ok?” Bag aside, a packet of egg sandwich out, he turned to the fashion designer and continued, “Eat this up. You need it.”

The latter slowly took the food, without saying anything. Yul headed to the door and said, “I’m gonna get some pack of ice, if there are swelling. Just in case… Oh, Hyoyeon-ssi…”

“Hiya, what’s going on?” Kim Hyoyeon stepped into her best friend’s office. As soon as she entered, Yul made his way out, leaving the friends alone. “Did you guys fight again?” Hyoyeon stated what feels like the obvious. At the couch, Tiffany shook her head, massaging her wounded hand.

Tiffany sighed. “I got into a little trouble,” waving her palm to her best friend.

“Yah!” Hyoyeon had gone apprehensive. Eyes widened at the sight of the band aid. She joined her at the couch and held her friend’s hand. “Aish! Pabo-yah. You should be more careful.”

Tiffany retrieved her hand. “I got it handled, ok. I’m fine. Yul helped me… no biggie.”

“Yul helped you? Really?”

The latter groaned. “Don’t start. Ok.”

“Start on what?” Hyoyeon replied defensively. Her best friend shook her head, munching on the eggs sandwich. Hyoyeon’s small brown eyes studied Tiffany’s face, wondering what she was thinking so deeply there. She guessed she should leave it as it is, for now.

While the best friends conversed in the office, Kwon Yul gathered up the dirty tissues, threw them away and headed off to the men’s room to clean up his tumbler. He headed back out. He hurried over to the receptionist counter where he spotted a water dispenser. As he was filling up the tumbler with warm water, a young woman came through the doorway of an office at the left side. She was carrying a thick file, struggling with it as she advanced slowly, with light steps, to the receptionist counter.

“Can you get the guys from IT to come up? My computer acting up again.” A voice softly uttered. The receptionist then picked up the phone, dialling the number of the IT department. While waiting, the woman looked at Kwon Yul with her striking hazel eyes, that both looked curious and shy. The curls of her hair pushed off from her gaze, still eyeing the fireman.

Yul was twisting the cap, shutting tight his tumbler. He turned to the receptionist, gave thanks before heading off back to Hwang Tiffany’s office, not even catching the eyes that had been on him moments ago. The woman by the counter turned to the receptionist, whom had the phone down, and asked, “Is that the guy who Tiffany hired? The one who messed up her project.”

“Yes. I think his name is Kwon Yul. He’s a fireman, I think.” The receptionist answered. “Kinda reminded you of Im Yoong a little, don’t you think, Bora-ssi?”

Yoon Bora murmured, “You’re right.” Her eyes were still lingering on to Yul before he disappeared into the Tiffany’s office. “A good looking one too…”

“Unlike with Yoong, Tiffany-ssi and Yul-ssi seem to fight a lot.” The receptionist added.

“Good to know.”

Author's Note:

Update in 2-3 days! Enjoy! Thank for subscribing and reading. DIdn't expected such response. You guys are awesome!!