Chapter 7

“Get up!” Kris shouted. Hae Jin froze, insisted to wait for Dr. Lay.

“I said, get up!” his firm voice made the waiters at the restaurant stared at them.

“What are you doing? Calm down, Kris.” Tao pulled Kris away. The restaurant was empty, it was 11:30pm and the restaurant had already closed 30 minutes ago.

“I thought he is the right guy for you, but I’m wrong. Your father is right. Lay is just playing with you.” Kris was cursing Dr. Lay in front of Hae Jin. But, right after Kris finished talking, a punch hit his strict face.

“You know nothing about Lay! You have no right to curse him. Lay loves Hae Jin and no one can doubt that.” Tao barked.

“Stop it!” Hae Jin finally stood up.

“I don’t know. I really don’t know whether he loves me or not. Or maybe, I have just got dumped by him.” Hae Jin ran outside. Kris and Tao tried to chase her.

“Hae Jin, please believe in Lay. Trust me, he won’t dump you. Hae Jin!” Tao tried to convince her. Kris finally succeeded to grab her arm.

“Follow me, you won’t meet Lay again! I won’t let it happen.” Kris pushed Hae Jin into his car.

“Kris, you can’t force her!” Tao stopped Kris. This time, Kris punched Tao and Tao fell on the ground. Tao stood up, wanted to punch Kris back.

“Enough!” Hae Jin shouted.

“Let him take me away, Tao.” Kris entered his car and swiftly drove away. Tao was left alone at the pedestrian. He pulled out his phone, dialed up Dr. Lay’s number. But, no one answered.

She’s back to her villa. She was alone in her villa. She had locked herself in her room for days. Do not eat nor bath and crying all night. She tried to call Dr. Lay, but no one picked up the phone. She won’t answer any phone call. Her messy hair, puffy eyes, stinky smell and miserable look, didn’t bother her. Sometimes, she’ll sit in the living room or crying in her room or curling under her blanket, wasting her 23 days mourning over the dinner incident. When Kris came knocking at the door, she wouldn’t open it. Hae Jin’s condition made Kris worried of her. Kris had dialed Hae Jin’s number for thousands times but she ignored him. Kris knew she’s sad and this was what Kris didn’t want to see. A few times Kris blamed himself for causing Hae Jin to be so miserable.

Few months later…

Kris was now running his father company. He had to visit a few academies that the company owned. Today, he had to interview a group of students for the company scholarships. He would select ten most talented and excellent students for the scholarships. Kris took a seat between two other interviewers in a room. He told a runner to call the first candidate. A girl in the age of nineteen stepped in. She greeted the interviewers including Kris.

“Hye! I’m Son Hara.” She bowed.

“Today, for dancing section, I choose the song Bubble Pop by Hyun A of 4 Minute.” One of the runners played the song requested.

Kris didn’t pay attention on the candidate. His mind flew far away to Hae Jin. He was staring at the birds outside the window. A hand slapped his back softly from behind and surprised him.

“Are you okay, Kris? You look tired today. If you want to go home, I’ll handle the interview with Baek Hyun.” Chen one of the interviewers worried of Kris.

“He’s right, Kris. You look quite pale today. Are you sick?” Baek Hyun slipped in. Kris shook his head.

“No. I’m okay. I can do the interview. Let’s continue to next candidate.

“Kris lifted his pen on the desk as if he was paying his attention now.

“Bring the boys.” Chen ordered. Two boys came in with a shy look. Kris froze after he saw the two boys.

“Wow! Look, two special candidates today.” Baek Hyun interested.

“Twin?” Chen asked the boys. They nodded and smiled to the interviewers. Baek Hyun and Chen looked excited, but Kris was in shock.  Their faces reminded Kris of someone.

“Hye, I’m Luhan and this is my twin dongsaeng, Sehun.” They bowed.

“For today category, we prepared a dancing performance and we are ready to amaze you.” In shyness Luhan introduced himself and Sehun. As the music played, the twin started to dance, following the rhythm.

8pm, Kris finally managed to flee from the business of works. He stepped into his car. After he locked the door, he leaned his back on the seat. His head was thinking of someone. It’s not Hae Jin, but the twin brothers interviewed by him today. Their faces surprised him a lot.

“They look a lot like him. How can it be?” Kris rubbed his face with his palms. He took a deep breath before drove back home.

After months, Hae Jin finally sat in front of the dressing table. She applied super thick BB cream onto her pale skin. She didn’t forget to use some blusher onto her thin cheeks. She chose a bright red lipstick and wiped it on her dry lips. Her messy hair was now nicely combed. The thickness of her make-up today hid her eye bag and dark circle. She had done with her face and dress. She grabbed a coat before she left the villa. It was winter season. The cold and dull circumstance made Hae Jin gave out a heavy sigh. Tomorrow, she’ll celebrate her 24^th birthday. She didn’t want to celebrate it alone. So, Hae Jin decided to meet her father and celebrate her birthday with him.

“Tomorrow is Hae Jin’s birthday. I’ve decided to give her a surprise.” Joo Hyun shared his plan with Kris. After the dinner incident, Kris determined to obey Joo Hyun. He did everything for Joo Hyun.

“What is it?” Kris participated.

“I’ll pack my luggage and move back to the villa.” Joo Hyun looked excited.

“Good idea. You can’t leave her alone in mourn.” Joo Hyun nodded to Kris’s opinion.

“What have you prepared for her?” Joo Hyun asked.

“Nothing special. But, I hope she’ll love it.” Kris sighed, worried about Hae Jin.

“Don’t worry, trust me, she’s fine.” Joo Hyun encouraged Kris.

“Are you okay? Why are you so silent?” Joo Hyun noticed Kris had changed.

“Nothing, just too tired of works.” Kris lied. His head was all about the twin he saw at the company, yesterday.

“Can I ask you something?” Kris questioned.

“Yeah, sure.” Joo Hyun was in a good mood.

“I hope you can tell me the truth. What have you done to Lay?” The question that kept bothering him finally escaped from his mouth. Joo Hyun joyful face turned lame.

“Nothing big.” Kris sat up straight.

“What did you do to him?” His soft voice became slightly firm.

“Let’s not talk about that bastard. It’s a good thing he has gone now.” Joo Hyun stood up, poured white wine in a wine glass and drank it.

“I don’t understand. So, it’s not Lay who had left Hae Jin? So, it’s you who made him away?” Kris got mad.

“You can say so.” Joo Hyun smirked. Suddenly, both of them heard a cry.

“Dad, what have you done? I can’t believe what I heard.” Hae Jin cried heavily.

“What have you done to Lay?!” Hae Jin shouted. Seeing none of them answering, Hae Jin left them and ran away.

“Hae Jin-ah!” Kris went out to find Hae Jin, but she’s nowhere to be found.

In the business of Myeongdong City, Hae Jin walked on the pedestrian. Her eyes dried of tears.

What has dad done to Lay?

Where is he now?

How does he feel?

Is he fine?

Why he didn’t tell me about dad?

Hae Jin lifted her wrist and took a glance at her watch, 1am.

“Happy Birthday, Hae Jin.” She whispered to herself. A loud music attracted her attention. The loud beat was from a night club. Hae Jin stopped in front of the entrance, doubting whether she should enter the night club or not. She saw a few drunken men stepped out of there.

“Hey, honey.”  A hand landed on Hae Jin’s shoulder.

“Want to join us?” A group of boys gathered around Hae Jin. One of the boys noticed her puffy eyes.

“Oh! Do you cry?” She turned her face away from them.

“There must be something bad happened to you, right? We can cheer you up. Come. Let’s join us.” Another hand then pulled Hae Jin to follow them into the night club. She was forced to dance for them. After 30 minutes dancing, they forced her to gulp some beers and strong alcohol. Hae Jin started to get dizzy. This was the first time she ever touched alcoholic drinks. Her body felt so heavy and weak. Her body shivered. Hae Jin vomited in front of the boys.

“Ewww~ Stay away from me. Disgusting!” They pushed her away.

“She has no fun at all. Bring her outside.” Two boys pulled her forcefully. Her dizzy head was so painful. She was like in the middle of an earthquake. She then was being thrown on the pedestrian.

“Sleep well, sunshine!” The boys laughed at her. Hae Jin weakly stood up on her legs. Her sight started blurring. Slowly she made her step away from that hell. She was regretting to stop in front of the night club. As she walked, a few pedestrians glared at her. She couldn’t walk straight cause of her dizzy head. A 5 year old girl came to her.

“Unnie, are you okay?” but, the little girl mum then pulled her away from Hae Jin.

“Don’t you ever help drunken person! They might hurt you, darling.” Mum firmly advised the little girl. Hae Jin tried to ask for help, but no one seemed to care about her. Again, she fell on the ground. It’s difficult for her to lift her body up. She held on tree and finally succeeded to stand up. Her lips quavered. A drop of tears fell on her cheek.

“Lay.” She whispered before she fainted under the tree.

“Hyung, what if we don’t get the scholarship? Sehun worried.

“Don’t say that. We’ve tried our best, don’t we?” Luhan and his twin dongsaeng, Sehun had ramyun for their dinner.

“It’s true. But, we did our best in other scholarship too, at the end we failed, right?” Sehun slurped his hot ramyun. Luhan softly patted Sehun’s back.

“Don’t give up easily, okay? Remember what our hyung always teach us, no matter what, we have to do the best of our best to succeed. Sehun-ah, please don’t give up. I’m here; I won’t let us live in a miserable way. We must get out of this stressful life, understand?” Luhan hugged his twin warmly.

“I won’t give up, hyung. I promise you, I’ll fight with you. We have to make mum, dad and hyung to be proud of us, right?” Luhan nodded to Sehun with a sweet smile.

“The result of the scholarship will be announced next week, even if we didn’t manage to get it, we’ll try for other scholarship.” Both of them cleaned up the mess and got dress to go out.

“Quick! Or we’ll be late.” Luhan grabbed his coat and wore his shoes. Sehun, who was left behind, jogged to Luhan. Together they walked to a 24-hour mini market. They worked there as their part time job. The twin was orphan. They lost their parents since they were seven year old. Their brother was the one who worked so hard to support their family. All three of them didn’t forget to spread their loves among themselves. Their eldest brother had taught them about the hardship and bitterness of life, but he always pampered the twin.

“Look!” Luhan pointed his finger to a shady tree across the road.

“What?” Sehun frowned his forehead, didn’t understand.

“There, under the tree!” Sehun then lowered his head to see the object that had attracted Luhan’s attention. His eyes widened when he saw a figure of a body laid under the tree. Luhan quickly pulled Sehun’s hand, crossing the road to get the girl. They approached the fainted girl.

“She smells like a strong alcohol. I think she’s drunken. We have to help her before something bad happened.”Luhan told Sehun about his suggestion.

“So what? She’s a stranger, hyung. Let her be. We need to go now. We’re already 15 minutes late.” Sehun didn’t want to join Luhan.

“Then, you go to work yourself. I want to bring her home.” Sehun brushed the girl’s hair away from her face. He froze.

“Hyung, you have to see this.” Luhan turned and saw her face. The girl who had left a dark mark in the twin’s life was now in front of them.

“Hyung, do you seriously want her to be in our house?” Sehun doubted on Luhan’s decision. Silently, Luhan had a thought.

“It’s okay. Help me lift her up and you can go to work. Don’t forget to tell Dambi-nim I’m not working today.” Sehun obeyed. The girl was on Luhan’s back, still unconscious. Sehun walked to other direction and Luhan headed home.

At home…

He laid the girl on his bed. He stared on her miserable faced. There’s something big that he was thinking of, a very big deal.

Kris was home. After dinner, he locked himself in his personal office. There was a pile of works waiting for him. But, none of them touched by Kris. He headed to the balcony, throwing his view into the dark night. He inhaled a heavy breathe. He had to solve his personal problem first, and then he’ll do his office works. There were two things that kept messing in his head. First, it was about the twin who he met at the company scholarship interview. Second, Joo Hyun’s confession on what he had done to Lay made Kris regretted on what he did to Hae Jin. There’s a voice that kept telling him that both problems were related to each other. Kris had to make the first move as soon as possible. He needed to find the truth. He gave Suho a call and told him to rearrange his schedule so that he got some space to investigate all the questions in his head.

pic credit: MY ROOM -http://madarah.tumblr.com/post/60535703822