5-
How to Exact Revenge in Slow and Subtle Ways
Sooyoung:
“Can you explain this?” The police officer shouts in my face, pointing at the floor where Changmin’s bloody body lies.
“I-I can! I was just...holding a knife! And he ran into it!”
The officer raises an eyebrow. “Really?”
“Yes!”
“Pinky promise!”
I nod and hook my pinky finger with his.
“Okay then, we’re terribly sorry for the inconvenience. To make it up to you we’ll give you obscene amounts of cash!” he says, jumping into the air and throwing handfuls of bills everywhere.
“Yes! Yes!” I cry happily.
And then I woke up.
That was such a good dream. A dream where I murder Changmin and don’t even have to take responsibility for it? That must be what heaven is like.
After skipping out of the room I see Seohyun sitting on the couch. Eating a sad bowl of cereal.
“Hyunie!” I gasp, snatching the bowl from her. “How can you eat cereal when you have such a great chef living with you.” I motion to myself.
“Well you haven’t been cooking breakfast for a while now.” She grumbles, taking the bowl back and shoving a spoonful of soggy flakes into .
“Aw! I’m sorry! I’m in a good mood today. So what do you want to eat, eh?”
“Really?” She brightens up. “Okay how about...french toast?”
“Okay!” I grin and hurry to the kitchen.
“What are you making?” I freeze, in the middle of whisking the batter. Ugh, I almost forgot that he lives here now.
I decide that if I talk I’ll say something I’ll regret, so I’ll just ignore him.
Next thing I know, he’s standing behind me, his chin on my shoulder and both hands on the counter on either side of me, trapping me in between him and the counter, and then he whispers: “I said, what are you making?” And that succeeded in scaring the out me, causing me to jump up and flail my arms. Causing the french toast batter to plop onto Changmin’s hair.
"oh..my...GOD!" He screams, as the gooey batter drips down his temples. "WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT?"
Why was he yelling at me? It was entirely his fault! "WHO TOLD YOU TO SNEAK UP ON ME?" I hear Seohyun audibly sigh from the living room.
“YOU COULDN’T HEAR ME SO I MOVED CLOSER!”
I roll my eyes, it figures that Changmin wouldn’t be able to believe that anyone would want to ignore him.
“AND LOOK.” He points at his hair. “Do you know the effect of batter on hair?!”
“...No.”
“EXACTLY!” He throws his hands in the air. “No one knows! What if it causes baldness? Then all the hair care companies that I endorse will lose profit, which will cause them to lay off workers, which will cause a dramatic increase in South Korea’s unemployment numbers, which will lead to an economic meltdown! Do you want to be responsible for an economic depression?” He asks me accusingly. I scoff, it always amazes me how Changmin can link something like french toast batter to financial crisis’s in a matter of seconds.
“And now I have to take another shower! Using your crappy shampoo!” He stomps away before I can tell him about the plethora of Seohyun-endorsed shampoo in the cabinet.
---
The SM company building is the most intimidating building I’ve ever seen. I remember almost peeing my pants the first time I entered it. But today was different. I pushed the revolving door confidently, flashed my ID at the security guard and strutted towards Secretary Moon’s desk.
Secretary Moon was the personal secretary of the President Soo Man, she was the head-honcho of us lower workers, the secretary of secretaries.
“Good morning, secretary Moon.” I say, standing in front of her desk.
She spares only a second to look up from her typing, “What do you need?”
“My paycheck for the past month.” I chirp.
“Mhmmm.” She opens a drawer and pulls out an envelope. “Here.” She hands it to me, before turning back to her typing.
I put the envelope in my bag and am about to walk out when someone calls out to me. “Sooyoung!”
I turn around to see Changmin’s manager smiling at me. Me and the manager are pretty close since we both got tormented by Changmin on a daily basis. We often spent our time backstage making fun of Changmin’s big ears or mimicking his prince like demands.
“Hello!” I say happily.
“Sooyoung, how have you been? What are you doing here?” He asks, putting a hand on my shoulder.
“I’m fine, just came to pick up my paycheck. Oh by the way, when do you want me to come back to work?”
He furrows his brows. “What do you mean?”
Huh? “I mean, when should I start working again? How long is my vacation?”
He smacks his forehead. “No one told you?”
“Told me what?”
He gasps. “I think we need to have a little talk.”
---
“Here you go.” He places my latte in front of me. We were sitting in a small coffee shop near the SM building.
“Thank you.” I begin fiddling with the straw.
“Well Changmin...is on probation.” He says in a low-tone.
“What?!” I exclaim.
“Yes, his contract may be terminated.”
“WHAT?”
“If Changmin creates anymore media problems, it will be terminated.”
“B-b-but...why?” I manage to ask.
“He was causing the company to lose a lot of money. So the president put him on probation for a few months. If he manages to stay clear of tabloids he can renew his contract, but if he can’t then...” He trails off, looking at me.
“This deal...did it cause him to move out of the company building?”
The manager nodded.
“And does he have access to any of his credit cards?”
The manager shook his head.
“...And does he have any power to fire me?”
The manager laughed. “As of now? No. He doesn’t even have a job himself.” He stops abruptly. “Which means neither do we. I’m gonna have to get another job if I want to pay the mortgage. You should too.”
I nod, now that I was basically jobless it would be even harder to get by. Contrary to popular belief Seohyun (and most other idols) don’t make much money. Because the money they do make has to be divided between all the idols in the group, the company, the manager and a whole bunch of other people.
It was time to go job hunting, fortunately I knew just the place to go.
---
“Jane!” I call, entering the diner.
“Hello welcome to...Sooyoung!” Jane exclaims, rushing towards me. “What are you doing here? I have not see you in a long time!” She says in her slightly accented Korean.
“Yes, I’ve been very busy. Where’s Charlie?” I ask, referring to her husband.
“He is out sick today.” She sighs. “Its so hard to manage the diner with just the two of us! We hired a part-time worker though.” She motions to a wall lined with picture frames. “Our diner has become very famous! Look at all the celebrities who visit!” All the picture frames are filled with photos of Jane and Charlie posing with all types of celebrities.
“Omo!” I edge closer, “That’s Kyuhyun!” I say, recognizing my friend.
She smiles, “Yes, he’s a regular here.”
“Jane, can I have a job?” I say, quickly.
“Huh? Didn’t you already have a job?” She asks.
“Eh...not anymore.”
She nods, “Well we can always use a helping hand. You can wait tables today, okay? And tomorrow when Charlie’s back we’ll see what we can do about getting you in the kitchen.” She smiles happily, tucking a strand of blond hair behind her ear.
“Yes! Thank you thank you Jane!” I hug her tightly.
Charlie and Jane were the happiest couple I have ever met. You can tell how much they love each other just by the way they say each other’s names. They had gotten married in London, and then moved to Korea and opened this diner. The diner’s name was Charlie’s Place, since Jane had insisted he name it after himself. It was the cutest place ever! It was decorated comfortably with slow English songs wafting through the air. Plus, the food was to die for. Everything from the coffee to the hash browns to the meat loaf was absolutely delicious. It was an honor to work here.
I whistle to myself as I cleared a table, trying not to think about the lying, manipulating bastard waiting for me at home. Once I get back, I’ll take care of him. I smile evilly to myself, whilst cracking my knuckles.
It’s a good thing I got a job. School was starting in a couple of weeks. The Seoul Institute of Culinary Education is many things, affordable is not one of those things. So it would take a whole lot of financial loans and back breaking labor to be able to pay for the next semester.
“Hey.” Someone pokes my shoulder.
“Hmm?” I turn around to see a girl in a high school uniform.
“Are you the new worker? It’s my shift now.” She says before sauntering to the back room.
As I stand outside my apartment door, I realize it’s time to confront Changmin. And kick him out.
I waste no time. As soon as I open the door I make a beeline for Seohyun’s room. Where sure enough, Changmin is lying on the bed.
“You’re finally here.” He yawns. “I’m starving. Go make something.”
I curl my fingers into a fist. “NO!”
“What?” He sits up, “Did you jut say...no?” He snarls. “Wanna get fired?”
“Oh! Like how you got fired?”
His mouth drops open. “What are you...how did you...?”
“Yes! You’ve been threatening to fire me all this time, when you have no power to fire me! I don’t know how, but that must be illegal! My brother-in-law’s a lawyer!” I yell menacingly.
“Y-you...H-how did you find out...?” He sputters.
I growl, and grab his suitcase from the floor.
“What are you doing with that!?” He jumps up and follows me as I pull the luggage to the living room.
“Get out! Now!” I point to the door, in case he’s too stupid to know what I meant.
“Please! Sooyoung! I don’t have anywhere else to go!”
“Does it look like I care?”
“WHAT IS GOING ON?” Seohyun screams. She was sleeping on the couch, but I guess our fighting woke her up.
“He,” I pointed at Changmin. “Has been lying to us, this whole time!”
“Huh?” She rubs her eyes.
“He can’t fire me! Because he’s been fired. He’s been sitting here, like a king, making demands when he has absolutely no authority over me! You know how mad that makes me?”
Seohyun stands silent for a couple of seconds. “And? What are you doing now?”
“I’m kicking him out!”
“Seohyun,” He turns to her. “Please I have nowhere else to go.”
“How can you just kick him out? He has nowhere to go!” Seohyun scolds me.
“He probably does! And how would Yonghwa feel if he found out his girlfriend was living with some guy?”
She rolls her eyes, “Yonghwa would understand. Besides, Changmin’s not here for me. He’s here for you. He’s your guest.”
“B-but...”
“No buts, unnie. You can’t just throw him out.”
“Fine.” I grumble. Changmin breathes out a sigh of relief.
“But there’s going to be some changes.” I turn to Changmin. “You will not be staying here for free. You will be staying here as our servant. You will clean everything. And do whatever we ask. Failure to comply will lead to you being kicked out.” I remember one more thing, “Oh yeah. You’ll be sleeping on the couch.”
His jaw hangs open. And I feel a warm bubbly feeling in the pit of my stomach.
Oh yeah, it’s payback time.
AN: hmm...not to crazy about this chapter...its too long and draggy. But it was necessary! Oh yeah :D I’ll be replying to your comments now. I haven’t before because I’m....really lazy.
AND OMIGAWD. Theres gonna be a FREE kpop concert in New York! I LIVE IN NEW YORK. (faints) Tell me who your bias is and I’ll take pictures. hehehe. xD
COMMENT AND SUBSCRIBE!
“I-I can! I was just...holding a knife! And he ran into it!”
The officer raises an eyebrow. “Really?”
“Yes!”
“Pinky promise!”
I nod and hook my pinky finger with his.
“Okay then, we’re terribly sorry for the inconvenience. To make it up to you we’ll give you obscene amounts of cash!” he says, jumping into the air and throwing handfuls of bills everywhere.
“Yes! Yes!” I cry happily.
And then I woke up.
That was such a good dream. A dream where I murder Changmin and don’t even have to take responsibility for it? That must be what heaven is like.
After skipping out of the room I see Seohyun sitting on the couch. Eating a sad bowl of cereal.
“Hyunie!” I gasp, snatching the bowl from her. “How can you eat cereal when you have such a great chef living with you.” I motion to myself.
“Well you haven’t been cooking breakfast for a while now.” She grumbles, taking the bowl back and shoving a spoonful of soggy flakes into .
“Aw! I’m sorry! I’m in a good mood today. So what do you want to eat, eh?”
“Really?” She brightens up. “Okay how about...french toast?”
“Okay!” I grin and hurry to the kitchen.
“What are you making?” I freeze, in the middle of whisking the batter. Ugh, I almost forgot that he lives here now.
I decide that if I talk I’ll say something I’ll regret, so I’ll just ignore him.
Next thing I know, he’s standing behind me, his chin on my shoulder and both hands on the counter on either side of me, trapping me in between him and the counter, and then he whispers: “I said, what are you making?” And that succeeded in scaring the out me, causing me to jump up and flail my arms. Causing the french toast batter to plop onto Changmin’s hair.
"oh..my...GOD!" He screams, as the gooey batter drips down his temples. "WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT?"
Why was he yelling at me? It was entirely his fault! "WHO TOLD YOU TO SNEAK UP ON ME?" I hear Seohyun audibly sigh from the living room.
“YOU COULDN’T HEAR ME SO I MOVED CLOSER!”
I roll my eyes, it figures that Changmin wouldn’t be able to believe that anyone would want to ignore him.
“AND LOOK.” He points at his hair. “Do you know the effect of batter on hair?!”
“...No.”
“EXACTLY!” He throws his hands in the air. “No one knows! What if it causes baldness? Then all the hair care companies that I endorse will lose profit, which will cause them to lay off workers, which will cause a dramatic increase in South Korea’s unemployment numbers, which will lead to an economic meltdown! Do you want to be responsible for an economic depression?” He asks me accusingly. I scoff, it always amazes me how Changmin can link something like french toast batter to financial crisis’s in a matter of seconds.
“And now I have to take another shower! Using your crappy shampoo!” He stomps away before I can tell him about the plethora of Seohyun-endorsed shampoo in the cabinet.
---
The SM company building is the most intimidating building I’ve ever seen. I remember almost peeing my pants the first time I entered it. But today was different. I pushed the revolving door confidently, flashed my ID at the security guard and strutted towards Secretary Moon’s desk.
Secretary Moon was the personal secretary of the President Soo Man, she was the head-honcho of us lower workers, the secretary of secretaries.
“Good morning, secretary Moon.” I say, standing in front of her desk.
She spares only a second to look up from her typing, “What do you need?”
“My paycheck for the past month.” I chirp.
“Mhmmm.” She opens a drawer and pulls out an envelope. “Here.” She hands it to me, before turning back to her typing.
I put the envelope in my bag and am about to walk out when someone calls out to me. “Sooyoung!”
I turn around to see Changmin’s manager smiling at me. Me and the manager are pretty close since we both got tormented by Changmin on a daily basis. We often spent our time backstage making fun of Changmin’s big ears or mimicking his prince like demands.
“Hello!” I say happily.
“Sooyoung, how have you been? What are you doing here?” He asks, putting a hand on my shoulder.
“I’m fine, just came to pick up my paycheck. Oh by the way, when do you want me to come back to work?”
He furrows his brows. “What do you mean?”
Huh? “I mean, when should I start working again? How long is my vacation?”
He smacks his forehead. “No one told you?”
“Told me what?”
He gasps. “I think we need to have a little talk.”
---
“Here you go.” He places my latte in front of me. We were sitting in a small coffee shop near the SM building.
“Thank you.” I begin fiddling with the straw.
“Well Changmin...is on probation.” He says in a low-tone.
“What?!” I exclaim.
“Yes, his contract may be terminated.”
“WHAT?”
“If Changmin creates anymore media problems, it will be terminated.”
“B-b-but...why?” I manage to ask.
“He was causing the company to lose a lot of money. So the president put him on probation for a few months. If he manages to stay clear of tabloids he can renew his contract, but if he can’t then...” He trails off, looking at me.
“This deal...did it cause him to move out of the company building?”
The manager nodded.
“And does he have access to any of his credit cards?”
The manager shook his head.
“...And does he have any power to fire me?”
The manager laughed. “As of now? No. He doesn’t even have a job himself.” He stops abruptly. “Which means neither do we. I’m gonna have to get another job if I want to pay the mortgage. You should too.”
I nod, now that I was basically jobless it would be even harder to get by. Contrary to popular belief Seohyun (and most other idols) don’t make much money. Because the money they do make has to be divided between all the idols in the group, the company, the manager and a whole bunch of other people.
It was time to go job hunting, fortunately I knew just the place to go.
---
“Jane!” I call, entering the diner.
“Hello welcome to...Sooyoung!” Jane exclaims, rushing towards me. “What are you doing here? I have not see you in a long time!” She says in her slightly accented Korean.
“Yes, I’ve been very busy. Where’s Charlie?” I ask, referring to her husband.
“He is out sick today.” She sighs. “Its so hard to manage the diner with just the two of us! We hired a part-time worker though.” She motions to a wall lined with picture frames. “Our diner has become very famous! Look at all the celebrities who visit!” All the picture frames are filled with photos of Jane and Charlie posing with all types of celebrities.
“Omo!” I edge closer, “That’s Kyuhyun!” I say, recognizing my friend.
She smiles, “Yes, he’s a regular here.”
“Jane, can I have a job?” I say, quickly.
“Huh? Didn’t you already have a job?” She asks.
“Eh...not anymore.”
She nods, “Well we can always use a helping hand. You can wait tables today, okay? And tomorrow when Charlie’s back we’ll see what we can do about getting you in the kitchen.” She smiles happily, tucking a strand of blond hair behind her ear.
“Yes! Thank you thank you Jane!” I hug her tightly.
Charlie and Jane were the happiest couple I have ever met. You can tell how much they love each other just by the way they say each other’s names. They had gotten married in London, and then moved to Korea and opened this diner. The diner’s name was Charlie’s Place, since Jane had insisted he name it after himself. It was the cutest place ever! It was decorated comfortably with slow English songs wafting through the air. Plus, the food was to die for. Everything from the coffee to the hash browns to the meat loaf was absolutely delicious. It was an honor to work here.
I whistle to myself as I cleared a table, trying not to think about the lying, manipulating bastard waiting for me at home. Once I get back, I’ll take care of him. I smile evilly to myself, whilst cracking my knuckles.
It’s a good thing I got a job. School was starting in a couple of weeks. The Seoul Institute of Culinary Education is many things, affordable is not one of those things. So it would take a whole lot of financial loans and back breaking labor to be able to pay for the next semester.
“Hey.” Someone pokes my shoulder.
“Hmm?” I turn around to see a girl in a high school uniform.
“Are you the new worker? It’s my shift now.” She says before sauntering to the back room.
As I stand outside my apartment door, I realize it’s time to confront Changmin. And kick him out.
I waste no time. As soon as I open the door I make a beeline for Seohyun’s room. Where sure enough, Changmin is lying on the bed.
“You’re finally here.” He yawns. “I’m starving. Go make something.”
I curl my fingers into a fist. “NO!”
“What?” He sits up, “Did you jut say...no?” He snarls. “Wanna get fired?”
“Oh! Like how you got fired?”
His mouth drops open. “What are you...how did you...?”
“Yes! You’ve been threatening to fire me all this time, when you have no power to fire me! I don’t know how, but that must be illegal! My brother-in-law’s a lawyer!” I yell menacingly.
“Y-you...H-how did you find out...?” He sputters.
I growl, and grab his suitcase from the floor.
“What are you doing with that!?” He jumps up and follows me as I pull the luggage to the living room.
“Get out! Now!” I point to the door, in case he’s too stupid to know what I meant.
“Please! Sooyoung! I don’t have anywhere else to go!”
“Does it look like I care?”
“WHAT IS GOING ON?” Seohyun screams. She was sleeping on the couch, but I guess our fighting woke her up.
“He,” I pointed at Changmin. “Has been lying to us, this whole time!”
“Huh?” She rubs her eyes.
“He can’t fire me! Because he’s been fired. He’s been sitting here, like a king, making demands when he has absolutely no authority over me! You know how mad that makes me?”
Seohyun stands silent for a couple of seconds. “And? What are you doing now?”
“I’m kicking him out!”
“Seohyun,” He turns to her. “Please I have nowhere else to go.”
“How can you just kick him out? He has nowhere to go!” Seohyun scolds me.
“He probably does! And how would Yonghwa feel if he found out his girlfriend was living with some guy?”
She rolls her eyes, “Yonghwa would understand. Besides, Changmin’s not here for me. He’s here for you. He’s your guest.”
“B-but...”
“No buts, unnie. You can’t just throw him out.”
“Fine.” I grumble. Changmin breathes out a sigh of relief.
“But there’s going to be some changes.” I turn to Changmin. “You will not be staying here for free. You will be staying here as our servant. You will clean everything. And do whatever we ask. Failure to comply will lead to you being kicked out.” I remember one more thing, “Oh yeah. You’ll be sleeping on the couch.”
His jaw hangs open. And I feel a warm bubbly feeling in the pit of my stomach.
Oh yeah, it’s payback time.
AN: hmm...not to crazy about this chapter...its too long and draggy. But it was necessary! Oh yeah :D I’ll be replying to your comments now. I haven’t before because I’m....really lazy.
AND OMIGAWD. Theres gonna be a FREE kpop concert in New York! I LIVE IN NEW YORK. (faints) Tell me who your bias is and I’ll take pictures. hehehe. xD
COMMENT AND SUBSCRIBE!
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