Chapter 6
My special bodyguard
You woke up the following morning not feeling too good. You got up anyways and properly put back all the things that you had brought back. For the tiger's skin, you found a nice photo frame and framed it up. Suddenly, you felt a little giddy. You drank some water and ignored the giddiness. You then hanged the tiger clothing and the leaf skirt. You smiled at them and did your morning preparations.
You went down to the kitchen to have your breakfast.
Your appa looked at you quizzically.
"I came back last night." You answered him as if reading his mind.
"So you survived huh?" Your umma came from behind.
After 5 days, thats all you can say.. You thought.
"Yeah, at least i'm not some lazy a** who just stays at home acting all high class doing nothing but crap." You raged.
You lost your appetite and went back up to your room. You sat at your balcony to cool yourself down.
Why is it that everything they say just pisses me off so bad? You thought.
You let out a deep breath. Your giddiness was not going away which added to all your frustration. You just wished you could flee from this home. Its like a jail to you but you knew better than to do so. Your appa would send helicopters searching for you because he wants to seem like a good appa to his 'disobedient' daughter to maintain his so-called 'image'. And you hated that. You would get bashed at harshly by your umma too so you might as well not escape though the burning desire to escape cannot be tamed.
Just then, Joon knocked on your door and entered which interrupted your thoughts.
"Hyerim, i heard from Sir and angry Madam that you raged on them?" Joon asked, worriedly.
He wanted to make sure you were fine.
"Yeah, so? What's the big deal? They don't deserve my respect if they can't even respect me in the first place." You looked away.
Joon closed the door and sat opposite of you.
"What do you want?" You spoke up after a moment of silence.
"What happened?" He asked.
You looked at him and saw sincerity in his eyes. You couldn't help but to soften a bit. You heaved a long sigh of frustration.
"Its tiring." You said.
"All we do is scream at each other. I'm sick of it but yet i can't do anything to change it. My mind just acts on its own. I didn't mean to rage on them either but it has already become a habit. Whatever they do just pisses me off so bad. They have to accept me for who i am before i can change because family is about embracing each other's flaws isn't it?" You stared blankly at the table.
"But someone has to take the initiative too right? If they don't take the first moe then you do it." He said.
"Its exactly because i'm the only one taking the effort! I try to understand their so-called culture of elegance and i tried having good table manners as a start and i just tried talking to them but what did they do? They just don't give a damn. What can i do about it? If they refuse to budge then i won't give way too."
Joon was speechless.
Maybe it really isn't Hyerim's problem but her parents and siblings. It wasn't Hyerim's fault to begin with. She wasn't the cause of this whole mess. Its because of their disapproval which led from one complication to another. He pondered.
"Why do you care anyway?" You asked.
"Because its my duty." He proudly said.
"Its just a duty. You don't really care do you?" You muttered under your breath.
You felt hurt by that. No one actually cared about your frustrations except for Seungho.
Maybe because Joon was a first, i thought he actually cared. Guess i was wrong... You thought.
"What did you say?" He asked.
"Nothing. Just, leave me alone for a second. I need some time to think." You said.
He bowed and dismissed himself. You stared out of your balcony as if an answer would pop out. You don't feel loved.
After understanding your situation, Joon went down and met with your appa personally in his study room.
"Sir, would you allow me to be frank with you?" Joon asked.
"Yes, please."
"I think that it might not be Hyerim's fault at all to begin with this whole problem. I'm sorry to say this but i think that it might actually be Sir and Madam's fault."
Your appa was just about to retaliate when Joon stopped him,"Hold on Sir, let me explain before you scold me."
"Hyerim knows of this problem and she wants to solve it as well. She doesn't feel the love going in the family because its so much of elegance and class that you fail to embrace each other like a true family. Hyerim just wants to be herself but you aren't allowing her to be. She has made efforts to try and understand but i think that maybe you don't see it because you're usually not looking at what she's doing anymore." Joon explained.
"And maybe thats why, she doesn't see a response so she doesn't feel the need to make an effort anymore because no one sees her effort. And maybe Sir, she just wants you to understand her. I think thats all she wants but Sir and Madam aren't trying to be nicer to her and even make the slightest amount of effort to understand her because you think that elegance is most important in a wealthy family such as yours Sir."
"But of course, thats just the way i see it as a third-party." Joon said.
Your appa felt guilty. "Understand her?" He asked.
"Yes sir. Like maybe having a peek at what she's normally doing or joining her. To you, survival and adventure might be a risk or a joke but to Hyerim, its what she loves. Maybe, you could ask her about it as a start and progress from there. Because even the slightest bit of effort to understand can be a big difference."
Your appa nodded and said,"Then what do you suggest i can ask as a start?"
"What about asking why she loves adventure and the wild so much? I think that could make her open up to you more." Joon suggested.
"Alright, thank you Joon. I think from now on, i'll try." Your appa looked up at Joon from his desk.
"You're welcome Sir." Joon bowed and dismissed himself.
Joon was proud about what he had advised your appa. For once, he actually really put in a great amount of effort to help you because he wanted to repay you for saving him twice though he was your bodyguard. As he went back to his room, he went over to his desk and sat down on the chair. Just then, there was a light knock on his door.
"Come in." He said.
Suprisingly, it was you.
"Oh! Hyerim! What brings you by?" He asked with a smile.
"Could you... Could you come to the beach with me?" You nervously asked.
You didn't know why but you felt like you needed his presence. Joon chuckled at your cute nervousness and replied,"Yes, sure. Its my pleasure."
You scratched the back of your neck awkwardly and walked out of his room and of course, he followed. You then walked through the living room, heading for the door.
"Hyerim, where are you going?" Your appa asked.
"Eh? I thought you didn't care." You said.
His facial expression changed to a guilty and bitter one. When you saw that, you continued walking to the door and said,"The beach."
You opened the door and walked out. Your appa was suprised that you even replied him and was delighted. Joon smiled at your appa before closing the door.
You walked through a small park and reached the beach. You took off your shoes and walked on the sand. Because it was so relaxing and it helps the skin too.
"Hyerim, do you know that the sea sand is actually good for your skin? It has the same effect as those skin care products!" Joon exclaimed while walking into the sea slowly getting deeper until it the water reached its waist.
You followed and got some sea sand.
"Yeah.." You answered.
You rubbed the sea sand onto your arms. It had a slight ticklish feeling but in the good way.
You then washed them off by dipping your arms into the water. Suddenly, water splashed onto you.
You heard Joon's laughter and instantly knew it was him.
"Oooohhhh ITS ON NOW!" You announced and started splashing water onto him.
He did the same. The air was filled with your smiles and laughter as well as Joons'.
Joon kept splashing water at you until some sea water got into your eyes as you winced in pain. Seeing your reaction, he came closer to you.
"Are you ok?" He asked.
You pushed him and splashed water at him.
"Woah!!" He screamed as he fell into the water making him drenched.
"Yaahh! Thats such a dirty trick!" He complained.
"No but sea water really got into my eyes." You said seriously.
"Sorry." He smiled sheepishly.
Suddenly, Joon came to you and used force to press you down on your shoulders. He wanted to make you drenched too. When you got out of the water, you gasped for air.
"Yaah!" You smacked his back.
As the both of you lay down on the sand, you looked at each other and laughed. The sand was sticking on both of your wet backs, legs and arms but you guys didn't mind. You were happy and thats all you needed to know.
"Hyerim-ah.." Joon suddenly called out.
You looked towards him,"Yes?"
"Nothing, i just like calling your name." He smiled his usual dorky smile.
"You weird kid." You said in response.
"Yaahh! I'm older than you!" He argued.
"But you don't act like your age."
"Yaah, thats called being a child at heart! " He stated.
You laughed at his irritated reaction. Mission success!
"See, you look prettier when you smile or laugh. Its not nice being serious all the time." He smiled.
Your heart skipped a beat. No one ever said that to you before. Seungho didn't either, he would just smile at you for no reason.
"Th-Thanks." You said.
As the time passes by, it was time to go back since it was already dusk.
"Lets go." Joon said and stood up, dusting some sand off of him. You did the same and tagged along behind him.
Joon was just glad to see you smile and laugh. For no reason, it made him really happy whenever you smiled.
When you went back all sandy with a small smile, your umma stared at you like you were some foreign object.
After the both of you had gone back up to your own rooms, your umma then discussed with your appa.
"Don't you think that ever since Joon came, Hyerim became a little lighthearted?" She asked.
"What makes you say so, my dear?"
"She smiled."
Your appa looked up at your umma and gave her a small smile,"I'm fine as long as she's happy. But don't you think we should work on understanding Hyerim first before meddling with her personal life? Joon was the one who actually advised me what to do because he has talked with Hyerim." Your appa said.
"Yes, i guess Joon is ok. But how can we progress if Hyerim is always rejecting us now?" She asked.
"My dear, its the small little things that Hyerim does that we have to take note of because she's making the effort but we just don't see it." Your appa smiled and went to his study room to do some paper work.
Your umma then sat down and though about what your appa had said while drinking her tea.
Maybe i can start by showing care for her... Your umma thought.
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