The Warrior Ice Prince

Chapter 74 : The Truth

Your POV:

I finished up with the piano lessons and bade my new student goodbye.

"See you next time! Make sure to stay warm!" I waved to him and his umma.

They left the store with the tell-tale tinkle of the bell over the door.

Another round of frosty air swept in and made me shiver.

I was wearing my jacket and the blanket Sungwoong gave me, but it was practically as cold inside as it was outside minus the winds.

He still hadn't gotten the heater fixed yet and came to the conclusion to go get it fixed by a professional.

Omonim and Eunji went home so I had to watch the store until he came back, as I had previously predicted.

I sat in front of the cash register freezing my off as Yoseob just sat there looking comfortable in his winter jacket.

On top of being cold, I started to cough quite a bit because I talked a lot when I was teaching piano and when I was outside greeting all of the people.

The lack of liquid that day didn't exactly help either, but since I had to watch the store, I couldn't go to a nearby convenience store to buy a drink.

Evening had fallen and along with it the temperature.

It seemed that it had driven most of the traffic off of the streets because it was almost empty which meant there were no customers either.

"Why don't you go home? There's nothing else to do here but sit. I'll be off soon anyways." I said to Yoseob.

He blinked at me.

"Then you would be here by yourself."

"So what? I've been here alone before. Sungwoong should be back in less then an hour." 

"Then we will stay here for less then an hour." He concluded stubbornly.

I huffed in surrender knowing that nothing I would say would change his mind.

"Whatever, you're just wasting your own time." 

Hugging myself I began to nod off. No matter how hard I tried to stay awake, I would end up catching myself falling asleep again.

The long school day plus work had tired me out and I was in need of a good nap just to keep me energized for the rest of the night.

I couldn't take it anymore and gave in to my tiredness.

"I'm sorry to ask you this, but I really need to lay down for a little bit. Can you call me if there's a customer?" I asked Yoseob.

"Sure."

Thankful, I went to the back room where there was a couch and collapsed onto it.

I snuggled into the cushions and quickly fell into a slumber.

Outside, Yoseob was waiting for the time to pass.

It was very boring and he was only staying because of her. 

He spaced out and stared at nothing for another half an hour when he snapped out of it and returned to the here and now.

The whole time he was thinking of how stupid he was wasting his time here, how he could've left a millennia ago, but chose to stay.

It was true that he didn't really have anything else to do, but right then he could have been at home where it was at least warm.

He couldn't bring himself to leave though.

He felt like he should be nearby, that she shouldn't be alone and at that moment nothing was more important than that.

Except for one thing.

Still looking and feeling dazed, Yoseob got up and walked behind the counter and made an accurate guess about where the back room was.

The door was left ajar and he gently pushed it open.

She was asleep on the couch and breathing with small, short breaths.

He could tell that she was suffering from the cold even in her sleep.

Seeing you shiver made him soften and without a second's hesitation, he pulled off his jacket and placed it over her body.

It seemed to have immediate effect because she stirred and pulled it closer to her.

She breathed out and her facial expression relaxed.

Yoseob felt very satisfied by it and crouched at her side.

He watched her with a tender expression for a while and felt content just being where he was.

The peace was disturbed when she coughed again.

It gave Yoseob an idea.

Silently so he wouldn't wake you up, he crept out and left the store, holding onto the bell so it wouldn't ring.

He stopped once he was outside and looked back, wondering if leaving her by herself like that was okay.

After deciding that he would be quick, he darted away so he could be back as soon as possible.

I woke up again when I heard the bell of the door and quickly got up.

I realised that the jacket was on me, but decided to question it later and take care of the newcomer.

When I went out, I expected to see a customer or Sungwoong who had come back, but the store was empty.

I craned my neck and looked around just in case, but no was there.

Scratching my head, I wondered who had opened the door.

I realised that Yoseob wasn't around and wondered where he went.

Assuming that he just stepped out to go to the washroom or something, I sat back in front of the cash register.

On the counter, I discovered a disposable coffee cup with one of those strings that tea always had attached to the bags hanging out of the cover.

It was still hot when I picked it up and I examined it.

On the other side was a sticky note with writing on it.

Drink this and be warm and stop coughing.

P.S I have something to go to so I had to leave.

P.P.S Since you wouldn't accept your money back, I used it to buy you this.

It wasn't signed, but it was obvious who it was from.

Come to think of it, the jacket that was sitting on my shoulders was the one Yoseob had been wearing eariler too, wasn't it?

Breaking out into a smile I stood up and went outside to see if he was still here.

Looking left and right, I didn't find him.

Still, I grinned and, just in case he was nearby, I shouted out, "Thank you, Yang Yoseob!"

I waited a few seconds just in case he had heard me and came back, but when he didn't, I went back inside with the hot drink and sipped it.

With his back to the wall of the alleyway, Yoseob released the breath he was holding and for once smiled with all sincerity.

He had heard _____'s thank you and it made him happy.

Once he knew that she had gone back inside, he came out from hiding.

He crept to the window and peeked inside.

Yoseob saw her smiling widely holding the drink he bought her with his jacket over her shoulders.

As much as he wanted to stay, he didn't know what he would have done if he had and received her thankfulness directly.

Feeling happy and warm despite not having his jacket to wear, Yoseob snuck off and went home.

The next day, I was with Mir at home just resting before he had to go to work.

Minwoo had come to visit that morning for breakfast with us.

He stayed for about an hour before he said he had to leave to go to dance practice.

He told me that since their audition was coming up soon, they were going to be at the dance studio all day, but he would call me during breaks.

"So, what do you plan on using your first pay check on?" Mir asked.

"Minwoo and his friends are going to be practising all day so I thought that I should bring them a snack."

"Aw, you're so nice. Make sure to with them luck on their audition for me." He said.

"I think it's time for me to get going. I'll see you before bedtime." Mir stood and bent to kiss my forehead goodbye.

"Bye, Oppa. Go safely." I waved and waited until he had left.

I got up and went straight to my room where I had left the envelope that contained my pay.

After counting it, I calculated how much it would be to buy the food and drinks and made sure I had enough.

What I was paid the night I helped out at Midnight Kiss was much more then I was being paid now, but I thought that there was more then there was supposed to be.

I suspected that Omonim had slipped an extra twenty in there on purpose.

Smiling, I put it away to give back to her next time I went to work.

After, I separated the rest into two piles: one for the snacks and the other I would be put into my savings.

I dressed and put on a think coat. I learned not to trust the weather and my thin clothing.

As I reached over to take my bag from on my desk, I saw Yoseob's jacket that I had hung on a chair.

Just looking at it made me warm.

Making a mental note to return it on Monday, I headed out to the bank to deposit my money.

Minwoo wanted to dance.

Minwoo wanted to be with his girlfriend.

Minwoo didn't want to lie to her anymore.

He wanted to go to school again.

But he just couldn't.

Today, he would be spending the day alone as a self-punishment for being so bad lately.

All day since he had left _____'s house, he had been debating with himself to come clean and tell her the truth about what was really going on. What had really happened.

He wouldn't be able to face her disappointment though and knowing his Noona, she would try to get him and his friends to make up.

Those friends who want their relationship to end so that they could get him back.

He hated them for saying things like that, but he missed them, dancing with them and just hanging out with them.

In the end, they were still his best friends since a long time ago.

At first, it was easy to pick her thinking that everything was fine over anything that happened after she was told the truth, but now it was almost equal.

Almost.

Which meant that he still would go on telling her lies that made his heart bleed in guilt every time he saw her smile.

Minwoo dropped his head into his hands.

He was a coward. 

He was more then a coward for picking the same thing over and over even though he knew it was wrong.

He was a horrible boyfriend and he knew it.

Throwing himself onto his bed, he closed his eyes and consumed himself in guilt as he chose to delay the truth from coming out once more.

Too bad it was going to come out whether he wanted it or not.

I was riding the elevator up to the floor where the boy's dance studio was.

With two plastic bags filled with pop and chicken I happily hummed a tune and waited patiently.

There was a small ding and the doors opened.

The hallway was empty as it usually was, but muffled music was heard coming from one of the doors.

I stood by it and waited until the song was over before I knocked just in case they didn't hear me over it.

Donghyun opened the door, surprised that I was there.

"Hi guys! Practising hard? I have a surprise for you!" I beamed and brought the food in.

"Noona...why...why are you here?" Jeongmin asked, confused.

It was my turn to be confused.

"What are you talking about? Where is...Minwoo? Did he go to the washroom?" 

"He didn't tell you?" Kwangmin asked.

"Tell me what? He said he'd be here practising with you guys all day because your audition is coming." I blinked, not understanding the situation.

When they didn't answer, I looked at them for something.

Donghyun and Hyunseong just looked away when I met eyes with them, the twins just looked at each other exchanging unspoken words.

Jeongmin was the one to step up.

"He's not here, Noona. We haven't even seen him since that day you brought him here."

"W-what? B-but he said—"

"Don't you know? We had a fight." He said.

I looked at him as if he'd gone crazy.

More confused then I was before, I sought out for some kind of explanation.

"Can somebody please tell me what's going on? I don't understand." 

"Let's sit down. We'll tell you everything." Donghyun put a hand on my shoulder.

"Is that so?" I asked with somberness as they finished off the story.

"I can't believe he didn't even tell you." Youngmin said.

"We're sorry, Noona. You know that it's not that we don't want the two of you together. We just want our maknae back." Hyunseong apologised.

I gave him a small smile.

"It's okay, I know you guys don't mean it like that. It just that...all this time...I thought he was even better then he had been before."

"But now I find out that he's been lying to me and not going to school. What if his grades drop too much and he has to drop out?" I babbled, worriedly.

"We would help him, but he's paranoid into thinking that we are trying to break you two up. He loves you a lot and would prevent that from happening at all costs." Kwangmin said knowingly.

"Yeah, knowing him I feel the same way, but I never thought he would have the guts to lie to you." Jeongmin added.

I fiddled with my fingers and bit my bottom lip nervously.

"I guess I have to talk to him." I say softly.

Silence settled in as I thought of what I was going to say to him.

The others were quiet too, not knowing what to do.

I even felt a little guilty for not noticing what was really behind Minwoo's smile all of this time.

"I'm sorry that you used your money to buy us this chicken. It's gone cold." Hyunseong said weakly.

"It's okay. You can just throw it out." I dismissed that right away.

"We'll still eat it. It doesn't matter if it's not hot. Because you bought it for us." Jeongmin began to take out the box.

"Yeah, we'll eat it well. Thank you for thinking of us." Donghyun joined Jeongmin and helped take out the pop.

"Okay. Don't practice too hard, all right? I need to go." I got up and prepared to leave.

"Bye, Noona." They waved and gave encouraging smiles.

"I'll see you when everything is better." I waved once and went out, quietly closing the door behind me.

"I feel bad for her." Kwangmin said after she left.

"If you feel bad, you should eat a lot. The chicken from this place is really expensive too." Donghyun told him.

"I hope she'll be okay." Hyunseong quietly munched on a chicken leg.

"Me too, but it's not her I'm worried about. You know how Minwoo's like. He might not take what she says well." Jeongmin said wisely.

Silently, they all nodded their heads in agreement.

I was sitting in the park alone thinking of what I was told just a few minutes ago.

"Minwoo hasn't been at school at all. His grades are going down by a lot. Last time I checked, he was almost on the borderline of failing."

"Before you came, dancing was basically you. He loves dancing so much, but he hasn't been doing it because he doesn't want to see us."

"The only reason that everything is like this is because he loves you. His worst fear is that you and he won't be together anymore. He thinks that by doing all of this, lying and whatnot, he's prevent that from happening."

I sighed, audibly as I gazed at my phone that was ready and waiting to call Minwoo.

After a lot of hesitating, I finally pressed the call button and put it up to my ear.

"Minwoo? Can you come see me? It's urgent."

_{Happy Halloween!}