Chapter 28

She grimaced, right hand on the doorknob. Taking in a huge deep breath, her hand twisted the knob. She pushed the door ajar & peered in. Only a lamp dimly lighted the room by the bedroom table. Her eyes scanned for his grandma as she closed the door lightly from behind. The old woman sat on her wheel chair in front of the window, working on her embroidery, though the heavy curtains were down.

“Mrs. Kim, you called for me?” Tiffany said lightly, never so used to that tone of voice. The old woman didn’t answer but continued to work on her embroidery. Remembering that she couldn’t hear very well, Tiffany walked up instead, “Mrs.”

Mrs. Kim looked up as a shadow cast upon her. She smiled, slowing the wrinkles around her chin, “Hello, dear. I was wondering when you’ll be here. If you don’t mind sitting on a rocking chair, please have a seat.” “I’m perfectly fine.” Tiffany responded, not even taking a look behind her. Somehow, she felt a nervous feeling climbing up her system. Never in her life had she met her grandparents since her birth. They were what her father had called busy people & her mother’s people were just never in contact.

Sighing, she shrugged her shoulders & sat down on the rocking chair. It never hurts to talk with an old woman & relax at the same time. Besides, she looked kind.

“You can call me Mi Cha. Mrs. Kim makes me sound way too old for my old age.” Tiffany frowned, angling her head at an angle. The old woman looked up, smiling “Of course I’m old but knowing that I’m makes me feel unlike myself. I consider myself back in the old days when I’m always the cheerful one.” She laughed, looking back down at her embroidery.

Tiffany shifted uncomfortably in the rocking chair. This wasn’t relaxation, “What does your family have to do with me? I consider myself an outsider. It’s more like it.”

“You remind me of myself when I was young.” She chuckled, continuing with the curves around the snowflake of her work, “Now, back to your question, huh? Well, dear, I know my family has a lot of stuff that deals with you. It’s mostly my son, Chinho. I know what he had done. Jaejoong told me all.”

A tingling feeling went up her nerve as she stared down at the woman. She didn’t like the tone of her voice but more over it, she didn’t like the knowledge of knowing that Jaejoong informed his grandmother everything that deals with her family.

“Why did you call me here, Mrs. Kim? If you know me, I had never known my grandparents to ever respect other grandparents patiently. My mother raised me properly but after my father was sent to prison, everything changed. I changed.” She stood up, “This isn’t getting anywhere. My family has nothing else to do with your family. I’m sorry for wasting your time.” She averted, walking away.

“It’s more about my grandson, Ms. Hwang.” Though she spoke toughly, her head was faced down & her hands continued working on the embroidery. Tiffany stopped in her tracks, halfway to the door. Evidently without any senses, she balled up her fists by the sides. Dammit it! She knew it. He had been talking about her. Something uncalled for exploded inside her stomach. Clenching her teeth together, Tiffany turned around.

“He’d changed like you, too.” Mrs. Kim continued, “Seeing as he is now, you’ll never believe he was once a modest, responsible man.”

“I don’t see why his past behavior concerns me either.”

“You’re a lot different from your sister.”

Tiffany stiffened, “Twins are never alike at everything.”

“What do you see in my grandson?”

Her eyes narrowed at the old woman. She didn’t like the feeling she was receiving from her at all. There was an air of mysterious feeling around her. Mrs. Kim possessed something different from other elderly people that she had never seen but the question that she had just asked. Surely, no grandma would ever ask a question like that. The man was married. She had no interests.

“I see a heartless man in him, Mrs. Kim.” Tiffany answered slowly.

“Just because he married right after your sister died?”

She closed her eyes briefly. The question seemed simple to answer but she couldn’t answer her without showing the darkness inside of her, “No, there’s more than that.” Tiffany brushed her hair back quickly & added, “I have something much more important to do outside.” She turned around but stopped short. Something was pulling her back unquestionably.

“It isn’t hard to show your true feelings, Tiffany. You can always open up to somebody new & not keep it inside of your soul every day. My grandson & I are very close & he’s just like you. He keeps everything inside.” “You’re wrong. We’re nothing alike. We’re two different people.”

“Then why would he always know why you’re acting the way you are?”

She started to walk away then, not wanting to hear anymore questions. The woman didn’t even try to stop her this time. She walked out, closing the door behind her & stalked down the hall. Running away from a question she couldn’t answer; she didn’t know. Mrs. Kim seemed to make everything seem so simple, yet nothing was. How could she possibly answer any questions when she couldn’t even answer her own soul? She didn’t know how to explain her feelings. There were only negative emotions. How could Jaejoong know her when she doesn’t even know herself? She was lost in a world of her own.

Entering her bedroom, Tiffany walked to the closet. She pulled out an aqua banded bottom tunic dress & quickly put it on. It was about time to go give Kyuhyun a surprising visit she had been preparing for days. Jaejoong had ruined her plan last time & she wasn’t about to let him ruin this for her again. Saving her was more like killing her. After putting on the dress, she took out the cell phone. Her eyes stared at it, not dialing. A grimace crossed her light pink lips. She threw the cell back into her pocketbook. A decision had crossed her mind; she’ll go alone this time.

Darkening her makeup, Tiffany brushed her hair back slightly & looked inside her pocketbook. Everything was in place. She took two capsule of the prescription drug, used the inhaler & dropped two droplets of eye protection into her eyes. She closed her eyes, sitting on the wooden bench in front of the mirror. Nothing could mess up this time. She couldn’t take the chance of losing her breath.

her lips, Tiffany stood up, head down to checked her stuff once more & walked to the door. She flipped her hair back with a swing her of head & then stopped in her track. She jerked her head up to stare at the person leaning against the threshold. Her face reddened gradually. Dammit! How long had he been leaning there?

“& where do you think you’re going dressed up like that?” Jaejoong asked, yanking himself away from the doorframe. He circled his tongue inside his mouth, mocking her in a way & walked towards her slowly, “Had you not learn your lesson yet?”

“You’re about to learn yours!” Tiffany snarled lowly.

He tilted his head at an angle, mocking her once more, “Oh?”

The anger she had been holding exploded. Gritting her teeth hard together, she took one step forward. He arched a brow, “Get out of my way, Jae Oppa.”

“Why would I when I know where you’re heading to? I’ll tell you this, Fany, I’m not letting you out of my site tonight. Even if I have to stay in here & sleep on your bed, I will. Now, what kind of fun game should we play first?”

“The hell with you!” Tiffany walked forward & just as she walked pass him, he grabbed her wrist from behind & twisted her around to face him. She grunt as he pushed her against his chest with the wall behind her. Her head tilted up to meet his. He smiled, closing the door with his free hand.

“You look y with those clothes on but none suits you more.”

Her eyes widened. She twisted her wrist away from his hold & pushed him away. He stumbled back but caught his stepping. A smile appeared on his face again. She clinched a bit, “I don’t like to play around, Oppa.”

“We’ll start the game soon enough.” He stared at her body.

Tiffany kept her stand. She had planned this for too long & the man standing in front of her won’t stop her this time. Even if to ruin her identity, she wouldn’t give a damn! “If you’re just keeping me away from that nightclub because he’s there, you don’t need to.” He frowned. She scoffed. Was the man pretending to know nothing? “I know who the true Kyu is.” She swallowed, not wanting to admit her next words as she stared into those skeptical eyes, “You told me Stephanie cheated on you but I didn’t believe your words. It was Kyu.” His eyes grew troubled, though they were still as dark as the night sky. He advanced towards her moderately. She lifted her chin. Stopping in front of her, he asked indifferently, “Who told you?”

“Nobody.” Tiffany answered slowly, “Have you ever figured it out why I was really here? I worked for your other company, following my father’s footstep after he was sent to prison. I tried to find the folder but found out later on that it was here in Seoul. Then I transferred into the company your father built. I was the one who broke into it that night. I tried to steal your father’s folder & succeeded after several times.” She smiled densely, “But there was another reason. Of all the people you should have figured it out a long time ago.”

Jaejoong compressed his skeptical eyes at her, staying silence. Everything had seemed to throw itself at him so fast, “You wanted to know why Stephanie killed herself.” He said deliberately, “You wanted to take revenge.” She studied as he swallowed tightly, “That’s why you lied that you love me. You knew that Kyuhyun was involved in Hannie’s death all the while you were with him.”

“Correct. You’ve been trying to get Kyuhyun too, by marrying Yoona. Hell, Oppa, you never loved her! That night at the club you saw her, too. That’s why you stopped me from going up into Kyuhyun’s room. You knew all along that she played hand with him. You tried to stop me from getting into every information but the more you did, the more I figured it out.”

His eyes became clear, “& now you figured it all out.”

“You’re a smart guy after all but not that smart.” Tiffany moved away from him & stepped back. He followed her around with his eyes, “& this time you’re not stopping me.” She took out the pistol from her pocketbook & pointed it at him. Her body stayed stable, at least she tried to, “Move or I’ll shoot.”

His serious face hardened. His eyes sharpened on her, “I know you’re not going to shoot me.”

“Aren’t you going to ask where I got this gun?” Tiffany asked, mocking him, “It’s soundproof, Oppa. Nobody can hear the gunshot if I do shoot you. If you don’t want to die yet, I suggest for you to get out of the way.” She motioned the gun, “Move away from the door.”

Jaejoong shook his head, “You’re being childish. There’s no way am I letting you go through this door. Shoot me if you can, Fany.” He took a small glance at her hands holding onto the gun, “You’re shaking.”

She scoffed, moving her left hand away from the gun, though her right hand still shook, “Move.”

“You’re being childish!” Jaejoong shouted, taking small stepped towards her, “Put the damn pistol down now!” “No, Oppa. Move out of the way now. I mean it. If you come any closer, I will shoot. That’s a promise.”

“& what are you planning to do if I let you through? Kill Kyuhyun by yourself? The hell with it, Fany! Do you think I’m going to let you die that easily?” He stopped; the gun was an inch away from his forehead, “He doesn’t even know that you’ve been trying to get him into your little trap. Your surprises won’t surprises him at all. He’ll kill you easily.”

Tiffany shook her head, “You’re wrong. He knows. Yoona would have given him the notice a while back already. She knows the true me. I know the true her & Kyu.”

“& your plan?”

“I have none but my plan for now is for you to move out of the way. Even if you don’t, I can easily jump out of the window but I’ll save my breath for later.” She aimed the gun nicely at the middle of his forehead, “I wouldn’t like to kill you.”

“& there’s no way am I going to let you ruin my planned, Fany. I had planned way too long for this. Stephanie was my wife & he used her like a toy. Did you think that I could have stop your sister? I would have done anything to keep her & the unborn baby safe but I was too late. I let her do everything her way but I never did thought that she would kill herself. I’m going to take Kyuhyun down by myself. If I have to tie you down, I will.”

“Lovely lecture, Oppa, but I’m the one who’s going to do this by myself. She’s my sister & you gave her the miserable life along with Kyu. Now move, dammit! I will shoot.”

“You say that for a while now. Try me for a dummy.” Challenging eyes stared into each other. She was able to hold the pistol with a steady hand for a while. His hands were by his side, staring into her eyes without blinking. He looked down at her neck as she swallowed. The uncomfortable, unmoving silence. He raised a brow, alerting her to flinch. Smiling, he reached out & knocked the gun out of her hand into the air.

Tiffany grunt in a huff, swing the back of her fist to hit him on the jaw. She jumped onto the bed & leaped off with her arms outstretch for the gun. Just as her hand touched the tip of the handle, Jaejoong grabbed ahold of her mid-thigh & jerked her down. She kicked out her free leg, hitting him in the face with her feet. Jaejoong cursed, pushing her onto the bed. He circled his legs about hers & wrapped her hands up above her head. She growled, moving about. One free hand, he cupped her jaw into his palm firmly.

“Never kick a man that has the gun.” She froze as the cold tip of the gun touched her temple, “This is exactly what he would do to you, woman. Learn another lesson from me.” He leaned down & forced his lips onto hers unwillingly.