Chapter 33

“Talk!” Tiffany snapped, chewing on the piece of mushroom.

Jaejoong narrowed his eyes at her & took a sip of the hot chocolate. Not to mention, he loves her for saving his . Mr. Hwang would have kicked him out of their property if she hadn’t spoken her own mind out. Smart woman but she wanted to talk to him? It wasn’t the kind of excuses she would use. After he had spoken the words, the elder man nearly exploded. He can still see his red face. Well, of course her father hadn’t gotten the wrong impression. He took her out tonight for a dinner as a date but he doubted that she was thinking the same as him. Stalking her wasn’t that much of a fun. He wanted to do something for a change.

“It looks like your eyes are open but are you still awake?” Tiffany snapped her fingers in front of his face. He winced at her.

“When are you going back?”

She raised her eyebrows as she ate another mushroom pasta, “Going back? What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean. Stop playing dumb with me, Fany. It doesn’t suit you.”

“Oh.” Tiffany said, smiling behind her glass of orange juice, “You could have been more specific. I don’t talk nonsense.”

“Either do I.” He peered up at her as she did the same. A smile crossed his lips as she wriggled her brows. Chuckling, he straightened up & took a sip of his hot chocolate, “Just to let you know, Fany, you’re not going without me.”

Narrowing her eyes at him, she shook her head lightly, “Sorry, I do my missions alone.”

“Really?” He paused, trying to make questions fill her mind. She grimaced, “You weren’t alone when you tried to steal that folder from me. From what I know & saw from the videotape, there was someone that looks just like me. What was his name?”

“Mind your own business.”

“I can’t when it’s about me.” He the sauce off his lips, placing his fork back down onto the plate, “I know your parents knows nothing of this & I don’t want to give them the idea.”

“What? You’re going to tattle tale on me?”

Jaejoong smiled, “Give me a good idea why I shouldn’t?” She stared at him hard, poking the pasta hard. He chuckled, “I’m just joking. Don’t take everything so seriously. I’m just asking you to participate with me. So, how about it?”

“Look, Jae Oppa, that’s just not me. Do you really think that after all of this, I would want to work with you on a mission? I’m not that kind. You were the one who start all of this.” She bit her bottom lips, looking down at the plate, “I’m sorry. Maybe you should have worked everything out with Stephanie instead of giving her the wrong idea. I know how badly a woman can overact from the situation. That’s why she started to cheat on you. She just wanted you to be jealous. I’ve never seen her act like that but by that problem, you never tried to solve it out, did you?”

Tiffany looked up, eyes questioning. Jaejoong stared at her, looking lost in his own world. As if tired, he snatched the cloth from his neck collar, took out a few bills & placed them on the table, “Are you finished with your dinner?” Jaejoong asked, not looking at her. Not waiting for her response, he called the waitress over for the check.

“You’re not going to answer my question?” Tiffany asked in a low, but rough voice as she followed him to the entrance. He ignored her, paid for the dinner & continued to walk out. Irritated by his action, she grabbed him by the arm to slow him down, walked in front of him & blocked his way. Eyes glaring, she snapped, “So, are you going to answer my question or not?!”

“You won’t understand.”

She stamped her foot, “Try me.”

Jaejoong closed his eyes briefly, bit his bottom lips in frustration & pushed her out of the way. He walked to the spot where they have parked the car & slowly came to a stop, “Where’s my car?”

She appeared from behind him, snorting “You parked in the wrong place. Did you not read? No parking, fire lane.”

“Why didn’t they just give me a ticket instead of towing it away? The parking lot was full anyway.” Receiving no answer from her, Jaejoong turned around to find her walking away from the parking lot. He sighed, running up to her side. She looked up, “What are you doing?”

“Walking home. What else does it look like?” Tiffany stuck her hands into the coat of her pocket & took in a deep breath. She peeked up at him, blushing for no good reason, “How’s your running nose?”

“Worst.” He replied, wiping his nose with a kleenex tissue, “Care to show me where the towing place is? That was my rented car & it cost a bunch.”

“You enter from the right, drive on straight, then turn left & you’ll see it.”

“I said show me, not tell me.” Tiffany shrugged, walking on as if she didn’t give the world a care. Jaejoong edged closer to her, smiling. He reached inside his stream olive polo ralph lauren jacket pocket, searched for the pack of cigarettes & took one out. Just as he was about to opened his mouth to speak, the remembrance of her allergies popped into his head. He grimaced at himself & threw the cigarette back into its place.

“You can don’t need to walk me home. I’m alright with the dark.”

“But I’m not.” Tiffany looked up at him. He smiled, “Wouldn’t you want to take a cab? It’ll be much warmer.”

“No, I’m perfectly fine.”

“This is good, you know.” Tiffany looked at him questionably, “I mean.” He waved his hands around, “We’re getting along for the first time.”

“You sound proud of it.” She remarked, uninterested.

“Well, maybe I am.” Jaejoong let out a huge breath & examined the fog it made. He shivered, laughing at his own silliness, “You said you wanted to talk to me earlier. What is it that you wanted to talk about?” He looked down at her, catching her looking up at him. A smile crossed his lips.

“Answer my question first, Oppa.”

He grimaced then, “When I said you won’t understand, your sister didn’t understand me.” She opened to say otherwise but he continued, “I introduced Hannie to Yoona the day she came back from Georgia. They didn’t seem to like each other very much, though Stephanie tried her best to be polite. That was always like her. As I had told you, I’ve known Yoona since my childhood days. She was a sweet girl. I know what you’re thinking. No, I have never liked her but I loved her as my sister. We went out own ways after high school. Back then, I was a person who never wanted to travel on an airplane. Jinki, Yoona & I plan to go oversea but at the very end, I changed my planned. They went without me, not having any choice. I continued with my life & they continued with theirs. Jinki & I kept up with our letters but Yoona seemed to disappear. I didn’t forget about her. I never will because she was the one who flushed Jinki & my goldfish down the toilet. That day was the saddest day of my childhood life.

Then I met Hannie on my first week of taking partnership with my father’s corporation. It was a bad impression I tried to put on her. I made a fool out of myself.” Jaejoong looked down at her, “To answer your question, yes, I did tried to solve everything out with Hannie. It was the first time she wouldn’t listen to me. Say that I kissed Yoona. Truth was.” He sighed lightly, “I did. It was an accident. I didn’t know what have overcome me. I...I guess I was a little bit drunk that night. I told her that too, but she didn’t listened to me. When I finally found out that she was cheating on me with Kyuhyun, it was too late. She changed more than I can describe. It was a miracle when she found out that she was pregnant. It changed her mood a bit but a few months after that, she went back to that mood.”

He came to a stop upon the huge bridge, looking down at the shimmering river. She stopped beside him. Cars drove by a few feet away. He took a hold of the brick rail, “I answered your question. Mind answering mine now?”

Tiffany looked at him. She was taking her time; he can tell & while she did, he gazed at her silently. Her cheeks reddened at the coldness & her hair blew around her face. He kept the urge away from touching her hair. It was the best he can do for now while she was still thinking. He had been dying to kiss her, to touch her again. All those nights he spent alone in bed was getting to him, haunting him. He wanted her passion. He wanted to show her again.

“Fany?” He whispered. She looked up at him. Somehow, she gave him a remorse look. He couldn’t hold back the urges anymore. He reached out to touch her cheeks with his gloved hands. Her lips trembled slightly. He sighed, leaning down by the seconds. Just as his lips were about to touch hers, she spoke up.

“Do you still love my sister?”

Jaejoong came to a stop. His mind slowly stopped working. He blinked, giving her a lost look. Does he still love Hannie? Oh god, he was lost at the question. He loves the woman he was staring at now & that woman wasn’t Hannie.

“I’ll take that for a no.” Tiffany whispered.

He shook his head, “I didn’t say that.”

“Your look tells me, Oppa. You were about to kiss me. What does that tell you? You don’t love her anymore, do you? You’ve forgotten about her.”

“Dammit, Fany, I didn’t say that.”

“Then why didn’t you answer me.” She pushed him away, taking a step back, “& I thought you’ll love her forever.”

“I still do love her, dammit! I...I just.” He sighed hard, raking his hair back. Fist against his mouth, he shook his head, “I still haven’t forgotten about her. I still love her.”

“Then why didn’t you answer me?! It wasn’t a hard question, Oppa! You shouldn’t have hesitated! It was a simple question every man can answer!”

“You can stop yelling now.”

“You’re the one who’s making me yell, Oppa!” Tiffany snapped. She walked up to him again, eyes hardening, “You were about to kiss me. Tell me why. Is it because I’m my sister’s reflection? Or are you just using me again?”

“Let me ask you a similar question.” He clenched his jaw, “Why did you agree to sleep with me back then?” He arched a brow as she hardened her eyes again, “My answer is your answer.”

Tiffany shook her head, “Explain your stupid meaning!”

He grunted, “Sure, honey. It’s plainly simple. I love you.”