Chapter 17

Tiffany tensed up as she turned away from the gaze of the newcomer. Jejung got up from his seat, smiling as he walked up to their new guests. Seohyun broke her shocked gaze from Tiffany & smiled sweetly up at Jejung as he came near her. She threw her arms around him & put her oval-shaped face against his shoulder, “Jejung Oppa, I came here to take you to school in my family’s limo.” She broke away & bowed politely to his parents, “Hi auntie & uncle Kim, my name is Seo Joohyun, I’m Jejung Oppa’s girlfriend.” Jejung’s smile disappeared at her words & he looked at the girl hanging on his arm in surprises. He didn’t remember asking her out. Tiffany bowed her head down, blushing as all eyes at the table turned from Jejung & Seohyun to her. Sooyoung, who was sitting on the other side of Tiffany, squeezed her hand underneath the table, “Don’t worry, you are the only girlfriend of Jejung’s that we will acknowledge.” She whispered. A light kick at her shin from across the table made Tiffany raise her head up again. Sunny caught her eye & nodded her agreement, providing her with the support she longed for & needed at this awkward moment. Jejung tried to brush Seohyun’s hands aside but her grip on his arm remained firm as she smiled cheekily at him. He groaned inwardly & looked at Tiffany, feeling terrible that he was hurting her at the moment. He wanted nothing better than get out of Seohyun’s vice-like grip & reassure Tiffany that he only wanted Tiffany as his girlfriend & no one else but still, Seohyun wouldn’t let go & turned to grin widely at his parents, trying to impress them with her beauty & stature. However, the Kim’s weren’t impressed with her at all & had to force smiles on their faces as they stood up. Keunsuk put out his arm to tell his Mr & Mrs. Kim that he would take care of it. He walked up to Seohyun & Jejung & pasted a fake smile on his face.

“Seohyun, how is it going?” Seohyun screamed when she caught sight of Keunsuk’s handsome face in front of her, “Oh my gosh, you are Jang Keunsuk!” Keunsuk’s smile faltered a bit at her overenthusiastic greeting. He hesitantly held out his hand & she dropped Jejung’s arm to latch onto Keunsuk’s hand. She held it as if it was the most precious thing she had ever laid her hands on, “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, you are like my absolute idol! I just love your radio show! I listen to it everyday & when I do, I turn on my speaker to the highest it can get!” Her eyes were bright as she stared at Keunsuk’s face with awe. Keunsuk’s smile practically disappeared after her exclamation & his speech faltered at the feel of her hand on his.

From the table, Sooyoung was fuming as she glared at the hands holding onto her boyfriend’s, ‘Handle it, whatever, you idiot!’ She thought. Sooyoung decided to provide the idiot some help! “Hey, Keunsuk dear.” She took a hold of his arm & pulled him towards her hard, forcing Seohyun to lose her hold & stumble a bit, “Oppa, will you go into the kitchen & get me some peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough ice cold from the fridge?” Keunsuk grinned at his girlfriend & gave her a peck on the cheek, glad that he was let go from handling this seemingly way too cheerful to be good girl. When Keunsuk was safely out of sight & in the kitchen, searching for the nonexistent ice cream, Sooyoung reverted her gaze back to Seohyun.

“Seohyun is it? Do you know who I am?” Seohyun nodded but her smile drooped a bit as she looked Sooyoung up & down, noting her looks & how she was able to capture the once playboy, Jang Keunsuk, & be able to treat him like how she just did. At Seohyun’s nod, Sooyoung just smiled, “I’m sorry that you are mistaken about being Jejung’s girlfriend. I have known Jejung all my life & you are definitely not his girlfriend. His girlfriend is Tiffany Hwang.” She pointed her out & Seohyun’s happiness was squashed like a mashed banana for a baby. She tried to hold her temper in as she looked back at Tiffany & saw how nice she was dressed for a change.

Tiffany shuffled around in her seat & couldn’t bear to look up at Seohyun any longer because she was for sure that she was spotted by Seohyun. The hatred Seohyun had for her was so strong that Tiffany couldn’t help wishing that she could crawl into a hole & disappear. She reached for her rose pouch tied to her slender waist, feeling it for luck. Jejung saw her hand creep towards it & smiled as he touched his rose pouch as well. He walked over to Tiffany & did what he had been wanting to do the whole morning since Seohyun arrived. He put his arm around her shoulders to provide her comfort & security. He bent down & couldn’t resist giving her a light kiss on the lips.

“Sorry Seohyun, but Tiffany is my girlfriend & she will be my one & only.” Seohyun was steaming from the ear & utterly heartbroken, “What do you mean that Tiffany is your girlfriend? When did that happen? I thought that you wanted to be with me?” Jejung shook his head furiously, “No, Tiffany has been the one that I have been waiting for all my life. Sorry Seohyun.” Seohyun wasn’t easily detained from her anger. She decided to just play with it for now since she didn’t want to lose face in front of the four well known families in Seoul, “Well...um, congratulations Tiffany.” She said this really half-heartedly, but could find no other way to say something without feeling sad & somewhat guilty.

Jejung smiled, oblivious to Seohyun’s responses, “Well, mom, dad, aunties & uncles, it is time for us to get to school.” Jejung & Tiffany walked back together to their rooms to get their belongings for school. Sunny & Siwon were trying to get to know each other better in the living room which wasn’t very successful. When they had all got their bags & books, they all headed towards Siwon’s car & seated themselves within. Before they could leave though, Seohyun pouted & crossed her arms, “So, I don’t get to ride with any of you guys?” Seohyun had open in annoyance & shock. She had never in her life been mistreated like this, “Well, our car is all full with Sunny, me & Tiffany. Sorry. We will see you at school then.”

The four families waved their children goodbye & the four of them left to get to school early. Inside the car, Seohyun could see Tiffany & Jejung playing & talking to each other, as if they never wanted to let go. In the privacy of her own car as they all headed to college, she vowed that she wouldn’t let Tiffany go that easily. She smiled wickedly as she thought up of a plan. Not really knowing what was going inside Seohyun’s head, the four of them in Siwon’s car laughed & talked all the way to campus. When they finally reached the place & got out of the car, Jejung grasped Tiffany’s hand & kissed it. She smiled shakily at him since she didn’t know how people were going to react to them being together.

She knew that people really disliked her because she was so poor & unfashionable. She bit her lower lips & squeezed Jejung’s hand hard, making him wince in pain. He looked at her in surprises & saw her highly anxious face & put his hand over hers once again, trying to reassure her. Seohyun saw the grimace & quickly got out of her car & ran up to push Tiffany hard, making her lose her balance & fall down on her knee on the gravel, making her scrape her knee as she landed. Her hair fell over her face as she teared up & tried hard not to scream in pain as the pebbles dug their way into her skin. Seohyun smiled smugly, believing that she had done the right thing & that Jejung will be all hers again.