Chapter 27

“So, Jejung, I saw you dancing with this girl earlier. Is she a new love interests?” Jejung smiled at the reporter, “She’s just a friend.”

“But you two looked awfully close to each other.”

“I had prefer not to talk about my love life. It’s always a topic I try to avoid. You should know that.” The reporter laughed gaily, “Can’t stop a guy for trying though.”

“Next question please.” Yunho told the crowd. Jejung searched the back for Tiffany but to no avail. She was still not back from the restroom yet. He looked to Siwon & Sunny. They both shook their heads at his gaze. Sunny mouthed, ‘She’s been gone for awhile.’ Jejung frowned worriedly. One of the reporters asked him a question again, but he didn’t hear it. Yunho cleared his throat & nudged Jejung gently on the elbow which was sitting on his lap where his hand was playing with his rose pouch around his belt loop. When he seemed to not have noticed again, he stamped hard on his foot.

That snapped him out of it & he looked at Yunho in surprises. Yunho indicated the reporter who had just asked him a question. He looked at her, “Um...I’m sorry. I just remembered that I have something to do right now.” Jejung got up from his seat, “Yunho will stay & answer any other questions that you have & I promise to be back here tomorrow morning at nine to hold another conference to make it up to you all. Have a great night everyone.”

Everyone stared at him in shock as he made his way out of the doors of the building with Sunny & Siwon behind him. Once he had left the premises, all the reporters started talking at once. Yunho just smiled. He knew that he was probably worried about Tiffany’s whereabouts at the moment, ‘He’s got it really bad & I wouldn’t have picked a better person for him.’ He thought. He whistled out loud into the mike which stopped everyone’s chatter, “I will answer the questions for now. Are there any questions about Jejung? I will answer them to the best of my knowledge & if they aren’t good enough, you can come back tomorrow to talk to Jejung once again.” The press conference resumed as questions started flying towards Yunho.

Jejung rushed outside in the snow, searching frantically for Tiffany, looking this way & that way, “Let’s go inside the hotel first & ask if they have seen her. For all we know, she might still be in the restroom, maybe re-applying her makeup or something.” Siwon reassured his friend, although in his heart, he knew that that was unlikely since Tiffany never really cared about her appearance. They ran into the hotel & the manager came out to greet them with a smile, “Mr. Kim, whatever can I do for you?”

“Have you seen the girl that I was with earlier in the black dress? Did she come in here to use the restroom?” The manager frowned & shook his head, “No, I don’t think that I have seen her since she left with you today.” He grabbed the doorman from his spot & asked him if he had seen her but he shook his head. An ice-cold feeling ran through his body. Something was wrong & Tiffany was in trouble. Something with the sudden pain in his heart made him feel that way. Without another word to the manager, he ran right back out to the wintry cold. Siwon & Sunny thanked the manager & doorman & followed Jejung out. Siwon put a hand on his shoulder, “Don’t worry. Tiffany will be okay.”

“Come on, let’s split up & look for her.” Sunny made a move to go one way but a hand stopped her, “No, I’m going with you.” Siwon looked at her seriously & she smiled at his concern, “Okay, come on, let’s go now.” They went off in one direction while Jejung went off in another. He prayed silently for Tiffany’s safety & hoped that he could find her real soon.

Behind the dumpsters, Tiffany tried to fight back & ended up scraping the cheek of one men with her heel which angered him & he slapped her in the face. Tiffany cried tears of frustration as she started breathing rather heavily from trying in vain to fend off the men. She was absolutely petrified at what was going to happen next. One of the men had his hand over while another hand his hands on her long, slim legs to stop her from moving. Tiffany’s eyes widened in terror as the third man pushed up the hem of her dress, ripping it. She shook her head furiously, “No, please don’t?!” She cried out, against the hand. The men just laughed & grinned in appreciation at the flesh that was uncovered. She closed her eyes in humiliation & whimpered, “What’s that on her leg?” The guy who had his hand over asked. He took the rose pouch & ripped it off & looked at it in disgusts, “Stupid thing! It’s in the way.” He threw the pouch over his shoulder.

Jejung ran around the resort, growing even more anxious as he still hadn’t spotted her yet. In his frustration, he suddenly tripped over something & landed on the ground on all fours. He turned to see what had tripped him & his eyes widened as he recognized the rose pouch. He quickly grasped onto it, “That means that she is nearby.” He looked around his surroundings & spotted the gated area of where the dumpsters were. Peering closer, he could see some shadows on the wall. It looked as if someone was struggling, “Miyoung!” He cried. Tears streamed down his face as he ran the fastest he had ever ran & opened the gates & stood in shock as he saw what was happening inside.

The attackers looked up at him & one of them made their way towards him. He didn’t give him a chance since in a second, he had already pulled away the man that was reaching underneath her dress. He pummeled him with all his might. The other men abandoned Tiffany & started fighting with Jejung. In his anger, Jejung fought with all of them. One of them threw a punch on his face & his eyes blazed in anger as he threw a punch at his stomach, knocking him off his feet, making him bang his head against one of the dumpsters. He then knocked one of the men out cold & another one landed on top of the guy. Jejung’s chest heaved up & down as he eyed everyone of the men, glaring at them, willing them to fight him some more. They all got up rather shakily & weakly but managed to run out of the gates. Jejung was about to follow when he heard the whimpering sound of Tiffany.

He quickly grasped her in his embrace, his tears mingled with hers as they fell on her cheeks. Tiffany started to struggle but he held her close, “Shhh, it’s okay. You are safe now. It’s me, hush now.” Tiffany slowly opened her eyes & cried out in anguish when she saw that it was Jejung. She buried her face in his chest, “I’m so sorry. I’m so very sorry.” Tiffany just continued to cry as her breathing came out more ragged & she gasped for breath. He looked down at her startled & quickly dug into his pants pocket to get out an inhaler. Her body was shaking with the spasms from the attack & he quickly forced open & pushed down on the inhaler once, twice, closing in order for her to swallow on her own, the puffs of medicine. Her body relaxed & he hugged her close again. Tiffany’s tears continued to fall down her face.

Jejung put his head on top of hers & just hugged her close, “I don’t know what I would have done if those men have succeeded what they had meant to do. I shouldn’t have left you alone. I almost came too late. Please forgive me? I’m so sorry. You shouldn’t be the one to say sorry. I’m sorry, a million times sorry.” He her face, looking down into her eyes filled with hurt. She shook her head furiously, “Nothing happened. You protected me just like you promised. Opening my eyes to see you.” He put his finger to her lips, “It was my fault. I shouldn’t have allowed this to happen at all. I won’t let it happen again.”

“Thank you, Jaejoong Oppa. Thank you for saving me, for protecting me, for always being there.” Jejung pulled away to look at her, he noted the tear on her dress. He reached up to cover her as best with the strap, even though he know it was ruined, “Don’t touch me!” She cried. He stopped in midair & stared at her worriedly, “What’s wrong?” Tiffany grimaced, “I’m sorry.” She sobbed. He understood & pulled her close to soothe her again, & calm her down, “It’s okay. I will never hurt you.”

His heart broke into a million of pieces. He touched her tear-stained cheek & her body shook a bit at the touch, “Miyoung, look at me.” She looked back at him, although her eyes still held a bit of fear in them, “Please don’t be like this? It pains me to see you hurt like this. I might have stopped them from.” He couldn’t say the words, “I might have stopped them but the thing is that, I shouldn’t have allowed this to have even happened in the first place. It’s all my fault. Seeing you like this is making it worse.” Tiffany got out of her huddle-like state & touched his face as well, kissing away his tears, “I’m sorry Oppa. I have just never been so frightened in my life. I fought them but they wouldn’t let go. I was so scared that I would return as a dirty woman & then you wouldn’t love.” She never got to finish her sentence.

Jejung gripped her face & kissed her passionately. She stiffened at first but then relaxed in his embrace & the fire within the both of them warmed her. He didn’t let go of his hold when they ended the kiss, “I love you, I love you, I love you. Nothing is going to stop that. I would die for you & protect you for the rest of my life. Absolutely nothing & I emphasize nothing that will make me stop loving you.” He took out their rose pouches & she gasped. She had thought that it would be lost forever once one of the attackers threw it away.

“You are my soulmate, my life mate & the one that I was made for. We are two halves of a whole. Why would I want to throw away my other half?” She started crying again.

“Why are you crying again?” He took out a tissue & wipe away her tears, paying careful attention to not scrape her red cheek where one of the men had slapped her, “They are tears of happiness. I love you too, Oppa, so much.” He smiled, “Come on, let’s get you checked up. Sunny & Siwon are also frantic with worry.” After putting his suit jacket over her, he bent down & scooped her up in his arms. It was only when they were back outside the gates in the light that Tiffany saw the cut on his upper left temple where one of the men had punched him. She touched it sadly, “I’m sorry.” He shook his head, “Don’t be sorry. It wasn’t your fault. I just wish that I could have gotten them & made them pay but your safety was more important.” He carried her back to the hotel where Siwon & a tearstained emotional Sunny was waiting. He motioned for them to not say anything, “I will tell you about it later.” Tiffany smiled weakly in thanks.