004

CLOSER AND CLOSER

 

            Sungyeol bows his head as he stands in front of Kim Myungsoo who is massaging his temple in frustration.

 

“Don’t you know that it’s a crime to trespass and steal? I can put you behind bars,” Myungsoo sighs.

 

“I am so sorry. I was just forced to do this. I’m so desperate because there are hooligans and loan sharks chasing after me because of my father’s debts. I have no money and I have nowhere to go. They are surrounding Jeju trying to catch me and this is the only safe place that I could think of!” Sungyeol says, pleading with his wide eyes.

 

“So you’re selling my tangerines to pay your debts?” Myungsoo asks, glaring at him.

 

Sungyeol frantically shakes his head in denial.

 

“No! I wasn’t planning to pay my debts through this! I wanted to go to Seoul and earn more money there! I was just selling your tangerines, so I can buy a plane ticket! I’m really sorry, director Kim. I’m just so desperate for a place to stay. If they catch me and I can’t pay back, I don’t know what they’re going to do to me! They might sell me to erts or something...” Sungyeol explains, pouting and pretending to cry behind his hand.

 

Myungsoo scoffs at him.

 

“I’m calling the cops. The police station would be safe if you’re really being chased by loan sharks,” Myungsoo says, picking up his cellphone.

 

Sungyeol gasps and takes the phone away from him.

 

“No! Please, don’t call the cops on me! I’m really sorry! Here…” Sungyeol reaches for his bag and takes out the money he earned from selling the tangerines.

 

“Here, this is the money that I earned from selling the tangerines and…” Sungyeol digs in his pocket.

 

“This is also the check you gave me yesterday for the compensation of the squished tangerines…I’m really sorry! Please don’t arrest me! Let me off just this once,” Sungyeol pleads, giving all the money to Myungsoo.

 

Myungsoo stares at the money and shakes his head, placing it on the table in front of him. Sungyeol stares longingly at his precious and hard-earned money, but Myungsoo is speaking again.

 

“What are these?” Myungsoo gestures towards the jars of tangerine jam on the table.

 

“J-jam…” Sungyeol answers.

 

“You’re making money out of tangerine jams as well?” Myungsoo says.

 

Sungyeol closes his eyes and sighs. He places his injured foot on the table, raises his pants and gets the money that is inserted in his sock.

 

“Here is the money I earned from selling the jams…” Sungyeol says, hoping that Myungsoo would pity him and won’t take it anymore.

 

But to his surprise and outrage, Myungsoo snatches the money from him and glares.

 

“Since there is not much damage done on the property and nothing is lost except from the majority of the tangerines that were compensated through your money, I will let you go just this once. Get out of my house now,” Myungsoo says.

 

Sungyeol looks at Myungsoo and bows deeply.

 

“I’m so sorry…I will leave now…” Sungyeol says in a small voice, still feeling a throb in his heart from letting go of his hard-earned money.

 

Myungsoo doesn’t say anything, so Sungyeol starts to leave. He limps for a few times before looking back at Myungsoo.

 

“I sprained my foot a while ago…” Sungyeol pouts.

 

Myungsoo still doesn’t say anything and continues to stare at Sungyeol.

 

“Director Kim…I’m…I’m really having a hard time right now. I don’t have money and I don’t have a place to stay…can you…can you please let me stay here for a few more days? I can pluck the remaining tangerines for you! Free of charge!” Sungyeol asks, giving Myungsoo a kicked puppy look.

 

This enraged Myungsoo. He stands up and even if Sungyeol is taller by a few centimeters, he cowers under the heated glare of Myungsoo. Pulling him by the arm, Myungsoo drags Sungyeol towards the door and pushes him out harshly; Sungyeol stumbles, eyes and mouth wide at being manhandled.

 

“Such a stingy bastard! Will this house rot if I stay for a few more days?! It’s not like I’m going to steal anything! Took all of my money and didn’t even leave a little for my travelling and food expenses!” Sungyeol screams when the door is slammed shut behind him.

 

The door opens again and Sungyeol erases his frown, replacing it with a smile.

 

“I-I’ll be going now. Take care!”

 

Myungsoo watches Sungyeol limp out of the porch and out of his property. Sighing, he slams the door shut and walks back to the living room to sort things out. He sits himself on the couch and stares at the jars of tangerine jam on the table. He picks one up and snorts at it. At first he finds the situation really enraging because this is the first time that someone barged in their vacant pension house and even had the nerve to sell the tangerines.

 

In a way, Myungsoo finds Lee Sungyeol a bit hilarious for being so thick-skinned but he doesn’t like liars, so he shrugs the thought off and places the jar back on the table. As he places it back on the table, he sees a notebook. With curiosity getting the best of him, Myungsoo picks up the notebook and sees the computations. He knows that Lee Sungyeol owns this because it has the records of how much money he earned from selling the tangerines and the tangerine products and at the bottom is a little note beside the boxed total amount of money.

 

Amount earned: ₩ 120,000

 

Cost of plane ticket to Seoul: ₩ 200,000!!

 

Earn more to afford plane ticket to Seoul!! ^▽^

 

Myungsoo blinks, looking at the notebook then at the money on the table.

 

“So he wasn’t lying that he just wanted to buy a plane ticket?” Myungsoo says to himself.

 

He puts the notebook back down on the table, his mind being filled with the thought of Sungyeol’s kicked puppy look and how he told Myungsoo that he is just being forced into doing it because the loan sharks are chasing after him all over the island. Guilt immediately starts to fill Myungsoo’s chest, remembering how Sungyeol gave all of his earnings to Myungsoo and how sincere he looked when he apologized.

 

“Well, he did earn it…he plucked the tangerines and sold them diligently…” Myungsoo muses.

 

Myungsoo shakes his head and frowns to shake off the thoughts.

 

“He still trespassed and they’re still my tangerines. Aish, thick-skinned owl.”

 

He stands up from the couch and walks over to the kitchen, intending to drink water but when he opens the fridge, he notices that there are more tangerine jams in the fridge along with what looks like a bottle of tangerine juice. On one of the jars, a sticky note is mounted. Furrowing his brows, Myungsoo reaches out to take the note.

 

I’m really sorry for barging in your house and for selling your tangerines. I’m just really desperate to runaway from the loan shark and his hooligans. I really needed a place to stay. To compensate for what I did, please eat this healthily. I made it extra special for the owners of the house!(~^▽^)~ Again, I’m truly sorry and thank you. Just treat it as you helping the needy. You will be blessed! ~(^▽^~)

 

Myungsoo finds himself smiling at the cute note that Sungyeol left.

 

“At least he has manners…”

 

He opens one jar of the tangerine jam and eats a spoonful, marveling at how delicious the jam is.

 

~ O ~

 

           Sungyeol winces as he feels the sting of his sprained foot. He walks at the side of the road with no particular destination in mind. He can’t really go to the city because it’s going to be filled with the loan shark’s men in black and with his sprained foot, he cannot really run as fast as he needs. He’s surely going to get caught.

 

“The heavens are really unfair…they gave me a lot of opportunity and a lot of money but took them away even before I could put them to good use…ah, life is so unfair,” Sungyeol mumbles to himself.

 

He looks back at the pension house that is only a few blocks away, wishing that he had been more careful so that he hadn’t been caught that easily. But what has been done is done and now, he’s going to be inevitably caught by the loan shark and he’s probably going to be dead by tomorrow and he’s going to hunt Kim Myungsoo for indirectly causing his untimely death. He knows that he’s being overdramatic and pessimistic about things, but he’s really becoming helpless. Hearing a car approaching, Sungyeol walks out of the way without looking at the car. It could’ve been the loan shark’s car but he doesn’t really care anymore if he gets caught. But the car drives pass him and Sungyeol lets out a breath that he didn’t know he was holding. He continues to limp forward, heart void of any emotion until the car maneuvers back to where he is.

 

Looking up, he recognizes that it is Myungsoo’s car and the man is staring at him through the open passenger seat window.

 

“What do you want? I thought you already let me off? I gave you all of my money already,” Sungyeol says, pouting at Myungsoo.

 

Myungsoo stares at him with a small smile.

 

“Get in the car,” Myungsoo says.

 

Sungyeol shakes his head.

 

“I don’t want to. What if you would just want to drive me to the police station…I’m not getting in,” Sungyeol says, starting to walk again but Myungsoo drives and honks his car.

 

Startled out of his wits, Sungyeol glares at Myungsoo.

 

“I’m not going to feel secured until I sent you far away from my pension house, so get inside. I’m not going to drive you to the police station,” Myungsoo assures once again.

 

Sungyeol stares skeptically at Myungsoo and is about to walk away again but he feels the sting on his left foot, so he shrugs.

 

“F-fine,” Sungyeol says.

 

 

~ O ~

 

“You weren’t lying about you spraining your left foot, huh?”

 

Sungyeol is pulled out of his trance by Myungsoo’s deep and melodic voice. The drive has been quiet and no one is really speaking until now. Sungyeol looks at Myungsoo and frowns.

 

“Of course, I wasn’t lying about it. If I didn’t really sprain my foot, I wouldn’t be hiding behind a stupid bush and you wouldn’t have caught me. I would runaway as far as I could,” Sungyeol says.

 

Myungsoo looks over Sungyeol and laughs a little.

 

“I thought you were pretending,” Myungsoo says.

 

“Well, I don’t blame you if you thought that I was just pretending. You probably already think that I’m so thick-skinned,” Sungyeol say, looking down on his lap.

 

The car suddenly slows down and Myungsoo pulls over in front of a facility that Sungyeol cannot recognize.

 

“Is it okay if I drop you off here?” Myungsoo asks, not looking at him.

 

“Huh?” Sungyeol stupidly says.

 

“You sprained your foot, so I thought that I should drop you off here,” Myungsoo says.

 

“Huh? Where is this place, anyway?” Sungyeol asks, looking around until he sees that they are parked in front of a hospital.

 

A wide, mischievous smile forms on his face at he looks back at Myungsoo. The man is obviously concerned for his wellbeing and this thought makes Sungyeol feel giddy.

 

“You purposely dropped me off to a hospital, didn’t you? You are concerned about me, huh?” Sungyeol teases, wiggling his brows at Myungsoo.

 

The other snorts and looks at Sungyeol as if he’s crazy.

 

“Of course, not. I just happen to pass by here,” Myungsoo lies.

 

Sungyeol makes a teasing noise before unbuckling his seatbelt and starting to open the door.

 

“If you say so~ I’ll be going now, director Kim,” Sungyeol says.

 

Myungsoo nods at him and Sungyeol lingers for a few moments to wiggle his brows at him teasingly.

 

“Goodbye~ thank you for dropping me off here at the hospital,” Sungyeol says and closes the door.

 

Myungsoo starts the engine again and starts to drive away, trying to ignore Lee Sungyeol waving at him with that teasing look on his face again. He drives away and tries to get the thick-skinned owl out of his head but he finds himself laughing at the thought of him.

 

“Such a hilarious fella,” Myungsoo snorts.

 

His thoughts are interrupted when his phone suddenly rings.

 

“I’m going back to the hotel, Howon-ah. Is there any problem?” Myungsoo says through his earpiece.

 

“Well, the Chinese investors want to go to a special place here in Jeju,” Howon says.

 

“What special place? Maybe I could go check it out,” Myungsoo says.

 

“They said that they heard it from Lee Sungyeol-shi. They wanted to check it out with him,” Howon says.

 

Myungsoo chuckles and shakes his head.

 

“Lee Sungyeol? Okay, I’ll go check this place out,” Myungsoo says, hanging up before turning his car around to go back to where Lee Sungyeol is.

 

“Lee Sungyeol…really, why do you keep on bugging my life?” Myungsoo mumbles to himself.

 

When he goes back to the place where he drops off Sungyeol, he passes by a convenience store and sees Sungyeol sitting by the window, left foot propped on a chair as he puts hot water in his ramyun. Myungsoo parks his car and enters the convenience store.

 

“Hospital my . I appreciate the thought of you bringing me to a hospital but I’m in no condition to go to a hospital. I can’t even afford to eat three times a day…” Myungsoo hears Sungyeol say as he stands behind the boy.

 

Myungsoo watches Sungyeol open a pack of heating plasters.

 

“Dual heating plasters will do the effect and my sprain will be cured in no time!” Sungyeol continues to tell himself as he sticks the dual plasters on his foot and returns it to its position on the chair.

 

Myungsoo cannot stop watching the boy because he is just so amusing and Myungsoo needs a little entertaining. Sungyeol opens the lid of his ramyun and sniffs it.

 

“Mm~ smells so good. I’m so hungry, hungry, hungry! I’m gonna eat, eat, eat, hot ramyun!” Sungyeol sings to himself.

 

Myungsoo shakes his head and approaches Sungyeol who is now putting in a mouthful of ramyun in his mouth.

 

“Lee Sungyeol-shi,” Myungsoo says, putting his hand on Sungyeol’s shoulder.

 

Myungsoo jumps back when Sungyeol screams at the top of his lungs, spitting the mouthful of ramyun back into the cup. Myungsoo scrunches his face in disgusts as Sungyeol turns around to face him.

 

“Oh my god! What the !?!” Sungyeol yells, clutching his chest as he looks at Myungsoo.

 

“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know that you’ll be scared,” Myungsoo says, barely holding in his laughter at the facial expression of the latter.

 

“Aish, director Kim, you can’t just go creeping around people like that! Why are you here, anyway? Are you stalking me?” Sungyeol asks, finally stabilizing his heart.

 

“Come with me, I have something to discuss with you,” Myungsoo says, starting to drag Sungyeol by the arm.

 

“Hey, wait a minute, director Kim. Is this still about the tangerines?” Sungyeol asks, shaking off Myungsoo’s hand on his arm.

 

Myungsoo shakes his head.

 

“No, let’s discuss it somewhere else,” Myungsoo says.

 

Sungyeol looks back at his cup of ramyun and then back at Myungsoo.

 

“O-okay, but let me finish my ramyun first,” Sungyeol says, starting to walk back to his precious cup of instant ramyun.

 

“No, let me treat you somewhere nicer and we can discuss it there,” Myungsoo says, once again grabbing Sungyeol by the arm.

 

“Aish, this ramyun costs a few bucks, okay? At least let me get my money’s worth and can you please stop grabbing me by my precious arm. You’re hurting me and I might report you for harassment,” Sungyeol insists.

 

“That’s rich coming from you. I might report you for trespassing and stealing if you don’t come with me right now. It’s urgent. And leave that ramyun. It’s disgusting now because you spitted back what was already in your mouth in the cup,” Myungsoo says.

 

Sungyeol blushes in embarrassment and lets himself be dragged by Myungsoo, scared that he’s going to get arrested if he doesn’t cooperate.

 

 

~ O ~

 

            Sungyeol feels himself drool at the smell of the dishes that are laid in front of him on the table. He watches the waitress put down a few more dishes and he can almost hear his stomach grumble.

 

“Thank you, we’ll eat well,” Sungyeol tells the waitress.

 

The waitress bows and walks away, leaving Myungsoo and Sungyeol alone on the table.

 

“Thank you for treating me here, director Kim. I’ll eat well!” Sungyeol says, winking at Myungsoo.

 

Myungsoo frowns when Sungyeol winks at him and shakes his head.

 

“Oh, this is so good! I cannot remember the last time that I ate something this good! Well…except for the delicious dinner that I ate at the pension house with those Chinese investors!” Sungyeol says through a full mouth.

 

“Ya, chew your food before talking. I can’t have you spitting out food on my face,” Myungsoo reprimands, putting in a piece of meat in his mouth.

 

“S-sorry, this is just so good!” Sungyeol says, not letting his eyes stray away from his food.

 

Myungsoo smiles and shakes his head at the latter.

 

“But, director Kim, why did you really treat me here? What do you want to say?” Sungyeol says, finally emptying his mouth of food before speaking.

 

Myungsoo puts down his chopsticks and stares at Sungyeol.

 

“Remember the Chinese investors?” Myungsoo starts.

 

Sungyeol nods and Myungsoo continues.

 

“They said that they want to go to a special place. What is that special place, anyway?” Myungsoo says.

 

“Ah! The special place! It is a place next to—“

 

Myungsoo dismissively waves his hand, cutting off Sungyeol.

 

“You don’t need to elaborate. I just need you to take them there and give your best as a tour guide,” Myungsoo says.

 

Sungyeol pouts and sighs at what Myungsoo says.

 

“No wonder you’re treating me nicely to an expensive restaurant! I knew that it’s too good to be true that you’re just going to let me off that easily…I paid for the tangerines already and now, you’re making me work for it too? Honestly, it was really tiring to pluck the tangerines! I even did it for you free of charge and now you’re treating me this way?” Sungyeol pouts.

 

Myungsoo rubs his face in annoyance.

 

“I’ll pay your ticket to Seoul if you agree on being a tour guide today,” Myungsoo says.

 

Sungyeol immediately erases the pout on his face and replaces it with a huge gummy smile.

 

“In that case, I’m very grateful! Thank you so much, director Kim!” Sungyeol says, reaching out to pinch Myungsoo’s cheek in happiness.

 

Myungsoo glares at him.

 

“If you don’t let go of my cheek, I’m going to take you to the police station,” Myungsoo threatens.

 

Sungyeol immediately lets go of Myungsoo’s cheek like it’s hot and just gives a smile at the latter.

 

“But really, director Kim. Thanks a lot for paying for my ticket! You will be blessed!” Sungyeol giggles.

 

“You don’t have to thank me. You just have to do a good job today in being a tour guide to the Chinese investors,” Myungsoo says.

 

Sungyeol eagerly nods and clasps his hands together under his chin.

 

“Of course, I will! I always do a good job when it comes to being a tour guide! The tourists love my charm!” Sungyeol brags.

 

Myungsoo nods and gestures for him to continue eating his food. Sungyeol smiles and starts to dig in again but a thought suddenly crosses his mind. He looks up at Myungsoo with a teasing smirk on his face.

 

“Director Kim~ why are you suddenly being so nice to me, huh? You treat me at a very nice restaurant, gave me a job and you’re even paying for my ticket to Seoul. Are you, by any chance, falling for my charms too~?” Sungyeol says.

 

Myungsoo stares at him in horror.

 

“Do you like me, director Kim~?” Sungyeol asks, batting his eyelashes at the latter.

 

Myungsoo heaves out a deep sigh and gestures for Sungyeol to come closer. Giggling, Sungyeol comes closer to Myungsoo while batting his eyelashes.

 

“Do you want to lose that job and kiss your plane ticket goodbye because of that weird speculation of yours?” Myungsoo asks, voice deep and dark.

 

Sungyeol gasps and leans away from Myungsoo.

 

“What weird speculation? I’m not thinking of anything! Haha, I’m not thinking of anything!” Sungyeol says, shaking his hands in front of him.

 

“First, I’m doing this because I just want the Chinese investors to have a good time here to protect the reputation of Woollim Hotel and Resort. Second, I just wanted to help someone who is in need and is having a hard time. It’s just hitting two birds with one stone,” Myungsoo says.

 

“Aigoo, in that case, I’m really grateful to you, director Kim! You will be blessed~” Sungyeol says.

 

Myungsoo nods and watches Sungyeol continue eating. He is about to dig in his own food as well but his phone ringing yet again, disturbs him. It’s Mrs. Nam again.

 

“Yes, auntie?” Myungsoo asks.

 

“Myungsoo-yah, did Woohyun contact you?” Mrs. Nam asks.

 

“Woohyun hyung? Uh, no he didn’t contact me yet. I think he’s still touring in Europe, auntie,” Myungsoo says.

 

Sungyeol curiously looks up at Myungsoo, cheeks chubby from all the food in his mouth.

 

“It seems that he’s already back in Korea. Someone saw him in an airport. Myungsoo, make sure that you contact me if Woohyun contacts you and tells you where he is, okay?” Mrs. Nam says.

 

“Yes, auntie,” Myungsoo says.

 

“Who’s Woohyun hyung?” Sungyeol asks when Myungsoo hangs up his phone.

 

Myungsoo shakes his head.

 

“He’s my cousin, but that’s none of your business. Hurry up and continue eating. I need to go back to the hotel,” Myungsoo says.

 

“O-okay, but what time do I have to go to hotel to tour the Chinese investors?” Sungyeol asks.

 

“Around four in the afternoon. Don’t be late, Sungyeol-shi,” Myungsoo says.

 

“I will not be late! I promise that I will go there early!”

 

~ O ~

 

            Sungyeol walks around the park while waiting for Dongwoo’s call. Dongwoo is going to bring him some of his belongings that he left in his apartment with his father and this includes his passport. He doesn’t really need a passport to go to Seoul but in case he has to go to Japan as well, at least he has his passport with him.

 

“Dongwoo hyung! Where are you? I’ve been here for half an hour! I told you that I couldn’t hang around too long here, right? I have a job to go to in an hour and those hooligans might find me here!” Sungyeol says over the phone.

 

“I’m already here! I already parked the bus and I’m getting out now. I’m in the parking lot,” Dongwoo says.

 

Sungyeol looks around and realizes that the parking lot is in front of him.

 

“Oh? I’m in the parking lot as well! I’ll—“

 

Sungyeol is cut short when he sees that beside Dongwoo’s tour bus, there are black cars parked next to it and the loan shark is emerging in one of them along with his hooligans in black. They are following closely behind Dongwoo, who is clueless as he walks around. Sungyeol lets out a gasp and immediately hides behind the tree beside him.

 

“Ya, Dongwoo hyung! I told you that you should be careful when you go here! How can you not notice that you’re being followed?!” Sungyeol says.

 

“Huh? What do you mean?” Dongwoo asks.

 

“Don’t look behind you. The loan shark and his hooligans are following you. Just go back inside the bus and go home! I’ll talk to you later!” Sungyeol says, hanging up.

 

He watches Dongwoo go back in the bus and hurriedly drives away but the loan shark and half of the hooligans linger at the parking lot while half of them follow Dongwoo. Sungyeol lets out a sigh of relief. At least, they are lesser. While the loan shark and his men are still distracted, Sungyeol quickly runs away from the parking lot and joins a bunch of Japanese tourists.

 

Time to pretend to be a Japanese tourist!

 

“Wow, isn’t it really wonderful here?” Sungyeol says to an elderly man in Japanese.

 

“Who are you?” the elder man asks.

 

“I’m also a Japanese tourist! I was just late!” Sungyeol answers in Japanese, laughing when the man nods his head.

 

“Oh! Look over there! I heard that a national artist built that cottage! It was dedicated to his wife!” Sungyeol says.

 

“Really? What a beautiful cottage! The artist must’ve been really sweet! And you are very cute!” the elder man says, causing Sungyeol to laugh.

 

Sungyeol continues to talk with the Japanese elder as they walk around the park. He’s glad that he’s blending in really well with the tourists.

 

“Ouch!” Sungyeol blurts out in Japanese as well when someone bumps into him.

 

He looks back and is met with a man who is shorter than him by a few inches, brown styled hair, high perfect nose, slit eyes and perfect cheekbone.

 

“I’m sorry,” the man apologizes in Japanese, flashing the greasiest smile at Sungyeol.

 

Sungyeol furrows his brows and nods before running to catch up with the Japanese tourists. The man notices that Sungyeol dropped his scarf, so he picks it up and runs after Sungyeol.

 

“Excuse me! Hey, you dropped your scarf!” the man calls out in Japanese, running after Sungyeol.

 

Sungyeol looks back and the man with the perfect nose gives him the scarf.

 

“Thank you,” Sungyeol says in Japanese, bowing at him.

 

Seeing the hooligans and the shark loan lurking around behind the man, Sungyeol hurriedly walks away to join the Japanese tourists again. He is about to talk to the Japanese elder again but a hand grabs him and starts to drag him away!

 

“Help me!” Sungyeol calls out in Japanese when he sees that he’s being dragged away by the loan shark himself.

 

“Help me!” Sungyeol calls out, still persistent on pretending to be a Japanese tourist.

 

“Stop pretending that you are a tourist! Let’s go and talk! You owe us a lot of money!” the load shark says, putting his arm roughly around Sungyeol’s shoulder.

 

Sungyeol yells and continues to struggle against the man’s grip but he is being dragged further and further away from the Japanese tourists.

 

“Hey you! Let go of the Japanese tourist!” someone shouts from behind them.

 

Sungyeol feels himself being pulled away from the loan shark’s arms and he is suddenly hiding behind the man with perfect nose.

 

“What Japanese tourist? Ah, there are many tourists there. But this rat behind you is not a tourist. I suggest that you run along and not intervene with my business if you don’t want your handsome face to be ruined,” the loan shark says, trying to intimidate the man.

 

Sungyeol cowers under the stare of the loan shark and hides himself behind the man despite being shorter than him. He feels the hand of the loan shark reaching for him again, so he screams out something in Japanese.

 

The man pushes the loan shark with great force and hides Sungyeol behind him again.

 

“Huh, now I’m really angry!” the loan shark says, charging towards the man.

 

The man dodges the punch that is being thrown at him and pushes the loan shark again, throwing his own punch. The man kicks the loan shark’s face, causing him to fall back on his hooligans with a cry.

 

“Sir, are you okay?!” one of the hooligans asks.

 

“DESTROY THIS MEDDLING BASTARD!” the loan shark shouts.

 

Sungyeol screams out in panic when he sees the hooligans approaching the man who helped him but he is awed when the man takes them down one by one without even breaking a sweat. Sungyeol’s mouth is hanging open because of how awesome the man is. Suddenly, he is being pulled out of the scene by the man while the hooligans are still struggling to get on their feet.

 

“Come on! I will rescue you!” the man says in Japanese as they run towards the parking lot.

 

He opens the door of a blue car and pushes Sungyeol inside. Sungyeol cannot comprehend the things that are happening around him but he knows that the man with the perfect nose is saving him. The next thing he knows is that they’re driving recklessly on the road as the loan shark’s car chases after them.

 

“This is so fun! I thought that my visit to Jeju Island will be quite boring but this is so fun!” the man laughs, stepping on the gas pedal harder causing the car to go even faster.

 

Sungyeol screams when he sees that they are about to crash with another car but the man avoids it flawlessly. His heart is beating so hard against his ribcage and his knuckles are turning white from gripping the seat so hard to brace himself.

 

“They’re catching up! They’re catching up!” Sungyeol panics.

 

The man looks over at Sungyeol in surprise when he hears him speaking in Korean.

 

“You can speak Korean?!” the man asks in surprise.

 

“JUST CONCENTRATE ON DRIVING!! WE’RE GOING TO DIE!” Sungyeol screams, closing his eyes shut.

 

He continues to scream as the man tries to lose the loan shark’s car, making sharp turns here and there and speeding as if there’s no tomorrow. Sungyeol prays in his mind and starts apologizing for the things that he’s done wrong. He apologizes for lying so many times and for fooling a lot of people just to earn money.

 

“I’m going to die!” Sungyeol screams at the top of his lungs.

 

Suddenly the car stops and Sungyeol gasps as the seatbelt hold him back from bumping his head on the dashboard.

 

“You’re safe now. You can open your pretty eyes.”

 

Sungyeol slowly opens his eyes and looks around. They are on a road beside a cliff and the loan shark’s car is nowhere to be found.

 

“That was really amazing! It’s like an action movie!” the man says, laughing.

 

He looks over at Sungyeol who is still frozen on his spot.

 

“Were you terrified?” he asks.

 

Sungyeol looks at him disbelievingly.

 

“I almost died and you’re asking me if I’m terrified?!” Sungyeol shouts.

 

“Wow, your Korean is really good! Wait, did you just pretend to be a Japanese?” the man asks, a greasy smile still on his face.

 

“I did not pretend! You were just mistaken!” Sungyeol yells.

 

The man laughs at him when Sungyeol lets out a hiccup at the end of the sentence.

 

“See? You lied and now you’re being punished with hiccups,” the man chuckles.

 

Sungyeol rolls his eyes and lets out another hiccup.

 

“You’re really cute~ I’m Woohyun, by the way,” the man says, offering his hand for Sungyeol to shake.

 

Sungyeol looks at his hand and shakes it.

 

“Nice to meet you,” Sungyeol says, not looking at the man.

 

“Won’t you give me your name, cutie?” Woohyun asks, not letting go of Sungyeol’s hand.

 

“I don’t give my name to strangers. I live a dangerous life and I cannot risk getting caught,” Sungyeol answers, removing his hand from Woohyun’s grip.

 

Woohyun chuckles and nods.

 

“Alright, then. I’m just going to continue calling you cutie. I’m sure that you are younger than me, so you can just call me Woohyun hyung,” Woohyun says.

 

Sungyeol lets out a hiccup again and Woohyun chuckles.

 

“I’m going to get you something hot to drink. Wait for me here, cutie,” Woohyun says.

 

Sungyeol does not say anything as he watches Woohyun get out of the car.

 

Woohyun…I’ve heard that name somewhere but I just can’t remember…

 

Sungyeol shakes his head and closes his eyes for a second. The past event really left his mind in a crazy jumble.

 

 

~ O ~

 

            A tear slides down Sungyeol’s cheek as he sits at the edge of the cliff. This is the cliff that he used to go to with his father. They would drink here and plan their future as if they have lots of money. The rock that they placed on the ground as some sort of a property marker is still there and Sungyeol bitterly stares at it. He lets out a hiccup as he stands up to walk towards it.

 

“This is where we’re going to build our mansion! Our mansion is going to be sooo big that the people on the other side of the ocean can still see!”

 

Sungyeol lets out more tears and hiccups as he remembers his father’s words.  

 

“But where are you now, appa?! You buried us deep beneath your debt and now you’re hiding! You left me to fend for myself!” Sungyeol shouts.

 

He hiccups again.

 

“Aish!” Sungyeol hisses, throwing the big rock away with great strength.

 

Sungyeol sobs and hiccups, looking at the ocean.

 

“But I promise that I’m going to pay back our debt and built this mansion, appa! The world’s going to see that they should not mess with us!” Sungyeol says, walking over to where the rock landed and bringing it back to its original place.

 

Woohyun, who just got back from buying hot coffee for Sungyeol hears the noise and watches the latter fondly. He sees the other putting rocks together on one spot and he laughs, amused at Sungyeol’s antics.

 

“LEE SUNGYEOL, AJA!!” Sungyeol shouts, making Woohyun laugh even more.

 

“What are you doing?” Woohyun asks as he reaches Sungyeol.

 

Sungyeol turns sharply at him before looking down again to wipe his tears away.

 

“I was just curing my hiccups. It gets cured through shouting,” Sungyeol says, sniffling.

 

Woohyun nods and hands Sungyeol his cup of coffee.

 

“Next time, if I have hiccups, I’m going to try your method. It seems effective,” Woohyun says.

 

“Thank you for the coffee,” Sungyeol says, avoiding Woohyun’s eyes.

 

“You still haven’t told me your name,” Woohyun says.

 

“I told you, I don’t like giving my names to strangers. I live a dangerous life,” Sungyeol says.

 

“Is that why you were being chased by those men a while ago? You aren’t some sort of a murderer, right?” Woohyun asks.

 

Sungyeol frantically shakes his head.

 

“No, of course not! I’m not the bad guy here, okay? I’m just a victim of circumstances,” Sungyeol says.

 

“If you say so…but let me know at least your nickname. I saved you, after all. I think I even injured my wrist…” Woohyun says, slowly twisting his wrist to lessen the ache.

 

“Huh?” Sungyeol looks at his wrist and reaches in his bag for his dual heat plasters.

 

“Hold out your injured wrist, I’m going to cure it for you,” Sungyeol says.

 

Woohyun blinks in confusion but holds it out anyway. He watches as Sungyeol sticks a heating plaster on his wrist and sticks another on top of it.

 

“There, dual heat plasters would do the effect!” Sungyeol says, smiling at Woohyun with his twinkling eyes turning into little crescents.

 

“Thank you, cutie. You do know a lot about curing, huh?” Woohyun says, inspecting his wrist.

 

“Yes, I told you, right? I live a dangerous life!” Sungyeol says.

 

Woohyun laughs but Sungyeol gasps when he sees the time on Woohyun’s wristwatch.

 

“Oh my god! Is that the time?! I need to go! I have to attend to an important matter! Thanks for everything today, Wooyoung-shi! I’ll go now!”

 

Sungyeol hurriedly drinks his coffee and gives the cup to Woohyun before running off as fast as lightning. Woohyun stares after him, mouth hanging open.

 

“He didn’t even get my name right…” Woohyun mumbles.

 

“MY NAME IS WOOHYUN, NOT WOOYOUNG!” Woohyun calls out.

 

He waits for a respond but Sungyeol continues running towards the bus stop, completely ignoring Woohyun’s call. 

 

Author's Notes: Hi guys!! Thank you so much for subscribing, commenting and upvoting! Your comments really give me a sense of motivation to write new chapters! Heh! Also, thank you that you're finding this story funny. I swear, the drama is so much funnier than my writing but thanks for finding it funny, anyway!

Myungsoo is warming up to Sungyeol!

And hurray, Woohyun and Sungyeol have met! See you guys in the next chapter!