Chapter Seven

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Ki Kwang was stunned. That wasn’t the answer he was expecting at all.

“U-underground lover?” He repeated uncertainly.

Joon sighed. “I didn’t want to keep it from you. I thought you should know the truth between us, at least.”

“Was that what you were sorry for?”

Joon furrowed his brows. “No.”

“So what do you have to be sorry about?”

Joon pressed his lips together tightly. “Listen, little brother. Hyun Ah’s not the kind of girl you think she is.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Our relationship is built on solely selfish gains. I was in need of company and comfort, and she was in need of a means to sustain her glamorous lifestyle which she couldn’t afford. We agreed to enter this relationship to give each other what the other party wanted, without love. We’re not even those contract boy-girlfriends kind of things you see on television.”

Ki Kwang took a moment to take in what he had just heard.

Not that he ever thought Hyun Ah was the pure and innocent kind of girl, but perhaps… Joon was right in saying that Hyun Ah wasn’t the kind of girl he thought she’d be.

“That’s why I think you should give her up. Not because she’s together with me, but because Hyun Ah’s not the kind of girl you should be spending sleepless nights on,” Joon explained.

Ki Kwang remained silent. He had no idea what to reply to his brother, and he needed time to think through his brother’s words.

“Well, I’ll leave you here then,” Joon said as he got up and ready to leave the room.

Just before he stepped out, Ki Kwang opened his mouth and asked, “Do you love her?”

Joon turned around and his eyes met Ki Kwang’s.

“No. And I never will,” he said before walking out and closing the door shut.

Joon’s ending words rang throughout Ki Kwang’s mind. Should those words bother him that much? Ki Kwang had no idea, but all he knew was that his mind was in a further state of confusion.

---

“What I did was right,” Joon muttered to himself as he returned to his room.

He was right in telling Hyun Ah to back off from Ki Kwang, and to tell Ki Kwang to give up on Hyun Ah. It wasn’t that this matter worried him, but because he wanted the best for his brother. The very idea of him even liking Hyun Ah romantically was ridiculous.

He had only one true love, and that was his first love. Hyun Ah was nothing like his first love, and never will be like her, no matter how hard she tries.

For starters, Hyun Ah could never bring out the best of white dresses like his first love did. His first love looked so angelic and untouchable, but all Hyun Ah did was to taint the white. That was why he prohibited her from wearing white, because white was his first love’s colour.

That’s right, and Hyun Ah could never be good enough for Ki Kwang as well, Joon convinced himself as he lay on his bed.

---

A few days passed, and Ki Kwang hadn’t contacted Hyun Ah at all. The next day after Joon talked to Ki Kwang, he had stayed away from home yet again, so Ki Kwang hadn’t spoken to his brother again since then.

“Lunch?” Ki Kwang asked.

Doo Joon looked and gave a cheeky grin, “Aw, how sweet of you to think of me.”

Ki Kwang stared at Doo Joon, speechless at his reply.

“But I’ve got a lunch date already, sorry. Maybe next time?” Doo Joon smiled.

“What the…? Is it an extraordinarily pretty blind date you have or something?”

“Something like that.”

“Did you bring her photo? Can I take a look?” Ki Kwang asked, curious.

“Doo Joon, are you ready to go? Ga Yoon’s reaching soon,” came a voice from behind Ki Kwang.

Ki Kwang turned around, and saw Ji Hyun walking towards his direction.

“Ah, Mr Lee! We were about to go for lunch,” Ji Hyun explained.

Ki Kwang darted his eyes from Ji Hyun to Doo Joon. “You guys are going for lunch together?”

“Yep,” Doo Joon affirmed, “with Ji Hyun’s good friend Ga Yoon.”

“Mr Lee, would you like to join us?” Ji Hyun asked politely.

“Sure, why not?” Ki Kwang answered. Why miss the free good show? Ki Kwang thought to himself.

“All right, let’s go,” Doo Joon rose from his seat, and walked with Ji Hyun ahead of Ki Kwang.

Turning around slightly, Ki Kwang was sure Doo Joon shot him a victorious wink before saying, “C’mon, we don’t want Ji Hyun’s friend to be waiting for us.”

Ki Kwang gave an amused smile before catching up with his secretary and friend.

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 They were on their way out when Ki Kwang whispered to Doo Joon, “How did you manage to take the girls out on a date?”

Doo Joon smirked, “With my wit and humour, of course.”

“Yeah right! C’mon, it won’t hurt you to tell your old friend,” Ki Kwang turned towards Doo Joon and said.

Just then, something caught his eye and he couldn’t shake it off, no matter how he tried. He paused in his tracks, which led Ji Hyun and Doo Joon to look at him curiously.

“What’s the matter?” Doo Joon asked.

“I… I just remembered I had to settle something very important. Sorry, looks like I can’t join you guys for lunch today,” Ki Kwang said apologetically before rushing off.

At the corner of his eye, Ki Kwang saw Doo Joon shrug to Ji Hyun before they proceeded towards their destination, but his line of vision was focused on what he saw. Yes, he had to settle that matter and make a clean break, if anything.

“Alone?” Ki Kwang asked, his hands gripped lightly on the back of the empty seat opposite Hyun Ah.

Hyun Ah looked up, and without any change of expression, she replied, “Go ahead.”

Ki Kwang pulled the seat out and seated himself across Hyun Ah. The smell of her coffee wafted to Ki Kwang’s nose, and he immediately remembered the first time they met, and the feeling of captivation by her beauty.

“So… you know now,” Hyun Ah started.

Ki Kwang was surprised that Hyun Ah even spoke first, but in a way he was glad because he had no idea how to start the conversation in that direction.

“Yes.”

Hyun Ah merely gave a light smile, and Ki Kwang couldn’t read what that meant.

“Are you having lunch?” Ki Kwang decided to ask.

“Mm, I haven’t decided what I wanted to eat.”

“Do you… mind if I joined you for lunch?” Ki Kwang questioned tentatively.

“You’ve already joined me, haven’t you? This can be the make-up lunch date I promised,” Hyun Ah replied.

After making their orders, silence aded yet again.

Ki Kwang had decided to break the ice by asking the question that had been bugging him the past few days that passed. “On the days that my brother doesn’t come home… is he with you?”

“Most likely. But there are nights that even I have no idea where he is. Like he told you, I’m not his girlfriend so I can’t keep tabs on where he is all the time,” Hyun Ah continued, “He’s the one keeping tabs on me.”

“Nights?”

“We don’t go on dates in the afternoon, unless your brother felt acute loneliness and texts me to go home for him. Otherwise, it’s always night fun for us.”

Ki Kwang had wanted to ask why Hyun Ah was always having time on her own when he bumped into her, but her reply made sense to him.

“Your brother doesn’t like to hang around me all the time, you know,” Hyun Ah said.

Ki Kwang noticed a flash of sadness that hung on Hyun Ah’s face, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. He wondered if Hyun Ah had any feelings for Joon, despite what Joon said of Hyun Ah and their relationship.

“Do you like Joon?”

Hyun Ah stared at Ki Kwang for a while, as if taken aback by that question. However, she simply smiled, “No, I don’t. We don’t like each other, and we never will.”

Ki Kwang felt a sense of irrational anger rising in him. If Hyun Ah and Joon didn’t like each other at all, why should they continue to be together? If anything, he could give Hyun Ah everything she wanted, all the money she needed, and even more. He could give her the love that Joon refused to give.

“Why don’t you leave my brother then? Why stay by someone whom you will never love, and who will never love you?”

Hyun Ah gave a bitter grin, “Because I’m very dependent on your brother for my selfish needs as well. There won’t be anyone out there who can willingly satisfy what I want like Joon does. And who said love was important? Love can’t feed you, can’t buy you clothes, can’t give you anything. Only fools will take love and nothing else.”

“What if there was someone who could fulfill your financial needs and also love you?”

Ki Kwang knew he was going against his brother’s wishes but he couldn’t stop himself.

He watched Hyun Ah before she opened to speak, “That’s impossible. No one can be that selfless. Everyone’s a selfish creature.”

“That’s not true, I-” Ki Kwang was cut off by the waiter who had announced the arrival of their dishes, and placed their food on their desks.

Somehow, that interruption quenched Ki Kwang’s courage to complete his sentence. Much as he wanted Hyun Ah for himself, he was suddenly reminded that he couldn’t do that. Till the day that Joon and Hyun Ah break up, Ki Kwang can never lay a finger on Hyun Ah.

“Never mind, let’s stop talking about my brother.”

---

“You know, I used to love dancing. A lot,” Hyun Ah admitted.

Ki Kwang looked up from his pasta. “Really? Me too!”

Hyun Ah gave a kind smile, “So why did you stop?”

“I couldn’t find the time and excuse to dance anymore, after I graduated.”

“Oh.”

Ki Kwang noticed Hyun Ah’s stiff expression. “And you?”

“What about me?”

“Why did you stop dancing?”

“Because just like love, dancing couldn’t get me anywhere or anything. If I continued dancing, I would be hungry, badly clothed and homeless. I couldn’t live with that,” Hyun Ah replied with a bitter grin.

“I was 17 when I realized how important money was to me. I had to work so hard to earn a decent wage, but I always was unable to earn enough. That was when I dreamt of a different solution,” Hyun Ah continued.

Ki Kwang had no idea what to say, because that had never happened to him. Nor had it occurred to him that anyone would ever suffer from such a situation.

“If I could, I’d love to go dancing again,” Hyun Ah said.

“I’m sure you’ll be the most beautiful dancer on stage,” Ki Kwang complimented.

Hyun Ah merely smiled and twirled a forkful of spaghetti.

Ki Kwang decided to understand her silence as a way of moving on from the past, something which he always took effort to accomplish.

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“Thanks for lunch today,” Hyun Ah said after Ki Kwang insisted upon footing the bill for them.

“No, I should thank you,” Ki Kwang replied.

“What for?” Hyun Ah questioned.

Ki Kwang signed the bill that was offered to him before looking up, “For talking so much. I’m glad you shared so much with me.”

Hyun Ah’s face fell. “Ki Kwang, I think we should stay friends.”

“No, we shouldn’t,” Ki Kwang responded.

“You’re right. We shouldn’t, because that wouldn’t be right.”

“We shouldn’t be friends because I can never want you as a friend. Why don’t you leave my brother? I can give you everything you want as well, and more. Much, much more than what Joon could ever give you.”

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Hi guys! My exams finally ended, so I think I’ll be updating slightly more often. Cheers!

C/Cs are appreciated!