Chapter Nine

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“The Nutcracker?” Joon asked while Hyun Ah was pouring herself a cup of water in the kitchen.

“What?” Hyun Ah called from the kitchen, not hearing Joon properly.

She walked back to the living room and saw Joon reading the ticket that Ki Kwang had passed to her earlier.

“Oh, that.”

“What’s this? Is it some kind of drama play or something?” Joon asked.

“No, it’s a musical,” Hyun Ah replied, feeling a slight sense of disappointment towards Joon’s comment.

“You should’ve told me that you wanted to watch it,” Joon said as he put the ticket back on the table.

Hyun Ah took a gulp of water, wondering if that rising feeling was of guilt or uncertainty.

“So are you watching it alone or something?”

“Yeah,” Hyun Ah said quickly. “I didn’t think you’d want to watch it too.”

“Well, I wouldn’t have minded. Since you’ve gotten the ticket already, then it’s fine. We’ll watch something else together another time,” Joon suggested.

Hyun Ah took a double take. Was Joon suggesting a date for them together?

“So, what did you do today?”

“I ate naengmyun for lunch, and shopped a bit before coming home.”

“Bought anything other than the ticket?”

“There wasn’t anything nice on the racks, so I didn’t get anything.”

Joon brought Hyun Ah into his arms and kissed her neck. “Well, that’s a pity. I wanted to see you in a new dress today.”

“I am wearing something I haven’t worn before, actually. So it’s a new dress,” Hyun Ah replied as she caressed Joon’s hair softly.

“Oh, really? Well, you look gorgeous in it,” Joon mumbled as he finally brought his lips to Hyun Ah’s, and they kissed passionately while retreating to the bedroom.

---

“I’m going on a date today,” Doo Joon said while pressing his shirt down and adjusting his tie.

Ki Kwang grinned at Doo Joon’s reflection in the mirror in the men’s room.

“I’m going on a date today as well,” Ki Kwang said and mimicked Doo Joon by pressing his shirt down and adjusting his tie too.

“Really? With who? Some new girl?” Doo Joon asked excitedly.

“No, with Hyun Ah, of course.”

“What? She said yes?” Doo Joon questioned.

“Not exactly, but she didn’t say no either,” Ki Kwang replied, “So I assume that she’s coming.”

Doo Joon gave a slight chuckle, “And how would you know?”

“Because the other time she turned up even though she didn’t say yes, nor did she say no.”

“Wow, I’ve got to tip my hat off to you.”

“So who are you dating tonight?” Ki Kwang asked, “Ga Yoon?”

Doo Joon folded his arms, “I thought I told you never to mention that name to me, ever? Like I would ever date her again!”

“All right, relax! So who’s it this time?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t met her yet. But she looks pretty in the photo though. I’ll tell you about it tomorrow.”

“Good luck, and don’t get rejected again,” Ki Kwang said before he wiped his hands with the paper towel and tossed it into the bin.

Doo Joon did likewise, and followed Ki Kwang out of the washroom while saying, “I won’t! You wait and see!”

---

“Hey, where are you now?” Joon asked through the phone call.

“I’m watching The Nutcracker tonight, remember? I told you yesterday,” Hyun Ah reminded.

“Oh, yeah, that’s right. Well, I’ll see you later then.”

“See you at home,” Hyun Ah said and made a smooching sound so Joon could hear it on his receiver.

Ending the call, Hyun Ah placed her mobile phone back into her purse and continued with her journey to the theatre, where she was meeting Ki Kwang directly.

She was dressed in a brand new tiger print dress that she spent hours shopping for that day, not to mention, paid with Joon’s card. Hyun Ah felt bad, but she told herself that the dress was meant for Joon, not Ki Kwang, because she was going to see Joon at home later that day.

Spotting Ki Kwang waiting by the sidewalk, Hyun Ah approached him, trying to ditch the heavy sense of guilt away.

“Wow, you really took my breath away with that dress,” Ki Kwang complimented when he saw her.

Hyun Ah smiled at Ki Kwang’s praise. “Did you wait long?”

“Nah, I only just came. Let’s go for dinner first.”

They proceeded to the restaurant down the street and had a satisfying meal while discussing their favourite musicals and those they had gone to or really wanted to go to but never had the chance.

They were reliving their past, and as Hyun Ah saw it, sharing intimate memories and moments that she had never really admitted to anyone. In fact, sometimes she barely got to talk much about her dreams with Joon, the only person she talked to on a regular basis. The only thing Joon liked asking was what she did that day, even though they both knew Hyun Ah led a mundane, solitary life.

Was that why she really desired to see Ki Kwang badly? Hyun Ah wondered. Perhaps, but at the same time, she knew that whenever she looked at Ki Kwang, the image of him as a rich guy never left her mind.

“Hey, I got to take a call first, I’ll meet you inside,” Ki Kwang said.

Hyun Ah nodded and showed her ticket to the usher, then proceeding to her seat.

“Front row seats,” Hyun Ah whispered to herself as she walked down the aisle. Ki Kwang was definitely a rich guy.

She checked her seat number against the row of seats and found hers. She turned around to look at the stage. Her seat was not the centre seat, but it was still near to the centre. Those seats were definitely good seats.

She sat down and heard a cough from the man on her left. Turning around, Hyun Ah was caught into a frenzy of panic.

“Joon?”

Joon grinned. “Took you long enough. You got yourself really good seats, you know?”

“What are you doing here?” Hyun Ah asked in a mock calm manner, trying her best to compose herself.

“Well, I didn’t want you to watch the musical alone, since I said I’ll accompany you every night if I could. And I thought it would be nice to finally catch a musical for the first time,” Joon explained.

“How did you get the ticket to this seat?” Hyun Ah asked.

“I saw the seat number on your ticket, so I made sure to get the seat next to yours. I had to call the guy who was holding onto this ticket to sell it to me for double the price.”

Hyun Ah was touched by Joon’s gesture, but she wasn’t in the mood to show it. “That’s really sweet, but the thing is-”

“Joon?”

Joon’s gaze drifted from Hyun Ah to the person behind her.

“What are you doing here?” Ki Kwang asked.

Joon’s face changed and he stood up. “That should be the question I’m asking you! What are you doing here?”

He studied Hyun Ah and Ki Kwang, before demanding, “Are you two on a date again?”

“No, that’s not-” Hyun Ah said but was cut off by Ki Kwang, who had pushed her lightly to the side.

“So what if we’re on a date?”

Joon shot a furious look at Hyun Ah. “What’s the meaning of this?”

“We’re just watching a musical together, is there something wrong with that?” Ki Kwang said defiantly.

“Sorry Ki Kwang, I cannot allow this,” Joon said and pulled Hyun Ah by the wrist along with him.

“Joon, that hurts!” Hyun Ah cried as she followed him out of the theatre, leaving Ki Kwang alone with the three empty seats.

---

Once they were out of the theatre, Joon let go of Hyun Ah.

Hyun Ah used her other hand to lightly massage the part where Joon grasped tightly. She knew a huge tirade was coming, and quickly walked ahead, but Joon was much faster.

“Where do you think you’re going?” He asked, pulling Hyun Ah to a stop.

“Home, of course!” Hyun Ah exclaimed.

“We talked about this, remember? You were not supposed to see Ki Kwang again!” Joon shouted.

“I know! And I wanted to stop seeing him too!” Hyun Ah refuted.

“So what the hell was going on there? Did I mistake some other guy as my brother? After the date, what were you guys planning to do? Were you going to sleep with him too?”

“I wasn’t! I just… I’m sorry, I didn’t know what I was trying to do, I’m just really confused right now,” Hyun Ah confessed as she felt immense guilt engulf her.

This wasn’t what she wanted at all. She wanted to have a good time watching a musical for the first time in years, and then return home to a happy Joon, who would shower her with tender kisses.

They have had many quarrels before, but all rage always disappeared quickly the next day, perhaps because they weren’t in a real romantic relationship, and there was no need to be so upset with the other party. But this time, it seemed to Hyun Ah that Joon’s rage had built up over the number of times they had discussed about Ki Kwang, and was hard to dissolve.

It didn’t help that she knew she was guilty of fueling Joon’s anger, and utterly unclear of her intentions towards getting close to Ki Kwang. Perhaps she knew, but she was not proud to admit it.

“Whatever it is, you are never to see Ki Kwang ever again, even if he calls you, bumps into you, or does anything to meet you,” Joon demanded.

“You know what? Let’s have a time out. I’m not going home tonight,” Hyun Ah said and walked away.

---

Ki Kwang watched as his brother pulled the woman he liked so much away from him. It seemed metaphorical to him that maybe, no matter how he tried, Joon will always win Hyun Ah away from him. It was probably impossible for Ki Kwang to ever have a chance with Hyun Ah.

The musical started, and Ki Kwang sat in the middle of the three seats.

He couldn’t concentrate on the musical at all, but he decided to sit through it. After all, it would seem even more foolish of him to run out and chase Hyun Ah back.

When it was intermission, Ki Kwang couldn’t take it anymore. He left the theatre, and returned home, hoping to sleep away the ache in his heart.

---

Joon walked along the streets, and before he knew it, he was at the standing before the building of his apartment with Hyun Ah.

Remembering what Hyun Ah had said, he set off again and walked away from the apartment. Maybe Hyun Ah was right; they did need a time out. But somehow, he was feeling more upset than about that night than he thought he would be.

He didn’t even know why he had gotten so angry at Hyun Ah. He thought he was angry with himself, but that seemed to be one of the reasons. A part of him was really angry at Hyun Ah for going out with Ki Kwang again, but why?

He didn’t want to go home either, because he knew Ki Kwang would be at home. And it would probably be good for him to have a time out with Ki Kwang too. He knew that he could no longer convince Ki Kwang to stay away from Hyun Ah.

Joon sat on a public bench and sighed. All of a sudden, the memory of how he first met Hyun Ah came back to him.

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It was at night, Joon remembered vividly. It was raining so heavily, even if you had an umbrella up there was a high chance that your body will get splattered by the large droplets of rain.

He was still trying to get over Hyo Min, his first love, who had left him all of a sudden without any notice.

That night, Joon was trying to brave the rain to get back to the apartment he owned, where he always went to when he wasn’t in the mood to go home.

Just then, he saw a lady decked in shimmering jewellery that reflected the shine off the street lamps walking down the street without an umbrella, and was therefore drenched from head to toe. Quickly, he ran towards her and offered to share his umbrella with her.

“Did you lose your umbrella?” He asked.

“No,” she replied coldly.

“So why were you walking in the rain?”

The lady didn’t bother to reply but instead walked out of the shelter of Joon’s umbrella and continued on her path.

“Hey lady, it’s a thunderstorm out here! You’re going to get a cold,” Joon said as he pulled her together with him, and spotting the building of his apartment, pulled her under the protruding roof of the entrance.

He took a look at her face, and noticed that the beads of water on her face weren’t only made up of the rainwater; her eyes were evidently red from crying, and tears were still flowing out.

“Are you feeling okay?” Joon asked.

The lady started sobbing loudly.

Joon had no idea why, but he had to urge to help her. Maybe it was because he wasn’t feeling that good as well, what with the break-up, and felt that he understood the lady in some way.

“Hey, I’ve an apartment here, why don’t we get you warmed up and dry? Maybe you’ll feel better,” Joon offered and walked into the building, beckoning the lady to follow him.

When the lady stayed where she was, Joon pulled her along with him, all the way to his apartment. She barely resisted, and Joon took that to mean that she actually wanted to get some comfort, that he had wanted so badly.

After he settled the lady at his couch, he found a clean towel and tossed it to her. She picked it up and started wiping herself.

Joon quickly made a hot drink for her and went into his room to change into dry, fresh clothes. He had no female clothes, since Hyo Min packed everything she owned and took it away when she left. Finding a random sweatshirt and a pair of bermudas, he exited the room and passed it the lady to change.

She said a “thanks” quietly and went to the toilet.

When she came out, the lady sat at the couch again, using the towel to dry her long hair.

“So, do you have a name?”

“Hyun Ah.”

“I’m Joon. So, are you feeling better now?”

Hyun Ah nodded lightly. “What about you, are you feeling better too?”

“What?”

“I saw your eyes, you were crying too, weren’t you?” Hyun Ah asked.

“Oh, that. It’s nothing. Just a normal heartbreak that everyone will have to go through,” Joon said.

“Break up, huh,” Hyun Ah gave a bitter smile.

“Did that happen to you too?”

Hyun Ah shook her head. “You asked me why I was walking in the rain, right?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s because I don’t own an umbrella. After my last umbrella broke, I haven’t had an umbrella in a while.”

“So go buy one!”

“I can’t afford one.”

“Meaning?” Joon asked, wondering if Hyun Ah had meant what he thought she said.

“I don’t have the money to buy an umbrella.”

A moment of silence passed, as Joon tried to comprehend Hyun Ah’s words.

“But those jewellery,” Joon continued, referring to the necklace that Hyun Ah had laid out carefully on the table, “surely if you have the money to buy that you’ll have the money to buy an umbrella?”

“Because I’m a superficial, materialistic , that’s why. I can live without an umbrella, but I can’t live without my branded goods. I would rather be in debt because I overspent on jewellery than because I bought an umbrella anytime,” Hyun Ah said.

“That doesn’t make sense, an umbrella only costs you this much!”

 “To me, there are more important things to keep and buy than an umbrella, and that’s how it is. I don’t care whether it makes sense or not.”

Hyun Ah finished her drink and put down her cup. “Well, thanks a lot. Looks like the rain’s stopping. I’ll get going then.”

She got up, and grabbed her wet dress and walked in the direction of the toilet.

“Wait, you’re not going to change back right?” Joon stopped her and asked.

“You can’t expect me to appear on the streets like this?”

“But you can’t wear that dress again, it’s drenched! I’ll put it in the dryer now, you’ll change back into it when it’s dry,” Joon snatched the dress from Hyun Ah.

When he returned to the living room, Hyun Ah was seated on the couch again.

“Could you tell me why you were crying?” Joon asked gently.

“I was crying because I was angry and jealous of all the rich girls, who could wear and buy whatever they want without effort, but here I am, struggling and wet because I didn’t have an umbrella, nor anywhere to go.”

“You don’t have anywhere to go? Don’t you have a home?”

“My rich boyfriend dumped me, and kicked me out of his place. All I need to do is to find another rich guy, and that’s why I can’t appear in this outfit,” Hyun Ah plucked the sweatshirt off her chest for demonstration.

“What… what about me?”

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Hello! A longer chapter today, hmm. I just couldn’t stop writing when I came to the flashback. Any parts that seems illogical, just feel free to tell me! I was worried I crafted the flashback badly.

C/Cs are appreciated!