Chapter Thirty-Four
Angel Vessel
I took a deep breath and called him. He answered this time. "Something wrong, Minji?" He asked without missing a beat or sounding like he was upset. I knew I would be unable to be this way. "I wanted to ask you that, actually. You're acting odd. Is something wrong? Can I help?" I got out in a jumble.
He chuckled. "Everything is fine Minji. I'll see you tonight." And he hung up. I remembered when he told me Angels couldn't lie. So that meant everything he had told me until now wasn't a lie. I guess everything really was fine.
I had a bitter taste in my mouth, but I took a deep breath. Everything was going to be fine, I told myself.
Myungsoo called me soon after. "Did you see Woohyun?" He asked. "Yeah I did." I said quietly. "Minji? You don't sound like yourself. What's wrong?" He asked, concerned now.
"How do men do it?" I asked.
"Huh?"
"How do they say they love you one minute and turn around and become a different person?"
"Wait. Did he hurt you?!"
"No...I'm fine."
"Minji...where are you?"
"Outside Inspirit." I said. "But I'm leaving. I'm going to go home. Sorry to worry you." And I hung up on him.
I managed to get home and collapsed on my couch. I closed my eyes trying to chase away whatever I was feeling. I heard my keypad and a opened my eyes to see Myungsoo carrying a takeout bag and a bottle of wine.
"I was in the neighborhood." He gave a sheepish smile. I was speechless and just stared at him. After all that I put him through he was still my best friend and confidant. I had forgotten that. I remembered what he had said last night. I loved Myungsoo. I loved Woohyun. I love them both, but somewhere at the bottom of my heart, I knew that I would have to choose.
"I still owe you a meal." I managed to get out thickly. "I'll cash in on that someday." Myungsoo said coming over. I unpacked the food as he got the glasses for our wine. We didn't talk about Angels or demons or what was wrong. We just put on a funny show to watch and everything seemed normal for once.
I had drunk most of the wine and we opened another. My cheeks felt unnaturally warm. "Minji...are you sure you should be drinking so much?" Myungsoo said trying to take away my glass. "It's the only thing that I can control, Myungsoo. Everything else I can't." I said pushing his hand away. I pulled out the spare pack of cigarettes from under my coffee table and a lighter.
He went silent. "Don't do that." He said softly and I looked at him. "Do what?" I asked.
"Don't start smoking again. Don't drink so much. Don't disappear into your world and not let me follow." Myungsoo said with such emotion that I froze and I held the cigarette unlit between my fingers. He pulled the cigarette gently from me and put it on the coffee table. "I had a lot of time to think last night. After you ran past me in the lobby, I came back to your apartment and just sat and thought about what had happened."
He took a deep breath and a moment, but I never stopped staring at him. "I thought about what I could see when the demon let me see, while I was being controlled. I realized you had stopped smoking. At first that detail could be seen as trivial. It must've been all the chaos going on, but you stopped the horrible habit. I realized that as strong as you already are, and I wished you never had to go through something like it, this experience made you stronger. And I realized although you are strong enough to face things by yourself, I want to always be there to face them with you...if you'll have me."
My bottom lip quivered. Myungsoo was always so good as conveying exactly how he felt. The raw emotion he was emitting and the sincerity in his voice made my heart clench.
"I don't have anything to offer to you." I said quietly.
He sighed softly. "When are you going to understand Park Minji? I love you. I've loved you since the police academy."
And that is when I finally lost it. I started to cry and the look on his face would have been comical in any other situation. He moved towards me on the couch and he didn't say a word, he just held me. He let me stain his shoulder with my tears and my hair gently.
After my tears were spent, he loosened his hold on me. I sat back slightly and looked at him. "I can help you talk to Woohyun." Myungsoo finally said. He had figured out why I was upset. I could tell that it hurt him to say that. But Myungsoo had shown me time and time again, he would let me be selfish as he continued to give.
"No. I won't ask that of you." I said cupping his cheek. "He has no right to hurt you." Myungsoo countered. "Maybe thats is the case." I gave a humorless laugh.
"I'm sorry for doing this to you." I said to him. His dark eyes searched mine. "I want you to know that no matter how it seems. You are the one who is in control. You know that I am patient." I didn't know if he meant our relationship or in general, but if I was in control, then I would do what I wanted to. I kissed him.
It was just like Myungsoo's personality to be gentle and slow. I put my arms around the the back of his neck to pull him closer. He wrapped his arms around me and deepened the kiss.
It was then I heard the now familiar sound of an Angel teleporting followed by a laugh. Myungsoo and I broke apart and I stared wide eyed at Woohyun. He was in a suit, much like he always looked when he was dealing with club business.
"I had some free time so I came to see you, but this is what I find?" Woohyun said in a somewhat haughty way and I felt a mixture of anger and sadness. "You don't get to talk to her like that." Myungsoo spoke before I could.
"Don't I? She practically threw herself at me last night. Now she's all tangled up with you."
Myungsoo was going to stay something. But I put a firm hand on his knee to stop him. He looked at me as I stood up. "Threw myself at you?" I asked.
"What would you call what we did last night then?" Woohyun asked crossing his arms. I felt my fists close and my nails dig into my palms as I confronted him. His eyes held mine, but they were unreadable.
He seemed to be waiting for a retort, but I couldn't stand it anymore and slapped him hard across the face. Myungsoo stood up in surprise. "Minji..."
Woohyun flexed his jaw and turned back to look at me, eyes cold. He opened his mouth, but I beat him to the punch. "I don't know what got into you. I don't know why you are doing to this to me, but I'm done with it! You were also with another woman today!" Angry tears started to escape and trail down my cheeks, but I didn't let them falter me. I put a finger to his chest, where his heart was.
"Your heart must have been replaced with a block of ice because the Woohyun I know would never say such demeaning and disgusting things to me. He wouldn't treat me this way." I poked his chest and he stood firm. "I don't know what you are talking about." He said. "We never agreed that we were a mututally exclusive. You can continue to see Myungsoo if you would like." He gestured to Myungsoo. I felt my jaw clench as I ground my teeth.
I had told him how much I loved him last night. It wasn't a kind of night you spent casually with a girl. Unless maybe it was to him. I was naive. I was being stupid. Everything felt wrong, but I just wanted to push everything into the far corner of my mind.
"Leave Nam Woohyun. Even if you apologize, I won't forgive you. I don't want you as my guardian angel!" I said before my mind could completely process those words.
"Minji!" Myungsoo came over and grabbed my arm. "You don't mean that."
"But I do! I don't want anything to do with him!" I said my tears blurring my vision as I kept my eyes trained on Woohyun. I had thought everything was over. That I would have peace. That I didn't have to be afraid anymore.
Woohyun cleared his throat. He had the audacity to smile at me and then he was gone in a blink of an eye.
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