Kiko’s POV

 

This is completely ridiculous!

 

I swear I can’t hate myself more right now. I had troubles sleeping lately, in fact I had troubles focusing on anything. I lost my job and even if I sent my resume to all the top fashion design houses in Seoul I still haven’t got any answer yet. It became urgent to find a job now, I had rent to pay and I couldn’t afford waiting a long time. But more importantly, there was Jiyong, who just meeting him once again made my heart jump back in time and left me confused about my feelings and about how much I let go of the past.

 

I kicked the sheets off of me and scrunched them at the end of the bed in frustration then turned to look at the clock on my phone. Three a.m., and I was still wide awake.

 

…

 

I gave up on the hope of falling back asleep so I just rolled out of bed and my laptop and waited for it to load up. I was heading to the kitchen to grab some snacks when I heard a noise coming from my nightstand. My phone was vibrating.

 

I reached for it. Some unknown number was calling. I thought it was too late for someone to call and was almost sure that it was a wrong number. I decided to answer it anyways just because I was afraid it would not stop ringing.

 

“Hello? Who is it?”

 

“It’s me” whispered the voice on the phone.

 

It was a man’s voice and as soon as I heard it my heart almost lurched out my chest. I had a slight doubt about who it was, but could it be him? That was impossible, why would he call me?

 

“Who are you?” I blurted out very fast expecting an even faster answer.

 

I heard a giggle on the other side of the line, was this a joke to him?

 

“Meet me at Naksan park at 6pm today.” He answered before hanging up.

 

I blinked at the phone. What was that?!? Who would call now and how can he just command me to meet him without even explaining anything about who he was or the reason he wanted to meet?

 

His voice was so familiar but the very thought of him being the person who was on my mind was absolute madness to me.

 

“You’re crazy, it’s probably a wrong number” I reassured myself before throwing my phone back on the bed and heading to the kitchen.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jiyong was lying on the sofa, his right arm over his eyes. He stole a glance at the glass of water on the table next to him and took a sip of it. He had a migraine and a terrible hangover, and was not planning to move from his spot any time soon.

 

 When the door of the appartment opened, he saw Taeyang coming in.

 

“I see you’re awake” he said as he walked towards the living room where Jiyong was.

 

“I am… ugh Hyung I did something horrible last night” Jiyong groaned while massaging his forehead with his fingers.

 

“You drank too much, fortunately your hyung was there and brought you back home safely!”

 

Jiyong chose to not reply, his eyebrows furrowed while remembering the phone call he made at night. His mind was barely able to focus on what Taeyang was saying because all what he was thinking about was a way to get out of the mess he created. Should he call back and just tell her that it was a wrong number? If he was crazy enough to go and actually meet her, he would have to stay in his car, nobody can see him even more so with a girl. He started picturing the articles that will start flooding the web and how it will hurt his career.

 

 

The sky was grey and the air was heavy, it looked like it was going to rain anytime now. Kiko was sitting stiffly by a park bench facing the road and forcing herself to breath. She felt stupid coming here over a late anonymous phone call but not knowing the caller’s ID didn’t stop her heart from racing. Moreover, she didn’t have anything to lose, she was determined to do this and whether her doubts were founded or not she would at least get to the bottom of it.

 

She looked at her watch. 6:20pm. She looked around but didn’t see anyone.

 

‘This is pathetic.’ She was now soaked and angry at her moronic self who was waiting alone in a park for what was probably a prank call, she stood up ready to leave when she heard the screeching of tires.

 

Kiko’s POV

 

I looked up quickly to see a black SUV speeding down the road. The car pulled up next to me and stopped.

 

My heart skipped a beat.

 

This could be the moment I got kidnapped or murdered or…

 

The window opened, and seeing the familiar person that was behind the wheel didn’t necessarily make me feel very relieved.

 

“Get in” the driver opened the passenger door without looking at her.

 

I was too dumbfounded to reply so I just complied and slammed the door after me.

 

Silence fell immediately as I got in, I glanced at his face, he was focusing on the road. I tried to sink away in my chair, feeling shy and uncomfortable and not knowing what to say.

 

It was Jiyong who broke the silence.

 

“You can turn on the radio if you want.”

 

I complied, music could certainly lighten up the atmosphere.

 

“So, what’s new in your life?”

 

Shocked at his question, I looked at him “what do you mean?”

 

“I don’t know, anything, I am trying to make a conversation”

 

“Do you really want to know?”

 

“I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t” he answered without looking at me.

 

“I-I don’t know what to say…” I faltered.

 

“Fine, just pretend you don’t know what I’m actually talking about” he retorted.

 

I chose not to answer him, instead  I inhaled deeply and looked outside the window. My emotions were all over the place, and I was fighting myself to not letting it show, and stay calm instead.

 

“Where are we going?” I managed to finally say.

 

“To my house.” He flatly replied as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

 

“W-why your house?”

“I am famous now, if I am going to talk to you I’d rather go home and do it there, I can’t risk being seen with some girl”

“you want to drink something?” Jiyong proposed as he was taking off his jacket.

 

“U-uh nno I’m good thanks.”

 

Jiyong shrugged and disappeared in the kitchen to grab a bottle of beer. When he came back to the living room, Kiko was still standing up so he gestured to her to sit down and sat opposite to her.

 

He was gazing away for what felt to Kiko like an eternity. She looked around her and noticed how cold the apartment felt, everything looked expensive and new but also felt soul-less.

 

Her eyes then shifted to him, he looked calm and composed. He was rubbing his chin while biting on his lower lip as if he was contemplating what to say.

 

Finally he spoke “Aren’ t you going to ask me why I called you last night?” he locked his eyes with hers and stared at her intently.

 

A sudden wave of calmness overtook Kiko as they locked eyes but it subsided quickly and she was back to her panicky state.

 

“Why did you call?”

 

“I wanted to check on my ex” he bluffed.