Chapter 17

“Shin Hye!! I brought some mangoes!” her father walked through the door.  Ailee was going down the stairs and suddenly faced her father.

“Where’s Shin Hye ?”  he asked as he placed the bag of mangoes on the floor.

“I don’t know.” Ailee’s heart was pounding. She knows she did wrong. The fight and the cries kept replaying in her head. Shin Hye’s frustration, she felt it. She felt pathetic. Ailee knows not to mess with somebody’s parents. She wants to go say sorry but doesn’t know how to. Her hands were still trembling from earlier on today.

“She’s never out this late.”

Ailee just nodded her head. ‘What if she killed herself?’ Her teeth started to jitter. Pil Mo picked up the bag and headed towards the kitchen. Suddenly, somebody entered through the door.

“Pil Mo!” she screamed.

Ailee and Pil Mo turned their heads.

“Oh my god…its her..” Ailee muttered.

Kahi strutted her way through the hall and stopped at the staircase where Ailee was standing. Her eye contact with her was intense.

“Pil Mo, you dare to ask where Shin Hye is.”

His eyes widen with fear.

“Why don’t you ask yourself how YOU or your family is treating her? Huh?!”

“What do you mean?”

“Why don’t you figure out yourself when she’s not living here anymore?”

 He stayed quiet.

“I told you not to mess with me. I can take any of you here away for abuse.” Her voice was firm and intimidating. She turned right back around and again made eye contact with Ailee.

That day began to replay in Ailee’s head.

                        “Why are we here?” Ailee asked innocently.

                        “Aren’t you stressed?” the man asked.

                        “Yeah but I prefer a hotel.”

                        “But don’t you love me?”

                        “I do, a lot. Do you?” She sat on the bed.  The man sat on the bed next to her and leaned in. They kissed. She pulled away.. “I love you so much, Ailee. Don’t ever leave me.” He whispered. Again, another kiss began. A vibration was felt. He pulled away from the kiss.

                        “Who texted you hun?”

                        “Its work. Don’t worry about it.”

After the hot moment, he whispered into her ear, “Tell me what’s his bank account number, that way we can escape and live together. We will live in peace and you will not suffer with me. You’ll be happy. I promise.”

Ailee was hesistant. “You promise?”

“Why do you doubt me? Haven’t I showed you enough of my love? I supported you so much. I let you use me for stress relief.”

“Reassure me you love me.”

He kissed her on the lips again. “I love you.”

“Ok, for our future it’s…10768492014325”

He got out of bed and wrote it down.

“Where do you want to escape to?” she asked cheerily and sat up.

He went to her side of the bed and placed a knife around her neck.

“You stupid little , you thought I really loved you.” He chuckled. Ailee couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She knew it was too good to be true that a guy would be that nice to her. “I don’t fall for your stupid flirting games. But it was fun.  If you gave me the wrong number, I will kill you all. Remember that.”

“No, I didn’t give you the wrong number because I LOVE YOU.”

“What about the guitar dude?”

Ailee didn’t answer.  He laughed. “You’re stupid.” He smacked her head and left. She was scared. She did love him. He did bring her temporary happiness and stress relief.  Ailee got up from the bed and put on the robe. She sits right back down on the bed with her whole body shaking, blaming herself for being stupid.

Suddenly, Kahi kicks the door open and marches right in.  
 

“Have you seen a therapist?”

“Huh?..”

“You should. I see sadness and regret in your eyes.” Kahi grinned and left.

“Have you done anything to her?” Pil Mo was angry.

Ailee stayed quiet.

“HAVE YOU?” he shouted.

“ITS YOUR FAULT FOR ABANDONING HER. WHY WOULD SHE WANT TO BE HERE ?!”  Ailee shouted back and went running back to her room. She knows it her fault. She closed the door and went towards the paper shredding machine.

-

Yong Hwa slowly opened his eyes. The sun was shining through the windows. He felt a weight on his shoulder. ‘That’s right’ he thought. Shin Hye was still asleep. Just seeing her first thing in the morning is the best thing that could ever happen to him. He slowly stood up and gently moved her head the other way. The radio was still playing; it was Beethoven’s Moonlight sonata. ‘Ahh, I remember her first performance. So cute.’ He muttered to himself. He went over the radio and turned it off. Yong Hwa walked over to Shin Hye and picked her up. He gently placed her on top of the sofa so she can sleep comfortably.  

He took out his phone to look at the time.

“Oh my god.” He was bombarded with text messages from his mother.

                        “Young man, don’t do anything with her. Respect her.”

                        “If you don’t, you will see when you get home.”

                        “Protect her. Act like a gentleman.”

                        “I love you.”

He smiled while reading them.

He went straight to the bathroom because he doesn’t want to smell bad in front of Shin Hye.

Shin Hye awoke and immediately sat up. ‘What…’ she was very confused.  “Ahh, I’m hungry.” She headed towards the bathroom. She slowly placed her hand on the door knob and turned it.  The door opened.

Her eyes widen. Yong Hwa turns and stops fixing his hair. He was shirtless and had a towel wrapped around him. His eyes widen also.

Realizing the situation, Shin Hye slammed the door and turned right back around.

“Oh my…” she placed her hand on her heart.

“Im sorry Shin Hye.” Yong Hwa apologized when he came out of the bathroom.

“ No.. I should have knocked.”  Shin Hye was trying to avoid eye contact by watering the peonies.  

“No you didn’t know I was there. And sorry I used your bathtub.”

“It’s okay. I don’t mind. It’s important to be clean.” She said in a serious tone.

Yong Hwa only nodded his head.

“What time do you have class?” she said to change the subject.

“At 9:30. I think I have to get going.”

“Yeah it’s already 8:30. Do you want something to take along the way?” she finally looked up.

 “ Uh, no I’m okay. Thanks. I’ll buy something along the way.”

She nodded her head.  He headed toward the door.

“Thank you… for everything, Yong Hwa.” Their eyes met. His face was becoming hot and his ears burned.  He smiled not knowing how to respond. He left out the door.

“Time to use the bathroom..” she muttered.

While she took her underwear off, she noticed something red on it.  

“No way don’t tell me….” She sat on the toilet seat.  Shin Hye stood up to clean herself she noticed blood in the toilet. “I can’t believe it!! I got my period!! My hard work is paying off.”  She was ecstatic and filled with joy. Finally her life is going to get better.

“Now its time to buy pads!” she said to herself.

Shin Hye fixed herself up and was in the kitchen making her breakfast with Kreutzer playing.

Tap.Tap. Tap.

It was a knock on her door. ‘Who could it be?’

Shin Hye opened the door.

“Hi.” She said with no emotion.

“Hi, um Shin Hye, we need to talk.”

“Okay.”

“First I wanted to say your house is really pretty and the cherry blossoms are absolutely gorgeous.”

Shin Hye had a poker face on. The awkwardness was intense.

“Also, I want to give you this.” Ailee handed out a blue envelope. It was identical to the one her mother gave her. “Take it.”

Shin Hye reached for it and opened the envelope in front of her. It was her mom’s letter taped back together. Her lip began to quiver; she wanted to hold back her tears.

“I’m sorry Shin Hye. What I did was wrong and I know you love your mom very much.” 

Shin Hye only nodded. She doesn’t know how to feel.  “Can I come inside? We need to talk .”

“Okay…” Shin Hye lets her enter.

She guided her to the living room and they both sat down on the couch.

“Wow, so many flowers.”

“Yeah. What do you want to talk about?”

“ About our dad.”

“Okay…”

“ I heard he cheated on your mom for my mom.”

“Yeah..”

“I didn’t know that. I really thought that it was the opposite. That’s why I bullied you. And about Yong Hwa…”

“What about him?”

“He rejected me. That’s why I took my anger off on you. I felt horrible when you didn’t say anything. I’m truly sorry.”

Shin Hye sighed.

“I hope you forgive me. I am being sincere.”

“Forgiving is one of the ways to true happiness.”

“Is that a yes?”

Shin Hye nodded. Ailee surprisingly hugged Shin Hye.

“I don’t want to be a rotten person anymore. I want to get my life back together. I don’t know why I behave like this.” Ailee was crying.   Shin Hye appalled, tapped her back slightly.

“There is always room for change.”

“I slept with so many guys and I’m still not happy. I have everything but it doesn’t keep me full. I’m empty.”

“Just let everything inside of you go. Don’t look at the past and just keep moving forward. Be nice to people, help other people.”

“I don’t know how to” she sobbed some more.

“Well what you did right now, that is letting go.”

Ailee pulled back and Shin Hye handed her some tissues.

“Lets start anew…” Shin Hye said with a genuine smile.  She’s doing this all for her mother and for herself. She wants to recover and become happy again.

“I’m Shin Hye, your step sister.”

“Hi. I’m Ailee, your step sister.”

“Thanks for the food Shin Hye.” Ailee smiled.

“Thanks for taping the letter back. It must have been hard.”

Ailee shrugged.

“Also, Dad wants you back in the house. You can live with us. I actually felt lonely last night.” Ailee chuckled.

“I’ll think about it. But I kind of just want to be here for a while.”

“Oh okay then. Shin Hye one more thing… I’m thinking of seeing a therapist.”

“Go ahead. No shame in going to one.”

“Yeah, I’ll do that.” Ailee smiled and left the house.

‘Wow, what a morning.  I shall go buy  the pads.’ She thought as she put on her shoes.

-

‘Hmm, I don’t know what brand would be the best. It’s been a long time that I have bought pads.’ Shin Hye examined the whole aisle of pads.

“I think you would like this one.” Some guy pulled out the green packet.

“Oh you scared me.”

“You’re so emotionless. Silly Shin Hye..” Byung Hee laughed.

“You must work here.”

“Yup. Just because I am rich doesn’t mean I can’t work.”

“Okay.”

Byung Hee chuckled. “Okay.” He mocked her.

“No, but I’m serious you should buy this brand. I’ll give you a discount.”

“Oh really? You would do that for me?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

Shin Hye just nodded her head.

“So you’ll take these?”

“With discount, of course.”

“You must be very cheap.”

“You don’t know me. So don’t assume.”

“Ouch..”

Shin Hye just smiled.

“Oh about your sweater, thank you so much. When can I give it back to you?”

His eyes lit up.

“Want to give it to me through some dinner?”

Shin Hye had a puzzled look on her face.

“Hey cheap girl, I’m inviting.”

“Oh… okay then that changes it.” She grinned.

“Hahaha. You make my day.”

“Your welcome.”

“Ahhh. Where can I pick you up?”

“Pick me up? I can wait outside of this store.”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded.

“Alright then. At 5pm. I got to get back to work. See ya.” He winked.

-

“What? She did?”

“Yup! Aren’t you happy?”

“Definitely.” Yong Hwa said in a cheery voice.

“Take her out to eat!!!” his mother said excitedly.

“I need to find her.”

“By the way son, make sure to do your homework.”

“Got it.” He hung up.

Yong Hwa got in his car to go see Shin Hye.

He quickly jumped out of his car and went running up to the door.

Tap. Tap.

No answer.  He looked through the windows and saw that all the lights were shut off. He knows for sure she did not do anything to herself (like suicide) because today is a wonderful day for her.  ‘Maybe she is at Kahi’s house.’ He thought. He got back in his car and drove off.

While he was driving, he sees a girl. A girl that looks similar to Shin Hye. He stops at the red light and gives a closer look. It is Shin Hye. And who is that? It’s a guy that hugged her and led her into a BMW.

‘No, she is not your girlfriend. Stop. Don’t make a big deal.’ He thought nervously not knowing what to do.

Author's note: Yay! She got her period back! I remember when I got it back, I was super happy. Thank God, I have gotten it for four months now. Also yay for ailee being a dynamic character.  Sorry for such a late update. Been a bit busy with college paper work, my sister's collge graduation and yah. Also, I didn't know how I was going to write this chapter hehe. ANDDD i was working on a new fanfic so I decided to write the first chapter before i forget the idea and i made  a trailer. but ill upload it when FPSH is over. I want to focus on this.  And what should YongHwa do? What do you guys think he will do? LOVE YOU!!