Her eyes widened and she felt the room grow smaller, the three of them monstrously closing in on her. The pressure tightened her chest even more and whatever was in continued to push its way up. Suddenly scooting back she jumped to her feet and ran out of the dining room.

The urgency made her slam the door to the bathroom and just a few seconds later she threw up into the toilet. After flushing it down she the cold water, washed her hands, and splashed her face to wake herself up.

Standing there while trying to catch her shaky breath Namjoo gulped, coming to realize that they were more adamant about the wedding than she thought they were. Did they really want Choonhee’s money that much?

What was she going to do?

Pressing a hand against her face she assured herself that something would have to be done. Turning the faucet off she dried her face and mentally prepared herself to head back out. Yes, she would walk back into the dining room and make her statement. She would make clear her determination not to get married and they would have to listen because this was her wedding.

She jumped when she heard Kai, “Are you sick?”

Namjoo turned to find him leaning against the wall just beside the bathroom and felt her heart drum insanely fast. Pressing her lips together she gulped and shook her head.

“Of course not,” she told because she didn’t think she was sick. “I just didn’t feel well for a moment.”

“Where are you going?” he asked when she took a step forward.

“Why?” she turned around to look at him. “Isn’t it obvious?”

Namjoo determinedly stared at him and bit her tongue when he moved away from the wall and came closer to her, until they were so close he had to look down at her. Cold sweat began forming at the back of her neck and she suddenly felt chills.

“Didn’t I warn you not to try to ruin anything?” he quietly asked.

Trying to stay cool Namjoo said in turn, “I don’t think that was ruining anything. I was only saying the truth.”

The corner of his lips shot up and he eerily smiled, “Truth? Don’t over think it. There is no truth, but the fact that we’re going to get married as planned, whether I push the date forward or not. In this world you follow the man’s lead, not the other way around.”

Namjoo bit down on her teeth. “In your world, not mine.”

With the last say she spun around to head back to the dining room.

\\\\\

Namjoo didn’t come back nor contact him after walking out emotionally warped that night. Curiosity continued building up within Tao to an extent that he even wondered if he should first try to contact her.

What was going on now?

He didn’t want to step into a landmine and regret it. He needed to be careful about Namjoo. If he didn’t do anything he wouldn’t have to worry about anything afterward, but if he got entangled with her and trying to help her things might lead to the worst. It had taken him a long time to get to where he was right now. And he didn’t want to risk losing this shabby mobile home or his job. If he got mixed up with Namjoo Choonhee’s so-called friends wouldn’t leave him alone.

He flipped onto his back in bed. With nothing to do he resorted to trying to sleep, but it wasn’t coming. Instead, he was sure now that he a gradual part of him worried about Choonhee’s sister and he wasn’t sure what to do with her. 

After letting Namjoo walk out he had expected she’d come back anyhow, only she proved him wrong. She didn’t come back and she didn’t contact him. So now he could only wonder if she was a block closer to getting married or if she was trying to put up a fight.

Choonhee, what would Choonhee have done?

She would have caved and gotten married, that much Tao was sure of. If all along in her life she hadn’t put an effort into leaving those people, she’d more than likely go to them; spend the rest of her life with them. She definitely would have gotten married to Kai, even without her voice.

But Choonhee wasn’t here now. If Namjoo was among those people, what exactly was going on that she wasn’t coming to him for any more help? She should have realized by now that he was the only one offering a helping hand.

\\\\\

Kai watched Namjoo walk into the doors of Choonhee’s home before driving away. Dinner went smoothly. Neither his parents knew Namjoo was Namjoo and not Choonhee, but he wasn’t worried about that. He was more worried about her determination to hold back the wedding.

The stubborn mule was putting up a much greater fight than he’d anticipated. If Namjoo managed to hold off the wedding, there would be more of a chance that Sehun would get to her faster than he would. And it made him curious again. Why was Sehun trying to get close to Choonhee again? What motive did he have?

Kai bit onto his thumb. Surely the two couldn’t have gotten so close in such a short amount of time? What if Sehun knew Namjoo wasn’t Choonhee?

No, that couldn’t be. There was no way Namjoo would have given herself away to that guy so easily. She had no reason to.

Then it suddenly perked his mind. From out of nowhere Namjoo had come to him that night, given away her identity, even when she knew he could turn the situation around on her. Sehun had come for her that night too. And he had seemed angry with her.

Kai merely scoffed at himself for realizing this so late. He should have been more suspicious earlier. What exactly had Namjoo been planning to approach him like that? Had she hoped to gain something? And why had Sehun come that night?

\\\\\

Namjoo wasn’t really sure how long she stood in the bathroom with the tub filled with warm water, already waiting for her. She suddenly felt ominous during dinner with the Kim’s, even more so when she thought about how Sehun had called her up that morning to his office.

There was something he wanted to say and the curiosity of it made her feel ill. What had he wanted?

Unsettled, Namjoo fluttered her lids. Quickly turning around she the cold faucet and splashed her face with it. She might not be well educated, but she surely wasn’t an idiot. Before packing her few belongings before leaving the orphanage she’d been well warned not to intermingle with men and to beware of them on the streets.

She might not know what attraction was due to the lack of experiencing it, but she was certainly aware of what happened when a man and woman slept together. It was an obvious lesson from TV shows and those pathetic reality shows she saw on TV, read about in magazines. At the orphanage she’d witnessed young teen mothers dropping off their babies plenty of times.

Her eyes zipped in on the antibacterial soap as she tried to shove back her growing nervousness, threatening to smoke throughout her body. She’d gotten her period at a young age and learned to always keep track of it. Namjoo was confident she should have gotten it by now.

Slamming the faucet off she turned to lean back against the counter and groaned. She was dead worried. Even if being pregnant meant she could cut off the wedding with Kai, she didn’t want to stay in Choonhee’s world forever by being married to Sehun. It was a nightmare!

Covering her face with her hand she tried to calm herself. Of course, Sehun might not be the only reason her period was late. A lot had been happening and ever since stepping into Choonhee’s world she’d been worried twenty-four-seven. The stress and the pressure could be it.

Nodding, Namjoo forced the thoughts away and stripped before bathing but even that night she had trouble sleeping again. The worry, the anxiety, and panic struck her hard from the back of her head. In the end she ended up sitting in bed, hugging herself. And as she stared at Choonhee’s picture, wanted to know whether her sister had been as worried when she realized she was pregnant.

Namjoo nodded off for only half an hour before she awoke. The sun was starting to rise and giving in got dressed before sneaking out of the house. Making her way downtown she stalked the pharmacy for about two hours, pacing back and forth in front of the glass doors before the store owner arrived. Managing to smile embarrassed, Namjoo followed the middle-aged woman into the store.     

“Seems you’ve been up all night,” the woman commented. “What can I do for you?”

Maybe she should have worn a hat to better hide herself, she wondered. Even trying to cover up her face now wouldn’t do her any good. Standing uneasily in front of the white counter surrounded by medicine Namjoo squeezed her hands in front of her.

“Um…that…that…” she pointed her finger forward hesitatingly and turned her face away.

The pharmacist followed her hand, “A pregnancy test?”

Namjoo felt her face blow up with red embarrassment, wondering if the woman really had to say it aloud. With eyes still elsewhere she nodded, “Yes, yes. That.”

Right after purchasing the item Namjoo darted out, running back and forth around the shabby neighborhood in search of a bathroom. Never minding about how run down dirty the one she found was, she slammed the door to the stall and looked over the directions printed on the box. Within a few minutes she was staring at the one-line result and dropped down onto the dirty floor.

Breathing a gasp of relief she dropped the tester and buried her face into her hands, feeling as if she’d been saved from a world disaster.

Negative! The result was a negative!

In the span of a few seconds Namjoo found herself manically laughing and wiping away tears of joy, only realizing how dead worried she’d been about it.

\\\\\

Auntie Shin was awake and already preparing breakfast when Namjoo returned. Namjoo gave her a nod in greeting, dismissing how the woman gave her a strange stare. After rushing upstairs to wash and dress, she found Kai downstairs already at the breakfast table. It was irritating how instead of Hayoung, Kai was managing to squeeze his way in now.

“What is this?” Choonhee’s mother asked looking at her as she sat down. “What is wrong with your face, dear? You’ve been unable to sleep well?”

“Ah…well…” Namjoo reached up to touch her eye bags, wondering if they were so dark even makeup wouldn’t help.

“Why? Is something wrong with your bed? I thought it would still be a good fit for you. Should we change it?” the woman worried, her tone laced with gentleness but Namjoo wondered why she purposely bothered when she didn’t like her.

It was another burden to carry when they put on an act with her around others and she could feel how much they hated her, but she had no choice but to play along. This life was full of lies.  

“No,” Namjoo replied and picked up her spoon to eat.

\\\\\

“Are you not on good terms with Choonhee’s mom?” Kai wondered as they walked out.

“No. It’s nothing.” Namjoo monotonously lied. Today, she thought, she’d go with him to work in his car. All of a sudden she was feeling worn out and too lazy to find a cab.

Kai stared at her taken aback when she opened the passenger door. “Seems you’ve learned your lesson yesterday.”

Ignoring him she slid into the passenger’s seat and closed the door, only managing to buckle her seatbelt before the ringing of her phone. She stiffened in her seat when she saw it was Tao calling and turned when Kai got into his seat. Remaining natural she answered and held the phone to her ear.

“Oh…yes?” she answered.

“Where are you?” Tao questioned.

“I’m on my way to work.” she shot a side glance at Kai to see him watching warily.

“Who is it?” Kai wondered.

“Who are you with?” Tao asked.

“Is it Sehun?” Kai interrupted. Namjoo suddenly regretted getting into the car with him. If she had grabbed a cab she could have skipped work.

“No,” Namjoo lied to him and watched him hold his hand out.

“Give me the phone.”

There was no reason to feel edgy, but Namjoo was suddenly feeling all the anxiousness of the world’s population. It was just Tao goddammit!

“It’s not…” she started but Kai reached over to snag the phone from her, stared at the screen then held it to his ears defiantly.

Namjoo stiffened in her seat as his hair brushed her cheek and she listened to him, “Ah…Tao, how nice to hear from you.” He glanced at her, “Choonhee? She’s going to work with me and we’re going to be late if you want to talk to her. Oh, and I’d appreciate it if you don’t bother contacting her anymore. I don’t like my fiancée going out to see other men. She’s already enough to handle as it is.”

Hanging up he tossed the phone to her and started the engine. “You talk to him?”

Grabbing the phone Namjoo gripped onto it, “I don’t think that’s your problem and you didn’t need to do that.”

“In fact, it is,” he turned to give her a glance then turned his attention to the road, “you can’t associate yourself with anyone you like, not from here on.”

“Who are you to control me?”

“I’m the person who’s going to be your husband and the one helping you right now.”

Namjoo found herself snorting, now very annoyed. “You say I’m the one getting ahead of myself, but I think you’re the one getting ahead of yourself. I won’t marry you, even if I have to go to the pits of hell.”

“You’re funny,” he smirked. “How many times have you said that?”  

Pressing her lips together to keep herself from arguing with him Namjoo glanced down at her phone, wondering why Tao had called. He hadn’t called her before. Was there something important he wanted to tell her?

“You should keep in mind from now on that you’re not simply Kim Namjoo but Lee Choonhee, who everyone has their eyes on. One wrong mistake and it won’t only cost us, but you’ll stand at the burning stake again. I don’t think you want to go to jail, do you?”

Namjoo pressed harder down onto her lips. She didn’t speak again until they were in the elevator headed for the third floor.

“At least for today, can I leave early?” she finally spoke again when they stepped into the lift. To plead she even went as far as to shamelessly grab his arm. “Please?”

As if taken aback by her he turned to look at her speechless, but they were interrupted when the doors just closing reopened and Sehun stared back at them. Immediately removing her hands she straightened up and watched him turn his back to her before pressing for the fourth floor. Silence swirled around them and she couldn’t help but continue to look at him, still curious about what it was he’d wanted to say to her yesterday.

The doors opened and Kai first stepped out. She innately followed and unable to help herself, turned to look at Sehun meeting his eyes staring at her deploringly. For a second she was urged to walk back toward him and ask him about why he’d called her yesterday.

“What are you doing?” Kai cut her train of thoughts.

Namjoo turned to peer at Kai who’d stopped in his tracks and turned back to catch a split second view of Sehun just before the elevator doors closed. Regret barely started seething through her as she forced herself to continue following Kai. As she trailed after him she randomly thought about Sehun, who always came to find her when she tried leaving. Why him and not the others?

After finally making it to Kai’s office she continued, “About what I just asked…”

Kai paused by his desk and flipped open a binder, as if to look occupied, “You want to go see Tao, is it?”

Namjoo’s mouth dropped open then she hesitated. He knew. She lied anyway, “No. It’s just…Choonhee’s clothes are a bit uncomfortable for me. Her closet is filled with dresses, you know, and I’m not really used to them. I just wanted to go to the store for some new clothes.”

“I’ll take you,” he said without looking at her.

“You don’t have to. Plus, you have a lot of work, don’t you?” she asked, praying that he’d let her go by herself. God, she would never be able to see Tao at this rate.

“I said I’ll take you,” he said more determinedly with a hint of gentleness in his tone, which had Namjoo biting her tongue. Goodness, she couldn’t believe she was even capable of feeling guilty for further pushing him. And why was he speaking to her with that soft tone that didn’t seem like him? It just made her feel all the more awkward.

“F…fine then,” Namjoo gave up. Some other time she’d be able to see Tao without anyone knowing. Did they always have to keep her so tightly next to them? This was suffocating.

“Study for a while. We’ll go after lunch.” Was all he said before she heard him sit down.

\\\\\

Kai didn’t like how Namjoo was making him feel flustered. He shook his arm in utter frustration to shake the memory of her touching him in the elevator off. For a couple hours he managed to keep focus on the documents at hand. Well, that was until he heard the light sound of something light land on the floor. Glancing up he saw the pencil Namjoo had been using rolling on the floor, the woman nodding off at the couch. The activity book remained open on her lap.

Taken aback by the picture, he leaned back into his seat with a frown and waited for her to awake. A minute passed, but Namjoo was still dozing. Sliding out of his chair he walked toward her, stopped nearby the furniture and glanced down at the book. Lifting it off her lap he glanced over the childish handwriting in the blank spaces and scoffed. He hadn’t realized Namjoo had been so lazy with her handwriting that she was barely any better than a primary student.

Picking the pencil off the floor he poked her in the face with the eraser and watched her jolt awake. The fun of it had a smile creeping onto his face before he quickly erased it. 

***/coughs/ anyway, I'm getting illegal KaiJoo feels that isn't supposed to be happening. You know what the best element to drama is? Angst. 

***You can expect some more drama/romance between KaiHunJoo before I bring it to a close.