Fünfzehn

By the time the nurse called Jongin to tell him that Yoo Nari was missing from the hospital room, he knew that something was wrong.

Upon hearing this information, Jongin rushed there immediately, and when he arrived and saw the isolated state of the room, he felt his heart burn with a sort of furious rage that scorched his insides until he couldn’t bear to stand the sight of the empty space anymore.

The fact that Yoo Nari was not here in this room, that she was not staying nicely and quietly within his control made his mind rushed and confused. The mere thought that she might be with Sehun right now made his heart beat so fast it felt like it would explode.

Her eyes, her nose, her lips, from the tip of her head to the bottom of her toes, they should be all his. Her quaint, distanced expression, her fragile and tiny build, even the melancholy aura that surrounded her, they were his and his only.

And they should just stay his, instead of running away to someone else.  

With that thought in mind, Jongin cursed loudly before he ran outside the hospital and frantically searched for Nari. Honestly speaking, he knew he wasn’t in his right mind as his breathing grew heavy and his clenched fists tightened with each gone second without being able to find Nari.

And that was when he saw a girl crouched on the streets, her shoulders trembling slightly and her sobs muffled by her beige coloured jumper. She crouched there, her head bent low and her knees drew up to her chest as tall business men in suits, and tall business ladies in red high heels walked past her in a hurried rush.

She was timid, she was afraid, she was lonely.

Suddenly, all anger and franticness that Jongin had felt just a mere few seconds ago disappeared in a flash, and a weird sense of pain began throbbing in his chest. It was only for a second, but Jongin knew it was there.

Maybe it was guilt. Maybe it was the fact that Jongin suddenly recognized that he was the cause for her breakdown, but all of a sudden, Jongin was frozen to his spot, unable to move forward to face the girl.

Then, as if in slow motion, Jongin watched as Sehun appeared and placed his arms around Nari’s shoulders. Sehun appeared and whispered in Nari’s ears kindly. Sehun appeared and drew Nari up from the ground and took her away to his apartment.

Though Jongin’s fists were clenched so hard he drew blood from his nails digging into his palm, he remained silent and followed the two back to outside of the apartment building. Since it was his fault that Nari ended up in hospital, Jongin decided to give Nari a bit of the ‘freedom’ that she wanted.

Yes, he would give her a week.

A week where he would turn a blind eye to whatever she does, and let her be.

But of course, with supervision.

So grabbing the attention of a homeless beggar on the streets, Jongin told him to report back to him all of Nari’s traces in return for 400,000 won. In return for money, the 50 year old homeless man wearing a green parka and sleeveless gloves agreed to supervise Nari’s every action.

And when that week is up, Jongin would slowly lure her back to his side.

To his side, where she belonged.

Now that a week was up, it was time for Nari to return to him.

After all, no matter who the owner lends the precious toy to, in the end, the toy must return to the owner’s side. And Yoo Nari, his precious toy, has had enough fun and freedom.

So it’s time to come back, Yoo Nari.

Time to return to Jongin’s side.

I fiddled with Sehun’s jacket that I was wearing and stood with a beating heart outside Jongin’s office door in Hotel Grandeur. I would just go in, tell him that I would mail him the money and then leave before he could say anything.

After all, we were in public space, he couldn’t do anything to me here now, could he?

With that set in mind, I knocked on the door gingerly, only to find it open as soon as my fist made contact with the wooden front.

“Come in, Nari.”

The strangely familiar yet distant dark voice spoke from inside, and I kept myself from shuddering as I opened the door gingerly and stepped inside, making sure that the door was kept open.

Jongin was sitting by his office desk, his long legs crossed and his eyes fixated on me as he twirled a navy blue pen in his slender fingers. His other arm was propped up against the table, and he leaned his face on the palm of his hand as his wavy dark hair fell over his mesmerizing eyes.

Despite my fear for him, I couldn’t help but think he was attractive.

No, he wasn’t just attractive. He was hot. He looked so dangerously striking that I had to look away from him to prevent my mind from wandering any further than that.

“Long time no see, Nari.”

The cold and dark tone in Jongin’s voice woke me up from the daze I had, and reality slapped me in the face as Jongin’s spell bounding eyes suddenly seemed hawk-like, and the attraction I felt for him turned into something like fear and terror.

“I-I just came to tell you,” I placed my hands behind my back and fiddled with my fingers, “That I will pay you back the remaining cost of the suit. I also broke the contract, so I will pay you that 5,000,000 won as well.”

Jongin’s eyes twitched a bit as I finished speaking, and when he said nothing, I gulped