The Past - Part 2

[This chapter contains no scene from the Present Timeline]

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Solar glanced down at the list as she made her way through the aisle, scanning to see if there were any items she needed. She stopped in front of the frozen section and checked what it had to offer. She dropped a bag of frozen fruit and ice cream into her already half-full basket. What should I make today? She pondered as she looked at the different types of meat. Steaks sound good. She grabbed a few beef packages before heading over to the produce area. Fruits and vegetables were the last items on her list. As she was selecting the oranges, a voice whispered next to her ear.

“Hey there, y. Got any plans for tonight?”

It startled her. She took a step back as she turned to face it. She looked at the man in front of her and sighed.

“Can I help you?”

“Aw don’t be so cold. Don’t you remember me? I’m Kang-Dae. We met at your housewarming party.”

Solar wanted to forget she’d ever met him, but as luck would have it, she was into dealing with him once more. She smiled as naturally as she could before she replied.

“Ah yes.” She played along. “Is something the matter?”

“I saw you were shopping alone and thought you could use the company.” He winked, confidently believing that it would charm her.

“I’m quite fine, thank you,” she gracefully declined. “I like to do some thinking while I shop. It’s better if I do it alone.”

“What do you think about?”

“Nothing special,” she answered casually.

“C’mon, you can tell me.” He leaned in closer. “I can keep a secret, trust me.”

“It’s really nothing,” she said irritably.

“Aw, don’t be that way. Share a little.”

Solar thought that she’d given a sufficient amount of hints for him to leave her be. From her expressions to her tone of voice, she’d given all sorts of indications that she would prefer not to converse with him. What doesn’t he understand about the word alone? She sighed as she furrowed her brow.

“Hey baby, don’t look so down. It’s alright if you don’t wanna say it. Perk up, you look ier when you smile.” He winked.

Solar wasn’t sure how she should respond. “I have to go. I’m a little busy at the moment.”

She turned away, as she tried to leave he grabbed onto her basket handle before she could walk off. She rolled her eyes and sighed, groaning softly under her breath.

“Is there something else?” she asked with a fake smile.

“Let a strong man like me carry your groceries.” He flexed his muscles. “You know you want it.”

“I don’t, actually.” She tried not to judge.

“No, no. I insist!” He gripped the handle tighter. “Afterward, we can go out for a drink.” He winked. “What do you say?”

“Are you seriously hitting on me?” She scoffed, furrowing her brow.

“Why wouldn’t I?” He smirked, lowering the decibel in his voice as he raised his brow. “A hottie like you and a handsome stud like me.” He smiled confidently. “We’d make a great couple,” he said proudly.

“You do know that I’m Moonbyul’s fiancée, right?” She emphasized each word as if he was a bit touched in the head.

“So?” He shrugged. “We can still have fun.”

His words left her baffled, taking away any scrap of respect she’d had for him. Then again, there hadn’t been much to begin with. She was finished with being polite, even a fake smile seemed like a waste on him. Her face became stern as she warned him.

“I’ll say this only once. Leave me alone.”

As though he’d censored out her words, he forcefully took away her basket of groceries.

“Is there anything else you wanted?” he questioned with a smile.

Is he serious right now? Solar clenched her fists and sighed in anger. “Give that back,” she demanded.

“Let me help you out,” he said cheerily.

“This is ridiculous,” she mumbled angrily under her breath. “You want it, take it.” She said bitterly, gritting her teeth.

She glanced around to make sure there were no witnesses before proceeding to stomp on his foot. She immediately stormed off afterward, however not before hearing him cursing her under his breath. What an ! She thought to herself as she exited the store without any of her groceries.

Her house wasn’t far from the store, so she’d gone there on foot. She slowly strolled home, using the scenery to try and calm herself. She felt relieved as a bit of tranquility settled back in. She smiled happily to herself as she continued down the path.

“Solar! Solar!!”

A voice called out from behind, getting closer by the second. She recognized it and felt her anger coming back. She rolled her eyes and picked up her pace, but she wasn’t fast enough to get away.

“Solar!” He ran in front of her and blocked her path.

“Not again.” She grumbled softly.

“You forgot your groceries.” He lifted the bags of groceries in his hands to show her before bending over, grabbing his knees, and trying to catch his breath.

She pretended he wasn’t there, went around him, and kept on walking. She hoped he would get the hint and stop following her. He didn’t.

“I’ll walk you home.” He spoke in a husky voice, which he thought was seductive.

“No, thank you.” She declined without a second thought.

“Ah! My foot! I think it’s broken!” He pretended. “You’re a nurse, right? Take a look?”

She ignored him and continued walking away. He gave chase.

“C’mon, baby. Don’t be so heartless.”

Solar continued her silence. She walked home angrily without uttering another word, but that didn’t deter him from bothering her. He followed her home, embellishing his achievements as though he liked the sound of his own voice more than trying to impress her.

It took her about five minutes to get home, but it felt like five centuries had passed being next to Kang-Dae. She was frustrated, she wanted to punch him out of existence but restrained herself from unnecessary violence.

When they got to the gate of the apartment, Kang-Dae noticed Moonbyul coming out. He quickly grabbed Solar and turned her to face him. He knew Solar was angry, but he wanted to provoke her further.

“Why play hard to get?” He leaned in and mocked. “I know you want a man to make you feel more like a real woman. Moonbyul can’t give you the pleasure that I can.” He smirked condescendingly.

Solar slapped him across his face. “Go to hell!” She said furiously.

Moonbyul ran up to them. “What’s going on? What happened?” She questioned in quick succession, looking back and forth at them.

“I-I don’t know.” He held his face, feigning innocence. “She forgot her groceries so I brought it here.” He held up the bags. “When I try to give it to her, she slapped me.” He then turned toward Solar. “I know you hate me. I’m sorry if I offended you.” He bowed his head as if he was truly showing sincerity, while offering the groceries to her with both hands. “I didn’t mean it, please forgive me.”

“You don’t have to do that.” Moonbyul tried to get him to stand up. “I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding.”

“Even so,” he exclaimed loudly. “It’s probably my fault. I must ask for her forgiveness.”

“Don’t just stand there,” Moonbyul whispered as she nudged Solar to accept Kang-Dae’s apology.

Solar scoffed at his act, but what baffled her even more was how easily Moonbyul believed him. She looked at Moonbyul as she shook her head in disbelief before storming off. Moonbyul apologized to Kang-Dae about Solar’s behavior and promised that she’d make it up to him. She thanked him for the groceries before chasing after Solar.

Solar didn’t wait for Moonbyul as she took the elevator back up to the fifth floor. When she got home she grumpily sat down on the couch. She leaned back, closed her eyes, crossed her arms, and brooded silently. She just wanted some peace and quiet so she could process her thoughts without anger factoring in.

Moonbyul got home a few minutes after Solar. She didn’t say anything and went straight into the kitchen. She dropped the groceries onto the table and sat down on the arm chair near Solar. She rested her elbows on her thighs and clasped her hands together. The atmosphere was slightly tense. She thought for a moment while looking at Solar before she questioned.

“Why are you acting like that?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Solar answered nonchalantly.

“What do you have against him?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she emphasized.

“Even if you don’t like him, you don’t have to treat him like that.”

Solar sighed and furrowed her brow without responding.

“He brought the groceries you forgot. He apologized after you slapped him. He’s—”

“He’s an !” She sat up quickly and raised her voice.

“How could you say that after he helped you?”

“Help?” She scorned. “He was harassing me! He said—!” She stopped herself, feeling angry at the thought.

“What did he say?”

She took a deep breath before she replied, “he said he can make me feel like a real woman.” She clenched her fists. “Give me pleasure you can’t.” She felt disgusted saying them herself.

“Solar.” Moonbyul sighed. “I know you’re prejudiced against him, but—” she paused. “Don’t you think you’re going too far?”

She looked at Moonbyul in disbelief. “You don’t believe me?”

“That’s not what I mean. I just think you’re letting your anger get the better of you. I know him. He’s not that type of person.”

“You know him? He’s not that type of person? And I’m the type to accuse people for no reason?” She stood up angrily.

“You know that’s not what I mean.” She leaned back, crossed her arms, and sighed. “Why are you acting like a ?”

It took Moonbyul a moment to realize what she’d just said, but it was too late. She noticed the sadness in Solar’s eyes and tried to explain herself. Solar smiled wryly, feeling the tiny stings in her heart getting worse by the second. She turned and walked away before she could cry in front of Moonbyul.

Her tears began to fall before she made it to the bedroom. She closed the door and slid down with her back against it. She put on her headphones, rested her head on the door, and closed her eyes. The melody of the song helped her regulate her breathing. She felt calm and at peace, but it couldn’t help ease the pain in her heart. She felt it getting worse as though someone had gotten a hold of it and was squeezing it with all their might. It didn’t matter how many tears she wiped from her face, they still silently escaped from her eyes.

Moonbyul sat down at the street stall and ordered some food. It wasn’t long before Kang-Dae joined her. They had just finished their shift and wanted to have a few drinks before heading home. As they were chatting about their day, two men started arguing at a table nearby. At first it was just a debate, a shove here and there, until one of them smashed a bottle on the other’s one head. He was bleeding but he retaliated and it became a full-scale fight.

Kang-Dae was enjoying the show, but Moonbyul jumped in to stop them. He groaned softly and dragged his feet. If he had to pretend to care for some street rats, he’d rather do it slowly. When Moonbyul identified herself as a police officer to the assailant, he fled, leaving his bloodied friend on the ground. Moonbyul told Kang-Dae to call an ambulance before chasing after him.

Kang-Dae squatted next to the injured man and glared down at him. He smirked as he watched the blood flow from the man’s head. He was not in a hurry to get help for him, instead he pressed his thumb on the man’s injured head and caused him to wail in pain. He glare over at the stall’s owner, who was too scared to intervene. He tormented the man for a few moments. When he was ready to leave, he warned the stall’s owner to keep his mouth shut about what happened. He cared not whether the man died as he left to find Moonbyul. Once Kang-Dae was out of sight the stall’s owner called for an ambulance, stating only that the injured man had gotten into a fight.

Moonbyul caught up to the assailant and stopped him by grabbing onto his shoulder. He immediately took a swing at her, blindly throwing his punches, which made it easy for her to dodge them. She grabbed his wrist, twisted his arm behind him, and pinned him against the wall. He pulled out a knife and tried to slice her, forcing her to let go of him and back away.

Kang-Dae caught up to them, but hid in the darkness to watch. It was hard to spot him in the shadow of the dark alley. He smirked as the assailant attacked Moonbyul with a knife.

Moonbyul disarmed the man by kicking the weapon out of his hand. She knocked him down as he scrambled to retrieve his knife. She pinned him to the ground; his knife was just slightly out of reach. He struggled to break free. As she was grabbing her handcuffs, a sudden noise in the darkness caught her attention. It caused her to loosen her grip on the man. She turned her head, but could not find the origin of the noise.

The assailant took the opportunity while Moonbyul was distracted to retrieve his knife. He attacked her again with it. This time she was caught off-guard, so she was unable to get out of harm’s way. He sliced up her right forearm, cutting it open. She gripped tightly onto it as she tried to stop the bleeding.

The man looked at her, his hands were shaking. He was still gripping tightly onto the knife, her fresh blood dripped from the tip of the blade. She could tell that he was afraid, as though it wasn’t his intention to hurt her. When he realized what he’d just done, he dropped the knife and ran.

“Hey! Stop! Wait!” she yelled after him.

She tried to chase after him but the loss of blood was making her feel slightly sluggish. Her face was becoming paler. She leaned against the wall and looked down at her arm. The cut was deep and the bleeding hadn’t slowed. She tried to move her fingers, but she couldn’t feel them.

Kang-Dae waited until Moonbyul was leaning against the wall. He changed his smile into a frown and messed up his clothes slightly before he approached. He pretended to know nothing about the events that had taken place. She wanted him to chase after the assailant, but he refused, stating that her injury should take priority. He acted worried and called for an ambulance without delay. The paramedics did what they could while they transported her to the hospital. She fell asleep on her way there.

Solar was working at the front desk with Mi-Cha when she saw Moonbyul being brought in. She got up and anxiously ran after them. The doctor had already taken Moonbyul into the ER by the time Solar arrived.

“What happened!?” Solar demanded angrily at Kang-Dae.

He shrugged and smiled happily. “But you might have a crippled lover now. How does that make you feel?”

“You—” She clenched her fists.

He noticed her anger and smirked. He slipped his hands into his pockets and walked away, whistling cheerily.

Mi-Cha caught up to Solar not long after. “What happened?” She questioned worriedly.

“I don’t know. It’s Moonbyul. She’s—” Solar started tearing up.

“It’ll be alright.” Mi-Cha hugged Solar and comforted her. “She’ll be fine.”

Solar took a moment to compose herself. “Thank you.” She wiped away her tears. “What about the front desk?”

“Don’t worry about that. I took care of it,” she said confidently.

“Are you always so reliable?”

“That depends.” She playfully winked.

Mi-Cha tried to keep Solar from thinking negative thoughts and scaring herself. She told jokes to make Solar laugh and distract her. She kept Solar company while they waited for the result on Moonbyul’s condition.

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I hope you guys are enjoying the chapters of their past :). Do you guys like it so far?