Kai walked into the building of Kim Corporation- Everything Goes, his wet hair sticking to his head slickly. He was soaked since he’d used his body to protect the boxed cake. He dismissed the people at the front desk offering to get him a warm cup of coffee or something since he was all wet and went straight to the elevator. He chose one of the topmost floors and finally was left to just himself and his thoughts as the elevator went upwards.

 

Krystal. He felt a small amount of soreness in his back just by thinking about her. I really didn’t expect to get pushed into a bunch of jewelry...but that made it easier, I guess. Having her owe me is a good way to start my advances. I even got her number since she was in a hurry. She’s strange for sure, but I should be able to complete this mission for my father. Kai looked down at the cake.

 

“God, this is such a chore.” He tapped his foot impatiently until the elevator opened, and he stepped out into the large, echoey hall with windows as walls. He walked to his father’s office and opened the door without even knocking. Luckily for him, his father wasn’t on the phone or anything; he was just looking through papers.

 

“Kai. The cake’s wet.” Kai raised an eyebrow.

 

“Uh, don’t you mean, ‘Kai you’re wet’?” His father gave him a questioning glance, so Kai just walked the cake over, setting it on the desk, before sitting down across from his father.

 

“I met her.” His father nodded.

 

“I’d assume so. You aren’t the type of person to do a job incompetently. So? Are the two of you dating?” Kai rolled his eyes.

 

“Of course not. Not yet, I mean. Don’t you think that’d be too much?” His father just eyed him, so Kai sighed.

 

“Yeah, I know. Don’t worry, you and I both want this over with as soon as possible. I’ll have her falling or whatever for me soon enough, you know I will.” His father nodded.

 

“Yes, good.” Kai took out his phone.

 

“I took a picture of her. Wanna see?” His father rolled his eyes.

 

“No, I’ve no reason to see. How you handle the daughter is your job. I’m not interested in interfering much, as long as you get the job done. And you will get it done, won’t you?” Kai rolled his eyes.

 

“Father. Who do you think I am? Of course I’ll get the job done. I’ll admit, it’s quite the chore and not pretty, but for the company, I’ll do it. It’ll be done soon enough. I’ve met her already. I’ll date her...and then...I’ll exploit her.”

 

“...” There was silence for a bit before his father cleared his throat and looked back down at his paper.

 

“Good. I knew I could count on you. Now, I’m going to have to stay in quite late today. Go on and head home, Kai. There should be chicken in the fridge.” Kai smirked.

 

“Alright.”

 

 

 

Krystal rolled her eyes. I still have that idiot’s blazer.

 

“Krystal! Are you here yet? It’s pourin- Soojung! You’re soaking wet!” Her mother yelled. Krystal stood by the doorway soaking and shivering. Her mother looked her over with a sigh. “Stay here Krystal, let me go get a towel.”

 

When Krystal’s mother left to get a towel, she took off the blazer and was about to throw it to the ground but changed her mind last second because she felt cold. The store had the A.C blowing and she wasn’t the type to be too stubborn when something else was more important-like her health. Her mother came back quickly and put a towel around Krystal, sighing once again.

 

“I wanted to put you to work hardcore as punishment for breaking all that merchandise as well as mistreating a customer, but I can’t have you getting sick. Stay warm. Once the rain clears up, go home. You’re off work for the day.” Krystal just nodded as she watched her mother walk away to talk to some customers. Her thoughts were everywhere.

 

When Krystal got back home, the first thing she did was toss Kai’s blazer in the washer. She figured she had to wash it and get it back to him as soon as possible before she ‘owed’ him anymore. She then went to take a shower. Softly, she took her precious snowflake pendant off of her neck and placed it in a container before stepping into the shower. The warm water pelted down on her as she ran her hands through her hair.

 

“Sorry, it was really loud and it...startled me. I...let’s go back to the jewelry shop.” The rain plastered her hair to her head, and Kai sighed, taking off his blazer.

 

“What’re you…” She trailed off as he put it around Krystal.

 

“C’mon, you’ll get sick.” She just looked at him, but nodded.

 

Krystal’s hands paused on a strand of her hair as she stayed completely silent and still, listening to the falling of the shower water and the beating of her heart.

 

“...honestly. I don’t get what he’s playing at. ‘Borrowing’ me for the day after countless accusations beforehand, and then...in the rain...argh!” Krystal ruffled her hands through her hair. It was all so stupid. She couldn’t believe she was wasting her time and brain cells on a bastard like him. She poured out a generous amount of shampoo onto her hand and began aggressively rubbing her hair.

 

The rain fell hard from the sky, playing a harsh, musical pattern as it hit the windows of the jewelry shop. Krystal sighed as her mother handed her a broom.

 

“I thought you said you were going to go easy on me because you didn’t want me to get sick…” Krystal muttered. Her mother crossed her arms.

 

“I said that yesterday because you were soaking wet. You’re fine now, aren’t you? Go on now. Get to work. And don’t hurt anymore merchandise or customers.” Krystal’s mother turned to walk away, but her phone started ringing, so she stopped walking to answer it. Krystal just watched her from behind, mouth parted open slightly.

 

“What, am I Cinderella now? And what’s with her telling me not to hurt the merchandise before she told me not to hurt the customers? I guess we can see where her priorities are…”

 

“Yes. Yes, alright. I understand. Right away.” Krystal’s mother said before hanging up. She turned back around to Krystal.

 

“On second thought, you can always sweep when you get back.”

 

“You’re letting me off?”

 

“No, I need you to run a different errand.” Krystal’s hopeful face fell as she clicked her teeth together.

 

“So I am Cinderella after all. What? What do you need from me now?” Her mother sighed.

 

“I had some important clients order something. They were going to pick it up but they’re unable to now and want it delivered to them, since we do delivery services.” Krystal raised an eyebrow at her mother.

 

“You could just have our delivery team bring it to them.” Her mother nodded with a small frown.

 

“That is true...however, I want to put you to work, and you’re right here already.” Krystal’s mouth hung open in disbelief.

 

“What? Just because I pushed that stupid guy? He even told you it was in self defense, right? And it’s raining! Hard! You want me to go out there in the rain? It might as well be hailing too and-”

 

“What?! I could care less about the guy! Our jewelry is expensive! Soojung! You know that, huh?! You broke our jewelry! If you weren’t my daughter I’d sue you!” Krystal fell silent as her mother yelled at her. Slowly calming down, she offered an umbrella to Krystal.

 

“You’d best get going soon so that you can come back to sweep.” Krystal stayed still for a while, still looking at her mom silently before she finally snagged the umbrella.

 

“Fine. But if I slip and fall and break the package I’m delivering, don’t blame me.”

 

 

“Yes. Thank you very much!” Krystal bowed before the people she had been delivering the jewelry package to shut the door. Now that she was alone again, her face scrunched up and she sighed.

 

“Time to go back and sweep, just what I want to be doing.” She looked up a bit to make sure she was in a good spot under the umbrella before she walked back into the rain.

 

“Well...if I’m already out of the shop now, I should take a detour. It’s not like she knows how long it’s supposed to take me to deliver the package, right?” Krystal smiled to herself, pleased with her rebellious ways as she started in a different direction.

 

It didn’t take long for her to reach the pastry shop. She could just imagine the smells of all the different pies and donuts and cakes.

 

But imagine was all she could do. As she walked up to the front door, there was a big sign with the words ‘closed’ printed on it. Krystal sighed disappointedly.

 

“Even they are closed right now. A jewelry shop is open and doing deliveries in this weather but not a cake shop? Well, I guess we can’t really afford to be closed since we’re such a big business…” Krystal blew air out in front of her as she walked away from the shop. The rain fell hard against the top of her umbrella, trickling down and running off the sides.

 

“It’s like I’m surrounded by a fountain. Why is there so much rain these days?” She looked around at all the rain and puddles and noticed she was passing by the park where she had eaten her pastries the other day with Kai. She stopped walking, looking at the park.

 

“...it’s not like this park means anything to me. I didn’t get to take a detour yet since the pastry shop was closed, though, so I might as well.” With that decided, Krystal walked into the park. She gasped when her foot sunk into a bunch of mud. Her gasp quickly turned into a shout of frustration.

 

“Seriously! How much rain is going to fall? Huh?” With a huff, she began fast walking.

 

“Forget detours, I’m going to get out of this stupid rainstorm.” Thunder sounded overhead, as if the storm wasn’t pleased with being called stupid. Krystal stopped walking for just a second, shocked by the sudden thunder, but her face quickly scrunched up in anger as she clicked her teeth together and began walking as fast as she could.

 

“I should’ve just gotten out of this storm from the beginning. I even have an umbrella but I’m still getting wet because of all this rain! What a mes-AH!” Krystal screamed as she found herself falling over. She had fast walked straight into a puddle which sent her skidding. Her eyes were wide with frustration and shock as muddy water splashed everywhere on her clothes and face and hair. The umbrella fell out of her hand and flew a small distance away, picked up by the wind from the storm. She was rendered a gasping mess as she looked at all the mud and water she was in.

 

“I’M GOING TO KILL SOMEONE!” She screamed in frustration as she took out her wet and muddy phone. The rain was coming down extremely hard, so her hair was plastered to her face in no time. Thunder sounded overhead, causing her to jump before she began frustratedly pressing through her phone faster. Finally, she lifted the soiled device to her ear, her face angry and fed up.

 

“MOM!” She roared.

 

“Krystal, where are you? You’re taking too long and the storm is getting worse-”

 

“So now you’re worried?! I’m going to go CRAZY!”

 

“Soojung, are you angry? Where are you?” Krystal had half the mind to toss her phone into the puddle out of anger, but got herself under control as she finally stood up and got herself out of the dirty water. The heavy rain felt like droplets of ice as it pelted her ruthlessly. She took a few more deep breaths before answering.

 

“I fell in the mud! I’m soaked, I’m dirty, and I’m going home to shower and change! Also, you might need to buy a new useless umbrella! Goodbye!” Krystal hung up without even waiting for her mom’s answer as she hurried in the direction of her large house. She could’ve looked for the umbrella, but she just wanted to go home and change and shower, so she didn’t even bother. She walked home, ignoring the heavy rain.

 

Krystal frustratedly barged into her house, going straight to the bathroom and looking at herself in a large mirror. There was mud everywhere on her and she was completely drenched and shivering. Seeing her state only made her even more annoyed.

 

“I’m going to take a warm shower and I’m never getting out.” She whispered to herself as she moved her hands behind her neck to undo her pendant. She felt around for a bit before her eyes widened in panic. Slowly, she removed her shaking hands from the back of her neck and felt around her chest, looking down frantically and in the mirror. Now, she was shaking for a reason entirely different from the cold. She looked in the container that she puts it in when she takes a shower, but it wasn't there either. How did it..? Where did go..!?

 

“Oh no.” She breathed out. She looked down at her shaking, muddy hands, her breaths coming out quick and shallow. She swallowed some spit as her eyes began reddening from the threat of tears.

 

“Oh no.” She repeated. She looked around uselessly. “What do I do?” As if answering herself, she rushed to her room and aggressively opened each of her jewelry containers, rummaging through them. She was still blinking and swallowing the tears and cries, not letting any noise out aside from her panicked breaths. She slammed her fist down on the table with her drawers as she finished rummaging through the last one. Slowly, she turned and looked at the rain outside.

 

“Please…” She quickly descended a flight of stairs and burst through her front door into the rain. She slammed the door shut behind her and began running as fast as she could.

 

“Please…!” She repeated as she ran. She didn’t even slip in any puddles as she arrived at her destination; the park.

 

“I slipped in one of these puddles, right? It was around here I think, right?” She talked to herself quickly, getting on her knees and sticking her shaking, freezing hands into the muddy pools of water on the ground. The rain pelted against her back like a shower of icicles. They even felt sharp because of how cold it was.

 

“Ah!” She screamed as thunder sounded ahead, but she quickly shook off the shock and continued moving her hands around in the puddle frantically.

 

“Dammit!” She screamed, slamming her fist down into the puddle, causing the dirty water to splash up and get all over her clothes and face. Paying no attention to any of that, she crawled across the grass to a different nearby puddle, making sure to feel around in the ground as she went.

 

“Please.” She stopped talking for a moment to hold back her tears.

 

“Please, please be around here, I’ll do anything.” Her hands found nothing in the muddy puddle, so she retracted them and sat up on her knees, quickly reaching in her pocket. Her fingers felt like they were going to fall off at any moment, and they seriously looked like they might because of how much they were shaking. She swiped through her phone and went through her contacts.

 

“Help...I need help.” She breathed out. Her finger hovered over her mom’s contact number. But it only hovered. She didn’t press it. She didn’t move for a while.

 

“Mom will kill me. I can’t tell her I lost it.” Instead of pressing the number, she moved her finger to hover over her sister’s name; Jessica.

 

“How will unni help me? She’s in America with dad. Ah, Krystal you clown!” She scolded herself. She blinked back more tears; or at least she was pretty sure she did. Rain was soaking her, so she just assumed any water on her face was rain and not tears. She looked around desperately. She was so desperate. She was about to toss her phone in frustration when she noticed there was another contact.

 

“What? I don’t have anyone on my phone other than Mom, dad, and Jessica.” She retracted one hand into her sleeve to wipe at her phone’s screen. Her eyes widened at the last contact name. Kai.

 

She blinked back more tears, her head moving left and right frantically. hung open with despair and distress. Thunder sounded overhead particularly loudly this time, making her gasp. She shivered violently from the cold rain that was coming down on her nonstop. Slowly, hope faded from her eyes, replaced with pure desperation. Even more slowly, her head tilted downwards, and her eyes rested once more on that last contact name on her phone.

 

Kai let out a loud sigh as he sat at a rather large table all by himself, a generous bowl of fried chicken before him.

 

“I guess dad’s meeting is going to go quite late today, huh? Well, it’s whatever. Better not complain if there’s no chicken left.” Kai smirked to himself as he ate more. Suddenly, his phone began buzzing.

 

“Hm?” He stopped eating to look at his phone, and to his surprise, the name ‘Krystal’ popped up.

 

...what? She’s calling me? For real? What the heck...she seemed like she still hated me. Could it be I’m even more charming than I thought? He looked at the rain falling outside of his window.

 

“What a nasty storm. Surely she doesn’t just want to talk to me because she’s stuck inside with nothing to do? What a bother...this girl. Aish, I really wish I didn’t have to do this.” Sighing, Kai picked up his phone and answered the call, bringing it to his ear.

 

“What-”

 

“Kai? Kai that’s you, right? You picked up just now, right?” Kai raised an eyebrow at the urgency in her voice.

 

“...yes? I think I just picked up? So, what brings you to call my-”

 

“Help me! Help me please! I lost it and I can’t find it-ah! Hurry, hurry up! I’m at the park where we were at! You can make it, can’t you? You’re not doing anything with your sorry life right now, are you?” Kai clicked his teeth together.

 

“Yah. You ask for my help then you say I have a sorry life? What kind of tactic is this?”

 

“I don’t have time for this! Are you coming or not?! Ah! I really don’t have time for this! I’ll find it myself then!” There was a resounding beeping noise as Kai was hung up on. He pulled his phone away from his ear and looked at it with a combined expression of confusion and annoyance.

 

“Wow. What a distasteful girl. No manners at all. What is she even looking for at the park in this crazy weather?” Kai put his phone down on the table and looked at his chicken.

 

“I wouldn’t choose anything over chicken anyways.” He began to eat again, but the sound of the harsh rain hitting his window drew his attention. If he didn’t know better, he’d think the rain would break through the window and flood the house at any moment because of how hard it was coming down. A particularly loud booming of thunder shook the house. The weather really was hell; and Krystal was out there. He stared at the window with an unwavering gaze for a while.

 

“...well, having her owe me is the best way to start my advances.” He put the chicken down and grabbed an umbrella before leaving through the front door.

 

As soon as he opened the front door and stood out with the umbrella, he quickly found out that the umbrella was pointless because of the strong wind. He snarled at his umbrella and stomped back inside. He really didn’t understand why he was still motivated to help Krystal. So far, all she did was cause interruptions and irrelevant problems in his life. He came to the conclusion that it was because it was his father’s request and he didn’t want to disappoint his father, knowing the consequences.

 

He sighs as he rushes and and grabs his car keys and then goes to his garage. He looks at his silver Ferrari and sighs. He doesn’t like driving his car because he doesn’t want attention from paparazzi. He really isn’t no celebrity, but with his father’s company, his good looks and him always participating and fundraising dance classes, he’s pretty well known in the city. He also would add that he modeled for some famous clothing brands that made him well known as well.

 

He shakes his head and quickly gets in his car and leaves to go find Krystal.

 

When gets to the park he walks out not caring about the storm and jogging to find Krystal. When he finds her, he sees her on her knees and moving frantically looking for something on the ground. “Krystal!” He shouts. Krystal turns around immediately and gets up. She moves her shaky hands to move her wet hair out of her face.

 

Kai quickly walks over and sees Krystal’s blue lips and red eyes. “The hell? How long have you been out here? What are you even looking for?” He exclaimed. He was in the middle of feeling sorry and being frustrated at the same time. It takes a moment for her to respond. “M-my necklace. I’ve been searching for half an hour! A-and I can’t f-find it. I need to find it. Kai, please help me find it! Please please please it’s all I ask for… A-and then you can go along and continue on. This is all I ask for.”

 

Kai is shocked from her plead and because of the rain, it took him awhile before he noticed that she was crying. He never expected to see her in this state. At last he decides to help her and feels sorry. He knew from the very start that that necklace of hers is something very meaningful and special because of the incident in the store before… and he knows just what it feels like.

 

“Calm down, Krystal. I’ll help you find it. Just sit down and calm down.”

 

“Calm down?? You expect me to just sit down and calm down? I’ve been here looking and looking for something very valuable to me and when I ask for your help you tell me to-”

 

“You’re drenched in rain! You’re probably sick by now! Just ing sit down! I’m here, aren’t I? You beg for my help and then trip at me when i’m trying to help you? You keep your attitude and I won’t even pick up your damn phone next time. I’m telling you to sit down or else i’ll have to bring your sorry to the hospital.” At this point Kai wanted to turn around and leave the girl to herself but he knew he’d feel bad in the end. He’s a good person. Just because he gets annoyed or pissed off about certain things or people doesn’t mean he isn’t nice. He sighs loudly and takes off his jacket, slightly shoving it to Krystal as he begins to look for her necklace.

 

Krystal becomes unresponsive after getting yelled at by Kai. When she receives his jacket, she slowly puts it on and slowly moves to the bench to sit down.

 

When Kai sees her sitting on the bench he calms down his anger and begins to thoroughly look for her necklace.

 

For another half hour, Krystal is still unresponsive sitting on the bench and Kai was still searching for her precious jewel.

 

“You can stop,” she says in a small voice.

 

Kai looks back at her but doesn’t know if she said something or not. The storm was too loud to hear her and when she was still unresponsive he continued to look for the necklace.

 

“I said you can stop,” she says slightly louder. He pauses and then stands up. He walks to her as she stands up. “You can stop now.” She says without looking him in the eye. “I’m sorry for wasting your time.” She turns around and begins walking in the direction of her house. Kai stands there taking in everything she just said. Two sentences. Two sentences that was enough to confuse and hurt him.

 

He frowns and starts running to Krystal. She’s almost to the edge of the park and he tries to catch up to her but fails. He sighs and decides to just leave her. He runs back to his car and begins to drive home until he begins to feel guilt for leaving her. He breathes out in anger. “!” He shouts frustratedly in his car. He turns the car around and races in anger hoping to find Krystal still walking on the street. “ ! Screw you dad!” He says as he steps on his gas pedal slightly harder. “Why the do you always make me feel bad and then at me?! !” He says as he breaks and makes a turn, resulting in him drifting his car dangerously because of the rain. There streets were empty when he rode out to find Krystal so he drove as he wished. “ you, Krystal. you.” He shouts as he steps on his gas. As he keeps driving he finally sees Krystal and breaks, not caring about how fast he was going before. He stops dangerously and Krystal jumps when the car suddenly ends up next to her. Kai rolls down his window. “Get inside, i’ll take you home,” he says demanding. Krystal says nothing and gets inside the car. “Put in your address,” he says as he shoves his phone to Krystal. She silently takes the phone and inserts her address. When she’s down, she puts the phone onto the stand and lets the gps on his phone guide the way to her house.

 

On the car ride home Krystal notices that Kai would slightly speed up but eventually slow down when he breathes out. She takes a guess that Kai is still angry at her and she knows it’s her fault. She doesn’t know what to say to the driver but it’s not like she wanted to say anything either.

 

When he arrives to his destination, they say nothing. Krystal sits in the car for a minute and then starts to take off his jacket.

 

Krystal stops halfway and looks at him.

 

“Leave it on. I can buy a new one,” Kai says as he looks out the window. Kai’s voice is a little softer than before but still a little demanding. Krystal puts his jacket back on and then starts out the door.

 

“Bye, Kai,” Krystal softly says.

 

“Mmm,” Kai hummed back in response. Krystal closes the door and walks to her house. Kai watches as Krystal takes out her keys and opens her front door, walking inside and closing it. Kai turns his head and shifts his gear.

 

When Krystal opens the door, she doesn’t look behind her to see if Kai left. She walks inside her house, locks her front door and walks straight to her room, locking it as well.

 

She changes and puts her wet clothes in her laundry basket and lays down in her bed. She puts her blankets over her and silently cries. Suddenly she hears her phone ring.

 

“...Hmm?”

“Where are you?!”

“Home. I’m not feeling well. Goodbye, mother.”

 

When Kai got to his house, he took a shower and went to go change. Then he went straight to his room and grabbed his suitcase. He packed a week-supply of clothes and accessories and put it in his car. He grabbed his keys and went into his car, driving out of his garage and out of town. He drove 3 hours straight into Seoul. There, it was already night time, and when Kai arrived at his destination, he unpacked everything and went into his “escape” house. He sits down on the white firm couch in the living room and sighs. He didn’t know what to do anymore. He’s only met that girl two days ago and it’s already making his life complicated. The worse part is that he doesn’t know who to blame. He gets up and walks into a room in the house that hasn’t been opened in a year. He grabs his keys and unlocks the door. Slowly, he opens it revealing a small room with tables of jewelry…

 

But instead of walking the room to admire the jewelry around the room, he walks directly to the back of the room. In the center, there’s a shiny sparkling necklace in a glass case. He carefully lifts up the glass case and takes out the necklace that hasn’t been touched in 5 years. He carefully put the glass case back in it’s place and walks out the door. He looks at the necklace and wraps it around his wrist. He walks to his bed and lays down with sleep taking over his mind and body.