Jiyeon turned in her bed, struggling against the discomfort of not being able to throw off that stinging feeling she still had on the side of her face. She waited for the comfort to seep in, but to no avail, so she kept trying, until she rolled onto her stomach and just buried her head in her collection of pillows in surrender. They felt wet, and then Jiyeon remembered that she had been crying. Adjusting her gaze now to the grandfather clock just above her bedroom door, she hung her arms on the side of her bed, with an unhappy expression as she read the time off the face of the clock: 11:35pm.

“Stupid L.Joe… you said you were going to text me…” She muffled to herself as she pulled towards her the teddy bear that sat and watched from the edge of her bed, plodding it just above her stomach. She resisted the urge to throw a few hands across the stuffed toy’s face. “Hmph, what are you looking at? Nappeun, nappeun  namja...!” She whispered, though loudly, bringing it down and nuzzling her nose into its fur before trying to convince herself to fall asleep again.

But as soon as she had closed her eyes and settled into her new position, her mobile phone had vibrated in the covers next to her bare leg. Jiyeon perked up at the familiar sound, scrambling through her blankets to find that the boy she had wanted to hear from all evening, had finally texted her.

/Sorry, I was with the boys, on an errand. Did something happen? You sounded worried earlier./

Did something happen? Jiyeon wasn’t sure how to reply. Should she tell him? It hadn’t been the first time her dad had threatened her with this issue. To stay away from him, that was. A few thoughts in her head told her to punch into the text message all the anger she wanted to release, but deep down inside she knew she couldn’t do it. How could she? She loved him too much to let him worry over something like this. Jiyeon was going to find a way out of her father’s grasp, to protect the both of them, and she was serious when she said she was going to do it on her own.

/I just slept. I’m fine now~/

On the other side of the conversation, L.Joe fished out his mobile phone from his pocket at the immediate reply. He wasn’t convinced. He sighed at the screen as his thumb circled on the buttons, and with each second, he sunk further into the dirty green, ripped sofa in the warehouse where he and his gang mates hung out. A queasy feeling settled in the pit of his heart, but he couldn’t quite figure out why. He always knew when Jiyeon was upset, though, and that was now.

/… Are you sure?/

No reply.

/Jiyeon ah… are you mad at me?/

/Yah, Lee Byung Hun, I want to see you…/

And immediately he knew; she was indeed angry, even though she had not directly said so herself. Jiyeon rarely called him Lee Byung Hun; no one did. The only time she would ever use that name against him was when she was mad, or stressed–be it at herself, or over the owner of the name. He frowned at the screen as it pressured to challenge his instincts.

He texted back.

/Wait, I’m coming over./

With that, L.Joe stood up from his seat, and while adjusting his leather jacket, he gestured to the oldest boy of the crew, “Going out for a bit,” whose face immediately returned to being glued behind a magazine after he had waved him off.

“Hrruunng,” This time, the boy with his mouth stuffed full of popcorn spoke. “Wheeaa yaaa hudded?”

“Jiyeon’s,” he smirked, shaking his head as his younger sibling took another mouthful, taking his motorcycle keys from the glass bowl on the wooden cabinet that held all other sorts of shiny accessories. “Catch you guys tomorrow.”

//

Arriving at the Park Manor, L.Joe parked the motorcycle sloppily on the far side of the road and picked up speed as he made it to the grassy field in the backyard of the edifice, jumping a few fences to get around the huge expanse in the least time possible. And there she was, sitting on the little, hilly bump that crept out of the land, fiddling with her hair. A sudden rush of relief rushed over him as he saw her; likewise when she saw him.

“Oppa!” she called. But before Jiyeon could get down the hill to meet him, L.Joe had already run up to her and grabbed Jiyeon unknowingly by the waist from the back, tackling her onto the soft, grassy surface. “Gotcha.”

//

The stars continued to twinkle into the night as the couple huddled there on the grass, underneath them, conversing and playing with each other’s hands. Time passed slower whenever they were together, and Jiyeon particularly liked that. Stealing a glance at her boyfriend, Jiyeon wished she had the courage to lay there in his arms till morning, like she had done every other night before this, before her father had discovered the relationship between the two of them. But now it was just too risky. Silence took over, until L.Joe propped himself up on his two elbows and tried to lean over her–

L.Joe stopped in mid-air and furrowed his eyebrows slightly. “Your face… what happened?”

Jiyeon was too concentrated on changing the subject that she almost forgot the pain. “L.Joe, it’s late. You better go–”

Obviously, he wasn’t listening. “He hit you.”

She put her slender fingers to his face and smiled, an indication for him not to worry. “Be good, now.” But he only shifted at her sudden retort, staring into her eyes as though wondering if he had said something wrong to upset her again. Why else would she be shooing him away so fast?

Of course, Jiyeon read his mind. “It’s nothing, jinjja. Just… not tonight.” She gave him another innocent smile, and withdrew from his arms. Jiyeon felt the muscles in his chest and arms tense a little as she created space between them, but when he relaxed again, she took it that he finally understood her intentions.

“Then are you going to be alright, by yourself?”

“Gwenchana.”

She stood up first, hands still in his grasp.

“Yah…” She said, when she realised L.Joe wasn’t going to stand up.

He closed his eyes disobediently and said, “Bbobbo.”

Jiyeon tried to laugh off his childish ways, not believing for a second that her softy boyfriend was actually one of the most dangerous kids in town. When she didn’t respond to him, L.Joe stood up to level his eyes with hers, pulled her back into his arms, and before they both knew it their lips had already connected.

He pulled away only after he was satisfied, brushing a strand of her hair that had come free from behind her ear away from her face. He was still unable to take his eyes off the red glow on her usually flawless skin. “Does it still hurt?”

Jiyeon shook her head immediately.

“Why is my jagiya so beautiful?”

Jiyeon placed the side of her face, the side her father had hit, onto L.Joe’s torso and rested it there, just so she could listen to the sound of his heart beat against the silent whispering of the breeze. It was soothing. “Of course she is, otherwise, how would she have had gotten oppa to fall in love with her at first sight?”

L.Joe’s lips curled into a crescent just beneath his nose, revealing the deep lines on his face. He looked just as tired as Jiyeon. “Remember, if anything happens…” he brought his thumb and his pinky to his ear as he pulled away, signalling to her that she could call him anytime, anywhere, and he’d be right there. After that, they walked down to the roadside together, and Jiyeon watched with sad eyes as L.Joe had hopped onto his motorcycle.

He waved.

She nodded.

And as he drove off, Jiyeon could only find herself bracing her own shoulders under the cold of the streetlight. She stood there for a really long time, wondering what his reaction would have been if, just by impulse, she had let the topic slip tonight instead of sending him off; if he had found out that in trade for his safety, she was willing to do anything, even if it had meant that they could no longer be together. She held herself a little tighter, as a breeze came by and caressed her bare shoulders.

“I’m sorry, L.Joe,” she thought, trying to hold the tears in.

//

Morning came quicker than anyone had noticed, and as always, the warehouse filled with sunlight at the first scene of the sun peeking over the horizon. L.Joe opened his eyes to realise that there was no longer dark space enveloping him, and so got to his feet and dragged them to the bathroom. After slipping on a white t-shirt and his favourite leather jacket (because Jiyeon had chose it for him) he left his bedroom, walking into the small kitchen area where everyone else had already gathered. He manoeuvred through the game consoles and boxes scattered on the warehouse floor to get to the breakfast table, and the boys watched as he cupped his mouth to stifle a yawn. When L.Joe reached the table, the atmosphere was solemn; only the boy with the bright angelic face sitting next to him dared to speak.  

“Did something happen last night?”

“Hyung, nothing happened, you don’t have to worry–”

“Then what’s this?” Before L.Joe could pick up the utensils, the front page of the newspaper came down onto the surface of the table. He turned to look at the rest of the members. No one budged.

L.Joe picked up the newspaper, not understanding why everyone was so serious all of a sudden. This wasn’t the usual routine at the breakfast table. “Why is everyone like this so early in the morni…” but he never finished his sentence, because the headline on the newspaper read:

/“Daughter of Tiara Group’s President, Park Jiyeon, getting engaged to heir of Boyfriend Corp., Lee Jeongmin?”/

L.Joe ran his eyes over the title a hundred million times over in his head, hoping that the names he were reading were wrong, that everyone was pulling a prank on him because he had spent another night over at his girlfriend’s and not with them.

“,” he finally hissed, and after several seconds of debate in his head he shoved the newspaper into the arms of his acquaintance.

“Hyung! Where do you think you’re–” he heard the younger ones call, but that was all he got to hear before leaving through the front door.

//

He didn’t know how much time had passed since he’d last felt this way. Now half power walking, half running, he dug his hands into the pocket of his denim jeans which stored safely his mobile phone.  He slumped to the floor to catch his breath after running the whole block of land twice, puffing with a burning sensation at the back of his head as he focused his eyes on the wallpaper of him and Jiyeon laughing happily on his mobile screen. He knew something was wrong, that Jiyeon was hiding something from him. His instincts last night were right. But that wasn’t what he was angry at; what ticked him off was the fact that he hadn't been able to be there for Jiyeon when it had hurt. He swore to protect her, and he failed. He'd already lost too much; he couldn't lose her as well.

L.Joe texted her the only solution he could think of right now.

/Meet me at the Tunnel. Now./

♕ ♕ ♕

a/n: soooooooo, my first chapter goes a little like this. ^^; it ended up being a lot longer than it was supposed to be... but oh well, won't hurt to read more, right? :D how was it..... ignore my shifty writing skills LOL. this is like, my first romance fic..... oh and guys, sorry if i caused any confusion changing the title of the story. Inexpressibly, Yours --> You Are Worth It. I think it would fit the story better :) but other than that, I'M SO HAPPY YOU GUYS ARE SUBSCRIBING. I hope I get some comments soon too, I like feedback. :D I have the second chapter on my laptop, just have to fix some bits up before I post it up!!!! Happy reading~♥

p.s. DOES ANYONE WANNA MAKE ME A POSTER? XD

hyukxin ©