CHAPTER THREE

“Yeon Joo noona!” So Boong’s voice startled her as she remain there, crouched over something or someone that should’ve been there. A couple of onlookers started pointing at her, whispering at her odd appearance.  “Oh Yeon Joo! Omo…” So Boong got out of his car and opened the passenger seat. He pulled her inside, got in and drive off. 

“Aegyo, what are you doing, noona? Are you trying to kill yourself?” So Boong kept on lecturing  her, glancing at her every second and watching her as she sat there with a blank expression,  trying so hard to articulate a word. 

“Chul.”

“Mo? Noona, Chul is at work right now, don’t you know that? Like all of us should be, actually, I’m on my way to… Jamkkanman,” So Boong turn his car and park it on the side on the road. He pondered for a moment, trying to find out what is wrong as he stared fully at Yeon Joo, “OMOOOO! Yeon Joo noona, gwaenchana? Your hand, th-there’s blood on your pants—”
His phone light up with a message distracting him from her. With trembling hands, he opened it and gasped.  “Noona, what-what happened exactly? There’s a new—"
“So Boong-ah, it’s Chul. He—he is…” 

But she didn’t even had the chance to tell So Boong about the whole incident for she was back once again, appearing on the side of the road where, just a while ago, So Boong had parked his car. She sighed and just sat there. She watch the days passed around her like a hyper lapse movie. 

The words two months was scribbled in front of her and she sighed, her stomach grumbling in reply. She can’t believe that this was happening to her again. She got up, brush the dust off her pants and started to walk. 

She is hungry and lost. She couldn’t believe that she was back again in the W world. She thought that it has all ended when Kang Chul went outside. But then, he went back inside again, maybe that is the reason why the W world is still here. 

She sigh, letting the bus pass by her. She doesn’t even have any money to pay for the bus ticket, nor phone to contact anyone, to contact Kang Chul. 

A tear slipped from her eye as she thought about her husband. Was he able to survive the accident? She have seen his condition and have known that he have hit his head, though the paramedics came early. She wouldn’t know his exact condition for she was snatch back to the real world before she even load inside the ambulance.

With a determined expression, she decided to go to Kang Chul’s penthouse and see for herself.

•

The road was long and it was such a sunny day that she was sweating so much. Her stomach grumbled, her feet hurt, her head make her feel dizzy and she wanted to throw up because of all the feelings she was having now. 

She reached the hotel before sundown. The guards asked who she was and she told them her name. They were cautious at first but after a while they let her in. She assumed that they have called Kang Chul and asked for his permission. 

And there she was, finally inside the penthouse. She was a bit disappointed that he isn’t there but she was happy for it means that he is already fine and not in grave danger. She guess that two months is a plenty of time for him to recover from the accident. 

Oh Yeon Joo  was really hungry that she boiled water and let the ramyun noodles swim on them. She didn’t even wait for it to  cooked fully before she turn off the stove. With a sly grin, she rummage through the fridge, find herself some kimchi and also a chocolate bar. 

Smiling to herself, she took a spoonful of kimchi, shove it on , bite off the chocolate bar and sip her ramyun. It felt like she haven’t eaten for a year. With a bloated stomach, she entered Kang Chul’s bedroom and delightedly collapse on the warm bed. 

She was enjoying herself when she suddenly got up, a thought coming up to her. She decided that she was going to surprise her husband but first, she was going to take a bath.

She showered using her husband’s soap and shampoo. Oh Yeon Joo knows that Kang Chul likes it when she smells like him, it made him feel like she belongs to him. With a smile, she reach out for the towel but her hand stop midway as the door opens. 

“Aaaaaahhhhh!” it was her instinct to shout. She was faster than a jaguar as she snatch the towel and covered herself in it. Not bothering about the fact that she didn’t even dried herself fully. 

Kang Chul stood there, eyes wide like they are going to pop out of his skull. His eyes held some kind of curiosity along with amusenent. But this doesn’t amuse Oh Yeon Joo as she continue to stand there at the bath tub, so wet that it was like she just gotten in from a rainy evening. 

“Yeobo, I didn’t know you’ve come so early—”

“You,” His eyes examined her from head to foot as though she was an interesting experiment, “Who are you?”

“Mo? Yeobo, I am not in the mood for a joke right now.” She laughed. Nervously she reached for her bathrobe before going outside of the tub. 

She heard it before she saw it. The sound of a gun being drawn from his back. She have forgotten how he always brings a gun with him when he goes for work. 

“Who are you?” he repeated to her, his voice so serious that she was doubting herself whether she was being on a prank or what. “Why are you here? What do you want?”

“Chul-ah, stop this. I—”

“Who-are-you?!” He mentioned each word as though he was trying to explain it with a child. With a scowl, Oh Yeon Joo replied. “I am your wife, Oh Yeon Joo.”

“Mo?” It was his turn to scowl now, his gun still pointing at her chest. She saw him slightly lower it as he laugh and she saw this opportunity to laugh with him though it made him stop. He stared back at her and with a serious voice he said, “Stop this nonsense. If you are a conman, you better stop this now. Come with me and let us settle this outside.” He dragged her by the elbow and his fierceness surptised her. 

She doesn’t know what to do or what to believe. Is he playing tricks on her? Trying to as much as he wanted because they are back in the world where he was the main character? 

“Kang Chul, it hurts! Please…let me go. You are hurting me, Chul!” she screamed his name, her eyes leaking with tears so sudden that she haven’t got much time to stop them. “ Chul, I am your wife. You married me last spring because you wanted it to be sunny and beautiful. You took me to Jeju island and we spent our nights—”

“Stop! Stop this nonsense, woman. I am not married to anyone. I am onky a businessman trying to help the people with my broadcasting station. I am not anyone’s husband, got it?”

“But it is true! I married you. I,” she pulled his left hand but sighed as she saw that the ring wasn’t on his finger. “Really? What joke are you playing, Chul-ah? This isn’t funny!”

“Funny? I’ll tell you what is funny,” He pulled a chair and push her on it. She bit her lip to stop the yelp of pain that she received fron being shove roughly on the chair. “I started my morning normally, getting through the day by answering calls and helping people. I wanted to have a shower before drifting off to sleep but then you are there. And then, you started calling me your husband and you won’t snap out of it. You are even crying now!” he pointed his gun at her face that she couldn’t help but cry even louder. 

“You know what? If you wanted money, then fine…” he rummaged through his pockets but she is done with all of this. Oh Yeon Joo got out of her seat and was surprised when he called out. 

“Ya! Oh Yeon Joo-ssi!”

She turn around just in time to see the bullet coming off the gun and hitting her. Kang Chul’s mouth was open with surprise as though he didn’t even expect the gun  to have gone off. 

Oh Yeon Joo touched her wound and look at her husband as she fell down on the cold marble floor with no arms to catch her around this time .

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