Chapter 3

“You gotta be kidding me.” Sandara Park, with a surgical needle in one hand and a pair of tweezers on the other, shot a disapproving look toward Jiyong. “You just know her.”

“She has nowhere to go.” Jiyong shrugged nonchalantly, averting his gaze from the woman to the gash on Seungri's cheek. “And it's only temporary.”

Tabi, who was leaning casually on the couch, snorted. “I know you, Kwon Jiyong. The way you look at this girl, there's nothing temporary about it.”

“Can't you all not talking about Jiyong's girl while I'm in a life-threatening situation here.” From where he's lying by Tabi's side, Seungri whined.

“Stop being a crybaby, Lee Seungri.” Shooting another disapproving look, Sandara stabbed the needle into Seungri's raw flesh. “You saw this coming.”

“Ouch. Careful, Dara! It's my handsome face you are stitching.”

“Shut up! I am careful. I am always careful. It's you and Jiyong who always go head over heel doing irrational stuff.”

“Whatever that means.” Mumbling, Seungri grabbed the vodka bottle from Jiyong's hand and take a big chug

“You know exactly what I meant.” Hands expertly working on the stitches, Sandara glared at Seungri again. “Instead of racing, you acted like a daredevil. Ignoring all safety instructions for points. Driving inches away from death just to win a race. You know you can't take over in that sharp corner without falling but you still did it!”

“To be fair, I've done it once and-”

“Shut it, Seungri.” Using scissors to give the suture a finishing cut, Sandara turned her attention to Jiyong. “And you? Have you lost your sanity? You can't just take a girl in after one day of knowing her.”

“Two days. I've known her for two days.”

“Exactly.” Sandara dropped the scissors onto the tray on the coffee table. The clanking nose echoed in the workshop their team called Basecamp.

“She has little to no money, no relatives, nowhere to go."  Jiyong grabbed the bottle from Seungri's hands for his share of the clear liquid. He needed the alcohol to reassure himself. "If it was you, wouldn't you want someone to help you, Dara?”

“If it was me, I would be the capable adult I am and found my own way out of my own problem.”

“No, you wouldn't.” Seungri grinned. “You would jump into Jiyong's bed in no time”

“Shut up, Seungri!”

“You're just jealous that another girl got to live with Jiyong now.”

“Don't make me stitch your lips together, Seungri! I can do it in 90 seconds with my eyes closed.”

“Hooo scary Dara is scary.” Seungri laughed. “Let Jiyong plays house this time, will you? We all know that he's never actually fallen for a girl before. Let him be for a moment."

“Nobody is playing house. All I did was offering her a place to stay while she sorts her life out.” Seeing how red Sandara's face was, Jiyong tried to tone down the situation. “She got caught in an abusive relationship. There's a guy out there who's ready to harm her. The least I can do is offering her a safe place.”

That's the truth, right? Jiyong asked himself. No other motive but the fact that his flat was very secluded Taeyeon's man wouldn't find her. No hidden agenda?

Right. Jiyong inwardly laughed at the bull he threw himself to. There might be no hidden agenda but there was definitely a hidden feeling.

", look at our Kwon Jiyong smiling to himself." Seungri used his foot to nudge Jiyong. "This girl is definitely it."

"Yeah?" Frowning deeper, Sandara crossed her arms and kicked Seungri's feet so she could sit beside Jiyong."If someone was actually abusing her why didn't she file a police report? If she's old enough to go to a club she must have the resource to fight back.”

“It's not that easy.” Jiyong stared at Dara. Homegirl was the spoiled daughter of a plutocrat so it was only fair that she couldn't sympathize with Taeyeon. “You won't understand.”

“What I won't understand is you blindly offered your flat for free to a girl you barely know. Where do you want to live now, huh? This workshop?”

Jiyong looked at Tabi. Seungri grinned. The room fell into silence for a moment before Sandara groaned out loud.

“You gave him permission stay here, don't you?” The girl threw an angry look toward Tabi now. The latter just shrugged.

“Sometimes I completely forget that I befriend three crazy men.” Drawing one exasperated breath, Sandara walked away. “Three!”

“We love you, Sandara!” Seungri shouted, wincing as the pain kicked in. “Can you at least sedate me for tonight. These stitches hurt."

“No!” The girl didn't even turn around. “Jiyong is the only one need sedative! It might stop him from doing stupid things.”

Seungri laughed.

“She meant well.” Tabi stood up, grabbing the keys from the coffee table. “Come on, cry-baby. I'll drive you home.”

“I know.” Jiyong helped Seungri stand up. “Thank you for letting me crash here.”

“It's Seungri's place. I'm just the manager.”

“Thank you, crybaby.” Jiyong playfully slapped Seungri's good cheek. “I owe you one.”

“You owe me five thousand.” Seungri grinned.

“Right. The hospital bill. I'll tell Nancy to take it out of my paycheck.”

“I was just kidding. Damn, falling in love got you all humorless, buddy.”

“I'm not falling in love. I just want to help the poor girl.”

“Of course.” Seungri snorted. “Poor girl. We should all help her.”

“Shut up.”

Seungri's mocking laugh echoed even as he got out of the workshop, leaving Jiyong with one of the biggest questions in his life.

Was he in love?

“Okay, I know I said this before but I need to say it again. Seungri is a jerk.”

Her eyes reflected anger and annoyance all at once but her fingers moved so lovingly around his bleeding knuckle. Kim Taeyeon was such a contrast inside and outside yet Jiyong kept on falling for her every second, every minute, every day.

Two months of knowing her and Jiyong was sure he could fall for her all his life.

“What kind of friend... No. Best friend, you called him your best friend all the time. What kind of best friend leave his friend alone in a fist fight?”

“The kind of best friend who has an important race that will establish his national career in a week.” Jiyong grinned at the frustration clearly shown on Taeyeon's face. It was always nice when someone showed concern for him. It was ten times nicer when that someone was this pretty girl in front of him. “And to be fair, Seungri is not the one to blame, I told him to flee. God knows the team can't afford a racer with a broken jaw.”

“No." She stopped dabbing betadine to his wound, sighing before looking up and blinked rapidly. "Both of you aren't the ones to blame. It's on me.”

“Oh, come on, Taeyeon. Don't cry. It's not your fault either.”

“Yeah? I was the one who insisted on getting my stupid books back. I was the one who thought that I'm ready to confront Kangin. I was the one who dragged you and Seungri into harm.”

Shifting closer on the couch, Jiyong used his good hand to gather Taeyeon's trembling ones. “First. It was about time you face that bastard. He needs to see that you're better without him. Second. You didn't drag Seungri and me into this. I volunteered and Seungri is known to foolishly follow me anywhere. Third. As heavy and as moldy as they are, your books aren't stupid. They just smell a lot like wet socks.”

“You and your odd sense of humor.” She jabbed his shoulder, gently. The frown on her face turned into a small smile. “Still, I could at least help you fight Kangin instead of trembling in the corner.”

“It's the first time you see him again after so long, Taeyeon. Years of oppression left some impression in you that can't just disappear because you say so. Trust me, I know this.”

“And here I thought I'm over him.”

“You ARE over him.”

“Thanks to you.” She started cleaning his wound again.

“Thanks to yourself.” He hooked a finger under her chin, tilting her head so he could see her beautiful eyes.”You were such a champ. The moment you squeaked that lame- I WANT MY BOOKS BACK, I knew Kangin is a goner.”

“Shut up.” She jabbed him again, grinning this time.

“I'm so proud of you. The way you ran while hauling that huge box of fancy paperbacks-”

“Shut up.”

“I thought, Oh my God, the skinny Taeng I know can't even open a bottle of ketchup on her own...”

“Shut up, Ji. Shut up.” She laughed. Her eyes shone with mirth, inviting him to laugh with her.

He didn't. He couldn't laugh. His eyes were glued to her beauty. His tongue was tied.

When he leaned in to capture her lips in a gentle kiss, her laugh faded.<