Round Thirty

 

Hyun hadn’t responded to any of her calls or text messages. She was getting worried. It was uncharacteristic of him to leave calls unreturned and messages unanswered. She had learnt a lot about Hyun after the twenty or so goguma ‘treats’ which she treated as dates, regardless of what she called them.

 

~
 

Hyun was a simple person. He was honest, straightforward and not too bothered by most things that the average person was bothered by. For example, he wasn’t an easy person to tempt.

 

“Try this hamburger! It’s really delicious!” Hyoyeon offered the burger she was eating to Hyun.

 

“You’ll die if you eat that.” Hyun rejected her offer with a cringe of his nose, leaving Hyoyeon with a stunned look.

 

There was another time when Hyoyeon observed that his cell phone was actually quite old—three years old to be exact.

 

“It’s time to get a new phone Hyun. Yours is getting old. And you should download some apps to play. Get Angry Birds! It’s fun to play.” Hyoyeon was surprised to see that he wasn’t using the latest Samsung or Apple phone available on the market. Instead, he was using a much older version of the iPhone. He certainly had no problems affording any of the latest phones with the disgusting amount of money he was earning.

 

“But I only need it for checking emails and calls or messages. I don’t play Angry Birds either.”

 

“What do you do in your free time then?”

 

“I read.”

 

“Well, you can read on your iPad too. There’s tons of books available in apps.”

 

“I prefer reading books. I like the smell of them and it’s less harmful for your eyes too.”

 

Hyoyeon shut after that. Reading didn’t even make it into her top ten list of things she liked to do anyway.

 

It wasn’t difficult to know when Hyun was angry either. He’d be literally breathing out of his nose and his nostrils tended to flare during those moments. Hyoyeon discovered that when she decided to surprise Hyun one day with a goguma treat. She turned up at his office unannounced and burst into his office without any forewarning. He was in the midst of an interview with a financial journalist and he was not pleased. His eyes lost their friendly softness and instead, a disapproving, hard gaze was cast upon her, sending rather cold shivers down her spine. It was then that she noticed how his nostrils flared and he reminded her of an angry baby dragon huffing hot breath through its nose.

 

Hyun was also quick to forgive and did not hold grudges for long. He was also easy to trick despite his insanely high IQ. After his interview was done, Hyoyeon re-entered his office apologetically. Upon seeing her apologetic look, his anger dissipated instantly and his eyes softened.

 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know that you would have company in your office.”

 

“But I told you yesterday that I’m being interviewed and that’s why I told you not to come.”

 

“But it’s your fault for not reminding me this morning.”

 

“It’s my fault?”

 

Hyoyeon nodded vigorously. “You know that I don’t have a good memory, so you should have reminded me.”

 

“You don’t have a good memory? How can that be?”

 

“I didn’t eat enough goguma as a child, that’s why.”

 

“Gogumas are good for you.” Hyun nodded in agreement.

 

“Yes, now that I’m eating more gogumas when I’m with you, my memory is improving but it’s still your fault.”

 

“Oh.” Hyun looked thoroughly confused.

 

“You should apologize to me.” Hyoyeon kept her face perfectly straight.

 

“I’m sorry. I’ll remind you in future.” Hyun apologized obediently.

 

Hyoyeon smiled and patted his back soothingly. “It’s alright. I forgive you.” How she managed not to laugh out loud she’d never know. Poor Hyun was none the wiser.

~
 

So it was a very worried Hyoyeon who made her way to his office anxiously and sure enough, he was not his usual self that day. His head was propped on his fists and he looked positively downcast like an unwanted puppy in a depressed state of mind.

 

“What happened to you?” Hyoyeon stuck her face in his—she was that worried.

 

“Mmm…” Hyun flattened his arms on the table and sank lower than before to rest his chin on his arms.

 

“You have to say something more than that.”

 

“Mmm…”

 

Hyoyeon was getting frustrated. She took out the bag of gogumas she had prepared and shook it in front of him. If this didn’t work, she didn’t know what would.

 

Hyun didn’t perk up. He turned his head away and closed his eyes instead. A soft knock on the door stopped Hyoyeon from grabbing his shoulders and shaking him violently.

 

“Ms. Kim? May I have a word with you?” His pretty secretary jerked her head towards the pantry.

 

“What’s wrong with him today?” Hyoyeon couldn’t wait to know.

 

“He’s been like that since yesterday.”

 

“What happened?”

 

“He made a mistake in his financial report.”

 

“And?”

 

“That’s all.”

 

“That’s it?”

 

His pretty secretary nodded her head.

 

“And he’s been that way ever since?”

 

His pretty secretary nodded her head again. Hyoyeon rolled her eyes and her arms slumped against her sides helplessly.  “Ms. Kim, you don’t understand, his mistake nearly cost the company five million dollars.”

 

“Nearly?”

 

“Yes, the mistake was spotted just in time by the CEO.”

 

“And I presume he got told off for his mistake?”

 

“The CEO simply told him to take it easy and to be more careful the next time. Hyun is known for being meticulous and such mistakes have never been made before so the CEO wasn’t harsh on him at all.”

 

“So what is he so upset about?”

 

His pretty secretary shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. She didn’t know.

 

“I’m taking him out of this depressing place. When does his lunch hour end?”

 

“He has forty-five minutes left.”

 

Hyoyeon nodded. “I’ll get him back before that.” She marched into his office and whacked his head as hard as she could.

 

“OWW!!!” Hyun sat straight up, rubbing his head.

 

“Stand up and follow me before I smack you again.”

 

Hyun blinked but stood up quickly. He didn’t want to be whacked on the head again.

 

~~~~~

 

“Sit.”

 

Hyun sat down on the grass without any fuss. Before his goguma dates with Hyoyeon, he would not have sat on the grass with nothing between the grass and his pants but much has changed ever since Hyoyeon made her presence known in his life.

 

“Eat.”

 

Hyun took the bag of gogumas that was stuck in his face and began eating them. Hyoyeon waited for him to finish the gogumas before questioning him.

 

“Why are you so depressed?”

 

Hyun pouted and hung his head low.

 

“It was just one mistake Hyun. We all make mistakes sometimes.”

 

“I’m a genius. Geniuses don’t make mistakes.”

 

“Thomas Edison was a genius too. He failed many times before he succeeded.”

 

“My mistake almost cost the company five million dollars.”

 

“Almost.”

 

“It’s the same thing.”

 

“Almost happened is not the same as happened.”

 

“What difference does it make? A mistake is a mistake.”

 

“Silly. This is almost happened.” Hyoyeon stuck her face within an inch of Hyun’s. “This is happened.” Hyoyeon sealed his lips with hers.

 

His eyes were wide open when she leaned away from him.

 

“They aren’t quite the same, are they?” Hyoyeon didn’t quite know what to do with herself suddenly. She hadn’t been thinking when she kissed him. She was simply frustrated…and angry with him. “You better go back to your office now. Lunch hour will be over in ten minutes. And stop being so depressed. It worries me. I don’t like to feel worried.”

 

Hyoyeon spun around on her heels and disappeared into the busy lunch hour crowd, leaving behind a clueless, stunned Hyun sitting on the grass.

 

~~~~~
 

Yoong woke up when his arms couldn’t find Sunny. He was alone in bed. Sunny’s lovely scent hung in the air around him so she couldn’t have left the bed too long ago. He dug his nose into her pillow and breathed in deeply. This was the best fragrance to wake up to. Now, if only this could happen every morning. He got out of bed and pulled on his boxers before making his way out of the bedroom. He found Sunny in the kitchen preparing breakfast.

 

Sunny felt a pair of arms slipping around her waist and warm breath tickled the nape of her neck. Yoong’s face appeared right beside hers.

 

“Good morning love,” Yoong crooned in her ear.

 

Her cheeks turned pink and her breathing quickened as his arms tightened around her. She pushed him away shyly.

 

“Don’t distract me. I’m almost done with breakfast.”

 

Yoong merely grinned and hugged her again. “So…you find me distracting huh?” He planted a quick kiss on her pinkish cheek and patted her before making his way to the bathroom to wash himself.

 

“Yoong!” Sunny admonished him half-heartedly and she couldn’t stop herself from smiling. All she heard in reply was his laugh resonating from the bathroom.

 

~~~~~

 

Yoong dug into the scrambled eggs and toast like a hungry wolf. He cleared his plate and shoved it under Sunny’s nose for more.

 

“You’re a pig!” Sunny gasped at the amount of food Yoong was eating.

 

“Eating this much is normal, especially after last night.” Yoong winked cheekily at Sunny who averted her eyes from his immediately. She grabbed the plate and got more toast for him.

 

“There. I hope it’s enough or you’ll just have to buy your own food later. I’m out of toast.” Sunny uttered.

 

“I have nothing to worry about. I can always eat you if I’m still hungry.” Yoong played it up as much as he could. He enjoyed seeing Sunny blush and turning shy on him. This was a side of Sunny that he was sure no one else had ever witnessed before and he cherished it very much. How difficult it had been to get to see this side of Sunny!

 

Sure enough, Sunny turned redder than ever and got off her chair with her empty plate; her eyes still averted shyly from his. Yoong grinned widely. He was having the time of his life teasing Sunny. Normally, he’d probably end up having the tables him by Sunny but this was new. Shy Sunny was new and he loved it. Shy Sunny was turning him on just as much as Sunny the player was.

 

He walked up to Sunny who was now washing the dishes and stood behind her. Then he reached around her and began helping with the dishes; if you could even call that ‘helping’. His hands were all over Sunny’s rather than the dishes, caressing them as she tried to focus on washing the plates that they ate from.

 

“Yoong…” Sunny mumbled. “…you’re distracting me again.”

 

“That’s the whole idea.” Yoong grinned from ear to ear.

 

“OWW!” Yoong groaned as Sunny jabbed him with her elbow. He held his side and collapsed onto the floor. “Sunny…help me…oww…” His arm stretched towards her for help.

 

Sunny ignored his childish antics and continued washing the dishes. She managed to get the plates washed before Yoong had her all shy and blushing again.

 

“Mmm…Sunny… You really love Pikachu, don’t you? You’re wearing Pikachu again this morning.”

 

Sunny realized that Yoong was looking up her nightgown and shrieked in embarrassment. She clamped her legs together and slapped his hands away from her legs before making her escape into the bedroom to change for work.

 

“I’m going to get ready for work. Get off the floor little boy,” Sunny muttered in embarrassment.

 

“Please wear your Pikachu to work!” Yoong called out to her retreating back as his body shook from unbridled laughter that was taking over him like wild fire.

 

~~~~~

 

Taeng became famous overnight. After the newspapers reported his heroic act, the reaction from the general public was most overwhelming. Online discussions and forums had pictures of Taeng circulating about and it wasn’t long before the resourceful netizens on Facebook, Twitter and various other social media platforms unearthed pictures of him from as far back as high school.

 

Most of the discussions hovered around how men like him were virtually extinct in today’s society, how cute he looked and how true love was proven to be well and alive in today’s world.

 

Here are some of the comments about the incident posted by netizens on the newspaper forums:

 

WickedSoshi: i can see Taeng winning Tiffany's heart now XD Act of bravery is always good.

LarryBird: I hope tiffany will not dump taeng.

jasonrocky88: wow taeng is so brave..i hope with that action, tiffany realise how important he is to her..

melani: Omg! Sunhae tried to kill fany?! Fortunately , taeng saved her!!

jjung<3: I hope Tiffany doesn't go back to Siwon after what Taeng did. Good job Taeng!!! Hope he's fine xD

shojo: it’s obvious that who is the real hero and can be more dependable.

KK J3.7: POOR TAENG, RISKING HIS LIVE FOR FANY... FANY SHOULD KNOW NOW THAT TAENG REALLY LOVES HER,

neraj05: what the hell! good thing taeng is there to protect fany- ah!

 

And that was when girls of all ages began gushing over him.

 

 “Oh… if Tiffany doesn’t want him… I do!”

“Taeng… I LOVE YOU!”

 

Someone even started a Facebook page for him!

 

 

In short, Taeng had become a very eligible bachelor who was unfortunately attached. Or at least rumour had it that the girl he saved had finally accepted him.

 

And that was the start of his problems.

 

~~~~~

 

Yul was nervous but he didn’t really have anything to be worried about. Mr. Jung was happy to give his blessings to him and Jessica.

 

“You have my permission. You are the best thing that I have done for my girl. Now, I put you in charge of her happiness for the rest of her life.”

 

Yul smiled at his future father-in-law. “Thank you Mr. Ju… ah… sorry… abonim.”

 

Mr. Jung smiled. “Let me know as soon as Jessica agrees. I need something to cheer me up. Staying in this hospital is depressing.”

 

“I will, abonim.” And Yul left with Mr. Jung’s blessings and permission to ask for his daughter’s hand.

 

~~~~~
 

“I love you Jessica…will you marry me?” Yul looked into his mirror as he practiced his proposal. It seemed a little too simple.

 

“I will love you forever. You are my one and only. Please marry me Jessica.” Hmm… too mushy?

 

“Sica, wanna be my wife?” Too casual?

 

“Sica, you’re the one for me, now and forever. I want to have babies with you.” No no no… this might freak her out.

 

Yul was on the verge of pulling his hair out. He had never been this nervous over anything—even his interview to be a prosecutor didn’t make him this nervous. He had set everything up nicely and everything was in place. Now, the thing was to get Jessica to say yes.

 

He wasn’t sure how Jessica would react to his proposal. There was a very real chance that she might reject him. She was easily scared and freaked out by many things and one of them was taking big steps. Getting married was definitely taking a big step. Yul hoped that Jessica wouldn’t run away from him when he asked or worse still…reject him and break up with him.

 

~~~~~

 

It was Krystal who answered Jessica’s phone again. “Hi, it’s Krystal again. Jessica unnie is not home right now.”

 

Yul was surprised. “You’re calling her unnie now?”

 

“She said it was okay to call her Jessica unnie.” Krystal was all smiles.

 

Yul smiled as well. This was good news for Jessica.

 

“It’s all thanks to you though,” Krystal added.

 

“Thanks to me?”

 

“Yes! Jessica was so upset at you. She was crying so I hugged her and she hugged me back!” Krystal was elated at the memory of Jessica hugging her back. Then she turned somber. “But I’m afraid it’s not good news for you. She said that she wants to break up with you.”

 

Yul was alarmed. “Why?”

 

“I’m sorry. I don’t know why. She didn’t say why and I didn’t dare to ask.”

 

Yul dragged his palm down his face and winced when his bruise hurt. “It’s alright. I’ll look for her and find out why. Thanks Krystal.”

 

“I hope things turn out well for you and Jessica,” Krystal said kindly.

 

~~~~~

 

Yul was preparing to go out hunting for Jessica when he heard his door creak open. Jessica?

 

He rushed out of the room half-dressed—he was that eager to see her. Sure enough, it was Jessica, but it was a dangerously angry Jessica. She saw him emerging from his bedroom and marched angrily towards him. She raised her hand in the air and was about to give him the slap of his life when she saw the huge, ugly bruise on his handsome face.

 

“OH MY GAWD! WHO PUNCHED YOU?” Her anger left the building magically and she fussed over his horrid bruise like a mother hen. She touched his bruise lightly and winced as though she was the one who had been punched. “Does it hurt badly?” Her voice dropped to a whisper.

 

Yul was surprised to say the least. He had already braced himself, ready to receive the scariest slap of his life when his eyes flew open at the sound of her worried voice. Where did Hell Sica go? In her place was Sweet Sica…fussing over his bruise?

 

Jessica seemed to realize that she was here for a reason and backed away from him. Her anger returned in a flash and Yul swallowed hard.

 

“Whoever punched you did a good job! You deserve it JERK! I want my stuff back! And I don’t want to see you again!” Jessica kicked him doubly hard in the shin and marched into the bedroom to take her stuff back as Yul hopped about in pain.

 

“Sica! Don’t go in there!” Yul tried to pull her back but it was too late. She had already opened the door.

 

Her jaw dropped at the sight of countless pink paper cranes hanging down from the ceiling of the bedroom. PINK! MY FAVOURITE COLOUR! HOW DARE HE USE PINK?! She turned around, seething with rage and pointed an accusing finger at him.

 

“SCUMBAG! PINK IS MY COLOUR! AND TIFFANY’S COLOUR! HOW DARE YOU USE PINK ON ANOTHER GIRL?!” She kicked his other shin angrily and he howled in pain.

 

“So this is why you want me to move back home? So that you can bring other girls here and have your way with them? Is that it?” Jessica’s lips trembled as her tears threatened to spill onto her cheeks. “You ! Which girl did you think I was? You didn’t even bother to put your pants on!” Jessica kicked and punched him wildly as she lost control of her temper.

 

“SICA! THIS MUST BE SOME KIND OF MISTAKE!” Yul all but screamed as he tried to grab hold of her arms.

 

“NO! DON’T BOTHER LYING TO ME! I SAW YOU WITH HER AT THE MALL WITH MY OWN EYES!”

 

Yul was stunned. He stood still as Jessica hurled more kicks and punches at him. She saw me as the mall with… a girl? Don’t tell me she… just like Yoong… He groaned long and hard.

 

Jessica’s eyes had never looked fiercer. “I caught you red-handed, didn’t I? No use groaning about it now Yul. I’m going to make your life a living hell. Mark my words.”

 

Her tears began falling as she opened the wardrobe and hauled her clothes out onto the bed. She then turned around to take out the luggage that she had left behind previously only to find Yul standing in front of it, blocking her way.

 

“Get out of my way scumbag!”

 

“I’m not a scumbag.”

 

Jessica felt like slapping him but she didn’t have the heart to do so when he had that horrendous looking bruise on his face.

 

“This is the third time we’re having this scumbag quarrel but this time, we’re not going to end up having . I’m taking my clothes with me and then I’m leaving. So get out of my way!”

 

Yul stepped closer to Jessica and grabbed hold of her arms firmly. “I’m NOT a scumbag.”

 

Jessica couldn’t free her arms so she kicked his shin hard. Yul winced but did not let go of her arms. Instead, he pulled her even closer to him.

 

Oh no! Jessica struggled violently to free her arms but to no avail. “LET ME GO!”

 

“NO I WON’T! I WILL NEVER LET YOU GO!”

 

“LET ME GO!!!”

 

“BE MY MATE FOR LIFE!”

 

Huh? Huh? Mate? For life? ? Is that what he wants from me?

 

Jessica struggled even harder as more tears streamed down her cheeks. So that’s all he saw her as… someone to use and throw away after.

 

“What did I just say?” Yul was horrified. Out of all the nice romantic lines he had practiced in front of the mirror, he had to go and say something ridiculous like this. “I’m sorry…I’M SORRY!” He pushed forward and locked Jessica in his arms and they toppled onto his bed, having lost their balance.

 

Jessica screamed.

 

“SICA PLEASE MARRY ME!” Yul squeezed his eyes shut and yelled at the top of his voice. “I LOVE YOU! THAT GIRL YOU SAW WAS SUNNY! I’M NOT CHEATING ON YOU!”

 

Jessica stopped screaming.

 

Yul panted and panted. He didn’t foresee that proposing to Jessica would be so exhausting. Jessica seemed to have stopped moving so he got off the bed and grabbed the box from the bedside table. He then got on one knee and opened the box, showing her the ring that he had bought with Sunny’s advice.

 

To say that Jessica was shocked would be an understatement. She was beyond shocked. She was stunned, surprised and shocked. Shell-shocked to say the least. She stared at the ring that lay so prettily in the classic blue box that so many girls dreamed of receiving one day. Was it finally her turn? Was this really happening? Was Yul really proposing to her? This had better not be a joke.

 

“Sica…I asked you go move back home because I wanted to fold the paper cranes for you. I couldn’t hang them up on the ceiling if you were staying here so I asked you to move back to buy some time.” Yul looked up at Jessica and smiled handsomely.

 

Jessica’s heart thumped extra hard when he smiled at her.

 

“I asked for Sunny’s help because I didn’t know how to choose a ring. She’s the girl whom you saw me with at the mall…” Yul looked earnestly into Jessica’s wide open eyes and took a deep breath. “I love you… I’ve never loved anyone like this before. You already have my heart. So all I can give you now is my promise to love you always. Sica, will you marry me?”

 

Jessica couldn’t believe her ears. She looked at the pink paper cranes that hung so prettily from the ceiling and the beautiful, elegant ring that beckoned her to take it before looking deeply into Yul’s earnest eyes with the ugly bruise just below it.

 

Unreal. OH MY GAWD. YUL IS PROPOSING! TO ME!!!

 

THE PINK PAPER CRANES ARE FOR ME!!! PINK!!!

 

THE RING!!! I LOVE THE RING!!!

 

YUL IS ON HIS KNEE!!! YUL!!! OH MY GAWD!!!

 

Yul waited patiently on his knee for Jessica’s reply. From the look on her face, he could tell that she was still processing the reality of it all. And then he got the answer he wanted to hear.

 

“Yes.” Her breathy whisper barely reached his ears.

 

“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.” She couldn’t stop saying yes; she was so happy. Then, she flung her arms around him and hugged him ever so tightly.

 

~~~~~