-Chapter XIII-

“I know why you’re here,” Taecyeon said as he shut the hotel room door behind him. “And I have to ask you to not do what you’re going to do.”

“What?” Yong Hye asked, out of breath. Taecyeon had pulled her all the way to the hotel—though Yong Hye had noticed that Taecyeon had walked past a few, less luxurious hotels—and he had to have broken some kind of record for fastest booking and check in of a hotel room. Yong Hye had tried to ignore the smirk and wink that the hotel manager had shot her as Taecyeon had pulled her towards the elevators, but she couldn’t help but be severely aware of how the whole situation would look to a bystander.

An anxious man pulling a bewildered woman into a hotel at three in the morning, demanding a room?

Definitely not how Yong Hye wanted to be remembered by anyone; even hotel patrons that she would never see again.

“I know why you’re here,” Taecyeon repeated, turning to face her.

She stood in the middle of the small hotel room entryway, her arms wrapped around herself protectively. “You dragged me here,” Yong Hye spat.

Taecyeon groaned. “I meant the café, and you know that.”

“Well, forgive me for not being the most easy-going hostage you ever had,” Yong Hye cried, her smartass side rearing its head.

“You’re right; you aren’t” Taecyeon said with just as much fire in his voice as Yong Hye had in hers.

Yong Hye was going to continue yelling, but what he said stopped the words forming in . “What?” she finally whispered, her arms dropping to her sides.

Taecyeon sighed. “Relax. I only said that to get you to shut up.” He walked towards her, lightly turned her around, and led her deeper into the hotel room.

There was a small living room and kitchenette area that was made to feel bigger by a large window directly opposite the entrance. A door to the right led to the one bedroom.

They stopped in the living room, and Taecyeon turned Yong Hye so she faced him. Yong Hye suddenly became very aware that they hadn’t the lights. Luckily, the city lights streaming in from the windows provided enough light for her to see Taecyeon. “I’m getting really tired of you pushing, pulling and leading me around and expecting me to just go along with it,” she sighed, looking up at him tiredly. She was tired. It was late, the adrenaline was wearing off, and, for some reason, she knew she was safe; despite thee fact that she had been brought to the hotel against her will. “You can’t keep doing it.”

Taecyeon sighed and ran a hand through his hair, looking down at her. “Still. You can’t write that article.”

“What article?” Yong Hye asked immediately.

Taecyeon scoffed and raised an eyebrow. He reached for her arm, stopping before he touched her, remembering her words. “Sit, please,” he said, using the hand he had been reaching towards her with to gesture to the couch the hotel had provided.

She did sit, and Taecyeon sat on the glass coffee table in front of the couch.

“You can’t seriously think,” he said, eyes forcing her to look at him. “That I would believe that you, the investigative journalist who wants to write about gang activity, would just happen to be walking down the same street as a bunch of gang members? Particularly at three in the morning?”

“And you shouldn’t expect me to not be curious as to why you were there, or why you know at least some of those men.”

Taecyeon groaned and looked at the ceiling.

Neither said anything for a minute, then Taecyeon looked back at Yong Hye. “If I answer some of your questions, will you not write the article?”

Yong Hye thought for a minute. It was definitely a tempting offer. She had been wanting to ask Taecyeon a lot about himself, but whenever she had tried, Taecyeon would advert the conversation to something else. “How about if you answer my questions, I still write the article, but keep you and how I followed them out of it, and use a fake name for the by-line, as much as that would kill me.”

“No names at all.”

“Some names,” Yong Hye countered.

“What gang they’re in. No names.”

Yong Hye sighed. “Fine. If you answer my questions.”

Taecyeon nodded thoughtfully, not looking at her face.

“All of them,” she said.

“Some.”

“Most.”

“Fine,” Taecyeon groaned.

Yong Hye couldn’t help but smile. She had been waiting for a while for an answer to her first question. “The day we met, what were you doing?”

“Running,” Taecyeon answered, playing with the hem of his shirt.

Yong Hye rolled her eyes. “If you’re going to be a smartass, I’ll leave and just write the story however I want.” She stood, pointing at the door.

“No, no,” Taecyeon said hastily, reaching for her arm. “Sit back down. I’m sorry.”

Yong Hye couldn’t help but grin as she sat back down. Ever since she had met him, Taecyeon had been the one controlling the situations. Now, the tables had turned.

“I was running,” Taecyeon continued slowly, as though he had to choose his words carefully. “From an enemy gang.”

“So, you are in a gang?” Yong Hye prodded eagerly.

Taecyeon groaned, not really sure how to answer the question. “Let’s just say …I’m in one based purely on association.”

Yong Hye looked at him curiously, not needing to ask to let him know that she needed clarification.

Taecyeon stared at her face for a minute, trying to figure out what he could say.

“My last name is Ok,” Taecyeon said carefully, watching for any kind of reaction. “Does that mean anything to you?”

Yong Hye blinked furiously, trying to remember anything about that name. She was sure that she had heard or seen it before somewhere, but she couldn’t seem to place it.

Oddly enough, Taecyeon chuckled. “You don’t know?” he asked, watching Yong Hye’s face go from slightly confused to very. “Well, that’ll be one thing that you have to find out for yourself then.”

“Why?!” Yong Hye cried, almost literally jumping to her feet.

“Because…” Taecyeon started slowly. “Because there are some things that I have to keep to myself, no matter how much I want to tell you. And believe me, I would tell you. I would have told someone a long time ago if I could.” He got quieter as he spoke, and Yong Hye realized that this conversation wasn’t just about his last name anymore.

Her questions disappeared at one, replaced by a concern for Taecyeon. As weird as their relationship was and how curious Yong Hye may have been about him, this subject obviously troubled him, and Yong Hye, for once in her life, couldn’t bring herself to continue prodding for answers.

“Okay,” she whispered, watching his face. He refused to look at her, choosing instead to focus on the view out of the window, which was giving them quite a magnificent view of the city.

“Please understand that I want to tell you this,” Taecyeon said even more quietly, still not meeting her eyes. “I really, really do. I want to open up to you like you have to me, but I can’t.”

“Okay,”: Yong Hye breathed. The atmosphere in the room was tense; not because they were angry or upset with the other, but because both knew that continuing their previous conversation would be impossible, but neither were really sure how to start a new one.

They sat in silence, both looking out the window.

After a while, Yong Hye sighed. “I suppose I’m not going to be allowed to go home?”

Taecyeon chuckled, immediately lightening the mood, but shook his head. “There’s too much of a chance that they followed us here. I doubt they’d wait too long, but I don’t want to take that chance.”

Yong Hye nodded understandingly.

“And don’t fight with me about sleeping arrangements,” Taecyeon said, getting to his feet. “You get the bed. I’ll have the couch.”

Yong Hye also stood, saying, “Can you even fit on the couch?” making both of them laugh.

Thanks for reading/subscribing~!

I'm debating whether or not to post my Jay Park story now or later...

I don't want to overwhelm myself, but at the same time, I feel like you guys feel that I'm slacking. I'm not, I'm just trying to write both stories. So far, I've got this story up to fourteen chapters, and the Jay Park story up to four...

Oh, and I'm on spring break this week, so I'll try to update often!