Chapter 4
The Liar(s): Cognitive Dissonance [HIATUS]
“Oh my effing God, that’s such a huge scandal!” Hyukjae exclaimed as everyone took the newspaper one by one to see the news. As for the photos, they did not really expose that much though. They only exposed Yoona with her upper undergarment and everything else was covered with the blanket.
“Is that really her though?” Siwon rubbed his chin.
“Well it looks good for me... I mean I think there is no photoshop here. Somehow I feel bad for her...” Her cold and plain tone did not fail to make sure it was Jessica.
“Yeah, me too... I feel bad for her.” Taeyeon sighed. “She is a very nice person...”
“You met her before?” Tiffany asked Taeyeon as she took her own seat.
“Yes, we even had a little conversation at Kyuhyun and Joohyun’s engagement.” Taeyeon explained.
“Well maybe she is just not that nice then.” Siwon interrupted. “ will always be a . You all know a girl like her is actually a troublemaker, right?”
“Hey Hae, say something... Why don’t you give any reaction to this?” Said Hyukjae, ignoring Siwon, as he stared at Donghae.
“I was just thinking... If it was a scandal then she had to be with someone on that bed, right?” Donghae scanned his companies one by one. “Who is it? Then who took and leaked the photos?” He continued but no one gave any statement.
“I wonder how will it affect the election?” Jessica started a more serious topic and Tiffany was very quick to respond. “Since when do you care about politics, Jessica Jung?”
“Maybe since she dated Kris, the almighty son of Chinese Ambassador for South Korea, before.” Said Hyukjae jokingly.
“Oh Hyukkie, we are not interested in talking about one of Jessica’s exes here.” Tiffany crossed her arms right before Siwon jumped into the conversation. “Correction. One of Jessica’s exes who is younger than her.”
“Yahhh! I have a boyfriend now and if you care to pay attention, he happens to be your friend and is now sitting here with us!” Jessica mainly stared at Hyukjae.
Donghae was the one who spoke after that and his words came as a surprise. “I don’t mind actually. You look cute when you are furious. Maybe we should talk about Joonmyun and Jonghyun as well so I can see more of your cute face.” He smiled as cutely as possible so his girlfriend would not be so angry. It turned out to be a good move as Jessica shyly smiled.
“Wow, I didn’t realize until now that your exes are all younger than you.” Hyukjae kept teasing Jessica though.
And Siwon did not like to be left out as well. “Not all of them are younger than her, Hyukkie. She also dated Taecyeon before.” Siwon did not stop there. “Sica is well-known for being the devilish beauty who have dated the most desired bachelors in the country.”
“Thanks for including me in that list.” Jessica simply said that along with her classy and bossy smile at the end of the sentence.
“Let’s get back to the main topic guys, shall we?” Tiffany tried to get her friends back into the primary subject again. “Donghae was right. Yoona should be with someone that night and I suspect that... someone who was with her that night took this picture and sold it to Mr. Im’s rival.”
“I told you she is a nice girl. I mean, it is close to impossible that she would go to a hotel room with a random stranger.” Tayeon did not know why she defended Yoona. One conversation was indeed not enough as a reason to strongly defend someone. She just wanted to say what she wanted to say. “On top of that, she should have been guarded, right?”
“And I just told you as well that she probably is not that nice girl you have described, Kim Taeyeon.” Siwon insisted. “It’s not really close to impossible that she is wearing a mask.”
“Well if that’s the case then I suppose we are all wearing a mask then.” Taeyeon signaled that she would stop arguing.
“I never told we are not.” Siwon stated as he sipped his drink.
After an awkward silence, Jessica decided to conclude the session. “Let’s just watch it from a far...” She paused. “And see how it goes...”
“Well, at least we will have a hot topic for the next couple of days.” Tiffany followed up.
“Weeks... I guess...” Said Hyukjae.
“Agreed.” Donghae nodded, much to Jessica’s relief.
“Thanks be to God you two will have something else to discuss.” Jessica shifted her gaze from Donghae to Hyukjae and back to Donghae again. “It’s about time my past love life have to stop being mentioned.”
“But you just mentioned it again...” Tiffany, Hyukjae, and Siwon said that at the same time and they all laughed. However, Taeyeon still could not hide her worries. Jessica noticed that. The devilish beauty was silently aware that Taeyeon was not actually there from the beginning. Jessica was sure that Taeyeon had been hiding something from them.
----------
“This Luhan guy should be sentenced to death!” Said Go Ara as she teared the newspaper into pieces. She was standing in front of Yoona who was lying on her bed. The victim girl looked surprisingly so calm while turning off the television that had been reporting the scandal since early in the morning.
“We have no proof, Go Ara!” Yoona tried so hard not to sound as if she was defending Luhan.
“But who else could take this gorgeous and beautiful picture of yours, Yoong.” Although she realized that she emphasized the fallacious details of the picture, Ara made her main point that Luhan had to be the one who was responsible for what had happened. “It could only be him.”
Yoona did not really pay attention to her best friend though. She was drown by her own thoughts. Part of her wanted to blame Luhan because it was the most plausible explanation for this to ever happen. On the contrary, another part of her wanted to believe that it was not Luhan.
“Ara-yah... you told me that Luhan seems like a very kind person. Do you think he can really do this kind of thing?” Yoona suddenly asked Ara.
Ara put such serious expression on her face as she stared at Yoona. “Well, I admit, maybe I was too quick to judge him. Maybe he is not that nice and he trapped you that night. I mean...”
“Whatever... I don’t really care actually.” Yoona cut Ara before she could finish her sentence.
“But what about your father?” Ara could not hide her concern.
“He was mad for sure and I’m already full of his nagging. In the end though, he said he will take care of it.” Yoona got up and sat on the bed. “If he will overlook it then I think I should do the same.” Said Yoona before adding another statement. “You should too. Get over it, Ara-yah.”
A knock can be heard followed by a familiar voice.
“Yoona, it’s me.” It was Kim Soohyun.
“Come in, oppa!” Yoona replied. Soohyun entered the room and bowed to Ara.
“Your father just told me that you will still come with him to the cultural night ceremony hosted by The United Nations tonight.” Soohyun informed.
“Really? He still wants me to come with him?” Yoona wanted to confirm.
“Yes, he does. So please be on time.” Soohyun made a quick reply before excusing himself.
Yoona nooded as she took a look again at the message Jongin had texted to cheer her up. Jongin had actually called her early in the morning. He was mad because of the news and worried at the same time. However, Yoona convinced him to not worry about this scandal since it did not look like what it showed. Yoona lied for sure telling that it had to be paparazzi’s work while she actually had no idea. She told Jongin that she was quite drunk that night and an irresponsible person took advantage of it. She also said that people should be thankful that nothing bad happened to her. Jongin trusted her and reminded her to be more careful. He then had asked Yoona to cancel their date and Yoona had agreed. However, she changed her mind as she dialed Jongin’s number.
“Who are you calling?” Ara asked.
“Jongin...” Yoona answered.
----------
“Soojung-ssi...” Jongin called the girl’s name.
Soojung turned his head to find Jongin standing not too far from where she stood.
“Jongin-ssi...” She failed to hide her excitement. “What are you doing?”
“As you can see, I’m here to buy some things for the apartment.”
“Well I guess I can help you then.” Soojung responded while taking some steps forward to close the gap between her and Jongin.
“Sure... If it doesn’t bother you.” Jongin gave a friendly smile.
Soojung then replied. “Not at all.” She also smiled.
Jongin was quite relieved that Soojung would want to help him since he was out of this country for years and he felt like a stranger now. He thought that Sehun was very blessed to have Soojung as his girlfriend. To Jongin, Soojung was not just beautiful beyond what words could describe, he could feel that the girl had a beautiful heart also.
The two of them walked around the department store and got some stuffs that according to Soojung would be needed for Jongin’s apartment. After about 60 minutes, they were done. As they were heading to the cashier, Soojung started a conversation.
“So, have you talked to Sehun?”
“Ehhh?” was Jongin’s short reply.
“He told me that you two are not really talking to each other since yesterday.” Soojung explained though she was sure Jongin already understood what she meant.
Jongin took some time before answering Soojung with a question. “He told you that?”
Soojung nodded as an answer.
“That brat.” Jongin sighed. “Don’t worry, just minor problem. I’ll call him this evening.” Jongin finished as they arrived in front of the cashier. Luckily, there was no queue and Jongin paid for what he bought. He also insisted on paying what Soojung bought.
When their hands finally got to hold the bags, Jongin could not stop himself from asking another help.
“Soojung-ssi, do you still have some more time?”
“I guess so.” The girl who was pleasantly surprised gave her answer.
“I need some decent clothes to wear tonight.” Jongin paused then continued. “I was just wondering... Do you think you can help me?”
“Sure... I think I can give you some opinions.” Soojung knew that she should stop there but betrayed her. “Why do you need new clothes for tonight, by the way?”
“Actually... I have a date.” Jongin blushed and even though it was hardly noticeable, Soojung knew he did and she felt like she could not breath. She kept telling herself that she did not feel anything but the more she did that, the more she realized how painful it was for her.
She eventually admitted to herself that Jongin had really stolen her heart.
----------
She never failed to amaze. The scandal. The way she looked very calm and composed. The way she walked around the crowd and followed her father’s lead. The way she smiled to the people she recognized. Everything about her was simply amazing. And Yoona did not really care about the attention she was getting. Good talks or bad talks, she let the people talked. She did not want to ruin an important night. She would act like nothing happened and that was her father’s order.
Wearing this particular green dress, Yoona made her way to her table and sat beside her father. They were fashionably late and Yoona noticed that her father’s rival, Mr. Byun, was already taking the table next to hers. She did not really pay attention to the guy sitting at Mr. Byun’s right side because Mr. Byun’s figure blocked her vision of him. Yoona’s eyes were actually captivated by the woman who was sitting at Mr. Byun’s left side.
“She was really beautiful.” Yoona murmured and no one could hear her. She was completely mesmerized until the master of ceremony of tonight’s event took her attention from that lady.
The cultural night was about to finish when Yoona got text message from Jongin saying that he was already in the hotel lobby. She texted him and asked him to wait for several minutes. She then asked for her father’s permission. Her father knew who Jongin was and it was not that difficult for Yoona to get the yes from her father. After all, she had done her duty for tonight. Her father would not risk having another scandal though and told Yoona that Soohyun would go with her. Yoona could not argue anymore.
Unknown to Yoona, a pair of eyes had been stealing some glances to observe her. Luhan’s eyes. Luhan thanked God because Yoona had not been able to notice his presence, either because Mr. Byun’s figure was really that big or because Yoona was actually giving a good attention to the stage as she watched all the performances.
As for Luhan, he was completely shocked by the news this morning. There were so many feelings he could feel the moment he grabbed the newspaper. All feelings came at once. He was mad. He was guilty. He was ashamed of himself. He was sad as well. But what really hit him was the fact that Yoona was his father’s rival’s daughter.
After he left Yoona alone in that room, he had been trying to find ways to get to contact her. He went to the night club. He went to the hotel. But all of his attempts were useless. He could not find her. He regretted leaving her alone with only a piece of paper. He even thought that it was probably better to take Yoona’s phone before leaving so he was convinced that Yoona would find him thereafter.
All the days after she left Yoona in that room felt so lonely for him. Nothing actually changed. He was always by himself. But after that night, he just felt so lonely. He knew the answer for sure. He missed her. He knew he had found what missing from his life.
Hence, when he saw her making her late entrance and walking to her table, his heart fluttered. He managed to stay cool though, knowing that he would only cause trouble by greeting her in front of the crowd. So he decided to patiently wait until the event ended. He could only hope for a good chance to greet her when all the other guests were greeting each other before leaving that place. He promised to explain everything and of course, apologize. And that was why he moved without thinking when he saw Yoona stood from her seat and walked to the exit just one second after the master of ceremony closed the tonight’s event.
Since everyone in that room was standing and clapping, and some had started moving around, it was hard for Luhan to keep his pace. He would lose Yoona from his sight for two or three seconds and get her again after that.
The scene of Luhan chasing Im Yoona was not escaped from some pairs of eyes. Ara, Jessica, Soojung, Siwon, Donghae, Hyukjae, and Sehun were actually watching the scene. They were all in that room as well since their parents were also part of Seoul’s socialites. Choi Seunghyun, Luhan’s bodyguard, also did not miss his chance to follow his master.
Yoona had exited the ballroom. She was heading to the stairs that will send her down to the lobby.
“Yoona-ssi!!!”
She could hear someone shouted her name. She thought it belonged to a reporter.
“Yoona-ssi!!! Wait!!!”
She heard again but she ignored Luhan. She even increased her speed of walking and kept climbing down the stairs. She finally reached the lobby and she could see Jongin waving at her. She quickly walked to where Jongin was waiting.
Luhan reached the lobby after that and as he saw Yoona, he shouted again.
“Yoona-ssi!!!”
This time, Yoona did not ignore him. She swore she would ask Soohyun to beat this reporter. But she could not do that of course since she was wrong of. It was not a reporter. She turned herself only to be speechless after seeing the owner of the voice that had been calling her name.
“L-luhan-ssi...” She mumbled.
“You know him?” Jongin whispered.
“No... Not really...” Yoona replied slowly and she can not take her eyes from Luhan.
Luhan planned to make an apologetic smile but he failed as he saw Jongin there. He was jealous without any sufficient reason. He did not know who Jongin was but he was jealous already. He, too, could not take his eyes from Yoona.
“He is the son of your father’s rival.” Jongin whispered again. “Well, stepson technically...” He corrected himself.
“He w-what?!!!” Yoona turned her head to face Jongin again.
“Don’t you know? Mr. Byun remarried this Chinese designer and that guy was her son.”
“I... I know he remarried... and... I know he has a stepson...” Yoona faces Luhan again. “I just don’t know that he is the stepson...”
Tears were threatening Yoona. It was very hard for her to believe. Luhan wanted to explain everything but there was Jongin there and he could not even move. Luhan could see that Yoona was about to cry and it pained him. It pained him so bad because he knew he caused the pain. He wanted to hug her but he knew life was not always on his side.
“Let’s go Jongin... I really need some air...” Said Yoona as she made another exit.
Luhan believed in karma. He just did not expect that his karma would come so fast. He left Yoona that morning and now the girl had successfully avenged him.
It broke his heart.
----------
To be continued...
A/N
Ok, I can only say sorry for this long-delayed chapter... *bowing 1000 times* I will work harder. Both in real life and for this fanfic. Quite hard to manage time I admit so please bear with me. Sorry for any errors or mistakes btw. Thank you so much guys... God bless!
Comments