FORTYFIRST CHAPTER
Wicked Fate by Kenzo
To him who knows her so well
It had been three days since Ji broke it off and she was thankful to have this day to herself. Two days of having to pretend that nothing was wrong as she watched him continue on as though saying goodbye to her was the easiest thing he could have done hurt her so bad that it had been such a struggle.
She was surprised no one was noticing it or pointing it out but she was also thankful for that.
Today, however, she wasn’t going to see him so she was expecting that she wouldn’t feel the squeezing hurt too much. She woke up early since Chaerin had told her they were going to come over for brunch and decided to do as much as she can before the activities of the day took over.
Jogging up to her favorite spot, Dara stared out in to the sea and was surprised to find a familiar figure running down the beach.
“Jay!” she called out to him and watched as he stopped his pace and waved at her enthusiastically. He pulled down the hood covering his head and she saw his handsome face look at her with glee.
In truth, she hadn’t seen him for the past two days too and was fighting off calling him because she was afraid that she might break down to him and that wouldn’t be fair to him at all. But she had to admit that he was the only one she could think of who actually understood her… it was ironic but there was no denying the truth – Jay was actually her best friend.
“Dara!” he greeted back but signaled to stop her from hugging him as she run towards him “I’m sweaty so don’t hug me.”
“I don’t care” she told him, though, and still hugged him – happy in the comfort of arms she had always relied on “Where have you been?”
“Uhmmm… just going about the island and making the most of this vacation. You were jogging too?” he asked her and wiped the sweat that had formed at her forehead.
“I just started” she replied “You seem to have been up earlier than me.”
“I went out sailing this morning.”
“You should have told me. I have my own sail” she chided as they started to walk.
“I knew it was your day off so I thought you might sleep in since you’re always up so early. However, I was planning on surprising you later for brunch.”
She frowned at him “Why did you tell me about it?!? Now, I won’t be surprised at all!”
He laughed at her. “Ok. So… to surprise you, why don’t I just NOT show up for brunch?”
Dara thumped him on the back “When did you get to be so cheeky?”
“Just now” he answered “Seeing you in sweats has that effect on me.”
She laughed at this, not used to seeing this side of him all that often because he was primarily a lawyer – often very serious and quite tenacious in his work and letting lose was last on his list.
“You seem bent on really having fun for this vacation huh?”
He nodded. “Yes. I promised myself this vacation is going to be unforgettable.”
“Why?”
He smiled mysteriously “If you could spend the whole day with me today, maybe I’ll let you know.”
She expelled a breath of surprise “My. My. Mr. Jay Park, you’re outdoing yourself today.”
“I’m going to take that as a yes Ms. Sandara Park” he told her “And yes… My game plan for the whole vacation is to outdo myself. I hope you don’t mind if I start it off with a lucky charm.”
Before she was able to react, Jay had dropped his head to plant a quick and soft kiss on her lips.
What was going on??? When had the world turned upside down?Unbidden to her mind came a thought of how the dangerously careless Kwon Jiyong had suddenly become so careful and how the normally uptight Park Jay was letting lose. What did it mean for her?
Was it even supposed to mean anything at all?
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Something no one can ignore
“ doesn’t it?” Young Bae asked from behind Ji, making him jump up in surprise.
“Are you out to give me a heart attack?” Ji asked his best friend as he put back his stethoscope in his pockets.
“Mianhe” the other man replied, smiling sheepishly.
“What are you talking about?” he asked “Don’t I have another patient coming in?”
“I’m talking about you and no you don’t have a patient coming in. It’s about lunch time.”
His left eye brow shot up “And when did we turn to talking about me?”
“The moment I walked in” Young Bae answered “Didn’t I just say it?”
“What the hell are we supposed to talk about?”
“You’re current situation.”
“What-“
“Have you guys begun?” a new voice piped up and Ji saw his hyung – Teddy, walk in as well (looking like he had just woken up).
“You left just about…” Ji looked at his clock “ … six hours ago hyung. What are you doing back here?”
“We need to do some very important GUY talk” his oldest cousin answered “I see the others aren’t here yet…”
“I’m here!” the door opened again and in came Seungri, fresh-faced and smiling his billion-dollar smile “I’m sorry to be late hyungs.”
“You’re not the last one to be in though” Teddy told him “It’s only a toss up now between Seunghyun and Daesung.”
“I’m betting Seunghyun-hyung would be the last one to arrive” Seungri replied “I saw Daesung-hyung already parking his car outside and there’s nothing of Seunghyun-hyung I’ve seen.”
“Do you think he could make it? Bom might need him there” Young Bae asked in concern.
Ji, noting that this most probably was a discussion about him that he knew nothing about, looked at all of them with a growing sense of curiosity.
“What is everyone doing here?!?” he asked before anyone could answer Young Bae’s question.
“Well… we’re here to talk about you, of course” Daesung who had opened the door answered – right on cue. He was immediately hugged by Seungri as Ji felt like he was a fish out of water.
“Everyone’s been telling me that but what is there about me to talk about?” he asked indignantly.
“You’re in love, for one thing” Seunghyun (who had popped out of the door all of a sudden) answered him, the clinic’s Director was immediately greeted by the others and given a seat. His eyes were rimmed with weariness – most probably from being wide awake during evenings to help Bom look after their baby but he looked as happy as a lark.
“And then the first love of the woman you’re in love with suddenly popped out of nowhere launching a full campaign to woo her to say yes to marrying him” Teddy added.
Taken aback by all this, it took time for him to compose himself. “What in the hell are you all talking about? Have you all gone mad?”
“No” Young Bae responded “We are afraid though, that it might be you who’s going mad.”
“I don’t understand” he told all of them.
Teddy snorted “I think you actually fully understand but are choosing to deny it.”
“We sort of have an idea about everything” Seunghyun told him as his mouth gaped wide open “Chin Hoo-hyung told me about more than a week ago about seeing you and Dara at the orchard hut. You both spent the whole night there.”
Guk Chin Hoo was the caretaker of their orchard. Ji had thought he and his wife were already asleep at the time. He shook his head in disbelief.
“Don’t worry about him, though” Seungri assured him “He only told Seunghyun-hyung but he’s a good man and won’t breathe a word to anyone else. It’s funny though because that’s how they all found out as well that I was planning to marry Chaerin.”
“What?!?” he exclaimed.
“He took Chaerin there and good old Chin Hoo saw them. Seunghyun also did the same for Bom” Teddy regaled to him “The caretaker told me about it though and they married both women just three or four months right after.”
“Hold on a second” Ji tried to clear up to all of them. He had no plans at all like those when he took Dara to the place. He just wanted her to be a part of something that was special for him too.
“No” Daesung cut him “We all think it is you who should hold on a second hyung. Seriously.”
“I do believe this is a discussion about me right?” he threw back “I think I should have a lot of say in this.”
“Actually, it might be right if you should not say anything at all” Daesung answered “You might say things you end up believing in even if they’re really stupid.”
“WHAT?!?” his voice thundered over them.
“Hold on!” Teddy told him, putting a hand on his shoulder – trying to calm him down and looked at the rest of the men inside “I guess we’re really not good at this. I don’t know how women do it – bless them beings – but if we’re going to do this, we have to do this the right way.”
Ji puffed in frustration because if there was one thing he wanted to talk about – THIS was the last thing he wanted to discuss. “You may have conclusions about me and Dara already but I’m telling you, whatever it is you’re thinking is wrong.”
Teddy saw Seunghyun was about to answer and he raised his hand to shush the younger man. The look he gave all of them told them enough that he was serious and that he was going to be the one to lead this discussion.
Ji felt something cold glide down his spine and dreaded Teddy’s words more than anything else. Their oldest hyung wasn’t a man given to distractions and he was always one to finish something if he started it. Ji felt it was Teddy who started all this.
“I know you’ve got an intelligent head on you Ji” he now began, his brows exuding a sense of warning to anyone who might cut in “We thought we should talk to you because we can’t ignore something like this going on.”
“What is this ‘something you can’t ignore’ that you’re talking about hyung?” he asked tersely, his heart beating against his chest like metal hammers pounding against ore.
“Love” Teddy told him, a hint of challenge in his voice “You seem to be able to deny it and seem to be able to run from it but all of us who knows you so well see clearly. I don’t know why Dara, for the life of her, doesn’t see it and seems blind to the truth but we aren’t.”
“You’re in love with her Ji” Young Bae told him.“I’M NOT!” he told them all vehemently.
“YOU ARE!” Seunghyun replied, matching his tone “Because if you weren’t… you wouldn’t care too much.”
“But –“
“No Buts hyung” Daesung told him “What we’re here for is not just to make you realize this but to let you know that if you need any of our help, we’ll help you win her from Jay.”
“Also, I know that if Jay hadn’t arrived, something else might have happened like you might have realized on your own that you do love her” Seungri added “so I’m sorry about that.”
“I don’t understand anything that you’re saying!” he told all of them – out of anger, out of pride, out of denial he didn’t know but he was sure of one thing – all this talk was making him as uncomfortable as hell.
Teddy, shaking his head knowingly, looked at him in all earnestness “We know you’re afraid of this and that you’ll run away from it. It’s any man’s basic instinct – run away from love because we’re afraid of it and we don’t understand it but I want you to know that when you finally accept this, we all hope it’s not too late.”
“You’re all wrong” he told them.
“For your sake…” Seunghyun responded, his eyes glinting with both disapproval and understanding “We’ll hope we are.”
Comments