Chp.23| Expectations of the Unexpected

I’ve been watching him silently from afar.I just didn’t have the nerve to approach him directly. It’s hard, not knowing what to expect. This was Jung Sang we were talking about. The very same guy who beat people up over a single ping-pong racket. The same guy who wrecked his room and trophies because he was jealous. The same guy who came very close to kissing me. The same guy who surprised me with a dress. There was still much more to understand about Park Jung Sang.

Taking a deep breath, I strode over to tap him lightly on the shoulder and said, “What’s your problem?”

Park Jung Sang who had been sitting comfortably on his chair and watching television, craned his neck to the side. “I have many problems. Which one do you want to hear first?”

I rested a hand on the side of my hip. “How about you start with me?”

He gave me a sidelong glance, and then glued his eyes back to the television screen. He was watching some mafia flick where everyone was shooting at one another. “I have no problem with you,” he answered sullenly.

“Bullsh*t. That’s why you ignored me since last night.”

He shrugged in response, acting like it was no big deal. “You danced with Tae Woo, so what? Did you think I’d get jealous over that? You may think you’re special, Ji Won, but you’re not that special. And I didn’t ignore you. I don’t remember talking to you either, so how can I ignore you?”

“I didn’t say that I was special..” I trailed off, knowing he was right while attempting to hide the hurt in my voice. “Why did you destroy the trophies in your room then?”

He leaned back, settling his long legs onto the chair and answered, “That has nothing to do with you.”

“What, so all of a sudden you decided to destroy those trophies for no reason at all?”

He was smirking at this point. “Na-Na told you that I did it, didn’t she?”

“Yes,” I replied, growing slightly confused.

“That wasn’t my doing. I said that to get my family to think I did it. Wouldn’t want them to find out the truth.”

Park Jung Sang didn’t do it. My gosh, he didn’t do it. You know what that meant? Jung Sang wasn’t even angry to begin with, nor was he even jealous. He didn’t destroy anything in the trophy room. It had nothing to do with me. It was all a misunderstanding on my part. Growing irritated, I went to block his view of the television screen. “What do you mean? Someone else did it?”

He gestured me to move out of his way with a wave of his hand. “Aish! Yes. Now move, I’m trying to watch.”

I didn't like how he was acting like it was no big deal that some intruder had crept into his room and ruined everything. Why was he being evasive for?

That brought me back to my next series of questions. “Okay. Let’s get something else straight here. What…about…what…”

Jung Sang glanced up and then turned off the television, placing the remote control aside. “About what?” he asked, looking slightly annoyed.

I blurted, “About what happened outside in the terrace yesterday!”

He stood up to face me and said, “We hugged.”

“Yes, but what about what you said---"

“Do you like me, Ji Won?” he asked bluntly.

I was more taken aback by his bold question. “Uhm..”

“If you like me, never doubt me,” he said, reaching into the back pocket of his jeans, bringing out a phone and began dialing a number.

I watched him in silence, once again admiring his fine features. Park Jung Sang was in every way handsome in spite of what he was wearing. He still looked hot in a simple white tee and pair of jeans, along with his one-cast arm.

“Don’t stare, Ji Won,” he scolded me, before speaking on the phone. “Yeah, Tae Woo? I’ve figured it out. Let’s go.”


---


“A FIGHT?! ARE YOU CRAZY, JUNG SANG?!!” I bellowed, following him outside.

Believe it or not, Jung Sang was still dressed the same. He was going empty-handed. “He’s asking for a fight, so I’m gonna give him one,” he spoke over his shoulder.

Jung Sang had explained to me that the guy he was fighting was one of Big nose’s guys who had managed to sneak into his room and destroyed his trophies the previous night. They wanted to get him while he was at his vulnerable point. Jung Sang wanted to prove that he wasn’t vulnerable. The whole trophy incident did in fact affected him.

“But you’re a one-arm guy. How can you possibly fight---"

“I’ve got backups.”

“Who? That pretty-face Tae Woo whom you call a friend?”

My tummy was doing the flip-flops. I was nervous for Jung Sang. He may think he was invincible, but seeing that he had only one arm to use this time around, I was starting to really doubt him.

I caught up to him and blocked his path. “Don’t go. It’s pointless.”

“You think you’re going to stop me?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

I was no match for Jung Sang, but I had to think of something quick. “I’ll tell Na-Na!”

“Even Na-Na can’t stop me.”

“Then…”

“The last time someone tried to stop me from doing something, I sent that person to the hospital.”

“Who?”

“My father.”

Good-luck, Ji Won


---


In the end I was left with no choice but to follow him to the fight. I tagged along out of curiosity and the sake of Jung Sang.

Seeing a bunch of guys breaking one another’s noses and bloodied wasn’t what I call entertainment, but Park Jung Sang was going to be one of those guys, I couldn’t just linger on, worrying about his safety. I had to stick by his side.

Nevertheless, it wasn’t at all what I had expected.

Jung Sang led me into the front porch of some stranger’s house. “Wait here, I’ll be right back.”

With that, he rang the bell. Then someone answered the door. He said a few words before that person invited him inside.

After five minutes of my pacing back and forth, Jung Sang reappeared outside, waving goodbye to the stranger who had let him in. He only smiled when he saw me looking at him. “Let’s go.”

The next thing I knew, he led me to another house across the street. This time, the house was much smaller than the one before. With the same procedure, he talked to the person who answered the door, then that person beckoned him inside, and after five minutes, he came outside again.

“Are you calling on reinforcements, Jung Sang?” I asked him when we descended the steps to the underground subway station.

“Maybe,” was all that came out of his mouth. I had no clue what that had meant at the time. I decided to stay clueless.

Once we reached the station, there in front of us stood Kim Tae Woo and a couple of his protégés. He was giving me one of those taunting looks, where you knew he was testing me to see what I would do. I found myself approaching him when Jung Sang suddenly grabbed me back by the arm, shifting my attention back to the two opposing figures.

Ten feet away, stood Big nose and another guy who was small in comparison.

Jung Sang took a step forward. “Looks like the others are not showing up.”

“They’ll be here,” Big nose said in return.

“They won’t.”

Big nose took a step forward. “How do you know?”

“Because I took care of them already.”

Clueless as I was, I was no longer clueless.

Jung Sang had taken care of Big nose’s men while I was waiting outside in oblivion during the occurrence. When he walked out those doors, he appeared to be happy. I realized then that it wasn’t happiness; it was a smile of satisfaction. A satisfaction in knowing that he had his vengeance. “I did to them what they did to my trophies. And it’s exactly what I’m going to be doing to you, lard face.”

“I never knew you were this clever, Jung Sang.”

“How can you possibly know? Your brain is full of fat.”

“I’ll kill you!” shouted Big nose in offense.

“I wanna see you run. I wanna see how far you can run until you run out of air.”

Before anyone could do anything, a loud roaring was heard in a distant. A black figure wearing a helmet zoomed into view on his black Yamaha bike, stopping just in front of Jung Sang. He lifted up his gloved thumb, indicating some kind of gesture, and then he turned his thumb upside down. Flipping up his visor, I saw the eyes that stared back at Jung Sang.

Lee Yoon Tae’s eyes.

Yoon Tae removed the helmet off his head, shaking out his messy hair. He smiled, before reaching into the pocket for a cigarette to place between his lips. “So you’re the undefeated champion? I’ve always wanted to challenge someone like you. It’s good, now finding out who you really are.”

I wanted to go up to him and bash his head with his helmet, but I refrained myself from doing so because I wanted to save his face. Seeing that he made a cool attempt to intrude, I gave him his time.

Jung Sang questioned him. “Why are you here?”

“I wanted to find out who you were. I’m here to offer you a proposal.”

“And?”

“Play me.”

“Why?”

“I’ve never been defeated,” Yoon Tae bragged.

“I knocked you out the other time with the door,” Jung Sang reminded him. “You were pretty defeated then.”

For a moment, I thought I saw Yoon Tae flinching. “This is ping-pong we’re talking about.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“Play me. Unless of course, you’re afraid of losing to me.”

“Fine. I’ll play you. I’ll show you how it feels like to lose.”

“Don’t brag.”

“Tell yourself that.”

Yoon Tae eyed Jung Sang’s cast. “Seeing that you’re currently crippled, I’ll wait until you’re fully recovered. And then we’ll play each other.”

With that, he flickered a gaze over in my direction and said, “Your mom told me to tell you that she needs you home soon. She wants you to help with dinner. She’s cooking me the special ramen. I’ll see you at home. Ciao!”

That bastard of a cousin sounded excited. I was going to kill him once I get home. Who was he to think he could take on Jung Sang?

“Jung Sang. The fat bastard is gone,” Tae Woo said. “Yoon Tae distracted us. Should we track him down?”

Jung Sang shook his head. “No. Don’t worry about him. Let’s get out of here.”


---

Tae Woo and the rest departed their own way.

I was cackling with laughter when we got out of there.

Jung Sang watched me attentively. “What’s wrong with you?”

“I don’t know why I’m laughing. I just find this all stupid. Stupid Yoon Tae wants to take you on in a game of ping-pong. He doesn't even know how you play."

"I'll teach him a lesson."

"Please do. That needs one." I managed to calm down a bit. "But anyway, I mean all of this---it doesn’t even make sense. Why do I feel like this---this thing that we have between us is going nowhere?”

“Because it isn’t,” he answered.

The amusement in my face washed away instantly because it wasn't what I expected to hear. “What?”

“I’m not the best companion, Ji Won. When you’re with me, this is what I deal with everyday. Fights, confrontations and mainly ping-pong. You can’t expect anything more than that. Take it or leave it,” he said, walking ahead of me.

I fell into step beside him. “I don’t mind. I think I’m pretty much getting used to it. You may not be the best guy in the world, but like I mentioned, I’ll get used to it.”

He kept his gaze fixed ahead of him. “I’m not boyfriend material.”

“How can you be so sure? Why did you date Hye Min then?”

“I sorta grew up with Hye Min. I always thought she saw past my appearance. That’s why we became close.”

“Then what’s the most romantic thing you ever done for her?”

“I don’t know.”

“How can you not know?”

“Like I said, I don’t know.”

“Ugh. You’re so bland sometimes. And you're unpredictable.”

“I guess that’s why you’re here,” he admitted shamelessly.

I was baffled, uncertain what to say next.

He finally stopped walking, turning to face me. “I just want you to help me…help me understand the importance of a relationship between two people. The only thing I don’t want is to experience that pain again.”

I smiled at the affection in his eyes. He meant every word of it. “We go through this together, Jung Sang. Let’s pinky swear on it.”

“Pinky swear on what?”

“That we promise to be boyfriend and girlfriend and help each other when we need each other. Most importantly, to care for each other the way every boyfriend and girlfriend should.”

For a moment, I would have thought he would think it was a pathetic idea, but I was wrong.

“Fine,” he agreed, holding out his pinky.

I held out mine and we sealed our promise.

“The only problem I have this is your anger problem of yours. We have to work on that.”

He looked at me in disbelief. “You’re telling me. What about yourself? I saw the way you clawed at Jame’s face.”

“That’s because I have nothing to bite on. Believe it or not, when I was younger, I got angry a lot. Just because I never had anything go my way. I used to bite so hard on my lower lip that I went to school with a busted lip. Along the way, I learn to overcome that. I’ve never been angry, up to the point where I had to bite on my lip again. But being around you makes me extremely angry, do you know that?”

He smiled. “How about this. Whenever you’re angry, I’ll hold out my arm. And you can bite into it?”

“But---"

“It might help.”

“That’s smart. You think I won’t bite you because I would be afraid to bite you, right? Then I would have no choice but not to bite you. That’s why you said that.”

“Yes.”

“Okay. I’ll keep that in mind. But what about you? What you suggest I do when you get too angry?” I asked in return.

“Simple. A kiss.”

I looked at him incredulously. “What?”

“For every time I get too angry, you have to calm me down with a kiss.”

“What’s a kiss gonna do?”

“Take my attention away.”

“Fine.” My gosh, that answer came out faster than I thought.

“It better be more than just a peck. It has to be effective.”

“What?!”

“You heard me.”

“Fine,” I reluctantly agreed. If a kiss was going to help him calm down, then I wasn’t going to oppose to it. I mean this was Jung Sang we’re talking about. Once again, I was feeling all giddy.

However, if you look at it more carefully, there would be a whole lot of kissing between us, considering that Jung Sang had an anger problem.

Crap.