Chapter 26: A Secret Revealed, A Plan Plotted

                Ji Yeon slipped into a slinky little black dress; trying to brush the tiny little hair slivers off her shoulders. Cutting her hair made her itchy. She regretted not wearing a towel on her shoulders to cover them from the itchy hell they were going through. She slipped on a pair of black pumps and made her way out of the room. She looked around, and began to make her way down to the lobby.

                She looked up and down the hallway, and hurried on. She made her way into the hotel garden, still searching. She looked about. He should have been here by now. She looked over by the fountain. There he was. Ji Yeon walked forward, and sat on the bench next to him. Yoon Jae shied away and blushed. He looked over at her.

                “Oh my goodness! You cut your hair!” he said, turning towards her.

                “Do you like it?” she asked. He smiled at her.

                “It’s very pretty.” He said. “You look very pretty.” Ji Yeon blushed. Yoon Jae cocked his head. Ji Yeon was wearing a glove on her left hand.

                “What’s that glove for?” he asked. She looked down at her hand.

                “Oh, this old thing? Nothing. It just, you know, matched my outfit.” She said, hoping he couldn’t press any further. He grimaced, and grabbed her arm.

                ‘You know,’ she thought. ‘For a little guy, he has a pretty strong grip.’ He pulled her hand over to him, and removed her glove.

                Yoon Jae gasped. He gazed upon the scars on her hand. They criss crossed over each other. Some were deep, others were faded. He looked over at her.

                “What happened to you?” he asked. She sighed.             

                “Yoon Jae, I don’t know if now is the time for this.” She said. Ji Yeon didn’t think she’d have to explain these scars to anyone, let alone someone as sensitive as Yoon Jae. He scooted over to her, and held her face in his hands.

                “You can tell me anything, you know that, right?” he asked. He was very concerned. Was she doing this to herself? Had someone else? Or was this the remnants of a horrible accident? He had to know. He wanted to protect her. She shook her head.

                “Yoon Jae, please, I don’t know if you’ll understand. It’s a bit complicated…” she thought about it for a moment. “Okay, it’s not that complicated, but…I don’t know if I should tell you.” He pulled her closer.

                “Ji Yeon, it’s ok. I can handle it. You need to trust me. Just tell me what happened.” She looked down and sighed. She slowly took his hands from her face.

                “A while back, before you came to the school, I had a job, somewhere.” Yoon Jae raised his eyebrows.

                “Where?” he asked. She looked over at him and sighed.

                “I was a maid, at Hee Sun’s house.” His mouth fell open. He shook his head.

                “Is, is that why they don’t like you? Because, you were, a maid?” she smiled.

                “Well, yeah, but that’s not the whole story.” He looked over at her in astonishment.

                “Then what is?” he asked. Ji Yeon bit her lip. She didn’t know if this was the right time to tell him or not. She thought better of it. It was better to tell them all at once. Yoon Jae and Heejun. Possibly his friends. But not now. Not so close to them. Once they got back home, then she would. But now wasn’t the appropriate time.

                “Right now isn’t the appropriate time for that.” She said, smiling at him. “I promise to tell you when we get back though.” He nodded, and looked down at her hand.

                “Then tell me about this.” He demanded. She nodded.

                “Alright. I think I at least owe you that one.” She sighed. “Once when I was working for her, she sent me over to a boy’s house. She sent me there to give him a rejection letter. Usually she sent Chaerin, that way if they pitched a fit, she could take care of them. But Chaerin was out of the country with her father at the time. I went over, and he invited me in. He was very sweet. A bit nerdy, but his dad owns a computer business. Whatever.” She shrugged. “Anyway, he opened the letter, and flew into a rage. He began throwing things. I have no idea what she wrote in the letter, but either he can’t take rejection well, or it was very rude. He threw a vase, and it hit my hand, cutting it open. He glared over at me like the letter was my fault.” She rubbed her hand, thinking about the incident.

  “I tried to leave, but he grabbed me by my arm, and twisted it hard. I kicked him and slipped on the water on the floor, cutting my hand again. He,” she paused. Her hand trembled and the memory of the pain in her hand returned. She bit her lip. “He smashed my hand into the floor with his shoe.” She looked over at him. “I clawed at his face until he let me go. I ran as fast as I could back to the house. When I got back, Yuna, Ga In and Hee Sun were laughing their asses off. Chaerin was there too.” Tears ran down her face. “She wasn’t gone after all. They just wanted to see what he would do to me.” Yoon Jae grabbed her by the shoulders and brought her against his chest. He grabbed her by the chin and made her look at him.

                “Ji Yeon, I promise, they will never hurt you again. I’ll never let anyone ever hurt you again. I swear.” He planted a soft kiss on her forehead. He pulled her up. Let’s go somewhere.” He suggested. She nodded.

                “I just need a moment to myself.” She said. He nodded and walked off. She took a deep breath, and wiped her tears with a tissue.

                “I ing hate it when my makeup runs.” She said to herself. She placed the glove back on her hand. As much as she didn’t want to, she told him. She hated thinking about the things that had happened back then. She hoped he wouldn’t tell Heejun. But as she sat there, she thought about it. It would be perfect. She smiled to herself. If she could make them hate Hee Sun, she wouldn’t have to deal with her again. Heejun would break up with her. She rolled her eyes.

                Of course, there would be the problem with her possibly taking revenge. She smiled to herself. She had a plan. She called her friend Ayaka.

                “Hello?” she heard her friend’s voice on the line.

                “Ayaka? It’s me, Ji Yeon! Remember?” she asked. She heard her friend squeal on the other end.

                “Oh my God! Is that really you? I haven’t heard from you in forever! What’s up?” she asked.

                “I need your help with a little problem.” Ji Yeon said. “Remember the Kwon family I used to work for?” Ayaka scoffed.

                “With that little rich who was always bullying you? I thought you were done with them.”

                “Eh~, one of my guy friends more or less got dragged into a situation with her, and I’m kinda stuck hanging around her.”

                “Ah, well, it’s funny you should mention her.” She said.

                “Really? Why?” she asked.

                “Well, I just received a call from her mother.” Ji Yeon’s eyes widened.

                “Oh really?” she asked.

                “Mm-Hm. She knows that they are in Japan. She has some guy tailing them, but she wants me to do something for her. She’s flying in tomorrow, perhaps you could come with me?” she asked. “Are you still in Korea?” she asked. Ji Yeon smiled.

                “No, actually, I’m in Japan. She dragged me along with her.” Ayaka laughed.

                “Ah, well, good for us then, huh? So, where are you?” Ji Yeon smiled. This was going better than she had expected.

END OF CHAPTER 26