Chapter 14 – Playing With Fire

 

 

“Seohyun, I’m so happy you’re here right now!” Yonghwa exclaimed when Seohyun entered the hospital room. “Alright I need you to come with me to the bathroom.” Yonghwa stood up painfully from his bed and dragged Seohyun towards the bathroom that was in their room. Seohyun, having no idea what the heck was going on blushed and shyly followed his lead.

“Yah! How can you take an innocent and pure girl to do things like that in the bathroom?” Min Jung yelled from across the room. Seohyun hadn’t noticed Min Jung in the room but she was started to get a little tired of seeing her. Seohyun loved Min Jung, she couldn’t hate her, but it was rather annoying that Min Jung was always with Yonghwa. Two weeks had almost gone by in the blink of an eye. Seohyun begged the teachers to allow her to stay in Tokyo for the remainder of Yonghwa’s stay. Min Jung tended to skip school to come and bother the grumpy boy too.

“I’m not going to do anything to her, besides you’ve seen everything there is to see right Seohyun?” Yonghwa asked playfully. Seohyun’s blush deepened and she threw his arm off of hers.

“No, I haven’t se-seen anything,” she answered in her flustered state. “Min Jung unnie don’t get the wrong idea, I haven’t done anything with Yonghwa. I don’t know what he’s talking about.” Min Jung giggled at Seohyun’s cute outburst while Yonghwa just glared his usual glare at her

“What are you talking about? Remember that time when-”

Yonghwa didn’t get to finish retelling whatever story he was about to from the hard slap to his mouth he received. “Yonghwa, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Hehe, Min Jung I think he was hit in the head too hard.”

“I won’t judge you guys if you’re in that kind of relationship,” Min Jung replied slyly. “I didn’t think you had it in you Seohyun. I bet Yonghwa will need a little loving to get over his pain.” Seohyun couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Both Yonghwa and Min Jung had her cornered and whatever she said didn’t even matter.

“Ouch! Seohyun my face still hurts even if you can't see the bruise anymore. Why on earth would you think it was a good idea to slap your hand onto my face so hard?’ Yonghwa winced from the pain Seohyun’s hand caused him. Seohyun was still too confused at what was going on so she continued holding onto his mouth. Her hand quickly retreated from its position when the force of his teeth clamped onto it.

“Ah! Why did you bite me?” Seohyun asked in pain. “Oh, right I was still holding onto you. Hehe, sorry.” Min Jung thought her sides were going to crack open from the laughter she was experiencing. Yonghwa and Seohyun looked at Min Jung in disbelief. Sure their situation was a little funny, but it hardly was enough for the side-splitting laughter Min Jung was experiencing.

“You guys are too funny. Anyways, Seohyun is Yonghwa always that shy?” Min Jung asked, still regaining all the breath she lost from laughing. “If you’re wondering why he wants to take you to the bathroom it’s because he wants help showering.” Seohyun’s blush returned to its now usual spot across her face when she heard Min Jung explain. “Usually a nurse helps him do it, but he says they annoy him so I offered to do it. He said ‘Never in a million years’ so I dragged him in there. He got all blushy and flustered. I didn’t think he was such a dirty minded person."

“I’m the ert here? You’re the one who trying to drag me into the bathroom to me. You know that in my state I can’t retaliate,” Yonghwa countered. Seohyun just stepped to the side to avoid another Min Jung vs. Yonghwa argument. Over the past few days, this became a common sight in the room. At first the nurses came in and scolded everyone, but now they had gotten used to it.

“Yonghwa, you can’t the willing you know… I’m sure you would enjoy it,” Min Jung teased in response. Seohyun almost cracked up at the flustered reaction Yonghwa had for her response. He began to blush and he couldn’t form a solid argument to make Min Jung be quiet. Seohyun was thankful for Min Jung being able to keep Yonghwa locked down and calm.

“Whatever, just get lost,” Yonghwa ordered. His order hadn’t been followed since the first day they met, so Min Jung had no intention of following it now. “Seohyun comon and help me take off my clothes. Don’t worry I won’t make you help me shower, I’m not that evil.” Seohyun hesitantly nodded and followed the limping boy to the small bathroom in the back of the room. Min Jung plopped down onto the stool smugly and enjoyed her verbal victory over Yonghwa. To her, dealing with him was a cakewalk.

“Aish, you know compared to her you’re actually the most likable person on the planet,” Yonghwa admitted. Seohyun felt happy that he was complimenting her, even if it was a backhanded one. “Ugh, is there any reason why we have to deal with her? She’s so damn annoying and rude. Kick her out for me.”

“You should be nicer to Min Jung unnie. She’s just here because she’s worried about you,” Seohyun suggested. Her hands slowly made their way to the buttons on the hospital gown and one by one they opened. Soon enough Yonghwa’s chest was exposed, leaving Seohyun to blush once more. The flustered feeling left her body to be replaced by an apologetic feeling when she saw the scars on his body. “Um, are you going to be okay by yourself?”

“That’s a rather bold question…” Yonghwa pointed out. “I’ll be fine. I won’t smell as nice as I should smell once I get out of here, but I’ll manage. Alright help me with my pants.” Yonghwa’s left arm was held in a sling and it didn’t look like he could move it, his right hand looked fine. “Earth to Seohyun, you there?”

“Um, can’t you it yourself? It looks like your right hand is fine,” Seohyun pointed out to him shyly.

“My sides are so numb from the painkillers that I can barely even walk. I can’t bend any part of my body at all. If I could them, do you think I would be asking you to do it for me?” Seohyun supposed his logic made sense. She took a look at the small button on his waist and prayed she would be okay. Her hand reached for the hem of the pants slowly and carefully. One false move and she would be in deep, deep trouble. Just as the button was undone, she quickly grabbed the pants to prevent them from falling.

“You’re not wearing anything under this!?!” Seohyun roared. “PABO!! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You never asked. Anyways, it’s not like you haven’t seen what I have on TV or at school. Also, isn’t it common sense that you wear nothing under a hospital gown? I’m pretty sure it is,” Yonghwa reasoned. Seohyun couldn’t determine why he wasn’t even batting an eye at this. Any normal person would be freaking out about showing places nobody else should see, but Yonghwa wasn’t. “Just let them go quickly and run out if you’re that afraid. You’re such a little girl…”

The shy and blushing girl dropped the pants she was holding up and made a mad dash for the door. Once she was out she quickly slammed the door shut and rested her body against it. “Wow it was that bad huh?” Min Jung teased. Seohyun felt her heart stop from the question since she had forgotten all about the girl being in the room.

“N-n-no I didn’t see anything!” she yelled in persuasion. “So unnie, how have you been?” Min Jung laughed at her obvious attempt to change the subject, but followed Seohyun’s lead to spare her from further embarrassment.

“I’ve been better I guess. I got in trouble at school today for skipping so much, but I don’t care,” Min Jung explained. “It’s too much fun coming here so I don’t feel bad for skipping. Making him angry is so much fun.”

“So do you not hate Yonghwa now?” Seohyun asked. She hoped Min Jung didn’t catch the real meaning of her question. Ever since Min Jung had been coming to see Yonghwa, it seemed like the Japanese girl began to like Yonghwa. “I mean, remember how at the beginning you would always say how much of a jerk he was?”

“Oh, he still is a jerk, but I guess he’s bearable now. I don’t think he’s really all that bad; he’s actually a really fun guy. I’m kind of thinking about going in there right now and tripping him. That way he would get hurt and stay a little longer,” Min Jung confessed. Seohyun didn’t like the way her new friend was answering the questions. She shook away the bad thoughts and guessed it was because Min Jung didn’t really have any friends.

“We’re leaving tomorrow back to Seoul. Luckily for him he was already quite ahead in school, but I wonder how it’s going to go when we do get back. I’m sure the teachers aren’t going to be happy with us,” Seohyun complained. Min Jung’s face grew a little sadder than her usual smile. No doubt she would miss her new friends, but Seohyun could tell it was more than that.

“I’ll miss you guys a lot,” Min Jung said with a frown. “You guys are the only people that don’t think I’m a crazy person hehe. Everyone here either knows about my mom, my background, or just hates on my personality. You guys are the first people to not judge me for those things. I’ve never really gotten along with girls my age so I’m glad I met you. I wish I could have gotten closer with your other friends too.” Seohyun felt terrible for thinking any sort of bad thoughts about Min Jung. The girl was genuinely sad about losing her only friends while Seohyun was thinking negative things out of jealousy.

“You should come visit us sometime when you get a chance. Here, I’ll give you my email address and phone number so we can keep in touch. If we ever get a chance, I’ll drag him out here too,” Seohyun replied with a smile. Min Jung ran up and hugged Seohyun forcefully, startling her.

“I’m really going to miss you guys,” Min Jung sobbed. “I know I’ve only known you for a little while, but you guys are my best friends. Even if Yonghwa tells me to leave and curses at me, I still like him a lot. I wish you guys could stay longer so we could hang out together.” The sadness in Min Jung’s words almost broke Seohyun’s heart. Min Jung had grown a large emotional attachment with them and it was being broken in a matter of days. Seohyun wrapped her arms around the girl crying on her shoulder in response. “Promise me you guys will be my friends still even after you leave.”

“Don’t cry Min Jung, I’ll always be your friend. Yonghwa may say he doesn’t like you, but I’m sure he does. If he hated you he would have done much worse to you. I promise I’ll keep in contact with you even after we leave,” Seohyun promised. Min Jung took her arms off of Seohyun and flashed the usual cheerful smile she usually wore.

“Thanks a lot Seohyun, it means a lot to me. I hope one day we get to see each other again and be friends for a really long time.”

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Yah, Seohyun hurry your slow up!” Yonghwa yelled from across the terminal. Their flight was in a few minutes and Yonghwa was being rather impatient that morning. Since he had been let out of the hospital, the painkillers he was taking weren’t as strong. The doctors were hesitant to let him out, but Min Jung begged her dad to let him go. The pain in his sides was making him uncomfortable and standing only made it worse.

“We can’t go yet, Min Jung said she would run here and say goodbye,” Seohyun argued. It was not right for them to leave without saying a proper goodbye to her. After Min Jung cried her heart out in front of Seohyun, there was no way they would leave without seeing her. “Oh, there she is!”

“Aish, Seohyun let’s run away and ditch her,” Yonghwa suggested. He wasn’t a person who enjoyed the teary goodbye that girls usually shared, so he wanted to get out of there fast. In the distance he saw the crazy, brown-haired girl running full speed towards their gate amongst the crowd of busy people. It was inevitable to have to say goodbye to her now, so he figured he would save his energy and stop complaining.

“Hey… guys… sorry… I’m late,” Min Jung forced out through deep breaths.

“It’s no problem,” Seohyun chirped happily. Ever since Min Jung had cried on her shoulder the day before, Seohyun felt like they had gotten closer. She shed all the negative feelings she had for the cheerful girl and decided to ignore them. If she did end up liking Yonghwa, it was her business. “We still have a few more minutes to go so you’re not late.”

“Keep this short gangster, we don’t have all day,” Yonghwa growled. He wasn’t too ecstatic to see the hyperactive girl that had annoyed him for a whole two weeks.

“Can’t you guys stay here a little longer? I never got to go shopping or to the movies or even to the park with you guys,” she pointed out sadly. “I’ll go visit you guys someday and you guys should come back too.”

“We will keep in touch, but we will also definitely try to see you again. Yonghwa will come even if I have to drag him here,” Seohyun joked. With each word Seohyun spoke Min Jung’s eyes filled with tears that threatened to run down her face.

“I know it sounds weird, but I really like you guys. Even if I only knew you for just a few days I think of you both as my best friends. Everyone else thinks I’m a weirdo, but you guys never once thought that about me. You both know about the ‘shady’ dealings I’ve been involved with but you didn’t care about that. I really appreciate you guys letting me get closer to you.”

“Speak for yourself…” Yonghwa grumbled. Min Jung turned her head towards the boy standing a few steps closer to the gate than Seohyun was. The large crowd of noisy people making their way to their flights were completely ignored. All Min Jung could see and hear in front of her was Jung Yonghwa. Slowly she began to walk towards the boy with a cast over his arm. Luckily he had recovered from all the bruises on his face or else everyone back home would give him a ton of crap.

“Yonghwa, I know you think I’m really annoying,” Min Jung began while continuing her slow walk towards him. “You probably also think I’m really weird. You yelled at me every five minutes I was around you, you told me to go away whenever you could, you even insulted me when I tried to help you out.” Min Jung was now within Yonghwa’s personal space, but his wounds were still too painful to escape her closeness. “I don’t mind any of that, not at all. Even though I never had a single normal conversation with you, I feel like I know everything about you.”

“What are you trying to pull here? I think you better back off,” Yonghwa suggested. Min Jung ignored his suggestion as she usually did and continued to stare at him. Her piercing gaze made Yonghwa want to flinch at the eye contact, but he held his head up in front of her.

“I know that you know the same pain I do, I can just tell. I know that you have felt all of the hate, rage, and sadness. You dream about being alone and cold, but you have the power to change that. You have friends that care for you, even when they have to endure your abuse. I’ll miss you a lot too,” Min Jung confessed. Her next action left both Yonghwa and Seohyun speechless. Min Jung’s warm lips made contact with Yonghwa’s cheek sofly and gave him a small kiss. When she finally moved her face off of his, Yonghwa noticed how the tears in her eyes started to run.

“Uh…” Yonghwa mumbled. He had never been put in a situation like this so he had no idea what to do. Seohyun stared with open wide, equally confused as to what she should do.

Min Jung closed the distance between them again, this time bringing Yonghwa into a hug. He winced at the pain in his sides, but even he didn’t have the heart to tell the girl off in that situation. “I… I… Yonghwa, promise me you’ll change.”

“Change?” Yonghwa asked quietly. He was holding his breath from the pain he felt, but he didn’t want to force Min Jung to get off of him.

“When I see you again, I want you to be more open. I want you to be able to think of me as a friend. I know you don’t feel that way now, but in the future you have to. I… I… I want to be able to li-like you and have some kind of hope you’ll feel the same way,” she confessed hesitantly. Seohyun was surprised, but not as much as she should have been. She already anticipated Min Jung was feeling that way, so it didn’t catch her off guard.

“I don’t know if I can promise you that. You shouldn’t want to be friends like me you idiot. Now, can you get off me, I’m kinda recovering from having my ribs split open,” he laughed nervously. Min Jung peeled herself off him quickly and wiped the tears out of her eyes. “Watch out for yourself gangster. You never know when someone will jump you in a dark alley.” His sentence indicated that it was time for them to board their plane.

“Unnie, it’s time for us to go,” Seohyun confirmed. “I’ll call you a lot and we will talk online too. We can make plans for when we see each other again.” Min Jung responded with a weak nod and allowed her two new friends to walk towards their ride back home. Seohyun turned around one last time and flashed her a happy smile. They would be seeing her again, but it was still saddening that they had to part ways. Min Jung stayed in her spot waving goodbye even after her friends had left her. She knew she would be with them again once more, but she would still miss them greatly.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Hey Seohyun, whose phone is that?” Hara asked. The three best friends hadn’t seen each other for a long time already and what better way to make up for lost time than to go shopping. While Hara and Yoona made a stop to the little girl’s room, Seohyun walked into a phone shop and bought a brand new phone.

“Err, I’m thinking of giving it to Yonghwa,” Seohyun replied shyly. Hara and Yoona gave each other a strange look that could only foreshadow an argument.

“You know… Yonghwa isn’t going to take that from you. He’s going to argue that if he wanted to have a phone he would have gotten one already. Besides, why do you even want to give him a phone?” Yoona asked.

“Well, he doesn’t have one to call someone for emergencies. It would have been so much easier to reach him that night we got into trouble if he had one,” Seohyun explained. The curious girl fiddled with the shiny new phone, but tried her hardest to not get fingerprints on the sensitive touch screen. Yoona and Hara didn’t know too much about phones, but they could tell at glance that it sure was a fancy one.

“That phone looks awfully expensive. Are you sure he’s going to take it?” Hara questioned.

“I don’t think he will, but I have a plan. It’s going to sound really stupid, but just hear me out.” Seohyun’s plans were usually very sensible. She was a reasonable thinker and didn’t usually take very many risks. Hara and Yoona doubted that her plan could be all that stupid. “So I’m going to put this in Uee’s locker, leave a note telling her to give it to him to get points with him, and problem solved.”

Seohyun’s two best friends almost dropped to the ground from the fit of laughter they burst into. “Ahahahahaha, Seohyun that is the dumbest plan ever!” Yoona managed to yell through her laughs. “Do you really think that is going to work? Then again, if Yonghwa does trust her that much, I’m sure he’ll take it.”

“Doesn’t it bug you that Yonghwa is only going to get closer to Uee from that?” Hara asked reasonably. It never ceased to amaze Seohyun just how much thought Hara put into things. It seemed like if Seohyun ever got hopeful because of something, Hara was always around to burst her bubble.

“Yeah, but there’s really no other way to do it is there?” Seohyun supposed. “Whatever guys, I don’t care. I’m going to do it and it doesn’t matter what Uee does. I just hope that she gives it to him.”

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Finally, fall came to the grand capital of the Republic of Korea. The street on the way to the prestigious high school Seohyun and Yonghwa attended was covered in trees of all different colors. An array of reds, browns, yellows, oranges, and a few remaining specs of green covered the slowly balding trees. It was only a matter of time before all the trees shed all their leaves and winter made its way into the year. A tall and pretty girl made her way into the school, not bothering to even admire the nature beauty had to offer. For her, beauty was found in her mirror and nobody else. Heads turned to stare at the woman who radiated pure appeal with anything she wore, even a boring school uniform. Once she opened up the green metal locker, she found a surprise waiting inside for her.

 

This will sound weird, but give this to Jung Yonghwa. I know you’re out to use him in order to take him away from Seohyun, so it is in your best interest to do as I say. Give this phone to Yonghwa and make sure he really takes it. Don’t worry, you won’t have to pay for the service.

 

“What the hell is this?” Uee asked herself. “This is creepy as hell… how’d they even get into my locker?” Uee took the small box in her locker and opened it up hesitantly. She figured it was some idiot pulling a prank on her and she wasn’t in the mood for it. A black, shiny object caught her eye as the cardboard slowly revealed the contents. At first she thought it was a bomb, but then she thought about how stupid that sounded. She felt like tossing the phone in the trash or even using it for herself, but the advice on the note was just too good to pass up.

“Annyeonghaseyo Yu Jin-shi,” Yonghwa greeted. The saying ‘speaking of the devil’ applied so well, Uee was almost frightened by it. “How was the rest of the Japan trip?”

“Oh, it was fine,” Uee responded in the flirtatious voice she usually used with him. “I heard you got really hurt while helping Seohyun. Ugh, that girl is nothing but trouble."

“Well, I guess she’s rather troublesome, but it wasn’t all her fault,” Yonghwa surprisingly defended the girl he found to be annoying. “Anyways, I’ll leave you to get ready for class.”

Before Yonghwa could turn around, Uee grabbed ahold of his arm and held out the small wrapped box. “I felt really bad that I couldn’t visit you in the hospital since Shi seonsaeng was being really strict about it. Here, I got you a present to make up for it.” Yonghwa took the small box and pulled out the expensive phone Seohyun bought for him just a day ago.

“Um, this looks really expensive and I don’t really need a phone…” he reasoned.

“Please take it,” Uee begged. “You never know when you might need it.”

“Uh, thanks a lot. I’ll use it well. What about the service for it? I don’t feel right taking it for free from you.”

“Err, don’t worry about the service, if it really bugs you I’ll give you the contract eventually. For now just take it as a gift.” Uee ran away from the situation quickly. She was happy that she was scoring easy points with Yonghwa, but she was getting a little tired of him. He wasn’t really useful anymore since it didn’t seem like she was getting any more followers from Seohyun’s group. Yonghwa didn’t seem particularly hateful of her rival either, so she had no reason to keep him around anymore.

The day went by without any significant events. Many people in his classes asked him how he’d gotten his kicked, but he didn’t really pay attention to them. Taecyeon’s manly hug made Yonghwa want to scream like a little girl in pain, but he got over it. As he walked through the colorful trees that autumn brought, he remembered that Jin Man had banned him from working until he had a doctor’s approval to do so. Yonghwa tried to argue that he was fine, but Jin Man would have none of that. While thinking of how he could convince his boss to let him work, an unfamiliar vibration went off in his pocket.

- Hey do you like the new phone? – unknown number

- Um, yeah I guess so, this is Yu Jin-shi I assume? – Yonghwa

- Err, yeah this is Uee.- unknown number

Yongwa found it a little strange that Uee was texting him in the middle of the day, but he wasn’t going to argue with it. He was happy that he got a gift from her and that he could talk to her even after school ended. He wasn’t usually a talkative person, but he couldn’t pass up a chance to talk to the girl he liked. He saved the number as ‘Yu Jin’ and decided to keep the conversation going.

- Did you get home safely? – Yonghwa

- Yeah, I’m home. You? – Yu Jin

- I’m almost home. I’m wondering if I should go to work or not though – Yonghwa

- Don’t go! You’ll get hurt. Just stay at home and rest. – Yu Jin

On the other end of the phone was a girl eagerly waiting for Yonghwa’s response but it wasn’t Uee. Seohyun, the only person who knew the number of Yonghwa’s new phone, was rapidly tapping away at her own phone to respond to his texts. She felt really dumb for impersonating Uee, but she was bored and had nothing better to do. At least in that way, she could learn a little bit more about Yonghwa without actually having to pry in his life herself.

“Seohyun, why are you pretending to be Uee?” Hara asked from behind the concentrating girl. Seohyun rapidly hid her phone away from the curious pair of eyes and laughed nervously. Hara wasn’t going to buy any lies since she had already seen the texts, so she would have to come clean.

“I didn’t mean to… it kinda just happened,” Seohyun lied. In truth Seohyun hoped from the beginning to use the phone to get closer to Yonghwa. Sadly, she screwed it up by giving it to Uee, but at least Yonghwa had the phone.

“Seohyun, I’m okay with you liking Yonghwa since that’s your business. But seriously, you can’t do things like this. What’s going to happen when he finds out that you were lying to him? Even if he says he doesn’t care, he does. You saw how upset he got when you insulted him. I’m sure he would get much worse if he figured this out,” Hara warned. As always, Hara was there to bring Seohyun back from her magical wonderland into reality.

“I know this is wrong Hara, but I can’t back out of it now. I think I’ll keep going with it and see how it goes. I’ll tell him the truth when I feel the time is right. For now keep it a secret please,” Seohyun begged. Hara nodded reluctantly, but she had no other choice. Seohyun would continue this even if Hara scolded her every single day for it. No doubt Yoona, being someone that loved getting into romance affairs, would condone Seohyun’s behavior.

“I don’t know Seohyun, if you play with fire you’re going to get burned. The faster you tell the truth, the less painful the fire will be. I don’t approve of this at all, but if you say you can handle it I won’t stop you,” Hara replied angrily.

“I’ll keep it under control, trust me.”

 

Author’s note: Nooooooooooo Min Jung is gone! Don’t worry, she will be back eventually. So Seohyun is going to lie to Yonghwa *gasp!*. I wonder how this will end up. So I need to make a clarification here: Min Jung and Yonghwa are NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT related. I laughed so hard when I woke up one morning and saw that 80% of the comments for the last chapter asked if they were siblings. They are similar, but no they aren’t related. Let’s hope Seohyun’s lies work out for her. Although, since they’re lies, they probably won’t. I probably won’t update tomorrow, but I’ll definitely update the next day. Toodles!