Chapter 2

The next morning Minzy woke up to Dougie howling next to her bed. She took him in her arms and tried to comfort him, but there really wasn’t anything she could have done. Dougie always cried like that when it rained outside, unlike Minzy who always felt that the sound of the rain had a calming effect on her. Luckily Minzy already had to wake up early today, so she didn’t mind Dougie’s wolf like behavior at all. Instead she just smiled and petted her little dog. Today she was going to see Chanyeol again. She wondered how he would act. Would he be the same charming person he was yesterday, or would he suddenly go back to the arrogant and cocky Chanyeol?

Minzy got out of bed and the TV on the news channel.  She didn’t really like to listen to the news, it was always the same depressing story about the crisis or fatal accidents, but her small television was a very useful  distraction for Dougie. He liked to watch the quickly moving images. Minzy walked into the kitchen and started preparing Dougie’s food.

‘If anyone has more information regarding this man please contact the police on the number below. Off course all tips will be anonymous. ’ The news anchor read with a high pitched voice. Dougie barked at the picture shown on the screen. It was an image of a middle aged man with big bulging eyes and a dirty looking beard.

‘Shh, no Dougie! Time for breakfast.’ Minzy said as she put down the dog bowl. Dougie eagerly ate all his food and after Minzy did the same with hers, she took him out for one of his daily walks. Armed with her polka dotted umbrella  the two of them climbed down the staircases into the pouring rain. It was strange how much Dougie hated the sound of the rain, but the moment he got outside he started jumping around like there wasn’t a better thing in the world. For such a small dog, Dougie was pretty strong. Minzy could hardly control him, but she still smiled because of her crazy dog. They walked their usual route through the park which was normally filled with dogs and their owners, but today looked awfully deserted. There wasn’t a soul to be found apart from a homeless person sleeping on one of the park benches. Just when Minzy walked past the sleeping figure Dougie decided he needed to pee. Minzy noticed that the homeless man was shivering. He wore a thin blue jacket with a growling tiger printed on the back. When Dougie was done and ready to leave, Minzy put on the hood of her raincoat and left her open umbrella next to the man so that it covered his upper body. This way he would at least be out of the cold rain.

‘Let’s go Dougie.’ She said and the two of them walked away.

When she arrived at the café, half an hour early, the lights were already inside. Minzy knocked on the glass door and Bom came running towards the entrance almost immediately. 

‘Minzy!’ she greeted her friend. ‘Why are you all wet, don’t you have an umbrella?’

‘I had one, but I gave it away.’ Minzy said as she wringed out the part of her fringe that her hood didn’t cover.

Bom sighed, but then ordered Minzy to take a seat. Luckily she was prepared for everything. She even brought a blow-dryer in her miracle make-up toolkit.

‘How did you get the keys to the shop?’ Minzy asked, while Bom started with her eye make-up. 

‘It was simple, I just asked for it. Mr. Hee didn’t even ask what I needed it for, as long as I would keep the store locked while I was in it. Keep your eyes closed for a second.’

Minzy obeyed and sat very still as Bom worked on her eyes for what seemed like hours. When she was finally done she held a little mirror in front of Minzy who smiled right away.

‘Thank you Bom, those hands of yours are like magic. Why are you still working here? You should be a make-up artist for the big celebrities. ’

‘Keep your lips still, I need to put on more lip-gloss.’ Bom said, trying to pretend that she didn’t like the compliments. ‘It would be nice to be a professional make-up artist though. Can you imagine me putting on eyeliner on Super Junior? Hah, they would beg me to do their make-up, I would be friends with all the big stars. And of course I would be doing your make-up as well, because you will become famous too. Just a little bit more gloss and… we’re done here.’ Bom combed Minzy’s hair one final time and then held two necklaces next to her face to see which one would suit her better.

‘Well, why don’t you pursue your dream then? Go to one of those beauty schools.’

‘You know I can’t do that right now.’ Bom said as she decided the pearl necklace matched better with the pink sweater Minzy wore.

‘I don’t see why not.’

‘For the same reason that you don’t quit this job to pursue your dream, Minzy. I need the money. ’

Bom had a point there. Minzy knew her father was ill and all the money Bom earned went to the hospital fees.

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t think about that.’ Minzy admitted.

‘It’s alright.’ Bom said. ‘The timing just isn’t right at the moment, but if a good opportunity comes up, you know I’ll take it. And you have to promise me to do the same, Minzy. You are too talented to waste your time making coffee all day.’

‘Hey, those cups of coffee are little pieces of art.’ Minzy said laughingly.

‘I’m serious Minzy.’

‘Don’t worry Bom.’ Minzy said, because she saw that her friend worried about her. ‘If we see a good opportunity, of course we will be grateful and take it. ’

‘I’m glad to hear that.’ Bom said smiling again. ‘Now, after you eat something come to me so I can touch up on the lipstick and don’t rub your eyes like you always do.’

‘Yes, ma’am.’ Minzy joked.

‘I’ve got a good feeling about today.’ Bom said enthusiastically.

Minzy smiled. She had a good feeling about today too. Yes, she was nervous, but it was a good kind of nervousness.

It was a busy day at work, despite of the rain that kept pouring all day. Luckily CL came back to work today, because they were going to need all the help they could get. People liked to come to the coffee shop, because it was always a place that cheered them up. The colorful interior, the pretty smiles of the waitresses, the little hearts in cappuccino’s. But as the hours slowly went by with no sign of the long legged Chanyeol the colorful interior didn’t seem so colorful to Minzy anymore, her smile faded and the little hearts became to look more like ugly shaped circles. Even the weather got worse. An hour before closing time Minzy heard on the radio that they were expecting a mild storm. Minzy focused her eyes from the door to the clock and back. Fifteen minutes passed, halve and hour passed, but Chanyeol didn’t come.

‘Maybe he couldn’t come because of the storm.’ Bom said to cheer Minzy up.

‘Yes, maybe.’ Minzy said, but she knew that couldn’t be it. The storm had only started an hour ago and it wasn’t that strong either. There were still people outside with their umbrella’s. She sighed and continued cleaning the countertop.

‘Never wait for a guy, Minzy. If he’s a real gentleman, he'll wait for you.’ Dara said while she was mopping the floor. It didn’t take her long to find out Minzy got stood up by her secret date.

‘Yeah, stop sulking. He’s not worth it.’  CL said as she took of her apron and  hung it on a hook next to the door. ‘I’m going to call it a day girls, please don’t tell Mr. Hee I left early, I still feel a little nauseous.’

‘Sure, get well soon.’ Bom said.

‘Bye CL.’ Dara said.

Minzy concentrated on her cleaning and at first didn’t even noticed that the doorbell rang twice in a row. But after she heard the footsteps enter the shop and Dara and Bom became silent, Minzy was sure of it, he had finally come.

‘Excuse me, are you still open?’ A deep voice asked. Minzy’s smile came back. His voice sounded a bit off, like he had a cold or something, but he was here. He came, like he promissed. Minzy looked up from her cleaning only to have her heart ripped out and smacked across her face, again. It wasn’t Chanyeol standing in front of them, but an old little man, soaked by the rain and tightly holding on to his walking stick.

‘Of course, sir, have a seat. Would you like some coffee?’ Dara asked with her brightest smile even though it was almost closing time.

‘Thank you dear, I'd like that. I had an exhausting day.’

Minzy started to make some coffee for the old man. She was glad that Bom didn’t say anything but just patted her shoulder to comfort her. How could I have been so stupid, Minzy thought. Who am I to think that a guy like him would ever sincerely pay attention to someone like me?

*

Park Chanyeol woke up at exactly 4 AM in the morning. He always had trouble sleeping when it rained outside and today was no exception. He also had trouble sleeping when it was a full moon, when he didn’t have his favorite blueberry pudding for dessert or when his father gave him a once in a year call from the US where he lived. Normally when he couldn’t sleep he would watch some crazy cartoon and he would be asleep again in a matter of minutes, but today he just didn’t feel like it. With all the lights still off, Chanyeol wandered through the halls of his enormous mansion. He didn’t want to turn on the lights, because that would mean he could see the big empty house and he didn’t want to be reminded of his loneliness at the moment. If it were up to him, he would be living in a small one bedroom apartment in the city, maybe then he wouldn’t be so lonely at night with all the noises of the city surrounding him. But unfortunately it wasn’t up to him, his mother decided about most of the things in his life. It was she who decided that it would be better for his “image” to live in such a grand house and it was she who decided that Chanyeol was going to take over the family business even though Chanyeol actually had other plans for his life.

When he finally got to his destination, he opened the small but tall door that revealed a narrow room. Almost immediately Chanyeol felt the temperature change in this room. It was more moist and warm. He took off his bathrobe and enjoyed the warmth in his neon yellow t-shirt and black boxers. Chanyeol walked to the back wall of the room. There was another small door in the wall. Carefully, he opened the door and greeted the moonlight that fell on his face with a wide smile. He didn’t hesitate when he stepped into the flowery smell of the next room. Out of all 58 rooms in the house this one was his favorite. He loved everything about it. The big skylight window that revealed a beautiful starry yet rainy night, the seemingly never-ending amount of plants that were naturally planted within the room and most of all he loved the hundreds and hundreds of butterflies that lived in the room. Normally, they weren’t as active at night as they were during the day. Then one could see all their different striking colors as they flew circles around your head. But that night, when Chanyeol entered the room, a few of them decided to wake up as well. Maybe they couldn’t sleep either because of the rain, maybe they just felt Chanyeol was exceptionally lonely that evening. Whatever it was, they did comfort him a little.

Chanyeol sat down at the wooden bench in the middle of the room and extended his right arm. He stayed very still as he watched the little creatures land on his arm, for he was very good at not moving when he wanted to. They used to call him the living statue in preschool. But when he got older he discovered that, in most cases, it was more fun to be his hyperactive self. He could have sat like that for the entire night, but the little insects on his arm got tired after a while and flew back to their beloved plants. Chanyeol pulled his legs up to his chest and sat there in silence in his little butterfly garden, the only part of the house that he was allowed to design himself. He probably looked ridiculous with his long legs folded like origami, but it didn’t bother Chanyeol. Not just because he was all alone with no one around him to mock him, but also because it never bothered him what other people thought of him. And he didn’t even need to feel ashamed or anything, because his mother did all that for him. She was the one who always corrected him when he was at risk of making a fool of himself and she was the one who forced him to go to all these parties to socialize. Because, as his mother said: “You need to prepare yourself for taking over the company, son. Just make sure you have enough friends in the right places, and everything will be fine.”

And that’s why Chanyeol had to attend party after party and meeting after meeting with wealthy people he didn’t actually like. That’s why he lived in a house he didn’t actually like and wore clothes he didn’t actually like and sometimes ate those funny looking fish eggs he didn’t actually like. It was all because his mother wanted it. Now, of course Chanyeol could have just refused listening to his mother and lived his own life, but that would also mean that he would have to leave his mother behind. And that was just not an option for him. After everything that happened regarding the divorce and the death of his older sister, who was initially meant to take over the family business, he could never leave his mother on her own. He just had to face his destiny and man up. 

So instead of doing what he actually wanted, Chanyeol decided to enjoy the little things. Like the rare moment his mother smiled because he did something to her liking or one of those secret moments. The only one that knew about Chanyeol’s secret moments other than Chanyeol was Kris. Kris had been the family butler for as long as he remembered and when Chanyeol got a place of his own, it was only naturally for Kris to come along. He was the closest thing Chanyeol had to a friend.

Chanyeol liked to have one of these secret moments at least once or twice a week. In order to have his secret moment he had to take one of the cars to the city. He usually took the Hyundai, because it made him look the most normal. At least it wasn’t as expensive looking as the other cars. He would drive all the way to the grocery store with the long name he could never remember, park the car in the parking lot, and then he would walk past the grocery store, cross the street and wait for about ten minutes at the street corner to collect all the courage he had left before he would walk past the tiny coffee shop called Hee’s Coffee. If he was lucky, he only had to walk past it once, but on some days she wasn’t at her usual post and he had to walk by several times to actually see her. Yesterday he had to walk past the shop for almost five times. He got so frustrated because he didn’t see her, that when he finally saw her light purple hair, he just stormed in without even thinking. She was serving today, that’s why he couldn’t find her the first four times. And there he stood, he had actually gotten inside for a change. All he could do now was sit down and hope that she was going to be the one to take his order.

For the past four months Chanyeol had repeated this routine every week without actually going inside of the café. He couldn’t come as often as he wanted, because his mother would have grown suspicious if he told her he had to go to the grocery store that often. But when he did get to see her, it was always the highlight of his day. He didn’t think of himself as a stalker at all. He actually didn’t know a lot about this girl. All he knew was that she had the prettiest smile in the world and that she really liked to dye her hair in an outstanding color. In just four months he had seen her hair go from black to brown to blond to pink and now it was a light purplish color. He liked all the colors, but purple was definitely one of his favorites. He always dreamed of going inside and tasting the coffee she was making every day, but he never found the courage until yesterday. And when he discovered that she was actually really cute and nice in person he knew that he was going to go to that shop more often and taste her delicious coffee. Chanyeol was determined to get to know her better.

So when the sun finally rose and Chanyeol had hurriedly eaten the breakfast Kris had made for him, Chanyeol ran out the door and took the Hyundai. He had promised himself that today he would just park in front of the coffee shop. If he’d had enough courage to go inside, then he could also park where he wanted, he figured. But before he would even get close to the café, he first had to buy some flowers. He remembered his older sister talking on the phone with one of her friends. Her words rang clearly in his mind. “Of course a guy has to bring flowers on a first date, that’s how he woos her.” With the sound of her laughing still in his mind he stopped in front of a small flower shop he once walked past on a sunny day when the family was still complete and together.  He bought the first purple bouquet he saw and walked out of the shop filled with expectations and excitement, the rain didn’t even bother him, -but then fate decided to screw everything up.

‘Help, please!’ A frightened voice called trough the rain followed by the horrible sound of someone’s bones being broken and a cry that went straight through Chanyeol. He looked around, but other than him there was no one around. ‘Please!’ The voice cried again.

This time the sound was clearer. Chanyeol walked a few meters away from the store and finally discovered where the sounds came from. He stood before a dark alley, one that screamed danger just by the look of it. Chanyeol didn’t get a clear view of the perpetrator, because he was standing with his back towards Chanyeol, but he wore a thin blue jacket with a growling tiger printed on the back.  In his left hand the man had an umbrella, which he probably used it to beat the woman. Chanyeol did clearly see the victim. He looked the old lady straight in the eyes as she lay on the ground. They were filled with fear and pain. Chanyeol acted out of instinct. He ran towards the scene without thinking.

‘Get away from her!’ he screamed. He should have seen it coming. He should have read it in the eyes of the woman, her look that told him to get away, to save himself. But he was too late. It happened before he even realized that the man held a gun in his right hand. The bullet hit Chanyeol, but didn’t leave his body, for he only felt the impact once. He collapsed and fell with his head in a puddle of rainwater. He lay only a few meters away when he heard the second shot that made an end to the woman’s crying. The hoarse voice of the man cursed, followed by his fast footsteps that disappeared in the distance. That was the last thing Park Chanyeol heard before everything went black.