Intrigue

Soojung looked down at her black leather boots while glancing at her jeans short and loose pastel shirt that fell near her shoulder, covered with a green knitted cardigan. She let her long brown wavy hair blown by the wind, while she combed the tips of it messily with her fingers. Her black sling bag stayed at her side, filled with her stuffs: make up pouch, cell phone, and wallet. She turned her head to the left, waiting. The grey fedora protected the top of her head from the wild wind.

It was so silent this morning. The only sound heard was her bangles that stayed on her left hands, her favorite accessories to wear, along with the bird chirps on the trees. The neighborhood was still having their joyful Saturday morning, where people enjoyed waking up late and having things slow. Some of them might have their breakfast now as the sun was already shining; some probably was still busy hiding under their warm blanket. But Soojung was so excited and up very early, getting herself prepared. She breathed deeply, enjoying the morning scent. It’s not too cold but not warm either, still, she loves it.  

After a short 5 minutes, she pursed her lips and realized a car was coming closer and stopped right in front of her, TJ Wrangler with deep beryl green pearl coat. She need to get used to it, even though she had been seen it for the past 6 months. And when she saw the man behind the stir, she smiled prettily.

“Need a ride, Miss?” the man said, showing her a teasing look and wide grin. Soojung couldn’t help but hold her laughter by biting her lower lips.

“I’m sorry, I’m waiting for my boyfriend to pick me up” she replied, looking away from the car. The man set the safety belt free, opened his door, and walked out from the car, fetching her.

“Have you been waiting for quite a long time? Your boyfriend is ready to pick you up now” he said softly, looking down at her just to find her beautiful eyes. She looked up at him and flicked his forehead.

“I thought you’ll never come” she replied, putting her tongue out. He smiled, took her hand and opened the passenger’s door, letting her in. Soojung more than willing to follow his command as she climbed to the car and sat there, while her boyfriend closed her door and went back to the driver’s seat.

Once they settled, the engine started and the car left the calm neighborhood. Soojung watched the rear mirror as she saw the view of her neighborhood slowly faded and changed into the busier road. He glanced at her and flashed a smile, how her pretty face looked so lovely when she smiled like that; compared to her stiff face. They talked about their week and about the breakfast they took, anything simple. Soojung never wanted to miss this kind of dialogue.   

There’s nothing much being talked when they started entering the highway. Soojung leaned her head on the window, slightly opened it and felt the fresh air touched her face. The boy next to her drove with one hand, one of her favorite pose of him that she likes, while having his left elbow stuck on the window, supporting his cheek. They’re silent just like that, but for sure, they love the feeling of it.

Soojung looked at him, watching him fully concentrated in driving. Taemin had been acting different lately, she noticed. He’s Taemin, but he’s not being Taemin. Her usual boyfriend would always being playful with her or being noisy, but lately he’s not. He’s always looking distant and stiff, it felt like he’s a different person. But he’s Taemin, and Soojung got more confused because of it.

“Why? Is there anything?” he asked her as he casually turned his head to look at her. He noticed that she had been watching over him for a while.

“Just wondering” she said, turning away and looking straight to the road in front of them. There’s nothing much to see though, the highway is still empty at this time. “Do you have something you want to say to me?”

He scrunched up his face and Soojung noticed that Taemin looked cute when he did that. “What kind of thing?” he asked her back.

“Anything. Your internship, your friends, your work. Don’t you have anything to tell?” she asked.

“Didn’t I tell you that on our phone calls yesterday?” he replied lightly, focusing on the road again.

Soojung bit her lips again. She knew that Taemin was doing an internship at an IT company; he already started it since 6 months ago. Because of his weird behavior lately, Soojung had to do something to help him feels at ease, so she did some research about her boyfriend. And much to her surprise, Taemin’s name was not listed on the name of the interns that entered the company. That left her all curious, but she didn’t dig more information about it. She wanted to know the truth, from him.

Soojung and Taemin was a best friend turned lover. They had been known each other since junior high school, where Taemin was her senior for a year and she’s the cousin of Minho, his senior in the soccer club. They started great as close friend and he realized that he fell for her when he met her again in university. It was a stupid bet made by Jonghyun and Kibum, which required him to do a dare instead of truth. And they dared him to tell Soojung that he likes her. Deep down inside, Taemin was indeed, in love with Soojung. It’s just he’s not sure yet that she has the same feeling with him because they had been a very good friend for each other, so he’s a bit hesitated about the dare. But he’s helpless that time, so he ran mindlessly into Soojung who had just left the library to head to her next class.

Soojung was looking at him in confused and asked him if there’s anything wrong but then Taemin did nothing but gave a peck on her lips and asked her to be his girlfriend. That was crazy, he admitted, but then he found Soojung smiled over it.

“I thought you’ll never say it”

She was at her second year and he was pursuing his third year, they started dating that day. Soojung was the happiest when Taemin was around her, accompanying her before her class and heading home together. Weekend was the blissful moment as they can go out together and date all day. She likes him since senior high school, but too shy to tell him because Taemin was a famous senior and a lot of her friends and seniors like him. But thank God, he felt the same with her and she couldn’t help but being grateful to God.

And their two years relationship was their precious treasure that they wanted to keep forever. Soojung and Taemin did fight and argue, but they never broke up. He always being the one who console her and in the end, making her understands their situation and their reason of argue. Soojung had no idea, what relationship would be without Taemin. She loves Taemin, a lot.   

So now, knowing that he went to the extent lying to her about his internship, Soojung knew that there’s something wrong with Taemin. He graduated already, while she’s waiting for her graduation as she’s done the final project. There should be nothing that bothered him, because Taemin was always a man without problem. He’s the only son from the Lee family, with his parents living in LA, just like Soojung’s. Financially, he wouldn’t have any problem as his father supported him every month. Soojung couldn’t find any logical reason behind his act.

“Taemin, are you being honest with me?” she asked him.

He nodded. “Of course”

“I know something about you” she continued. And at that word, he felt like he should stop their trip for a while. The car parked at the left side of the highway. He looked at her in confused, trying to guess what the she knew about him.

Soojung changed her sitting position, facing him. “Tell me, what is happening actually?”

“What?” he said like it’s nothing much serious.

“Where are you going for your internship?”

He rolled his eyes in annoy. “It’s the Global IT Corp”

She shook her head. “I went there and no intern named Lee Taemin listed. What is your explanation for this?”

He looked at her nervously now. She noticed that he gulped and cleared his throat for several times but at the same time, Soojung saw a relief expression. “That’s the problem?” he replied.

“Global IT Corp is your dream company, Taem. Now that you got the internship there, how on earth your name not listed in the company? So where have you been the past 6 months?”

Soojung looked at her boyfriend in worry. Taemin was all about into his dream to build career in IT industry; she wondered what was happening to him that he decided to resign from his internship. Is there something she didn’t know?

“I’m changing path. I’m now a trainee at Jung Machinery” he answered. Soojung grew her eyes bigger once she heard about the company name, it’s her cousin company.

“The car company? Ho-how... Wh-what are you doing? You’re not an engineer as I remembered?”

She was eyeing Taemin who held a warm smile in front of her.

“Let’s just say I found new interest. I seriously worked there” he replied calmly. Soojung frowned and stared at him, looking for the truth in his eyes.

“Listen…” he started to talk again once he saw Soojung’s eyes softened. “I’m sorry if I haven’t told you that I was moving to another company. I didn’t intend to lie to you, it’s just… the work is pretty heavy and I don’t realize that you pay attentions to that extend…”

“But at least you have to tell me…”

“I know, I know… I’m sorry…” he apologized.

She slowly touched his hand and it softly as she held it. “Taem, if you have anything in your mind, please do tell me… You’re always there to listen for me, so I want to do the same for you. Can you at least do that?”

He cleared his throat upon her words. “I will”

“So, there’s no problem with you?” she asked him again, more like reassuring herself.

“No, I’m perfectly fine” he answered, adding a small smile. “Shall we continue now?”

She smiled over his respond and nodded. At least, there’s nothing wrong with him and she could be less worry about Taemin.  He started the engine again and continued their trip to the amusement park. Still holding his hand, Soojung looked at the view outside the window. The sea looked so clean and pretty, she wondered when she will have a time to visit the beach. They used to date on the beach every summer and Soojung felt this summer, they need to visit there again.

“Let’s visit the beach later on… Ask Minho oppa to join us, along with my unnie and Taecyeon oppa also. We can go to my parent’s beach house, hmm?”

“Sounds good”

Soojung smiled in satisfaction as she wondered when to go to the beach and things to do there. She made a mental note that she should contact her sister to arrange their summer holiday. Summer hits in no time and the beach would be a nice place to hang out. He glanced at her again, she still held his fingers. Her soft touch on his hand somehow warmed his cold hand.

“Taem...” she softly spoke.

“Hmm?”

“You know, lately… You’re not the Taemin I knew…” she said again, still looking outside the window. She felt his hand tightened her fingers, but she loved the friction between their fingers so she held it back.

“But maybe, that’s just me…”

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Hello there.

Introduction.

I was listening to Lee Hi's Because when I got the plot for this story. Not really related with the lyrics though, but I love the melody and the feeling of the song. And I also was having fun enjoying Lana Del Rey's musics, which left you the clue on the title usage of this story. 

I'm writing this out of the boredom and because I have a lot of feelings for Jongin lately. So please bear with my liking for him ;)

Hope you all like this story :)