Two

"Look for the girl with the broken smile,
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile..."
-She Will Be Loved, Maroon 5

“You want me to what?”

Contrary to my face that etched of pure excitement and elation, all because--

1) Mr. Kwon had finally agreed to talk to me the following day, sober, at a café; and

2) just talking about my charity was simply making me pumped up and ecstatic

--Mr. Kwon actually looked so much of the opposite. Scandalized, confused, and shocked. All at the same time. I don’t even know how he squeezed all three moods in his face simultaneously, but those pretty much described his sentiments toward my proposal.

“You want me to represent Roof-A-Dog, which apparently is a foundation you put up with the mission of rescuing dogs and finding them rightful owners?” he went over with squinted eyes.

“Yes,” I answered, beaming excitedly. I even had this urge to clap my hands like a kindergarten teacher to a student who finally got the answer right. But I didn’t. His expression clearly indicated to me this wasn’t the time to be clapping hands. Instead, I added, “And by representing the foundation, means you will have to—”

But I was cut short by a thunderous, “Hell, no!”

For a brief moment, I looked around the coffee shop, taking in the instant reaction we garnered from Mr. Kwon’s terse but undoubtedly harsh-sounding answer. There were only a few customers in the café, after all I picked one that was less famous to avoid the negative hype that follows and then swells every time he’s around. Still, that didn’t prevent the people from buzzing and hurling condemnatory looks his way.

“What the are you all looking at?” Mr. Kwon then sputtered, swinging his head in all directions just to fire everyone a furious glare.

Okay, this is not good.

“Can you please calm down?” I begged of him in a whisper, slightly mortified by our situation.

But he only furthered the mortification by rising up to his feet and then sauntering over to a male teenager whose phone was up to his face, presumably recording the very scene. “You! What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Had I not stood up as well and quickly grabbed his wrist, I was sure he would have snatched the gadget and then slammed it onto the floor, and if that wouldn’t probably suffice he would also beat the boy up. Speaking of the boy, he was terrified enough he pocketed his phone and zoomed out of the café right away.

I tugged at Mr. Kwon’s wrist, noticing out of the corner of my eye that the manager was already heading toward our way. “Mr. Kwon, please, let’s just go back to our table and—”

“No!” He swiped his wrist away as he cut me short. “I’m out of here. I’m not interested in your offer.”

“But you still haven’t—” heard more, was what I wished I could have added. Because I swear there’s still more.

But before I could finish my sentence, he was trudging out of the coffee shop. I tried to run after him, grabbing in the process my sling bag that was on the table we were previously using and expressing my deepest apologies to everyone in the café. By the time I made it out, Mr. Kwon had already gotten inside his car.

“Wait!” I yelled, sprinting to the driver’s side in the most breakneck speed I could gather and knocked on the glass window frantically. “Mr. Kwon! Please listen to me first!”

He ignored me. Moreover, he cranked his car to life, which if it wasn’t as obvious as it was, meant that he really wasn’t interested to talk to me.

But I didn’t let that faze me. In fact, I swiftly leapt to the front of his vehicle, which may have been done out of frustration, but I didn’t care anymore. Then I raised my arms to the side, blocking him from moving forward.

Mr. Kwon slid the window down and poked his head out. “What the are you doing?” There was no denying he was more pissed than before. “Move aside or I swear I’ll run you over!”

For a second, I pondered over that. He sounded serious. But really? He’s going to do that if I don’t step aside?

I held my ground though, standing more erect to show that I wasn’t scared of his threat. Though to be honest, deep within I was squirming in fear. He may be depressed, damaged, and a lot of things, but he will not knock me with his car. Right?

He slammed his hand on the steering wheel. “!” Then he poked his head out again. “Fine, get inside!”

But the moment I moved out-of-the-way to head to the passenger’s side, Mr. Kwon drove his car and it whizzed away like the Bat Mobile.

Great. This is just…great.

-----

“From the look on your face, Ms. Lea, I could tell you didn’t get what you want.”

It was the first chain of words I heard upon entering Roof-A-Dog’s headquarters. And it wasn’t even a guess or a question seeking for confirmation. It was a statement conveying a hidden message that said ‘I told you so.’

I didn’t want to argue with Minjee, the 16-year-old volunteer—actually, the only volunteer at Roof-A-Dog. She had a bit of a point anyway. How many times had she plainly insisted I wouldn’t be able to get Mr. Kwon to do what I want for the foundation? But if my mood worsens today, I might really snap into Grouchy Gregory and engage in a squabble with her.

With two fingers on my temple, I silently settled on my office chair—a second-hand I got from a pediatrician who closed his clinic because he’s moving to a different country. The small headquarters of Roof-A-Dog still smelled of paint, having my nose a bit itchy when I took a deep breath.

The headquarters wasn’t really big. As a matter of fact, it’s so small with no wall divisions and I just tried to squeeze in an office, a mini lobby, a mini conference room, and a mini pantry. No, you didn’t imagine it. They all came in mini’s. But if it’s any consolation, at least I have my own roof. Plus, it came with a front lawn, and a backyard which was relatively wider and therefore made a perfect place to keep the rescued dogs’ cages.

Speaking of, all three dogs—a Pitbull, a Lab-Chow mix, and a Border Collie—I lone rescued from being stray some weeks ago were barking like crazy.

“You do realize that is your doing.”

I hate it when Minjee is right. If she wasn’t the only volunteer, I would have sacked her. Honestly.

“I know,” I forced to respond.

My negative energy is clearly affecting the dogs. All because of my meeting with Mr. Kwon that didn’t turn out so well than I expected. I took deep breaths, throwing all the disappointment and frustration with every exhale. In a few minutes, I was able to put Mr. Kwon and his rejection at the farthest back of my head. I could just deal with that later.

Gratefully, the dogs stopped barking. But Minjee was still there, staring at me with a dog shampoo and a glove-covered hand resting on her hip.

“What?” I asked, puzzled.

“Did you mention to G-Dragon about your idea of putting on a dog collar? Because I told you that will not work. That’s the total rejection ground right there.”

“No, Minjee, I didn’t,” I answered. “I didn’t even get there.” And now that I see it more in my head I realize how preposterous that idea was. “He actually declined the main concept of representing Roof-A-Dog.”

“But you aren’t going to stop, are you?” Minjee marched to the door that separated the office to the backyard.

“Nope,” I answered as I gathered some documents resting on the table to start working on them.

“I really don’t get why it had to be him.”

And then she disappeared to the back before she could hear me sigh wearily and mutter, “No one necessarily has to get it…that I’m helping him for what he did to my brother a year ago.”

~*~

(4/28/13) People might not see me spazzing over GD, but I'm a fan. I have so much respect and admiration for him as an artist. I guess my being a fan girl leans more to that side than lust/love. In any case, my sister got dibs on him way, way back--when "Big Bang" was no more than just a scientific theory about how the world began. I was forced then to point my love radar in some other way........towards Taeyang's to be exact......until obsessing about Mr. No-Girlfriend-Since-Birth turned to be a little unhealthy...

(Wait, what am I talking about? This has completely nothing to do with Summer Rain.)

Just let me finish. In the end, Daesung became my bias (abs, voice, eyes, smile...need I say more?) and my delusionally self-appointed boyfriend. Although TOP was like my secret affair. And then Seungri was like my young lover.

Riiight.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It'll get longer in the future, don't worry, though progress might be a little slower. I like to develop Lea and GD's relationship well first before jumping to their romance.  It's more realistic that way.  

Thanks for reading!