It' so cold

I leaned on one elbow and blinked a few times. I was in a bedroom...a somewhat familiar bedroom. I was feeling really cold. It felt like I was in North Pole or something.

 I hugged myself and rubbed my arms while trying to remember what exactly had happened the previous night. Slowly, the memories poured into my head but I couldn't make any sense out of it. I had twisted my foot because of that idiot Hyobin but I couldn't remember anything else after that.

"Achooo!" I sneezed loudly. 

I really can't bear the cold anymore. 

Just as I was about to get off the bed the door beside it flew open, revealing a shirtless Wu Yifan. My mouth hung open slightly as he lazily wiped his face with a hand-towel. He caught me staring at him and smirked.

"Like what you see?" He said, throwing the hand-towel into the clothes bin.

I quickly looked down. I could  feel my cheeks heat up.

"W-whatever..." I said softly. "Achoo!" 

"Looks like you've got a cold." He came and sat next to me, making me squirm a little. "It's your punishment for following me yesterday night."

"You...What happened yesterday?" I asked him.

"What do you think happened?" He shouted. "Walking freely into SNC territory, were you out of your mind, Taeyeon?" 

"The house was locked...I didn't know when you would come back so I -"

"Followed me like an idiot." He shook his head.  "If you looked around instead of running after me, you would've found the extra keys under the doormat."

Why is he blaming me?

"Couldn't you have told me that before?!" I said, angrily. " You're not that innocent too, okay? You work for that mafia. The security guard was scared of you! You're a liar!" 

"Shut up." He said through clenched teeth. "Be happy that it was Hyobin who caught you. If it was someone else...then you probably won't even be alive."

He got up from the bed and walked over to his closet. I bit my lip.

...I wouldn't be alive? 

"Did that...That Kris...Did he see me?" I asked with a shaky voice. 

Yifan didn't answer me.

"Get out of my room. Now." 

"You don't have to be so rude." I said, getting up from his bed. 

"Who are you to tell me that?" Yifan hissed. "You're just a servant."

I walked out of his room and closed it loudly. 

What is his problem?! He's never been like this before

I sighed and made my way to my room. As I walked down the hallway, I noticed a closed door. The other rooms were usually open.

After having a bath, I went to the kitchen and made an omlette for Yifan. I wasn't feeling well at all. I made sure to run and sneeze in the other side of the room so that it doesn't get into his breakfast.

I put it on the dining table along with a cup of coffee and was about to go back to my room, but I unfortunately bumped into him.

none of us had anything to say to each other. 

I walked past him and the sneezed again. I was pretty sure he would mock me so I just walked away as fast as I could. 

I was in my room, lying on the bed with a blanket over me, when I head a knock on the door. I forced myself up and opened  the door only a bit. 

"I don't care if you don't like the breakfast. I'm not feeling well." I said, in a straight-forward way. I was about to close the door on Yifan's face but he blocked it with his foot. Then he pushed the door open and grabbed my arm.

"Yah! Stop it!" I tried to claw him with my nails but his grip did not falter.

He pulled me out of the room and dragged me to the kitchen.

"Sit." He pushed me onto the chair. I was feeling so weak that I couldn't even object.

There was a bowl with a spoon on the table in front of me and a glass of water next to it. Yifan sat down next to me and took the bowl in his hands.

"It's Congee. Eat it." He tried to feed me but I gently pushed his hand away.

"I'm not hungry" I said, coughing. 

"You haven't eaten anything since last night so eat it." He brought the spoon close to my face again but I just looked away.

He sighed and dropped the spoon back into the bowl. 

"Look, it's my fault that you caught this cold. I shouldn't have keep the air-conditioner on for the whole night when I knew that you don't like it. I was only thinking about myself."

Isn't that what you always do?

"You were sleeping there too?!" I asked him, wide-eyed. 

"Can you not?" He said, irritated.

I looked away again and fiddled with the table cloth.

"Just... Just eat it please." He got up from the chair and walked away. I stared after him .

Hmmm...looks like he actually cares about me

I smiled to myself and ate the Congee. It was surprisingly very good. I guess he really was sorry.
Or maybe he just wanted me to get well so that I could do his housework.

I felt better after eating but I still kept on sneezing. I was going to wash the bowl when Yifan came and grabbed it out of my hands.

"I'll do it." He said. "I've kept medicine for you on the table."

I nodded.

"I'll be going out now." He said. " I'll come home late so don't wait for me. And please don't even think of stepping out of the house."

"Are you going to the...mafia?" I couldn't help but feel uneasy.

He sighed. "If you don't trust me, then you are free to walk out of the house at any time." 

I trust you

"Thanks," I said as he walked out of the kitchen. "For helping me out last night."

~

After Yifan left, I slept for quite a while. I was feeling much better when I woke up. I was in the kitchen, pouring myself a glass of water when I heard the doorbell ring. It probably wasn't Yifan because he told me he wasn't going to come back soon.

I opened the door and suddenly a light flashed in front of my face. I squinted and covered my eyes. 

"Yah...Who is this?"

I could hear someone laughing really loudly. Once my eyes adjusted to the light, I saw that it was a guy. But he didn't seem familiar at all. He had prevalent dark circles under his eyes and floppy black hair. He had a phone in his hand.

"So this is gege's new girlfriend." He said, "Yoona was right! " 

He took another picture of me.

"Yah! stop it will you?!" I tried to grab the phone from his hand but he held it up high. " Who are you anyway?"

"Kim Taeyeon! I'm your boyfriend's best friend. I'm angry that he didn't even tell me about you." The guy pouted. 

. How does he know my name?!

"Aren't you going to invite me inside?" The guy smiled cheekily and pushed me out of the way.

Oh no! What if he is one of those Mafia members?! 

"Hey you!!" I yelled after him. "Stop!! or else I'll call the police!"

He looked back at me with an evil smirk.

"The police won't come here."

He's right...

"I...I'll call Yifan" I said.

The guy rolled his eyes at me. "Didn't I just tell you that I'm his best friend? Relax, Mrs. Wu "

WHAT did he just call me?!

I took a deep breath in. "What do you want from me?" 

"Nothing." He said, walking into the living room. "I just heard Yoona talking about gege's new girlfriend so I decided to check if she was lying or not. But she was saying the truth."

I looked away. I'm not his girlfriend...I'm just a servant

"You're so mean. You didn't even ask me my name." He pouted and flopped onto the couch.

"Uh...I'm not supposed to talk to strangers..." 

"Come on! I'm not a stranger!!" He whined.

"So it seems..." I rolled my eyes. " Okay then, tell me your name."

"Tsk. Be polite."

Argh...Of course Yifan would have friends like this specimen on the couch

"What is your name, dear friend of Wu Yifan? "

"That's more like it." He got up from the couch and slapped my back. " I'm Tao."

"Okay, Tao. So now that you've seen me, shouldn't you be going?" I kept a distance from him.

"Not before you take a pictue with me! " He pulled me closer to him and then clicked a selca with his phone.

"huh! You should've asked me atleast" I rubbed my eyes.

He looked at his phone gleefully. "Aw, You're eyes are closed in this."

He showed me the picture. He has made the 'V' sign with one hand and the other one was on my waist. He looked cute. I looked okay too, even though I wasn't even smiling but my eyes were closed.

"Well, now you're done right?" I asked him

He was tapping furiously on his phone that he didn't even hear me.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"Sending the picture to gege." He smiled evilly. " Done! Now see, the reaction will come in 3...2...1"

Just then, Tao's phone began to ring. 

"See? I told ya." He laughed and answered the call. I gulped.

"Hey gege! " Tao stifled his laugh and held the phone away from his ear.

"Huang Zitao. Get. out. of. my. house. RIGHT NOW." 

I could hear Yifan's angry voice and it made me shiver.

"Come on, Ge! Since you had no intention of introducing me to your new girlfriend, I did it myself!" Tao seemed so un-bothered by Yifan's threat.

"Did you not hear me Zitao?! Out of my house. Now." 

"Tao..Just listen to him..." I tugged his shirt.

He put a finger on my lips and winked.

"Gege you're so mean. Anyway, I'm taking Taeyeon Jie out so don't be surprised if she's not here when you come back, okay?"

" Don't you touch her Huang Zitao or I will-"

" Done!" Tao disconnected the call and smiled at me "I got permission to take you out!"

I giggled, " You really do have a death wish, don't you?"

"Huh it's not like he owns you. Where do you want to go? My treat!" Tao linked his arm with mine.

"Hmm...I wanted to have Korean food." I said, thoughtfully.

"Okay then! I know just the place!" He pulled me out of the house.

***

"Are you sure this is alright? " I asked Tao. He brought me to Seoul in his car and then took me to the same skyscraper where Yifan had once brought me.

"Of course it is! You'll get the best Korean food ever! " He got out of the car and so did I.

I felt strange as we both entered the building. It seemed more like an office rather than a restaurant.

The receptionist smiled at Tao when we were inside. "Hello Mr. Huang!"
Tao smiled and waved at her. This was so strange. But I guessed that the receptionist was sweet on Tao.

"What is this place?" I asked Tao. 

"Galaxy Enterprise. You've not come here before?" Tao responded.

"I have... but I never realised the purpose of this building."

"It's an office building but it also houses hotel rooms and impressive restaurants." Tao told me as we took the elevator. "But It's strange that gege didn't tell you this."

"Tell me what?" I asked him when the doors of the elevator closed.

"That this building belongs to him." Tao smiled. "Gege is the CEO of Galaxy Enterprise."

My mouth fell open. 

What?

"You look so cute when you make that face" Tao laughed at me.

I quickly closed my mouth. "So you mean that Yifan works here? "

He nodded " The top most floor is his office, so we better avoid that place for now."

"Wow...he never told me that." 

"Well, now you know. But the food over here is really good. So we'll quickly eat and then I'll drop you home before gege realises that we're here."

I giggled, "I feel as though we are some sort of theives"

"And gege is the police" Tao laughed with me.

The building had about 60 floors and the restaurant Tao wanted to take me to was on the 25th floor. We stopped there and went into thr restaurant called 'Seoul on a plate'.

The interior was really pretty and there were'nt many people there. Tao and I took a table near the corner left. 

"All the people here are some sort of business officials." Tao told me. 

I looked around and saw a couple on a nearby table dressed neatly in business clothes. A group of old men was also nearby. All of the people were dressed formally. Except Tao and I of course.

The waitress brought two menus for us. She greeted Tao as though he was a regular.

"I'm guessing that you come here often" I told Tao as he flipped through the menu.

"Your guess is right" Tao smiled. "I work here too, so I usually come here with gege to have lunch"

"Ah" I paused. "Can you select something good for me?"

"Depends on what you would like to eat." Tao said.

"Anything. I just want to try korean food." I told him.

"Alright then, Tteokbokki and jjangmyeon for us!" Tao closed the menu and called the waitress.

***

"Wow. I'm so full! thanks for the lunch, Tao." I said with a content smile.

We were waiting for the elevator to reach our floor. It was somewhere on the upper floors.

"No problem! I just don't like the fact that gege keeps you locked up...It's not very gentlemanly of him." Tao mentioned. "He never did that to Hyobin"

I was startled to hear that name. "Hyobin?"

"Yeah, Hyobin...You don't know her?" 

"Well, I've seen her before..."

Looking at my face Tao shook his head. "I can't believe he didn't tell you this too."

"Tell me what?!" I demanded

"Hyobin is Gege's ex-girlfriend." Tao said. 

"Oh" was all I could say. "So Yifan used to date Hyobin..."

Maybe that's why he said I was lucky to have Hyobin to catch me...

"Yeah." Tao said. "Don't worry, it wasn't that serious. But Taeyeon Jie, Why do you always call Gege 'Yifan'? You can just call him Kr-"

*Ting*

Before Tao could complete, The elevator doors opened. And inside it was a tired looking Wu Yifan adjusting his tie. But as soon as he saw us, his eyes grew wide. 

"Oh ." Tao grabbed my arm and began to run. I somehow managed to follow behind him.

"YAH! STOP RIGHT THERE." Yifan's deep voice boomed after us. He was running after us.

Tao ran as fast as he could and pulled me along with him. I couldn't believe I was laughing the whole time. 

"Looks like the policeman is going to catch us" I giggled as we ran down a flight of stairs.

"Did you even see his face? He looked more tired than a sloth." Tao laughed.

"I can hear you both. okay?" Yifan's tedious voice could be heard from a few floors above.

Tao increased his speed even more but I wasn't able to do so.

"Tao" I huffed " I c-can't run. My stomach is s-so full."

Tao stopped momentarily and in a flash step, sweeped me into his arms.

"Alright, then I'll run for both of us."

"No. Put me down! I'm so fat!" I whined as he continued walking down the steps.

"God" He rolled his eyes. "You don't need to be so insecure. Anyway, we've reached."

Tao was right. We were in the reception now. He put me down and panted.

"We better go before Yifan catches up." I told Tao. 

"No need to hurry. I'm pretty sure he's still stuck on the tenth floor or something." He laughed but it came out more like a wheeze.

"Well, You're damn wrong about that, Huang Zitao." 

Both of us gulped and slowly turned back. Yifan was there. He was wearing a stiff dark blue suit and his loosened tie was dangling from his neck. He was standing casually with his arms crossed but I could see the beads of sweat covering his forehead and neck.

"Ah damn it. He took the elevator." Tao whispered to me softly." We can make it to the car if we sprint"
"He'll kill me when he comes home." I whispered back. "And I'm out of energy"

"You can stay at my house" Tao smiled playfully.

Yifan looked at us with a killer glare.

"Don't even think about running." Yifan hissed. He was coming towards us slowly.

Wait a minute.This could be my chance to actually get rid of him. If I run now, then no more of this Mafia mess. I could call Grandma and tell her to book me a ticket to Jeonju. But the debt...I'll beg Grandpa to pay it. Yes, this is the perfect plan...

I gulped and braced myself to sprint. I looked at Tao who still wanted me to run along with him.
But what was the point? Sooner or later, he would send me back to Yifan.

"Thank you so much for today, But I'm so sorry" I flashed a smile at Tao and dashed towards the glass door.

"What the-" I could hear Yifan running after me... or was it Tao? I didn't look back to find out.

Once I was out of the building, I ran down the cemented pavement as fast as my legs could take me. Suddenly, I banged into someone and fell down. I in a breath as I felt my skin tear because of the friction.

"Oh no. I'm so sorry ma'am! are you okay?" The guy helped me up. 

My knee was scraped and it hurt really bad. "It's okay." I pushed the guy without even looking at him and began to run again. But my speed was decreasing.

"Why did you let her go, Suho?! Catch her!!" I heard Yifan yelling from behind.

Damn, That guy is one of his henchmen too.

I refused to give up and ignored the throbbing pain in my knee. I could hear three pairs of footsteps behind me now. Why was the driveway so long?

I will not give up.

I heard Yifan scream to the security guard to close the gates. But by the time the gates closed, I was already out. I slipped through the tiny space before it closed. I laughed and panted at the same time. I was out and Yifan was barely near the gate. 

I didn't even stop after that. I ran aimlessly. Blood dripped down my knee but I couldn't care less. I was free.

When I was at quite a safe distance away from the building, I sat down on a Bus stop and just closed my eyes for a while. My limbs were aching. And my stomach was hurting a lot.

The sun was setting. My mind felt hazy and I could've really fallen asleep right there.
Suddenly, i felt a pat on my shoulder. I opened my eyes, startled and was about to jump and run. But fortunately, it was some stranger.

"Excuse me, Your knee is bleeding very badly." The girl looked concerned.

I looked down at my knee and realised that my jeans were stained beyond repair.

"Ah..." I said. 

"You could die of blood loss! Here, take this handkerchief and tie it around your wound." She held out a pretty pink handkerchief.

I took it and thanked her.

"Are you...lost perhaps?" The girl asked me.

"That word underestimates my situation" I chuckled.

"Could I help you in any way?" She said politely.  "You can call me Seohyun"

"Ah, thank you for your help, Seohyun. I'm Taeyeon" I said with a smile. "Well, I'm hoping that you could probably take me to the nearest hotel ?"

"That's all? Sure I will!" She smiled at me. "My friend is working nearby, I'll just call and tell him to pick us up."

"Oh alright." I said with a satisfactory smile.

I watched her as she took out her cell phone and began calling someone.

"Ah. Oppa! It's me Seohyun." She spoke. "Are you free? Can you come and pick me up?"

I could hear a faint buzzing sound as the person on the other side of the line spoke.

"Please oppa..It's an emergency...There's a girl with me. She's hurt herself really badly and she's lost. she wants to go to the nearest hotel."

Again I could hear a buzzing sound.

"Hmm wait, I'll ask her." Seohyun looked at me. "Any hotel?"

I nodded. "But...not too expensive. I don't have much money with me."

Seohyun nodded slightly and continued, "She doesn't have much money with her. I don't think she could afford to stay there."

More buzzing sound.

"Okay." Seohyun handed the phone to me. "He wants to ask you something."

 I objected but she made me take the phone. 

I gulped and said,"I just need a place to stay for the night...and probably a few bandages."

There was no answer from the other side of the line.

"He's not saying anything." I handed the phone back to Seohyun.

She took it and put it against her ear again. "Hello, Oppa?....you're coming?! We're at Hongdae Bus stop... Thanks!" and then she disconnected.

"He's coming here in about 5 minutes or so." Seohyun told me. "I've got to go now...He'll drop you wherever you want."

"You mean you're not coming with me?" I asked.

"I have a meeting in a few hours so I'm really sorry but don't worry, He's a nice guy." Seohyun hugged me and then gave me a peice of paper with her number on it. "Call me, okay?"

I nodded and waved her goodbye. It was quite a while before a sleek black car stopped in front of me. I got up and  was about to walk over until I saw who was driving the car. I was petrified.
Wu Yifan got out of the car and was coming towards me. he did not look happy. At all.

No...This can't happen. I was free. I thought I could finally get rid of this horrible man...

I turned around hoping I could just run away.

"Don't." His deep voice pierced me. I could feel my lower lip tremble.

I felt his hand wrap around my wrist tightly. He dragged me along with him and pushed me into the passenger seat. Tears stained my cheeks as I pleaded him to let go of me.

He paid no heed to me. Nothing at all. He just got in and began to drive.

There was a dreadful silence in the car which I ultimately broke with my loud crying.

"You're t-torturing me." I cried. "I'll pay you. I'll pay every last penny. Please  let me go home."

He didn't even look at me.

I rested my head on the window and cried, "I hate you."

"You don't mean that." Yifan said

"Huh you're right. I loathe you." I wailed. "You're a beast, Wu Yifan."

He chuckled darkly, "Even the Beast used to be a handsome young prince before he was cursed."

He hit the brakes and the car screeched. 

"Get out of the car." He ordered.

I looked out of the window, into the pitch-black alley.

"B-but-"

"You loathe me, right? Get out then." He looked at me. His face was expressionless. "You're just an ungrateful midget."

...He was right. You're an idiot, Kim Taeyeon.

"But Belle fell in love with the Beast. Not the prince." I wiped my tears. 

He raked his hand through his hair and sighed. He looked so troubled for a reason. Then he looked at me with the same blank expression and said, "Kiss me."

I swallowed hard, "W-what?"

"Kiss me. Or else get out of the car right now."

 I stared at him trying to figure out what he wanted from me. "Okay. I'll kiss you."

Before he could say anything else, I reached out to him and kissed his cheek.

"See? Done." I backed into my seat.

He looked surprised for a moment and then shook his head while laughing.

This guy has some serious mood swings...

"You're crazy, Taeyeon." He was still laughing as he accelerated the car.

"I'm sorry, Yifan...for what I did today. I shouldn't have ran away like that" I apologized.

"Well, you sure as hell should be sorry. I was going insane looking for you." He said

"I just..." I sighed. "I thought maybe I could run away. But this was all my mistake. If I had been more careful that day, then none of this would have happened."

"Which day?"

"The day I broke your statue." I told him.

"This is more than just the statue" Yifan said quietly.

"What do you mean?" I asked him but he just shook his head.

I looked out of the window and sighed. "I hoped that coming to Seoul would change my life...but look at me! I'm back to slaving around, running away from the house and all my problems..." I laughed at myself. "Sometimes I just pity myself"

"Taeyeon...what was your ex-boyfriend like?" Yifan asked me out of the blue.

I bit my lip, "I don't like talking about it."

"Don't you trust me?"

I sighed, what was there to hide anyway? And it was better if I shared my feelings with someone atleast. It would lighten my heart.

"When we first started dating, it was like heaven.I thought that maybe he really was the one for me. But when I moved into his house...He treated me like a slave. I would be stuck at home while he hung out with all his friends, made out with various girls and came back home drunk..." 

I suppressed a sob and continued, "I put up with all his dirty antics until one day he brought this other woman into the house...and then they..." tears streamed down my face. "He knew I was there, Yifan. He knew I could hear them. I could hear everything...all the moans and groans."

I wiped my tears, "That day I decided to run away. I tried to act normal for the next two weeks so that he doesn't suspect and when the time was right, I flew to Seoul."

I looked at Yifan who was concentrated on driving. "You've been awfully quiet. Did my story disgust you too much?" I said through tears.

He stopped the car and looked at me. I couldn't see his face because it was really dark.

"I feel disgusted at myself right now." He said. "The way I treated you...You must think I'm like that guy"

"No, You're not like him. Even if your methods are harsh, you do actually care about me" I smiled a bit. 

"What if...what if a SNC member falls in love with you...what would you do?" He asked me.

"Well...That's a strange question but if a Mafia member does fall in love with me, I'd try to see the good things in him rather than worrying that he belongs to a Mafia." I chuckled.

"What if the guy doesn't have any good things in him?" Yifan sounded so desperate.

"You're wrong about that." I smiled. "There is hope in each one of us."

Suddenly, I felt his cold lips pressed against my cheek. 

"You're staying with me." He whispered into my ear.

"That's where I intend to stay." I smiled again.

~~~~~~


A/N: It's been years T.T
        I'm sorry!! I'll make sure to update this story now
        Thanks to all my susbscribers!!! :D

        Oh and if you have time, then please do check out my new Kristae story ->  Be My Princess
         
         xoxo, Dani