C h a p t e r   XXIII

 

[INFINITE - One Third/A Third Part]

 

[8/1/14] Co-author's note: Annyeong! I know that it has been weeks since I last update. Well, I had to deal with school affairs like projects, assignments and even the exams for the preliminary period. I apologize for making you wait. I am really really sorry. By the way, I will be proofreading the rest of the previous chapters and edit the typographical errors as much as I can. Well you know.. those are inevitable, but still I apologize also for those typo errors. hehe :)

[8/2/14] By the way, have you seen INFINITE's Back? Yeah, yeah. I know it's been several days since it was released.. haha But honestly, I have been addicted to it since the day of its release. It's sooo perfect. And, congratulations to INFINITE for their first win for 'Back' @ Music Core! Chukahaeyo INFINITE oppas! #Back1stWin

 

[8/3/14]   Annyeong chingoos!! I'll be promoting 2 other fanfics:  http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/702060/aftertime-angst-romance-sunggyu-taeyeon-infinitexsnsd-taegyu-gyutae  and the NEW fanfic!!!!!!!!!! for WOOTAE fans! Its title is disGUYsed (Shh, I Love You). Here is the link: http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/798363/. I hope you will support the new fanfiction because I will be updating it SOOON. 

 

Oh the poll~~ Before I forget to mention.. haha~ I'm quite stunned with the progress. GyuTae is still ahead with numerous votes over WooTae in both (old & new) polls. Keep on voting, okay? Hwaiting! :) The links are as follows: 

OLD POLL:

http://www.asianfanfics.com/poll/vote/78878

NEW POLL:

http://www.asianfanfics.com/poll/vote/89979

I WILL JUST EDIT THE TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS (IF THERE IS ANY) OF THIS CHAPTER NEXT TIME, OKAY?

SPOILER ALERT: ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER.. BEWARE! ~ This is dedicated to WooTae fans. haha =P  Ooops.. I'm spoiling too much details.

♥ KAMSAHAMNIDA! ♥

     

 

"Uh..Woori-ah.. I...missed you too."

"Sunggyu-ah, I am very glad that you did. It has been years...I have waited for this time.. this time that both of us will meet each other again."

Dumbfounded and surprised, Taeyeon just stood still watching the two of them from behind. Having unpredictable feelings flowing inside her mind and chest, she had mum. Suppressing any sound to come out of , she bit her trembling lips as her eyes turned cold and emotionless watching Sunggyu locked in the woman's warm embrace.

 

"Why? Why do I feel like..." Taeyeon repetitively asked herself, leaning her hand on her chest. "Why is it.. so.."

 

"Let us go now." A man mumbled who sneaked behind Taeyeon all of a sudden tried to dragged her away from the area where her eyes were watching the view of the woman hugging Sunggyu tightly.

 

"He––He is––" Surprised and startled with the man's sudden appearance out of nowhere, she faced him. Taeyeon muttered lowly in protest, "But––"

"Stop it. Let us go now." The man austerely whispered in her ear. "Do not make me repeat what I have said." 

"You––Why are you––"

He did not mind how she hardly struggled from his grip, but rather he just continued pulling her arm as both of them left the park. The man hissed lowly, "Keep quiet. Let us go now."

 

Meanwhile, Sunggyu released himself from the embrace as he mumbled, tilting his head on the opposite direction, "Uh.. Wait.. I.."

The moment his eyes found not even a single shadow of Taeyeon behind him, his face hardened, panicking and asking himself where in the world did she go. "Uh-oh. Where is she?"

"Do you mean the girl you were with a while ago?" Woori asked as she also turned her gaze to the area where Sunggyu's friend was standing few minutes ago. "Oh, she disappeared like a bubble. Sunggyu-ah, I apologize for intervening your conversation with her. Well, I was at a ice cream shop nearby a while ago when I saw you going out of your car. Then, I immediately went out of the shop, and followed you here.. and I saw you were with her. I was not thinking properly that I let my feet drag me here in this park to follow you."

"Ah, yeah. You do not have to apologize. It is okay. Anyway, I thought you were at Germany and you were with..." Sunggyu assured calmly.

"Well, I am here. I will be staying here for the next three weeks. It is a long story, and it will take ages if I will tell it to you now." Woori cut off his words and she shot him a genuine smile.

He said calmly, trying not to sound awkward in front of her, "Okay, I understand."

"If you would not mind, can I ask you a favor?"

"Favor? What is it?"

"Uh.. well.."

"Woori-ah, what is it?"

"Well, how do  I say this? Umm.."

Sunggyu curiously questioned, "What? Do not be shy. Tell me, Woori-ah. What is it that you want me to do?"

"I want you to serve as my tourist guide for the time being. Please..." She cutely begged which eventually made him chuckle silently.

"Mw-mwo?" He spat out in surprise.

Woori requested cutely, "Please."

"Me? Tourist guide?"

"Please. I promise to pay you back, okay? Kim Sunggyu, pleaseee.."

"Well.. that.."

"Please.."

"Uhh."

"Please.."

"Alright, alright." Sunggyu had no choice but to give up as he agreed, nodding his head. "I will be your tourist guide, Ms. Go Woori."

"Yahoo! Thank you so much, Hamster Gyu!" She happily said as she wrapped her arms around him and locked him in an embrace again. Sunggyu flinched a bit, but he tried not to show his awkward reaction, smiling halfheartedly as he responded to her hug by patting her back.

He lowly replied back as he nodded his head, "Alright, you are very welcome."

 

"WHAT THE HELL?! ARE YOU DOING A SUICIDAL MOVE? DO YOU REALLY PLAN TO KILL YOURSELF? ARE YOU THAT STUPID, HUH? ARE YOU REALLY A MASOCHIST OR WHAT?!"

 

Woohyun released her arm from his grip and forced her to sit on a bench. He dragged her into an area which was quite far from where Sunggyu and Woori were. The man was literally throwing his antics on Taeyeon who zippered after being forcefully dragged by her boss. She just shot him a cold stare before shifting her gaze emptily above the sky.

Woohyun who noticed the coldness in her face held her shoulders. He closed his eyes, letting out a heavy breath before he spoke up softly, "You know. You should stop looking at people who have very narrow and small eyes who cannot even see your existence. There are other people there who think of you every single day, but you just tend to neglect their existence. You should open your eyes to see the reality. Aish~ Just look around you, and you will see the person who deserves you... the person who will notice you for who you really are. He is just near from you.. very very near."

 

Thump, thump. Silence.

 

Expecting that she engulfed each word he uttered from his mouth, Woohyun smiled as he patted her head softly. "Arasseo? I do not want you to hurt yourself, okay? That man does not deserve you."

 

 

....That man does not deserve you. This echoed inside Taeyeon's mind.

 

 

"Mwo? Huh? What do.. you mean?" Perplexed and clueless of everything he said, Taeyeon's face hardened as she shot him a perturbed look. 

"Mw-mwo? Don't tell me that you––did not...did not––" Woohyun uttered under his breath.

 

 

"What the?! What is he exactly trying to say? And why the hell did he shout at me? It is not like I did something terrible for him to shout at me like that! Weird." Taeyeon asked deep inside her mind, stretching her head slowly in opposite directions.

"You––Didn't you seriously understand everything that I have said?" He muttered lowly, sounding like he was defeated in a game. "Tell me you did. Please tell me Kim Taeyeon that you did."

The woman questioned, "Huh? What was it again, Sir Woohyun?"

"You really didn't, huh?" Woohyun mumbled weakly.

 

Humiliated. 

 

He felt terribly humiliated realizing the fact that Taeyeon did not even understand a single word from what he said when she nodded her head in affirmation. "The ! I did not even practice it that everything came out naturally! I even said it in the purest and sincerest way as possible, but SHE SERIOUSLY DID NOT GIVE A DAMN WITH EVERYTHING I SAID! DAMN IT!"

She asked confusedly, "Sorry. What did you say again, Sir Woohyun?"

"Uh––that––It is just.. You know––nothing, actually. Nevermind." The man answered back in a shaky tone as he tried to hide the feeling of humiliation he felt. He grinned bitterly as he cursed under his breath, "Bullsh*t this life."

Taeyeon said plainly, "Ah, alright. Okay, Sir Woohyun."

"Damn it! She did not even grow curious and eager with what I have said a while ago? Aish! Jiral! Why is this ing life so unfair?" Woohyun's thoughts fumed in anger before he faked a smile as he chuckled bitterly. "Hehe. I said nothing, right? Yeah, I said–– I said––NOTHING. Hahahaha––"

"Okay, Sir Woohyun. Maybe, I am just hungry that I was not able to understand what you have said. I apologize for that." She stood up from the bench slowly before she said, "Anyway, I will be taking my lunch now since I still have 40 minutes left for break." 

Woohyun just nodded his head as he awkwardly answered back, "Okay. Take a break then, Taeyeon-ssi. I will just head back to café now." 

He started to walk back like a sore loser whose dignity was stepped on for a million times. Whose fault was it? Well, it was his feeling's fault. If that ing feeling did not exist inside his heart, if it does not bother him all day and night, and mostly, if it does not drive him crazy to the extent that he is becoming a fool out of it, he wouldn't have to feel sad and dejected every single day of his life.

Not having the guts to face her, he grinned bitterly once again. "Why in the world is this woman too insensitive and numb? No, that is not right. She is too insensitive, numb and blind."

 

Suddenly, she held his hand which stopped him from taking a step further. "Uh.. wait. Sir, do you want to eat lunch too? Uh, I know it is kind of informal and discourteous of me to say this, but perhaps, we can both take lunch together. Well, if you would not mind. If you do not want to, it is alright." Taeyeon politely suggested her boss.

 

Pause. He faced her after hearing her words. Woohyun asked, "What?"

The woman rephrased what she had said earlier, "I would like to ask you for a lunch, Sir Woohyun. If you do not want to, it is okay."

 

Dugeun, dugeun. 

 

He swore that he could hear the loudness of his heartbeat. It was too painful that it made him feel like the world has stopped.

"Lun-lunch?" He asked in a stuttering manner as if he heard the most unbelievable thing he ever heard for his entire life. She nodded her head in approval which almost made the man awfully paralyzed. "Did a woman just ask me to join her in lunch? Oh, no! Man, it is just not a woman! She is Kim Taeyeon for Pete's sake! Wahhh~! I am dying here now! My heart! It is like it will explode now! My stomach, intestines and even my colon are like tied together! No, no, no. My stomach churns right now! Gosh! Everything is painfully beautiful. How should I react? Eotteokhae? Eotteokhae? What should I say?"

 

The never ending moment of silence again. Tremble, tremble.

 

"Sir Woohyun, are you alright?" She broke the silence when she blurted a question to her boss who she did not know has his brain out of nowhere. "Sir, do you want to eat lunch with me or not?"

"Shoot. This is f*king real. Yes, this is. Nam Woohyun, you have heard it right. She is asking you to eat lunch with her." Snapped out of his delusional and cheesy thoughts, he answered back happily, but in a stammering way, "Oh sure, sure. I'd love to. Where do you want to eat? What do you want to eat? Everything will be my treat."

Flustered and confused with his sudden bright and welcoming reaction, Taeyeon said, "Oh, I understand that.. but, will it be alright if both of us will just eat the foods I have brought earlier?"

He asked curiously, "Oh, you brought foods with you?"

"Nae, Sir Woohyun. I kept those inside the refrigerator at the second floor of the café because it will be a waste if they might be spoiled." She answered back as she bobbed her head.

"Al—alright. Let us eat them now! I also do not want them to end up being wasted. Homemade foods are still better than foods eaten in restaurants. Haha~ Besides, I have not eaten a single piece of food since this early morning." Her boss happily said with the brightest smile he ever pulled off on his face as if the heaven fell to his knees.

 

Liar.

 

Saying that he did not eat a single thing during the early morning was definitely a sort of a lame excuse. He had always hated skipping meals, and saying that he skipped breakfast this morning was actually a big lie.

 

To be precise, Woohyun had three slices of french toast, one glass of hot chocolate, a plate of arugula salad and a small bowl of Doenjang jjigae that his mother brought to his house. "Omona! I am sooo excited! I am eating lunch with my Goddess! Lalala~ I have my hundred percent appetite right now! Lalala~" 

Taeyeon was dumbfounded when he intertwined his left hand on her right hand, swinging it back and forth happily. "What is with him? Did he eat something or what? Weird. Nam Woohyun is weird." She thought to herself as she had no choice, but to walk with him with their hands intertwined together.

The woman stole a glance of his unusually happy reaction, then she sighed. "Maybe, he really is hungry. Omo! So pitiful of him. Look at the effect of it... Hayy~ So pitiful. He has literally gone crazy because he skipped breakfast. From this day forward, I will no longer skip any meal, so that I will not end up being like him. Tsk tsk. So pitiful. Sir Woohyun is literally pitiful." 

 

"This is mine, and here is yours. Please eat well, Sir Woohyun." Woohyun was carefully watching his employee who was sitting across him as she prepared the lunch boxes she brought with her earlier. "Sir, I hope you will like it."

The lunch boxes contained mouth-watering foods such as deliciously-cooked sunny side up eggs, various kinds of green vegetables, kimchi, and fried pork cutlets which almost made Woohyun awfully drool with hunger. 

Speechless as he tried to digest everything he was seeing, he involuntarily nodded his head as he watched her handing him a pair of red chopsticks. He turned his gaze to the red lunch box in front of him.

All of a sudden, he sadly asked himself, "Is this really–– Is this really for me or... for––him?"

 

[~]

Several hours have passed, and finally, it has reached 12 o' clock in the afternoon –– the break time anticipated by the staff members. Junho and his new pal, Dongjun decided to have their shifts earlier than it should be since both of them had already taken early break which was one hour ago while the rest decided to have their breaks since their stomachs are grumbling painfully for food. 

The shop's manager, Nam Woohyun decided to grab some food, so he originally planned call out for Kim Taeyeon to request her to buy him a food, but he paused for a while the moment he opened the kitchen's door. That was when he saw her carefully reading a text message on her phone. 

"At the park? Why does he want to meet me today?" He heard how Taeyeon spoke up lowly as she kept her phone inside her pants' pocket. 

Immediately storming out of the kitchen, Taeyeon bowed her head when she saw Woohyun quietly standing outside the kitchen. She politely mumbled before leaving, "Good afternoon, Sir Woohyun."

"Uh-uh.. Wait––Kim Taeyeon!" Woohyun stuttered as he watched her completely disapppear from his sight. "Wait. Kim Taeyeon–– Milady!"

He let out a sigh of disappointment before he muttered, "Maybe, she will meet hyung at the park." Realizing this all of a sudden, the man's eyes widened with curiosity as he decided to chase after her. "Andwae! Andwae! Ya! Do not go there! Do not meet that bastard! No! No!"

 

Four minutes had passed after 12 o'clock, Woohyun was furtively following Taeyeon behind. The moment his eyes saw a man who was in a blue polo shirt and black dress pants from a distance, his steps were halted back. Instantly recognizing who the man was, he decided not to follow her anymore, but watch them behind a tree. 

"Does she really like him that much?" He whispered in disappointment as he sighed. "What made her like him that much? What does he have that I do not have? Do I have to be like him just to be noticed by her?" 

 

"Oh, Sunggyu-ssi." She called out as she ran towards the man who was quietly sitting on a bench.

He faced her as he stood up from the bench. Sunggyu mumbled, "I am glad that you came."

She stood beside him as she gasped for air hardly. Taeyeon asked, "Why did you ask me to come here?"

"Well... I just wanted to. Do I need to have a reason why I want to see you today?" He wittily answered back to her question as he smiled sweetly.

"Aish~ Grandpa Gyu!  I thought there was something you wanted to say that I ran all the way from the shop to this park." She complained as she crossed her arms.

"Something?" His cheerful reaction turned into a serious one before he said, "What if there is something I really want to tell you?"

"Uh~ Jeongmal?" She was quite startled the moment his reaction changed instantly. "There is?"

"Nae." Sunggyu nodded his head as he held both of her hands. 

Her eyes darted to his hands which were holding both of her hands. "What.. what is it?"

"Taeyeon-ssi, I want to admit something. I want to tell you that.." 

"That?" Taeyeon asked as she anticipated for what he wanted to tell her.

"That.. I.."

"What?"

That.. I.. I like.."

 

"Kim Sunggyu!" 

The moment was interrupted when a voice calling out for the man's name was heard. Both Taeyeon and Sunggyu faced the person whose voice suddenly came out from nowhere. They were surprised the moment their eyes saw a long-haired woman who was in an apricot trench coat and white pink skirt. She was brightly flashing a big smile on her face as she went towards them. Taeyeon took five steps backward in order to give them a space to talk with each other.

"You.." Sunggyu cluelessly mumbled as he tried to familiarize himself who that girl was.

She said cheerfully, "It has been a while, isn't it? Don't tell me that you have already forgotten about me." 

"I am sorry.. May I know who you are, Miss?" The man asked.

"My bad! You must have really forgotten me, Gyu hamster!" She said as she poked his left shoulder with her finger.

"You.. you are.." His eyes widened when he finally came out of a realization who the woman standing in front of them was.

"Oh.. So, do you remember me now, Jeonju fellow?"

 

A minute of silence filled the atmosphere. 

 

"Go.. Go Woori?"

"That is right."

"Oh.. It is you.." He mumbled weakly. "Woori-ah."

"Thank Goodness! You can still remember me. I have missed you. I have really missed you, Sunggyu-ah." The woman said as she locked him in a longing and warm embrace. "It has been a while since we have seen each other. You have really grown up now. I have really missed you."

 

"Uh..Woori-ah.. I...missed you too."

"Sunggyu-ah, I am very glad that you did. It has been years...I have waited for this time.. this time that both of us will meet each other again."

Dumbfounded and surprised, Taeyeon just stood still watching the two of them from behind. Having unpredictable feelings flowing inside her mind and chest, she had mum. Suppressing any sound to come out of , she bit her trembling lips as her eyes turned cold and emotionless watching Sunggyu locked in the woman's warm embrace.

 

"Wait.. Isn't she––" His face turned shocked when he realized who the woman was. Woohyun heard and saw everything. Judging Taeyeon's reaction carefully, his feet unconsciously dragged him towards her. "What about Taey––Wait"

 

 

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