Seunghyun~~ Ghost of Lovers Past

******************************

I was horrified when my new manager started bawling like a little kid. I thought we were just having a playful banter. For some reason, I liked seeing her annoyed face especially when she scrunches up her nose in irritation. I almost forgot that she’s a girl. I mean, I know that she’s a girl but all these years that I’ve known her, she has always been known as Jiyong’s secret girlfriend, at least,  for me. We never really had any interaction before other than the usual polite greetings.

Ever since I chose to concentrate on acting rather than pursue my musical career as a rapper, I’ve barely seen her or Jiyong. But I’ve always thought that they’re a solid couple … one that would last forever … So I was surprised when I heard that GD is now publicly dating Chaerin. I never really asked anybody from the company about what happened with them and we weren’t really that close in the first place. So when I saw Park that day inside YG sajangnim’s office, obviously abject to our president’s decision, I took offense. I thought she was objecting to being my manager and the thought of her break up with Jiyong didn’t even cross my mind at all that time.

But seeing her break down like this in front of me right now makes me feel like I’ve been a jerk. When she asked me if I had my heart broken before, I was surprised to find myself admitting that I have. I’ve never opened up about it to anyone. I was too hurt to share what really happened even to my Mom and noona. Seeing Park in pain reminds me of the past that I’ve painfully concealed and refused to revisit or even talk about.

She raised her eyebrows at me when I said my admission. Obviously, she wasn’t expecting my answer.

I stood up and she grabbed the end of my jacket. “Where are you going?” she asked, blinking up at me slowly, her eyes unfocused a bit.

I sighed. “I’m going to make us some coffee.” I then went to the kitchen but not before I picked up the gas lantern which I forgot to bring earlier when I was taken aback by her crying that I went to the kitchen to get a glass of water with only the bare illumination of the candles around the house as my guide. I hate being in the dark.

When I was done, I didn’t see Park where I left her. I put down the coffee cups on the small wooden table and went to the bedroom she’s assigned to. “Park?” I called but there was only silence. I knocked repeatedly. There was still no answer. “I’m coming in,” I announced but when I stepped into the room, there was no one inside.

I can hear the howling wind outside and I briefly thought that she could have gone out to get more rice wine so I immediately checked the living room but the tin kettle is still there. In the middle of debating on whether I’ll venture out and check to see if she went outside just in case she was too drunk to mistakenly go out in the rain, I heard the sound of a door being shut somewhere to my right, near my room.

Of course. Why didn’t I think of the bathroom?

She gave me a small smile. “I washed my face” she stated the obvious, with droplets of water still shining on her cheeks and forehead. She then sat on the floor, at the same space she was sitting on before and slumped heavily like an old lady complete with “Aigoo.”

I bit off the remark I wanted to say to her for making me unnecessarily worried, lest she accuse me of being mean again so I just sat down beside her with an equally audible sigh.

I handed her one of the coffee mugs and she murmured a small “Thank you.”

“Are you somber now?” I asked after she took a sip.

“Mmmm?” I can sense that she’s still not. “I- I’m sorry about my outburst earlier … I was just in a lot of pressure lately …” The redness of her face could be due to the alcohol or embarrassment.

“It’s fine” I waved away her apology, being the gracious guy I really am. “I understand.”

Again, she gave me a shy smile and she scrunched up her nose.

We silently sipped our coffee until a loud boom of thunder erupted outside making both of us jolt. We both let out nervous laughter when we recovered.

“It looks like the storm has finally made a landfall” I remarked. “We’re lucky if we make it out of here in 2 days.”

Park nodded. “A good thing that I was able to contact YG earlier this morning to tell them about our predicament.”

“I bet no one expected this… Who would’ve thought we’d get stuck in an island?”

Park shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know about you or the others but … I kinda like it.”

I raised my brows at her questioningly.

“Sometimes I feel like I wanna hide somewhere where I’ll be alone or maybe sleep for a hundred years or run away far, far away …”

“So why did you come back?”

She sighed. “I thought I was ready,” she said in a defeated tone.

“I ran away once, too.” I confessed.

She tilted her head towards me. “Tell me about her.”

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter