c h a p t e r  s i x ::

“Sooyoung-a, Sooyoung-a! Could you come out here for a second?”

I crinkled my eyebrows upon hearing the sound of my neighbor’s voice—the middle-aged ahjumma with the black perm next door—as she persistently knocks on the door. It must’ve been a while since she started banging the door and calling out my name, I thought, since three alarm clocks don’t stand a chance in waking me up in the morning. However, I decided to open the door for her in spite of my sleepy state, the mat similar to a magnet that’s making it difficult for me to stand up.

I glanced at one of the alarm clocks on the right side of the mat I’m sleeping on before heading to the door, and it was only 8AM in the morning. My class starts at 10:30AM, which is quite the downer because I’ve been meaning to catch up with some rest, and this big mouth ahjumma just wakes me up without even thinking of my situation.

Finally, I reached the door and turned its knob to open it, about to greet the ahjumma who’s been knocking on my door for how many minutes with sleep in my eyes, but there was someone else whom I wasn’t expecting at my doorstep; someone whose presence was like splashing my entire body with a bucket of ice water. And this time, he’s not alone: he has two tall, hairy, muscular bodyguards behind him.

The landlord.

“L-landlord,” I unintentionally chuckled in a nervous manner, unable to hide the anxiety that’s slowly building up inside me, just waiting to explode. “So what brings you here? I just paid you the other day.”

“You paid for July to October. How about the payments from November to May?” he smirked, his arms folded across his chest before attending to the cigarette in his mouth, releasing smoke from his nose and mouth.

“Err… could we talk about this, landlord?” I grit my teeth together, trying my best to smile in spite of the fact that I’m really, really scared right now. “I mean, could you please consider my situation, at least? I’ve been working hard, you know.”

The landlord raised an eyebrow. That’s not good.

“Sooyoung-i, although I am as good as you say I am, I’ve set rules and regulations for boarders to follow.” He explains with a hint of complacency in his tone as he wipes his head with a handkerchief, running his hand through his thinning gray strands of hair. “I’ve considered your family situation for quite a while now, and I even turned down the people who are interested to board with the money to pay me just so that I can collect the money you owe me. Heck, I even removed the interest!”

I raised my thumb at him, smiling with the hope that he could still be swayed by my petty remarks, even though I have the feeling that they’re of no help now. “...and that’s why you’re my favorite landlord!”

He glances at the muscular guy on his right before turning to the other one on his left, exchanging smirks before directing their attention at me. The landlord’s expression completely changed, making me feel uneasy that I held onto the doorway for support, thinking that I may fall on my knees any moment now.

“You have 24 hours to vacate this place,” he spoke, his gaze strong and unfazed. “Or else…”

The landlord faced the guy on his left, nodding his head towards my direction. The man approaches the door, and just when I use everything that I can to keep him away from my apartment, a mere push coming from his hand is all that he had to do to make me lose my balance and fall on the wooden floor in disbelief.

The stranger moves towards the drawer near my mat, opening all of them before throwing the containers on the floor, all of our clothes scattered. He then heads for the rundown TV that my father would pack along with us whenever we moved, only to pull it away from its table and completely broken when it reached the floor.

Angry, I stood up to stop the man from whatever he’s still planning to do, for I can’t bear to watch everything that my dad and I worked hard for shattered into pieces just because we’re not financially stable. Upon reaching him before he empties the cabinets like how he did with the drawers, I gripped the fabric of his shirt from behind, pulling him away and fortunately, I was successful in doing so, his colliding with the floor.

“You’re asking for it!” he cried out, standing from his place as he walks towards me with closed fists. Despite the fear within me, I put my hands in front of me, balling them into fists as well, prepared to defend myself. He laughed for a moment, “That’s cute, you know? Thinking that you can beat me…”

He lifts his hand, and I close my eyes, letting my fists do whatever as I take the punch that was coming at me—.

“Stop it.”

I opened my eyes upon hearing the landlord’s voice, and I find myself staring at the man’s fist that was merely centimeters away from my face.

“But sir—,”

“We only came here to scare her, not injure her.” The landlord answered, the coldness in his voice still unwavering. “We’ve already done our job here. Now, Choi Sooyoung-sshi, unless you want to know what happens after that punch, you can continue staying here… or leave. Whatever’s more convenient for you.”

The man in front of me pulls his hand away before fixing his jacket. My eyes followed him as he approaches the landlord, who’s now wearing a wicked grin on his face.

“Call me kind, since I’m not going to ask you to pay the rest of your rent once you step out of this building for good.” He says as a farewell, and I continue to glare at them as they departed.

Slowly, I went across the room to close the door when I noticed that there were a number of people who appeared on this floor, probably curious of what was happening around here. I ignored their gazes filled with pity, disgust, or any emotion that’s appropriate for the situation. I closed the door, lean on it for a few seconds, trying to take everything in.

No matter how hard I make myself curve my lips into a smile, I can only frown while I dragged my feet across the room to return the drawers back to their places. Afterward, I grabbed all of my clothes, fixing them so that they’re organized once I put them back into their respective drawer.

Soon, I feel tears streaming down from my eyes, followed by a sniffle while I try to hold back all of the negative emotions that are escaping me bit by bit.

It was a gloomy day; the gray clouds appeared in the sky and rained on my way to school, as if the weather’s giving me sympathy after what had happened. Throughout the time I was in the subway, questions were running through my mind. Where will I stay now? Will I still be able to find an apartment at an affordable price and on such a short notice? What if my father wakes up and is discharged all of the sudden—he’ll find out that we don’t have a place to live anymore.

I’ve been thinking too much that I even forgot to bring my umbrella, even though I’m fully aware of the fact that it will be raining when I stepped out of my house.

Once I exited the subway station, the rain started to pour down heavily. I removed my backpack and put it above my head while I made my way through the sea of people who are heading towards the same direction as I am.

My eyes came across the area near the university that is mostly made up of restaurants and cafés, and a number of people are squeezing together under the roofs of the restaurants they’re standing next to, waiting for the rain to stop. I decided to check if there was another restaurant or café that has a roof wherein I could avoid the rain.

I ended up standing under the shade of Graze, the café I used to work at. As if the heavy downpour of rain wasn’t enough to ruin my day, the thought of being spotted by my former boss under his roof makes it a lot worse; on the day that I was fired, I even vowed myself that I will never order anything from Graze nor will I even step foot on its premises. But look where I am right now. It’s a good thing that the place is pretty jam-packed with people who are having their breakfast at the café or simply letting time slip away by drinking a cup of coffee while listening to the Bossa nova tunes being played inside.

All of the sudden, I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I freeze in my place. If it were the boss standing behind me, I’m sure he’ll make a scene just like when he fired me back then. I’ve never felt so ashamed in my life, and for the first time in years, I wondered how the people present back then viewed me. Normally, I wouldn’t be thinking about how people see me as, but I reckon they had judged me in a negative manner.

But I guess I’m not in the mood to feel sorry for standing under his roof, so I decided to turn around to face the man, thinking that my day couldn’t get any worse.

However, it wasn’t the person whom I was anticipating for.

“Jungsoo-sshi?” I widened my eyes while Jungsoo was wearing a cordial smile across his face, and somehow, it feels like taking in a breath of fresh air, that a huge burden has been lifted from my shoulders.

Jungsoo invited me to have breakfast with him at Graze café, saying that we can keep each other company until the rain stops pouring. Although I hesitated for a moment, afraid that my boss would humiliate me in front of the customers again, there was something about Jungsoo that was comforting, which made me join him otherwise.

We were able to find a seat in spite of the number of people present at this hour. The sound of the rain colliding with the earth has been replaced by slow jazz tunes, and it is warmer here due to the steam coming from the espresso machines, compared to the cold air outside.

“You’re wet all over.” Jungsoo-sshi noted, clicking his tongue as he shakes his head in disapproval, his arms across his chest while leaning back into his chair. “You must be freezing. You should drink something warm or else, you might catch a cold.”

I bowed in front of him. “I’m sorry.”

“Well, you shouldn’t be sorry. It’s not your fault that you wanted to get wet in the rain.” He says, taking the menu book that’s being offered to him by one of the waitresses of the café, who later on, offers me a menu book, but I shake my head at her. “Give us two espressos and an order of your breakfast crepe with scrambled eggs, ham and mozzarella cheese inside.” He then looks at me. “Do you have anything else to order? I’m paying.”

I shake my head at him. “No, thank you. I already ate. An espresso’s fine.” I curve my lips at him afterward, letting him know that I’m fine before returning the menu book to the waitress. As he sighed in his seat, I recall what had happened last night wherein I rejected his offer of becoming the crown princess while the real crown princess was away. Nevertheless, I don’t feel uncomfortable in front of him compared to the first time we’ve met. His presence was soothing in its own way.

“Soori and I used to eat here every Friday mornings.” Jungsoo uttered, a sad smile dawning upon his lips as he played with the salt and pepper shakers on the table. “It’s been a week since she left, and I don’t know how long I will be eating here by myself on Fridays.”

He couldn’t manage to look at me in the eye like yesterday, and recalling how troubled they were last night, Jungsoo was still able to keep his composure. However, he seems to have let his guard down, probably by the thought of his sister.

Jungsoo-sshi starts chuckling afterward, and it appears to me that he’s doing his best to convince himself that he shouldn’t be like this—that things like this shouldn’t faze him, but it does.

“I have to thank you though, Sooyoung-sshi.” Jungsoo now shifts his gaze from the table to me. “With you around, it feels like I’m eating with Soori.”

Hearing his response is heartwarming, especially when my presence is necessary for him to return to the man whom I met last night; the man who outshines the stars in the dark sky. Even though I want to be more of help to him through words, my mind couldn’t think of an appropriate answer, resulting to the unwanted silence that’s surrounding us again.

I never had a sibling, so I’ve never understood the relationship that binds them together. Most of my classmates in middle school and high school have younger, older siblings, with whom they despise at times, wishing that their siblings would disappear from the face of this planet. But to be honest, the feeling that there will always be someone whom you can lean on—that there is someone whom you can share the good and the bad with—is something that I’m envious of my old schoolmates... so badly that I would beg my father to give me a younger brother or sister at one point in my life. But it was only then that I realized that you need to have a mother in order for you to have a sibling. Unfortunately, I grew up without knowing my mother.

“I’m sorry, Jungsoo-sshi.”

Jungsoo directs his attention away from the cup of espresso in his hands to me, his eyebrows furrowing in puzzlement. “For what?”

“For declining the job that you had offered to me last night.” I retorted before taking in a deep breath while Jungsoo was blinking his eyes repeatedly, obviously stunned with my answer though I don’t think that he should be. I smile, “Despite what happened last night, you continue to treat me with kindness.”

He starts scratching the back of his head as he chuckled, and from the sound of it, it was a genuine laugh. “I think I’m the one who should be asking you for an apology, Sooyoung-sshi. In fact, I was the one who requested you to do such a thing, knowing the risks that would come along with your supposed pretense.”

With both of his hands laid flat on the table, Jungsoo-sshi lowers his head before me, taking me aback with his unexpected humility.

“I’m sorry, Sooyoung-sshi, for even thinking of putting you in a disgraceful position.” Jungsoo spoke, sincerity evident through his words and actions.

“Lift your head, Jungsoo-agisshi.” I tell him, and he does. “I understand. If I were in your situation, I might have resorted to disgraceful means as well.”

Jungsoo genuinely curved his lips afterward.

Both of us have something that we value which makes us do things out of desperation—I’m sure that he also bears this thought in mind.

“Sooyoung, eat more. You’ve become thinner since you visited us last time.”

Yoona’s mother aims her chopsticks at my direction, motioning for me to eat as I eyed the bowl of rice before me, half-empty. I couldn’t tell her frankly that I’ve lost my appetite ever since I stepped inside of their house with the intention of staying over for the night.

“Mom, don’t force her to eat if she doesn’t want to anymore.” Yoona answers her mother in an irritated mother, although I don’t see any reason why she should be. If she thinks her mother is embarrassing, I wouldn’t really mind it because I don’t think I have the right to judge her in that manner, knowing that she’s already letting me stay inside their house.

I bow my head in front of Yoona’s mother. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Im. I just don’t think that I could eat anymore since today was really tiring.”

Mrs. Im, whose appearance defies her real age, speaks in a way that an ahjumma would. “It’s because at times like this, you should be eating more in order to gain strength to face your problems. Don’t be ashamed, Sooyoung-i.”

“Why would Sooyoung be ashamed? She’s been to our house ever since middle school—ah!”

Before Yoona could finish her remark, her mother leaned over the table to smack her head. Yoona immediately rubs the part that was hit with her right hand.

“Mom!”

“Aigoo, you better control that sharp tongue of yours before I give it a dull edge!” Yoona’s mother raises her voice, her wrinkles finally showing while Yoona covers with her free hand. Mrs. Im then sighs. “I’m getting wrinkles because of you.”

After swallowing the last serving of rice in my mouth, I carried my bowl and plate, standing up. “I’ll wash the dishes, Mrs. Im.”

“Okay, okay. Thank you, Sooyoung-i.” Mrs. Im props her elbows on the table, her face depicting pain as she rubs her temples with index fingers. “Aigoo, I’m coming down with a migraine. Yah, Im Yoona, get me my pain relievers.”

While Yoona is on her way getting her mom’s medication, I headed to the kitchen. I emptied my bowl and plate by throwing the leftovers in the trash can before washing the plates.

Yoona arrives in the kitchen with another batch of dirty dishes, and I assist her in laying them on the countertop. After a few more trips from the dining area to the kitchen, I was able to start washing the dishes. Upon cleaning a set of dirty dishes, Yoona uses a kitchen rag to dry the clean tableware.

“What happened between you and Kibum last night?” Yoona starts talking out of the blue, and I try to keep my emotions intact so that Yoona wouldn’t have to dig in deeper with regard to what really happened last night.

“He brought Chinese food and we ate…” I replied, handing Yoona the glass I just rinsed without having to face her. “…and we talked.”

“Talked about what?” Yoona asked, obviously sounding curious behind my conversation with Kibum last night.

I sigh. “He asked me if I was able to get the job. I told him that I wasn’t interviewed yet.”

“That’s it?” she opens in disbelief.

“What do you want to hear from me, anyway?” I questioned her in response, since she seems to already have an idea behind what’s going on and yet she’s still asking for answers, which is something that I find ridiculous of Yoona sometimes.

“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking you!” she states as if it’s the obvious. “I couldn’t approach Kibum today, and I’m aware of the fact that he visited you last night, so whatever happened last night must’ve made Kibum seriously angry and leaving you pretending that nothing happened.”

I start rinsing the tableware that I was soaping just now while thinking of an answer to Yoona without getting her to react unnecessarily. But judging by the words that I’ve come up with in my mind, none of them could ever stand a chance in making my dear friend standing next to me listen in silence.

“He comes waltzing inside my house, telling me that I care for other people too much that I even ignore myself at times, and then I snapped at him because I thought that he wasn’t making any sense.” I shrug my shoulders, showing Yoona that this petty argument doesn’t affect me at all. It does, but here’s hoping that she doesn’t notice it.

When I finished rinsing the plate in my hand, I gave it to Yoona for her to dry, facing her as I did. She had this puzzled look on her face when I turned to her, open and surprisingly, no comments or remarks regarding my argument with Kibum last night. Rather, she was rendered speechless. Oddly, her silence is bothering me more than her endless gibbering.

“What?” I asked, wondering why she hasn’t said a word about it.

Instead of answering my question, she goes back to drying the glass in her hand, focusing her gaze at it. “Nothing,”

I stopped washing the dishes for a moment and washed my hands, eventually putting them on my waist. “What’s up with your expression?”

“I told you. It’s nothing.” Yoona immediately responds, avoiding the topic of our conversation.

“Come on, Yoong. Could you tell me what’s wrong?” I asked pleadingly, hoping that she tells me the reason behind her silence.

She lets out a sigh, returning the dried glass of water in its shelf before facing me. “Kibum mentioned that to me one time too, and honestly, I agree with him.”

“Yoong,”

“He’s just trying to make your life easier.” Yoona raised her voice, and I was alarmed by the sudden shift in tone. “I’ve never seen Kibum so pissed off, you know? The guy is worried about you, and you told him that he’s not making sense.”

“Well, he wasn’t—,”

Preview:

 “I know you loathe the fact that you're the crown prince and you don't really care about everything related to your title, but to say that you don't give a damn on your grandfather's life being at stake... BULL! That's low, Kyuhyun. Even for you."

“Grandfather is on his way to the palace. What should we do, Jungsoo-hyung?”

"Please... we really need you to do this."

"Alright, I accept."

“I know that I had declined your offer of being the crown princess but, I’m willing to become Park Soori.”

So that's it for now. :D Advance happy new year, guys! Subscribe and comment! :D