TWENTY SIX

From his vantage point, he could only see the man’s expression clearly— Sooyoung was on his side and Seohyun had her back on him. It was easy to assume that the person was not only an old friend and so the lingering vile in his system was starting to cloud his better judgment. Only when Sooyoung was taken away from the two that Yonghwa finally acted on his obvious jealousy. He walked casually towards them but stood a good few steps away enough to catch their conversation.

“How are you?”

“Good. How have you been, Oppa.”

“I’m— Hyunnie, I have been trying to reach you…”

“How’s business?”

“Everything’s fine… I miss you…”

Yonghwa groaned silently to himself knowing it was his cue. Out of the blue, he s his arm around her waist and settled his hand possessively by her hip, “Baby, I’ve been looking for you…”

Seohyun was clearly shaken by his sudden appearance especially the hand that pressed so hard on her hip that all she could do was to tilt her head up to meet his eyes as he took her flute from her hand, “Oppa, this is Choi Minho—”

“Hi, I’m sorry to interrupt,” Yonghwa deliberately cut her then offered his hand to the other guy for a handshake, “By the way, Jung Yonghwa… Joohyun-ssi’s boyfriend.” The telltale sign of her discomfort was written all over her face but Yonghwa was more interested in watching this man’s face change abruptly with what he just claimed.

“Oh, it’s nice to meet you… Choi Minho. Uhm, we used to—”

“We both trained together under the same management,” Seohyun supplied with a nervous smile.

“Oh, I’m really glad to meet her old friends…” Yonghwa grinned but he felt how his jaws stiffened.  

Minho smiled graciously, “I’m happy to know that someone’s taking care of uri Joohyun.”

The word emphasized rang in his ears. Uri Joohyun. Our Joohyun. Yonghwa wanted to laugh at that for Joohyun is not anyone’s but his. Only his. He was about to counter but Seohyun sighed loudly that his eyes fell on her. For a short second, she narrowed her gaze at him then shifted a friendly smile at the other guy. Yonghwa was only pacified when he felt her fingers coiling on his as she spoke calmly, “Anyway, gentlemen, I think it’s time we get our refill. I’ll see you around, Oppa…”

In no time, Seohyun half-dragged him to the bar and when they were far from hearing distance of the other guests, she tugged on his arm, “What was that?”

“What was what?” Yonghwa looked at her as if nothing happened.

She gave him a sidelong glance then snickered in disdain, “I didn’t know we were going to go around telling other people we are dating.”

“We could do that,” Yonghwa nodded but his jaws were still tensed and he was almost glaring at her, “Especially to ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends.”

“How did you—“

“I’m a man. I know how a man looks at a woman and he was not just looking.” He stopped and watched her eyes widened and it pissed him off some more that he was unstoppable, “He wants to get in your skirt, again?”

She winced for a moment then shook her head deadpanned, “Are we doing this here?”

“Why?” Yonghwa sneered back, “Can we do this somewhere else more comfortable for you?”

“Great!” She raised her hands dismissively, “I just talked to the person and you’re mad at me.”

“You were so engrossed talking to him you didn’t even realize I walked by!”

“What the f— are you saying? Ohh, god…” Seohyun covered her face with her palms for a second then shook her head, “I don’t need this, Oppa. Neither do you…”

Yonghwa knew then that he had crossed another line and this time, it was really really bad. For a moment, he watched her walk away from him until he it snapped back on him that he was able to catch her wrist before Seohyun could leave.

“What?” Seohyun snapped the moment she met his eyes.

Yonghwa swallowed, “Let’s dance…”

“Is this a joke?”

Her voice was full defiance but he was also determined not to let the night end badly. Shaking his head, he took her hand, “No… dance with me…”

It was a stupid solution to the tensed situation since he doesn’t really dance but Yonghwa stubbornly placed her hands on his chest and rested his own on her hips. He kept his distance but she didn’t move and he too didn’t want to initiate the dance so they just stood on the side a few meters away from where the other couples were swaying to the slow song. 

Seohyun still refused to look at him and trained her eyes on the ground so he took a deep breath and whispered gently almost patronizingly, “Hyun, look at me… look at me, please…” He tried to pull his lips into a small smile when she lifted her gaze to meet his, “Hyun, I’m sorry, I was just—“

“Being a man?” Seohyun snapped and the sides of her eyes were already watery. Shaking her head, she hung her head low again, “I don’t want to talk about this… at least not here and now, Oppa.”

He sighed. He really did it. Those tears in her eyes should never have been there and he wanted to kick himself for causing them. “Yes, okay… baby.” Yonghwa moved one step closer until his lips touched her hair as he closed his eyes, “I love you. It w-was childish, I got mad… then scared.”

At last, he felt her head dropped on his shoulder as she whispered back, “I love you, you stupid caveman.”

A soft laugh escaped his throat and Yonghwa brushed his lips quickly on her temple. The action was too fast that anyone who was probably paying attention to them would think that he was only whispering something to her, “Baby—”

“No, Oppa,” Seohyun shook her head as she straightened, “I love you but I’m still very very mad right now.”

Although she said that she was still very mad, all Yonghwa heard was that she loved him and it was enough for him. Perhaps it was a good time to take a step back and let the heat simmer down for both of them. He made his way back into the bar and engaged in an easy conversation with the bartender. As the night progressed, the guests were leaving one by one and only the immediate family members and closest friends of the newlyweds remained. The two fingers of whiskey on the rocks he had been sipping for the longest time had reduced to watery alcohol because he knew it would be a terrible idea to get drunk although he wanted so much to.

His phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket so he hurriedly retrieved it.

“Oppa, are you drinking?”

“No, I’ll drive you home.”

“I want to leave already. Let’s meet at the car park?”

He found himself smiling. It was safe to assume that her message seemed better so he replied, “Okay, bby.”

After leaving a tip to the bartender who virtually kept him company, he waved at Sooyoung and her husband and motioned that he was leaving. Yonghwa noticed that Seohyun was probably saying goodbye to her own friends so he decided to go ahead and wait for h