FORTY FIVE

For the next few weeks, Yonghwa was still nursing a broken heart. Compared to the very first time she broke up with him, however, he could say that he was gradually getting there. Not that he had totally given up on her but after that night; he decided to let things simmer down for a bit.

He kept himself busy and thankfully his schedule had been packed for the next few weeks but with some days off. And he spent those free time at the gym or recording studio, never alone in the dorm or the home he purchased lately.

It was a week after that night in the bar that he drowned himself in alcohol that he could barely get up the next day. The boys fussed all over him and it pissed him off some more. With the remaining poison in his blood, he asked his lawyer to find him a place close to the company and their dorm. The studio type apartment was bare with only one bed, a small table, a breakfast counter and the basic kitchen equipments. Nobody knew that place. It was where he would hide away when he couldn’t seem to face anybody.

Lately, though, he decided that the silence and solitude were giving him too much time to think about Seohyun, especially that night he stupidly went to her to claim her body. Yonghwa thought she would fight him— that it would trigger another argument. That it would lead towards understanding. But in the end, all he learned was that Seohyun was still willing to be possessed by him.

And Yonghwa wanted more than that so he left.

He groaned when the muscles on his calf complained. Pressing the stop button, he jogged the remaining speed until the machine came into a halt. He wiped the sweat streaming down his temples and grabbed the bottled water on the holder and took a swig. It was only then that he noticed the little light flickering on his phone that was resting on one of the benches in front of him.

Yonghwa frowned when the missed calls all came from Mr. Kang, the caretaker of the garden in the arboretum. He dialed his number and after a while, the old man answered. “Mr. Kang? I’m sorry I just noticed my phone.”

“Oh… yeah, Yonghwa, I’ve been trying to call you. Your girlfriend is here and… and she’s very drunk… I thought you were coming to get her.”

“How long has she been there?” Yonghwa flinched looking at his wristwatch. It was past nine.

“More than an hour? I didn’t really notice that time since I was fixing something in the guardhouse.”

“Okay, I…” he sighed. He really didn’t want to see her right this moment, “Can you call a taxi?”

There was a brief silence like the old man was as surprised as he was with what he asked then Mr. Kang cleared his throat, “I don’t know if that’s a good thing. She drove here and she is insisting she wants to leave already.  I can’t let her drive in this condition.”

“Okay… okay,” Yonghwa groaned to himself, “I’ll be there. She might get really stubborn, get her keys if you have to.”

“I will… just hurry, will you?”

“Yes, I will…” he replied politely and ended the call. Skipping the shower he was supposed to take, he grabbed his bag and left the gym.

The conflicting emotions were wearing him out again but he knew he needed to go there since she might try something stupid in her drunken state. As far as he knows, Seohyun avoids drinking too much since she complained about getting drunk easily and she is not really good with hangovers. Fortunately, the traffic flow was not a since the arboretum was on the outskirts of town and he needed more than half an hour to get there.

Hopefully, she won’t be very stubborn or it would be better if she had fallen asleep so he didn’t need to deal with her. It was costing him too much of emotional torture just to be inside her sphere. Yonghwa took another deep breath. He wanted so much for her to be dead drunk so he wouldn’t need to look at those eyes or listen to that sweet sweet voice.

After almost an hour, he reached the arboretum and Mr. Kang waved his flashlight at him as he alighted from his car. “Where is she?” Yonghwa found himself asking hurriedly then bowed respectfully when he remembered.

“In my office,” the old man led him to the small room, “I helped her walk a few minutes ago but I think she has fallen asleep.”

There she was resting her head on her folded arms on the couch. Seohyun didn’t move so he assumed that she was really sleeping so he sat on the edge of the sofa beside her legs. It was nearly a moment that Yonghwa just sat there and watched her soft breathing. How long had it been since he got this close to her? There was this deep pain that cut through him that morning he closed the door of her bedroom as she slept. Yonghwa thought it would be the last time in a long moment that he would see her that way.

But this time, as he sat there watching her, it was all too clear that he couldn’t go any farther. No matter how she would try to push him away, he could never really do it. He sighed as he noticed the old man looking at him so he took Seohyun’s hand and adjusted her closer to him, “Hyun? Wake up…”

“Yonghwa Oppa?” She opened one eye and peered at him through those lazy lashes then her lips twitched into a little smile. “Oppa… you came…”

“Of course I came…” he muttered as he draped one arm over his shoulder and gestured for her to stand as he lifted her up.

Seohyun grinned looping her fingers together that she was already hugging him by the neck, “I thought Mr. Kang was joking…”

“You really thought I will not come?” Yonghwa chuckled smelling the tinge of alcohol on her breath as he led her out of the room.

“Hmmm…” she closed her eyes wrapping her arms around his shoulder and resting her head on his chest that Yonghwa couldn’t do anything but lift her off her feet and carry her into the car.

Despite her weight, he managed to drop her on the passenger seat while Mr. Kang held the door open for him. When she was securely fastened on her seat, he closed the door and turned to the old man, “Thank you so much and I’m so sorry for the trouble.”

“No problem,” Mr. Kang patted his shoulder then grinned, “You two must have had an argument? Women like her are a pain but you sure got one gem in there to keep safe… don’t let her get stolen.”

Yonghwa nodded as the man smiled. He was right. When the time is right, he would do everything to keep Seohyun with him—and only for himself.

~~~

So many thoughts hovered his mind as he drove to her apartment. Looking at her cocooned in his jacket and leaning close to the window as she slept, Yonghwa decided that he could not just drop her off alone. Although Seohyun could not really pose any danger to herself, he could not really take that risk. He knew that he was still the reason why she drank.

And, of course, how many chances like this he would be given?

It was almost midnight