Chapter 7

In the month that followed, Tiffany had become one of Yunho’s inner circles of friends. They had been so inseparable that Mrs. Jung once remarked that it seemed as if Yunho had grown another body alongside his & become a siamese twin but although, they are friends & did almost everything together now, Yunho was still the devil he was before. Once, he had pestered her about going to a strip club, hopping & almost made her heart jumped out of but she had suspected that Yunho had been testing & teasing her when he had made that offer because he had laughed like a lunatic seeing her sputtering & horrified expression but what she remembered the most was the one when they were watching this dare devil stunt show on tv. She had remarked how stupid she thought the guy was, trying to skydive when he was so afraid of heights! Yunho had mocked her to be a chicken & how perfectly boring her life was. His taunt had been so bad that before she knew it, she was screaming her way down as Yunho had pushed her from the plane before he had jumped himself & how he had bent down in laughter when her legs had trembled like plucked strings when she had tried to stand up afterwards. She had had no other choice then but to give him a bump the size of a golf ball on his head for that. It’s not that she hadn’t had fun doing it because it was the most exciting & exhilarating things she had ever experienced. It’s just the principal of things. Nobody laughed at her & walked away with nothing. In her heart though, she admitted that Yunho had been right to do what he had done. If he had waited for her to jump by herself then the plane would likely run out of gas before she had decided not to jump & missed the greatest experience of her life. Of course, she would rather die a thousand deaths than admit it out loud in his face but then, she had expected that being friends with him would be enjoyable & thrilling.

What she hadn’t expected was that she could admire & respect him without even trying. She had thought he was a spoiled guy, someone who would throw tantrum when he couldn’t get his wish in which she had had experiences. Someone who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth that he would be helpless & could only depend on his manager & board of directors when dealing with business. Someone who would spend his day playing, having fun, pulling pranks on people & generally, wrecking hell in Seoul! She had never expected to see the serious & brilliant sides of him the minute he had stepped into his office. The persuasive & charming sides of him when he had had to negotiate a deal. She could see the admiration & respect clearly on the faces of his employee when they had greeted him & she had never expected he had this alluring side when he had had to deal with a woman who had flirted with him, although she had expected his cutting & acidic remarks when the woman had been too persistent for his liking & she had definitely never expected to fall head over heels in love with him. Although, if someone asked her why she would fall for someone like him, the best answer she could come up with would be just because. All she knew was that she had felt so alive when she was with him that she had felt wretched & irritated when she saw a woman flirting with him. Luckily, Yunho had never flirted back in front of her face so far; otherwise, she didn’t know what she would do. It was the first time she had ever felt this way after all & although, she couldn’t put her finger on the exact time she had fallen for him nor the exact reason, she could recall clearly when it had grinned at her & bonked her cheerfully in the head.

*Flashback*

It was a week ago. They had planned on going on a private cruise with three of Yunho’s close friends & their girlfriends. Since Yunho didn’t have one, thank god for that, he had picked her to even out the number. She had been thrilled beyond belief. Not until she was on the deck, sipping her orange juice that she realized with the fun also came the risk of Yunho finding out her secret. If she fell into the water then the blue short sleeve mesh polo shirt would be glued to her body & everybody could easily see the ridges of the binding on her chest. Her makeup would be washed away & she just knew that the padding on her waist would get loose & fall off, showing her curve to the world to see. What would Yunho do then? She shuddered as she imagined his reaction to the truth & immediately went to find him.

“Yunho, I don’t feel well. I think I will just hop to the land & wait there until you are back.” She said, as pitifully as she could.

Yunho lowered the dark glasses on his nose & looked at her so deeply that he made her want to squirm. Suddenly, he grinned his devilish grin & , “You don’t know how to swim, do you? That’s why you made this poor excuses not to go with me because frankly, you don’t look sick to me. You look worried.” Grabbing the excuse with both hands, Tiffany nodded vehemently, “I was so excited to go that I didn’t think about drowning or becoming shark lunch.” Then she looked expectantly at him, “So, can I not go?”

Yunho looked at her incredulously & started to laugh. He only stopped when she started to crack her knuckles. He cleared his throat & grinned, “Don’t worry, sissy boy. It’s only a cruises, not boat racing. I will make sure you are on the yacht, not under it. Moreover, it’s too late to dump you. The yacht has cast off if you haven’t noticed. The life jacket was under the seat. Wear one.” Then he leaned back, pushed his glasses back on its original position & went back into sunbathing but he was right to his words. She didn’t even have the chance to be three feet from the rail before he tug her back to sit in the middle of the deck. Tiffany could only heave a heavy sigh as the other girls squealed when they saw dolphins swimming along the yacht. After listening to so many squeals, she couldn’t hold her curiosity in any longer & ran to the side to see them for herself. She had only started to squeal herself when one of the dolphins leaped up. Alarmed, she stepped back, not aware that there was a pool of water behind her & before she knew it, she was slipping from the boat & towards the open sea.

“Help!” She screamed, as she saw the deep blue water getting closer & closer to her. Her thought started to imagine an open mouthed smug shark waiting for her down there.

Out of nowhere, someone from her right heaved her towards the middle of the deck & let the momentum from her fall carry him over the side & into the water. The sound of something plunging into the water made her heart jumped up & lodged in . She could feel her blood drained out of her as she started to feel faint. Forcing her legs to carry her, she ran towards the side rail, “No! Yunho!” She howled, when she could see nothing but dolphins fin in the deep blue water. Her heart started to shrivel in her chest as she imagined him being ripped apart by the sharks or drown & buried in the floor of the ocean, ‘Do dolphins also eat human?’ She wondered.

Hurriedly, she fastened her lifejacket & was prepared to jump when one of Yunho’s friends pulled her back, “Let me go. I have to save him.” She rammed her elbow into his stomach & turned back to jump overboard when Yunho’s head finally broke through the water, “Yunho.” She breathed in relief. Her legs finally gave up & turned to jelly, causing her to slump against the railing. His friends immediately threw a floating device at him & pulled him up on board again.

“Are you insane? You could be sharks snack.” Tiffany glared at the drenched guy sitting in front of her while her heart continued to thunder in her ear. If she knew to what extent Yunho would do because of her disguises, she would gladly throw her chest bindings to the sea. She primed herself for the sarcastic reply she was sure to get for having the guts to complain at him after he saved her but totally out of character, Yunho pulled her into his arms instead, “Are you okay? Your not hurt, are you?” He whispered gently. She could feel the thud of his heart on her cheeks & the warmth of his embrace.

Feeling her eyes getting hot with tears, she could only nod. She didn’t know how long she stayed there, in his embrace but by the time he let her loose, there was nobody else on deck. They were alone as the sun started to go down.

*End of Flashback*

Crouching at the furthest corner of the linen closet, Tiffany had to stifle a groan. It was the stupidest thing she had ever done, falling for a guy like him, a gay guy! She was sure that Yunho was attracted to her now. The way he had hugged her on that boat wasn’t friends to friends hug. The way he had looked at her wasn’t how friends looked at each other & the tender way he had asked her...groaning softly, she pounded her head with her fists but how could she resists a guy who had saved her, not caring that he had put himself at risk in doing so? How could she not love a guy who could make her feel energized at every turn? It was just her luck that the guy she loved was attracted to her masculine side. Would he look at her with disgusts if she revealed the truth? & it wasn’t the only problem she had either. Yoona had been chasing her more & more & it made her head throb heavily & although, she had rejected the girl countless of times before, both subtly & plainly, she didn’t seem to get it at all. Instead, she had a way to make her feel like a terrified rabbit being chased by a big bad wolf every time she looked at her with those hungry looks in her eyes. Sighing, she looked at her michael kors runaway chronograph watch & decided to wait five more minutes, although she could hear neither her footsteps nor her voice from the hallway & she had better use that time to decide what to do about Yunho.

The linen closet door creaked open & Tiffany sneaked out from it after she was sure that Yoona wasn’t waiting for her outside. As relief flooded her upon seeing the deserted hallway, she happily tiptoed towards her room & whimpered when Yoona popped out in front of her, smiling in satisfaction. She immediately turned to flee again, but the maid was nothing if not fast. Before she could take the eighth step, the maid had already grabbed her arm & steered her towards the living room, “Where were you, handsome? I have been looking for you for the longest time.” She whispered breathily into her ear, making Tiffany shudder instinctively in repulsion but instead of being embarrassed by the telling sign, she fitted her body into Tiffany’s more closely & blew a breath in her ear, “You know, too bad master Yunho is looking for you. Otherwise, we could have fun together.” She looked at Tiffany as she her small, thin pink lips.

Tiffany looked at the girl in terror & immediately tried to extract her arms from Yoona’s death grip but the girl clutched her arms even more tightly & pouted. Giving up, Tiffany walked as quickly as she could to the living room, ‘I have to put an end to this.’ She thought, as she looked at Yoona from the corner of her eyes & had to suppress a shudder at the adoring look she sent her. The sooner the better. She walked more determinedly towards the familiar sound of his voice & laughter.

“Yunho, I have got to tell you something. I’m.” The rest of her words went back down as she felt her body turned into a statue when she saw whom Yunho was talking to.