Chapter 11

Yuri got out of the car in front of everlasting boutique, panting “Sulli!” She screamed, seething with rage, ‘She almost made me late for work again.’ Yuri thought. That morning, Sulli had clung to her like a leech, offering to lend her clothes & drive her to work, ‘Sulli? Since when has she offered to drive me anywhere?’ Yuri would have conceded just to stop her from whining if a friend of hers from France didn’t call at that very moment. Even now, Sulli’s high-pitched, shrilly squeals were still echoing & reverberating in her ear, ‘What is wrong with her?’ Yuri thought, hurrying up the path, still slightly out of breath, ‘I doubt if she’s ever said a nice thing to me before, yet alone drive me to work. Yeah right, probably trying to catch another glimpse of Jaejoong Oppa.’ She smiled, surrendering quietly, ‘Not that I blame her.’

Yuri stepped into the store just as the first peals of thunder roared overhead, ‘I just hope Oppa can forgive me again.’ She grimaced as she glanced at her bulova crystal rose gold-tone bracelet watch, ‘Eight-thirty. What will Sulli do to me next? She’s going to get me fired for not being punctual.’

Yuri brushed her mid-back length, straight dark brown hair out of her eyes, leaving a dirt smudge on her sharp & pointed nose. As much as she loved flowers, she hated repotting them. The stubborn flowers neither seemed to want to leave the pot nor did it agree to be repotted into another one. With a sudden burst of determination & concentration, she continued to wrestle with the damn plants as beads of perspiration formed on her forehead! Outside the transparent glass of the greenhouse, dark clouds swirled overhead & rain started to patter down on the glass panes. Once in awhile, a fork of lightning would flash down with an accompanying boom of thunder, causing the lights of the greenhouse to flicker before coming back on, casting an eerie glow around Yuri’s dark surroundings.

While her hands worked, her mind wandered to Jaejoong. No matter how she scolded herself, there was nothing she could do to stop the thoughts of him seeping into her mind, “Jaejoong Oppa.” She whispered silently, “I wish I could be with you but it’s over. That beautiful day has vanished like that sandcastle, engulfed by waves on that beach. From now on, we can only be co-workers, nothing more.” Her heart felt like it was breaking every time she whispered his name, taking all her remaining energy to make this resolution. A resolution that had failed last time she had gazed into the depths of Jaejoong’s warm, inviting eyes.

“Why?”

Yuri whirled around & speaking of the devil, she saw Jaejoong leaning on the polished, oak doorway of the greenhouse. His normally calm, casual posture was tense & rigid, hands crossed across his chest, “Why what?” She wanted to know, using her arm to dab the sweat off of her forehead. Had she accidentally uttered her thoughts out loud? Was she going insane?

“Don’t pretend to be innocent. Why did you do it?” His dead, hollow voice brought her back to earth sharply. She stopped her repotting, scrutinizing his face closely, it displayed a painful & hurtful look as if it had been written there, “Oppa, I don’t un...understand.” Yuri stammered, confused. There was nothing that could have happened between yesterday night & this morning but was there? She knew Jaejoong wasn’t unreasonable, quite the opposite, he was sometimes so logical it scared her. Then what...

“Why?!” Jaejoong yelled, his baritone voice bouncing off the walls of the greenhouse, producing a commotion twice as loud. The thunder roared above them as if the whole universe was sharing Jaejoong’s anger.

Yuri’s eyes widened at this sudden attack. Jaejoong had never raised his voice at her before, “Oppa, what is wrong with you?! Why are you being so aggressive?!” She cried, exasperated “What right do you have to just come in here & yell at me?!”

He stared at her, waves of pain overwhelmed him as Yuri stood there, pretending to be innocent. Images of Bitna flashed before him, heightening the agony. Here were black spots blinking in front of his eyes from his overwhelming surge of anger & pain, “Do you know how much you hurtled me? I loved you with all I had. Even if you didn’t love me back you didn’t have to pretend you did. I have been dancing to your music & it’s been a lie all along. Nothing but a lie.” Jaejoong whispered, the last phrase, his voice trailing off softly. The sentence seemed to float away from him, emulating his dreams & hopes. The greenhouse lights flickered again, pitching them into darkness before lighting up the room again, & throwing it into sharp relief. Jaejoong’s face was contorted in rage & the shadows cast by the contrasts of the bright lights gave him an almost sinister & malevolent appearance.

Now, it was Yuri’s turn to stare, ‘He loves me?’ She blinked before registering the fact that he was off shouting again, accusing her for something but the echo was so loud she couldn’t make out what. Never in her harsh life had she seen anyone yell the way Jaejoong was yelling now, with every uttered syllable ringing with rage & something that sounded close to desperation, “Oppa! Stop yelling! What did I ever do to you?!” Yuri yelled in frustration, her usually mild temper getting the better of her.

“If you hate me you don’t have to be here!” Jaejoong roared, obviously not hearing a word of what she had just said. It was now that he realized he had truly loved her. Only true love could hurt a person so much when it was taken away. His throat was pounding from his incessant screaming but it was nothing to match the pain in his heart.

Just like her voice had shattered his dreams that morning, his voice was now pounding on hers. Yuri froze.

“Do you have a problem? Stop acting like that spoilt brat you really are.” The moment the words came out of , Yuri regretted saying them but it was too late now. Plus, he was the one that was being un-sensible. Tears welled into her eyes nevertheless as the stricken look on Jaejoong’s face struck her heart, “Leave. Now.” He said, not meeting her eyes, “You said you never wanted to see me again. I’m granting you that wish. Go.” Jaejoong thundered when Yuri didn’t budge.

She opened but nothing came out, ‘I knew I shouldn’t have gone to the beach with him.’ She thought, ‘He regrets it now. That must be why he’s so angry.’ Tears splashed down her cheeks before running off of her chin. Yuri couldn’t stand there any longer but it somehow felt that her feet were screwed to the ground, just like her eyes were glued to his face. She had half a mind to slap him but at the same time, she wanted to run into his arms & wipe that pain off of his face. Either wouldn’t help the situation in the slightest. She wrenched her gaze away from him, her heels & ran out into the shop & then into the pouring rain, not even bothering to grab her black kenneth cole reaction double-ed wool-blend pea coat. Tears & rain droplets mixed into one as Yuri ran as hard as she could. The rain soaked through her clothing in a matter of seconds & her white easy spirit ryanne sandal made a squelching sound with every furious step.

She had no idea where she was going, just anywhere but there.

Jaejoong stood at the door of everlasting boutique, eyes trained on Yuri’s figure as she ran, buffeted by the rain until it obscured her from him. He had run out into the store after her for he couldn’t help it. His silent sobs racked his whole body but Jaejoong couldn’t let it escape him. When he was little, it was a shame for boys to cry & he hadn’t cried since he had been in diapers but it didn’t matter. The sky cried for him as Jaejoong’s frantic eyes scanned the area for any signs of Yuri. His Yuri that he had let slip away from him. For forever it seemed.

‘What is wrong with you? What right do you have to just come in here & yell at me?’ ‘What did I ever do to you?’ Yuri’s shrill voice echoed in his head as Jaejoong closed his eyes in pain. He stepped out into the pouring rain as the tears of heaven promptly drenched him from head to toe. It was freezing cold but Jaejoong hardly blinked an eye.

“Why, Yuri?” He whispered, staring at the spot where Yuri had disappeared, “Why did you do it?! Why?!” He yelled, with uncontainable sorrow. Every ounce of pain rushed out with his rising voice.

“I didn’t.” Jaejoong was startled, whipping around expecting to see Yuri but saw no one. The voice seemed to come to him from far away in the distance, whispering the same thing over & over again. The voice itself was familiar but it definitely wasn’t Yuri. Her voice had never been this piercing, this chilling. It accompanied Jaejoong in his sorrow, never chiding, just the same firm denial until finally, realization dawned on him.

“No Yuri. You really didn’t, did you?” He whispered, out loud, holding out his hand as if he could bring her back to his side. Although the voice hadn’t been Yuri’s, Jaejoong was left with no doubt that she had been innocent. He felt a thousand tones of steel drop into his stomach as he realized his mistake, “Oh, no. What have I done?”