The deal blackmail

Narrator’s POV

“Park Shira! Come out, come out wherever you are!”

Shira shut her eyes and held her breath. ‘Why oh why, of all the days why today?’ She mentally screamed. Her hands clutch onto her dress, squeezing it while wiping her sweat on it. Why couldn’t she pick a better hiding spot? Anywhere would’ve been better than a small and old cupboard that she’s currently hiding in. Since the cupboard was only up to her shoulders, she had to slouch a little to fit in the cramped box that’s made of wood. ‘How did I end up here?’ She missed the cold air of the air-conditioner at the ballroom. The good, hot and steamy food, prepared on the tables but most of all, she missed her soft and fluffy bed, back at the mansion, waiting for her to dive in and sleep like a bear in hibernation. Now that we think about it, how did she get here? Let’s rewind a little.

<<< Rewind

 “There they are!” Mrs. Park announced as Myungsoo and Shira walked towards them, avoiding other couples who were waltzing away. “Nice to see you Mrs. and Mr. Park,” Myungsoo politely greeted and bowed. Shira’s parents nodded in acknowledgement and turned to their daughter, expecting a greeting just like Myungsoo’s. It wasn’t a shock when she didn’t.

“I’m not doing that,” Shira confirmed. Mrs. Park just hummed as if receiving zero respect from their own daughter was the most normal thing in the world. Well, that was expected anyway. Her father reacted differently though. He frowned at her and spoke in a menacing tone that made both, Myungsoo and Shira shiver. “I expected more respect from the person who we took so much time to raise up,” Shira showed no signs of doing so until she felt a light jab at her back. Not earning a response, Myungsoo nudged her again. “Fine,” she muttered.

“Hello, mother, father,” she spoke in a forceful and bitter tone. Nevertheless, her mother smiled. “Now that wasn’t so hard was it?” Seeing the eagerness in her mother’s eyes, she knew there was going to be more shocking news. She sighed. “What is it?”

“Well,” her mother tapped her fingers together as she tried to come out with a suitable sentence to sound more natural. “You see…” she began but her husband cut her off, earning a scoff from her. “Your brother is back,” Shira’s eyes widened. So did Myungsoo’s. ‘She has a brother?’ He was dumbstruck. He took a glimpse at Shira who was not moving an inch, as if she was a one of the porcelain statues that was placed around the room. Finally, she spoke. “So what about the money?” ‘What money?’ Myungsoo wanted to ask but knew he’s in no position to do so. Therefore, he just stood beside Shira, hoping his presence will give her the strength she needed. Her mother looked guilty as she stared at the floor but her father continued to stand tall. “It’s gone,” Mr. Park’s tone was filled with sympathy. ‘Why sympathy?’ she thought. Slowly all the puzzles started to fit. She gasped.

“He took the money and we were broke, so you married me off to get it back?” They were lucky they were standing in the veranda for people would have overheard if it wasn’t for that. “I’m so sorry dear. Few years ago, your brother called and told us he lost all the money and apologised. He said he couldn’t face us so he never came home. But after the marriage contract, our financial problems was solved. We begged him to come home and it was hard but he finally did. Oh, our poor child,” Her mother was close to breaking out in tears but that didn’t bother Shira. The thing that bothered her was the fact that she had to suffer the consequences for her brother’s mistake! And her family’s favouritism was always for her older brother. They just used her.

“After all these years, you never told me?!” She herself wanted to scream out loud. Why did she even ask in the first place? Letting all her frustration take over, she hissed at them. “Why kind of parents are you?”

“Park Shira,” A new but yet familiar voice to Shira’s ears called out to her rather calmly. She bit her lip as she bitterly greeted her older brother.

“Park Chanyeol,”

His eyes was filled with disappointment, sadness but mostly, guilt. “It’s not their fault. If you want anyone to be blamed, it should be me,” He stood in front of her but out of her comfort zone. “I’m sorry Shira,” he said again.

To be honest, Shira missed her older brother, and seeing him again after so long, she just want to cry with mixed emotions. Her fingers and hands trembled but something held her, engulfing her small hand with warmth. Myungsoo gave her hand a light squeeze of encouragement. At that moment, she was glad Myungsoo was there with her. But still, she couldn’t find any words to speak and so did her brother.

 Sensing the tense atmosphere between the Park family, Myungsoo came to the rescue. “I’m afraid that Shira needs some time to get her thoughts together. If you’ll excuse us,” He swiftly hooked his arm around Shira’s waist and guide her to her favourite spot of the whole ballroom. The snack table.

“Shira, are you okay?” he gently asked and gave her a small slice of cheesecake. She scoffed lightly. “Do I look okay?” but she accepted the cake. “Who knew tonight was going to be a tough night,” she whispered hoarsely and stuffed with the cake. “You tell me. And we haven’t met my parents yet,” Shira groaned and he patted her head while chuckling, happy to see her be her normal self again. “Don’t worry. I didn’t even see them today,” they glanced around and true enough, they were nowhere in sight. “My luck came back, I guess,” Myungsoo was going to nod in agreement but sounds of glasses breaking and trays coming in contact with the ground interrupted him. “You sure?” he gave her a look and she shrugged in reply. “Karma just hates me,”

The whole room fell in utter silence and Shira couldn’t help but notice a crowd gathering in the middle of the room. “What’s happening?” she whispered as she tip toed to get a closer look. With longer legs, Myungsoo could see more of the scene. “I think a fight broke out,” They could hear some bickering going on but couldn’t make out the words.

“A fight?! Here?” Myungsoo nodded in response. “I think that’s Woohyun!” Shira had no idea who this ‘Woohyun’ is but didn’t bother asking. “Can you help him?” “I’ll try. You stay here,” he answered her without any hesitance and left after making one last check on Shira.

Shira fiddled with her fingers as she awkwardly stand alone. “Well, don’t you look pretty?” Shira’s cheeks reddened and she turned towards the newcomer. “Thank yo-“she stopped immediately the moment she sees the person in front of her. ‘It couldn’t be.’ Her eyes widened and her pulse quickened in panic. The newcomer smirked. Chills ran down her spine just when she stared into his dark eyes.

‘Why is he here in that…waiter uniform?’ “It’s called disguise, ”L.Joe cockily answered when he saw the way Shira was scanning him. Feeling embarrassed for being caught, she opened to snap a remark back but stopped.  ‘Shoot! He’s from TOP too! Park Shira, turn away. Turn away. Now.’ She pretended to be distracted by the glass of wine in her hand before slowly back-stepping. Without wasting any more time, she quickly dash for the exit. The last thing she heard was L.Joe’s laugh that sounded like an evil one, followed by tapping of the soles of the shoes that wasn’t hers. Coming to a dead end along with L.Joe’s footsteps coming closer, she spotted a cupboard and climbed into it without thinking.

So that’s how she ended up there. Now, we shall fast-forward from here.

 Fast-forward>>>

 ‘Go away. Please go away.’ Shira chanted in her head but as she previously said, karma seems to hate her. “Gotcha,” L.Joe chirped and opened the cupboard’s door swiftly. Due to the tight space, Shira came face to face with L.Joe, with their noses just inches apart. She gulped at their how close they were. ‘Oh Lord! If I hadn’t lean back in time we would’ve kiss- Wait, what am I thinking? No, stop thinking about that! What’s wrong with me?!’ she mentally slapped herself. L.Joe’s chuckle snapped her back to reality. Using all her strength, she pushed him away. “You seem to chase girls a lot,” L.Joe smirked again. “I just wanted a favour,” That caught her attention. “What favour?” Somehow, Shira knew she wouldn’t like what’s coming for her.

L.Joe pointed his index finger towards her and spoke, “You. My fake girlfriend. For the rest of the semester,” Shira’s jaw dropped up to the point where she couldn’t close it. ‘Is this a confession?’ As if he could read her mind, he replied, “May I remind you that this is not a confession but a favour or a deal or whatever! As I said, fake girlfriend,” Shira couldn’t help but scoffed. “And what makes you think I would do that?” she shouldn’t have asked.

“Well, if you put it that way…Everything will be revealed tomorrow if you don’t. Your arranged marriage, you being a rich princess, your ‘husband’ is a Woolim High student,” He counted with his fingers as he stated his points. Shira gasped. “That’s blackmail!” He rolled his eyes.

“Fine! Call it blackmail if you must,” Shira felt anger bubbling inside of her. “You don’t have any rights to do that!” ‘He’s a monster!’

“I’m not a monster. I’m just…horrible. It’s my nature,”

“Are you telepathic?!”

“What?”

“How do you-“L.Joe glanced at his watch and curses.

“Look, I’m a little bit behind schedule but I’ll be expecting you tomorrow, school’s garden 7:30 am on the dot,” Shira was taken aback but before she could answer, L.Joe turned and ran to God knows where! Shira felt light headed because of the sudden ‘favour’ she was asked to fulfil.

‘As if having a fake marriage isn’t bad enough,’ she sighed and looked up towards the ceiling. “Oh God, please give me the power to withstand the anger in me before I kill someone with it…”

“…But I wish that someone would be me, Amen,”