Chapter Thirteen

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A week had passed since Hyun Ah had agreed to date Ki Kwang. She wasn’t sure if she actually had particular romantic feelings for him, but what she was sure was that, she was gradually becoming comfortable around him again.

Did she forget her feelings for Joon? Maybe.

Or maybe there weren’t even any feelings around to speak of.

Whatever it was, she had overcome her guilt of being with Ki Kwang, and could laugh at his jokes, have dinner with him without any resistance.

---

“How did you find the food?” Ki Kwang asked.

“Not bad,” Hyun Ah replied.

They came to a stop at the pedestrian crossing as they waited for the green man to come back on.

Ki Kwang turned to Hyun Ah and held her by her shoulders to face him.

“Let’s hold hands like couples do,” Ki Kwang said abruptly and grabbed onto Hyun Ah’s palm.

Hyun Ah didn’t know whether it was because that act was considerably mild, or because she spotted Ki Kwang blushing under the street light, but she didn’t feel any urge to resist. She simply let her hand rest limply in Ki Kwang’s strong grasp.

When she stole a glance at Ki Kwang again, he was visibly grinning. Hyun Ah too, smiled.

“The green man’s on, let’s go,” Ki Kwang told Hyun Ah as he pulled her lightly along with her.

They crossed the road with little haste, and were about to turn into where the car was parked when someone called out Hyun Ah’s name.

“Hyun Ah?”

Both Hyun Ah and Ki Kwang turned around to take a look at who that person was and were greeted with a man dressed in a smart suit, with a slightly long fringe threatening to cover his doe-shaped eyes.

“Man, when I saw you crossing the road, I knew it was you!” He exclaimed, not with excitement but rather, with heavily hinted sarcasm.

“Do you know him?” Ki Kwang asked.

Hyun Ah didn’t know what to reply, or how to reply. But she should’ve known, Hyun Seung would have taken his own initiative to introduce himself.

“Jang Hyun Seung, nice to meet you,” Hyun Seung said as he extended a hand out towards Ki Kwang.

Ki Kwang took a curious glance at Hyun Ah before letting go of her hand and taking Hyun Seung’s.

“Lee Ki Kwang, pleasure to meet you.”

“That’s a nice name for the next er on Hyun Ah’s list,” Hyun Seung commented.

“What?” Ki Kwang let out, probably taken aback by Hyun Seung’s sudden rude comment.

“Oh, that’s right. You don’t know yet, I’m Hyun Ah’s ex,” Hyun Seung added.

Ki Kwang paused for a moment before giving a reply, “Well, I guess you know this already, but I’m Hyun Ah’s current boyfriend.”

Hyun Seung smirked, but before he could say anything, Ki Kwang cut across him, “It was nice meeting you, but Hyun Ah and I have to go now.”

Ki Kwang greeted Hyun Seung with a polite smile before pulling Hyun Ah away with him.

He kept quiet for the rest of the journey back to the apartment, and Hyun Ah had no idea what to say to him either. All she could think of was whether Ki Kwang was upset or even angry with her, and she desperately wanted him to be cheerful like before again.

The car finally came to a halt outside the apartment, and Ki Kwang said, “I’m not going up tonight. Good night.”

Hyun Ah bit her lip. “Are you angry?”

“No.”

“Are you upset?”

“No.”

“Sorry.”

Ki Kwang turned to face Hyun Ah and shouted furiously, “What are you sorry for again?”

“For letting you go through that. Hyun Seung was just… someone whom I was dating before Joon.”

Ki Kwang shut his eyes and took a deep breath of air. “The moment I decided to date you, I knew I was going to date the Hyun Ah who dated my brother before, the Hyun Ah who had dated other men before, the Hyun Ah with a history. Don’t be sorry because there’s no need.”

Hyun Ah felt genuinely touched by Ki Kwang’s words. She wouldn’t go so far to think that Ki Kwang’s “the one”, because she never really believed in something like that, but maybe… Ki Kwang could be the man in her life.

She should give him a chance.

Quickly, she smiled and wrapped her arms around Ki Kwang, and pulled him into a kiss.

Ki Kwang responded, and let go of the steering wheel to place his hands on Hyun Ah, lightly roaming her back.

Hyun Ah wasn’t sure whether it was passion or lust urging her on, but before she knew it, the kiss had grown even more intense, and they were on their way back to the apartment already.

---

Ki Kwang awoke with a start, before consciously realising that he wasn’t in his own house but the apartment he had gotten for Hyun Ah.

He took a glance at the alarm clock. 7.30am. Darn that body clock.

Then he turned to watch the figure who was still sleeping soundly next to him, in the bed. He found himself smiling subconsciously as he used his right hand to brush the hair out of Hyun Ah’s face, and then planted a kiss on her forehead.

The previous night was simply… truly amazing to him.

It wasn’t only about scoring with Hyun Ah; it was also the fact that Hyun Ah willing to get intimate with him was evident that she had probably moved on from Joon. He hated to know that the way Hyun Ah looked at him in the past was always different from the way she looked at Joon, and he hated it when his mind told him how Joon was someone special to Hyun Ah and he would never be.

He lay back in bed and rested for a few moments, letting the previous night’s events wash over him before deciding to finally get up and get ready for work. Hyun Ah probably wasn’t the early bird kind, what with her lack of job and thus lack of need to wake early.

He hated that he had to leave for work, because he wanted to be by Hyun Ah’s side, but he couldn’t.

If only he could be as carefree as Joon was.

---

Hyun Ah woke up with a light yawn, as she stretched her arms slightly into the air. Instinctively, she turned to take a glance at Ki Kwang, but was greeted with an empty bed.

She reached her hand to feel the part of the bed Ki Kwang slept on. It was cold; Ki Kwang must have left for quite a while already. She took a look at the clock, which said 12pm. It had been a while since she’s slept that well, Hyun Ah thought.

She got out of bed and got dressed, washed up and walked to the kitchen.

Ki Kwang was evidently not in the apartment. Perhaps he had left for work, since he worked an office job that needed his attendance early in the morning.

She couldn’t help but think back to the first night she spent with Joon. Even though he was hardly in love with her then, he was unbelievably considerate and understanding for a stranger.

---

“You’re up?” Joon asked when he noticed Hyun Ah standing at the door to the kitchen.

Hyun Ah managed a weak smile as she proceeded into the kitchen.

“I used to cook breakfast for my girlfriend, so it’s kind of become a habit. Anyway, I cooked your share so eat up,” Joon said as he delivered a plate of food in front of Hyun Ah.

“It tastes really good,” Hyun Ah complimented after taking a bite of the food.

Joon shrugged, “Great that you like it.”

He sat opposite Hyun Ah and started eating it, offering his sunny smile at her from time to time when their eyes met.

“Eat this,” Joon would say while placing more and more food onto Hyun Ah’s rice.

“So… are you going anywhere later?” Joon asked.

Hyun Ah shook her head.

“You want to take a walk later? To show the world that even though we were dumped, we’re still doing well,” Joon suggested with a grin.

“I don’t know…”

“C’mon,” Joon urged.

“All right,” Hyun Ah conceded and finished the last of her food.

She went to the sink to wash her dishes, but Joon stopped her. “Go doll yourself up since you refuse to leave the house before doing so.”

Hyun Ah smiled politely and left the kitchen, feeling refreshingly cheery from Joon’s bright grin.

---

“Where did you go?” Hyun Ah asked when Joon finally returned to his seat.

Joon took out a box from behind him and placed it in front of her.

“What’s that?” Hyun Ah asked.

“Open it.”

Hyun Ah did, and was genuinely surprised by what she saw. It was the necklace she had been eyeing a while back.

“How did you know?”

Joon grinned, “I noticed you looking at it longingly while we were walking down the streets, so here you go.”

“But…”

“No buts,” Joon continued, “I promised you all beautiful clothes and jewellery that you want, so you don’t have to feel bad or anything. I’m the one feeling bad, because it’s as if I’m taking advantage of you…”

Hyun Ah held onto Joon’s hand to stop him from talking. She picked up the necklace and put it on, then planted a kiss on Joon’s lips.

“We’ll do things this way.” Hyun Ah said.

---

Perhaps it was a pity that Joon didn’t stay that way forever when they were together, but that memory stayed fresh in Hyun Ah’s mind. He seemed so sincere even though they both knew their relationship wasn’t really a good or healthy thing to maintain, even though she wasn’t his girlfriend.

Hyun Ah didn’t expect much from Joon, but he always exceeded her expectations of him whenever he did things for her.

There were some times that she wondered if Joon actually developed a crush on her halfway through their relationship, but now that things were like this, she guessed not. She was probably really only a rebound for him from his ex-girlfriend, whom he couldn’t forget even up till then.

But it was fine, because now she was with Ki Kwang. Someone who cared for her because he liked her.

She dialed Ki Kwang’s number, where he promptly picked up.

“Hey,” Hyun Ah greeted.

“Hey, you’re up?” Ki Kwang asked.

“Yeah, do you want to grab lunch together?” Hyun Ah asked.

“Sorry I can’t, I’m lunching with Doo Joon already.”

“All right then, it’s fine.”

“Sorry, I’ll see you tonight okay?”

“See you tonight,” Hyun Ah replied before hanging up.

It was lunch alone again.

---

“Who was that?” Doo Joon asked.

“Hyun Ah.”

“Wow, did anything happen last night?” Doo Joon queried.

Ki Kwang grinned.

Doo Joon slapped Ki Kwang’s shoulder. “I told you that you could do it.”

“Yeah, thanks for all your great advice bud,” Ki Kwang replied. “So what about you and Ga Yoon now?”

Doo Joon shrugged. “I tried to kiss her but she stomped on my foot and called me a jerk.”

Ki Kwang let out a laugh.

“It’s not funny! I really thought she was giving me the ‘come kiss me’ look,” Doo Joon said.

“Maybe you were reading all the signs wrongly,” Ki Kwang suggested.

“No, it’s more like she was giving me all the wrong signs! Damn, I’m never seeing this girl ever again,” Doo Joon commented as he took a large bite of his food.

---

“Mr Lee, The representative from Jang Corporation is here,” Ji Hyun proclaimed after entering Ki Kwang’s office.

“Thanks, I’ll be out in a minute,” Ki Kwang replied.

“By the way, you look like you’re glowing with bliss,” Ji Hyun commented.

“Yeah, I reached a new milestone with Hyun Ah in our relationship,” Ki Kwang said joyfully as he tidied up his files and got up to leave.

Ji Hyun smiled, “I’m happy for you, Mr Lee.”

“Thanks,” Ki Kwang said and exited the room to leave for the conference room.

“Sorry for wai-,” Ki Kwang greeted as he entered the conference room, but stopped when he saw who was waiting for him inside.

“It’s you,” Hyun Seung said.

Ki Kwang gave a bitter grin, “Yeah, what a coincidence.”

“I’m guessing you’re the son of the CEO, or I can’t see why else Hyun Ah will be dating you,” Hyun Seung said.

“I’m guessing you’re the son of the CEO, or I can’t see why else Hyun Ah would ever date you,” Ki Kwang replied.

Somehow, that riled Hyun Seung up. “You better count your lucky days before Hyun Ah leaves you.”

“I’ll take my chances,” Ki Kwang grinned.

Hyun Seung smirked, “It’ll hit you before you know it.”

“Well, I think this isn’t the right time to discuss the contract. I’ll send someone else down tomorrow.”

Hyun Seung said before getting up and leaving in a huff.

---

Hyun Ah took out her mobile phone and read the text message once through again.

“Please come and meet me. I’ll be waiting for you at the restaurant outside our place.”

It was from Joon.

Hyun Ah wondered whether or not she should meet him or not. She knew she shouldn’t, but she was curious. Curious about what Joon wanted to say, curious about what he was doing now, and curious about what he will do.

Before she knew it, she was already on her way there, and was just a short distance away from the entrance to the restaurant she used to go so often with Joon whenever they just wanted to have a quick dinner and get back to the apartment.

She wanted to walk away, but it was too late.

“You’re here,” Joon said, suddenly appearing before her.

Hyun Ah pressed her lips together uncomfortably. She tried hard not to look at Joon or into his eyes, but she couldn’t help but notice how unkempt he was. His hair was in a mess, his chin stubble unshaven, his clothes were half-tucked in, and his eyes were bloodshot surrounded by heavy dark circles. He was in very bad shape.

“Do you want to stay here, or go upstairs?” Joon asked.

“Let’s just stay here. If you hadn’t noticed, I have a boyfriend now,” Hyun Ah replied coldly.

Joon’s smile faltered. “Sure.”

He entered the restaurant, and Hyun Ah followed him in.

“So…” Joon started, but trailed off.

“So?”

“How are you doing now?”

“Better than you,” Hyun Ah said curtly.

“Yeah, I haven’t been doing well the past week. I couldn’t stop thinking about you,” Joon admitted.

Hyun Ah did a double take. Did Joon just say what she thought he said? “You’re just feeling lonely again, right? Why don’t you a new girl to strike a new partnership with?”

Joon shook his head. “No. I realized that you were more important to me than I thought you’d ever be. Look, I’m sorry for the way I quarreled and shouted at you, but I was just being jealous.”

Hyun Ah looked into his eyes. They were sad eyes, emoting expression that Hyun Ah had never witnessed before.

“Hyun Ah… please…” Joon held onto Hyun Ah’s hands with both his hands.

“Please come back to me.”

---

“I’m back,” Ki Kwang announced as he entered the apartment.

Hyun Ah, unsurprisingly, was seated at the couch.

Ki Kwang went to the couch and sat next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

“I made a decision today,” he continued, “I’m going to move here to stay with you, so we can spend more time together.”

“Ki Kwang...” Hyun Ah said as she turned to face him.

“Yeah?”

“I’m getting back with Joon.”

---

Hi guys! Longer chapter today, but with a slight cliffhanger. Lots of development for this chapter, but I hope it wasn’t moving too fast.

Hyun Seung’s first appearance! ^_^ Please don’t hate him, there’s a reason for him acting this way, which will be revealed later.

C/Cs are appreciated!