Chapter 8 |   SECRETS

      "Ow..."

 

      "Ow!..."

 

      "Owww!!" Irene pushes Mino away and holds on to her knees. "Can i just do it?"

      "You dont even know how to make coffee how would you know how to tend to a scraped knee?" Mino answered removing her hands and damps the cotton with alcohol on her skin.

      Irene flinched feeling the sting and heavy weight of his hands pressing.

      “Do you want to die!? Cant you atleast be gentle!?"

      "Ya! Youre not a kid, stop whining. Its just a tiny sting!!!" he answered in an equally loud voice.

      "You have such heavy hand it stings more!"

      "Youre so brave to challenge them and a single bruise hurts you??"

      “It's your fault to have such delinquent friends!!!" Irene shouts back in frustration.

      "It's your fault to throw that other dude off the ground!!"

      "YA!!! IF YOU TWO ARE JUST GOING TO SHOUT AND ARGUE, LEAVE MY OFFICE!!" Chaerin scolds them. she was kind enough to let them use her office as a clinic but the two were rather noisy.

      Irene froze and apologizes.

      "See?" Mino whispers to her. "So shut up and just endure it"

      With a blanket to cover her legs she bends her knees up and lets Mino finish his tending.

      He's more gentle this time, handling her with care. “There… does it still sting?”

      Irene puckered her lips and shakes her head to a no. When the bandaids are placed, Mino cleans up the medical kit and stands up to return it back inside the cabinet. "So one iced Americano venti for you?" He asks.

      Irene looks at him with wonderous eyes. "Arent you going to tend to your wounds next?"

      Mino glances on the light scratches he has on his arms and knuckles but theyre not of a big deal.

      "It’s okay. I dont care about my skin anyway" he walks out of the door, where to the brewing counter is, while Irene was left alone with Chaerin inside that tiny office.

      "Better call the medic i think the huge boy Mino is turning into Mr.Softy" Seunghoon commented as his bestfriend stands next to him.

      The other just rolled his eyes and he hisses. "As if i would have left her with Kimy and her gangmates. You know what a crazy Kimy is"

      "Yeah she just shoots on every target on sight" Seunghoon sighs and agrees. "But you know you cant possibly be back on fighting. Its bad for your shoulder"

      "Look, I’m fine. As long i dont use my right arm on fighting its fine" Mino defended. "And besides it doesn’t mean I’ll be back on fighting. I just happened to save her because I’ll be more damned if the other red velvet knows i let her be harmed"

      "Arasso... but better make sure huh" Seunghoon sighs, staring at his scratches. Good thing they aren’t all serious, and his shoulder is still intact. "Soul is yet to pay for that damage though"

      Mino was on the verge of death that’s what inspired him to quit on fighting but theres another that kept hindrance on going back to the habit. When Soul defeated him, he left a souvenir, a broken/dislocated shoulder.

      And even after months of being healed it was still in a fragile state, and he fears it to be broken again.

      "But wait... did Irene really take on a 6 footer?"

      Mino nodded placing ice on the cup.

      "Wow. DAEBAK. What kind of a girl is she?"

      "A Monster" Mino declares but then a cup was thrown and hits the back of his head. He turned around and sees Irene behind the counter, seemingly to have heard what he just said. "Aish..."

      "Can you be more faster? I need to go..." she says, one hand holding her phone.

      "Whats the hurry?" He asks.

      "Why do you care?" The other answered coldly, brushing her finger tips on the ends of her pink dyed locks.

      Ani, Mino. Don’t try answering back, just do what she requests so she can leave now. Mino follows her order and places the plastic cover on the cup. "Here. Do you still need me to take you back to school?"

      Irene squints her eyes at him and takes the straw to her lips. "Don't be silly..."

      “Atleast be thankful, I’m being kind and concerned”

      “Shut up, I hate you” she says and then leaves right away.

 

      "Hi good afternoon, maam  Joohyun" a tall man in a sleek black suit welcomes her by the school gate, bowing his head in respect.

      "Did you get the address?" Irene asks standing in front of him.

      "Nae..." he hands out a piece of paper and just by the name of it is likely a place where she can find the person she’s searching for.

      Haven Spring, Imjado.

      Imjado...?

      How far...

      Irene stares at the piece of paper long and then folded it in half, putting it inside her blazer pocket.

      "Do you wish us to check the place?" the head butler asks, with a walkie-talkie on his hand to immediately command his subordinates once Irene gives the go signal.

      "Ani... ill go on my own this time" the little lady say.

      "But that would be unwise, maam" he says. "The madaam is watching you"

      There's no need to remind it to her, she's clearly aware of that circumstance. However, the reason why she forfeited the bet was because she did intentionally want to leave the Elite department, she left so that when she decides to cut classes, she won’t be too noticed.

      With Madaam unaware of her current class schedules, she couldn’t track Irene’s where about inside the campus. Irene has planned it perfectly, she wanted to escape.

      “What happened to your legs, Joohyun?” Madaam Suzy asks as soon as the young lady enters the Bae residences. She closes the book she was reading and place it flat on the table next to her.

      “I tripped, Madaam” Irene excused, standing straight on her spot.

      “How clumsy can you be?” Suzy says walking towards her, playing her fingers on the ends of Irene’s hair. “Only now did I realize you’re back on wearing your hair pink. Are you causing another problem in your school?”

      Suzy has this charming beautiful face, but she also have that scary and intimidating side. Irene takes a deep breath and kept a straight face. “Of course not, Madaam. It’s just that the others got the colors back, and I just decided to do so”

      “Those friends of yours… I’m quite uncertain if they are good for you or not. Especially that Kang Seulgi. What a mysterious person she is, and intriguing, I heard she fights a lot in school”

      Irene looks at her eyes straight. “Ani... Seulgi is just sporty and aggressive looking, and the reason why she gets into mess a lot was in order to protect me”

      “Wow. Are you rather worth it?” Suzy says sharply, without any taint of affection towards her niece. “Well, you’ve already caused so much trouble by getting kicked out of the Elite department. I reckon you won’t dare to do anymore reckless things, right?”

      Her head bobbed in a slow nod.

      Suzy walks back to her chair and scrolls to her iPad. “By the way, I also set up a date for you and the son of a very important client in China. His name is Henry Lau”

      Date? Irene’s fingers twitched.

       “I heard he plays the piano and violin well, so he might suit your taste. And for he is somehow similar to that ex-boyfriend you had, I expect you to behave well” Bae Suzy says glancing at her.

      “Yes Madaam...” Irene says lowly.

      But Suzy wasn’t satisfied, it still wasn’t enough so she warned her once more. “I’m warning you, Irene one wrong move you won’t see her, arasso?”

      A big swallow went down Irene’s throat; she trembled in fear but kept her composure. “Yes Madaam”

      In this residence, she’s like a robot, there’s nothing she can do but act and speak accordingly to what her Aunt says. Well she’s the only active family she’s got anyway, and the one currently managing the corporation for her, while she’s still under training.

      The Madaam doesn’t mind her actions in her school, as long as she doesn’t ruin the company’s image. She barely cares for her, she only cares about their name and their wealth, so as much as possible she wants to control her, in any probable way.

      Controlling her that it’s almost suffocating, making it the reason why Irene was such a cold and intense one. But she’s still thankful that she’s got the freedom inside the school, she’s got friends to comfort her and choice to do whatever.

      But there’s only two years left in her college years and everything will be gone after, she will sit on her throne and be under a permanent shackles. So as much as possible she wants to be free, she wants things to change, and she