by Con Template
“Don’t we all,” Yoori empathized warmly. She spared a look at Jae Won, who smiled nonstop, and said, "Has Jae Won told you everything about himself? Who he’s affiliated with? What he does when he’s not with you? Everything?”
Chae Young nodded, her smile hiding the small frown on her face. Chae Young, despite realizing the hardships that came with being with someone who was affiliated with the Underworld, wanted to be with Jae Won regardless.
“Aside from him never calling you anything but ‘boss’ and myself never calling you anything but my ‘best friend,’ we tell each other everything.” She smiled wryly, turning to Yoori. There was a dim light in her eyes when she realized something. “Um, just because I know all this Underworld stuff...I don’t have to be initiated…do I?
Yoori and Jae Won exchanged sneaky grins.
“Normally no one cares when a few outsiders find out the inner workings of the Underworld,” Jae Won explained, tightening his grip on Chae Young’s hand. He jutted a chin at Yoori. “Boss, here, was the exception because the Advisors wanted their time alone with her. They would’ve made up any excuse to have her initiated.”
Yoori nodded. It was true. The Advisors would’ve gotten their five minutes with her no matter what. The excuse of her being privy to the inner workings of the Underworld was convenient for them.
“That's terrible,” said Chae Young. Reserved horror swam in her voice when she turned back to Yoori. "Just because you resemble that girl..."
“Well, let’s not worry about that,” Yoori dismissed casually. She didn't want to talk about Soo Jin. “Things are going well between the two of you? You don’t need me to give you guys a pep talk, right? I can’t really threaten to break anyone’s bones because I know both of you.”
It was unfortunately true.
How was Yoori supposed to threaten both Chae Young and Jae Won, and keep them from breaking each other’s hearts? It wouldn’t work. They wouldn’t take her seriously anyway. She was sure of it. Yoori was determined to save herself from the embarrassment of even attempting to look intimidating.
Chae Young and Jae Won shook their heads at her and laughed.
“It’s been going really well,” Chae Young provided. Her face was genuinely mirthful when she turned to Jae Won. “I’ve never been happier with someone.”
Jae Won returned her smile, his dorky face beaming. “I love you too, honey,” he cooed before leaning in to give Chae Young a quick kiss.
“Oh man,” Yoori complained, sending her gaze upward. As much as she adored them as a couple, it was another thing to have them kiss in front of her. Yuck.
“I still cannot believe that you two are together,” she muttered to herself. Her eyes widened when another realization hit her. She looked at Chae Young. “You’ve met Kang Min and Hae Jin too?”
Chae Young bounced her head to confirm. Her eyes twinkled with adoration. “Yeah! Hae Jin and Kang Min are great. They’re so adorable together. There’s such an awkward tension between them because you know that they want each other. I don’t know…I guess they’re still working all of that out.”
She looked over to Jae Won to see if he wanted to add anything.
Jae Won heeded the opportunity and said, “Hae Jin and Chae Young really hit it off. For the first hour of dinner, Kang Min and I couldn’t even get a word in edgewise because they were too busy bonding.”
Yoori laughed. She wasn’t sure if Jae Won was complaining but the information was, nonetheless, heartwarming. It made sense that Chae Young and Hae Jin would hit it off since they both hit it off with her in the beginning as well.
Chae Young suddenly pouted, interrupting Yoori’s reverie. “I feel bad though. Hae Jin is left out on many of the secrets.” She looked at Jae Won. “She doesn’t know that you and Kang Min are brothers and she doesn’t know that Yoori’s not actually her brother’s girlfriend – ” Chae Young interrupted herself and turned to Yoori. “Hae Jin adores you by the way. When we had dinner, she wouldn’t stop singing praises about her brother’s new girlfriend. I was getting a bit annoyed because I didn’t know who the hell she was talking about since you have so many alternative names. ‘My best friend’, ‘my boss’, ‘my boss’s girlfriend’, ‘my brother’s girlfriend…’”
Though the listing of her alternative names made her feel awkward, Yoori forced a smile to stay on her face. She continued to listen as Chae Young went on. “But now that I know she was talking about you, it makes sense.”
Yoori blushed, her love for Hae Jin growing with the passing seconds.
Having more on her mind, Yoori cleared her throat and asked, “The four of you are doing another double date tonight?”
They nodded.
“Do you want to come?” asked Jae Won. It was a genuine invitation.
Chae Young wordlessly asked the same question. She nodded frantically, gesturing for Yoori to agree.
Almost too quickly, Yoori shook her head. She had prior engagements in mind. “No, I want to stay in tonight.”
And maybe hang out with Tae Hyun.
Chae Young and Jae Won raised a suspicious eyebrow but said nothing more.
“Anyway,” Yoori began, taking a quick look around. “Do you guys need to leave soon? Is it almost dinner time?”
Chae Young and Jae Won stared at the watch on Jae Won’s wrist. They nodded when they realized it was time for them to leave.
“Yeah, I should take boss home so we can make it to dinner on time,” Jae Won said to Chae Young. The three of them got up on their feet. Jae Won reached a hand out to Chae Young. “What did you come here to buy?”
“Wine for the dinner,” Chae Young answered, taking his hand and fully straightening herself out. “I’m not sure what to get though.”
“I’ll help you decide,” Jae Won offered. He looked at Yoori, who had gotten to her feet and started dusting dirt off her pants. “Why don’t you and boss finish talking? You can come find me in the alcohol aisle when you’re done.”
Chae Young nodded. “I’ll see you in a bit.”
The girls waited for him to disappear into an aisle before turning to face one another. Like a kid waiting to throw a party after her parents had left, Chae Young flew toward Yoori and gave her another hug.
“Damn it, I’ve missed you, you bum,” she squealed in delight. “I can’t gossip with anyone at the diner now.”
“I’ve missed you too,” Yoori complained back. A pout took hold of her lips. “This damn Underworld is filled with boys. The only girls I know are Hae Jin and Jin Ae. And one of them would like nothing more than to rip my eyes out so I don’t have the numbers on my side.”
Chae Young laughed, pulling out of the embrace. “At least you got some nice gang members looking after you.” At her own statement, Chae Young couldn’t help but scoff in disbelief. “I still can’t believe that the last thing we talked about at the diner was the story about the ‘Queen of the Underworld’ and now look at you…people actually say you resemble her. How crazy is that?” She was seemingly ready to end her speech until she added, “And you have two crime lords chasing after you. How ironic is that?”
“I know. It’s crazy and – wait a second,” Yoori thought out loud. “There’s only one that’s chasing and that’s Lee Ji Hoon. Kwon Tae Hyun isn’t chasing me. He’s just…” She struggled to find the right term to use. “He – He’s just pushing me.”
Chae Young blinked slowly. “He – He’s pushing you?”
“Yeah, you know. Teasing me, torturing me…” She thought about the kiss and became bitter again. “Pushing me toward the effen brink of insanity.”
A quiet laugh emitted from Chae Young. “Oh gosh, you’re always so dramatic. For what it’s worth, I’m rooting for you and the King of Serpents.”
Yoori eyed her friend strangely, thrown by the cheerleader mode in her. “I thought you would be a rooter of the King of Skulls.”
Chae Young shrugged. “That was before the King of Serpents came into the picture and swept my best fr
iend off her feet.”
Yoori groaned in annoyance. “For the last time, I do not like him like that. There’s nothing to root for.”
“Choi Yoori, listen up,” Chae Young began seriously. “Here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to leave you with parting words that will change your outlook on things. I didn’t want to talk about this when Jae Won was sitting here because it’s more of a girl thing, but do you want to know if you really like a guy? Even if you, yourself, are in denial?”
No, Yoori replied in her mind.
“Sure, of course I want to know,” Yoori said half-heartedly, wanting to humor Chae Young.
Chae Young gave Yoori a suspicious gaze. When Yoori's bluff seemed real enough to her, she blinked seriously and began. “First off, the world doesn’t revolve around you and only you – or anyone in particular for that matter. At least not in the physical sense. However, you have power over your own world, which means that psychologically, you can have your world revolve around someone. Are you following me?”
“Okay…”
“Kisses are typically the deciding factor on whether or not you like someone. But how those kisses play out usually entail how much you like that person—how much you, even subconsciously, are willing to allow them to affect your world.”
“Okay…” Yoori said again, this time listening carefully.
“When you kissed him…what happened to your world?”
“Weird things happening in the environment around me doesn’t mean that we should be together,” Yoori protested, refusing to answer.
Chae Young’s features hardened. “Yes I know, but it does mean that you like him. We just have to figure out how much.”
Yoori sighed, not wanting to answer. She blinked in frustration and then made a thoughtless comment. “The easy part should be figuring out if you like someone...”
“And the hard part should be figuring out if you belong with them,” Chae Young finished for her.
Lost in her thoughts, Yoori asked, “In your opinion, how would you know if you belong with someone?”
Chae Young paused to deliberate. “If you keep coming back to each other—even if you don’t want to.” Chae Young bit her lips, trying to recall something. “What are those things called where you throw them and they keep coming back to you?”
“Boomerangs,” Yoori provided. Sudden warmth illuminated over her when she was reminded of her conversation with Tae Hyun on that leaky boat.
“Ah yes…boomerangs…” Chae Young said nodding again. “But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. My only objective right now is to help you figure out the easy part. You’re on your own with the hard part. Stop wasting time and tell me what happened while you kissed him.”
“It will never work out between us,” Yoori resisted, unwilling to answer.
“Uh-uh,” Chae Young said dismissively. “That wasn’t my question. You’re always so stubborn. Just answer it, will you? I’ll tell you what it means. ”
Though she didn’t want to answer, Yoori knew that she would have to share. It was in Chae Young's nature to be persistent. There was no use in prolonging the inevitable.
Yoori blinked in dread and indulged her friend. “My world stopped, then came to life, and spun for him.”
Chae Young grinned expectantly. “That means you like him.”
Something pulled at Yoori’s heart. The answer was too obvious.
“That was because I was caught up in the moment. After we were done, my world came crashing down,” Yoori stated ominously, thinking this would deter Chae Young from her first statement. “Doesn’t that mean something stronger?”
Yoori was surprised when she saw that Chae Young was still smiling.
“That means you like him…a lot.”
Yoori laughed at Chae Young’s reply. Feigning an understanding nod, she smiled at her friend. It was palpable to her that she wasn’t going to get an objective answer here.
“Did the world send you back to me to try and push me into falling for Kwon Tae Hyun?” she asked suspiciously.
Chae Young shook her head, her face sympathetic. “No, I’m here to shine some light on a couple of things you refuse to acknowledge. You’ve always been amazingly stubborn, my dear friend. Always in denial about anything and everything that may have the power to make you vulnerable to getting hurt.” Chae Young then smiled reassuringly. “But that’s okay. You’ll come around. You always do.”
When it looked like Chae Young was about to bid goodbye and leave, she suddenly turned around and faced a skeptical Yoori again.
“Oh and by the way,” she began whimsically. “I can’t push someone who has already fallen.”
“For every injustice. . .”
08: The Epiphany of a God
A swarm of ice-cold wind filtered into Yoori’s skin once she stepped outside the grocery store. Yoori folded her arms across her shivering chest in an attempt to keep herself warm.
Cooped up within the confines of the store, Yoori had no idea that the weather had become this bad. The sky was darker and much angrier than her last meeting with it. Resounding screams of thunders could be heard as Yoori did her best to stand outside, fighting the unforgiving cold.
After bidding goodbye to Chae Young, Yoori knew that the couple must’ve wanted their alone time before Jae Won took her home. At first, Yoori insisted that she wait in line to pay for all the grocery items she picked out. She wanted to give them the opportunity to go off somewhere on their own and spend time with each other. Much to the resistance of Chae Young and Jae Won, Yoori had to back down when they insisted that they wait in line with her.
Determined to give the couple some time alone – and to avoid Chae Young after that enlightening speech that Yoori was skeptical about – Yoori manufactured a lie about wanting some fresh air and ran out of the line before they could stop her. She was ready to give herself a pat on the back for being so considerate until she stepped foot outside.
As her teeth clattered like cans against one another, Yoori regretted her decision. She knew it was going to be cold, yes, but she had no idea it was going to be this cold. Even her Uggs were shivering.
She tried to think of warm, happy thoughts. It was truly a cursed attempt because Yoori’s first inclination was to stare longingly into the windows of the grocery store. Her eyes caught sight of Jae Won and Chae Young. They were waiting in line, hugging and laughing while they flipped through the various magazines next to the cashier line. Every now and then, they would give quick kisses to one another before hugging again.
Unnerved by the ripple of envy that inundated her, she turned away, no longer able to stare without feeling a downpour of despondence wash over her. Uncrossing her arms, her hands found the respective pockets of her jacket. While her left hand found an empty haven to take solace in, her right hand found an unexpected object that occupied the space of her pocket.
Yoori grabbed the object and took it out.
It was her non-prescribed glasses that Jae Won returned to her.
It sat steadily on the foundation of her right palm; the glass surface of the dark-rimmed glasses showed a modest reflection of Yoori.
Chae Young’s voice accompanied her as she fell through a state of contemplation. “I can’t push someone who has already fallen.”
Yoori knew very well how silly she looked wearing these non-prescribed glasses. She also knew, regardless of the fact that it was her favorite accessory, how peculiarly eye catching her bright teal crochet beret was. To top it off, her black Uggs made her look more like a vertically challenged elf than a tall fashionista.
Yes.
Yoori was terribly ashamed to admit that she not only knew all of this, but she also purposely chose all these accessories because she knew all this. It was a show of desperation on her part. She wanted to make herself a walking target so Tae Hyun would be tempted to talk to her again. She wanted him to make fun of her so that they could squash the awkwardness they were plagued with. She wanted to go back to t
he days before that stupid kiss made things terribly tense between them.
Yoori never thought she’d be the one to admit it but she missed Tae Hyun and his teasing nature. She missed talking to him. Who knew an unexpected kiss could be the cause of this headache for Yoori?
She exhaled sadly and placed the glasses back in her pocket. She allowed her eyes to rest on the pavement of the sidewalk, its shiny exterior marked with remnants of rainwater. Her mind began to wade through all the possible ways she could go back to the apartment and start talking to Tae Hyun again. Who knew Tae Hyun would be so good with the silent treatment? What was going through this guy’s mind? All Yoori could do was wonder.
As she stole another glimpse at the status of Chae Young and Jae Won’s queue in line, a thrash of wind stole her unyielding attention. The wind brought a cloud of scattered mist and swam right through her. Before a scream could escape her lips, the gust of wind stole something from her. Her teal crochet beret.
Yoori’s eyes exploded in urgency. She watched her beret fly upward with the powerful draft. The unforgiving force of mist and wind thrashed violently against her long black hair, leaving her frozen with shock. The shock lasted momentarily. Unfeeling of the merciless cold, her eyes locked on her beret as it flew further and further out of sight. Adrenaline pumping through her, Yoori felt her legs take off, matching in pace with the velocity of the wintry wind. She had to get it back!
The soles of her Uggs impaled themselves within the core of rain puddles that sat scattered throughout the sidewalk. Splashes of cold water flew into the air as she ran, her breathing growing steady with her running. She had to get it back. She had to get her beret back. Her day was already bad enough. She couldn't let it end so terribly.
The unexpected chase took Yoori down two vacant blocks. The howling wind began to die down when she reached the second block, the force of its power lowering the beret down to earth. Yoori smiled at the sight. She thought the beret would fall straight to the ground. Instead, the residual air blew it into the opening of an alleyway.
