CH14 - Feelings

Feelings

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Sandara wakes up feeling distressed. Her frayed nerves are mostly a combination of anxiety and dread. She doesn’t think that she can continue feeling like this anymore. Ever since her ex-boyfriend showed up two weeks ago, she feels constantly hounded and watched. He was always there in the café and even in Lucky Seven where she dances. He has made three attempts so far to talk to her but she always make sure that he never catches her alone so she always leaves with her friends from Black Widow or wait for Youngbae to send her home. Last night though, she was surprised to see him waiting for her in front of her house. That was a first and she shouldn’t have been surprised knowing that he found out about her places of work. She regretted telling Youngbae that there was no need to see her at her door. Good thing he didn’t see her as she backed out and ran out of her neighborhood. She crashed at Sunny and Suzy’s place for the night.

She lies in bed thinking of what to do the rest of her day. Suzy said that she has an early practice at the theater since she landed a minor role and will take the whole day and Sunny has an assignment with a new client outside of Seoul so she’s pretty much all by her lonesome. She groans. She can feel the pull of depression reaching for her but she fights it. She doesn’t want to go to that dark place again. Her stomach grumbles. She wonders if there’s some ramen somewhere in the apartment. Her phone rings interrupting her thoughts and she answers as soon as she sees the caller ID.

“Morning” she mumbles.

“Good morning!” greeted the other one on the line, a little too cheerfully. “Where are you so early in the morning? I’ve been rapping at your door for 10 minutes now…”

Dara sits up and rubs the sleep out of her eyes. “You’re at my house?”

“I brought breakfast” he says.

Dara smiles. “Youngbae-ya …”

“I know, I know … no need to say that I’m an angel and that I’m your savior and …”

“Tch!” Dara says loudly over the mouthpiece. “Ya! I only said that once!” interrupting Youngbae’s teasing. “I’m here over at Sunny’s …”

Youngbae furrows his eyebrows. “It’s just 8 o’clock. Why are you there so early?”

“I slept here … long story.” Dara says, not wanting to explain over the phone. “Do you still remember how to get here?”

“Yeah” he answers. He drove the girls home last week when he took them out for a fancy dinner. He wanted Sandy’s friends to like him and to get to know her better outside of their arrangement so he cajoled her two friends to join them for dinner. “I’ll be there in,” he looks at his wristwatch, “15 minutes.”

“Okay. Don’t get lost. I’m really hungry.”

“Heol! I bet you’ll send me away if only I didn’t come bearing gifts” Youngbae complains.

“Glad you know it” Sandara says and hangs up the phone. She stands up and plans to take a quick shower before Youngbae arrives. She raids the closet and looks for a change of clothes. Since they do sleep over every month, she has spare clothes stashed in there somewhere. Finding a pair of old faded jeans and vintage shirt and a pair of underwear, she heads for the shower.

********************

“I know what to do!” Youngbae smiles as an idea formulates in his mind.

Sandy raised her brows at him, looking curious.

“Let’s go on a date.”

Sandy raised her left eyebrow as high as it can. “Ya! …” she began.

Youngbae raises his right hand in front of her. “Hear me out first, okay?” he interrupts. “It’s just a mock date.  Kinda like a test drive … How will we know if all the tips and moves that you teach me are working? Just pretend that we’re on a real date.” He flashes Sandy his best smile.

“You already had a real date” Sandy retorted. “Why do you need more practice?”

“I didn’t even get to first base” he complains. The truth was Krystal was more than giving him hints on their last date and even asked him inside their house after telling him that her parents are out on an overseas trip but Youngbae politely declined her offer. For some weird reason, ever since his makeover, Youngbae has been getting popular with girls. He admits that it feels good to be appreciated and it boosts his ego but he only has his eyes set on Sandara. “Besides, we can’t just stay cooped up in here all day. Why did you sleep here, by the way?”

To avoid Youngbae’s question, Sandara just stood up and cleaned up the dishes. “Fine. Let’s get out of here. What are your plans?”

“Hmmm…” tapping his chin, he looks at Sandy whose arms are crossed in front of her and looking at him. “Let’s do all those cheesy scenes in dramas. I heard girls really dig those.”

“Such as…?”

“For starters, let’s walk holding hands in public and eat street foods, then we can buy couple outfits, watch a movie, take a walk in the park and play in the fountain, have a picnic, ride bikes ….”

“No picnic” Sandy interrupts in a serious voice.

Youngbae finds it weird that Sandy was only protesting about the picnic. He said all those activities just to tease her but surprisingly, she didn’t seem to mind all the others. “Okay. No picnic.” He agrees. “Does that mean we can do all the others?” he asks.

“I’ve done some of those with my other clients so it’s no big deal” she answers, while making sure that the table is now clean.

Youngbae’s heart pinches a little. “Sandy,” he stands up in front of her “when we go out of this door, can you please not think of this as a mission? Think of it as a real date, okay? I want this to be real as real can be.”

Sandara contemplates. She’s finding it difficult to say no to Youngbae these days. Honestly, she’s not even sure what they’re doing. It’s like she’s hired to be a friend of him more than anything else. “Fine.”

Youngbae shows his eye smile. “Don’t forget to bring a jacket. It’s cold outside.”

They watched a movie first. It’s a romantic comedy from Adam Sandler, Sandy’s favorite Hollywood actor. They shared a huge tub of popcorn as well as one supersize Coke. They walked the streets of Myeong-dong and Cheongdam-dong next and had fun trying out several couple outfits. After leaving their purchases in Youngbae’s car, they hit the different food stalls lined up on the street and ate ‘til they felt their stomachs are near to bursting.

To soothe their tired feet, they went to a have a spa that specializes in foot pampering. Sandara felt so relaxed and called Youngbae an angel and her savior jokingly while she enjoys the foot massage. After which, they went to a quaint café and ordered lattes. Dara likes the designs and takes pictures of their coffee cups. Hers is a phoenix while Youngbae’s a swirling sun.

“I’ve never seen this design before” she says, referring to the phoenix. “I think I’ll practice making this back at Black Widow.”

“You can also do foam arts?” asks Youngbae. “I’ve never seen you do one.”

“That’s because you always order iced coffee or frappucino.”

“Make one for me next time” he says and takes a sip of his latte.

Sandy laughs. “Why don’t you grow a mustache? I think you’ll look good with it and you’ll look more manly” she winks.

Bae rolls his eyes down to try and see his upper lip which is full of froth. He’s about to use his tongue to swipe the foam away when Sandy reaches and touches his arm. “Wait!” she says and aims her camera at him. “Smile!”

He did.

Sandy admires the picture. “You’re photogenic” she remarks and shows the picture to Youngbae.

He likes how the picture turned out and he does look good in it. “It’s your turn” he says to Sandy.

“No” she stashes her phone back in her bag.

“Hey, it’s only fair. C’mon.”

“Na-ah”.

Youngbae pouts. “Let’s do it together” he says and scoots nearer to Sandy. “Just one picture, please? You have a picture of me, I don’t have a picture of you …”

“I’ll delete it” Sandy offers and makes a move to open her bag but Youngbae holds her hand to stop. “Don’t. It’s just a picture, Sandy. Humor me.” He picks his coffee cup and made sure to get a lot of foam on his upper lip and in the process, gets his nose with foam, too.

Sandy laughs seeing this so she, too, gets a foamy mustache and on the tip of her nose.

Youngbae  aims his iPhone at them and says, “Kimchi!”

“Kimchi!”

They both look silly and adorable in the selca but Youngbae teases Sandy a bit and refuses to show it to her. She tries to grab his phone but he stretched his arm out as far as he can that Sandy half climbs on his lap to get to it. They were laughing like children when they realize the position that they’re in. Sandara’s face is in front of Youngbae and noticing how close she is, Youngbae can’t help but lean in closer. Closing the gap between them, he licks the foam on her lip making Sandy’s eyes go wide as her heart skips a beat. Blinking rapidly, she pushed Youngbae away and scoots back into her seat.

“Ya! Why did you do that for, huh?” She hits his left arm twice.

Youngbae rubs his arm. “I’m sorry” he says. “I-I didn’t think … it just happened…”

Sandara snorts and picks up a tissue to clean off the foam. She rubs her upper lip rather vigorously as she still feels the touch of Youngbae’s toungue on her and it’s making her shiver in a good way but she refuses to acknowledge it. “One more trick like that and I’m out of here, okay.”

“Please don’t be mad” Youngbae appeased. “I swear, I didn’t plan it. I just …”

She raises her eyebrows at him.

“I just couldn’t help myself.”

“You” Sandy points a finger at him. “You are getting suave with your moves. You can do that to other girls but not me, are we clear?”

“Loud and clear.”

****************************

After dinner, they walked around in the park trying to pass the time. It’s now half past nine but Sandy doesn’t seem too keen on going home just yet. Youngbae is not complaining, though. This is the longest day that they’ve spent together.

“I heard that snow will come in early this year” he says when he feels a gust of cold wind.

Sandy nods. “If we’re lucky, it’ll come before Christmas.”

“Do you like winter?”

“I do. But I like summer the best.”

“Me, too.” Youngbae smiles. “What are your plans for the holidays?”

“Nothing much. Holiday season is usually a busy time at the agency. I guess it’s because people who are alone feels their loneliness magnified so there are more requests coming in to accompany them on dates and such. Did you know that there are more suicide cases during the Christmas season than any other month?”

“Yeah, I heard something about that.”

They walk some more in companionable silence. Youngbae has been thinking so he decided to tell it to Sandy. “Sandy?”

“Yes?”

“You know, since, uh … you know …” fumbling for the right words, he stops walking and so did Sandy.

She looks at him patiently.

“My parents will go on a cruise ship with some friends in the Bahamas next week until New Year so I’ll be pretty much by myself … I was wondering; maybe you’d like to go on a trip with me?”

Sandy didn’t hesitate. “No.”

“Why not?’

“I don’t do trips” she says and starts to walk again.

Youngbae catches up and persisted. “You said you don’t have plans. Besides, you won’t have to take on assignments this time coz you’re with me.” He hates to be reminded of their contract but he plans to beg her to make her agree. “It’s only going to be for a few days.”

“No.”

“Aren’t you going to be worried? It’ll be your responsibility you know if I suddenly felt lonely and suicidal. Imagine, I’ll be all alone during the holidays with no parents, in a foreign country and instead of having fun, I’ll have to work …” he says, laying on the guilt trip.

“Foreign country?” Sandy asks.

He nods. “Macau”

“I can’t. I don’t have a passport.”

“What?! You still don’t have a passport?”

Sandara crosses her arms in front of her. “Well excuse me, mister rich kid! Not everyone can afford to go on trips outside of Korea” she huffed.

Youngbae reaches out to touch her arm. “I’m sorry. I’m didn’t mean for it to sound that way.”

They stop walking. “Passport will be no problem. I can have one made for you within the week” he says.

“Who says I’ll come with you even if I have a passport?”

“Your argument earlier was you can’t because you don’t have a passport” he pointed out.

“But still, I didn’t agree to …”

Youngbae gently touches her lips to shush her. “Think it over first. It’ll be an experience for you, I promise! You’ll love it there.”

Sandy removes his finger on her lip and gave him a sullen glance. “Let’s go home” she says.

Youngbae sighs but decides not to push his luck and let her be. They walked in silence back to where he parked his car.

Sandara is lost in her thoughts as Youngbae drives her home. She’s sorely tempted to say yes on the trip but she doesn’t want to completely trust Youngbae just yet. Who knows what’ll happen when they are alone in a foreign country? She knows in her heart of hearts that she can trust him but her mind says not to.

They were near her house when she sees two familiar black luxury sedans parked right at the corner of her street. They were also there last night when she saw him waiting outside her house. She feels panic and tells Youngbae to turn his car back.

“Why? What happened?” he asks, confused.

“He’s here” she says.

Youngbae understood at once. He let out a deep sigh. “Is this why you slept over at your friend’s house last night?”

She nods.

“Let me talk to him” he says and continues to drive to where the sedans are parked.

“No! No, please” she holds his arm. “Don’t. I don’t want to see him. Just drive me over to Sunny’s.”

“Sandy, you can’t let him do this to you. That stalker son of bitch needs to be taught a lesson!” he explodes.

“I don’t want you involved in this.” She says in a stern voice. “I’m not ready to talk to him yet. Now, if you don’t want to drive to my friend’s place, just let me out here so I can take a cab.”

He sighs and surrenders. “I’ll take you there.”

They’ve been knocking on the door and ringing the bell for 3 minutes but it looks like nobody’s home. Sandara tries to call Sunny but her phone is out of reach and Suzy’s unattended. She alternately tries to call them for another 5 minutes but both doesn’t pick up.

“You can leave now. I’ll just wait for them here” she says.

“I’ll wait with you” Youngbae answers in determined voice.

“Suit yourself” Sandara says as she tries to contact her friends again.

This is not how Youngbae envisioned their wonderful day would end. Because of that S.O.B, their date is completely ruined. He can see Sandy’s creased forehead and annoyed face as she unsuccessfully tries to phone her friends.

“It’s been half an hour” he says after a while. “Maybe they won’t come home?” They are sitting by the stairs, waiting.

Sandy is biting her lower lip and sighs. “Maybe I can ask Gummy unnie, instead.” She browses through her phone contacts when Youngbae boldly grabs her wrist and pulls her up.

“I’ll find you a better place to stay” he says and pulls Sandy to the old elevator.

“Let me go!” Sandy tries to free her wrist but can’t.

“It’s late Dara” Youngbae says, calling her by the name that she has not given him permission to use. “It’s 11 now and I know you’re tired. Trust me on this, okay?” he says in a kind tone.

Sandara relaxes and let’s Youngbae take over. She does feel tired from all the walking they did and the added stress. Before she knew it, they are parked in front of the Dragon Hotel and a uniformed attendant is opening her door.

She looks at Youngbae. “Let’s go” he says and helps her with her seatbelt.

“Youngbae, when you said a better place, it didn’t have to be here” she says. She knows that it’s one of the newest and most expensive hotels in Seoul.

“It’s fine. I know the owners” he assures her.

He talks to the concierge while Dara looks around the luxurious lobby that’s decorated in white and gold. She stops when her eyes saw a familiar face looking at her.

Jiyong stops walking upon seeing Sandy and excused himself in Japanese as he bade goodbye to his companions. He watches her doing a 360 degree turn as she examines the lobby looking impressed. Even if she’s garbed in a bulky jacket, jeans and sneakers, her beauty still stands out. He sees her notice him and smiles. He walks nearer to her and stops when she was just a couple of feet away. “Hello” he says.

“Hello, Blondie” she greets back.

He was about to ask what she’s doing there when a guy in a hoodie stands next to Sandy and shows her the key. “I have the room” he says, then noticing Jiyong, he breaks into a grin. “Hey man!” He puts out his fist as a way of greeting and Jiyong extends his right fist to meet it.

“What are you doing here?” Youngbae asks.

Duh. We own this hotel, Jiyong was tempted to say but of course, he understands what Youngbae really meant by his question. Pushing away the sudden feeling of irritation, he says simply. “I had to entertain some clients from Japan.”

Youngbae nods and turns his attention back to Sandara. He lightly held the small of her back and say “Let’s go. I’ll see you to your room.”

Jiyong’s ears perked up. Does that mean that they are not checking in together? “You’re not staying?” he asks Youngbae who shakes his head.

“I’m just here to make sure Dara’s safe.”

There he goes again, Sandara thought, looking at Youngbae. He called her name familiarly. She wants to tell him to stop calling her Dara but the way he said it was so sweet and he is just really looking out for her.

This didn’t go unnoticed by Jiyong. He remembers Youngbae telling him and Seunghyun that Sandy’s real name is Sandara Park and she uses Sandy for work and Dara is reserved for close friends. 

“Is something the matter?” Jiyong asks, not wanting to let go of them yet so he follows them to the elevators. “Why wouldn’t she be safe?”

Youngbae and Dara looks at each other. They look like they are having a silent conversation that Jiyong felt excluded and intruding.

“Nothing’s wrong” Youngbae finally answers. “There’s just a pipe problem at her house so she needs a place to stay for the night … or two …” He looks at her sheepishly. “I booked for two nights” he tells her, in a small voice.

Sandara couldn’t help but grin. “As long as you’re paying” she says stepping into the elevator, followed by the two guys.

Although the three of them rides in silence, Youngbae nudged his friend and silently signals him with his eyes, silently asking why he is still with them.

Jiyong clears his throat. “I haven’t been seeing you lately, chinggu” he says rather lively and taps Youngbae’s back. “Let’s go grab a drink after we see Dara to her room, neh? My treat.”

Sandara’s eyebrows rose. Now, even Blondie is calling her Dara. She was about to tell him that her name is Sandy when the elevator stops.

“What’s your room number?” Jiyong inquires.

Youngbae tells him but with a frown, which his friend chooses to ignore. “Ahh, let me lead the way” Jiyong says and walks in front of them.

“You seem to be familiar around here.” Sandara comments.

She doesn’t know we own this hotel, Jiyong realizes.

“He also knows the owner.” Youngbae answers for him with a look.

Jiyong makes a duck face at him. He was about to tell her that this hotel is actually named after him just to impress her but Youngbae clearly doesn’t want her to know that their family owns this. Actually, Kwon’s own 65% of the hotel and the Dong’s also invested 20% in it so they co-own it.

Upon arriving at the double door, Youngbae taps the stick that he’s holding and opens the door. “Ladies first.” He ushers Dara in.

This is the grandest room that Sandara has ever been in and she couldn’t help but explore the suite. “There’s even a Jacuzzi” she exclaims in delight.

Youngbae is glad that Sandara’s mood has changed.

“This must cost a lot” she says. “I was about to say that I don’t need to stay two nights but I changed my mind” she tells him with a laugh and falls backward with arms wide open onto the spacious bed like a child. “Ahhh, so comfortable” she sighs contentedly.

Youngbae and Jiyong watch her flap her arms on the bed like wings, with her feet dangling playfully. “I think I can sleep right this second” she tells them.

“Make your feet comfortable” Youngbae chides and sits beside her on the bed. He reaches for her feet one at a time and takes off her shoes and socks. “Lay down properly” he orders and for once, Dara didn’t protest but just looks at him and follows silently. When she’s perpendicular to him, he takes both her feet on his lap and slowly massages them imitating the way they did it at the spa.

Sandara wants to snatch her feet back but couldn’t bring herself to. Youngbae is making her feel weird today. How was he the awkward boy a month ago? He makes her feel warm and cared for … something she doesn’t want to feel … and yet … and yet … she shakes her head mentally and let herself indulge in the moment. Just for tonight. Just for tonight, Dara, she tells herself. She slowly feels the lull of sleep and closes her eyes. The last thing she remembers is Youngbae  gently massaging the insoles of her feet.

*********************************

Jiyong and Youngbae are sitting at the hotel’s bar. Youngbae has to drive so he only ordered a beer while Jiyong ordered a bottle of Jack.

They are both lost in their own thoughts.

Youngbae is thinking about Sandara and her problem with her ex-boyfriend and how he can get her to agree to come with him to Macau for Christmas.

Jiyong, on the other hand, is trying his best to ignore the blossoming jealousy within him. He feels stupid and awkward as he watched his bestfriend take care of Dara earlier as the girl fell asleep. He also feels guilty for feeling this way when he should be happy for his bestfriend who looks like he’s fallen hard for the girl.

They passed the hour barely talking until they said goodye.

 

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The next morning, Sandara’s sleep was interrupted by the insistent ringing of the doorbell. It took a while for to remember where she is as she gets up and walks towards the double doors. She opens the door and peeks.

“Room service” says a feminine voice. Delicious smell of breakfast is wafting through the covered trays. She sees three carts in front of her door.

“I didn’t order any …” she started and opens the door wider.

“Good morning!” says Jiyong, taking her by surprise. He must have been leaning on the wall so she didn’t see him at first.

“Blondie?” What’s the meaning of this? I didn’t order any room service …”

“I did” he says with an impish smile. “Let’s have breakfast. I’m starving” he says and pushes one of the carts into her room without her permission.

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Author’s Note:

Sorry for the delay. I didn’t have my laptop with me all through the week so I just wrote this today. It’s a longer update so I hope you’ll enjoy it!

2NE1’s comeback is in a few hours! NOLZA!

*bisous*

~mzbookworm4life

P.S.

I know I promised to reveal Prince Charming this chapter but the story got too long and I had to cut it. I’ll definitely give you an insight on Sandara’s past next chapter. Again, je suis desolee. 

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, publish, modify, create derivative works, or in any way exploit any content of this story without a written consent from the author.

All rights reserved by Ms/Mzbookworm4life. © April 2013.