Chapter 142 - A Long Night 1

Greengrocer Yoo was rolling down its doors when Eun Ha quickly snuck inside,

"Kang Dae?! Kang Dae?! I need to talk to you!" she called, advancing cautiously, since she saw no one. Suddenly her senses suspected the danger and she swerved in time for avoiding a broom, which whizzed by her head,

"Easy! Calm down Mrs. Yoo! I can explain!" Eun Ha put her hands in front of her face, while the greengrocer's owner stopped in front of her, furious,

"What do you want here? Do you wanna die? Aren't you tired of ruining my son's life?! I thought you were a good girl, but look at that! Kang Dae can't even work anymore!"

"Well, wait! Wait! Maybe that's not so bad. His fame will bring free advertising to your business! There's no place where they don't say that Ryan Lee, I mean, Kang Dae, advocates a healthy and balanced diet, coupled with exercise. Aren't people buying more vegetables? I see lines to buy in the Yoo's greengrocer!"

"But my son is now thinking about becoming a model! How will he help me? Celebrity life! This is a world of illusion! He didn't want to study, so all he knows is about vegetables! Also, I don't want him to get involved with gold-digger women! He's a pure boy! I want him to have a beautiful family! Not to get involved with actresses and singers and women who only think of themselves!" The ajuhmma was outlining her motives when Kang Dae came from the private area, to take the broom out of her hand,

"Calm down Mom, this is not going to happen."

"What? Aren't you going to start a normal family?"

"I won't marry to an actress or singer."

"Oh, sure. Because there's that other minx in your life! Kang Dae! KANG DAE! DO YOU WANT TO KILL YOUR MOTHER OUT OF GRIEF?!"

Eun Ha was sure that no logic or argument could penetrate Ms. Yoo's mind at that moment. She was very frustrated and obsessed that her children would follow their detailed plans for the future.

"Mom, I'm going to talk to Eun Ha ssi, I also have things to say to her. Can you leave us alone for a moment?"

The woman watched them both with narrowed eyes, and went into her residence, not before showing the broom to both of them. Eun Ha and Kang Dae cringed at the threat.

"Kang Dae, I'm sorry!" Eun Ha bowed respectfully to ask for forgiveness, "I was wrong to deceive you. I just wanted to promote myself, but I didn't have the money for it. I disrupted your routine and your life. But here's the amount I promised, and in case anyone wants to sue you, I'll pay a lawyer. After all, this is my responsibility," she held out an envelope with money. It was part of the loan she had taken.

Kang Dae refused, though,

"Eun Ha… Alright. Of course, I'm afraid they'll sue us, but it was fun. I never imagined that these things would happen to me! Cool job offers and paparazzi around our greengrocer! Chang Mi said that I have to plan my moves and double check before signing a contract for modelling, making ads, or whatever. Although my mom doesn't want to, Chang Mi says it will be very good for me and our mom, and our business!"

"Chang Mi is really smart!" she nodded, impressed. It relieved Eun Ha that he wasn't mad at her. She was more surprised when Kang Dae said,

"I also have to apologize to you for Soo Bin noona for offending you these days ago."

"Well, it was a surprise that you guys… were having a secret affair. Because you looked like…" Eun Ha didn't even know how to say that. Deep down, it relieved her to find out Kang Dae was into another woman, as she always felt ashamed for not returning his feelings.

"Eun Ha… Those little gifts… They were from Chang Mi. Ok, done. I spilled it up. Chang Mi is completely obsessed with you. There's no age difference for him. Well, if he saw you now in this student outfit ..."

Eun Ha had even forgotten about that detail. So that was it?! Chang Mi?! It was unbelievable. She was several years older than him, and she could bet there was a lot of girls chasing him. He was a pretty boy. 

"He's a complete madman, that brat," continued Kang Dae. "But being the idiot he is, he didn't have the courage to give you the presents himself. It was because he forced me so I agreed to go to the Ball. He forced me to do a lot of ..." he stopped when he saw that he was talking too much.

'Did he force his hyung...? Now I understand everything. Chang Mi blackmailed Kang Dae and kept the secret about Soo Bin Unnie! What a smart boy! ' Eun Ha thought. She was going to say something else, but noticed that Kang Dae was pale, looking at something behind her. When the fairy turned, she saw Chang Mi, staring at them. 

And he was bleeding.

°°°

Kim Jun Hyeon looked at his chest, and saw his student pin and also his high school uniform. Swallowing hard, he looked at the calendar, knowing he would see the date set: the day so early, October 25th. It had happened so many times, but he couldn't change it. But this time he could do it. He'd save his sister.

Jun Hyeon started down the stairs, slowly.

In the middle of the stairs, he stopped, noticing a strange noise upstairs, as smoke began to rise from the floor below. His confused mind tried to understand what was going on. The bas.e.m.e.nt and his sister were downstairs. 

He had to go downstairs and decide, as there was no time.

But now, upstairs, Ye Rim was being attacked.

Her feet shuffled, in anguish and desperation to go to both places, but part of herself seemed to know that this was a dream.

Still, what would he do?

°°°

Ye Rim opened his eyes, alarmed. Had she dozed off? 

The answer was yes. She was tired and had been drinking, and when Jun Hyeon slept and everything was silent, she just dozed off. The singer wasn't sure exactly how long, but she didn't think it had been more than a few minutes. 

The blinds were open on the living room's panoramic window, and she could see rain falling on the city. It was also a little cold, Ye Rim noticed rubbing her arms.

'Well, I'm going to get a comforter to cover Jun Hyeon oppa. It's getting cold fast! ' carefully leaving the sofa, Ye Rim went to the private part of the apartment, a little embarrassed to be going to Jun Hyeon's room without him.

A'Without him? What did you want, Ye Rim? Go with him?' she asked herself a bit amused. Unlike the first day of school, when she was fully aware of Dr. Kim's s.e.x appeal, tonight Ye RIm had given little thought to how s.e.xy he was. Just about how difficult things were being for him. Although Dr. Kim was an enlightened man and even had psychiatrists and therapists at his own Foundation, she knew it was very difficult for a man to seek professional help, regarding trauma or psychological problems. She never had highly esteemed psychiatrists or respect them, too. 

'Uhn, okay, so this must be his room,' she stopped in front of an elegant furniture full of family photos, next to the last door. An intriguing thought overcame her, as she put her hand on the door handle of the room,

'How funny, the air is freezing here near the door, did he forget the air conditioner on, inside the room?'

Opening the door, her hand felt the wall for the switch. It was a set of switches and she couldn't really understand what she was doing, so she wasted some time pushing buttons until she gave up and had only part of the lights on. It would be enough. And she liked what she saw. 

The room suited Dr. Kim a lot. There was nothing revealing and unexpected like collections of toys or even more shocking, collections of e.r.o.t.i.c toys. It would shock her if he was the bold type.

She passed by the bed to the door she imagined was the closet, when out of the corner of her eye she noticed something strange. The hairs on her body stood up immediately, and she heard her heartbeat in her ears.

Turning cautiously, she looked in the opposite direction, facing the bed. Her eyes scanned the room, and again, Ye Rim had the impression that the figure, a person in fact, was hiding there. She didn't know where, but she knew it was inside the room. It felt the same as it did when the girl passed out in the karaoke booth. There was someone there.

She looked down, searching the floor, and then realized that the person, or something, was behind her, at the top of the closet.

'Son of a bitch, are you a ghost?! Are you disturbing Jun Hyeon?! ' Although she was afraid, Ye RimI was also angry. Jun Hyeon said he couldn't sleep in the room and was waking up in the office. She had never believed in what she considered scam and rubbish, but the latest events proved something: the supernatural existed, and whatever that thing was, she had to get it away from Jun Hyeon. No one else would die because of these things, like Eun Ha's mother died.

This decision came along with the moment when Ye Rim spun her body quickly, and came face to face with the 'shadow'.