Chapter 87: Restraining Order
The following day, Hae-won was dealing with a lot of stuff after her classes ended for the day. After all, some little pricks had actually tried to drug and rape her daughter on campus. Naturally, as Min-Ji’s mother, she was pursuing the harshest sentence possible for the perpetrators.
Of course, there were also other stressful factors on the woman’s mind. Her divorce with her husband was finalized. And she was now single once more. Though the man got the house in the divorce, she walked free without any of the debt he had incurred since she walked out on him. Which was a huge plus.
Of course, Hae-won and Min-Ji could not stay with Alex forever, or so she thought. After all, he was one of her students, and it was already inappropriate for her to live with him, even with her circumstances. Thus, she was in the middle of filling out legal paperwork and looking for a new place to stay for her and her daughter when a knock appeared at her office’s door.
Surprisingly enough, the voice that called out to her was one that she was not expecting. Alex had a wide smile on his face, as he had a bag full of fast food in his hands. Whether he was congratulating her on her divorce, or mocking her, Hae-won didn’t really know. Because the bag was from the same exact fast-food restaurant she had worked at as her second job while trying to pay off her husband’s debts.
There was a peculiar look on the woman’s’ face when Alex pulled out her share of the loot and handed it to her before congratulating her on her recent divorce.
“Congratz! Professor Park, you are now free from that idiot you used to call a husband!”
Seeing at this was Alex’s way to congratulate her. Hae-Won smiled and took a bite out of the spicy chicken sandwich that Alex had given her. She had some of the sauce on her face, which Alex immediately noticed and wiped away with a napkin. This caused the woman to blush and avert her gaze.
Recently, she had started to think of Alex as more than just a playboy, and definitely more than the thug she initially thought he was. But she had not yet realized that her heart was becoming increasingly attached to him. However, his next words shocked her, as he broke the awkward silence between them with a peculiar question.
“Pardon me for asking, but what exactly did you see in the man when you married him?”
Hae-won sighed heavily as she washed down her chicken sandwich with some diet cola. She then responded to Alex with an almost miserable tone.
“You wouldn’t really understand...”
Alex raised his brow and pulled out his chicken nuggets, which he was eating alongside his chicken sandwich, before further interrogating the woman on her backstory.
“Why don’t you try me?”
Hae-won took one look at the genuine smile on Alex’s face and decided to trust him, thus she spoke of how she met her now ex-husband.
“It’s not exactly the Disney romance that you might expect it to be. I met my husband when I was in high school. He was the son of one of my father’s friends. I never much cared for him, but I was always expected to be a good girl. Obey my parents’ commands, get good grades, reject the multiple confessions I was given, and marry a man of my father’s choosing.
Eventually we ended up at the same college together and my father decided that he was a man worth marrying me off to. We dated for a time, but I don’t believe either of us really felt any genuine love for one another... In the end we ended up getting married simply to please our parents, and stayed together until now for Min-Ji’s sake, even after he started developing a gambling habit.”
Alex was shocked to hear this as he took a sip of his soda. He then responded to the mature beauty with the question that immediately came to his mind.
“So wait? You’ve never been in love?”
Hae-won responded by shaking her head and snacking on her fries. She was just about to say something when another knock appeared on the door. When Alex looked over at who intruded on his important conversation, he frowned before voicing his thoughts aloud.
“Speak of the devil and he shall appear....”
Hae-won’s husband stood in the doorway looking more haggard than ever, all the while absolutely reeking of liquor. The man did not even bother to pay attention to Alex as he got down on his knees and begged his wife to return to him.
“Hae-won... Please take me back! I’ll do anything! I’m sorry! I was wrong to gamble away our money! But I’m a changed man! Please, think about our daughter, and her own wellbeing! Think about Min-Ji!”
Alex took one look over at Hae-won and saw conflicting emotions on her pretty face. He was very quick to intervene before she could answer her ex-husband.
“Professor Park! You can’t seriously be entertaining the idea! Think of all the damage he has caused to you and your daughter! And where you would be if I did not help you! Don’t listen to this worthless asshole! He’s probably desperate for money and wants to marry you solely so he can take out another debt in your name or worse, your daughter’s!”
Of course, Chun-Hei was one of the officers on the scene. And she could not help but approach Alex and scoff at him.
“What is it with you? Some days you’re the villain assaulting innocent women, and other days you’re the hero protecting them from other fiends like yourself? Everywhere I look, I end up seeing you.... And it’s starting to get on my nerves!”
Alex simply scoffed and pulled out a cigarette, which he lit and took a deep drag on before puffing the smoke into Chun-Hei’s pretty face. He then proceeded to mock the woman with the pet name he had given her.
“It’s nice to see you too Police Girl... So.... I’m thinking after this, Professor Park is going to need a restraining order against her ex, don’t you think?”
Chun-Hei did not immediately respond to Alex’s comments about the restraining order. Instead, she curled her fists and pouted before reprimanding Alex for the nickname he kept calling her.
“It’s Chun-Hei! You hear me! Chun-Hei!”
Alex, of course, smirked before referring to the woman by the nickname she had grown to hate once more, as if to deliberately provoke her further.
“Whatever you say, Police Girl... Now answer the fucking question, will you?”
As much as Chun-Hei wanted to smack Alex across his handsome face for his repeated abuse and humiliation, she could only roll her eyes before agreeing with his assessment.
“Unless you want to charge the man for assault, then yes, I would suggest that your professor comes down to the station with us to file a restraining order against her ex-husband.”
Hae-won looked at Alex with a pleading gesture, but instead shook his head before speaking on the matter.
“I’m not the kind to send a man behind bars because of a petty brawl. If he has a problem with me, he can come and fight me like a man. However, his violent behavior towards women is a serious problem for Professor Park, so I suggest she get a restraining order against him. And if he dares to show himself around our home, I’ll bury him six feet under...”
Chun-Hei looked at Alex with suspicion before asking for clarification on what he had just said.
“Hold on, your professor is living with you?”
Alex nodded his head and was about to confirm this, but before he could do so, Hae-won clarified why this was the case.
“It is only temporary! You see, I needed a place to stay after the divorce, and he offered to help me and my daughter out. I am already looking for a new place now that the divorce is finalized!”
Chun-Hei gazed upon the flustered expression on Hae-Won’s pretty face, and sighed heavily before walking away, but not before leaving behind some parting words.
“Whatever, this is not any of my business... But if you want my advice, you should be awfully careful around this one. I know he may seem like a hero today, but he has a complete and total disregard for the law that will eventually land him behind bars...”
After saying this, Chun-Hei departed, leaving Alex alone with his professor, where he wore a charming smile before assuring her that everything was fine.
“Don’t worry about her. She’s still pissed at me over something that happened a long time ago. So how about I drive you to the police station, so we can get the restraining order filed?”
Hae-won blushed when she heard that Alex was willing to drive her to the station and stay by her side for hours on end, just so she could make sure her ex-husband stays away from her. She couldn’t help but wear a pretty smile as she nodded her head with an almost excited expression on her face.
“Sure... I’d like that....”
[Hae-won’s Affection: 90/100]
Alex smirked as he wrapped his arm around the mature beauty’s waist and escorted her to his car, knowing that he was one step closer to conquering both her and her daughter’s hearts.