Bodyguard

A Misunderstanding

"Young-do!" I gasped. I was a bit startled since I practically ran into him, so I backed up a little bit. Young-do's eyebrows were raised, indicating that he was confused. 

"What were you doing at my house? How did you even know I lived here?" He asked. I bit my lip. "Well, I was walking to the hotel and a limousine pulled over next to me-" I was interrupted by Young-do's laughing. "What is it with you and limousines? Are you a magnet to them?" 

The fact that he was laughing and joking put me more at ease and less reluctant to tell him what had happened with his father. "Well, it was one of your drivers. He told me to get in because Mr. Choi wanted to see me." His happy expression disappeared and I was met with a dead stare. 

I was already feeling nervous at the way he was acting. "W-Well, I thought it might have been you, so I got in because I would have been happy to see you!" He smiled a bit at the fact that I mentioned he would have made me happy. Getting into a better mood with him. 

I cleared my throat. "But, when I arrived, I was led into an office and it was your father who wanted to talk to me." Now, he was just angry. His eyebrows arched and his gaze turned deadly. "My father? What did he want with you?" He put his hands on my shoulders. "Did he threaten you? Hurt you? What did he do, I'll kill him!" He yelled. 

I waved my hands in disagreement and took Young-do's hands off of me. "Young-do, calm down! He didn't hurt me." Well, not physically at least, but his comments about me hurt me emotionally. I sighed. "He told me that he knew who I was and that he knew about us." Young-do's evil stare didn't cease. I felt a bit nervous bringing up this next part, but it wasn't a big deal. I didn't take the money, I stayed loyal to Young-do. I just hoped he didn't freak out before I could explain everything. 

"Your father offered me a deal. He told me that if I stopped seeing you, my mom and I could live at the hotel rent-free for as long as we wanted, but if I continued seeing you, he would kick us out and make sure we could never live anywhere ever again." I was going to keep going, until I noticed Young-do staring daggers at me. His fists were curled and he was biting his lip. 

"I knew it." He breathed shakily, looking down at the ground. I titled my head, a bit in fear. I had never seen him like this before. "Knew what?" He looked back at me. If looks could kill, I would've been dead on the spot. "That you could be bought." 

My heart stopped. What did he just say?

"You're no different than the others. You pretend to like me, but in reality, all you want is money. You'll do whatever it takes to get it. All you poor people are the same!" He yelled. Flashbacks of what his father said to me played in my mind. It was the exact same thing. 

I felt sick to my stomach. I couldn't believe that Young-do really thought this way about me. He didn't even hear the full story yet! He really didn't trust me, despite everything I've told him and all the moments we have shared. 

I felt like I could pass out at any minute. I stumbled forwards and tried to go, but Young-do grabbed my arm rather hard and yanked me towards him. His eyes narrowed at me. "What was I worth? 1,000,000 won? How could you do this to me? After all I did for you, how I trusted you?!" He yelled, his tone incredibly threatening. 

I know I could've explained everything right then and there, but to be honest, I don't even know if he would have believed me. I wasn't in my right mind, being so emotionally shaken from Young-do's damaging words. I felt like I was going to drop to the floor in a big crying mess. 

I turned my head away from him and jerked my arm out of his grasp rather hard, sending him stumbling backwards a bit. I turned back to face him, tears spilling down my cheeks. His eyes widened in surprise. I couldn't even talk, as my throat was hurting from trying to contain all my tears. I let out a pathetic sob and ran away from Young-do, his house, and his hurtful words. 

"Seo-yun! Wait, Seo-yun!" He bellowed. I left him standing there on the street with his arm reaching out for me, and I didn't go back. 

I couldn't believe the way he had treated me. He said I was the same as all the other poor people that just used him for money. I didn't know whether to believe he was just hurt at what he thought I did and was using his anger to express his negative emotions, or if he really did think those things about me. 

My head was a jumbled mess of negative thoughts right now, each one hurting me more than the last. I know I should have cleared up the situation right then and there, but Young-do's accusatory words sent me reeling. 

I sniffled and wiped away my tears, only to have more tears follow. I looked up and realized that I was at the convenience store where Young-do and I ate ramyeon together. Adding salt to the wound here. 

I was prepared to just walk right past it, when my stomach let out a loud growl that even startled some of the customers coming out of the store. I put my hands on my stomach and looked at all the food inside. 

Even though it would most likely bring back memories that would make me feel sad, I was in the mood for ramyeon. 

I walked inside the store, the little jingley bells alerting the shop owner that I had come in, and made a bee-line for the ramyeon section. I chose the same ramyeon flavor that I had when I ate it with Young-do. Old habits die hard, I guess. I prepared my food and paid for it at the counter. 

I went outside and sat down at the same table Young-do and I sat at. Seriously, what was I doing to myself!? I opened the chopsticks and put them in the noodles. I scooped some up on the chopsticks and raised them to my mouth. Nothing. I was too upset to eat. 

I dropped the chopsticks back into the ramyeon bowl and shut the plastic covering over it again. I couldn't help but give way to tears again. Would Young-do and I ever make up? Would he apologize for the horrible, mean things he said about me? Would I apologize for not explaining sooner? Would we ever go back to the way things were? At this point, I didn't know. 

I was so lost in my own thoughts and tears that I didn't notice a man come and stand over me. I looked up, almost expecting to see Young-do, when I met eyes with another man. He was famous around my school, and a friend of Young-do's. 

Kim Tan smiled at me. "Is this seat taken?"