ALL BARK NO BITE | SADISTIC BEAUTY SPINOFF

Chapter 29

PRESENT DAY

~ Driving home from Hanguk University, Daehak-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul

Wookyung pushed his coffee into the cupholder as he recalled the brief conversation he had with the Dean before leaving the University. Mr. Park, as usual, had been going on about his golfing shenanigans and it sounded like the sexual molestation case had been finally buried. Thanks to Wookyung, Mr. Park's name had been removed from the Golfing Club Blacklist.

His name unjustly cleared, he had been celebrating throughout the weekend by partying, drinking and making merry with his friends for days now and he didn't have enough to talk about it. Wookyung had shut his voice out of his mind after a point, thinking about what happened at the rooftop. Minho was acting differently.

He even forgave him...

Was he worthy of his forgiveness? Wookyung rarely thought of such moralistic questions but with Minho he felt compelled. He was the last person on Earth bent on doing things the right way but he got stumped by the mediocre professor. He turned to his coffee in deep thought.

****

6 YEARS AGO

~ Literature Club, Hanguk University, Daehak-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul

Wookyung was highly caffeinated and sugar happy by the time he reached college. He hadn't been sleeping with people for a while, especially after Duna or sleeping at all for that matter of fact. But he didn't mind. Byun Minho had won the Competition. Yes, it was a rough draft but it wasn't like he didn't know how to edit.

He trimmed and tucked it in at several points, bringing together the story as best he could but the only problem was the ending. Minho never finished it and there was no way to ask him. There were 2 things that could be done, he could either leave the ending open or he could write an ending himself.

How did he want "The Warmest Winter" to end? Making them part ways was one idea. That the patron upon hearing the barista's secret, refused to get trampled by the pain of losing him and left before the inevitable happened. Isn't it unfair that the barista would simply cease but the patron would have to grieve for the rest of their life?

Wasn't it unfair for the barista to not speak about his illness any sooner... Wookyung realised that he was placing himself as the patron in the story. When this was about the barista alone. He tried to rethink everything and it struck him, the point of the story was that their love was bound to happen, regardless of their awaited tragedy.

A tragedy that was also part of their love story as love without pain wasn't love. The barista rejecting the patron's proposal, citing his terminal illness wouldn't change the fact that they still love each other. The patron will grieve the rejection and his loss while the barista will live out his remaining days in pain of never having known his lover.

And even if the patron abandoned him before he got hospitalized, he'll live in remorse for not having spent the last few days with him. While the barista will lament both the loss of his life and lover right before he dies. Wookyung understood it finally. It was best to let them be together and so he did, editing away on his laptop until he felt satisfied with the final draft.

This morning, Wookyung felt a spring in his step, he wasn't even bothered by the countless notices he had been receiving from his father to empty the apartment. The Paris admission date was looming but Wookyung was certain he could stay in Seoul. His father wouldn't uproot him as long as he stayed out of his way.

He can't be forced to go. It's not even that big of a deal, right?. He sat inside the empty Literature Club room, pulling out 'The Catcher in the Rye' he had borrowed from the library. Minho Hyung's favourite book... he examined the synopsis and stroked its spine. Would he know Hyung better after reading it?