Now With U (Living In The Past - Book 2) (WheeByul)

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

"Hello?"

"Please tell me that you're okay?" Byul said as she rushed towards the car.

"I'm okay, Star."

"You're not lying to me, right?"

"Of course not. I'm okay." WheeIn exhaled. "Jimin though..."

"I heard. How is he doing?"

"He broke a leg. He pushed me aside and got hit. It's my fault."

"It's not your fault, okay? None of this is your fault." She pulled the car door a bit too hard and Hwasa yelped when the loud bang startled her. Byul quickly apologized.

"Where are you? What's all the noise?"

"I'm on my way to the train station. I'm coming home. You stay with Yong until I get there, you hear me?"

"I hear you." She wasn't planning on arguing after what happened to Jimin.

"Where's Ha-eun?"

"At school."

"Don't go pick her up alone. At least take Tae Hyung with you."

"Yong said she'd come with me."

"Good." Byul finally exhaled, sinking into the car seat. "I'm sorry for not being there," she mumbled, covering her mouth with her hand to prevent everyone there from hearing her.

"What are you talking about? You were doing your job and I had Jimin and the officers with me."

"But still... I made a promise yet-..."

"You didn't break any promise, Star. You couldn't have prevented this. Don't blame yourself. You said that it wasn't my fault. Well, it's not your fault either. You can't babysit me 24/7, you know. And I don't want to be babysat 24/7 anyway."

Byul realized that WheeIn was right but she just couldn't stop herself from feeling guilty.

"Just come home safely. I miss you."

"I miss you too. I'll see you in a couple hours, okay? Please call me if there's anything? I don't really like finding out from Hwasa that you almost got hit by a car."

"I'm okay and I thought you were busy-..."

"I'm never too busy for you. I thought you knew that."

"I do. It's just... I was unharmed and I didn't want to be a burden or a distraction to you and with Jimin like that, I just..." WheeIn heaved a sigh. "Right. My fault. Sorry." She got the point. If she were in Byul's shoes, she would have wanted the same thing, to know directly when the person she loved was in trouble.

"It's alright. I'm just glad you're okay. I'll see you in a few hours then."

"Okay. See you. I'm sorry, Star." She apologized again.

"It's okay."

"Bye then."

"Bye."

Byul hung up, dropped the phone onto the seat then massaged her temple.

"Is WheeIn okay?" asked Hwasa from the front seat.

"Yeah. What did Yong say, exactly? Who was the target? WheeIn or Jimin?"

"I think Jimin. Yong said he managed to push WheeIn into safety but the car didn't stop. It kept coming after him."

"No license plate? The officers must have seen something?" asked Seulgi.

"They saw the license plate but it was fake, expired, and registered to a totally different vehicle. The windows were tinted and the driver wore a mask so they couldn't see his face," said Hwasa. "On the bright side, Sandeul is up and running again. Or at least walking."

"That stubborn kid," muttered Byul under her breath before she picked up her phone again, dialing Solar's number.

"Hello?"

"Yong, it's me."

"Hey, Byul. Did Hwasa tell you?"

"Yeah. Why didn't you call me?"

"I tried. Didn't you get my missed calls?"

"I did."

"When you didn't pick up, I decided to call Hwasa instead. Everyone's alright, Byul. Don't worry."

"How could I not worry?"

"Well, WheeIn's here with me, Sandeul and Tae Hyung. And she's not going anywhere without at least one of us with her. I plan to go with her to pick Ha-eun up from school later before I head off to meet with Appa and the task force. We need to step up our game," Solar said. "But the shadowing team is doing their job. Without them, WheeIn and Jimin wouldn't have been so lucky."

"This is getting out of hand, Yong," hissed Byul.

"I know, Byul. Appa knows too. He's doubling the protection, allocating some uniforms to be stationed at our homes. But you know he can't do much either. We can't focus too much on this, unfortunately."

"I understand. It's just..."

"Yeah, I know. Don't worry, Byul. I won't let history repeat itself. We got this. We'll get Ji Soo."

And this time, I'll make sure he can't get away with it so easily, thought Byul as she clenched her fist.

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"Excuse me, Miss Jung?"

WheeIn looked up from the papers on her desk to see a uniformed officer approaching her. "Yes, Officer Lee?"

"Someone's looking for you." The woman pointed at the exit.

"Oh. Who is it?" WheeIn turned her head and immediately frowned when she saw the man. She stood up and thanked the officer before she walked towards him. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to give you these," Mr. Jung said, showing the basket of oranges he was holding. "You weren't home last night and this morning so I thought I'd try your office."

WheeIn looked at the fruits but didn't reach out to take them, crossing her arms instead. "Why can't you take no for an answer?"

He was clearly surprised by the direct hostility. "I just wanted to apologize, that's all. For everything I put you through."

"A little late for that, don't you think?"

He let out a sigh. "I know that I've never been a good father to you and that I shouldn't have left you here to clean up my mess. I made so many mistakes but I want to make up for them."

"Why now?"

"Because your sister didn't tell me what happened until recently. I didn't know."

"You didn't need to know. I told her not to tell you."

"But you're my daughter. I should know what's going on with you."

WheeIn scoffed. "Well, that's new. I thought you only cared about what I could do to help your little hobby? The rest doesn't matter to you. It never did and never will."

"That's not true. I do care, WheeIn. Those years when we first moved here were some of the best of my life. Remember? W-with your mother?"

She inhaled when she heard the mention of her mother but kept her expression as cool as she could. "Sure, Dad. Sure. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

She turned around and began strolling back towards her desk. She was about to take a seat when she realized that he had followed her.

"Here. Share them with Byul and that little girl." He placed the basket on the desk. "For what it's worth, even though you don't believe me, I really do care about you, WheeIn. I made a lot of mistakes. I admit that and I regret every single one of them. I want to make it up to you, to be the father you never had. And I mean what I said, I won't stop trying until you forgive me." He then took a step back. "I'm grateful for Byul. She's a good person and she's taken good care of you. Hang on to her. I think she's a keeper although I know you probably don't want to listen to what I say."

Mr. Jung then awkwardly turned around to leave.

WheeIn was surprised by her father's last sentence. The way he talked... it was as if he knew about Byul and me. But how could he? Who told him? Even Unnie doesn't know what's really going on.

Her curiosity got the best of her and she found herself going after him. "Wait!" she called out, halting his steps.

He turned around, surprised to see her daughter's reaction.

"Do you know about Byul and me? About our relationship?"

The man suddenly realized his mistake. "Um... it's kind of obvious."

"I don't think so. I know that we didn't say or do anything that could have made you realize how we are. Besides, even if it were that obvious, the best you could have done was guess. Yet you weren't guessing. The way you said that... you knew about us."

He smiled in spite of himself, feeling strangely proud of her. "You were always so smart."

WheeIn ignored the unfamiliar faint flicker of joy she felt inside when she saw his proud expression and heard his compliment. "Who told you?"

His smile disappeared, replaced by worry. "It was just a guess," he said.

"No, it wasn't. Stop lying to me."

Her bitter tone nearly made him flinch but he maintained his composure. He didn't want Byul to get in trouble for meeting him behind his daughter's back.

"Who told you?" WheeIn repeated her question. "No one knows except my friends. And I know you don't even know them let alone talk to them so who told you?"

"Why does it matter anyway? I'm your father. I should know about these things."

"You weren't fatherly enough to deserve to know."

WheeIn's words cut at his heart yet again but he knew he deserved it somehow.

"One last time, Dad. Who told you? If you really want to start acting like a father to me then I recommend you start by being honest."

He exhaled, defeated. "Please don't be angry at her? She was just trying to help me. I was the one who kept asking and bothering her," he finally said.

"Wha-... Who are you talk-..." Then it hit her. Byul.

WheeIn clenched her jaws, feeling betrayed to know that Byul had gone to meet him without telling her about it. And she said she would stop making a fuss about this...

"Whee, don't be angry at her. It was my fault. I begged her to have lunch with me when you didn't want to."

"You even had lunch with her?!"

Her voice made several heads turn.

"I-it was just a quick lunch. Nothing special, really. We didn't even have time to talk much!"

She shook her head in disbelief. "Great, Dad. Just great. You just love ruining my life, don't you?" She spun on her heels and stomped her way towards the toilet, leaving the quiet man who was silently berating himself for what he had done.

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Byul was surprised to see Solar at the train station, waiting for her. "Why are you here? Did something else happen?"

"No. Everything's fine. I just thought I'd pick you up."

"Where are Whee and Ha-eun?"

"At the house." Solar waved goodbye to Hwasa and Seulgi, told them to be careful, then walked out together with Byul towards her car.

"Are you sure that nothing else happened today?" asked Byul once they were driving away from the train station.

"Yeah. Why?"

"I tried calling WheeIn while in the train but she didn't pick up. I asked Tae Hyung whether she was busy but he said no. She was just at my desk, reading up on the case. Good thing she was at the station or I would've been worried sick."

Solar raised her eyebrows. "She has been kinda quiet but I thought it was because she was still getting over the incident from this morning. Did you do something to annoy her?"

"How could I? I wasn't even here!"

"Did you say something that annoyed her?"

"No. The last time we spoke was when I was on my way to the train station in Suncheon. She sounded perfectly fine."

"Hm... then you just have to ask her yourself."

It had passed dinnertime when they arrived at Solar's house.

"Look who's here," Solar said as she stepped inside the living room.

The little girl turned her head and gasped when she saw Byul. "Star!" She jumped up from her seat, dropping her pencil to the floor, and ran to greet Byul.

She had to laugh when the girl hugged her legs. "Hey. Miss me?" She set her bag down, lifted Ha-eun up and kissed her cheek, letting her cling to her neck.

"Yes."

"Aw... well, I'm back now. Have you been a good girl?"

Ha-eun nodded but didn't let go.

"Good." She started walking inside, greeting Solar's mother and the silent woman who was just staring at her with cold eyes.

Byul knew that WheeIn was angry but she wasn't sure why.

"How was your trip, Byul?" Solar's mother asked.

"Exhausting."

"Have you had dinner?"

"Not yet."

"I'll warm something up for you." The woman got up from the couch.

"It's okay, Omoni. I'm not that hungry and I can just get something on the way home."

"Don't be silly. It will only take a minute."

"I'm going to take a shower before I drive you guys home," Solar said before she disappeared up the stairs.

"Were you doing your homework?" Byul asked Ha-eun, pulling her arms off her neck.

"Yes."

"Then finish it quickly so we can go home, okay?"

"Okay!"

Byul set the girl down then approached WheeIn. She sat down next to her and kissed her cheek. "Hey. I thought you missed me?"

WheeIn didn't react.

"Whee, what's wrong?"

Since Ha-eun was there, WheeIn couldn't directly say what was on her mind so she held it in. "Later," she curtly said.

"You were okay when we last talked. What happened?"

"I said, later," she mumbled through clenched jaws, hoping that Ha-eun wouldn't hear her. "I'm going to pack our stuff and get ready to go." She stood up, leaving the flabbergasted Byul staring at her in total confusion.

What in the world happened to you?

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Byul closed the door gently after making sure that the little girl was fast asleep and the night lamp was on.

Her head hurt a bit thanks to the lack of sleep and the exhaustion but she didn't let it bother her. There was something more urgent in her mind and that was the person who had been giving her the cold shoulder all night.

She went to the bedroom to see WheeIn reading on the bed.

Closing the door behind her, she was surprised to see WheeIn put her book aside then get off the bed, taking her pillow with her.

"Where are you going?"

"Couch."

"What?" Byul stopped WheeIn, holding her by the arm. "What is going on?"

"I don't know. You tell me."

"How can I when I don't even know what's going on?"

"Then you shouldn't have sneaked around behind my back."

"Wha-... when did I ever do that?"

"When you had lunch with my father."

"Oh." Byul bit her lip, cursing her predicament. "That. Err..."

WheeIn took Byul's hand off her arm and moved to open the door.

"Come on. Don't do this. Let me explain."

WheeIn turned around. "What's your explanation? You clearly wouldn't stop meddling in this even though you said you'd stop nagging. Why can't you respect my decision? Why can't you just back off and let me be?"

"I'm not meddling!"

"You are. It's my family, my decision, Byul."

"I know that! But you wouldn't talk to him and I felt sorry for him so I-..."

"Don't you get it? It's not the fact that you had lunch with him that irritates me. It's the fact that you hid it from me. If you really wanted to meet him then just say so. I wouldn't have stopped you. I wouldn't have come with you and I would've probably thought that it was unnecessary but I definitely wouldn't stop you." WheeIn paused for air. "Not only did you not respect my decision, you were actually hiding things from me with no intention of telling me, weren't you?"

"How can I tell you when even the slightest mention of him always makes you so angry? I just wanted to hear what he had to say because I think that he's sincerely sorry for what he has done. That's it."

WheeIn shook her head. "Whatever." She opened the door and stepped out.

Byul groaned, following WheeIn into the living room. "Come on. Sleep on the bed."

WheeIn placed her pillow on the couch and lay down after grabbing the folded blanket from the armrest.

"Whee, please don't do this?" Byul squatted down next to the couch, placing a hand on WheeIn's arm. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the lunch. I thought you would forbid me from meeting with him."

She turned on her side, away from Byul.

With a sigh, Byul moved to sit on the couch, on the small remaining space behind WheeIn. "I'm tired and I miss you. I was worried sick when I heard what had happened to Jimin and to you today."

WheeIn listened quietly. Deep down, she missed Byul too but her anger had overshadowed other emotions.

"You can yell at me all you want tomorrow, after we drop Ha-eun off at school, but tonight, I just want to have you back in my arms. We've been arguing so much lately and this whole thing with Ji Soo, the boys, your father and Ha-eun's grandmother... I could've lost you today. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you." She looked down at her hands and felt tears. The stress was getting to her and the fatigue made her a bit more emotional than she normally was. She was expecting to come home to a happy WheeIn, not arguing with her like this.

WheeIn turned her head to see Byul on the verge of tears, staring blankly at her lap. She felt bad, knowing how hard it must be for Byul to have everything coming at her at once. Her anger slowly receded, replaced by guilt and concern. The repressed longing resurfaced and she found herself sitting up, putting her arms around Byul. "You won't lose me," she said.

Byul held WheeIn's arm and leaned on her, unable to contain her need for the comforting warmth of her love's arms. "I'm really sorry."

"We'll fight it out tomorrow." She kissed Byul's temple. "You need to sleep."

"Not without you." Byul lifted her head, looking into WheeIn's eyes, pleading. "I'm not sleeping alone. I need you."

She saw the bare vulnerability instead of the usual stubbornness and gave in, knowing that Byul would probably sleep on the couch with her should she have insisted on staying there anyway. "Okay." She let go of Byul then let her pull her up, back towards the bedroom.

Byul switched the lights off then climbed onto the bed, snuggling against WheeIn. She let out a sigh of relief when WheeIn's arms went around her. As strong and tough as she was, there would always come a time when everything became too much. In those times, she had found that there was nowhere else she'd want to be than in WheeIn's arms, safe in her embrace.

"I'm sorry," she apologized again and gave her a kiss. "I love you. I will never do anything to hurt you. I didn't mean to disregard your decision or to hide things from you."

"Tomorrow, Byul. We'll talk about this tomorrow."

"Can I at least hear you say you love me too?"

WheeIn gently kissed Byul. "I love you no matter how annoyed I am with what you've done."

She smiled weakly at that. "Good night then."

"Good night."

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I love this part.... Have you enjoyed it... Do you want to continue this Mr. Jung issue?

Don't forget to vote everyone....

Mamamoo is having a world tour... I wanted to go and I'm waiting for the ticket prices here in our country and try to budget my upcoming pay with bonus... hehehe....

My moobong will be definitely be useful that day.... See you to those who are coming to the concert....