You'll Never Know

Coffee in The Morning

Yeji POV:

Knock knock

I swear to God if that girl is just looking for a fucking again-

''Yeji-ssi! Morning coffee!'' chimed a particularly cute voice from the other side of the door. A wave of guilt swamped around me, this sweet girl has been dedicated and loyal to me everyday (never swaying from her self-put duty for coffee in the morning) but last night...

Flashback

'Come on pretty, have a drink.'

I looked up at this stunning woman in her twenties gazing down at me with seductive eyes. No, sorry, not seductive... cute, actually - well sort of cute and seductive at the same time. They were a soft shade of blue and their gaze caressed your face. She had an innocent voice which made her sound so pure even though her intentions most certainly might not be. Her touch was gentle and massaged my tired shoulders. How could I have resisted? She was so complex, her personality a labyrinth, her smile so divine but her actions so sinister. You could only call me human for what I did next, something everybody would do.

"Yah, bartender, a Manhattan for me and a Cosmopolitan for the lady of the night please."

The man eyed us with suspicion clear in his eyes, his eyes darted up and down in an attempt to figure us out. The cocktails? Not even started with. He slammed down the bar-towel in his hand then glared at us, "Get out, the both of you! This bar does not allow imbeciles!"

The girl was completely shattered by this statement, her eyes were gloomy and downcast, her mind vacant, whilst blood dripped to the floor from how hard she was biting her lip and her fist clenching. I glanced back at the bartender and saw amused, arrogant expression. Blood boiled within me then a vicious flash of temper uncoiled itself and whipped at the man in utter fury. His face paled at my sudden action, his smiled dropped like a theatrical mask and the cold sweat beading down his face was visible to everyone around. I barely realized what I was doing, my mind was too engulfed with fire, until I felt a soft hand reach for me.

"Yeji... let's go..." the girl grabbed my bleeding hand and dragged me away. She knew me? How come? I've never met her before in my life - tonight being our first encounter, for me at least. She continued talking, "Listen, what happened in there was irrelevant, alright? I'm here as Jennie's messenger. Before I tell you what she wanted you to know, I'm really sorry ab-"

I took out a cigarette and lit it up, "Doesn't matter. What did Jennie want?"

"She wants you to reconsider your decision of the performance."

"And why?"

"Says the Choi boy came to her about it, said he'll have your head be the end of the week and if not yours... Ryeong's."

How far will those Chois go? The vendetta has been going on for decades now but do they not realize that dragging in another family just creates a new one? Especially if it's the Lees we're talking about, Chaeyeon would lose her mind if anything happened to her sister.

"Well?"

"Tell Jennie that I'll deal with it."

"You can't. They're too strong."

"The Lees aren't." I threw on my coat that I had around my waist and glanced at a shocked blonde, aussi. "Good day."

I snapped out of my thoughts and cute hand waved in my face.

"Hellooooo??? Your coffee's cold, do you want me to get- ah!"

She had fallen over because of Lord knows what.

"You've got good reflexes!"

Glancing down, I felt some heat rising to my cheeks, her back was arched in my hands and her arms were wrapped around my waist to regain balance. I picked up her legs and carried her bridal style to the couch in my office.

"Sit down. We need to talk."

Chaeryeong glances at me then looked at the floor, "Am I fired...?"

Fired?! Does she actually have the nerve to ask me if she'll be fucking fired?! HER, FIRED?

"Ani, why do you think that?"

She fidgeted around for a while then opened her mouth as if to speak but it was quickly shut again. I reached over near her - just a few centimetres away from her face - and muttered, "Look, here's the deal. Talk or I'll make you talk."

Her hands suddenly tensed and she bit her teeth against her lip, biting down hard, sweat trickling down her forehead. She shook her head and looked down at the ground - tears coming to her eyes. I grabbed her chin and forced her to look up at me.

"Yah, don't cry. Someone like you shouldn't cry."

That just made her cry more, shit.

" 'Someone like you'? I'm not allowed to cry because, what, I'm not as privileged as you are? Huh? Am I that low in your eyes? Is that what CL meant?"

Author's side note: no hate to CL - I couldn't think of any other female idols that weren't in the book already. I mean I did think of Soyeon but y'all would just attack me for that (i think) 😭

I was shocked beyond words. Clearly Ryeongie doesn't have a mirror at her home.

"What? What did CL tell you?"

"She said you hated me, more than you did the world."

Jumping to my feet, I swung open the door and faced Chaeryeong, "Leave. Now.", she did so and I turned back to the hallway, "CL! My office! Now!"

She collapsed on the floor because of how loud my shout was, I guess I shouted too early.

CL didn't show up for a while but I didn't care that much... my mind still raced about with the Chois.

Chaeryeong - if anything happens - I'm so damn sorry.