Bong-soon looks like a badass cop, Guk-doo thinks, in awe. Then he's frowning at her. Hard.
Bong-soon finally notices the position she's got herself into, and what she did. She still has a fistful of Guk-doo's jacket in her grip. He's now closer than a hair's breadth, caging her to the wall, one elbow poised on the wall, another fist clenched, glaring down at her. With his towering height, she has to crane her neck all the way back to hold his gaze. She's entranced by his eyes, until he says, "Bong-soon-ah, you're utterly stupid?"
"What?" She hates that she's just squawked like a duck. Huh? It felt like a scene ripped a novel, teeming with romance. And this is what he says?
"You're utterly stupid." Guk-doo turns his head to the other side but doesn't pull away. It's so quiet she can hear his racing heart. "So stupid. Do you know what you did? Or how it looks on the outside?"
Outside. Bong-soon hears the voices of other shoppers, men and women. Guk-doo keeps grumbling.
"How could you pull a guy into the changing room with you? How could...."
"It's you... Guk-doo." He doesn't hear her whisper and twists his body so his forehead hits the mirror on the side.
"You're not strange, Guk-doo-ah."
He suddenly crowds her space again. "But I'm a guy."
The crease between his brows is deep. He sounds deadly serious, as if interrogating her. "You're...." His gaze softens only a little. A moment passes in silence.
"Well, that should've thrown her off." Bong-soon cracks open the changing room door, despite her pounding heart. That ends the magical moment. "Should we look? Oh, the coast is clear."
Her sigh of relief is short-lived. At least a dozen women are waiting outside the women's changing room and Guk-doo is still inside! Uh oh. Blush flares Bong-soon's cheek.
The crowd doesn't deter Guk-doo. He's swift as a storm, dashing outside, pulling his badge out, silencing all murmurings around, not at all flustered at the horrified stares.
"This is the police. It's part of an investigation. Forget what you saw." That's all he says and grabs Bong-soon's hand.
"That woman. We can't lose her, Bong-soon! Hurry!" They break into a mad dash after the suspicious woman. They spot her getting in a taxi just outside the mall.
"She won't think she'll be followed. Thanks, genius." Guk-doo pats Bong-soon's shoulder and smiles a bit. "But we should have found another way. Not you pulling me into the changing room."
"What other way there could be?"
He answers Bong-soon's question with a huff as they flag down another taxi. "Who do you think I am?"
Their taxi rolls along the roads at a comfortable pace. The woman's taxi is ahead, but she remains oblivious to her situation, as Guk-doo predicted.
"What were you saying in the changing room? You didn't continue."
Guk-doo spares a glance at Bong-soon, who's seated next to him in the back.
"You said 'you're'... and stopped."
Guk-doo chuckles. "I was going to call you dumb."
"Huh? How rude. What happened to calling me a genius?"
"That, you didn't get the sarcasm."
"Jerk!"
Guk-doo laughs in response, bringing a smile to her face.
YOU ARE READING
Always Forever
RomanceIn Guk-doo had always been reckless, ruthless in his pursuit of justice. Dumped by his girlfriend and put in a sloppy second division, he's a struggling young man despite being a dashing, suave cop. Do Bong-soon had loved him, her childhood friend...
