One Temptation | Choi Yeonjun Fanfiction

Chapter 23 - Everything Lost in the Blink of an Eye

When you open your eyes again, you find yourself lying on damp ground. The gentle trickle of rain enters your eyes, blurring your vision.

You tilt your head to a side and see you're lying right next to Minho's grave. The blinding pain of your untreated wounds make an appearance yet again, making you cry out an agonizing scream until you could no longer make a sound.

You fight against the shooting pain and reach for your pocket inside your coat, thanking the heavens for your phone still being there and intact. Knowing that Yuna would still be outside your office, you send her a short text with your uninjured arm.

"Transfer my position to Liam Archer. Now."

You send the message, followed by two emoji's. A snowflake and a crescent moon. A kind of a secret code that only a few people knew about, verifying that you are indeed the person sending such a sensitive message and not someone else. You finally drop your phone, unable to hold it any longer.

Your phone starts ringing. Yuna.

You don't bother paying it any attention and lie lifeless onto the cold ground, staring into the pitch black sky, the raindrops landing directly into your eyes. Your phone keeps ringing for a full minute before going completely silent.

"How poetic isn't it." You talk to the piece of stone beside you in a weak whisper, hot tears mixing with the cold gentle rain that seemed to pat your cheeks in consolation. "To lose the company on the same day as you did... And died. Do you think I should also die and complete the story?" You let out a hollow laugh that sent waves of a sharp stinging pain across your body. "The heavens are playing some sick prank on me, aren't they?"

You use the remaining bits of strength left to sit up and lean against Minho's gravestone, biting your tongue to bear the fire your body was under, until your mouth was filled with the taste of copper.

Bzzz. Bzzz.

Your phone starts vibrating.

You look over at the screen and see Yeonjun's name flashing on the screen. You sigh and close your eyes.

You just love bothering me in every situation, don't you Choi?

The phone doesn't stop buzzing. As soon as it would stop ringing, another incoming call from him would appear the next second. It kept on repeating until the ringtone started getting on your nerves. You curse him under your breath and accept the call.

"Park y/n?! Where the fuck, are you?! And what the fuck does the news mean by Liam Archer is now the CEO of Black Pearl?!" His anxious yelling is muffled by the speakers being soaked wet, to which you don't care to reply.

"Hello???"

"Y/N???"

"Answer me, Park y/n!!!"

"I... Don't know..." You try sounding fine, maybe a little tired, but your hushed voice breaks up completely as you had started getting breathless with each passing second.

Shit... I might have lost too much blood now...

"Dammit! Where are you, y/n??!"

"Off-road cemetery, Seongnam." You breathe out.

He hangs up immediately and you quietly watch the phone screen go black. You couldn't tell if you were getting sleepy or the grim reaper had arrived. You close your eyes and hoped your wounds would stop throbbing after you rested for a while.

જ⁀➴

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The rhythmic beeps of some device knocks at the door of your consciousness. Your eyelids were too heavy to be opened, but the excruciating pain from before had subsided quite a bit.

You force yourself to open your eyes and find yourself lying in a soft bed, the morning sunlight pouring in abundance through windows. You're surrounded by a handful of monitors that were connected to parts of your body. Was this a hospital? You ask yourself. Didn't really look like it, because it seemed more like a room, judging by the way it was furnished.

You start suspecting that this was another one of Liam's doing. You frantically look around to see anything that would either verify or deny your suspicions, but you see nothing that could help.

Your heart starts picking pace, which results in one of the devices to start blaring some sort of warning signal and the door bursts open as two people rush inside. Upon a closer inspection, you see Yeonjun and his mom standing on either side of the bed.

What the...?

"Oh my goodness, my dear! You're awake!" Soyul exclaims in joy, her eyes turning misty. "The state in which Yeonjun brought you to me was so concerning..."

"That she cried for a good five minutes." Yeonjun finishes the sentence nonchalantly.

Soyul clears her throat loudly, throwing him a glare before turning her attention to you and taking your hand in hers. "Don't worry, dear. You're in Yeonjun's room. It's completely safe here... I'll go and bring you something to eat since you're awake."

And with that, she quickly rushes out of the room, leaving you both behind.

Yeonjun crosses his arms over his chest, a frown forming over his face. "You had two bullets in the same arm, y/n."

"Thanks for the reminder." You reply gloomily and look down at your hands that were covered in bandages.

Yeonjun bends over and holds your chin, forcing you to look up at him. "Who did this to you?" He enunciates each word in a low voice so deep, you could swear you felt a shiver run down your spine.

You push his hand away and look away, avoiding his intense gaze. "I appreciate the gesture but you don't have to drag yourself into this mess."

"I'm simply asking." He states calmly.

"To drag yourself into this mess." You reply back.

Yeonjun sighs in defeat. "Let's put that aside for a minute... Why the hell didn't you tell me you saved my mom from being abducted?!"

"To not drag myself into unnecessary drama." You give him a careless shrug.

You both fall into silence, neither of you knowing what to say further.

"I need to go back home." You push the sheets aside and try getting up but Yeonjun stops you by holding onto your shoulders and gently pushing you back onto the bed.

"Rest." He says firmly.

"I have to feed Pepper." You stir up an excuse and try freeing yourself from his grip but your weakness didn't let you.

"I already did. Now rest."

Your eyes widen at what he just said. "H- How?"

Seeing your baffled expression, a small smile replaces his previously worn frown. "You, yourself installed that thingamajig for Pepper, didn't you? He simply recognized my voice and opened up."

"I'm..." You're too stunned to think of something to say.

"Food's here~" Soyul enters the room with a tray in her hand.

જ⁀➴

You spend the remaining day glued to the bed, restless from the events that transpired last night. Now that you had started regaining your senses, the realization of the severity of the situation hits you like a truck.

You had no idea how the news channels would be reporting about the situation. What Liam would be doing in his new position. More importantly, you were afraid to know what your parents would be thinking right now, but you hoped that they're smart enough to realize that something must have gone terribly wrong that made you take this absurd decision. And more importantly, Jungwon would be worried sick.

But above all, you basically lost everything you had.

You lost the company, your position, your job. Where were you supposed to go now? What were you supposed to do? And how? All these questions, uncertainties, and concerns made your head spin. Your heart picking up pace as your breathing got shallower.

Please calm down. Please calm down.