You Got Power Over Me

chapter 4

Song Rec: R U Mine By Arctic Monkeys

Choi Do-Il POV:

I was sitting in my car, waiting for her to show up. I still haven't forgotten what happened yesterday. But I thought better not to bring it up. She's been acting weird ever since she saw me again. It feels as if... she's trying to avoid me. But I just can't think of any reason for her to avoid me. Could it be that she's upset  because I did not call her at all? But, I didn't have my phone for so long. And after that I just couldn't gather any courage to call her. 

It has been so hard. Living without her for an whole year. How did she not know? All this time, she drove me crazy. She got into trouble every time she was out of my sight. How much my heart ached just at the thought of losing her. That day, in Hyo-Rin's house, I thought I would die from fear. But then again, I hesitated. I hesitated to tell her that I loved her. And I just left.

It hurt me so much. I put on a smile, when I told her that we would meet again. But what I really wanted to do was to beg her to come with me. I had to leave because I couldn't have pit the kids' life in danger with all the money. But then again, I guess it would've been too selfish to ask her to come with me.

It took all of my strength to not lose my composure when I saw her yesterday. She looked so beautiful as she walked through the door. All I wanted to do was to pull her into my arms and never let go of her again. I wanted to protect her from everything and keep her beside me forever. But it was not the right time. I had to wait. Just like I had all this time.

Suddenly, I heard the door open, and she got in the car. I had to put all my efforts into trying not to stare at her. But, I did, this morning. I couldn't stop myself. Maybe that made her feel uncomfortable. Is that why she was trying to avoid me? But then what about the last night?

"Shall we go? I'll put the address in the GPS"

"Hmm", I muttered with indifference. I was too busy trying not to stare at her to even comprehend her words at the moment.

"Done. Lets go."

The rest of the ride passed by extremely slowly. With no one wanting to start a conversation, we just sat in complete silence. I could sense the tension, and I knew that she could too. It made it hard to focus on the road. But I had done it before. Even after I developed feelings for her, I could drive with her sitting on the passengers seat. Then what was different now? Why was there so much tension?

***

We finally reached in front of his house. I had seen him once. He had tattoos all over his body. What would In-Joo shi have anything to do with such a guy. He gave me the wrong vibes. And the fact that she met him after I left, made me feel a bit uncomfortable. She rang the bell and we waited for the door to open. And it did, to show a man with tattoos and a built up body grinning widely at us. And the grin was shared by Oh In-Joo. That somehow made me suddenly feel angry.

The next thing I know, they were hugging each other. 

"HEYYY! You fucking traitor. You said you'd be back in a month. Look it's already June now.", he said in English. But, In-Joo shi does not speak English-

"I knowww. I am so sorry, but it just turned that way. I'll make it up to you and treat you to barbeque."

WHAT! When did she learn to speak English like that?? She was almost as fluent as myself. And how close were these two. They even hug each other. I was barely holding myself back from bursting out.

"Oh let me introduce you two", she said glancing at me. But this time, her expression changed and her tone shifted to a dull one.

"This is Mr. Choi Do-Il, he just came from Greece with my sister." she said pointing towards me. 

"And this, is Lee Tae-Ho. He came from New York and I met him in an English class. He is the one who taught me English." she pointed toward him and smiled gently

That's it. So, this weird looking guy just comes out of nowhere, teaches her English, acts all friendly with her and now she even has dropped the formalities with him?! What was going on between them? Why does she smile at him like that??

He gave In-Joo shi a smirk as he looked at me. Then he offered me his hand to shake and smiled pleasantly, which I did, but I certainly could not get myself to smile at him. In-Joo shi saw this and turned a bit sad. I felt bad for that, but I just couldn't shake the feeling of anger from my mind.

"Hi.", I managed to say to make her feel better, I think it worked just the opposite as it came out much bitter than I intended.

"Helloo, it's nice to meet you", he said cheerfully, trying to reduce the tension. Then he gave In-Joo shi another smirk and winked, to which she intensely blushed. And now I was at my limit. I just snapped.

"So, what now?! You two are dating? In love? Ya can you make it more obvious. Spare me the fake introduction and just get to the point", I practically yelled. But I instantly regretted it as soon as I saw the hurt look on In-Joo shi's face. 

"Well, I think that there is a misunderstanding here. And I'll let you two talk for a while." He said. "We can meet later when the situation is a bit more clear?" he said, looking at her. She just forced a fake smile. "Ok then. I'll leave now. Byeeeee." and so he went inside. It was just us two left there now. I felt terrible looking at In-Joo shi as her expression was now turned into one full of anger.