Light A Flame || Hoshi (editing)

Chapter 45

Jang-mi stumbled out of the building, her head spinning from all the information that she'd just absorbed. Just who was this Kayoung to order her around, to dictate her relationship?

This woman... this woman was the cause of all her problems. Jang-mi's stomach twisted over in knots as she truly realized the scope of Kayoung's plan, the lengths she'd go to for her skewed idea of justice. That woman felt no remorse nearly killing someone - hell, not one but two people. They were just mere pawns in her myopic revenge plot.

The spring breeze barely registered against her numbed senses as she drifted through the crowded streets of Seoul, her thoughts consumed by the revelation of Kayoung's manipulative schemes. She blindly stumbled into a cafe, her eyes unable to focus on the menu as she quietly ordered something to drink. A piping hot coffee, straight from the press. That would wake her up from this nightmare, right? It's all just a nightmare...

But as she sat on the cushioned wicker chair, her hand grasping the smooth porcelain of the mug of coffee she'd just received, Jang-mi realized that this was all real. All of the horrible things she'd been told weren't scary stories to urge her to behave. It all happened.

She snuck a glance at her reflection in the dark, intense coffee. It felt like a different person was staring right back.

Kayoung had planned it all along, hadn't she? The second Jang-mi had made contact with Hoshi, that woman's twisted little brain began whirring with her plan. Looking back, it was all a little obvious. How the two were photographed in a cafe only a few days after their first meeting, heralded as a couple even though they had barely known each other before then. Jang-mi couldn't help but break out into a smile - she'd been so oblivious, so innocent to the things that would happen to her.

Her eyes scrunched as the bitter taste of the coffee coated her mouth. Coffee... the same thing she'd went to drink with Hoshi when they first met, before everything began tumbling down.

Then the car crash... Jang-mi knew it was Heejin's doing, that much was clear, but hearing that Heejin was also just a cog in Kayoung's machine somehow made the whole situation even more distasteful for Jang-mi. Her stomach churned as she thought about what Wonwoo went through, the suffering he must've experienced after the crash's impact... and all for what?

Then she reflected on everything that happened in Japan, all the arguments, the needless fights, everything that happened with Heejin. Jang-mi had always hated the girl, that much was true. But it was only now that she realized that a large portion of it was envy, downright jealousy of Heejin. Because even then... she tried to bury it under her resentment, but even then she knew she wanted to be with Hoshi, and seeing him in such a relationship truly made her seethe. She knew it wasn't a good thing, but her feelings couldn't be helped.

What also struck her from Kayoung's explanation was the photograph on the rooftop, all the way back in Nagoya. She thought her and Hoshi would just be sharing a kiss in the beautiful city they'd finally admitted their feelings in, but it spiraled everything out of control. She got fired by this fake manager who wasn't even supposed to have the authority to decide who's employed where, yet he was able to deprive her of the one true constant that brought her happiness: dancing.

Jang-mi felt a pang in her chest as she replayed Kayoung's words, that Hoshi knew things he didn't share. 'He had already figured out that the photograph on the rooftop was the manager's doing.'
Yet he didn't tell her... was he trying to protect her? A sense of unease settled in her thoughts, sending a shiver down her spine. Was this really the only thing he had decided to hide from her?