Someone Like Yoo

III

Chapter III: But Yoo Don't Know Me

"Are you serious?" I gave him a look of disbelief. I could see the sky turning purple at this side. "You don't even know me."

"Yes, I do. Your name is Rae-yeon and..." His eyes were set on the road, thinking for a while before he answered, "and your temper's a little bit too short."

"My temper is not really short, just to be honest." We turned right to Dongyang-ro and this time, the sky was now painted in an ultimate hue of dark steel blue. The road was satisfyingly smooth that I could almost feel my eyes dropping slowly into slumber, the steady vibration of the car lulling me down. I realized all of a sudden that I'm a tad bit tired, remembering scenes from almost one hour ago. But there is no time for sleep when a stranger is driving me home.

I forced myself to keep awake, and we were quiet for a while. The last of our conversation fading into the thin, cold air. But when we reached a red light, he brought it back.

"Then why are you mad at me?" He looked over, his eyes a glowing black, almost disappointed.

I paused, my eyes lingering to the motionless road. "I'm not mad at you. In fact, I used to be really friendly." I just couldn't tell him about the short second of an ultimately low baritone in my eardrums when we first made eye contact, some random fluctuation against my skin. My Aunt Samshin had already asked me before to keep myself away from those vibrations. The reason behind it, I don't really know. "I just felt like I should be mad at you because the first words that came out of your mouth were of pure arrogance and self-conceit. And I despise people who only cares about themselves."

"Is that what you really think about me? You did know that wasn't the first thing that I said." The light then turned green the moment he looked over and leaned in. "I asked about you first."

"Yeah, for your own benefit." I argued, crossing my arms at him for the hundredth time today.

I heard the loud honking of cars from behind us but we still stayed glaring at each other and sending tiny thunders of our anger. He was the first to look away, the red SUV who had now overtook our vehicle slightly bothering his thoughts. He started to drive again, but this time a lot faster than the steady ride earlier.

"Hey!" The launch made a great impact on our bodies, my back pushing against the passenger seat and my heart almost reaching the tail of the car. "Take it slow!" Maybe there was a slight tinge of fear in my voice that made him obey me and lowered his speed little by little. But it's as if my heart thought of the opposite, beating faster and faster in every kilometer that passed.

"Tell me something I want to hear first."

"What?"

He pressed his foot harder on the gas pedal.

"Okay! Okay!" I took three short panting breaths, holding on to the dashboard to steady myself from the quickening pace. "I'm not mad at you. It's just that Samshin told me once to avoid someone like you!"

The car suddenly pulled to a halt, the tail almost bumping against the truck behind us. A series of car horns reverberated above the tensioned air, sending an irritating feeling in my tummy. I can almost taste the beef stew I had during lunch crawling up my throat, but I couldn't find any bag to barf my sickness out.

In one quick motion, I removed my seatbelt and opened the car door, leaving Deok-hwa's shocked expression. I can hear him yelling my name over and over from behind but my desire to puke is getting stronger so I ran as fast as I could to the edge of the streets of Toegye-ro 34 Hanok Village and past the moving cars to get to one of the street bushes. I bent my torso over the metallic fences and barfed everything out of my stomach.

When I looked up, it was already dark. Silhouettes of lined-up pine trees and city buildings faced me and the sky that was once a beautiful purple is now a distant dark blue. I turned around, expecting dashes of vehicles to blow past my now freezing body but my eyes met another set of eyes instead. Deok-hwa's.

"I'm sorry."

Maybe I was still feeling nauseous from the motion sickness or maybe not, but those were the words that came out of his mouth. I must have looked too astonished because he placed a hand on my shoulder to softly shake me awake. I didn't budge because I guess I was still a little sick and puzzled at the same time. Yet he managed to grab my arm and pull me back to the car, safely getting me inside, without having to react to his unanswered apology. And his only words were, "Let's get you back home."

I showed him the way, gradually getting back to my senses. It took us almost half an hour to finally get to Incheon and when we arrived, I noticed Samshin's bedroom light had just turned on. I took a peek at my watch, silently wishing I am not a second too late of my curfew. 6:52pm. I let out a sigh of relief. Man, was that close.

Deok-hwa walked over to my side and opened the car door for me like the gentleman that I thought he wasn't, extending a hand so to help me get down.

"Thanks," I muttered, my cold numbed skin relaxing on the warmth of his hand. "I'm sorry I was rude to you today, when all you did was to be kind to me." That may have felt actually true. The guilt inside me was creeping up and I started to think of of a list of ways on how I can repay him. But then I thought of my bank account, gripping away from the zeroes and almost empty.

He smiled at me, as if he saw the messiness of my thoughts inside my head. "It's okay, you don't owe me anything." I gave him an 'are-you-sure-you-don't-want-the-rest-of-my-money-I-have-left' look, my brows partially crooked in scrutiny. Then, he added, "But I would want to have dinner with you tomorrow night."

For a moment, I thought the world was being shaken, the walls beginning to crumble down and the ground cracking from all the weight. But it was just me, and my heart being awaken. A loud heartbeat or two followed along.

"But you don't know me," I whispered, my voice slightly breaking from the madness.

He walked over to the red gate, opening it as he said, "So I want to know you more." I suddenly looked up, meeting his eyes, and realized how good-looking he was under the brightness of the street lamps. There was a sad smile behind his face and I felt it even without him telling me.

A breeze blew past the tips of my hair.

"Sure, whatever." I shrugged, but gave him a genuine smile. I guess he needs someone at the moment - considering the two uncles at the mansion and a grandpa with high expectations.

He grinned, handing me his phone. I looked down from it and back to him. "Are you giving me that?"

He laughed a lot louder and it sent a teeny tiny flutter in my tummy. Just a teeny one - like super duper small. I fought it off successfully. "Aniyo, you idiot! You're supposed to put down your digits."

Here we go again with his arrogant side. "Are you serious?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

"Yes, you do. So, NO. No one's getting any phone numbers tonight." I began pushing the gate. I stepped in, blades of grass meeting the rubber heels of my boots.

"Mwo?!" I can vividly hear the disorientation in his voice.

"You pick me up here at exactly six-thirty in the evening like a real gentleman." I closed the gate once I got myself inside and peered over the fences only to thank him and tell him goodnight.

I could here him chuckling from behind.

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a/n: the picture provided is a screenshot from the korean drama, goblin and that woman is the ever gorgeous sunny hee ❤