Jasmines In June

Gold digger

She was inconsolable. Jasmine spent all night crying until the early hours in the morning. Only falling asleep after she'd grown tired and exhausted.  

Hoon tried his hardest to get her to tell him what happened but she refused. Keeping her mouth shut only responding to some of his inquiries with a nod or shake of her head and occasional groans. He wished she felt comfortable enough to confide in him too, but he guess, it was too much to ask. He wasn't the right person. He understood he's not Jun but it still didn't stop him from giving her his fullest support. 

By the morning, Hoon started growing exhausted with her, barely able to keep his heavy eyelids open. They spent the last couple hours huddled in the bed together that he hadn't had a chance to even unlock the door or clean up the mess in the hallway. He'll have to get one of the mansion's housekeepers to take care of them tomorrow.

It was nearly noon by the time Jasmine woke up the next day. Hoon must have been so wore out that he was still asleep beside her with one arm on her and the other thrown on his side. She watched him feeling remorse for what she put him through. He didn't have to be there for her, or comfort her. He has no obligation and to be honest, she wished he didn't do what he did because it only made her feel guilty. 

She didn't want to give him hope for something that wasn't going to happen. 

She noticed the blotch of redness on his cheeks crawling to the part of his chest. Hoon was burning up with fever too high to keep him awake. She instantly panicked throwing her arms on him, trying to see if she could rattle him awake. 

"Hoon!" She rasped, her voice hoarse from hours of crying all evening. 

Hoon cracked open his eyes, his face is calm, he reached for her cheek with his palm. "Jas.."

"You're burning up."

Even then his worry was with her. "Don't worry about me, I want you to get some rest." He started to push himself up. "I need to get to the office."

"No, you're too sick to work."

Hoon hadn't meant work, he meant to confront Yuan in the office today. 

"Non sense, I told Wen to prepare a ride for me to the office."

"But..." Jasmine hesitated. "I can't come with you." She doesn't want to. She doesn't want to run into Yuan there. 

Hoon gave her a gentle smile. "It's alright, Jasmine. I don't expect you to accompany me. I'll have one of the nurses come with me instead."

*****

Confused looks from the Long Corp employees followed Hoon as he made his way to the top floor of the building. No one has seen the co-CEO in a long time. No one had expected him in the building either sending his staff in a heap of panic. 

If they considered the top CEO scary, the co-CEO is in another leaque. He's about as terrifying as his older brother when it comes to running their company. 

Hoon bursts into Yuan's office unannounced. The first thing he saw was the fresh wound on his swollen lip. It looked like a bite and he have no doubt that wound was inflicted by Jasmine. 

This only proved his suspicion that Yuan has assaulted her. Hoon threw his fist landing on the same cut on Yuan's lips and staggered trying to steady himself after. "You have no right!"

Yuan's head jerked back at the impact. He clasped his hands to his mouth cradling the sharp pain. "What did you do that for?" 

"You assaulted Jasmine last night!"  

"What're you talking about Hoon?" He asked feigning the sound of surprise in his voice. 

"You!" Hoon's voice fell into a deep dangerous vibrato. "You did something to her!"

"Oh, you think I did something to her?" Yuan ruled himself to calm down. Despite what just happened, he couldn't get himself to fight his ailing brother back. He decided with the more civilized route. Talking. Yuan has honeyed tongue and he often likes to use it to his advantage. "Whatever you're accusing me, didi. It's not true. We spoke about what happened on the phone last night, don't you remember?"

"Jasmine is far too upset for me to believe she came on to you first!"

Yuan looked appalled, he rose from his chair. He'd always been so imposing. Bigger and taller than Hoon. He had always displayed his dominance over his little brothers. "Who would you rather believe? Your brother or a peasant girl Jun found in a night club and brought home?"

"Jasmine is not one of those women."

"I could assure you, this woman is building up an elaborate plan how to turn us from each other. She already had Jun hating both of us. Now she's trying to get you to turn on me. We're brothers didi, we need to stick together and not let a gold digging stranger tear us apart." He snorted. "How would you know she's not just acting? You know I would never waste my time on a woman like her."

Hoon felt insulted. "You're talking about a woman I love. Jasmine would never do that."

"Tell that to Jun. She has both of you wrapped around her fingers and I for one, had no idea how she managed."

Hoon became flustered. Hating how Jun and him were both in love with the same woman. Heat seared from his neck and Yuan noticed the unsteadiness in his gait. "You're sick, didi. Why did you even came here risking your health like that?" Yuan's voice softening. "Did she put you up to it?"

Hoon shook his head. "No, I came on my own."

"You shouldn't have, you should be resting." Yuan strode closer, giving him a steady hand to help with his balance. Hoon was already getting too dizzy to hold himself up. "I need to get you to the hospital."