The Black Rose

Chapter Twenty Two

Background Music: https://soundcloud.com/oxev/09-noon-mool-tears-lee-hong

Seung Yoon followed Minzy up to the subway where he almost lost her. He kept a fair distance away, hiding behind people. She got off City Hall Station and he followed suit. He prayed that he won't be needing a taxi ride, but alas, Minzy rode a black car, which Seung Yoon recognized immediately as the same car that drove Minzy home last night. He immediately hailed a taxi so he won't lose sight of the car, taking note of the plate number as he did so. 

The black car stopped in front of a restaurant. "She's not lying after all," Seung Yoon thought to himself. He waited until Minzy got off and the car had sped off before going out of the taxi. As soon as Minzy was inside, he got off and made his way towards a window, leaning on the walls so as to conceal himself. He carefully peeked through the window, and saw a man whose back was facing him. He adjusted his position to have a better view of the inside. He peeked through the window once more and finally saw Minzy talking to the man, she was smiling while they were talking. After a few minutes, he led her inside a room, which on Seung Yoon's point of view was not the staff quarter. Seeing this, he started to get nervous. He kept on fiddling with the hem of his shirt, thinking of something he could possibly do to get Minzy out of there. Just then, he saw a middle-aged man walking down the empty street. In order to not be seen in that kind of situation, Seung Yoon slowly crept from where he originally was towards a small alley nearby. He reached the alley in the nick of time. He took a peek at the middle aged man and saw that he was now entering the door of the restaurant. He suddenly remembered seeing him before, though where he had seen him, he was not so sure.

Jenny kept on looking at the clock. It had already been an hour after her cousin had left to follow Minzy and still, there was no text from him. She couldn't bring herself to call him because he's on a spy mission and any distraction would ruin his plans. Her finger kept on tapping on the counter without her knowing.

Just then, her phone rang. She quickly picked it up and saw that it was her cousin. She breathed a sigh of relief as she answered his call, "Seung Yoon!" She heard silence from the other end, and then a whisper. 

"Couz! I don't think I'm going back to the shop this afternoon. I need to-"

"Wait a minute. Where exactly are you? I'm going to follow you there later," she insisted.

"No... no you can't. It's dangerous! I have no idea what's happening right now, but I have a bad feeling about this. I have to go now couz," he whispered once more. 

Seung Yoon ended the call before Jenny could even start an argument with him. Now, she became even more nervous. She dialled Minzy's number, but she was not answering. She tried it one more time. Finally, she picked up. "Hello? Jenny?" answered Minzy. Jenny calmed herself down before talking with her bestfriend. "Hey... Minzy! Did I disturb you? Or is it your break time already?" she asked without pause. "Yeah... it's my break time," replied Minzy without hesitation. Jenny knew that her bestfriend was lying without her realizing it because Minzy just took her lunch meaning afternoon break time was still far away, but she chose not to tell her anything about it so as to keep the conversation rolling. "Um... how's work? A lot of customers, I suppose?" she inquired. "Yeah... yeah. Actually dear, I need to go now because break time is good for only twenty minutes," she said, making an excuse for herself. "Oh... okay dear! Just tell me what time you're going home, alright?" said Jenny, worry now evident in her voice. "Okay... I will," said Minzy, then she hung up.

Seung Yoon's phone beeped signalling a new text message. He fumbled for his phone, and saw that it was from Jenny. She was informing him that she had already talked to Minzy, that something was not quite right. She was also worried for him as she was begging him to go back to the shop and plan with her and Dae Sung instead on how they could corner Minzy. Seung Yoon closed his eyes in deep thought, and decided to just continue on stalking Minzy. He moved to hide behind a big trash bin by the alley he was in as people started going in and out of the restaurant. 

Background Music: https://soundcloud.com/jettelopez/inst-tok-tok-tok-4men

After work, Jenny met up with Dae Sung at Mr. Kim's cafe in Hongdae. She had been worried sick of her cousin and bestfriend, with both not replying to any of her messages. She was greeted by Mr. Kim when she entered and was ushered to a table where Dae Sung was apparently seated, his back against her. She tapped him once and was greeted with surprise as he jumped up from his seat. He looked up and saw Jenny, worry painted all over her face, but nonetheless, beautiful. She sat right in front of him and ordered tea for the two of them. "Did you wait long? I'm sorry I just came in now... left with so many things to do at the shop," she explained breathlessly, fumbling inside her bag for her handkerchief. Dae Sung pushed his glass of water towards Jenny, along with his handkerchief. She stopped to look at him and found that he was smiling. Somehow, it lessened the uneasiness she was feeling. She drank from the glass without hesitation, but paused when she was about to reach for the handkerchief. She took her hand back and set the glass down. "Thank you for the water Dae. I think I'll just search for my handkerchief, but thank you for this as well," she said, pushing back his handkerchief. Dae Sung, though slightly hurt by the rejection, reached for his handkerchief and leaned across the table towards Jenny. He wiped her forehead with it, putting some of her hair, which were plastered on her face because of sweat, behind her left ear. He then handed her again his handkerchief. "It's now covered with your sweat so...," he teased, smiling coyly as he did so. Jenny, though a bit surprised by what he did, finally smiled at him and was left with no choice but to use it for the meantime.

After a few more minutes, their tea arrived brought along by a new face. Mr. Kim shouted at them from the bar. "He's my new assistant!" he announced, smiling widely as he did so. The two of them smiled at the new staff and continued on with their agenda, to come up with a plan to know what the real deal was with Minzy.