Elevator Love

Chapter 7

It was a beautiful morning; birds were tweeting outside and the sunshine covered Irene’s face through her white curtains. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the morning sun, she and her cat were literally sunbathing. Lola was on the windowsill while Irene had breakfast. She felt very happy as she woke up. A sudden serotonin rush captured her whole body. “Lola~” She sang to catch her cats’ attention as she placed the spoon inside herself made breakfast cereal. “You want to go to the park today?” She asked with a sweet tone. She took her cat out when the weather was nice to the park nearby. It was long ago since they did such an activity and suddenly, she felt like doing it. Gaining no response from her, she pouted lightly and asked her again. This time Lola meowed and left the windowsill. Irene observed her actions while munching her cereal, she was walking towards the door and sat there as if she was waiting for someone. Irene furrowed her eyebrows “What are you doing?” She asked. Lola meowed. It looked like she was missing someone. Irene thought who she could’ve been missing, when she was by her side.
Last time she did that was when Lola met her friends for the first time. She missed them and used to sit in front of the door, hoping they would come and see her. But as time passed, Lola got used to it and never did this behaviour again. The only person she could think of was her neighbour Donghae since she liked his company a lot as Irene observed last night.
She was very shocked after she found out that Donghae was feeding her cat when she was absent. How and why did he do that? Irene couldn’t solve his personality. So, is he a good or a bad guy? One thing she knew was that he was very handsome and charming. His chuckle never left her mind the whole night. She kept recalling the scene in her head. It somehow relieved all her sorrows. Every time she recalled the scene an unknown smile formed in her face. Could it possibly be that she wants to see it more often? No wonder that Lola is missing him, his attraction level was out of this world.
Irene wanted to know if he was the one in her room. She needed to know this information to be fully relieved. Since the first day he moved in, Irene had seen different sides of him and made various theories in her mind, what kind of person he might be. Would he tell her the truth, if she just asked him?
The scene of her cat triggered her to stand up and go to his door, but was that a right thing to do? She wasn’t the type to do things like that. Least of all, she wouldn’t knock on a man’s door who was living by himself. Irene shook her head and put her spoon inside the cereal again. The meow from Lola caught her attention. Now, she was scratching on the door with his paws. “You want to see him?” She asked her cat. Lola meowed again. Irene breathed heavily out and slowly got up. “Alright, I’ll bring you to him.” She said, still unsure, if she was doing the right thing.
The moment she stepped outside with Lola in her arms and seeing his door, her heart started beating faster. She nervously stared at his door and slowly closed her eyes “Relax, there’s no need to be nervous. You already did it once.” She told herself and let a breath out. She neared herself with careful steps towards his door and knocked once. It was a weak one, so she knocked stronger. The noises inside of the apartment made her feel even more nervous. She wanted to run back into her apartment, but it was too late.
Donghae opened the door, it seemed as if he just woke up with his messy hair, a plain white shirt and grey short which reached above his knees. He had a confused expression and questioningly stared at the scene in front of his door. Lola meowed as soon as she saw Donghae while Irene blinked few times. She totally forgot why she knocked in the first place.
“Hi.” Donghae said in his husky voice, it was clear he just woke up. “Hi. Did I break your sleep?” Irene asked worriedly. Donghae shook his head “I woke up few minutes ago, great timing.” He said. Irene wasn’t sure if he was joking or being sarcastic. She nodded and showed her cat “Lola kept looking for you, seems like she liked you very much and I thought of bringing her here if you don’t mind.” She made an apological face. Donghae listened to still a confused expression on his face. He was trying to process the information she was giving him since he just woke up and had no breakfast. He glanced to Lola and nodded with a smile “Oh, really? She liked me that much, huh?” He said chuckling and patted her head. There was it again, but today it was cuter. Irene observed his smiling face as he bent down a little to stand in eye level with her cat and kept petting her.
“Someone has to take care of her when the owner is gone.” She heard him mumbling. She furrowed her eyebrows “What?” Donghae straightened his posture again and looked at her. “She was meowing nonstop on the balcony. It was difficult to ignore her. Thank god, I was on my balcony, so I took a glanced to her. She seemed very hungry, then I called your name, but no one responded, so I assumed she was alone. I went inside to look for something I could give to her and found some tuna packs. I took one and literally climbed on your balcony through mine. I fed and petted her, then took her inside and closed the balcony door, so she wouldn’t get lost.” Donghae explained. Irene carefully listened to every single word coming out of his mouth. “It’s not my business to ask where you have been, but you shouldn’t leave your cat all alone. Who knows what might happen to her?”
Lola somehow managed to escape from Irene’s arm and was wondering around the hall as Irene deeply thought of his story. “So, you were not inside my apartment?” She let out. Donghae wandered his eyes and shook his head “I was not inside, only the balcony. Why? Is there a matter?” He asked with a frown.
“How-how can it be? Who was inside then? Someone literally was in my bedroom. I thought it was you.” She said directly and regretted it immediately. Donghae looked perplexed “What shall I do in your bedroom? You think I’m a pervert?” He defended himself. Well, she did. “Of course not, but who was it then?” She felt anxious slightly and Donghae could see that. “We can check the CC TV later, it might be the same person who sneaked into my apartment or someone else, but we can only come to a logical conclusion by gathering some footage.” Donghae explained. Irene felt overwhelmed from his sudden readiness to help. She just nodded her head. “Wait here, I’ll change my clothes, then we can go to the caretaker. Or you want to wait inside?” Donghae asked straightforward. Irene felt uncomfortable by his sudden invitation and shook her head.
Irene just wanted to bring Lola to see Donghae and now she was sitting at the caretaker’s office side by side with him. How did she get there? Donghae was closely looking to the displays, he was so focused as if his life depended on it. Irene felt very flattered since he cared that much to check the cameras without even having a breakfast. “There. Go back a few seconds.” Donghae told the caretaker after discovering suspicious scenes. “You see? He is trying to open your door.” He said as he pointed to the display. Irene moved her head closer to the monitor and narrowed her eyes. Indeed, it was the same man from yesterday. She widened her eyes and closed her mouth out of shock. “You know him?” Donghae asked. Irene immediately turned her head to him with an unbelieving expression “Of course not.” She scoffed. “It’s the thief from yesterday. He is a thief and a pervert.” She cringed her face. “Bastard.” She could hear Donghae mumbling in between his lips. “Where is he now?” Irene turned to him and asked fearful. Donghae chewed his underlip and stared at the monitor. He looked very concerned “He is in good hands, don’t worry. My people will take care of him well.” He assured her. Irene lowered her eyes and gave a nod. Donghae thanked the caretaker and went outside without waiting for her. Irene observed his actions and wondered why he acted like this suddenly. Why wasn’t he waiting for her and left her alone in the office? He is really one of a kind. Irene thought and slowly made her way out.
Donghae was standing few meters apart from the office and had his phone against his ear. He looked angry and wandered back and forth. Irene deeply furrowed her eyebrows and sincerely wondered what might happen all of a sudden. He already had suspicions about the man and moreover he caught him, so what was the matter? After a few seconds, Donghae hung up and hurriedly made his way out of the building.
Irene was not sure, if she should feel relieved since Donghae was not the one in her room which made him seem less dangerous. But she was still unsure about him, mostly because she could not understand why a simple, ordinary netizen would have ‘some people’ to follow his orders? He definitely did not fit into the category of being simple and ordinary as a netizen. He was the total opposite and that’s what made Irene unsure.
Arriving at her workplace, Irene decided not to think further about it and focus on work. She put on her best smile and greeted the customers. Mino was grinning as he drank his bubble tea. Irene could not believe her eyes, she wanted to ask him what he was doing there and walked towards him. “What are you doing here?” She asked straightforward. “Drinking bubble tea. Why? Is that not allowed? I thought this is a café.” He played innocent. „How do you know I’m working here?” Irene asked and ignored his act before. Mino laughed „I didn’t. Do you really think, I’m here because of you? I just wanted to drink bubble tea and looked for a café. Why? Are you working here?“ He asked and looked at her as if he didn’t know the fact. Irene unbelievingly looked at him. He was very good in manipulation. “Okay, I don’t care, do whatever you want, but please change your sitting position your face is disturbing me.”
Mino immediately stood up and changed his position. Now his back was facing Irene and he was literally staring to the wall. Irene sighed and turned around to make herself ready for work. She had no time to ask him further out since he was a very difficult type of a person. You couldn’t get honest answers out of his mouth and Irene knew it would take her longer to get the truth out of his mouth. So she decided to ask him later.
 
Donghae was too annoyed of the talks of his assistant Mr. Kang and tried to ignore him by walking faster to reach his car. “You will regret it.” Mr. Kang shouted behind him. Donghae hissed and turned around “No, Kang. I won’t regret anything, okay? I know what I am doing, and I am very persistent in continuing it. I will not support that company anymore and walk my own way. I believe that I got all the opportunities, so why not take the chance, huh? I have a brilliant team, too.” Donghae smirked explaining his thoughts. Mr. Kang did not look convinced at all. Donghae tried to give him the image that he didn’t need the help of his father’s people since he is powerful enough on his own. “I can’t see anything Donghae. Where is your team? Where is your company building? Are you aware that you only shrinking yourself and actually miss the opportunities instead of taking them?” Mr. Kang tried to make him clear that he was not on a right way since he had nothing to proof. Donghae sighed hard and brushed through his hair out of annoyance “I won’t present you my fucking masterplan on the street Kang.” He shook his head „Give me my keys.“ He ordered Mr. Kang as he stretched his hand out. Mr. Kang smirked „No, no, no. First, I’ll get something to drink.“ He smiled. Donghae tilted his head “Don’t be a child Kang, give me my fucking keys.” He ordered again. Mr. Kang just grinned and started walking backwards to the café, leaving a dumbfounded Donghae behind. He was not like his age at all. For a man in his mids 40s he looked very young and behaved like a kid sometimes although he worked for the company of Donghae’s dad for years.
Donghae frustratingly took out his phone and watched Mr. Kang ordering some drink through the huge glass window. A closer look made him notice Irene talking to a man. He couldn’t see who he was since his back was facing his sight. One thing he noticed was that Irene smiled warmly at him, which surprised him since he was always stoned and cautious next to him. How could a man make her smile that way?
 
„You are really crazy!“ Irene laughed hardly at one of Mino’s stories where he was on a trip to India and rode on elephants. “How could they confound you with Buddha?” She asked, still laughing at the thought. „That’s what I’m saying.” Mino laughed along and mentally admired her beautiful face. „Totally crazy! You know how I saved you on my phone?” She asked, smirking a little. Mino got curious and raised his eyebrows „Micheun namja. Crazy man.” She said with a grin. Mino sighed and closed his eyes „That hurt.“ He commented “Really, that got me.” He said and put his hands on his head. Irene laughed at his behaviour „You know how I saved you?” Mino asked. Irene wrinkled her nose „Do I want to know? I’m not sure.” She said anxiously that something absurd might come out of his mouth. “Venus.” He said. Irene furrowed her eyebrows „Venus? Why?“
„Because Venus stands for beauty out of this world and you are the most beautiful thing that I’ve seen in my life that stand out of this world.” Mino sincerely said as he looked into her eyes. Irene didn’t know how to deal with his words and felt a sudden shyness filling her body. She smiled at him as a respond and played with the corner of the tablet she was serving before.
 
Mr. Kang threw the keys to Donghae as he was sipping his iced coffee which caught Donghae out of guard. “Are you daydreaming? Are you probably thinking of ways to live a life even deeper than this?” Mr. Kang badly joked. Donghae rolled his eyes „No, Kang, but thanks for your opinion about my current life.” Donghae took a last glance to the scene before he hopped into his car.
 
 
Once a month every tenant gathered together in a hall inside the building Irene was living to discuss out things that need to be changed or welcome new tenants. Irene almost forgot the date and remembered it on her way back to her apartment, so instead of going inside she entered the huge hall on the ground floor to attend the meeting.
The chairs were positioned to form a circle. It reminded Irene on her old school days when they used to make a circle every Monday and reflect on their weekends and play games.
She took a seat next to some neighbours she knew for a long time. She greeted them and put her smartphone out to kill some time until everyone was there. One by one, everyone came to the meeting. It was surprising that every tenant took such kind of meetings seriously.
Before the meeting started, she noticed Donghae slightly hurrying into the hall and walking towards a seat across from her. When she saw him, she immediately turned her head and put a poker face on as if she would not notice him. She could see from the corner of her eyes how he greeted other people and chatted with those next to him. Irene just looked at her phone with crossing legs and did her best to ignore him.
The meeting started very well. The caretaker pointed some important points out and everyone who wanted to say something on that raised their hands like in school. Irene found it very funny, but it was the best way to keep everything balanced and safe. Especially the cause with the thief was hot topic. Donghae was giving some information about the case, saying that he will be in jail and will never be able coming back and so on. Even then, Irene tried to not give him her full attention since she felt intimidating.
As the caretaker kept talking, Irene zoomed out and stretched her neck lightly. She carefully glanced to Donghae and to her surprise, he was already looking at her. What looking? He was literally starring and checking her out. Irene felt uncomfortable in her seat and carefully looked around, if other people would notice his eyes, but to her luck everyone focused on the talk of the caretaker. Except for Donghae. His eyes were fully on Irene the whole time. Irene slowly pulled her skirt longer to cover her legs, but it didn’t work, so she opened her jacket and covered her legs as a blanket with her jacket. She noticed Donghae smiling because her actions and widened her eyes. What’s wrong with him?
Irene silently got up and smiled to the others as she tried to make her way out of the circle. She walked towards the tables with snacks and drinks on them, placing her bag and jacket to the side and filling a cup of water for herself.
“Hey.” She felt a pit in her stomach by hearing that voice. She turned her head to the side and forced a smile. Donghae smiled and leaned against the table with his elbow as he was standing next to her. Irene gulped the glass of water; she was filling earlier “How are you?” Donghae asked. Irene glanced at him and nodded “Good.” She simply answered. “You don’t need to worry about the bastard. As I told earlier my men take good care of him.” He said proudly. “And if there is any other case, just knock on my door, I’ll be there in seconds.” He told her. Irene smiled in a thin line and nodded. “Thank you, I’ll note that.” She said almost in a whisper, took her belongings and left the hall.
Donghae bit his underlip and jogged after her until he caught him on the way to the elevator. “Hey, Irene-ssi.” He called from behind, his footsteps nearing her. Irene questioningly turned around. Donghae smiled seeing her expression, she looked so innocent. “Didn’t you notice, we didn’t have a proper greeting? I mean, I never introduced myself to you properly and so didn’t you. Would you like to correct that?” He asked smiling with raised eyebrows and shining eyes. “I-I know…” Irene managed to say and lowered her eyes, too shy to look him into his eyes. Donghae stretched his hand out “Alright then, I am Lee Donghae, your new neighbour and I think we should be friends.” He said smiling cutely. Irene couldn’t help but smile too “Irene. Bae Irene.” She said. They were shaking their hands “So, are we friends now?” Donghae asked leaning forward a little. Irene smiled and shrugged “Why not?” She answered. At that moment the elevator door got opened after a peep tone which made Irene walk inside, followed by Donghae.
Inside of the elevator, Donghae noticed how tensed Irene was as he was leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. He sighed “Since we are friends now, you don’t have to be this tensed.” He said, but it didn’t help Irene to relax since it was still Donghae next to him. Donghae hissed and walked towards her “Irene. May I call you Irene?” He asked as he got nearer which made Irene automatically take steps behind until she was crushed against the wall. “What?” She could only say and felt her heart beating faster every time Donghae got closer to her. He stopped when he was only inches apart and bend his head down to have a closer look to her face while Irene just starred to the front with wide eyes. He could feel his breath on her head and forehead. “Irene.” Donghae repeated her name in a low tone. “Can you smile for me?” Donghae asked which made Irene even more nervous. He placed his hand on the wall next to her and bend slightly down to reach her eye level. He made her look into his eyes by carefully turning her head with his other hand on her chin. Irene had no other chance than to look into his eyes. They were so lovely and charming. She immediately blushed and lowered her eyes. “I want to see that smile on your face.” Donghae said in a low tone as he lightly rubbed the way from her chin to her jaw. He couldn’t really understand what made him act like this, but something about her just led his body to react this way. “You’re so beautiful.” He whispered and caressed her cheek. Irene found herself slowly responding to his actions and closed her eyes. She was ready to enjoy the moment. The elevator stopped anyway, it was only them two inside and no one else. But the moment she closed her eyes, she remembered the picture of Dara and the other girls she saw him with and wouldn’t allow this to happen. She felt sorry for Dara and Donghae was a cheater. He would only take advantage of her and she was not allowed to be fooled into his charms, so she immediately opened her eyes again. Donghae tilted his head, ready to kiss her, but Irene reacted faster by kicking the middle part of his legs with her knee. Donghae shouted and winced of the sudden pain “Are you crazy??” He complained. Irene watched him with disgust “What do you think you’re doing? You Jerk.” She said and marched out of the elevator, leaving Donghae with the worst pain he could experience in his life.