Playing House 9

9: "At this moment, there are 6, 471, 818, 671 people in the world. Some are running scared.. Some are coming home.. Some tell lies to make it through the day.. Others are just now facing the truth. Some are evil men at war with good, and some are good struggling with evil. Six billion people in the world, Six billion souls... And sometimes all you need is ONE." - One Tree Hill

The realization hit him pretty bad. Hyunjoong sat alone in the patio of his apartment where they, as a family, once had barbecue. He hugged the stuff toy Munhee gave him for the fifth time since he came home. Her scent was still there no matter how many times he had sniffed the huggable little creature.

He was lonely today. He was lonelier without Munhee. He was loneliest without Hwangbo Hyejung.
~~
Hwangbo gripped the steering wheel tighter. She was going crazy already, and it did not really help that she always found herself thinking of what Munhee said about Hyunjoong.

She knew she had to make efforts, too. That's why she was parking her car across Hyunjoong's apartment building. She gathered the courage to get out of her car, ride the elevator and walk through the halls, and ring the door bell.

No one answered on her first try. 'Another try would not hurt', she argued with herself.

She closed her eyes and pushed the button again, but there was no answer. She waited, then pressed the button again and again and again, but still, no one answered.

She stood and waited until her feet started to protest. 30 minutes went by. 30 minutes of waiting in the cold empty hallway.

Then, she still waited some more.

Four hours went by and she gave up. She stomped out of the building.

Hwangbo let out a huge sigh of frustration once she got inside her car. Her tears were ready to spill, but she held it in and managed to rev up the engine.

Hyunjoong rubbed his palms together in the hopes of generating more heat in this cold night a few meters outside his apartment building.

He caught a glimpse of a woman whom he thought was Hwangbo stomping furiously until she reached a car. He stood in the cold pavement trying his best to read the plate number of the car parked beside a tree.

H--B--H--J, he slowly read then panicked when he realized the woman was in fact Hwangbo. He had been outside hoping to clear his head, reorganize his thoughts and found himself outside Hwangbo's apartment door for she was the only one who could give him answers. He waited for her, but no one answered the door.

From where he stood, he could hear her revving up the car's engine. Hwangbo then turned the headlights to a high beam, and the car started to run.

He knew he had to do something to stop her from leaving. His reflexes were faster than his thoughts, and so he sprinted towards the moving car attempting to catch her attention.

Hwangbo thought she saw someone trying to stop her. She quickly stepped on the brakes with both feet when she saw a man flailing his arms up and down. It was a close call as the bumper was just a few inches from Hyunjoong's shins. She was shocked to see who the man was. Kim Hyunjoong.

She stepped out from the driver's seat. Her heart thumping like a mad man's, and her breathing heavy. Her hands were still shaking as she approached Hyunjoong ready to smack his head for doing something so stupid and dangerous. Her brain was processing the words she wanted to yell at him.

But as soon as they were face to face, Hyunjoong grabbed her by the hand then circled his free hand around her teeny tiny waist. He held her in a tight embrace then kissed her straight in the mouth. Without words, without hesitation, without remorse, he kissed the woman in front of him.

She stood there frozen and unable to move.

All her attention was then focused on the lips that started to kiss her so passionately as if telling her things he needed to say. She was angry at his decision (of lack thereof) to jump in front of her car, but she was melting under his soft yet fierce kisses, and she succumbed to the wonderful sensation and kissed him back.

Hwangbo managed to breakaway and pushed him back with all her might.

“Yah! Are you crazy?”, she yelled but her voice trailed off as the aftershock of the thought that she could have killed him shook her insides.

She started to sob, her knees were unable to keep her from standing upright. They turned to jelly just thinking about what happened.

Hyunjoong caught her right before she hit the cemented driveway. He pulled her into a hug again, “I'm sorry”, he whispered in her ear.

“I was just desperate to see you after waiting for hours in your apartment.”, he continued to explain.

Hwangbo pushed him gently and looked at his face, “Hmm? My apartment?”, she asked.

Hyunjoong pulled her back and hugged her. “I went to find you after talking to President Kang and Manager Lee.”

Hwangbo rested her head on his broad shoulders, “Why did you find me? And why did you talk to them?”

Hyunjoong smirked. “I told them I love you more than I love my career or even more than I love myself, and I was going to look for you and no one can stop me”, he said proudly.

“Yeah right..”, she slapped his arm.

“It's true.”, he heaved.

He then broke free from their embrace and cupped her chin. He smiled at her, “I have been thinking a lot lately about why Munhee came, why you came into my life again, why these happened, and I figured out why.. I need only one person in this lifetime, I need only you because I love you. I love you too much I thought I would die without you. I need you too much I thought about going to hell and back just to be with you.”

Hwangbo's cheeks turned pink. “Thank you”, she mouthed.

She reached over and planted a kiss on his cheeks and pressed on to give him a hug, “And I only need and love you, too Kim Hyunjoong”, she said softly.