City Lights: Chapter 4

Chapter: 4 Characters (in order of appearance): Hee Jin*, mystery idol, and Jin Chul *indicates original character Words: 1,994 Edits: 0 Added: January 30, 2011

Wednesday, July 14, 10:32am
Seoul, South Korea

After the showdown with Jin Chul at the park, Hee Jin had to walk the entire way back home park because she didn't have enough money for the bus. Although that made her angrier at first, the walk home helped her cool down quite a bit.

As she made her way into the building, she nearly bumped into someone in the doorway. When she looked up, she saw the same guy from before. The moment he saw it was her, his face lit up. Hee Jin rolled her eyes and tried to move past him but he blocked the way.

He brushed his hair out of his face again and said, "Funny meeting you here."
Hee Jin sighed; she was not in the mood to deal with him. "Not really since I live here."

He laughed. She was a little startled. His laugh was quite charming and... how should she put it? Contagious? Attractive? Well, whatever it was, she could tell it was just one more thing to add to his playboy image. She was sure that if he had problems wooing a girl the normal way, all he had to do was laugh and he had her. Well, most girls. Hee Jin was still in a bad mood so she was able to brush it aside with ease.

"So, um," he began, "I'm having another get-together with some friends. This time we're meeting up somewhere." He quickly added, "And there won't be any alcohol this time." He paused and then slowly asked, "What do you think?"

Hee Jin was thoroughly irritated. She didn't want to deal with this right now and wanted to quickly get rid of him. "I'll think about it," she answered hoping that would be enough to make him move.

"Really?" he said with glee. He reminded Hee Jin of a cute little dog she once had that would practically leap into her arms at the sound of the word "walk."

"It's this Friday at six o'clock," he went on. "So, if you could let me know before then, that would be great."

"Yeah. Sure. Okay," she responded dully. "Can I please go through now?"

"What? Oh yeah. Go ahead." The man stepped aside and Hee Jin rushed passed, hoping to get into her place before he thought of something else to keep her there.

Wednesday, July 14, 7:07pm
Seoul, South Korea

By the evening, Hee Jin's mood didn't seem to have gotten any better. Her luck seemed to have taken a downfall too because nothing seemed to have gone right since her meeting with Jin Chul. She left the balcony door open a bit and the cat got out so she spent over an hour trying to find and catch it, her internet quit working so she couldn't check and see if "the jerk" deleted her as a friend, she phoned and found out the technician couldn't come in to fix her internet until Saturday, and she burnt her supper so she had to throw it out. She was now mostly out of food and starving. So, she was forced to go grocery shopping.

After grabbing her wallet and putting on her shoes, she peaked out the door to make sure "nobody" was in the hallway. She relaxed when she saw that annoying playboy wasn't hanging around.

Hee Jin locked the door and quietly walked down the hallway toward the building side door. She made a strange squeaking sound when somebody grabbed her from behind.

"It's me," came a male's voice. He laughed and asked, "Did I scare you?"

Hee Jin knew who it was immediately when she heard his laugh. She turned around and saw the playboy standing there with a huge smile on his face. She rolled her eyes and started for the door again.

"Hey, hey!" he said following her.

When they exited the building, Hee Jin sped up her pace to a near jog. Much to her dismay, the man did likewise and soon they were side by side. It soon became a strange race of speed walking. Hee Jin would no sooner get ahead of the man when he'd catch up. He must have found it amusing because he was nearly laughing the entire time. Hee Jin, however, didn't find it in the least bit funny. This was just adding gasoline to her raging fire.

This went on for nearly a block when Hee Jin stopped abruptly. The man had to walk back a little, which he did playfully by walking in reverse in an exaggerated way.

Breathing heavily, Hee Jin said loudly, "What?"

The man put on an innocent expression and answered, "What do you mean? What did I do?"

Hee Jin glared at the man, which didn't seem to have the same effect on him as it did Jin Chul. The man just blinked innocently back at her. Hee Jin clenched her fists and said angrily, "Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about! Why are you following me?"

The man looked taken aback, which he clearly wasn't, Hee Jin noted. "Me?" he replied dumbly. "I was already heading this way. Are you sure you're not the one following me?"

Hee Jin was furious. The nerve of this guy! She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. Finally she opened her eyes and said as calmly as possible, "I was the one ahead of you. I left the building first. How could I be following you?" She clenched her teeth during the last sentence.

"Silly, I was already heading out. I figured you must be going to the store too so I decided to walk with you." He covered his mouth and laughed. Hee Jin glared.

He suddenly stopped laughing and asked, "But why are you so mad?" He tried to look concerned but Hee Jin could tell he was clearly enjoying himself.

"Look," Hee Jin began. "You can go to the store or whatever just please stop walking beside me."

He grinned again, "Only if you promise to come to the get-together on Friday."

Hee Jin moaned loudly and began walking quickly again.

The man laughed again and jogged to catch up. "So, will you come?" he asked, practically skipping.

"No!" Hee Jin shouted and began running.

"Wait!" The man ran as well.

They finally arrived at the store, completely out of breath.

No matter which aisle Hee Jin walked in, the man was right behind her. He merrily put food into his basket while Hee Jin angrily shoved food into hers. Hee Jin tried to rush but the man was somehow able to keep up even when looking for a certain item.

While the man was reading the ingredients of a package, Hee Jin pretended to be looking at something nearby when she suddenly bolted out of the aisle. The man shouted to her but she kept running.

She stopped when she was certain she lost him. At last, she was finally alone. Well, as alone as one could possibly be in a crowded store. But, without the playboy, she could finally shop in peace.

Hee Jin walked in the frozen foods section, her mood starting to get better. She grabbed a package of ice pops out of one of the freezers and held it up close to her face. It was soothing to her hot skin. She placed it in her basket and continued walking lazily to the next area, pausing only to look at her shopping list. She normally hated large crowded stores but after losing such a nuisance, she couldn't help but love it. She even started smiling as she went along; getting strange looks from people walking passed her.

Her "peaceful shopping" was short-lived as she heard a familiar voice calling her name. She turned and saw the playboy looking around for her. He knew her name? She had never told him her name so how on earth did he find out?

She nearly panicked as she tried to find a place to hide. She ran down one of the aisles and hid behind a large beam. Her peaceful shopping shot down in an instant.

She peaked around the beam and spotted the man at the very end of the aisle. She gasped as he looked over and she quickly moved behind the beam again.

Please don't come this way, please don't come this way.

"Hee Jin! Hee Jin!" She could hear his voice getting louder as he drew near. He suddenly said loudly, "Oh! Hee Jin? Is that you?"

She knew he had her so she began walking out from behind the beam, too worn out to run away.

As soon as she pulled out she saw the man walk partly into a cart and then tumble to the left as he tried to avoid it. He then fell forward and did an odd-looking roll onto his back.

Hee Jin's eyes got big and she ran over to help him up. Once he was standing and she saw that he was alright, she couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing. His face turned a crimson red but he started laughing as well. Hee Jin was clutching her stomach from laughing so hard.

Once Hee Jin's laughing had settled down, the two of them began walking side by side down the aisle.

"That's a first," the man said.

Still partially lost in thought of what had just happened, Hee Jin asked, "What's a first?"

"It's the first I've ever seen you laugh. Or even smile like that, for that matter. You know, a real smile. It looks nice on you." The man smiled. And, for the first time, Hee Jin thought, his smile also looked real. Not all flirty, seductively, or conniving like before. A genuine smile. The compliment sounded real too.

She sighed. That was it. She gave up. She figured she had tortured him enough. She'd give him a chance. He did, after all, put her in a very good mood even if it was unintentional. Plus, he did put up with her horrible attitude even though he wasn't the real reason she was angry.

"Alright," Hee Jin suddenly said.

"Hm? Alright what?" the man asked curiously.

"I'll go to your get-together thing."

"Really?" he shouted, his spirits seeming to have risen in the blink of an eye.

"Yes. But," she said sticking her index finger up at him, "you have to promise there won't be a single drop of alcohol in sight. The moment there is, I'm gone."

"Yes, yes, I promise!" he was almost leaping from excitement.

As they finished grabbing some last few groceries, they walked over to an available till. Hee Jin was in front and started putting her food on the counter. As she did that, she began realizing that, although she had known the man for awhile now, she had never learned his name. She figured if she was going to hang out with him on Friday, it would be a good idea to at least find out what his name was. When she finished putting her food on the counter, she turned to the man and opened her mouth to speak. However, she immediately shut it when she spotted someone a ways back, standing in front of an aisle. It was Jin Chul. Anger boiled in her again and she turned around without a word.

"Hm?" the man said, glancing around curiously. "Who were you looking at?"

"No one," Hee Jin said flatly. The man must've taken the hint this time because he didn't pursue the matter. Hee Jin figured her agreement to go to the get-together had a lot to do with it.

Once she was done, she walked out of the store ahead of the man. He caught up soon after and they walked home in silence.

Hee Jin's fire had been rekindled. She strongly hoped it wouldn't affect her sleep that night.

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Author's Notes:

Still wondering who this mystery guy is? Guess! And I don't know about you guys, but I'm loving him quite a bit. xD I hope I described his stumble/fall thing. I wasn't quite sure how to put it. >___<