Twenty Two (1/1)

Strange.That was the only word for Hae Won to describe Seung Ho’s behavior several days after the sleep over night in their house. Since then, she always saw Seung Ho at the kitchen, preparing breakfast for both of them. He also nicely greeted her every morning with smile which getting widden day by day. Hae Won didn’t hide the confusion on her face. She knew Seung Ho might had planned something to ruin her life again.That morning, Seung Ho prepared toast and fresh milk for breakfast. Hae Won had to poke the golden triangular bread stuffed with baccon, lettuce, tomato. She had to make sure Seung Ho didn’t use the expired stuff. She sniffed at the glass of milk, but no sour smell from it.“I’m not trying to poison you,” Seung Ho sudden response surprised Hae Won.“Just in case,” Hae Won whispered to herself.“Eat well,” Seung Ho nicely said. He stuffed his mouth with the sandwiches and quickly swallowed them. He looked at the clock on his phone screen, suddenly packed his stuff in hurry. “Gotta go. Bye !”“You work again ? Why don’t you just go back to school instead of working all day ?” Hae Won asked.“I don’t like to go to school,” Seung Ho wore his outdoor outfit. “It’s boring.”“But if your mom find out, she’ll kill us all !”Seung Ho laughed, “I don’t know about me, but you’ll stay alive. Seriously, I don’t have time to chit chat now. Bye !”“Hey, at least clean your dish first !” Hae Won yelled, but Seung Ho just ignored her and ran to the front door. She could hear the slammed door, Hae Won had no choice to clean up the dirty plates. While washing the dishes, Hae Won suddenly got a briliant idea.*Hae Won peeked out behind the wall. She could see Seung Ho’s back walking casually along the road. He put the earphone on his ears, he danced along once in a while, attracting some high school girls who walked pass him. They stared at him in amazement, but Seung Ho somehow didn’t give them the attention they wanted. He kept walking until he turned to the right. Hae Won quickly skipped and continued following her step-brother.She stopped when Seung Ho stopped at the traffic light. When the light turned green, he continued to walk, so did Hae Won. The street was getting crowded, Hae Won almost lost her target if she didn’t notice Seung Ho’s red cap. She kept following him to the narrow alley where less people were there. They went downhill as Hae Won felt the alley was a bit familiar. She noticed she had been there before, few days ago at night.Hae Won decelerated her steps when she noticed Seung Ho entered the small restaurant. A middle-aged man greeted him at the porch, showing his fatherly smile. The warm family atmosphere, from the old place made of wood. It was the ramen restaurant she visited with Seung Ho before. Did Seung Ho work there ?She moved herself closer and hid behind the big truck parked in front of the restaurant. She identified the young guy with his red flaming hair, with plain apron covered his upper body and the ornament Hae Won rarely saw : the bright sincere smile.From afar, Hae Won could see how Seung Ho addressed the guests nicely. Most of the guests were around their 60s but they seemed love to visit the small place with Seung Ho in it. Not because Seung Ho was younger than them, but because he knew how to entertain them with his dance. He showed his b-boy moves while carying the orders with his hands. The elders were enjoying the little performance and they treated Seung Ho like their own grandchildren.For Hae Won herself, she was more amazed at Seung Ho who looked brighter than usual. It looked like he enjoyed working there because he didn’t have to hide his trueself : the passionate dancer who lives to dance. He could use his ability to entertain people while getting some incomes for himself. And Yang Seung Ho didn’t need to talk and brag much about it, he knew he’s a great dancer and loved what he’s doing. Those were good enough to impress Hae Won.“Excuse me, Miss,” a young man suddenly showed up beside Hae Won. He’s couple years older than her. “Are you okay ? Do you need something ?”“No,no, I’m fine,” Hae Won waved her palm in front of her face.“Wait, I know you,” the young man pointed his finger to Hae Won. “You’re the girl Seung Ho brought to the restaurant before ! Hey, Yang Seung Ho !”“Wait, don’t call him,” but the young man, who was actually the waiter that served them the night when Seung Ho and Hae Won visited the restaurant before, already left and called Seung Ho. Hae Won could see he talked to Seung Ho, pointing his finger to her direction. That was a right time for Hae Won to leave.“YA, KIM HAE WON !!”But it’s too late.Hae Won stopped, her body got turned by Seung Ho who already stood in front of her. “You’re following me ?”She bursted to hide her nervousness. “Me ? Nope...I was lost my way to school and I suddenly...”“YOU’RE FOLLOWING ME !!” Seung Ho shoutted. “Are you freaking out of your mind ?!”“Yang Seung Ho, you’re not allowed to bring your girlfriend to work !” the waiter teased them, following by the laughter from the elders.“She’s not my girlfriend !” Seung Ho talked back to the waiter. “She’s just an annoying girl who wants to know everybody’s problems.”“Hey, there’s no need to talk like that—”“What are you doing here ?” Seung Ho faced Hae Won again, making her stopped her words. “Just go back to school. I don’t want to be your reason for skipping school. I don’t want to involve into another trouble.”“Okay, okay, I’ll leave,” Hae Won slowly walked backward. “But...let me ask one more question before I leave.”“What is it ?”“Do you really love dancing ?” Hae Won asked.A silent came between them for a second. Seung Ho broke it by answering, “Yes, I do. Happy ? Now go.”Hae Won turned around and left the alley without regret. She knew Seung Ho’s life was not her business, but once again she got convinced that Seung Ho loved what he was doing there. Once Hae Won was amazed at Seung Ho’s powerful performance at the night club one night, but seeing the warm side of him, entertaining people around him with his dance was something new. She never got a chance to notice the light side of Yang Seung Ho before. Especially that smile.Hae Won knew what to do to fix his relation with Yang Seung Ho.*Yang Seung Ho sighed deeply in front of the house. He worked so hard that day with the guests kept coming from nowhere. He really needed to lay down and rest his back. He unlocked the door and entered the house. He lazily walked to the living room, throwing himself to the couch, collecting air for his lungs.“Ah, you’re home !”The bright voice addressed Seung Ho casually. He opened his tired eyes and saw Hae Won smiled widely at her. “What is it ?”“Come on, get up !” Hae Won grabbed Seung Ho’s arms and pulled him to stand up. “I’ve prepared hot water for you to take a bath !”“You what ?” Seung Ho was really surprised. He got pushed by Hae Won to his room.“I can’t cook so I order food for us. Anyway, I stole your game console from your room, so we can play while eating...or you can eat first then play, any choices you prefer the most,” Hae Won opened the door for Seung Ho. “Now grab some clothes then go to bath.”“Wait, you sneaked into my room ?” Hae Won slammed the door infront of Seung Ho’s face before she answered the question. She hurrily ran downstairs and cleaned up the living room, preparing for the game they’re going to play together.Few minutes later, Seung Ho got out from the bathroom, all clean and fresh. He rubbed his wet hair with the towel, feeling better after the tiring day for work. He looked down at Hae Won who was busy plugging electronic things she wasn’t familiar with. Seung Ho was worried when he noticed Hae Won almost whipped down his electronic gadget, “Ya, put that down !! Leave it, I’ll arrange them for you.”Hae Won looked up, staring at Seung Ho who looked fresh with the towel and clean clothes. “Ah, you’re done ? Come here and fix this. I’m not good with this kind of thing.”The bell rang, the dinner finally came. Hae Won ran to the door and grabbed the pizzas while Seung Ho prepared the console game. “Do you really know how to play games with this ?” Seung Ho teased.“Not really, but I’m really good with this,” Hae Won grabbed the dance pads in her arms.Two hours later, the step siblings were already busy competing each other playing the dance game. They moved their bodies, following the rhytm to get the highest score. So far, Seung Ho won all the stages. He even made Hae Won poutted as he chose the expert level for himself, showing his dance skill confidently in front of her. Hae Won took a rest and ate the pizza while watching Seung Ho played the game continuosly. He already sweated alot but it seemed he enjoyed it too much. At least Hae Won releaved that Seung Ho was enjoying the time they spent together, the unplanned activity which had been prepared by Hae Won since she’s done with school that day.“Ya, take a break and enjoy the meal. It’s getting cold,” Hae won offered Seung Ho the soda can who thankfully grabbed it from her hand.“Whoa...it’s been a while since I played games like today,” Seung Ho didn’t hide his wide smile, grabbing air around him to breathe deeply. “Whoa, I’m so tired.”“Get up !! We haven’t played fighting games !” Hae Won was excited and started searching the game pack in front of the television. “I’m good at this one !!”Seung Ho giggled, “You said it when we played the dance game, while you literally suck.”But he had to face the fact that Hae Won was really good at that game genre. She didn’t let his character made a single move. Hae Won just hit it with no mercy. Seung Ho was going nuts as he couldn’t do anything to fight Hae Won back. An hour later, he gave up and admitted Hae Won as the master of fighting game.Hae Won rose her hands to the air to celebrate her victory alone, but continued playing the game while Seung Ho resting his tired fingers for pressing the controllers too much. “I told you I’m the best at this !”“Kim Hae Won mansae~!...Happy ?” Seung Ho words only made the girl beside him giggled. He watched Hae won playing in silent, sometimes munching the cold pizza inside his mouth, sipping the soda. He remembered few hours ago he was complaining to himself how tiring the day was. He usually felt the tiredness alone without anybody cared about it, but suddenly Hae Won showed up and made his night better. Seung Ho couldn’t say any words except, “Hae Won-ssi, thank you.”“For what ?” Hae Won didn’t moved her eyes from the television screen, her fingers was busy pressing the controller’s buttons.“For this. I didn’t know what happen with your brain but you planned this for me. I’m really...greatful.” Seung Ho finally felt alive, after a while.“To be honest,” Hae Won replied, still focusing on the game, “I have no regret following you today. Watching you work in excitement makes me realize that you really love to dancing. And I think that’s really impressive.”Seung Ho stared at Hae Won, listening to her words carefully.“I watched you dance before at the club, but this morning was different. I saw you smiling while serving the meals to the costumers. I’ve never seen you—or even someone—who show their passion literally like that. You entertained those elders sincerely and it’s really shown. For a short time, it felt like I see the real you. Despite all the shitty attitudes you’ve shown to everyone, somehow you’re actually really a nice guy,” Hae Won shared her thought.Seung Ho threw a light smile, “i don’t think you really want to know me.”“Why not ?”“Because,” he swallowed, “I have a big pain inside me that I don’t want you to know. I know this part of me that creates who I am now...It will ruin...”“Ruin what ?”Seung Ho put down the soda can he held before, reaching out his arm to Hae Won’s head. He stroked it gently, “This moment.”Hae Won put down the game controller, staring at Seung Ho’s eyes. She could see he’s being sincere that time, no lie, no exaggeration. “This is how you say thank you ?” Hae Won asked, hoping her face didn’t blush so much.“If you paid attention, I already said it before,” Seung Ho said, leaning forward. He landed a kiss on Hae Won’s lips, pulled her closer to his side. Hae Won didn’t reject it, putting her arms around his neck. Both of them lie down to the floor, Hae Won let him kissing her deeply. As Seung Ho embraced her gently, Hae Won could hear him whispering, “Peach.”“What ?” she asked him back between the kiss, just to make sure she misheard it.“You always smell like peach. You wear the color in important occasion or when you’re happy. Like the first time we met at the restaurant, your date with Jun Ho, the sleep over, and now,” Seung Ho answered.“Well,” Hae Won put a grin on her face, “good to know that you notice it.”Seung Ho replied her with another kiss, holding her tighter as the night getting deeper.When everything suddenly went well for both of them, the distraction came right on the front door. Both of them gasped as they heard the door was unlocked and footsteps came from the afar. Hae Won pushed Seung Ho away from her body, brushing her hair with fingers while Seung Ho was cleaning up his t-shirt. Their parents came home.- - -it's a bit longer >.< I don't know how to cut some parts, so I post it as it is~comment ?^^