20. Catalyst (1/1)

He got home late after the beer with Zico and he found his love already inside, snuggled up in bed. She wasn’t sleeping necessarily, but he knew she just wanted to lay down comfortably. She always waited up for him if he was late. “Hey, babe.” He greeted her, leaning down to press his lips on her cheek. “How was work?” He asked, taking his clothes off to throw into the basket. Even though clothes weren’t super important to them, they enjoyed the smell of their softener when they put freshly washed clothes on. “Fine.” Mina mumbled, “I found out the reason why the wait staff is so quick.” She rolled over onto her side so she could face him. She saw the deep lines in his back, hardened with muscle from his typical routine. “Oh?” Bang said, turning towards her and climbing into their bed beside her. “What reason would that be?”  “Yoonji works there, as a wait staff.” Mina said, “She sometimes works the whole restaurant by herself because that human co-worker of hers can’t handle her alcohol.” She moved closer into Bang’s arms and he welcomed her. “Oh really? She’s been there this whole time and you didn’t even know?” Bang asked her, “You know that Himchan and her have met up at the restaurant, Jihoon called me up the other day to talk about it.”  “Yeah, so I’ve heard the gossip from the other girls. She should really be careful, word gets around fast.” Mina said, “But Jihoon called you out again?”  Bang frowned again, “Yeah, he wanted me to talk to you about spying on Yoonji, but I guess now I know that for sure she works there. I always thought he was lying since you never knew she worked there.” He told her. “I don’t even care to play his game though.” “Well, he has loved Madeleine all these years, even if she has never looked at him once. But he should really know better by now. She doesn’t want him in that way and never will. And he really can’t keep them apart, he was part of the wedge that Elizabeth used to break the two of them up.” Mina sighed to herself mostly. This was information that the both of them already knew, they had talked about all the possibilities of what happened to Nathaniel and Madeleine and what could have happened, what they could have done, what was fixable etc. But everything was futile, with Madeleine accepting that she wasn’t good enough for Nathaniel and that her place was below him. “Yeah. That’s why I don’t care to play his game. Besides, Zico said that this might be different this time around.” Bang said, starting to tell her what Zico heard in the bar that night he left them in the club. “Well, what are you going to do? Gonna find a way to meet up with Nathaniel?” Mina asked him. “It has been centuries since you last talked.”  Bang squeezed his arms around her tightly, “I know. I’m not sure yet, I’m not the one who broke off the friendship after all. Maybe if he needs me, then I’ll see him, but until then, it’ll be difficult with Elizabeth around.” He said. “I know you miss him, babe. You two were best friends, I mean I know Benjamin is good and all, but you and Nathaniel grew up together, it’s different.” Mina mumbled, her eyes closing as she relaxed into a restful sleep. Bang kissed the top of her head, “I know. I love you.” ~ She fumbled with her keys to the door with Hana waiting behind her. She was wondering what Himchan would think when she walked into the house with her hair a mess and Hana in tow. He would probably get mad at her for going out into the club scene again. He never liked it but she liked it, he was so silly too, it was for business, she got paid for every picture that was taken of her at the club in a sponsor’s outfit. She also earned money as a bottle girl whenever she got guys to spend a lot on the house.  “Hurry up.” Hana scoffed, looking at Hyosung who managed to doze off into space while trying to open her door. Hyosung glared at her, “Sorry. I just spaced out.” She said, opening the door and noticing immediately that shoes were missing. She didn’t say anything in front of Hana, since she noticed the same thing at Hana’s apartment anyway. “I’m gonna shower first.” Hana said, pushing past Hyosung and beelining for the master bathroom. No one was really home anyway, and she didn’t say anything despite noticing the half empty closet in their bedroom as well. Hana quickly showered and got herself together, stealing clothes from Hyosung’s donate pile and getting ready to leave without her. “Give me money.” Hana said, “Or drive me home.” Hyosung was changing out of her other outfit to get ready for a shower too. Hyosung frowned but she had to admit that the taxi fare that Jihoon provided was worth it, and she owed Hana for that, he meant nothing to her and she knew she meant nothing to him as well. “Here.” Hyosung said, throwing a big bill Hana’s way. “Whatever’s leftover, keep it. Whatever happened last night, I owe Jihoon.”  Hana narrowed her eyes at the money, “Yeah, well you’re welcome.” She said, picking it up and leaving. “See you whenever.”  Hyosung frowned as Hana left, but got back to the bigger picture of Himchan not being home. She took in all that was missing, he basically took his work closet as well as some sleeping clothes and normal clothes. He was going to be gone for a while, and that meant she would be coming home to an empty house for a while. So much for trying to make their relationship work. It didn’t matter, she knew exactly where he was anyway. He thought she didn’t know about that little apartment he had across town, but she knew.  As long as he always came back to her, then it wouldn’t matter, after all, she was meant for him. And nothing would change that. ~ “You have another date with Mr. Lee.” Dambi told her.  “I know, but I don’t really want to deal.” Hyorin replied, “He thinks we’re exclusive. And my friend got me out of the situation last time, but it might not be good this time.” She said on the phone to her boss. “We talked about this before, Hyorin. All you need to do is say the word and I’ll get rid of him in a flash.” Dambi said, “You know your safety is far more important to me than any guy.”  Hyorin sighed, “I know. But I kinda feel bad for the guy too.” She said, pulling on a simple red A-line dress with a belt to accentuate her waist and simple statement jewelry to pull it all together. Dambi groaned, “Seriously, Hyorin. You’re gonna pull that on me right now? You know that leads nowhere, plus you can’t be seriously pity dating this guy. It’s even worse that you’re getting paid to pity date him.” She said exasperatedly.  “I know, I’m complicated. Sorry, anyway, he’s picking me up soon and I think we are going to dinner.” Hyorin said, trying to end the phone call before Mr. Lee got to her apartment and called her to come down. “Yeah, you are. You be safe, I’ll give you a bodyguard if I have to.” Dambi told her, “I know you can take care of yourself, but still.”  “I’ll be safe, unni. It’ll be fine. Talk to you later.” Hyorin said, slipping out of her apartment and she saw Mr. Lee already waiting for her in the other parking lot where they always agreed to meet for when he picked her up. She climbed into the car and he immediately took her hand into his with a smile, “Hello, beautiful. So what has your madam said?” He asked her directly. Hyorin stopped herself from frowning, yup, definitely crazy. “She said she wants to make sure you’re a good guy so she will see you in a few days to see how you are with me.” She lied smoothly, it seemed reasonable. “Of course I am a good guy.” Mr. Lee said. “And perfect for you.” He winked at her.  “Anyway, where are we going?” Hyorin asked him, looking away for a moment. The car pulled out onto the main road and she didn’t even notice the traffic around them. It was odd for so many cars to be out and about at this time, but she figured people were going home. Dambi pulled into the lane behind Mr. Lee’s car, there was no way she trusted that guy. He was bad news and Hyorin’s penchant for taking in strays was causing her to worry even more.  She had to make sure her girl was okay, or else this guy had to go. When they pulled into a fancy restaurant called Morio’s, Hyorin frowned to herself, she wasn’t the biggest fan of raw fish especially with her new dietary requirements. But she couldn’t do anything about it, clearly he had a plan and she would get no say. Mr. Lee helped her out of the car and she merely smiled at him as they walked into the restaurant together. She looked around the restaurant and noticed that there was only one guy in the whole place and he was sitting at the bar with his back turned to them. This was rather intimate, and even harder for her to hide her disgust for the fish when it came out. “Table for 2, please.” Mr. Lee told the host.  “Right this way.” They walked past the guy at the bar and Hyorin stiffened, whatever he was, he was a danger to her, she could feel it. She was used to her instincts telling her to watch out for people, but this was different.  She knew this guy could do some serious damage if she let him. She had to make sure that nothing happened when she was on this date. She didn’t need a fight between this guy and Mr. Lee. Mr. Lee would surely lose. She sighed to herself, at least there didn’t seem to be any attractive wait help that would upset Mr. Lee this time. He pulled out her chair for her and he lingered just a second longer than needed. “Enjoy your night.” The host said, walking away, leaving Hyorin with the man who was under the illusion that she was his exclusive girlfriend. Author's Note;;

Hey hey~ another update :D

So I got my first couple coming up within a chapter or two~

care to take a guess? :)