Jun's P.O.V.
Surprisingly, I managed to get all the work done I intended to do. Not having Kai around to distract me or anybody else in the office, helped me catch up on all my work. It was 8PM and Yan had asked me to go out for a drink. I was going to say no, I always did, but the thought of potentially seeing Kai tonight and obsessive over her all over again made me say yes. I hoped she wouldn't wait around for me to come home to give me back my key. There was always tomorrow. It was a lively Saturday night and I insisted on only having a drink or two. I met Yan in a bar, close to work and even closer to my new apartment. He was already at a table with a glass of Baijiu. I walked over and sat down beside him. Instantly I knew something was up. He was smiling, like a child waiting to tell me a secret.
"I went to see your new apartment today." Fuck.
"How do you even know I have a new apartment?" I asked stunned. My family were pros at budding into every aspect of my life.
"I used to do your taxes. Your expenditure sheets still come to me." He smiled pleased with himself.
"Of course." I downed my glass of scotch and hoped that that was the end of the conversation.
"I met Kai." He said, egotistically smiling again. I felt my temperature spike immediately, but I had to act cool. There was nothing going on with me and Kai and me buying the apartment next door was just a coincidence for all he knew.
"Oh, yeah?" I asked obliviously. I ordered another scotch. I was stressed.
"Yeah. She's nice. I don't want to jump the gun here and say that you bought the apartment because of her, you're prone to stupid decision making, like having me do your taxes, but did you actually buy an apartment? Surely you aren't that desperate. You could've at least been a little bit more subtle and not bought the one right next door." He mocked me, like he did all my life. I tried to keep my anger at bay, but I was ready to punch him in the face.
"I bought it because it was convenient. I dropped her home one day, and the guy was doing a viewing. It was a complete coincidence. It's close to work and I hoped nobody knew I had it, so I could have somewhere to go when you invite yourself over." He laughed at my truly pathetic excuse.
"So, it wasn't because of Kai?" He asked again.
"No. She's just somebody that works for me." I replied, downing my second glass of scotch, after which I decided it was enough and I was ready to go.
"So, it's okay if I ask her out to dinner?" He was testing me, and I wasn't going to fall for it. After what happened to her and having had declined a date already, I was looking forward to watching her shut down Yan.
"I don't care. You can ask her yourself and she will tell you that there is nothing going on. I don't have time to date." I replied sternly. He stared at me for another minute, finally believing me, before trying to convince me to ask her out.
"Why not? She seems so nice." He said ordering another scotch for me, despite me rejecting it.
"I thought you wanted to ask her out yourself?" I asked confused. It was late and I was too tired to keep up with him. "I'm gonna crash. I'll talk to you later." I downed my glass and made my way out of the bar. As I reached the door, I felt somebody yank my arm, pulling me towards them.
"Jun! Long time!" I recognised the annoying voice immediately, as my ex-girlfriend Liang. Ex-girlfriend is a little far fetched. She would come around for sex and then insist on introducing me to her friends as her boyfriend and then make money out of our public fights and breakups. Her strawberry hair hung over her shoulders and her dress was lower cut exposing her cleavage.
"Liang." I stared in awe. I had to find a way to escape her. If only that was possible.
"Come dance with me." She insisted, dragging me on the dance floor.
"Oh no, I'm exhausted." I said with a smile, yanking back my hand.
"Come on. Let's have some fun. You know, how we used to." She winked disgustingly. I couldn't stand her.
"I'm seeing someone." I hoped that would be enough. If Kai could lie about having plans with me, it didn't hurt for me to lie that I was seeing her.
"I don't mind." She pulled me closer. There was no nicer way to do this. I pulled myself out of her grip and made my way to the exit. I nearly ran out of there to make sure she didn't follow me out. It was nearly 11PM, thankfully I didn't have to be up the next morning. I wished I were going back to my penthouse, but just the thought of seeing Kai made that useless apartment worth the price.
I ran up the big steps up to my new apartment, wishing my bed were already made, but the unfortunate part was that I'd still have to put it together, before I could sleep in it. I'd forgotten how loud those steps were. I was digging through my pockets for my key when the door beside me opened. I felt my heart drop. I wasn't sober enough to talk to her. She held her arm behind the door as she leaned forward to look at me.
"Oh, it's you." She brushed her hair from her face.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." I felt awful. She looked terrified.
"That's okay, I'm too paranoid to sleep anyway." She smiled. She opened the door wider and I noticed a mirrored shine behind her. I could tell she was holding a knife. I knew she was traumatised by the taxi driver, but I hadn't realised the toll it had taken on her. "Oh, I have your key."
"Don't worry about that, I'll get it tomorrow." I smiled, hoping that would be it and I could speak to her in the morning when I had my thoughts together.
"Okay. Goodnight." She smiled, walking back into her apartment. I exhaled a deep breath and made my way into my apartment. The smell of paint was overwhelming, but it wasn't the only thing I could smell. It was just as I feared, her smell lingered in my living room. I made my way into the living room and a plate of mooncakes was sitting on my new coffee table. I felt a warm feeling wash over me, something I hadn't ever felt before. I picked one up and took a bite of one of the best mooncakes I had ever had. I never went out of my way to get baked goods, but this was one of the best things I had ever tasted. I dreaded walking into my small bedroom. I was exhausted and I still had to put my bed together.
After exhausting two hours of building my bed I managed to get 4 hours of sleep. I couldn't get Kai out of my head. No matter how hard I tried, she was always on my mind. I decided to sleep in, or lay in for once, which only made me think of Kai. It didn't help that she was right next door and I could hear her already walking around her apartment. I heard the echo of her front door closing and quickly jumped out of bed, looking for some bottoms. As I had thought, a knock landed on my door a minute later. I slipped on my grey jogging bottoms but didn't bother with a shirt. I rushed to the door and opened it. There she was. Standing in a white dress, her hair curled, lying on her shoulders and a red cardigan resting in her arms.
"Sorry," she quickly looked down to the floor embarrassed about my naked torso. "I'm on my way to the market. I was just wondering if you'd like anything?" She spoke with her head still facing away from me. I couldn't help but laugh. She was so innocent.
"Well, I will be spending the next week here, so I suppose I should get something." I replied with a smile.
"You will?" She asked, looking up for a second, before hiding her face again.
"Supposedly annual leave is mandatory." I chuckled and so did she. She softly bit down on her bottom lip, waiting for me to answer her initial question. "I'm not entirely sure what I would like. I don't usually do my own shopping." I stopped talking, realising how spoilt I sounded. "What do they sell?" I asked.
"Fruit and vegetables mostly." She slowly forced herself to look up at me. Her eyes were only concentrating on my face, but even my eyes seemed too intimidating for her.
"Perhaps I should come with you. I could drive." I said, looking back at my messy apartment, which I hoped to organise this morning.
"No need. The market isn't far, and I enjoy the walk." She smiled, eager to keep me at home. "How about I'll buy double of the things I usually get and whatever you don't like you can return to me." She smiled and I agreed. She wrapped the cardigan around her shoulders and waved as she turned around. I had already planned to ask her out to dinner to thank her for the mooncakes and for signing my delivery, but it seemed that I'd have to cook that dinner. I wasn't much of a chef since I had one in my penthouse. I never had to worry about cooking or shopping for myself. I returned to my apartment and began unpacking. I didn't want the place to be too personal since I wasn't going to spend much time here. I only needed the important things. A desk, a fridge, a dining table, a bed and a couch. There was already a television hanging on the living room wall, not that I watched much of it, but if Kai ever wanted to watch a movie… no, no, no. I had to stop myself. Nothing was happening between us and I wasn't sure that it would. Concentrate.
I'd managed to unpack half of my apartment by the time she returned. A soft knock landed on my door and I quickly opened it. Her cheeks a light peach colour and softly panting, she held two large bags in her hands.
"Here you go." She smiled, handing me one of the bags. "I'll go put my stuff away and I'll come back." She smiled, quickly rushing to her apartment. I walked into my kitchen and pulled the vegetables and fruits out of the bag. For such a small person, she can carry a hell lot. As I stared at all the vegetables and fruit that I hadn't previously tried, I heard a glass shatter on the other side of the wall.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" I heard her say quietly. Chaos took over followed by a loud thud. After a minute of nothing, not a sound, I decided it was a good time to go check if she was okay. I knocked on her door, but nothing. I slowly bent the handle allowing myself in.
"Kai?" I called out, peeking my head in. The floor was covered in shards of glass. "Kai?" I called out again, slowly walking in. Though I was wearing sneakers, I tried to avoid the glass on the floor. As I walked a little further, I could see droplets of blood on the floor. My heartbeat began to slowly race as I followed them towards her bathroom. My heart dropped as she was lying on the bathroom floor. I quickly lifted her off the floor and laid her down on her couch. Her apartment was a lot smaller than mine. She hardly had space for a couch and a small table. I couldn't find the source of the blood, checking every part of her body. I poured some water into a glass and carried it to the couch. She laid there, softly breathing. Her eyes were slowly starting to blink as she was waking up. "Kai?" I brushed her soft hair from her face. "Kai, I can't find the source of the bleeding." I said, hoping she'd be conscious enough to tell me. She slowly opened her eyes, staring at me for a second.
"I – I stepped on it." She breathed out. I slowly lifted her leg into my lap and there it was, a small triangular piece, stuck in her skin. Her foot was covered in blood and I slowly rested it back on the couch.
"I'll go get my first aid kit." I quickly ran over to my apartment and dug through the unpacked boxes, looking for the damn box. After a couple minutes, I walked back, with the first aid kit and my car hoover, to hoover up the small pieces of glass. She kept going in and out of consciousness, which was a good time to get the glass out of her foot, without causing her to faint again. I lifted her leg into my lap and picked up a pair of tweezers from the first aid kit. I gripped the piece of glass tight and gently pulled it from her foot. She groaned in pain. Poor Kai. I cleaned up the wound and put small plasters on the cut to keep it from stretching. I wrapped it up with a bandage and she finally began to awake. "Here." I handed her the glass of water; I had kept beside me.
"Thank you." She said softly lifting herself up.
"All done." I said, resting her leg on the couch and getting up to clean the glass. She watched as I walked around her apartment, picking up shards of glass and vacuuming the small pieces.
"Thank you." She said as I finished up. Suddenly a knock landed on the door and we both looked over to the open door. Yan. I couldn't help but exhale annoyed.
"What happened?" He quickly walked over to Kai.
"What are you doing here Yan?" I asked annoyed.
"Well I came to ask if you'd like to have dinner with me tonight," he said, bending down in front of Kai. Fuck. I knew he was just trying to make me angry, but I wasn't going to show it. "but it doesn't look like you can go anywhere." He said softly checking her wounded foot.
"Yeah, you should probably rest today." I said, hoping to convince her not to go.
"Oh, well it's all wrapped up, so it should be okay." She smiled brightly.
"Great. I'll pick you up at 7." He smiled, while I tried to keep my mouth shut. My blood was boiling.
"Thank you for the groceries." I said with a stiff smile and took my leave. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but I rushed to get out the door. I walked into my apartment and slammed the door as hard as I could. Unfortunately, the walls were thin, and they'd be able to hear anything I did, so I refrained from slamming my fist into the wall. I couldn't stop her from going out with Yan. I couldn't control her or him. If I showed any interest in their date, Yan would bury me with embarrassment. I tried to keep myself busy by unpacking the rest of the boxes that were delivered. I lost track of time as Kai's door echoed and the clock hit 7PM. I peeked through the peep hole in the door and watched as she walked down the steps in her beautiful burgundy dress. My chest filled with rage.