Something hit their car pretty hard. Makes a crashing sound that sounds quite loud to pierce the ears.
The two of them—Hyunji and Jungkyu—jolted forward. For the second time, Jungkyu reflexively stretched his hand to hold Hyunji's shoulder. Hyunji didn't even have time to neutralize her heartbeat earlier and was startled again by the collision just now.
After a few seconds she neutralized her heartbeat, Hyunji looked back.
From where she was, she could see a car stop right behind them. The front bumper of the car was slightly dented, proving that it was the car that had just hit their car. Hyunji had not finished observing, but suddenly a man came out of there and walked over to them.
"Jung-"
"What?! I told you to wear your seat belt!"
"Now is not the time to talk about that! Look back!"
Jungkyu was too lazy to turn around, so he chose to glance at the rearview mirror. The reflection of someone walking towards them made Jungkyu's forehead frown faintly.
The figure was wearing a suit complete with sunglasses and a communication device in his ears. Looks a little familiar. For a moment, he tried to remember, but ended up in vain.
Knock knock!!
A knock on the window made Jungkyu and Hyunji look at each other.
Hyunjin hissed. "What should we do?"
Jungkyu clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Just face it. They're the ones who hit us."
His hand moved to open the window. But before he could press the button, the man outside suddenly took off his glasses.
And at that very second, Jungkyu felt his heart stop beating.
His energy seemed to be absorbed into the sharp eyes that had previously been hidden behind the sunglasses. The gray hair, the wrinkled face, the blackened lips from smoking too much, and of course that sharp glare. No wonder, Jungkyu felt so familiar.
Jungkyu's jaw tightened. His hands were clenched and shaking. Cold sweat ran down his temples. His breathing started to become erratic as flashbacks started popping up non-stop like a broken record inside his head. His ears were ringing, obscuring all sorts of sounds around him.
Jungkyu couldn't possibly forget that figure. Never, not even to death.
"Jungkyu?"
Hyunji noticed Jungkyu's sudden change of expression. Wondered, she touched her fingers on Jungkyu's sweaty hands. Slightly flinched, Hyunji was surprised to feel how cold his hand was when she touched it. In contrast to Jungkyu's grip when they argued about the seat belt earlier. The warmth she had felt before, seemed to have disappeared as if it had never existed.
She glanced out the window, noticing the middle-aged man who was still faithfully standing there—waiting for one of them to get out of the car. Realizing that something was wrong, Hyunji decided to take the initiative quickly. Because Jungkyu suddenly petrified like a statue, she had no other choice but to intervene. Moreover, she feels indebted to Jungkyu who has saved her life twice.
Knock knock knock!!!
Again, there was a knock on the glass. Hyunji took off her sweater in one tug, then threw it in the back seat. She turned Jungkyu's face towards her—forcing him to look straight at her. "Hey!"
Hyunji's efforts made Jungkyu slowly wake up from his subconscious. His senses gradually recovered, as did his brain work. The first expression he showed was surprise when he saw Hyunji's presence only in training and a black tanktop. In this cold weather, is this girl trying to kill herself after failing to die earlier?
"Listen to me!"
A tap on his cheek made Jungkyu fully aware. He had just opened his mouth, but Hyunji interrupted him. "You know him?"
Jungkyu didn't answer, but Hyunji's words almost made him have another panic attack. Luckily, Hyunji immediately noticed it and lightly slapped his cheek once more before his consciousness drifted off again.
He blinked. And before he could process what happened, Hyunji had already climbed onto his lap. Honestly, not really on his lap, because Hyunji uses both knees as a support. But still, Jungkyu's heart began to race when he realized how close their position was.
"Lower your body. Don't let any part of your body—not even a strand of hair—be seen when I open the window."
"W, what are you going to do?"
"Just keep quiet and follow my game. I'll make sure that old man outside doesn't dare to get into trouble with us."
The inside of his head was a mess, so he couldn't asked further what Hyunji means. He closed his eyes tightly, choosing to slump down like she told him to. He hoped that Hyunji's crazy idea, whatever it was, could be resolved quickly so that this girl could get away from him. With desperate, he tried to maintain his almost-lost-rationality.
Even though he had always thought of Hyunji as a weird and annoying person he picked up from Han river bridge, it didn't mean he ignored the fact that Hyunji was a woman. After all, he was a normal man. Stuck in a situation like this, there's no way he will be fine.
"Damn it!" he cursed in his heart.
Meanwhile, Hyunji untied her hair. Causing her black hair to fall down her back with a few strands that cover her face. She deliberately messed up her hair to help her acting. She also lowered one strap of her tanktop, then made several purplish red dots—using lipstick she brought from home—in the area around her neck and collarbone.
"Good, it's enough," Hyunji muttered to herself.
Without wasting any more time, she rolled down the window up to her shoulder. Making a gust of cold wind enter through the open gap. She then put on her sweetest smile and said, "Yes, Sir? Is there anything we can help you with?"
The middle-aged man frowned. One eyebrow raised when he found Hyunji's unusual position. She sat facing back, not forward as one should do when driving a car. There's no way this girl can drive while facing back, right?
"Miss, your position is a bit ...."
"Huh? Oh, this ... we were just 'having fun'."
"What?"
Hyunjin nodded. "Yeah, 'having fun'. You know what lovers do? Should I exp- ahk!!"
Hyunji was surprised when Jungkyu pulled her hand quickly. Because of that, she suddenly ducked, even almost toppled over. With faces only an inch apart, Jungkyu glared and whispered, "Are you crazy?! Get away from me now! Let me finish-"
"Shh! It's already started! I'm good at acting, so you just need to shut up and watch."
Hyunji grabbed Jungkyu's banana milk—that she had snatched earlier—and deliberately poured the milk into her hand. As a result, her palm was wet, and she used it to touch the window, leaving a handprint there.
Seeing her, the man outside was surprised and gave up his intention to take a step closer. He gradually retreated. His eyes widened, especially when Hyunji reappeared while brushing her hair back so that the purplish red marks on her neck were clearly visible.
"Oh my God ... today's kids ...," he thought in shock.
Hyunji showed a tired expression. "Sorry ... we're a little busy right now." She looked down, then said in a made-up voice, "Wait a minute, Honey. Stop, I'm still talking."
The man seemed completely at a loss for words. After that, he immediately averted his gaze and widened the distance between them even more.
Meanwhile, let's mourn the loss of Jungkyu's innocence and sanity. His body is now drooping in the car seat. Apparently, his efforts to maintain his rationality brought no results at all. His mind is so messed up right now. Still can't understand how Hyunji can think this far. Jungkyu never even thought of crazy things like this to be a way out. Especially just now, when Hyunji made her innocent banana milk a property for her to stage a play. Crazy ... she's really crazy!
For some time to come, Jungkyu probably won't dare to touch his banana milk again. He is traumatized.
"Miss," the middle-aged man called to Hyunji. He rubbed his temples as he took a deep breath. "Do you know what you and your boyfriend are doing right now is a traffic violation?"
"What's a violation? Because we parked on the shoulder of the road?" Hyunji slightly straightened her body. The intonation of her voice sounded more stable because their conversation was getting serious. "Before judging us, you better find out your mistakes first."
The man's brow furrowed faintly. He seemed a little offended by Hyunji's words. "You mean?"
"I'm sure you're smart enough to understand."
The middle-aged man closed his eyes tightly to suppress his ignited emotions. "Even though I wanted to settle this matter properly, but you-"
"What took you so long?"
Someone's shout interrupted their conversation.
Hyunji was about to turn to the source of the voice, but she flinched when she felt Jungkyu's grip getting tighter on her hand. She lowered her head to look at Jungkyu, but Jungkyu chose to lower his head deeply—avoiding her gaze.
She knew something was wrong here.