She widened her eyes, like her whole world was exploding before her eyes.
As soon as his warm lips touched hers, her mind went blank, she didn't know what to do. She numbly stared at his thick, fluttering eyelids, feeling his slightly heavy breath. She knew she had the strength to push him away, but what she didn't know was why her body wouldn't move. He spontaneously moved his hand to her thigh, pulling in and out her lips by his, until....
Dea pushed him away, dumbstruck.
'What the hell just happened?'
Sung-ho was stumbled back to his chair, exhaling sharply. When he noticed her hard and startled look, he realized that he shouldn't have kissed her like that. Not in their meeting after so many years.
"Have you gone crazy? Why did you do that?" She suddenly felt so angry looking at his red, swollen lips. Those lips were just on her mouth, tasting her. She hastily wiped her lips by the back of her hand and gave him a cold glare.
"You really don't remember me?" he whispered, looking at her with hurt.
"Remember what?" Dea asked with confusion. 'Is he tricking me by his words or saying the truth? You just kissed me without my permission, you jerk!' She bit her lip to restrain herself from cussing all the words she had learned in her whole life at him.
Sung-ho miserably sighed. As much as it was hurting to admit that she had forgotten him, she didn't show him any sign of recognition. 'Why is life like this?' he thought. 'Why can some people forget someone so easily when they shared a good memory in their childhood? How can they?' Yet he held his hope that she would recall him someday, since she was still wearing the bracelet around her wrist he had given to her a long, long ago.
"Ahem, forget it," he cleared his throat and stretched the file to her. "You can read the terms and if you agree with them, sign the contract please, Miss Choi."
'That's it, Mr. Mafia?'
Choi Dea looked up at him. "So you have decided to help my company, then?"
"Yes," he nodded his head.
Choi Dea roamed her eyes through the contract, her eyes suddenly widened when she saw a term that her company would receive seven percent profit of Sung-ho's Mafia business per month. She wanted to say to him that she wouldn't take his black money, but she kept her mouth shut since she thought of it as a debt. She agreed with the condition that this contract could only be discussed between Party one : Jeong Sung-ho and Party two : Choi Dea, but Dea had the right make an exception for the officers she truly trusted in her company. In the end, Sung-ho also made clear that this contract would last only three months, that was enough time for her company to return back their business competition, if everything went alright.
After reading the contract, Choi Dea looked up at him suspiciously. "Mr. Jeong, since you're helping me, may I know the reason why? What do you want from me in return?"
Sung-ho smiled. "Do I really have to tell you that now, Miss Choi?"
"Yes. That thing should be clear."
Sung-ho smirked at her and moved his face closer to her again. "Don't worry. You will give it to me eventually."
"What do you mean?"
"Like I said Miss Choi, you don't have to worry about that," he smiled reassuringly.
Choi Dea observed him for a minute, thinking deeply. 'What would he ask for from me except money?' she thought. 'It's fine. Soon our company will recover from the downfall and I will pay his debt. But before that, I need to deal with another person."
"I'll sign it," she declared after a while.
'I knew that you would agree, Choi Dea,' thought Sung-ho in his mind, smiling mischievously.
~√~√~√~√~√~√~
Mi-hi stared at her best friend open-mouthed, processing the sentence what she just told her. She put down her chopsticks on the table and sent her a icy glare.
"Some punk kissed you on your lips and you just let him do it? What on the earth you were thinking, Choi Dea?"
Dea shrugged her shoulder simply, reading a magazine while lying on the couch. She funnily looked up at her over her reading glasses, "I don't know why I didn't stop him at first. I guess... he....smelled good and it also did feel good," her cheeks were flushed.
"WHAT!" Mi-hi felt like she was falling from the sky on the muddy ground. "Did I hear you right? Or did my ears lose their powers?" she retorted and tapped her ears, then swiftly stood up from the sofa.
"Sit up," Mi-hi ordered her.
"Why?" she raised her eyebrows.
Mi-hi didn't bother to answer her question, she began to pull her hand until she was sitting on the sofa, the magazine fell on the carpet.
"Ahaaaa, Rhee Mi-hi! What do you think you're doing?" Dea spoke out loudly.
Mi-hi cupped her face, her expression was rigid. "I'm examining if there has happened any crack in the glaciers," she pinched her cheek mercilessly. "Gosh, no. You seem cold as always. What made you kiss that person? You're not even telling me his name. Tell me how you two met. Did he taste good? Explain to me, Choi Dea!" she hummed playfully.
"Oh, come on. I didn't enjoy that."
Mi-hi and Choi Dea had been best friends since the first day of their college. Someone might question that why Dea didn't have any friends from her high school. In that period, she was actually a nerd and she was facing problems with her family. Since she wasn't a normal teenager, it was really hard for someone to make friendship with her. Mi-hi was always easygoing with all people, when they had first met in the college dorm, she had immediately liked Dea and befriended her. She knew it was tough to get along with her because of her cold behavior. But Mi-hi didn't get disappointed, she continued to hang out with her and due to her cheerful attitude, their friendship had improved a lot.
In profession, she was a fantasy novel writer and a few of her books had become popular recently. Mi-hi's parents was living in their hometown which was far away from this city. She wouldn't admit easily that she missed them and she didn't get time to visit them while she had to write a new novel. That's why she came to hang out with Choi Dea in her luxurious condo and to think of a new plot.
"Since when you look that distracted?" Dea poked her on her shoulder. "Are you thinking about your new novel? Haven't you got any idea about that yet?"
Mi-hi shook her head sadly. The publishing company she was working with, had given her a couple of months to finish a novel with an unique romantic condensation.
"What about you try a story about..... Mafia?" Dea suggested her obscurely and instantly kicked her in mind about telling her about that. What would she tell if Mi-hi wanted to know more?
Mi-hi looked at Dea with big, astonished eyes and suddenly slapped her on her shoulder gratefully.
"Wow, Choi Dea! Why didn't I ask you before?" she hugged her tightly. "OMG! You only uttered a word and my head is already full with numerous ideas!" she dropped a kiss at her cheek. "What a great brilliant person you're! I will be grateful forever for your suggestion. Mafia, what a new breakthrough! Yeeesss, Mafia love!"
Dea wanted to grimace in pain because she was breathless due to her embrace, but she managed to pat her back. "Sure, sure."
Mi-hi quickly released her from her bear hug and raced to open her laptop, her whole face was beaming with happiness and relief.
Choi Dea glanced at the grand clock hanging in the large living room and she cringed with self-irritation. It was already evening and she totally forgot about that.
"Shit!" she got up from the sofa. " I need to go somewhere now."
"Where?" Mi-hi asked, while her fingers were creating a storm on the keyboard.
Before Choi Dea hurriedly paced to her bedroom to change her outfit, she replied.
"I'm going to meet Joo-eun."