"Dad this is King Caihong she is my classmate" Haneul said in a Stern but shaky voice, he was sweating allover and looked like he had seen a ghost that was the first time she saw him like that, the Qin Haneul she knew was fearless but in front of this old man who's body seemed to have aged slower than his face and the white hair on his head and beards he looked completely terrified.
"Your classmate?" The man in a simple white shirt, black blazers and dark sun glasses asked in a sarcastic but Scarry tune as he walked closer to where Haneul and Caihong both stood.
"Um..mm" Haneul who had lost his voice as the figure walked round he and Caihong answered.
"What's um mm?! Speak like a man Qin Haneul!!" The man thundered, his hands raising to their shoulders as he stood behind them, firmly he squeezed Haneul's shoulders but didn't do same to Caihong.
"Ok...ay...Father. Yes she's my classmate" Haneul managed to say stuttering.
"Just a classmate?" Mr Qin, Haneul's father asked again as he used his finger to separate Haneul's intertwined fingers from Caihong's.
All this while as they ran from the goons that were after them they hadn't realized when they had held each other's hands.
"And my friend" Haneul said rather rapidly and sternly which caused Caihong to stare at him in surprise. "Friend?" She hadn't thought of this little pest as she viewed him as to be her friend but here he was telling this frightens old man that she was his friend. Coming back from school together even when he had a ride back home but often dodged it so he could disturb her life as she had thought, taunting her whenever she got tired of jogging or when she over ate forgetting she was trying to loose weight, Sitting together in class even though they had moved ahead to two more classes but still Haneul had refused to change seats, wherever she sat he always found a way to make the teachers allow him sit with her even when his grades were so high the school had suggested he skip two classes but he had refused all this didn't make him a friend did it? So she couldn't understand why he was calling her a friend now when all he ever did was taunt her.
"Interesting. A classmate and also a friend" Mr Qin said sounding less frightening as he lowered his gaze over Caihong. His gaze made her feel weird and uncomfortable she knew it wasn't right, she had seen the way all the men in club owned by the Sisterhood looked at the girls there, like they were prizes they had won and couldn't wait to open up, it was the same way he was looking at her. Suddenly his the glint in his eyes changed from that of curiosity as his eyes landed on her necklace, quickly he raised his hands to touch it but with the effect of adrenaline she hit his hand off but it got the weirdest reaction from him, he chuckled before saying words that deeply annoyed her for no reason.
"Um pretty and feisty. Haneul my son you indeed have an eye for the rawest gold" Mr Qin said smirking at Haneul who looked a bit upset but Caihong couldn't tell if he was angry at her but why should she care? She was in this mess because of him, after they had gotten off school and as usual he followed her and insisted that they take a longer route since she had missed her evening jogging yesterday. Due to that they had passed some crowded streets, the neighborhoods were unlike the ones either of them stayed in, although she was on a scholarship and appeared poor were she lived was mini mansion with over thirty girls in it so more or less it was like a crowded neighborhood, as they rode their bikes through the streets they had noticed a group of men following them and then decided to take a different route thinking the would loose them but the goons turned up ahead of them.
Haneul had beaten a number of them up mercilessly, surprising Caihong who always thought all he had was a pretty face, good brains only when it came to studies but lacked common sense and a sharp tongue, she had never thought his threats to beat up the guys that sometimes risked to dare him by bullying her were real, she often thought he was just bluffing but seeing him beat up able bodied men scared the hell out of her. When the men were all on the floor groaning in pain they resumed running again as the sighted another group of them running towards them.
They had both ran till they came to a halt in front of five black cars, in front of each of the cars stood at least four able bodied men each except for the smallest sport car in the middle where a man with grey hair, little wrinkles and a body that looked like it belonged to some body model. Elegantly the man moved from where he had leaned on the car towards them and started throwing questions at Haneul.
"Don't worry I am not going to steal it" Mr Qin said smiling at Caihong who stared daggers at him. She was eased when he had said Haneul had eyes for the raw gold it had made her feel he didn't have any interest in her although she didn't want him thinking she and Haneul would ever be a thing, all she wanted to do was graduate and run away far from Haneul and the Sisterhood.
"I would drive you to your house, and sorry for the trouble I had to check for myself where my son was seldom off to after school close but I see he is in good company." Mr Qin said giving Haneul a Stern look and then slightly smiling at Caihong as if not to scare her but it was already too late, she was scared to her bones and there was no was she was getting into his car.
"Thank you sir, but I would walk" Caihong said something for the first time since they had been there with a Stern face.
"Oe i am trying to formally apologise for scaring you, if you rather walk then it's fine I would send my apologies to your parents for having delayed you and caused you troubles" Mr Qin replied staring at Caihong's slightly chubby face, she had lost a considerable amount of weight and was already looking fairly slim except for the puffy cheeks and round neck.
At the mention of parents Caihong tensed up, she didn't want this man meeting Madam Su, her life outside school was unknown and she wouldn't want the truth about how she lived to be relieved to anyone and certainly not Haneul.
"Um.. that's not necessary sir." Caihong said stuttering.
"Yes it is to me, I would want to apologize in any way." Mr Qin said drawing Haneul who was already the same height with him to his side and then ruffling his hair, a gesture that made Haneul stare annoyingly at his father and then at Caihong with a hint of embarrassment.
"You can drop me home then sir, there's no need for an apology you are elder and elders need not apologise to youngsters." Caihong said with her eyes to the ground.
"Alright then. But elders do need to apologise when in the wrong, no one is above apologizing irrespective of age." Mr Qin said as the headed to the Jeep which usually picked Haneul up from school as it was parked beside the sports car.
At Mr Qin's words Haneul eyed him as if he couldn't believe what he was saying, he scoffed slightly muttering to himself
"he dishes words he can't abide by to seem like a saint in front of others." Haneul couldn't take his father's pretence no more, he was acting all nice and he knew it was all because of Caihong, the old man couldn't get his eyes off young girls but Caihong was far younger than the girls he often messed with and although he was ruthless he knew his father would never go for a minor but still he had to try to avoid his father coming after Caihong, she was his! And even if she wasn't he wouldn't let his father get close to any minor, he was a monster in sheep's clothing.
Although the ride to Caihong's house neither he nor Caihong had said a word to each other. Immediately the car stopped in front of her house at Haneul's directive Caihong eyed him suspiciously, she had never taken him to her house so how did he know that was her house?
Nervously Haneul coughed feigning seriousness so as to avoid any questions. He had followed her home one day to give her the project they had been assigned to do, that was the day he watched her getting slapped and water poured on her by some woman quietly he had left so as not to make her feel bad and instead had challenged her to partake in the pageant so as to put her in high spirits. Ever since then he never went to her house again but his memory had captured the route to the house even though he had only been there once. Whenever it came to anything that was related with Caihong he never forgot it and just now he let himself act based on impluse.
Before either of them could come out of the vehicle Mr Qin was already speaking with madam Su the head of the Sisterhood. Caihong was deeply scared but much to her surprise after they had left madam Su said nothing about the incident and only asked where she had met Mr Qin, from that day Mr Qin and madam Su seemed to have formed a new friendship, one which was dangerous for Caihong.