I tried to compose myself as I approached the glass door and immediately turned him down before he could even speak.
"I'm sorry but the store is already closed."
"I didn't come here for that reason."
"If you're looking for Sooha she took a day off and I don't know where she is."
"She went on a date with me."
He said that so bluntly I was taken aback and choked on my own words.
"I-I see."
I cleared my throat and gathered my composure like pieces of scattered glass laying on the floor. Some things bite but the way he said it was like a stab directly into my heart.
"Please leave. I have a lot of work to finish tonight."
"I will if you let me in."
"That's never gonna happen."
I gathered my dime of courage and stood my ground even though my knees are shaking uncontrollably.
"You really want me to break everything just to get in?"
His eyes narrowed and I should be scared at this point but the shadow covering half of his handsome face got me momentarily speechless.
"(Y/N)."
"Hmm?"
I unconsciously replied because my mind is still in shambles.
"Open the door."
"Why?"
I inhaled and exhaled inconspicuously before I die due to suffocation.
"We need to talk."
"We're already talking."
"So are you really going to sweep the problem under a rug and act like nothing happened between us?"
"Us?"
I looked straight at his eyes and fought the urge to just run towards the back door like I always do whenever I tend to feel awkward at some situations.
"I honestly can't remember any proof that "us" even existed."
His facial expression softened for a minute there but eventually darkened once again.
"Don't tell me you forgot about the ring."
"I-I don't know what you're talking about."
I mentally scolded myself for stuttering and he surely thought it was amusing with that brief smirk of his.
"Just please leave or I'll call the police."
"Go on. I also have something to report."
I suddenly felt nervous and wondered if he had a clue of what I was about to do. But I'm not staying longer to find out.
I quickly pulled the white roller curtains down and shut the lights off before leaving by the back door.
Fortunately, there's a tall fence that's blocking the back side from the main road so he won't be able to follow me while I rush towards the back alley connected to the shortcut straight to our apartment.
"Hey!"
I almost had a heart attack hearing K's voice behind and pulled my left arm to face him. I lost my balance but he prevented me from falling by grabbing me by the back of my waist.
"L-let me go…"
Our faces aren't even that close due to his height but I feel terribly suffocated to the point my mind is drifting away.
"Not until you explain what happened years ago."
"There's nothing to explain."
"Oh really? So you're admitting that you got paid to leave me?"
"What?"
"Don't act dumb. The evidence is literally built a few blocks away."
His grip against my side tightened and it started to hurt.
"Where did you even get that idea from?"
"It doesn't matter. Tell me was it worth it?"
"Why bother asking?"
"I want to know how you feel after my mother trusted you and you chose violence by selling that ring for a sum of money."
"What are you talking about?"
I frowned in confusion and tried to push him away but he just pulled me even closer that our bodies are completely brushing against each other.
"I won't forgive you for breaking my mother's heart…"
"K…"
The amount of hatred in his eyes was too much to bear that I couldn't hold my emotions intact.
"Do you honestly believe I would choose money over you?"
He simply scoffed and that hurt more than the physical pain he continues to inflict on me, on purpose or not.
"Of course you wouldn't understand."
I swallowed a lump down my throat to prevent my tears from falling.
"In that industry where only perfect people are allowed to exist, I'm frowned upon for being dark-skinned, fat and on top of that was too short to even do my job without bothering other people when things are too high for me to reach…"
My voice was cracking at the middle of my speech and with all the bad memories flooding in, it was so hard to hold them all in.
"When the day came when I finally decided to resign… you of all people suddenly tried to make me smile by making faces at the elevator and kept doing it till I finally did…"
I eventually ended up sobbing and no matter how much I wipe my face with my fingers, my tears just kept pouring down and my uniform's neckline got soaked.
The droplets raced down towards my chest so I quickly wiped my neck and unconsciously tugged the long yet thin white gold necklace I was wearing.
The dangling pendant was exposed so I had no choice but to take the ring off and shove it on his big hand. His arm loosened and I took the opportunity to run away.
Luckily, he didn't follow.
I thought that was the scenario I wanted to see. However, him letting me go hit harder than everything else combined.
Even worse than the first time.