Chereads / The New Guy / Chapter 18 - The Moon Flower

Chapter 18 - The Moon Flower

The "Moon Flower" Bar, the one that belonged to Kang Da Hye, was buzzing with muffled live music and the chattering noise of its customers. The reason why Yoon Se Ah was at that bar on a Friday night was due to a few of her own mistakes - she foolishly agreed to go to the office mixer party and when Miss Lee announced that there was a problem with a place she booked, Se Ah offered to use her connections to book the "Moon Flower".

'This is incredibly tiring already.'

Miss Yoon chugged a full glass of red wine that was standing in front of her and put on a polite smile as she remembered that she was actually in the middle of a conversation with a man from the Development team.

"To be honest, I've been coming to these parties in hopes to see you, Se Ah. You always look so busy at work so I never dared to bother you but when Joo Yeong told me that you were coming, I literally fell off my chair!"

That overexcited man's name was Lim Sang Hyuk, a senior developer from Development Team A, notorious for its handsome but arrogant guys who liked to flirt around and frequented mixer parties to either find quick hook-ups or one-night stands. Se Ah did not care for Sang Hyuk's behavior, after all, she was not a stranger to similar arrangements and had no right to judge one's ways of spending their free time, however, she definitely could not stand the fact that after years of her much exhausting masquerade, Miss Lee chose a tactless flirt of a man to be her partner.

'What was she thinking setting me up with an idiot like him? Is this supposed to be a joke to get back at me for all those times I had rejected her invitations?'

Still pretending to listen to Sang Hyuk's mindless chatter, Se Ah looked to her right to get a change of scenery when she caught a familiar set of eyes staring directly at her.

'Oh... I forgot Lee Min Hyun was here too.'

She quickly averted her eyes and smiled at the guy, pretending to enjoy their conversation which made Min Hyun's heart ache as if it was pierced with something hot and sharp. He knew she was not enjoying herself, a woman like her would never like an idiot like the developer next to her, but she kept pushing him away even after that small incident at the office, and now she was torturing him by faking a smile at another man while sitting two tables away.

"Min Hyun, are you not enjoying your drink? Do you want me to order you something else?"

A rather sweet female voice interrupted his train of thought and made him finally unglue his eyes from Miss Yoon and look at the young woman next to him. Hwang Na Ra, whom he met at the company cafeteria a few days ago was smiling at him while tapping her thin, manicured finger on his whiskey glass.

"Ah, no... I just prefer to drink slowly."

Although with an effort, Min Hyun smiled back at her which made Na Ra lighten up even more. She moved her hand away from his glass, then placed it over his arm, leaning closer to his face, and whispered,

"You know, of all the men that gathered today, you're definitely the best-looking one!"

She giggled at her own remark like a shy schoolgirl and tapped her hand on his arm a few times, pretending to be overjoyed with his handsomeness. Min Hyun did not find it funny but decided to smile at her silly attempt to make him feel better. All of a sudden he realized that the sole purpose of his coming there was not only to watch Yoon Se Ah but also to try and make her jealous; his lack of experience and a rather possessive nature made him foolishly believe that jealousy is the enemy of all mankind, and he intended to test that theory on the woman he believed he loved.

With that thought in mind, he poured more wine into Na Ra's glass and put it into her right hand, carefully covering it with both of his hands.

"Here, let's drink some more, I like seeing you all loosened up."

The intern rested his chin on his hand and watched the girl sip on her wine with almost dreamy eyes. When he turned around to get her a napkin, he saw Se Ah get up from her seat and head towards the bathroom, pressing her hand onto her forehead.

'Is she drunk already? Or maybe she's sick?'

Min Hyun placed a napkin on the table, then stood up, threw a quick "Excuse me", and followed Miss Yoon to the bathroom. It was his first time visiting the "Moon Flower" so the fact that it had a unisex bathroom caught him off guard at first, but what was even more bewildering was that it was almost empty even though the bar was filled with drinking customers. The quiet ambient bathroom music was interrupted by a flushing sound and when the door to the last stall finally opened, Min Hyun's heart began to race as if he was a criminal caught in the act.

"Lee Min Hyun? Why are you just standing there, all stalls are empty."

Se Ah turned on the water and proceeded to wash her hands when all of a sudden, the intern marched up to her, turned the water off, and pinned her to the wall, pressing down her warm wet hands. He then looked at her with rather crazy eyes and almost shouted,

"Miss Yoon... Why did you come here tonight? Are you really enjoying that moron's jabber? Is he even your type? Are you going home with him? At least... Don't bring him to your place!"

"Did you honestly think I would answer any of that? Move, right now you are not my type either."

The woman jerked her body thinking that Min Hyun would listen to her command, but he leaned forward instead and pressed his hot lips to her bare neck.

"Miss Yoon, I knew you were a sadist and I enjoy you stomping over me but this is much too cruel. Let's run away from this hideous gathering and do something more pleasant."

His hoarse whispers felt somewhat rough on her sensitive skin. She felt her insides twitching as if they had a mind of their own; her blood was getting hot while her mind was clouded again. She was losing control over him and it was maddening. Se Ah pushed him away with unexpected force, wiped her damp neck with a paper towel, and tossed it into the intern's face.

"Lee Min Hyun, you're being annoyingly stupid. We are not exclusive. If I want to fuck someone else, I will do it. Whining is only allowed in bed and as far as I can tell, this is not it. Now get a hold of yourself and go back to your pretty little thing, she must be dying to touch your arm again."

The guy watched her disappear behind the bathroom door, then leaned back on the wall, covered his blushing face with both hands and started laughing almost like a madman. He did not know what to do with himself; should he trash the bathroom to subside his anger? Should he pick up a fight with someone and kill them? The flaming rage was eating his insides like acid, and when he finally got back to his senses, he found himself back where he started - a helpless fool groveling at the feet of his obsession.