The drive back home was silent. Haewon was quiet because she was going over probable scenarios that would have occurred if she was not saved by the mystery guy.
While Selena was trying to imagine the conversation that she would have been having with Nana, Tan, and the entire family if anything bad had happened to Haewon.
Ivy wanted to speak and ask Haewon questions, but seeing how both Haewon and Selena weren't saying anything, she decided to wait until Selena said something.
The moment they arrived at their house and got out of the car, Haewon headed for her bedroom, but Selena stopped her in her tracks.
"Where do you think you are going? Sit down. I want to know everything that happened and how you ended up in that situation," Selena said to Haewon as she sat in the dining before turning to Ivy, "Get her an ice pack for her face," She ordered, and Ivy quickly went to do as she had been to.
Haewon sat opposite her and wrung her hands together as she waited for the interrogation. It wasn't like she was scared of Selena and Ivy or anything. They were more friends than sisters, but right now, Selena was in her authorized guardian mode, and her tone was brisk.
Haewon didn't say anything until Ivy arrived, and Ivy took the seat beside her, "Why were you out there without Charlotte? Were the miscreants your schoolmates?" Ivy asked curiously as she handed Haewon the ice pack to apply to her face.
"That's what I want to know. What happened to Charlotte? Why did you leave without her?" Selena asked, and Haewon explained how she had been trying to reach Charlotte and had left the party after being unable to find Charlotte and how the guys had attacked her and stolen her phone.
"Do you realize that you could have lost more than your phone? All of these would have been avoided had you given me a call before leaving the party after you didn't find Charlotte! Or the least you could have done was ordered the ride right there at the party and step out after your driver arrived! I understand that you've never been to one of such parties, but leaving the way you did was dangerous and…"
"Calm down, Lena. You sound like you are blaming her. If anyone should be blamed, it should be those perverts that could not keep their hands to themselves," Ivy quickly interjected into the conversation.
Selena shook her head. "I am not blaming her. I'm only trying to make her realize her error in case of next time…"
"There won't be a next time," Haewon cut in as she dropped the Ice park on the dining table.
She was sad at the loss of her phone, angry at the fact that she had been caught up in such a situation and had been unable to defend herself properly, and tired.
"I understand all you've said. I'm exhausted and need to be alone," Haewon said calmly, and Selena sighed.
"You can go to your room and relax," Selena said as she rose, and once Haewon rose, she embraced her.
"I can't imagine how scared you must have been. I'm glad you're fine. I will get you some painkillers," Selena said as she pulled away and patted Haewon's hair.
"Do you want me to spend the night in your room? To chase away any nightmares?" Ivy asked as she escorted Haewon down to her bedroom, and Haewon smiled as she shook her head.
"Don't worry about me," Haewon said softly, but Ivy could tell that Haewon was sad and was probably going to stay up in her bedroom to cry.
"How can I not? I'm your big sister," Ivy said as they stepped into Haewon's bedroom, and she rolled her eyes.
"No, you're not. You're only older than me by ten months," She pointed out as she shut the door behind her.
"It doesn't matter the duration. What matters is that I'm older, and I love you silly," Ivy said as she embraced Haewon.
In Ivy's arms, Haewon broke down in tears, and Ivy patted her back gently, "Don't be mad at Lena for being so harsh. You know how she is when she's terrified. She was really scared when she received your call," Ivy said softly.
"I'm not mad at her. I shouldn't have gone to the stupid party. I should have just stayed back at home," Haewon cried as she pulled away.
"We don't have times for should-haves. All that matters is that you're safe," Ivy said as she wiped the tears off Haewon's cheeks.
"Oh, Ivy! I really thought they were going to maul me," Haewon said with a sniffle as she sat on her bed, and Ivy sat beside her.
"You have no idea how glad I am that you are safe. Coming from a large family like ours, can you imagine how many calls we would have received had anything happened to you?" Ivy asked with mock horror, and Haewon laughed.
"Worse still, they all would have flown down here. Every single one of them," Haewon said, and Ivy shuddered at the thought.
"I don't know who scares me more, between my mom and Aunt Min-jung," Ivy said, and Haewon laughed.
"Your mom is more scary. And she's the coolest, too," Haewon assured her, and Ivy shook her head in disagreement.
"I think Aunt Mi Cha is the coolest. Followed by Aunt Eun-Kyung, and then maybe my mom, and…" Ivy trailed off with a giggle when Haewon raised a brow.
"And where does my mom fall into in this cool list of yours?" Haewon asked with a feigned frown. She knew Ivy was saying all this to distract her and get her mind off her worries.
"She's right next to my mom. And last on the cool list would be Aunt Min-Jung," Ivy said as Selena walked in with a glass of water and aspirin.
"Is that so?" Selena asked, eyeing them both, and they all fell silent for a moment before they all burst into a peal of laughter.
"Aunt Mi Cha is quite cool. I agree with your list," Selena said as she handed the glass of water to Haewon and watched her swallow the medicine.
Selena took the empty glass from her, "I need to get some work done. Try to get some sleep, alright?" She said, and Ivy waved her off.
"Don't worry, I'll be here with her," Ivy assured Selena before she left.
"I will run you a warm scented bath. Soak in it for some time to relax yourself, and then come to bed. Big sister will read you a nice bedtime story," Ivy promised, and Haewon giggled as Ivy had expected she would.
As Haewon lay in her bed an hour later, after Ivy, who had claimed to read her bedtime stories, had slept off even before she came out of the bathroom, her thoughts drifted back to the stranger who had saved her, and she couldn't help wondering who he was.
Perhaps she could ask Sandra about him on Monday, she thought before drifting off to sleep.
Away from there, in Jake's bedroom, he sat on his bed as he unlocked her phone using her password and scrolled through her photo gallery to see those pictures of herself she had captured but had never shown to the world.
His face remained stony as he watched videos of Haewon, Ivy, and Selena having fun together. And he saw photos of her artwork in different stages.
He rose from his bed and went to his reading desk, where his laptops were arranged. He connected the phone to his laptop and copied everything she had on it into his laptop.
Once he was done, he installed a spy app on her phone so he could monitor movement and activities on her phone.
The phone was only the first of the many things he planned to steal from her, and now that he had gotten all he wanted from it, he would give it back to her as his first gift to her.
He raised his head when his grandmother knocked on the door once before walking in.
He could see the excitement in her eyes as she stood there, waiting for him to report to her how his first assignment had gone.
"It went as planned," Jake confirmed, and she nodded in approval.
"How did meeting her make you feel?" His grandmother asked, and Jake looked at her with an expressionless face.
"I felt nothing," He said in a flat voice, and she smiled.
"That's good. It is better to feel nothing than to feel anger or hatred or whatever. When you feel nothing, you can pretend to feel anything," She said, and without another word, she turned around and walked away.
Jake looked at Haewon's phone when it started ringing and raised a brow when he saw it was from Charlotte.
He ignored the call, and once it had disconnected, he placed the phone on flight mode and dropped it in his drawer. Tomorrow he would pay her a visit.