Lady Spring

“Bitch, just shut the fuck up and don’t talk when a man is speaking…”

When Junghoo’s hand reached out towards Saeun’s head again, Wooyoung punched Junghoo’s face without hesitation. Junghoo’s whole body flew across the room and fell on the floor with a loud thud. Saeun quickly grabbed Wooyoung’s arm when she saw him become tense again. With a loud groan, Junghoo glared at Wooyoung and yelled, 

“You fucki…”

“Get the hell out of here! This is Saeun’s house, so get the fuck out!”

“I’m her brother! You f… I have more right to be here than you, you bastard!”

Still screaming, Junghoo stood up staggering, but he didn’t attack Wooyoung. All Junghoo did was glare. Clearly, he wasn’t planning on fighting. In fact, when he noticed Wooyoung raise his arm again, his anger turned towards Saeun. He gritted his teeth.

“Fuck! So you want to kill me? Fat bitch! You think you’re better because you got a man now? We’ll see, huh?”

As if worried Wooyoung might hit him again, Junghoo glared at Saeun one more time before leaving. He pushed Wooyoung’s shoulder on purpose as he walked out, but it was Junghoo who ended up staggering. As if he was ready to stab him if he had the chance, Junghoo glared at Wooyoung and spit on the floor before finally leaving. He made sure to glare at both Saeun and Wooyoung before slamming the door behind him.

Saeun finally sighed in relief. She expected her brother to never leave until she gave him at least some money, but thanks to Wooyoung, Junghoo was gone. 

For now anyway.

She knew very well her brother wasn’t the type to give up easily. She also knew he wouldn’t forget what Wooyoung did to him today. Worried something was going to happen to Wooyoung, Saeun looked up at him.

“Why did you do that? You should’ve left when I asked you to.”

“Are you serious? How can I leave when that bastard hurt you like this? Look at your face! Son of a bitch, he should be grateful I didn’t beat the shit out of him.”

Unlike his angry tone, Wooyoung’s hands were extremely gentle as he lifted her chin to caress her cheek. Saeun could finally feel the throbbing pain on her face. Her cheek must’ve begun to swell already because she could feel the tightness. Feeling embarrassed, Saeun looked away.

“You should’ve called before coming over…”

“That jerk is really your brother? How could he hit his own sister like this?”

Well, Saeun actually was always more surprised by siblings who got along well. How was it possible to get along with one’s older brother? Didn’t all older brothers beat their younger sisters and monopolize their parents’ love? Wasn’t this how all families are like?

Trying to change the subject, Saeun asked,

“By the way, why are you here? Are you feeling better?”

“I’m fine. I took some medicine and it cleared everything up. You didn’t have to call the other members. I would’ve gotten better on my own even if I stayed here.”

“But… You could’ve gotten worse. I wasn’t sure if it was okay for me to take you to the hospital…”

Wooyoung’s face crumpled in annoyance as he took off his sunglasses. He put them in his pocket and studied her face carefully again. Feeling herself blush, Saeun took a step back.

“Anyway, why did you come here? Did you leave something behind?”

Still looking unhappy, Wooyoung crossed his arms and asked,

“How did you know who to call? How did you figure out to call Jay?”

“H…huh? Oh, well… I remembered you were talking to someone on the phone when I went out, so I thought I should just redial that same number.”

“When I was talking to someone on the phone?”

He watched her face with another frown and asked, 

“You… How did you know I called someone while you were out that day?”

“H…huh?”

Saeun’s face reddened. She didn’t want him to find out she eavesdropped on him…

“I… When I came back from the market, I heard you talking on the phone with someone. Umm… It sounded like you didn’t want me to know what you were talking about, so I pretended not to hear it. Anyway, I’m just glad I thought of calling that guy. What if I took you to the hospital and someone took photos of you? What if those pictures got on the internet? Oh, and I see that all your bruises are gone too.”

 She studied Wooyoung’s face carefully. She could still see some small scabs, but all the bruises have now turned light yellow. He looked just like the photos on the album. Wooyoung looked so hot that her heart began to pound wildly.

Clearly, he was not from her world. He was someone very much out of her reach.

Wooyoung offered,

“I’ll get a cold cloth for you.”

He pulled her to the bedroom and made her sit on the bed. As if this was his apartment, Wooyoung went to the bathroom to find a clean towel and got some ice from the kitchen. Saeun tried to take the towel-wrapped ice, but Wooyoung pushed her hands away and pressed the cold towel on her face gently. The cool sensation quickly relieved a lot of her pain, making Saeun sigh. Wooyoung frowned again and asked,

“This happens often?”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“I mean, does that jerk do this to you a lot?”

“N…no. I haven’t seen him in a year. He just showed up tonight out of the blue.”

Saeun whispered in shame. She really didn’t want to talk about this with Wooyoung. He thought she was from a rich family, and she had secretly hoped that he would always remember her that way. She really didn’t want him to see her like this.

After cooling down her face, Wooyoung placed the towel on her nightstand and frowned at her again. Feeling uncomfortable, Saeun looked down.

Wooyoung asked in confusion,

“Do your parents know about this?”