Pay With Your Heart

519 Troubled

Making a revelation, especially one as grand as Dan-Han’s, wasn’t a safe thing to do at a party as things could suddenly take a weird turn, thereby ruining everyone’s mood and the once bubbling atmosphere.

But fortunately, none of that had happened, and Eun-Sun couldn’t be more grateful. Her heart swelled with happiness and contentment as she looked at the people chattering and laughing, a majority of them fussing over Ji-Tae’s child and taking turns in talking to her.

Eun-Sun had never experienced such a moment before — a moment where people gathered together in such an atmosphere to celebrate her. She had never lived it, never imagined it, not even in her wildest dreams. It all felt too surreal.

She still couldn’t believe that those gathered were her family, or soon-to-be her family, and Dan-Han, her husband.

Husband. That sounded strange yet amazing. Amazing because she would have him at her side every day of her life, loving him and cherishing him as they raised beautiful kids together. Kids that would look just like him.

If someone had told her this would become her reality a year ago, she’d swing a baseball bat without missing their head. She’d see it as a fantasy from some kids’ play, where the prince came riding on his horse to save the damsel, who he turned into his princess.

But despite how fantasy-ish that was, the fact remains that, Dan-Han was her prince in shining armor, who rescued her and beautified her world.

A soft smile curved her lips as she looked at the ring beautifully sitting on her finger. The sight of it filled her with so much warmth and something indescribably bubbly, and her mouth also craved something bubbly too. Perhaps champagne?

Her eyes darted over to the champagne tower, and her throat watered at the sight of the glasses, and with no hesitation, her legs steered towards it. She glanced at Dan-Han to ensure he wasn’t looking before picking a glass with an impish giggle.

.....

“I’m sure your fiancé will disapprove of that.” A voice said, halting the hand raising the glass to her lips.

Eun-Sun tilted her head to both sides in search of the voice she recognized. Her eyes darted towards the bar just by the side, and she saw In-Ha sitting on a stool, nursing a glass of wine.

“You’re not going to tell, are you?” She asked, her eyes staring deeply into his, almost in a challenge. And just as she expected, he shrugged and looked away.

A smile crawled up her lips as she sauntered over to him. This was one of the spectacular things about In-Ha. Unlike Dan-Han, who was too strict with her, In-Ha would always indulge her. She smiled at him as she helped herself onto the seat next to him and sipped her drink.

She heartily sighed in pleasure. “This is amazing.” She said, and In-Ha glanced at her.

He watched as she took another sip, clearly enjoying herself. He sighed as he also raised his glass to his lips.

Hearing him sigh so heavily, Eun-Sun turned and quietly looked at him. She couldn’t help but notice how awkwardly quiet he has been all night and how his jaw was scruffier than it always looked. In-Ha was always in his best form, and it was a wonder noticing how out of form he was tonight.

He looked like someone who hadn’t slept well in a while. He was either having trouble sleeping, or he had something bothering his mind. But somehow Eun-Sun believed it was more of the latter than the former.

“You seem troubled,” Eun-Sun mentioned with her eyes intently peering at him, and while she had expected him to say something, he remained quiet, confirming her suspicion.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Eun-Sun asked. “I might not know much about business and a few other things, but I can listen. I’ve recently learned that talking sometimes can help you sort out your emotions.”

“Sort out my emotions.” In-Ha scoffed. “Then we’ll have to do a lot of talking.”

Eun-Sun casually shrugged. “I can do a lot of listening.” At least, she can try to. She hadn’t been listening to her friends all this while, but now she wanted to. “Tell me what it is.” She firmly said.

In-Ha’s eyes quickly shifted to where the others were seated, and she followed his gaze, unsure why or who he was looking at.

“I did something I can’t get over. And I don’t know if it’s a bad thing or—” He said and suddenly trailed off. Eun-Sun shifted her eyes back to him, her face slightly contorted with a frown as she wondered what he could have done.

Eun-Sun observed his pensive face, and she guessed this might be more serious than expected. “I guess we can only figure that out when you tell me?”

In-Ha sighed again. That was what he didn’t know. He wasn’t sure he wanted to tell anyone, especially Eun-Sun.

He chugged what was left of his drink down his throat before staring at Eun-Sun almost too seriously. His eyes were hesitant as well as anxious.

“I slept with Ni-Na.” He blurted out.

Silence suddenly filled Eun-Sun’s ears. Every sound in the room fell into an inaudible white noise.

A second passed, and then another. Eun-Sun couldn’t tell how surprised and still, she was till In-Ha waved a hand across her face.

She blinked back to reality as she instantly scowled at him. “What the hell, In-Ha!” She almost screamed off his head, but she quickly controlled her voice. She looked behind her, and she was relieved to see she had not attracted attention toward them.

She glanced back at In-Ha. “What in the devil’s name made you do that?” She angrily whispered to him, her eyes staring lasers and daggers at him.

His hand raked through his hair with frustration as he gravelly sighed once again. “I don’t know, Eun-Sun. I really don’t know, but it just happened, and I don’t know what to do about it.” A grimace hung on his face, and she watched him as he snatched her drink and chugged it down his throat, and sighed again.

Not only did he look troubled, he also sounded like it, but troubled would be the least of the things he’d feel when Dan-Han got to know about this. “Dan-Han will kill you.” She told him matter-of-factly, and In-Ha heavily hissed out again.

“More like he’d torture me, you mean? He’ll bleed my balls till I drain to death.” He was sure that was what Dan-Han would do, and even that might not give him satisfaction.

Eun-Sun chuckled at his exaggerated words. “Yes, he’d kill you for sure, but he isn’t that creative.” Or cruel. She added.

In-Ha tilted a brow as he wondered if they were talking about the same person. “I guess you still have no idea to whom you’re getting married.”

In-Ha was sure she didn’t know because Dan-Han was an entirely different man when he was with her. With her, he was everything no one thought he’d ever be. But that wasn’t the issue at hand.

“I’d have killed any guy who’d do this to her, but unfortunately—”

“That guy is you.” Eun-Sun finished his sentence and hissed. “You’re done for, In-Ha. You messed up.”

“I know.” In-Ha groaned and buried his face in his hand. He roughly rubbed his hands across his face as if to wake himself from the mess he had plunged himself into.

He looked almost pitiable. But what Eun-Sun couldn’t understand was why he had let himself fall into this mess if he was only going to feel this way. She didn’t even know how Ni-Na was feeling at the moment. She glanced over at her, and she saw her engaged in a conversation with Mi-cha.

“Do you mind telling me what happened?” She asked, turning to In-Ha. “I mean, tell me when this happened. How did you—” Eun-Sun trailed off, feeling speechless for words. Her mind was still reeled with shock. She took a breath to calm herself. “Let’s hear it, and let’s see if we can find a solution out of this before your best friend skins you alive.”

And as if in silent agreement, they both darted their eyes toward Dan-Han, who was conversing with his father and uncle.

In-Ha shifted his eyes to Eun-Sun. “I know this is no problem of yours, and I’ll understand if you don’t want to listen because Dan-Han would not be pleased to know you were aware of this while he was left in the dark.”

“Yeah, I’m sure he’d hate you all the more and probably teach me a lesson or two. Let’s pray for your sake he doesn’t find out and give me that maddening silent treatment. Because if he does, I’ll bleed your balls out myself.” Eun-Sun growled at him, and a ghost of a smile touched In-Ha’s lips.

“That I’m sure you will. Dan-Han is definitely rubbing off on you.” He said, and Eun-Sun almost smiled at that, but she stopped herself.

“Now out with it.” She ordered, and In-Ha’s face regained its taut edges. He exhaled sharply and slumped back on the low back of the bar stool.

“It was back at the club in country A.” He said, and Eun-Sun froze up in surprise.

That long? City A was weeks ago. Eun-Sun reminded herself. A myriad of questions suddenly began to burn on her lips, but she stopped herself and listened.

“Having her all drunk and curled in my arms as I took her back to her room, reminded me of how you both were almost attacked by that guy at the club.” He started. “I told her something about being an idiot for daring to pick a fight with a man three times her size and she called me a coward for quivering in front of my bestfriend, when I could have rescued you both. She called me a few more names and soon she was bickering with me in that annoying way only she knows how to.” he continued, his voice catching with emotions.

Eun-Sun could feel a smile touching his eyes as he spoke, but he collected himself and looked her in the eye.

“You know how adorable she can be when she starts those endless arguments, and her constant need to have the last words always puts me in a spot where we both can’t stop.”

Eun-Sun was sure she didn’t know that, as clearly they both knew a different Ni-Na. Ni-Na she knew was so wise and only said words full of wisdom, but she understood that feeling of always being different with someone else. She barely spoke to others especially at work, but whenever Dan-Han walked into the room, looking as incredible as he always is, she suddenly finds a thousand words she’s willing to blab to him about, and everytime, he’d listen and ask for more in a way that makes her heart flutters.

She returned her attention back to what In-Ha was saying. “Soon she started hitting me and asking me if I was blind and I couldn’t see what was before my eyes. I didn’t know what she wanted me to see, but at that moment all I could see was her and that body which that annoying little blue dress of hers had failed to cover up, and every other guy at the club had been looking at.”

“Possessive, I see.” Eun-Sun muttered.

“Not possessive. I was just being protective like an elder brother would.”

“I don’t think elder brothers are allowed to fall in bed with their little sisters. Last time I checked, the word for that was incest?” Eun-Sun angled a brow as if contemplating on the word.

In-Ha glared at her. “You’re not helping, Eun-Sun.” His face was twisted with a grimace and she sighed.

“I’m sorry, continue.”

In-Ha glared even more and continued. “For some reason I got angry and warned her not to never wear stuff like that out again, and she flared up. Seeing her eyes flare with so much fire as her sharp mouth moved so quickly, turned something inside of me, and suddenly, it seemed like the Ni-Na I’ve always known was gone, and there was an entirely different woman in front of me. She looked beautiful and determined to tear me into pieces with her nails and lips.”

He paused again and raked his hand through his hair, heaving heavily with frustration and Eun-Sun couldn’t help as his voice became even more heavy with emotion. “I don’t know how it started, or who leaned in first. Maybe it was me, or her, I don’t remember, but soon we were kissing and tugging at each others clothes and the rest is history. And the crazy thing is, I was sober and so was she.”

His face slightly softened as his eyes became even more calm. “I don’t know how it happened, but the sex felt different.”

“Different how?”

“Different in a way I can’t describe.” He replied helplessly.

Now that was strange coming from him. He was supposed to be the expert. “I thought you were the expert.”

“I thought so too,” He shrugged. “But I really don’t know.” He said. “I woke up the next morning, and while I should be all panicked and scared, I waited for her to wake up so we could talk about it, but when she finally did, she kicked me out of her bed and chased me out, claiming something happened.”

“But something did happen.”

“Exactly, what I’ve been telling her, but she just asked me to add it to my long list of conquest and forget about it.” His eyes slowly began to lose their calm once again and his voice became rough and tight. “But that’s the problem Eun-Sun, I can’t forget about it. I begged Ni-Na, I fucking begged to let us talk about things, but she wouldn’t listen.”

“You wouldn’t blame, In-Ha. Your reputation precedes you. A girl like Ni-Na would need more than you wanting to talk to convince her. And the evidence stacked against you are condemning.”

He groaned as his face twisted with more hurt. “I know. I bloody know.” He groaned out again, and Eun-Sun couldn’t help but feel sympathetic towards him.

In-Ha coarsely rubbed his hand down his face for a moment before looking at her. “When I told her that morning we should talk, I really didn’t have anything to say. But I just wanted to be there with her. I just didn’t want to leave. Was that strange?” He tilted a brow and asked Eun-Sun.

It would be strange if he wasn’t having feelings for Ni-Na, because why else would he want to do that especially when she had given him an escape door. She could say it’s guilt, but then it could be more which she had to let In-Ha discover on his own.

For a guy who must have danced off rejoicing everytime he got an easy way out of a woman’s bed, he seemed hell-bent on trying to stay on this one.

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