Chapter 21
Seoul, South Korea
~Phoebe~
When Kim Taeyung busted through my door shoving my friend, I was in utter disbelief.
He was jealous. And he was ready to rip my friend a part. All because he thought I was with a man, like a straight one.
Yet something other than jealousy was hiding behind his expression.
He was worried, and nervous. Like he was about to lose the most precious thing to him. It made my heart pound.
Which made no sense. Like, at all. And when he pinned me between his arms against the wall, my heart became the biggest traitor in my life, next to my Abeoji. It was rattling against my rib cage.
His demanding and controlling attitude always brought out the defiant girl in me.
I don't get why he can't just ask me.
You catch more bees with honey than you do vinegar.
And Hyung Jun Oh over here making it worse. Encouraging him and backing him up.
I shot him a glare that asked if he was even my friend.
His eyes said sorry but not sorry.
And somehow, I ended up making plans to go to his house.
A boys house.
I've never really been to anyone's house, except Mouse's and it honestly made me nervous.
How do I act?
When he shut the door and I jerked my head over at my friend. "Hyung Jun Oh! You bastard! Now I have to rush making a whole new character and get ready for tonight and tomorrow. You are so lucky I can use a bot."
"Wait you don't play?" He asked crossing his arms looking disappointed.
"Yes, I play, but I don't want him to my main account. Plus, he's so condescending he doesn't get to know I am the top ranked player."
"O.M.G. You're Nabi!?" he yelled loudly.
Too loudly. "Sshhhh." I covered his mouth with my hand.
"Listen, no one knows, except you. So don't you snitch or I swear, I'll beat you up." I threatened him, mostly joking.
"So, you need to make a new account and level up."
"Precisely."
"You're devious. I love it!" He laughed hard.
I hopped in my seat and started my thing.
Writing a bot code so both my main and my noob account will grind together. I grabbed a baby blue slightly cropped, loose fitting hoodie, and super light, almost white, grey pants. Warm fuzzy white socks and jump in my dorm rooms shower.
I was going to a boy's house.
His house.
He drove me crazy, but something about his persistence was jarring something that was shattered a long time ago.
I grabbed a big dark blue butterfly clip and wrapped my her up.
When I was finished, I came out to find Hyung Jun Ho sitting behind my computer.
"What are you doing?" I asked drying my hair.
"I'm hacking the mainframe and writing in a code for your account. I'm almost done." He sounded flat but focused. Completely different from usual.
"I fucked up, so I'll fix it."
I was surprised. He hacked the system to level me up faster than an actual grinding session with a bot. I don't know why I didn't think of that.
"That's genius. I'm impressed."
"No, girl, I'm impressed, your computer is so fast, so clean, what operating system and program design are you using? I don't recognize its interface and operator programming." He sounded so proud of my work, like it was his.
"Would you believe me if I told you, it's one of my own design? And that I built that computer myself with every spare bit of cash I made from my job back home? Cause I did both." I was beyond proud of my work, I spent months developing this project and years making it work. It wasn't until last year I completed it.
This was the one thing I was completely okay with bragging about.
"You're kidding me. No way. That's incredible!" He was overly excited. "How did you do that?"
"A magician never reveals their secrets. I spent years developing it, I had to strip the chip entirely and rebuild the operating system from scratch, which part wise, is a total pain in the ass. The code though. That was murder on the heart, mind and soul. Now you see why I don't do relationships."
This was partly true; it would have taken so much longer if I was allowed to have a boyfriend. And a computer world is better than the real one.
By the time Hyung Jun Oh was done with the hack it was 5 minutes before he said he'd be here.
"We better go outside, knowing him, he's already there waiting." I griped.
"You have the number one most eligible man in the country, and you are hopping, skipping, and jumping away from him. What is wrong with you?"
"A lot of things actually, but that's a story for another time." I answered sarcastically. I grabbed my backpack and stuffed my laptop inside it before heading out.
I was right. He was standing outside of his car leaning against the door.
"Took you long enough." He teased.
I checked my watch "We are three minutes early actually."
"And five minutes early is on time." He responded to quick.
I rolled my eyes.
"Get in." He opened the door, and for the first time since meeting him, I obeyed and slid in.
My noob account was ready and perfectly designed. Not too weak and believable since now that he's seen my gaming set up. My rank was low, but my stats looked good enough to erase doubt without giving anything away.
Hyung Jun Oh even hacked the server to unlock more QP's, without enough QP's it wouldn't make sense for this account to be my main or only account.
The farther we drove from the school, the more nervous I was getting.
I was going to a boy's house. For the first time in my life. Would his parents be home? He's rich, would they judge me because I'm poor? Cause I'm not full Korean?
We pulled up to a condo complex with a guard at the gate. When he pulled up a security guard came to the window, Kim Taeyung rolled it done and the guard said, "Welcome back, Young Master Kim."
Kim Taeyung nodded but said nothing and drove through the gate as it opened.
The complex was incredible; the building was 26 stories tall with crystal blue windows that reflected the sun's slow setting light.
The landscaping was incredible. There was a fountain in the middle of a half circle drive up. the doors were tall revolving doors. He pulled up and was out of the car opening my door in seconds.
I wasn't expecting such quickness in his movement. It was practiced, that kind of speed wasn't gifted but learned.
Why was he able to move so fast?
He held out his hand in a gentlemanly gesture. Oddly enough, I found myself taking it. He helped me out of the car and tossed the keys to a man I assume was the valet driver.
The driver caught the keys and said, "Have a goodnight, Young Master Kim."
Kim Taeyung just nodded, not even looking in the guy's direction.
Why was he being so crude? Did he not have any manners?
Even everyday people deserved basic respect.
"Wow, you barely acknowledge the guy who greeted you so politely." My face soured.
"I did; I nodded. That's more than a lot of people get. I'm not friendly Phoebe, nor am I nice or well mannered. I have a foul temper. I'm jealous and possessive of what's mine." He had such a controlled tone, he was honest and meant every word.
Which made him dangerous. A walking, talking, red flag with a caution sign accompanied by it.
I hated that in people but hated how much I liked his raw unrestrained honesty more than the content of the honesty.
"At least you know it and admit it."
The guy hands me a full disclosure and basically a waver listing his red flags, and here I am feeling giddy, like one of those 'I can fix him' girls.
The inside was even more grand than the outside. Marble floors and a crystal chandelier in the main lobby, with slick, chic, black couches and a glass coffee table.
We took the elevator to the 15th floor.
"No penthouse?" I teased. With his flare, you'd think he would have a penthouse condo.
"I won't go above the 16th floor. If there's a fire, firemen won't go above it so neither will I."
He gripped my hand a little tighter, and that's when I realized we were still holding hands.
And his contact, it didn't make me shutter. This small moment of intimacy with someone, it made the world of difference in my heart.
I could tell there was a story behind that, but I'll wait to ask him about it.
"Wow, how safe of you." I teased trying to be lighter, hoping to kill the awkward silence that followed his statement.
While also trying to ignore the tight squeeze, his hand was giving me.
He opened the door; his home was massive.
"Woah, so this is how the other half lives?".