Brazen Love [Chapter 11]

Chapter 11:

The next morning, Hyun Joong was woken up by the sound of his cell phone ringing. He put the phone to his ear, answering it without opening his eyes. He heard giggling in the background. “Hyung,” the voice on the other side said. “What are you doing?” Hyun Joong rubbed his eyes. “Sleeping,” he replied. “Who is this?”

Amber looked around at the other members of F(x) who were alternating rolling around on the floor pretending to exercise and actually practicing dance moves in the far corner of the dorm. “Oh, it’s Amber.” She didn’t hear a response from the other end of the line. “You still awake?”

Hyun Joong sat up, sighing. 'I guess I am now,’ he thought. “Yeah. What is it?”

Amber was surprised at his tone. He usually didn’t sound exactly excitable, but right now he sounded like he was severely bothered. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have called him while he was asleep,’ she thought. She looked at the clock to see what time it was. 11am. She blinked. ‘He shouldn’t still be sleeping anyway.’ “I just called you because I’m tired of hanging out with all of these girls, they keep trying to make me put on wigs and stuff, just to see how I’ll look with longer hair. I don’t really have much of a schedule today, and you’re pretty much the only person I know who isn’t a girl. So, wanna hang out?”

Hyun Joong looked at the time. It was eleven o’ clock. He had to meet Hwang Bo and her mother in an hour. He closed his eyes as the stress of the upcoming meeting came into his mind. Maybe having Amber with him would help a bit. He answered, “Yeah. But we have to meet two elders first and then I have a schedule to get to later.”

Amber thingyed her head in confusion, ‘Two elders?’, then shrugged it off. “Alright. You’re going to have to pick me up though. Haven’t managed to talk anyone into teaching me to drive yet, and our manager wouldn’t drive me off somewhere I can hang out alone with a strange man.”

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Hwang Bo couldn’t control the rampaging butterflies in her stomach. She knew that this was all just a show for her mom, but she still wanted her to have a good impression of Hyun Joong. She had gone to sleep wondering if he still had that elder phobia. She knew he probably did. She took a deep breath as she came upon the sauna, the place her mom had wanted to meet them at. Hwang Bo figured she must want them to be as comfortable as they could be. She looked into her rearview mirror, giving herself another once-over. ‘Mom will probably love him,’ she told herself, smiling. She sighed as she stepped out of the car. She had wanted to come with Hyun Joong, but he had wanted to come separately. ‘He’s not going to flake, is he?’ she wondered. She hurriedly pushed that thought aside. ‘Of course he won’t. He’s Hyun Joong. My Hyun Joong,’ she thought as she walked to the door to wait.

Hwang Bo was just about to pull out her small compact mirror to check the waves in her hair, though now that she was standing outside of the sauna she realized it had been silly to get her hair styled anyway, when a car she recognized came jerking up to the entrance. She squinted and slipped the small mirror back into her purse. “Hyun Joong?” she mumbled. She ambled to the sidewalk, her eyes on the car that was making it’s way toward the building one halting inch at a time. “Is he...drunk? Why’s he driving like that?”

She started to become angry. ‘If he’s drunk...’ she thought. But when she saw the car screech to a halt and the two people who stepped out, she would have rather drinking had been the excuse. Her stomach dropped and her brows knit in confusion. 'Amber? What’s she doing here?’ she wondered. She looked to Hyun Joong, who was checking the tires of his car, for an explanation.

Amber followed quietly behind Hyun Joong who was giving every inch of his car a once-over. When he started to give it a twice-over, she rubbed her hand through her hair sheepishly. “I’m pretty sure I didn’t hit anything.” Hyun Joong stood up and raised his eyebrows. Amber shrugged and put her hands into the baggy pocket of her sweatshirt and looked down at the ground. “Well... there was that time I drove up on the sidewalk. But it’s not like I hit anybody.” Hyun Joong laughed and came over to ruffle her already tousled hair. “I know. You actually didn’t do so bad for your first time. I mean, we’re still alive and all.”

Hwang Bo watched the exchange, and her heart dropped along with her stomach. When he ruffled Amber’s hair, she wanted to reach over and snatch his hand away childishly. Place him behind her, and guard him as a child would guard his or her treasured toy from another child’s greedy hands. She cleared her throat, not liking the fact that Hyun Joong hadn’t looked at her once since he arrived. “Hyun Joong,” she said. “What’s going on?” She held her breath. ‘Is he going to tell me he can’t meet my mom? That he has somewhere to go with Amber?’

Amber watched Hyun Joong’s face go through a series of emotions as he turned to face Hwang Bo, before it settled on a carefully blank but friendly one. “Amber wanted to hang out today, so I brought her along with me since I figured you wouldn’t mind. I’m going to be so nervous in front of your mom, so I brought Amber so I could feel more relaxed.” Amber scratched her head in confusion. ‘Why’re we meeting Hwang Bo here...and why is he meeting her mom?’ She could feel a strange tension between Hyun Joong and Hwang Bo. She rubbed a hand along her forearm. ‘I wish I could have picked a different day to hang out with him. This is weird.’

‘Figured I wouldn’t mind!?’ Hwang Bo asked silently. ‘Of course I mind! We’re meeting my mom! You were supposed to come alone!’ Hyun Joong blinked, not knowing why Hwang Bo was giving him such a fierce stare. Was she angry? He almost felt sorry until he realized that he didn’t care if she was angry. She needed to feel some of what he was feeling. He wasn’t sure why she was angry, but he’d take what he could get. Hwang Bo noticed the way Amber started to fidget. She sighed, squishing down some of her negative feelings. She couldn’t take her anger out on this girl. She nodded. “Okay,” she said. “My mom’s already inside, I believe. Let’s go.”

Amber grabbed Hyun Joong’s elbow just before they walked inside. “Hyung, what’s this all about? Why are you meeting her mom? I feel all weird about this.” Hyun Joong sighed. “I’m just pretending to be her boyfriend so her mom will get off her back about getting married. It’s bothersome.” Amber looked even more confused. Hyun Joong smiled and put a hand on each of her shoulders. “After this weird meeting is over, I’ll take you somewhere fun.” Amber’s expression immediately brightened and she hooked her thumb in the direction of his car, Hyun Joong was shaking his head before she was even halfway through with the gesture. “Let’s just go inside. We shouldn’t keep elders waiting.”

Though she pretended not to pay attention, Hwang Bo listened intently to their conversation. ‘What!?’ she thought. ‘He’s calling this meeting with my mom a weird meeting? And they’re going somewhere after this!?...Elders!? As in plural!?’ Her blood was boiling. Hwang Bo spotted her mom as they came inside, and she immediately let a smile grow across her face. “Mom!” she said excitedly, going forward to give her mom a hug. Hyun Joong and Amber immediately grew quiet and stiff. Hwang Bo did introductions. “Mom, this is the guy I told you about, Hyun Joong.” Her mom nodded, saying “hi.” Hyun Joong immediately bent at a ninety-five degree angle to greet her. Hwang Bo and Amber held back laughter at his overdone politeness. Once Hyun Joong stood back up, Hwang Bo pointed toward Amber. “This is Hyun Joong’s friend, Amber. He needed a little support.” Amber smiled awkwardly and said “hi,” feeling out of place. Hwang Bo’s mom didn’t seem to mind though. She greeted her, and told them all to hurry and go and change so they could get to know each other better.

Hwang Bo’s mother was a little confused when Hyun Joong’s friend came out wearing the pink outfit most women chose to wear at the sauna, but she just figured it was one of those strange things young idols were doing these days. She sat the tray of hardboiled eggs in the center of the group so they could comfortably reach for one if they got hungry. She smiled when Amber immediately grabbed a few. Amber tried to offer one to Hyun Joong, but he was frozen and staring blankly into space on his knees beside Hwang Bo. Hwang Bo’s mother reached over and patted Hyun Joong’s knee and indicated he should sit more comfortably. “How long have you and my precious daughter been together? I saw you together on the show and I didn’t suspect a thing. Was it after?”

“Huh!?” Hyun Joong asked, his heart beating fast. ‘Aish! Why can’t I calm down?’ he wondered. ‘It’s not supposed to be like this.’ He struggled for an answer. “When!? Uh...well...after...yeah.” He stammered. Hwang Bo laughed as she bit into an egg. Hyun Joong sent her a glare. “Tell me a little more about it,” her mom prompted. Hyun Joong sent Hwang Bo a look for help. She pretended not to notice. ‘What’s there to tell!?’ Hyun Joong wondered. ‘Your daughter treats me as a yo-yo and we actually only dated for about two weeks before I found out she was dating me with plans to marry someone else!’ He felt renewed anger at the thought. He was broke from his thoughts when Amber cracked an egg against his forehead. “Pull yourself together!” she whispered fiercely in English. “Cool image!” Hwang Bo’s mom laughed at the act. Hwang Bo didn’t feel as pleased. Hyun Joong felt a huge rush of gratitude for Amber. He was glad he brought her along.

Hyun Joong smiled and settled himself on the floor comfortably. “Well, I wasn’t really looking for a relationship at that time because I was so busy with filming and getting ready for SS501‘s come back. I also didn’t think I stood a chance with your daughter since it seems like so many other men are interested in her.” He shot Hwang Bo a glare. She blushed and started to pick the shell from her egg to break eye contact. Hyun Joong gave a small self-satisfied smile before he turned back to her mother. “But your daughter, well, she wasn’t really that busy after WGM, so she kept calling me.” Hwang Bo looked up, her mouth open; he had been the one who kept calling her, and she had a few saved texts from that long ago to prove it. Hyun Joong hurriedly continued with his story so Hwang Bo couldn’t interrupt. “After a while, I figured out that she liked me. I was a little hesitant about being in a relationship with someone so, so much older than me.” Hwang Bo felt her blood flow backwards she was so angry, she barely noticed she had accidently squished the egg she had been peeling in one small, tight fist. “She finally talked me into it though after all of the texts and gifts she kept sending. I figured I had to either go out with her or get scolded by my band mates because of all the bouquets and dinner invitations she kept sending. Because of our careers, we haven’t been able to tell anyone, not even our closest friends. I only came today because my precious Hwang Bo finally confessed to me that you had been forcing her to go to marriage meetings.” Hwang Bo could have vomited from the syruppy sweetness dripping from his voice. ‘Is this his revenge for the way I broke up with him?’ Hwang Bo wondered, ‘..to make my mom think I’m some idol-chasing ajummah? Why can‘t he just tell it like it really happened?’

Hwang Bo’s mom looked at her daughter, surprised. “Well,” she said. “You certainly have courage. I would’ve never been able to do something like that.” Hwang Bo started to deny everything Hyun Joong had said, but her mom kept talking. “And I don’t think your father would approve of you chasing after a guy in such a way, but I think we’ll just keep that bit from him. And, I say there’s nothing to be ashamed of. Because now you’ve got yourself a handsome, young husband...I mean...boyfriend. Sorry...got ahead of myself.” She smiled at Hyun Joong, and he smiled back. Hwang Bo wanted to smear egg all over his face to wipe that self-satisfied smile off. Instead, she just picked up another egg and bit into it angrily. Hyun Joong looked over at her and smiled, biting into his own egg. Hwang Bo’s mom looked toward Amber who was busily eating. “What about you?” she asked. “What’s your story, young man?” Everyone choked on the bit of egg they had been eating, realizing that Hwang Bo’s mom believed that Amber was a guy. Hyun Joong pounded his chest and took a gulp of water from his water bottle. He looked at Hwang Bo, who was also choking from being startled and trying to hold in laughter. He reached over and pounded her back, a little harder than necessary, trying to help her digest and get another small revenge. Hwang Bo glared at him and swatted his arm away. Hwang Bo’s mom looked at the exchange in amusement. “What?” she asked. “Are the eggs bad?”

Every one just shook their head, still too choked to speak. Hwang Bo had gotten another bit of egg caught in her throat from Hyun Joong’s overly powerful attempt to help her. “Well?” Hwang Bo’s mother asked, looking to Amber again. “Do you have someone you’re interested in? I know many women who would love to introduce their daughters to a handsome and polite young man like yourself.” Amber opened her mouth to tell Hwang Bo’s mother that she was in fact someone’s daughter herself, when Hwang Bo’s mother spoke again. “Oh, I can see that I’ve got you all worried that you might be forced to get married soon. I should stop being such a bothersome old lady. You should enjoy your youth a bit more. Although, I let my daughter enjoy her youth and now she’s reached this age and still isn’t married.” Amber wasn’t the only one who was sitting with her mouth open now. “I don’t know when I’ll get to hold my precious grand child. I’m not so young myself, after all.” She turned round and sparkling eyes to the young man at her daughter’s side. His own eyes widened and he found he couldn’t pull his eyes from hers. “Now that I’ve met you, I have high hopes that I’ll be seeing my precious grand child sooner than I had dreamed.”

Hwang Bo fidgeted and cleared her throat. Hyun Joong felt sudden pressure and fatigue. Hwang Bo’s mom continued to look at him as if she was awaiting an answer. “Ah...ah...yes,” he said. That seemed to satisfy her. She turned to Hwang Bo. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” They got up and went outside to speak privately. Hyun Joong started to breathe properly again. He turned around to see Amber imitating him. “Ah...ah...yes,” she mimicked. Hyun Joong laughed in embarrassment, then put on a stern expression. “Yah. You should be careful. I’m your senior.” Amber stopped laughing and bowed her head in respect. “Ah, yes,” she said. Hyun Joong laughed. “I’m just kidding.” He reached over to ruffle her hair again, but his hand was stopped by Hwang Bo. She grasped his hand, not really knowing what to do with it. She just knew she didn’t want to stand and watch him ruffle Amber’s hair playfully again. She began to tug on his arm as if she was trying to get him up. “My mom had to leave suddenly. She’ll make us something good to eat to make up for leaving without saying goodbye.” Once Hyun Joong recovered from his shock, he stood up and hurriedly took his hand from Hwang Bo’s. Hwang Bo clasped her hands together to make up for the sudden loss. “But guess what?” When Hyun Joong didn’t guess, Hwang Bo threw her hands up. “Pass! I don’t have to worry about another marriage meeting for some time now.”

Hyun Joong stared in disbelief. ‘Why should I care?’ “That’s...great,” he murmured without enthusiasm. “So are we done here? I promised Amber I’d take her somewhere fun since I drug her to this meeting.”

Hwang Bo frowned and looked down. “Oh...a promise is a promise.” She looked back up. “Where are you guys going? Can I come? I have nothing to do for the rest of the day.”

Amber hopped up from the floor. “Sure!” She agreed readily. Hyun Joong shot her a glare out of the corner of his eyes that she happened to miss because she was bending down to gather more eggs in the fold of her shirt to take with her; she hadn’t eaten since morning and it was late afternoon now. Hyun Joong sighed and turned around just in time to see Hwang Bo hurriedly bring her tongue back into her mouth. He glared then sighed as he turned his back on Hwang Bo to help Amber finish cleaning up. 'Seems like all I’ve been doing is sighing and glaring lately,’ he thought, not realizing that he was glaring at the floor while his thoughts turned to Hwang Bo.

Hwang Bo raised her lip at Hyun Joong’s turned back. 'Why is he still so grumpy today?’ she wondered. 'I thought we were starting over.’ She watched them gathering eggs in their shirts. “Why not just leave them in the carton and take that?” she asked, already going over to pick up the carton. “And don’t worry about the trash. They have a cleaning lady for that.” Amber and Hyun Joong froze in the middle of what they were doing as they realized the simple solution. They began to place the eggs back in the carton, feeling a bit foolish. “The elderly truly is wise,” Hyun Joong said, not letting Hwang Bo have any kind of victory. He grabbed the egg carton as Hwang Bo threw a small tantrum. “Let’s go,” he said, laughing inside at her pouting face. They changed back into their normal clothes and met back up in the lobby to go to their next destination.

Hwang Bo followed them outside and stopped behind Amber at the passenger side of Hyun Joong’s car. Hyun Joong passed the tray of eggs to Amber and walked around to the driver’s side, he looked up and saw Hwang Bo staring angrily at the side of his car. “I don’t have any room for another person...sorry.” He looked around the entryway of the sauna. “Just follow us in your car. If that’s not how you got here we’ll just wait for you to get a taxi before we go.” Hwang Bo glared at him. “I’ll follow in my car,” she said through gritted teeth. She was getting a little tired of Hyun Joong looking over at Amber and saying “we”. She made sure to look into his back seat to make sure he wasn’t lying to her before storming off to start her own car.

Even though Hwang Bo knew that this was a logical arrangement because Amber couldn’t drive and she didn’t have her own car, she felt hurt...as if she was being pushed aside. She sat in her car and started it up, waiting for them to drive off and lead the way. When they sat for a couple of minutes and looked to be talking, she revved her engine angrily to hurry them up.

Hyun Joong barely looked up when he heard the roar of a car engine nearby; he was too intent on deciding with Amber where they would go. Neither of them was really hungry, and they did have all those eggs to eat if they did get hungry later, so they didn’t want to go to a restaurant. Amber said that she was bad at the few arcade games Hyun Joong was good at, and he wanted a fair competition. Amber looked out of the window. “Is there a park or something nearby? I feel like doing something outside, and the weather is good too.” Hyun Joong looked out of his window then remembered he had a soccer ball in his backseat. He looked over at Amber. “You any good at soccer?” Amber punched the air, then tried to calm down a bit. “I’m pretty good at it.” Hyun Joong laughed. “Let’s go play soccer then.” Amber hooted with excitement, then her expression fell a bit. “What if Hwang Bo unni doesn’t want to play.” Hyun Joong scowled. “Then she can just sit on the sides and cheer us on.”

Amber was once again puzzled at Hyun Joong’s mood change when Hwang Bo was mentioned, but she just decided to shrug it off. Hyun Joong finally started his car to go to the nearest park. Hwang Bo followed behind.

Hyun Joong and Amber were already on the field stretching by the time she had found somewhere to park her car, she could almost swear that Hyun Joong had chosen the most crowded parking spot on purpose. She walked up beside them and started to reach for her toes in a long stretch, but Hyun Joong picked up the soccer ball and moved away. “Well, we’re about to start.” Amber glanced at Hwang Bo who was barely up out of one stretch yet, then shot a confused look to Hyun Joong. He ignored her and Hwang Bo both and bounced the soccer ball on his knee. “Since there’s three of us, we really can’t pick teams or anything, so we’ll just play on one end of the field. We do have to make sure Hwang Bo Noona doesn’t strain herself after all. Whoever has the ball becomes the enemy of the people who don’t. Okay, let’s start.” Amber and Hwang Bo stared at Hyun Joong with open mouths. ‘Enemy?!’

As they went onto the field, Hwang Bo did as much stretching as she could as they walked. She could mostly only stretch her arms and shoulders before Hyun Joong looked over. “If you don’t think you’re stretched enough, just sit this one out.” Hwang Bo hurriedly stopped. “Anio. I’m ready. Who’s-” Before she could even get out the question of who would get the ball first, she saw it come flying towards her, landing at her feet. She looked down at the ball and then looked back up to see both Hyun Joong and Amber rushing towards her. “Ahh!” she yelled, startled, immediately trying to get the ball into one of the nets that someone had already set up, but both Amber and Hyun Joong were too fast. Amber easily came from the side and expertly swiped the ball from Hwang Bo. Once she had it, she just turned and from her spot, kicked it into the net. Hwang Bo scowled when Hyun Joong started to clap. “Wow!” he shouted.

Amber smiled widely and shook her bangs out of her eyes. Hwang Bo growled as her own long and freshly styled hair threatened to get into her eyes and her mouth as she started to run, but she wasn’t about to ask Hyun Joong to stop the game so she could find something to tie her hair up with. When Hyun Joong stole the ball from Amber, Hwang Bo was on his feet like a little girl learning to dance from her father, but he still managed to slip past her easily. Hwang Bo could only see red when only Amber stood between Hyun Joong and the net, but it looked less like he was trying to get past her and more like they were having a much too friendly wrestling match with their feet for Hwang Bo’s liking. She ran over and stuck her feet between theirs, trying to get the ball. That only made it easier for Hyun Joong to get past Amber. He shot the ball into the net and raised his arms in victory. Amber slapped him on the back then went to bring the ball back out of the net. Hwang Bo walked up to Hyun Joong. “What was that all about?”

Hyun Joong glanced at Hwang Bo. “What?” Hwang Bo glared at him angrily, and felt a new rush of frustration. “Unnie, here you go,” Amber said, coming up and offering Hwang Bo the ball. Hwang Bo sighed and took the ball. ‘I’ll show them,’ she thought. She walked to a spot on the field and stood quietly for a moment. She turned back to Hyun Joong and Amber. “You guys must like to play this a lot,” she said. Hyun Joong didn’t answer. “Well...” Amber said. “I’m too busy to play it most of the time, but yeah, I-” As she was busy speaking, Hwang Bo took that moment to drop the ball, and rush toward the net with it. Hyun Joong had been suspicious of her sudden question so he was anticipating it. He rushed forward and tried to steal the ball from underneath her feet. Hwang Bo grabbed his shirt with both hands so that he couldn’t just run off. She couldn’t let him just take the ball like that.

Hyun Joong grabbed Hwang Bo’s shoulders since she had grabbed his shirt. If she was going to cheat, so was he. He wrestled the ball away from her feet, but he couldn’t tear away from the death grip she had on his shirt. He shouted with victory when he finally managed to get the ball out to his side, but Hwang Bo was still hanging onto him. So caught up in the game, he pushed her aside, a bit rougher than he intended and shot out for the goal. He leapt in a small victory circle then looked around for a high five from Amber, she was the sort to congratulate her opponent even after he got another goal on her, he could tell. He was surprised to find her leaning over Hwang Bo.

Hwang Bo felt tears threatening to fall from behind her eyelashes, and not because of the sudden, harsh pain that was shooting through her ankle. She was frustrated at how Hyun Joong had just thrown her aside, at the fact that he seemed to be replacing her in his heart with the young girl who was now leaning over her worriedly, and even at the fact that she was no good at soccer. She blinked back her tears. She couldn’t cry in front of Amber, her competition. When Hwang Bo saw Hyun Joong coming over, she tried to get up as if everything was fine, but her ankle couldn’t support her. She crumpled back to the ground. Hyun Joong broke into a run. “What’s wrong?” he asked. Amber looked up, not knowing what to do. “I don’t know. I think she sprained her ankle when she fell. And having not stretched beforehand, it might be something worse. We should take her to the hospital.” Hyun Joong felt a rush of guilt. Had he gone too far? Amber pointed. “She’s got a scratch on her leg too.” Amber gently tried to brush the dirt off. “So that it doesn’t get infected,” she said. “It’s not large enough to get infected,” Hwang Bo said, feeling embarrassed. “It’s okay. I’m fine. We don’t have to go to the hospital.”

Hwang Bo struggled to get to her feet again, Amber hurried to put a supporting arm around her. Hwang Bo tried to support her self on her own, but fell heavily against Amber again, her right ankle shooting pain from her toe to her knee, she could feel her ankle swelling against the confines of her shoe. “I don’t think I’ll be able to play anymore,” Hwang Bo said, stating the obvious in her embarrassment. “I think I should just sit the next few games out.” Amber looked at Hyun Joong. “We don’t have to keep playing. We should get Hwang Bo unni to a hospital first, or at least take her home. I don’t think she’ll be able to drive like this.”

Hyun Joong sighed, wanting to kick himself. Hwang Bo thought he was sighing because she was being bothersome. She was about to tell them again that she was okay, but Hyun Joong started to speak, saying that he would call a cab for Amber. “Let’s hang out some other day,” he said. Amber nodded. After he called the cab, he turned back to them. “You can wait here by yourself right?” Amber nodded, feeling a little peeved at the question. She wasn’t a toddler. “Okay.” Hyun Joong reached out and took Hwang Bo from Amber’s side, letting her lean her weight against him. They hobbled a couple of steps, but Hyun Joong finally just reached down and scooped Hwang Bo up into his arms. “It’s faster this way,” he said, trying to ignore the way his heart sped up when Hwang Bo wrapped her arms around his neck.

Hwang Bo rested her head against his chest. She could feel the blood pounding through his body from the close contact. She sighed. ‘I miss him,’ she thought. ‘I still see him, but I miss him.’ They finally reached his car and he plopped her down into the passenger seat, practically slammed the door behind him, then ran around to his side of the car. He started the engine the minute they got in. Hwang Bo smiled then grimaced when Hyun Joong pulled out of the parking space too suddenly and caused her to be thrown forward a bit in her seat. She pressed steadying hands against the dashboard. Hyun Joong heard her sharp intake of pain. “Sorry,” he mumbled. He braked the car, then pushed Hwang Bo back in her seat. “What are..?” He reached around her to her seat belt and snapped it in firmly before starting the car again. “Do you think we should go to the hospital or straight to your house?” Hyun Joong asked. He looked down at her ankle worriedly when they reached a stop light. “I really think I should take you to a hospital.” Hwang Bo sighed and laid a calming hand against his shoulder. “We can’t go to the hospital. They’ll have so many questions and some crazed fan will probably recognize your car, and me getting out of it no matter where we try to park, and there’s no way I can make it into the hospital by myself. Just take me home, I’ll be fine. It’s just a sprain, I’ll just put some ice on it.” Hyun Joong twitched away from her hand as he started the car again, this time headed in the direction of her house. Hwang Bo sighed. She wished he could be the Hyun Joong he had been for her for the past two years, and she had almost convinced herself that she had gotten him back when he had been so worried over her ankle, but the grim expression he wore now, so new to his face, an expression she had created, made her know that that was impossible.