Chapter 11 - - The Future Brother-In-Laws Marriage Test, Part 6 (1/2)

Only after we grabbed a taxi did I breathe a sigh of relief. My whole body was drenched in sweat, so I fanned my face with the wedding invitations.

&“Are you insane? Why the hell are you acting like this?&“ Lee JiHan frowned at me.

&“I don't know, I, uh….I can't really think of what to say right now.&“ I admitted.

&“Don't tell me what you think, tell me the truth,&“ Lee JiHan blurted out in anger.

Ah...what do I do...

Put in a difficult situation, I squeezed my eyes closed and increased the speed of my fanning.

How can I explain this? What excuse should I give?

After a lot of thought, I placed the wedding invitation on my lap and took a deep breath. Let's just tell him what type of person Lim DaeChul is. I'll let him know how horrible a person he is and tell him I don't want to invite him to the wedding.

Looking down at the invitation, I was strengthened my resolve and nodded my head. Suddenly, I got an inkling that something was off. Why...am I only holding two invitations? I'm sure I had grabbed three from before… The sudden irksome intuition made me pull at my hair with my hands. No, no it can't be. I couldn't have left it there. I probably just dro...dropped it. I had to have. Please!

Not just desperate but mortified, I took out my cell phone. With shaking hands I called HeeKyung.

&“Uh, HeeKyung, I think I dropped one of the invitations before I left, did you perhaps see it?&“

[I did see it. It had fallen on the cafe floor.]

&“What?! Really?&“

[Yea. DaeChul sunbae picked it up...]

&“He picked it up and threw it away right? He didn't look inside and just threw it away right?&“

[No. He read the inside...]

&“No!&“ I uttered a throat wrenching scream that was so loud the taxi driver almost stopped the car.

***

Upon returning home, I lay sprawled on the living room floor, my mind a blurry mess.

[DaeChul sunbae saw the invitation and said he had something to say to you and to please give him a call.]

HeeKyung's words spun continuously through my head, and I couldn't register anything that Lee JiHan was saying.

Something to tell me? Tell me what? Why? No, why? If I'm marrying Lee JiKyung, why does he have something to say to me? With my chest resting on the neatly folded blanket, I chewed the fingernail off my thumb. Suddenly, Lee JiHan pulled the blanket hard away from me and yelled.

&“Do my words not sound like words to you?!&“

My body rolled. &“Oof!&“

Thanks to him, I woke up from my trance and saw Lee JiHan in front of me.

&“How many times are you going to ignore what I say! Am I a joke to you? No, is my family a joke to you?&“

Staring at Lee JiHan's face, which looked as if he was about to eat me, I hung my head.

&“No….&“

&“What do you mean 'no'! Look at the evidence!&“

Lee JiHan shot up and lifted his shirt to show his side. The sudden removal of clothes shocked me and my eyes grew wide. He pointed at his side while shoving himself near me.

&“Here, where you pinched me! Do you see how it's red?&“

Lee JiHan was pointing at his side. I should look...but why do my eyes keep wandering to his abs. My eyes were glued to his milky skin and toned abs.

&“Even after this are you going to say you don't think of me as a joke?&“

&“Yes...no!&“ Unable to take my eyes off his abs, I answered him in a trance.

&“Then what do you see me as? Trivial?&“

&“It's good to see you...it's nice to look at.&“ It was an instinctive response.

Only after I had said it did I realize what I had actually said. So although I regretted it, there was no way to take it back.

&“What?&“ Lee JiHan narrowed his eyes and pulled his shirt down.

As a consequence, my mind which had been entranced by the abs came back into my head.

&“You! I showed you so you will reflect on it but what? It's nice to look at? Are you saying it's a good thing I got hurt?&“

&“What? Uh, of course not. It's just your side was so beautiful...I was surprised.&“

&“You call that an excuse? Ugh, forget it. I'm not letting you off the hook for this. I'm going to tell my brother. You better prepare yourself.&“

At Lee JiHan's warning I kneeled and hung my head.

&“It's no use. I'm going to tell him everything as it happened,&“ he threatened.

&“Do what you must. Of course you should. It was my fault,&“ I said.

I looked up forlornly at Lee JiHan. He stared back in confusion.

&“It's just, I wanted to apologize for stepping over my boundaries and hurting you. I'm sorry. You can tell everything to JiKyung. Even if I had 10 mouths I would have nothing to say.&“ My humble attitude seemed to diffuse Lee JiHan's anger.

&“Well, that is that. But what is up with you and that guy? Why were you making such a racket?&“

&“That's...&“

I looked down at my knees and quickly tried to think. Slowly, in defeat, I started telling him the story of the past.

&“It was three years ago from today..&“ I pulled the memory of three years ago from the back of my mind and told him the story.

&“DaeChul sunbae was our director for the play, and the theatre people didn't like him. That goes for me too. He would burst out in anger, and he stole from the younger actors and took our membership fees. If anyone criticized him, he was so sensitive about it. He was an all around horrible person.&“

Lost in my past memories, I stared out into space.