Bipolar -- Chapter 05
When Yoona opened her door in the early morning, she wasn't surprised to see Tiffany's face in the Saturday morning light. She took a sip from her coffee cup, looking at her thoughtfully before shrugging and taking a step back to let the girl in.
Tiffany was wearing a floral dress (Probably from Designer Seohyun's Fall line; that trim is very her, Yoona thought) and her hair fell in big curls around her face. She threw her a thankful glance and stepped inside the apartment, kicking her shoes off before slumping on her black and white leather cushions. Then she buried her face into her hands and let out a sigh so loud, it caused Yoona to chuckle into her cup.
"Good morning to you too," she said, putting her coffee down onto the table and taking a seat next to her, "What brought you to my apartment so early this morning?" Tiffany looked up at her, smiling sheepishly and shrugged.
"I didn't really get to sleep last night and I really wanted to talk to someone," she replied. "I had a really... weird night last night."
"So... you were wearing that the whole night?"
"... Yes."
"You didn't even change or wash your face?"
"... No. Was that a bad thing?"
Yoona raised her eyebrow, leaning back against a pillow. "It's not very hygienic." She said, wrinkling her nose. Tiffany nodded, sheepish.
"Sorry. I just really need to talk to someone..."
"Don't you have friends for that?" Yoona didn't mean for those words to come out but they did before she could stop them. Tiffany blinked, surprised. She looked so crestfallen for a split second that she immediately felt bad. Oh no, she thought and hurriedly waved a hand at Tiffany's face to calm her down.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that." she explained, "I'm just not a very nice person in general. I don't have much female friends."
"That makes two of us," Tiffany replied, smiling softly, "But I'd like to be friends."
Yoona nodded slowly, pursing her lips slightly. "I suppose you have a point. I mean, that was the point of us exchanging numbers last week, right?" She crossed her arms across her chest and looked at Tiffany from head to toe.
There was something about her that gave off something friendly and mysterious at the same time. Yoona was usually very good at reading people, but when she looked at Tiffany now -- there was something hidden beneath her eye smiles and it intrigued her. Maybe she has a secret too, she thought, smiling, this could be interesting.
She stood up, brushing her hair off to one side and smiled. "Why don't we go out for breakfast and you can tell me all about your night then?"
Tiffany grinned and nodded. "That would be great. I know a nice café down the block. We can go there."
"Sure. ... but let's change clothes first, okay?"
"Let's try a little social experiment, shall we?" The way he said it made him shiver, but he didn't respond. Instead, he stared back with a level gaze and said nothing. There were two of them in the shower room, staring each other down -- the atmosphere intense and humid. He took a deep breath.
"Are you scared?"
"I'm not the type to be played with, Kim." He growled, keeping his temper in check.
The person in the room with him laughed, low in his throat -- obviously amused; with a devilish glint in his eye. "Relax. It's like I said; a simple social experiment."
"Why do you need me for?" He demanded, "There are plenty of other people you can mess around with. People who would be interested."
"But aren't you interested? I've seen you look at me, and I don't blame you at all." His breath was warm at the base of his nape and he shivered. "Let's just try this once."
"No-"
A flash on a bulb went off somewhere -- then blackness.
Siwon had gotten up later than he usually did when he had to go to work. Even though it was Saturday, and there was no need to go to work -- he had always had the same ethic. Wake up at 6am, be out of the house by 7. He's never broken this since his school days and had no intention to ever do otherwise.
That is until last night's dinner. And then that walk in the park; under the moon and stars and-
"Hey, wait. Hold that door!"
Donghae bounded down the hall, swinging his backpack on his shoulder. "Yo! Siwon! Hold it!" he cried, waving his arms to get the man's attention inside the elevator.
Siwon raised his eyes and pressed the 'Open' button solemnly. He was going to be late; it was already 9am and he still had paperwork to go over at the office -- but after last night, he didn't care about going to work on time. At least, not so much. And so he watched Donghae slow down and nodded in greeting when the man came in the elevator.
"Hey." Donghae said, grinning. Siwon said nothing and pressed the 'Close' button only to have Donghae interrupt and press the 'Open' button again.
"I'm going to be late if you're going to open this damned elevator again." He muttered, eliciting a chuckle from the man beside him. He turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow. Donghae shrugged, pointing at the hall once again and he followed his direction.
Sure enough, there were Yoona and -- "Hey, Tiffany!" Donghae greeted, waving 'good morning'. Siwon nodded in there direction ever so slightly, avoiding to look at them (her) and cleared his throat. Tiffany jumped at the sight of him and latching to Yoona's side without a word. She stood at the opposite side of the elevator.
"Hmm." Yoona hummed, looking at Siwon and Tiffany back and forth. She smiled slightly, observing them behind her glasses. Well, this is an interesting development. She pushed the elevator door closed and it hummed into life, descending down the building.
Donghae nudged her with an elbow, looking confused. "What's wrong with them?" he asked, motioning to the two standing quietly at opposite ends. Yoona glanced at him, blinking -- He's a looks a lot better in this light, her brain spoke, surprising her -- and she shrugged.
"I'm not sure. I'm going to breakfast with Tiffany to find out." Yoona answered, adjusting her glasses on the bridge of her nose. "How about Siwon-shii?"
"I don't know. He was already like this when we met him, you know." Donghae replied in a matter-of-factly tone. "But... am I going too far when I say that"-he looked back at Tiffany and Siwon exchange secret glances-"something is going on between them?"
The elevator rung open as Yoona opened her mouth to reply but Tiffany immediately walked out -- pulling her on the arm. "Find out!" she managed to say before disappearing out the door and into the morning light.
Donghae stood back confused, walking out with Siwon slowly. He watched him at the corner of his eye, and saw him blow out a breath (Was that relief? Worry? Something?) and put on his sunglasses.
"Have a good day, then." Siwon said, taking a step but stopped when Donghae clamped at hand on his shoulder.
"Wait a minute!" he said, "What was that with Tiffany just now?"
"That was-nothing." Siwon replied, coughing when his voice caught in his throat. His cheeks had turned red so slightly, if Donghae had blinked in the next moment he would have thought that it was nothing. But his lips immediately curled into a smile and he turned Siwon to face him, hands on both of his shoulders.
"Am I sensing a vibe on the two of you?"
"Don't be ridiculous." Siwon retorted, rolling his eyes and pulling away. He fixed his suit and cleared his throat. "We had a simple dinner last night. Nothing more."
"ALONE?"
Damn it, I should not have said that. Siwon inwardly slapped himself for letting his mouth run away with him. Is this an after effect from last night? "... Yes." Donghae stared at him with wide eyes and he stepped back.
I better run before he gets out of that stupor. He started towards the exit but Donghae ran up to him with an iron grip on his arm.
"Wait! No, dude -- You!" Donghae exclaimed, "You are not going anywhere until I find out what happened!"
Siwon stood, shell-shocked at the amount of power Donghae had as he was led away into the light and instantly regretted waking up later this morning than he had originally planned.
"Geez, I knew it! I just knew he was a queer!" One of the men in the room exclaimed, kicking a chair out of his way and towards him. "Stupid frak." He cursed under his breath but fought back a retort, scared of what might happen next if he did anything drastic.
The man who spoke had eyes that were on fire as he turned to his companions in the room, "Who knows who he'll attack next? I told you not to be so nice to him, Heechul!"
"Calm down, Yunho. You're not sure about this." Another voice spoke, his tone calm and even. He was sitting on one of the chairs, yawning slightly. He gave the shorter man next to him a once over and spoke again, "You don't even if this guy's telling the truth? For all we know, he could be setting him up."
"I would never! How dare you, Jaejoong!" The man cried, looking up to Yunho shocked. He turned back to Jaejoong, glaring. "As if I would attempt on seducing a guy like him! I'm straight, you ass."
"Then what do you propose you do with him then? Because I'm not going to stand for this until we have some proof. Siwon's a good guy and a friend. Don't forget that."
"Oh we do." Heechul looked at him, mischief and evil swirling under his eyes. He pulled out a photograph from inside his pocket and placed it in front of them.
... "Shoot."
(You have a message.) Beep.
Choi Siwon is elsewhere at the moment. Leave your message and contact details after the tone.
"Hey. Siwon, it's me, Jaejoong. Look, I know we didn't end our school days in good terms but I need your help. No, I don't need money -- I have a lot on my own. What I do need is help that goes against the moral code. I want to bring him down, Siwon. You should know who I'm talking about -- he's the guy who beat you to a pulp and killed my wife.
My sources say he's come back from the States. I've been keeping tabs on him since Boa died and apparently he's followed his ex who fled here after he sold her for money.
Call me. I need to bring him down."
Hello, you've reached Im Yoona's phone. I'm currently detained elsewhere but leave a message after the tone. I'll get back to you when I decide your message is important.
"Yoona, this is Yeonhee. Lee Yeonhee? Um, I know I'm not the best person to call you right now but I wanted to remind you of your appointment with Doctor Sooman on Monday morning. You've missed the past two sessions this month and he really needs to know how you're doing.
... Changmin's worried about you. I don't want him to worry anymore. Please show up.
Please."
Hi, this is Tif~fany Hwang! I'm probably out right now or writing my lesson plan or maybe I'm just ignoring your call but leave a message anyway and I'll be right back.
"It's Sooyoung.
I know you hate me, Tiffany and you have every right to but -- I wanted to warn you before he could find you. He's in Korea; and he's looking for you. I don't know what he wants but you should be careful not to be found.
He's after you, Tiff. I don't know why, but he is. I'm sorry."
This is Donghae's phone. If you're Yoochun or Kibum, get off the phone now and quit harassing me because I am working on my songs, damn it! ... But if you aren't leave a message.
"I decided to lift the restraining order. It's seems too much considering everything we've been through. I do still love you, Donghae but I'm scared. I'm so scared. I can still see them through my white blouse and they hurt so badly.
I love you, but I still don't want you anywhere near me. I love you, Donghae. This is Jessica."
Tiffany was wearing a floral dress (Probably from Designer Seohyun's Fall line; that trim is very her, Yoona thought) and her hair fell in big curls around her face. She threw her a thankful glance and stepped inside the apartment, kicking her shoes off before slumping on her black and white leather cushions. Then she buried her face into her hands and let out a sigh so loud, it caused Yoona to chuckle into her cup.
"Good morning to you too," she said, putting her coffee down onto the table and taking a seat next to her, "What brought you to my apartment so early this morning?" Tiffany looked up at her, smiling sheepishly and shrugged.
"I didn't really get to sleep last night and I really wanted to talk to someone," she replied. "I had a really... weird night last night."
"So... you were wearing that the whole night?"
"... Yes."
"You didn't even change or wash your face?"
"... No. Was that a bad thing?"
Yoona raised her eyebrow, leaning back against a pillow. "It's not very hygienic." She said, wrinkling her nose. Tiffany nodded, sheepish.
"Sorry. I just really need to talk to someone..."
"Don't you have friends for that?" Yoona didn't mean for those words to come out but they did before she could stop them. Tiffany blinked, surprised. She looked so crestfallen for a split second that she immediately felt bad. Oh no, she thought and hurriedly waved a hand at Tiffany's face to calm her down.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that." she explained, "I'm just not a very nice person in general. I don't have much female friends."
"That makes two of us," Tiffany replied, smiling softly, "But I'd like to be friends."
Yoona nodded slowly, pursing her lips slightly. "I suppose you have a point. I mean, that was the point of us exchanging numbers last week, right?" She crossed her arms across her chest and looked at Tiffany from head to toe.
There was something about her that gave off something friendly and mysterious at the same time. Yoona was usually very good at reading people, but when she looked at Tiffany now -- there was something hidden beneath her eye smiles and it intrigued her. Maybe she has a secret too, she thought, smiling, this could be interesting.
She stood up, brushing her hair off to one side and smiled. "Why don't we go out for breakfast and you can tell me all about your night then?"
Tiffany grinned and nodded. "That would be great. I know a nice café down the block. We can go there."
"Sure. ... but let's change clothes first, okay?"
"Let's try a little social experiment, shall we?" The way he said it made him shiver, but he didn't respond. Instead, he stared back with a level gaze and said nothing. There were two of them in the shower room, staring each other down -- the atmosphere intense and humid. He took a deep breath.
"Are you scared?"
"I'm not the type to be played with, Kim." He growled, keeping his temper in check.
The person in the room with him laughed, low in his throat -- obviously amused; with a devilish glint in his eye. "Relax. It's like I said; a simple social experiment."
"Why do you need me for?" He demanded, "There are plenty of other people you can mess around with. People who would be interested."
"But aren't you interested? I've seen you look at me, and I don't blame you at all." His breath was warm at the base of his nape and he shivered. "Let's just try this once."
"No-"
A flash on a bulb went off somewhere -- then blackness.
Siwon had gotten up later than he usually did when he had to go to work. Even though it was Saturday, and there was no need to go to work -- he had always had the same ethic. Wake up at 6am, be out of the house by 7. He's never broken this since his school days and had no intention to ever do otherwise.
That is until last night's dinner. And then that walk in the park; under the moon and stars and-
"Hey, wait. Hold that door!"
Donghae bounded down the hall, swinging his backpack on his shoulder. "Yo! Siwon! Hold it!" he cried, waving his arms to get the man's attention inside the elevator.
Siwon raised his eyes and pressed the 'Open' button solemnly. He was going to be late; it was already 9am and he still had paperwork to go over at the office -- but after last night, he didn't care about going to work on time. At least, not so much. And so he watched Donghae slow down and nodded in greeting when the man came in the elevator.
"Hey." Donghae said, grinning. Siwon said nothing and pressed the 'Close' button only to have Donghae interrupt and press the 'Open' button again.
"I'm going to be late if you're going to open this damned elevator again." He muttered, eliciting a chuckle from the man beside him. He turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow. Donghae shrugged, pointing at the hall once again and he followed his direction.
Sure enough, there were Yoona and -- "Hey, Tiffany!" Donghae greeted, waving 'good morning'. Siwon nodded in there direction ever so slightly, avoiding to look at them (her) and cleared his throat. Tiffany jumped at the sight of him and latching to Yoona's side without a word. She stood at the opposite side of the elevator.
"Hmm." Yoona hummed, looking at Siwon and Tiffany back and forth. She smiled slightly, observing them behind her glasses. Well, this is an interesting development. She pushed the elevator door closed and it hummed into life, descending down the building.
Donghae nudged her with an elbow, looking confused. "What's wrong with them?" he asked, motioning to the two standing quietly at opposite ends. Yoona glanced at him, blinking -- He's a looks a lot better in this light, her brain spoke, surprising her -- and she shrugged.
"I'm not sure. I'm going to breakfast with Tiffany to find out." Yoona answered, adjusting her glasses on the bridge of her nose. "How about Siwon-shii?"
"I don't know. He was already like this when we met him, you know." Donghae replied in a matter-of-factly tone. "But... am I going too far when I say that"-he looked back at Tiffany and Siwon exchange secret glances-"something is going on between them?"
The elevator rung open as Yoona opened her mouth to reply but Tiffany immediately walked out -- pulling her on the arm. "Find out!" she managed to say before disappearing out the door and into the morning light.
Donghae stood back confused, walking out with Siwon slowly. He watched him at the corner of his eye, and saw him blow out a breath (Was that relief? Worry? Something?) and put on his sunglasses.
"Have a good day, then." Siwon said, taking a step but stopped when Donghae clamped at hand on his shoulder.
"Wait a minute!" he said, "What was that with Tiffany just now?"
"That was-nothing." Siwon replied, coughing when his voice caught in his throat. His cheeks had turned red so slightly, if Donghae had blinked in the next moment he would have thought that it was nothing. But his lips immediately curled into a smile and he turned Siwon to face him, hands on both of his shoulders.
"Am I sensing a vibe on the two of you?"
"Don't be ridiculous." Siwon retorted, rolling his eyes and pulling away. He fixed his suit and cleared his throat. "We had a simple dinner last night. Nothing more."
"ALONE?"
Damn it, I should not have said that. Siwon inwardly slapped himself for letting his mouth run away with him. Is this an after effect from last night? "... Yes." Donghae stared at him with wide eyes and he stepped back.
I better run before he gets out of that stupor. He started towards the exit but Donghae ran up to him with an iron grip on his arm.
"Wait! No, dude -- You!" Donghae exclaimed, "You are not going anywhere until I find out what happened!"
Siwon stood, shell-shocked at the amount of power Donghae had as he was led away into the light and instantly regretted waking up later this morning than he had originally planned.
"Geez, I knew it! I just knew he was a queer!" One of the men in the room exclaimed, kicking a chair out of his way and towards him. "Stupid frak." He cursed under his breath but fought back a retort, scared of what might happen next if he did anything drastic.
The man who spoke had eyes that were on fire as he turned to his companions in the room, "Who knows who he'll attack next? I told you not to be so nice to him, Heechul!"
"Calm down, Yunho. You're not sure about this." Another voice spoke, his tone calm and even. He was sitting on one of the chairs, yawning slightly. He gave the shorter man next to him a once over and spoke again, "You don't even if this guy's telling the truth? For all we know, he could be setting him up."
"I would never! How dare you, Jaejoong!" The man cried, looking up to Yunho shocked. He turned back to Jaejoong, glaring. "As if I would attempt on seducing a guy like him! I'm straight, you ass."
"Then what do you propose you do with him then? Because I'm not going to stand for this until we have some proof. Siwon's a good guy and a friend. Don't forget that."
"Oh we do." Heechul looked at him, mischief and evil swirling under his eyes. He pulled out a photograph from inside his pocket and placed it in front of them.
... "Shoot."
(You have a message.) Beep.
Choi Siwon is elsewhere at the moment. Leave your message and contact details after the tone.
"Hey. Siwon, it's me, Jaejoong. Look, I know we didn't end our school days in good terms but I need your help. No, I don't need money -- I have a lot on my own. What I do need is help that goes against the moral code. I want to bring him down, Siwon. You should know who I'm talking about -- he's the guy who beat you to a pulp and killed my wife.
My sources say he's come back from the States. I've been keeping tabs on him since Boa died and apparently he's followed his ex who fled here after he sold her for money.
Call me. I need to bring him down."
Hello, you've reached Im Yoona's phone. I'm currently detained elsewhere but leave a message after the tone. I'll get back to you when I decide your message is important.
"Yoona, this is Yeonhee. Lee Yeonhee? Um, I know I'm not the best person to call you right now but I wanted to remind you of your appointment with Doctor Sooman on Monday morning. You've missed the past two sessions this month and he really needs to know how you're doing.
... Changmin's worried about you. I don't want him to worry anymore. Please show up.
Please."
Hi, this is Tif~fany Hwang! I'm probably out right now or writing my lesson plan or maybe I'm just ignoring your call but leave a message anyway and I'll be right back.
"It's Sooyoung.
I know you hate me, Tiffany and you have every right to but -- I wanted to warn you before he could find you. He's in Korea; and he's looking for you. I don't know what he wants but you should be careful not to be found.
He's after you, Tiff. I don't know why, but he is. I'm sorry."
This is Donghae's phone. If you're Yoochun or Kibum, get off the phone now and quit harassing me because I am working on my songs, damn it! ... But if you aren't leave a message.
"I decided to lift the restraining order. It's seems too much considering everything we've been through. I do still love you, Donghae but I'm scared. I'm so scared. I can still see them through my white blouse and they hurt so badly.
I love you, but I still don't want you anywhere near me. I love you, Donghae. This is Jessica."