21 She Took The Bait

June 6, 2021

Ian's Home

The ringing sound of the cellphone managed to make Ian's two eyes, which were still closed, open. He paused for a moment, looking up. The next moment, he closed his eyes again. The mobile phone placed on his bedside table was still beeping.

The caller's name is clearly displayed on the phone screen: Emma. No answer; the call ended. Not long after, Emma called back.

Ian finally picked up his phone, lazily and irritably sliding the screen to answer the call. "Hello," he said after the rectangular object was attached to his ear.

"Can you help me at the store?"Ask Emma on the other end of the phone.

"No. I'm busy," Ian replied, lying. He means he's busy sleeping because it's Sunday and it's time for him to have some "me time."

"Come on, please. The store is quite crowded today, and I'm short of people because of a staff member---"

Ian ended his phone call and then threw the rectangular object aside. He closed his eyes to return to his dream world.

***

Miho Bakery and Pastry

"Thank you, and please come back again."

This is where Ian ends up, at Emma's bakery. After a few hours of going back to sleep after disconnecting Emma's phone, the gumiho calls him again and threatens him using his two female friends, Yoo Ri and Min Jee. Because he knew the threat from Emma was not joke, he finally decided to come to the store and help the woman. He didn't want to lose the two women because of Emma's actions. If that happens, he will never forgive himself.

Ian's eye bead accidentally caught two female figures who had just entered. One of the two women is Soo Young, who is currently looking at the interior of the store. Accidentally, their views met each other, and both immediately turned their eyes as if nothing had happened.

Ian returns his gaze to SooYoung, who is now conversing with her friend, Kim Jae Mi. After a brief conversation, Soo Young walks towards the cashier while Jae Mi sits in one of the available seats.

"Oh? Red dress!" greets Ian with a smile on his face, when Soo Young is in front of the counter. He smiles only to have his target captivated by him. "Hello, we meet again."

"It turns out I was right," Soo Young said suddenly, making Ian confused. "Hwang Ian, you were the one who helped me last night."

Ian can't cover his surprise when Soo Young finds out his name—no, what he means is his face. If it's like this, it'll be hard for him to bring Soo Young to Emma. Wait, but this seems like a good thing.

"Why do you look surprised like that?" Soo Young noticed the surprised look that this young man showed in front of her. "Ah, don't worry, I won't tell people if you work here. I will also cover the mouth of my friend who is there, " he said with a smile adorning his face.

"But this is my sister's shop," Ian said, making Soo Young lose her smile. The young man chuckled as if he didn't feel guilty for embarrassing his senior. "Well, Lee Soo Young, what would you like?"

It's Soo Young's turn to be surprised by Ian knowing her name. "You, how do you know my name?"

"Su Bin," he said. "He told me your name."

"That's how it looks." Soo Young nodded his head. "I want order..."

Just now, Soo Young is going to mention her order, and Ian is going to record it, but one of the employees suddenly comes over to Ian and asks him to go to the kitchen. Ian sighed softly, then left the counter for the kitchen after saying goodbye to Soo Young. Soo Young's order ends up being served by the employee.

***

Soo Young's Apartment

The smile on Soo Young's face, who is currently staring at her cellphone screen, is precisely the phone contact she named Prince Charming. The contact was Ian, whom she had met earlier at the bakery. At that time, a shop worker approached her table and handed her a tiramisu cake, which she said was a gift from Hwang Ian. In addition to tiramisu, there is also a piece of paper containing a mobile phone number and a message that says 'Please, contact me', really adorable.

"Have you contacted him?" asked Jae Mi, who just came out of the bathroom while drying her long hair with a towel.

"No, I don't dare to do it," Soo Young replied, still with a smile on her face. "I still can't believe the student who became the idol of many students on campus gave me his phone number."

"It looks like he likes you, Soo Young," Jae Mi teases, making Soo Young blush.

"No way." Soo Young, who had been lying down, changed her position to sit down. She turned to face Jae Mi, who smiled back.

"I'm not sure Ian likes me. He just turned down a lot of pretty college girls, so he couldn't possibly---"

"Nothing is impossible, Lee Soo Young. Perhaps he turned them down because he likes you," Jae Mi said, interrupting Soo Young.

Soo Young's face turns red when she hears Jae Mi's words. She'll be a lucky woman if that happens. However, she does not want to dream too big because if the dream is not achieved, she will feel very hurt.

"What are you waiting for? Let's call him," insisted Jae Mi. "He must be waiting for you."

"How do you know?"

"Yes, I know."

***

Emma's Home

Emma stared at Ian's mobile phone screen placed in the middle of the dining table. Meanwhile, Ian just doesn't seem to care about what Emma is doing at the moment. The young man prefers to enjoy his favorite bread that Emma has just made. Despite his dislike for his mother, Ian couldn't say no when she offered him homemade dishes, especially this brown bread with chocolate filling.He still did not expect that the gumiho figure could make bread so delicious.

"Why didn't she call you?"

Right now, they—Emma alone, to be exact—are waiting for a call or a message from Lee Soo Young. This afternoon, Emma finds out that if Soo Young comes to her shop, she proposes to give her a message in the form of Ian's cell phone number and requests that Soo Young contact Ian. So far, no calls or messages have come in.

Emma sighed while leaning her back on the back of the chair. "That girl is hard to get close to," she murmured.

"Or maybe she already knows if she's going to die," chattered Ian, who got a sharp look from Emma.

"Do you want to die?" asks Emma.

"Just kill me," challenged Ian as he stared coldly at Emma.

"Ah, so you really want to die?" said Emma "All right, I'll do it, I'll kill you!"

Emma got up from her chair, about to approach Ian, but the sound of incoming messages suddenly made the woman stop her intention. She immediately took the child's cell phone and opened the message that had just come in.

Hi, it's me Lee Soo Young.