Chapter 6: Ji-eun's Embarrassing Moment
In the Crystal Haven Manor, the interior smelled of burnt rubber and gasoline, a silent testament to the sheer madness of Joon-ho's desperate arrival.
Tae-hyun, who had been standing at the top of the stairs, was stunned into silence. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Beside him, the woman trembled with fear, her face as pale as a ghost.
Joon-ho staggered out of the wrecked car, his eyes blazing with fury. Inside, he was very, very angry because, even after doing everything for Soo-jin, she had not chosen him.
That's why he was seething in rage, beyond anything he had ever felt. His anger had driven him to wreck Tae-hyun's place. He wanted to die because there was nothing worth living for in this world anymore.
As he looked up at Tae-hyun, seeing him gripping Soo-jin by the hair, his other hand wrapped around her throat, choking the life out of her, he clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles started to embed in his flesh, blood trickling down his hands.
A white-hot rage exploded inside Joon-ho. Never in his entire life had he felt such unbridled fury.
At that moment, all he wanted was to make Tae-hyun suffer. He envisioned wrapping his hands around his neck, crushing the life out of him, pulling his hair out in clumps, leaving him begging for death. He wanted to give Tae-hyun the most brutal death imaginable. Never in his life had he wanted to kill someone this badly.
As Soo-jin's consciousness began to slip away, she saw a man standing there through blurry vision. Though she couldn't see him clearly, only one name echoed in her mind: Joon-ho.
This man always comes whenever I need him the most, she thought, a weak smile forming, full of regret as a tear dropped from her eye before she finally lost consciousness.
Seeing Soo-jin's dried-up tears, Joon-ho roared in fury, "Tae-hyunnnn!" He sprinted up the stairs and punched Tae-hyun repeatedly in the face, not stopping for a moment, turning it into a bloody mess.
After a few moments, hearing footsteps approaching, Joon-ho snapped out of his anger. Remembering the 'Danger!' sign, he immediately picked Soo-jin up in his arms, checking her heartbeat.
He was anxious; teardrops were constantly dripping from his red eyes. Nothing was more important than Soo-jin for him.
As he felt her heartbeat, relief washed over him, but a new wave of anxiety hit him as he realized her heartbeat was weak and irregular. Hurriedly, he carried Soo-jin downstairs in his arms.
Media and reporters stormed into the house, capturing the scene of Joon-ho carrying Soo-jin down the stairs. Netizens watching the live stream furiously commented:
"I think I'm watching a live movie 😍."
"How romantic 🥰."
"Kim Soo-jin looked fine earlier in the car. How did she faint?"
"Hey, did you all notice her dress? It's ruined, and her tears have dried up."
"What just happened in that room? This man can do anything for love 😱."
Joon-ho, opening the car's back door, gently laid Soo-jin down on the seat. Climbing into the driver's seat, he fired up the engine again, his gaze focused ahead as he saw the paparazzi swarming in front of him.
The roar of the car's engine and Joon-ho's red eyes sent a wave of fear through the reporters and cameramen standing nearby. They thought to themselves:
"Even if our boss paid us a million won, we wouldn't stand in front of this madman's car. He's a force of destruction, tearing through anything in his way."
Terrified, they scattered, running for their lives to avoid being caught in his path. Joon-ho drove pass them effortlessly as the media vans quickly followed in pursuit.
As Ji-eun contemplated what new mess Kim Joon-ho might be creating for Soo-jin—she thought, Soo-jin is already sick, how could he make things even more difficult for her?
While thinking like that, she saw another BMW, this time wrecked, speeding recklessly toward her. Eyes wide open in panic, she braced for impact, slamming the brakes, thinking this time she was definitely done for.
I love you, Lee Min-su, she thought. I should have just heard what his answer was going to be. If he rejected me, I swear I would have killed him right then and there without hesitation.
Tears welled in her eyes as the car neared and zoomed past her with just inches to spare. Trembling, she instinctively answered her phone when it rang. A stern voice came through the other end. "Where are you, Miss Park Ji-eun?"
Without thinking and hearing anything in panic, Ji-eun blurted out her thoughts, "I love you."
The man on the other end fell silent. Realizing what she had said, Ji-eun immediately wanted to hang up but stopped herself this time. She wanted to hear his response.
It was the biggest mistake of her life. The man on the other side of the call began scolding her loudly.
"What the heck are you saying, Miss Park Ji-eun?! I'm a married man with two kids! How can you say this to me? I'm your father's age. You're like a daughter to me!"
Ji-eun was dumbfounded. Glancing at the caller ID, she rapidly apologized, "I'm so sorry, sir. I didn't mean to say that to you."
Embarrassment flooded her; not knowing what to say anymore, she quickly hung up. When she looked at the caller ID again,
remembering her slip-up to that forty-year-old geezer, goosebumps formed on her skin. She shivered in mortification. She didn't even want to recall that man's name anymore.
The rumbling sound of a car approaching brought her out of her thoughts. Seeing the media vans speeding past, she realized it was Joon-ho again.
Frowning and clutching the steering wheel tight, she muttered, "Because of that bastard, I embarrassed myself twice today in panic."
As the media vans rushed by, she opened her smartphone, opening the news channel to see what was going on.
The sight of Soo-jin unconscious on the news made her heart sink with worry. Without hesitation, she turned her car around and began following them.