Chapter 8  

With rickety steps, I walked out of the mall parking lot.

"Are you okay? Are you sure you don’t have to go to the hospital?" Na AhJung followed me with worry in her voice. "It was really loud when you fell...Are you sure you’re okay?"

I stopped walking and with my teeth clenched replied to her, "Are you a goldfish? Do you forget after 3 seconds? I already told you I was okay? Three times."

"It’s just that I’m so worried...What if you are not okay but are just saying you are ok..."

"If I’m not okay, then there must be a reason I’m saying I am okay!"

"What, why? Are you embarrassed? It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s alright. You’re only human, you can fall. Don’t worry about it. I understand," she said.

"You think I care if you understand or not? No, do you think this is something you should even try to understand in the first place? This is something you should be apologizing for!"

"Me? Why?"

"Because it’s all your fault!" I blurted out angrily, and stomped toward the car.

"What?!"

That’s right. The reason I fell is because of this girl. If this girl didn’t distract me. If I wasn’t paying attention to her! I never would have fallen so shamefully. From the very beginning, her very existence was the cause of my fall!

After a few steps I arrived at the car and opened the driver’s side door. I saw Na AhJung head toward the passenger’s side. I pretended to not have seen her and locked the door after I got in. Na AhJung’s hands grabbed the door handle too late.

"Uh, mister," she said. "The door is not opening!"

Na AhJung knocked on the outside window, but I didn’t even spare a glance and started to back out of the parking spot. She continued to knock and followed the car.

"Mister! I didn’t get in, Mister!" Na AhJung called out desperately, but after I backed out I changed the gear with a smirk.

Looking straight ahead, I stepped on the acceleration. The car veered forward and increased to a speed Na Ahkung could not keep up with. hen the car passed Na Ahjung, she let out a scream. A scream so loud it was practically a shriek. I slammed on the breaks and checked the rear view mirror. Behind the car, Na AhJung looked to have fallen down. She was holding her foot with a pained expression on her face.

***

Na AhJung

The accident happened without warning. Lee JiHan’s back wheel had run over my righ toe. The moment I felt the pressure on my big toe, I was so caught off guard that I let out a scream. The car wheel passed over my toe swiftly, and I lost my balance and fell down.

"O." I cried.

My foot got run over, run over!

I was in shock as I held my pained foot. I was checking it out to see if it was ok when Lee JiHan ran over. He knelt down beside me with eyes wide in shock and examined my foot.

"I didn’t hit you with my car did I?" he asked.

I was a bit disoriented so I was only able to nod and I again checked my right foot. My big toe was throbbing and it hurt so badly I was unable to put any strength on it.

"Oh, my foot...! My foot, the bone must be broken...!" I started to tear up from fear when Lee JiHan yelled at me.

"If you just got out of the way this wouldn’t have happened?!"

"Huh....?!"

It was bad enough that I was in pain, I felt so betrayed that tears streamed down my face. My heart had been so surprised that I was unable to control my emotions and the tears continued to fall. At the same time, I couldn’t help but voice my discontent.

"What, even this is my fault? From the beginning: If a bug comes out, it’s my fault. If you fall down, it’s my fault. If you hit me, it’s my fault. What did I do that was so wrong? I mean, even if you hate me that much, this is not right! Why would you hit a person? And with a car? I could have died!"

"Just because I ran over your foot a little, you won’t die. Stop overreacting."

"Who was the one that ran to the hospital because he hurt his foot a little!" I yelled.

Lee JiHan must have felt a pang of guilt because he flinched and looked down, stone faced, at my foot.

"At least after you hurt your foot you were able to run around, I can’t even move my foot! I can’t move it!" I shrieked.

"You really can’t move your foot?" Lee JiHan asked with a serious expression.

"What, you think I’m faking that I can’t move it? Really, what do you see me as?" I was so overwhelmed with sorrow that tears flowed continuously. Holding my hurting foot, I whimpered.

"Oh, my leg...oh, my leg..." I moaned in agony.

Soon, my moaning was cut short because all of a sudden, Lee JiHan lifted me into his arms. With one arm on my shoulder and the other wrapped around my two legs, he lifted me into his arms and ran to the car.

***

While Lee JiHan drove to the hospital, I was more afraid for my life than my leg. At this speed, death seemed to be staring me in the face. Lee JiHan didn’t say a word the whole way, he just had this determined expression on his face as if he was Batman to the rescue.

Once we arrived at the hospital, Lee JiHan again swooped me up and rushed me to the emergency room. I was afraid I would fall so I wrapped myself around his neck as tight as I could while he took me to the emergency room beds.

"Her foot got run over by a car wheel, please take a look at it quickly." Lee JiHan’s voice was serious as he rushed the doctor.

"We’ll just take off your shoes." The doctor held his hand out toward my right foot as I lay on the bed. The moment the doctor’s hands touched my shoes, I grabbed his arm in desperation.

"You’re just going to take it off?" I cried.

"Yes," replied the doctor. "Why? Does your foot hurt a lot? Do you think you won’t be able to take it off?"

"It hurts too much" I replied. "Inside, I think my foot will be swollen. My toe nails will probably be broken, .and if you just take it off, I feel like it will hurt!" I cried in fear.

"Does it hurt that much?" Lee JiHan asked with worry written all over his face. Watching that expression made me even more distraught. I imagined how gruesome my foot would be, and I blamed him for it.

"Ah...! My leg, my leg....! Oh, what do I do....!"

"Cutting off the shoes with scissors looks to be a good idea," Lee JiHan told the Doctor in a serious tone.

"Oh, all right." As the doctor went to go get the scissors, Lee JiHan paced beside me not knowing what to do with himself.

As the doctor took the scissors to my shoes, Lee JiHan squeezed my shoulder. Then he spoke to me face to face.

"Just hold on a little. Taking it off like this won’t hurt as much."

The doctor took the scissors and snip snip, started to cut open the shoes. The sound made it feel like my skin was being sliced up and it sent chills down my spine. At the same time, I was stuck imagining another gruesome scene which made me lose my mind a little. I grabbed Lee JiHan by the collar and shook him.

"You think that just because you take it off without hurting me, this is okay? It’s the next part that’s the problem! The next part! Shit, what are you going to do about my leg, my leg!"

The doctor had carefully slipped off the shoes, and even cut off the sock. As the air touched my bare feet, I covered my face to shield myself from the horrific sight.

"Ah, I can’t look...."

Lee JiHan grabbed my wrist, moved it down and looked into my eyes.

"Na AhJung, it’s not that big a deal," he said calmly. "Even if it is, I will do whatever it takes to make sure you are fine and I will take full responsibility for it." His tone made me feel reassured. "I will take care of it. So whatever happens, don’t panic."

"Uh, miss?" said the Doctor. "Look here."

For a second, I twitched and looked at Lee JiHan with fear in my eyes. He took my two hands in his and gazed into my eyes to remind me I was okay, and nodded his head. There was no way around it, so I took a deep breath and accepted my fate. My gaze slowly moved toward my foot.

I stared at my foot, which was not gruesome whatsoever, but completely and utterly fine. Not even a single scratch.

"From the outside, it looks to be fine." Said the doctor.

Seriously...Why is my foot so normal? I didn’t even get a cracked toenail?

"Your big toe is a bit red but it looks to be a slight sprain...Does it hurt a lot?" The doctor examined my right foot and shook his head.

"It...it hurts. It had hurt a lot!" I insisted.

"It will hurt if you put pressure on it. By tomorrow there will probably be severe bruising."

"It doesn’t just hurt when there’s pressure. It’s my big toe, I was unable to move it before."

"How about now?"

I concentrated on my toe and carefully tried to move it. "Oh...it moves now...."

It was a bit stiff but seeing the relatively normal toe made me contemplate the body’s mysterious turn of events. I was sure that before, it had hurt so much that I couldn’t move it but by the time I got in the car and got here, it must have healed itself. It was mysterious and kind of embarrassing. Damn.

I felt Lee JiHan’s hands slip away from mine and I swallowed hard, my throat dry.

"Oh, I mean, why is it moving? Before, it really didn’t move?"

"Do you want me to make it not move permanently?" Like the calm before the storm, I shrank under Lee JiHan’s placid voice.

"Uh, no...."

"I knew you were an actress told ten years, but I can’t believe I almost fell for it! I thoroughly enjoyed your acting. I’ve never seen acting that was so realistic, and I didn’t even have to pay for it. I can’t thank you enough."

"I, that was not acting. Really, it hurt a lot!"

"I’m not going to believe your excuses so let’s pretend I didn’t hear it. Let’s just be thankful that you can walk with that foot. So you can head home using those two feet, by yourself."

With those cold words, Lee JiHan left without looking back.

"Uh, mis...mister?" I stammered.

There wasn’t even a chance to try and catch him, Lee JiHan exited the emergency room speedily. I glanced at my bare right foot and my cut up shoes and was tear stricken, contemplating what I should do.

***

Lying there in my stepmother’s living room, I remembered the embarrassing scene that had occurred a couple of hours ago and kicked the blanket off.

I mean, I’m positive that it had hurt a lot! Why am I only getting a bruise? Grr, what an embarrassment....

I buried my face in my hands. It would have been better if I had definitely gotten hurt. Why does it just hurt a lot but look fine? He’s going to treat me like I faked the pain when I was fine. Shoot. After this embarrassing fiasco, how could I face Lee JiHan again? Just imagining it was insanely uncomfortable. Who would have thought I would find a place more uncomfortable than here.

I looked around my bedroom, which was actually a living room, and thought that although it wasn’t the best, it was probably better than any place near Lee JiHan. Even though I had not once thought of this place as a home, at least Lee JiHan was not here. This fact alone made me realize there was nothing else I wanted.

But tomorrow, tomorrow’s sun would rise, and I would have to see Lee JiHan again. How could I face Lee JiHan tomorrow? Just thinking about it was agonizing and I kicked the air above me. My cell phone, which had been sitting near my head, started to ring. I flipped myself over onto my stomach and answered it.

It had rang at this exact time before. This same unknown number. I got a strange chilling feeling, and I hesitated before answering.

"He...Hello?"

[Are you not coming?]

"What?!"

I was so surprised by Lee JiHan’s voice that I shot up and sat down.

[You said you will gain my approval for this wedding. Did you give up already?]

"Oh, no. I haven’t. I haven’t given up!"

I heard him scoff over the phone.

[If it’s not a surrender then you better get over here now.]

"Now? At this very moment?!"

[I will only go to sleep after I confirm you came back home. If you want to deprive me of my sleep then go ahead and come as slowly as you want.]

Lee JiHan hung up. I scrambled to my feet and ran so fast, I saw smoke.