Lights Don't Go Out in the Annex - Chapter 31
CHAPTER 31
Leeseo exited through the employee-only entrance. Closing the heavy door behind her, she turned and then froze in place.
Minhu was standing under the wall of the opposite. When he saw her with a surprised expression, he smiled wryly.
“We agreed to meet at the convenience store.”
Minhu scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
“I just thought maybe we could walk together.”
He was dressed in a white short-sleeve t-shirt and jeans, just like when he was in school. It seemed like he had smiled like that when she had unexpectedly encountered him before while exiting through this entrance.
“Have you eaten dinner?”
“Not yet but I should eat.”
“Then, how about having dinner together? There’s a good place nearby for pork bone soup. Leeseo, you used to like pork bone soup.”
“I have somewhere to be.”
“That’s too bad. I should have called sooner.”
Leeseo walked down the slope without saying anything. Of course, she was lying when she said she had other plans. She didn’t want to give Minhu any wiggle room now that she realized he had feelings for her.
She felt a little guilty about lying to such a good person, but her expression remained calm, and for some reason, she suddenly remembered Kwon Taegyeom.
An empty house and an empty weekend. What could he be doing right now? Was he even eating properly?
Considering the fridge in the annex was stocked to the brim with booze and no real food, it’s a mystery how he keeps his huge bulk and hard muscles looking so good.
As her thoughts wandered that far, she let out a small chuckle.
You’re crazy, Hyun Leeseo, to be worried about him right now.
At this very moment, Taegyeom could be somewhere drunk and flirting with other. And even if his blood was all alcohol, it should have nothing to do with her.
Minhu glanced cautiously at Leeseo as they stumbled down the alley, looking a little angry. In contrast to her cool, expressionless face, her hair, tied in a single bun, bounced lightly behind her back. Minhu stared in rapture at her rounded ears, white neckline, and the strands of hair that cascaded over it.
A few blocks down the alley, there was a relatively large convenience store at a small intersection. If she got tired of walking up these alleys from the main street, she would stop at the convenience store and get an ice cream cone or something.
The convenience store had been around since she was a student in the neighborhood, and it was like a neighborhood hangout. As she trudged down the street toward the convenience store, she heard a loud exhaust echoing down the alleyway.
Accompanied by the thunderous noise, a low-slung, sleek sports car smoothly slid closer. Despite climbing up the hill at a leisurely pace, the low exhaust alone conveyed a sense of intimidation.
It wasn’t uncommon to see foreign cars or flashy sports cars in this upscale neighborhood, but that was a rare model of a car that was said to be one of the few in the country. Minhu observed the slowly approaching car with interest.
The windows were tinted dark, making it difficult to see inside. The clean, dust-free bonnet shone as smooth as a pebble. As the black sports car slowly passed beside them, Minhu tugged on Leeseo’s shoulder and moved her inward the path.
“Ah…”
“Be careful. It’s uphill here, and the cars are speeding.”
Leeseo looked at Minhu with a puzzled expression on her face, then nodded in understanding, her face still slightly dazed.
It was a scorching hot day where the asphalt was baking. In this neighborhood, it was rather unusual to see people walking around in this kind of weather, sweating profusely. Minhu, too, usually drove around in a car, but the presence of Leeseo walking alongside him made him smile.
They had arrived at the convenience store. Minhu seated Leeseo at a simple table with a parasol and ran into the convenience store. He returned shortly with two iced coffees in plastic cups.
“Here, coffee. I guess it’s really summer now. It’s almost evening but it’s still so hot.”
Despite having walked for just about ten minutes, sweat was already pouring down their foreheads. Sitting across from Leeseo and leaning forward, Minhu began to talk about what had been going on with her lately.
“By the way, I bet there were a lot of guys at school regretting that you took a leave. You were quite popular, Leeseo. You received so many gifts…”
Minhu, who had brought up the topic discreetly, cast a sidelong glance at her. There was a hint of something in his eyes, as if he was looking at something beyond her.
“I heard there’s coffee every day in the library wherever you sit, and there’s a guy who sends gifts to your dorm.”
This was not a pleasant topic for Leeseo. The gifts from an unknown sender had been more annoying and unsettling than enjoyable, left her feeling uneasy and anxious. The sender had somehow discovered her dorm room and persistently sent unsettling gifts. Some of the gifts she received were quite creepy, and she found them discomforting.
Some days it was a bouquet of flowers, other days it was books she’d been eyeing from the library. Jieun, her friend, realized her anxiety and tried to help her, trying to figure out who her creepy stalker was. But there was no way to catch someone who just left gifts and disappeared without a trace.
Leeseo decision to take a leave of absence from school was largely influenced by Gyucheol’s incident. She had been mentally exhausted and found the unwanted attention from an unknown sender unsettling.
“Even though you don’t know who it is, they must be suffering right now because they can’t see your face.”
Minhu chuckled and scratched the bridge of his nose. Instead of answering, Leeseo took a sip of her coffee through the straw. Just as she did, her phone in her pocket started vibrating.
Minhu stopped talking and motioned for her to answer. She took out her phone and checked the screen.
Leeseo’s eyebrows furrowed. An unsaved number, but she knew who it belonged to. She asked Minhu for permission and got up from her seat, walking away from the table to answer the call.
“Hello?”
- What are you doing?
Kwon Taegyeom asked in a casual tone somewhat sulky tone, as if it was a matter of course for them to exchange phone calls. His voice sounded casual and bored as always. It felt like any ordinary conversation between two people who knew each other well.
Leeseo bit her lower lip slightly as she listened to his voice. Just hearing his voice made her stomach tighten strangely. She could almost see the man’s face in front of her, insensitive and heartless.
“I’m outside, meeting someone.”
She blurted out the answer casually but then wondered why she was bothering to explain it in detail to him.
“Why?”
When she responded with a bit of defiance, Taegyeom’s laughter came from the other side of the phone. It sounded as if he found it amusing that she was questioning him.
She was getting herself all worked up and Taegyeom-conscious. She needed to calm down. Leeseo sighed and regulated her breathing. As she did, Taegyeom spoke.
- What do you mean ‘why’?
“…”
Leeseo remained silent.
- Come here, to the annex.
It was an arrogant commanding tone. Taegyeom’s voice was dry and cold, without a trace of his usual laughter when he was teasing her.
She knew that it was in his nature to give commands and instructions, but she had no intention of following him blindly. She had been through enough to know that.
His condescending attitude and the way he ordered her around were not new to her. In the past, she might have tolerated it and tried to keep him entertained by doing whatever he wanted. But now, Leeseo could see through the arrogance that masked his raw desires.
Taegyeom had played with her like she was a pet, obediently running to him like a dog whenever he called. But now, Leeseo realized the underlying raw desire beneath his arrogance.
She understood that he had crossed the line of dangerous desire and now recognized the raw need behind his arrogant call, and he didn’t seem to have the will to hide it anymore. He just wanted to call her because he felt like it.
Her private parts still tingled and ached as if something were still embedded in them.
How long had it been since he’d unleashed all his desires until a person was almost unconscious? How long had he been calling me like this, summoning me like a pet?
Despite the uncomfortable situation, Leeseo responded firmly to Taegyeom’s audacious attitude.
“I’ve already told you. I’m meeting someone right now.”
- I know. I saw.
Leeseo glanced around, startled. Under the parasol in front of the convenience store, there were two young men who seemed to be university students. They were snacking on something and sipping beer from a can. And at the table behind her, Minhu was staring at her intently as she continued her phone call.
Even though these were just strange words blurted out carelessly, she almost fell into Kwon Taegyeom’s trap again. She furrowed her brow and lowered her voice as she spoke.
“I feel uncomfortable saying this, but I’ll just come right out and say it. I don’t work for you, Mr. Kwon Taegyeom, so why should I drop everything I’m doing and go to you just because you called me at random?”
For a moment, there was silence, but then Taegyeom’s calm voice echoed in her ear.
- I never really thought of you as someone working under me, but it seems you do like being under me.
His tone was shamelessly confident. Leeseo’s face flushed with anger.
This crazy man.