ENDGAME - [종성]

12 | mindless agreement

"Joa, i want you to be my fiancee"
Jay's voice hissed in Joa's ear, she didn't seem to believe what her own director said .

"I'm sorry , Director Park . Can you repeat what you said?  I think I forgot to clean my ears "
She was sure she had misheard what Jay meant .

Jay tries to keep a smiling face ,
"I want you to be my fiance "

Joa was deadpanned, she patted her ears as if wanting to throw away earwax ,
"Do you realize what you just said , Director Park ?"

Jay lowly chuckled and leaned on the backrest of the couch with his hands clasping with each other .
"Have you ever heard of contract marriage ?"

"I don't want to step into a big relationship so I want to offer you a contract engagement"

Joa frowned , does this smarty director think that a bond is a playful thing ?
"And what made you offer me that sort of offer, Director Park "

"I'm sure you also know that something like a wedding or an engagement is not a trivial matter"

Jay rubbed his chin , considering Joa's opinion .
"Well, I just want you to help me"

"You yourself saw Jake, kissing another girl in front of you.  And the girl that he kissed was my girlfriend"

"What if we pretend to be in a relationship?  They will realize that they lost a big part of their lives and will try to get us back"

"And boom ! Saena will come back to me and you can take Jake"

Joa was haunted by the question.  How does Jay know she likes Jake?  She has never told anyone about Jake except Uyeong .

Jay seemed to understand Joa's facial expression so he quickly replied .
"If you ask how I found out that you have feelings for Jake, you are really stupid. Your eyes tell everything, you bursted out crying after we left that restaurant"

"You cry real bad and your mascara fades. I thought that you were a ghost or something"

Joa huffed, she couldn't refute Jay's argument . Thinking that this deal would have an impact on her life, Joa could not go blind and jumped into the agreement .
"I'm so sorry , Director Park . I guess you might just move on from Ms. Kang Saena.  I don’t have the courage to disrupt other people’s relationships for the sake of self -satisfaction"

"And if you really love Ms. Kang, you should let her go with a man she truly loves"

"Because being in a relationship with her will not make things turned good if her heart belongs to someone else"

"You will only hurt yourself"

Without waiting for Jay to reply to her argument, Joa immediately got up from the couch and bowed ninety degrees to the kiddy director .
"Please excuse me, I have a class to manage"

Jay was stunned , he scoffed in disbelief when Joa left his room without his permission.  Pinching his forehead, Jay let out a heavy sigh .
"Only Joa can help me get Saena back ..."

✿

"I can't believe him ... How can he think of something like that ??"
Joa shook her head, she felt that Jay was still childish but thanks to his skill in managing work affairs, their school operates very well .

As she walked past the hallway, her steps halted in a midway . Having a lot of suspicion, Joa decided to turn around and ended up stopping in front of an old store room door .

She slowly brought her ears closer to the door, her brows rose up once she heard the voice of someone really familiar to her eardrums .

After fighting with those silent thoughts in her mind, Joa decided to open the door knob . To her horror, she was surprised to see Mr. Kang Daeho in it but what was even more surprising was witnessing Aeri who got pinned on the store wall by Mr. Kang .

Aeri gasped and immediately pushed Mr Kang's hand away from her . 
"Ms. Ryu ... What are you doing here?"

Arching her left eyebrow, Joa crossed her both arms close to her chest .
"I should be the one who asked you . What are YOU doing here ?"

Her eyes shifted towards Kang Daeho who looked really frustrated and disturbed with her appearance  .
"And you're here with Mr Kang ?"

"I'm sure you know that false rumours can spread in the blink of an eye"

Aeri became restless ,
"It's not what you expected , Ms. Ryu !"

She gazed towards Mr. Kang for a second before speeding towards Joa , clasping her both hands together .
"I swear I just helped Mr Kang clean up the store earlier"

She looked towards Mr Kang who was poking his inner cheeks with his tongue.  Somehow she felt like something wrong was happening but she didn’t want to make her own conclusions .

"Let's go back to class, Aeri . I'm sure you don't want to miss class"

Ignoring Mr.  Kang's glimpse, Joa pushes Aeri's shoulder so that she walked out with her. She then grabbed the youngster's arm and carried her away from the store earlier .

Arriving in an alley far from being the focus of the students, Joa finally let go of Aeri's hand.  She could clearly see the fear in her eyes .

"Aeri, be honest with me. Did Mr. Kang do something to you?"

"Don't be afraid, I will do anything for you"

"Mr. Kang will not be able to harm you as long as i'm here—"

"STOP IT , MS RYU !"
Aeri yelled out loud while shrugging off Joa's hands away from her shoulders .

She exhaled sharply and took a few steps away from the startled teacher .
"I'm just helping Mr. Kang.  Why are you reacting like this ?"

"Ms. Ryu, I have matured and I know how to manage my daily things"

"If I have a problem, I'll let you know ."

Aeri bowed to her ,
"Please excuse me . I guess i'm late for my class"

She sped off leaving Joa alone in the hallway.  The teacher patted her chest, trying to calm herself.  This was the first time Aeri raised her voice to her .

"Calm down, Joa. Aeri will let you know if she's in trouble"

"Oh gosh , I am so paranoid . What do I even think ?"

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A/N : heh , i'm back ~ sorry for making yall wait T__T