This is the fourth story in the Undone series.
This is Jung Hoseok's time to shine.
He is taking control of a new project at Stellar Design, and he has decided it's time to take control of his love life as well. He is weary of being alone, and he...
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Hobi gently led Izzy up the path to his door, holding her closer as she started to shiver, hurrying to get her inside.
She had been so very quiet, but that was how she processed things. She was working out what to say and how to say it. Truthfully, he was doing the same.
He helped her out of her shoes at the door, smiling when her height shrank several inches. Her head fit perfectly under his chin, just like he remembered. He hung his jacket by the door and led her to the couch.
She stopped and motioned toward the bathroom and he nodded as she stepped away. He met her at the couch when she was done with a mug of hot chocolate and a fuzzy throw.
He settled on the couch beside her but before he could cover her in the wrap she shifted, pulling her legs beneath her and moving to face him. They sat for a moment, chest to chest, their breathing evening to match the other. And then without a word she snuggled into his chest and buried her face in his neck.
He sighed, content with the feel of her in his arms. He pulled the cover over her and held her until the tremors stopped.
He did not know if Izzy was cold or having a delayed reaction to the confrontation with Olivia. He had seen Olivia with Rege right before they left and she looked upset as well.
He tightened his arms around her and waited. At one point he even wondered if she had fallen asleep she was so still and quiet.
Then he heard her soft voice.
“ Thank you,” she said.
He was confused and started to ask her what she was thanking him for, then he looked down to catch her face.
She was frowning, tracing the letters of the shirt he was wearing.
He felt a bit silly then. It was a really old shirt, and she would never remember why he still had it.
“ Thank you for taking me to this concert,” she said surprising him.
She looked at him them, smiling at the surprise on his face. Of course she remembered that night.
“My mom said I couldn’t go see them because the crowd would be too rowdy. Do you remember?” she asked.
He nodded.
“And I asked everyone but they all told me “no” and poked fun at me because I wanted to go,” she said.
He tucked the hair away from her face. In that moment she was that hurt and angry 22 year old that threw herself on his bed and cried because she wanted to go to a concert.
“And you hated them, but you never made fun of me!” she continued. Hobi tried not to smile at that.
“And then you said you would go! And when my mom found out you were going with me she bought us both tickets,” Izzy remembered. “ She was so happy you would be with me!”
And at that Izabelle burst into tears.
Hobi was not prepared for her tears. He mumbled and made a fuss and tried to soothe her. What in the world was going on in that head of hers?
It took a few minutes, but she composed herself, sighing as he wiped the last few tears from her face.
“ Hoseok…..” She paused.
He braced himself. This was something much deeper than a half forgotten concert.
He found her hand and squeezed it tight, holding it against his heart. She moved back where she could see his face.
“ Hobi….”She tried again. “ I have to tell you the truth about why you were sent away from New York. “
He frowned, guessing where she was going with this, but unsure why they had to have this conversation.
He would listen. Whatever it was she needed to get it out in the open.
“My transfer from LA?” she asked, taking him back to that time.
He smiled. He had been so excited for her to come to New York.
“It was my dream Hobi. I applied from the moment I hot to LA for every opening they posted for New York."
"I had given up hope when one day, out of the blue, there was an email. 2 weeks. I was leaving for New York in 2 weeks."
"They helped me with all the moving stuff, told me I would have an apartment in New York for 3 months , until I found something. "
She paused for a moment.
"The only catch was that I could tell absolutely no one that I was transferring. They did not tell me my new position, only that it was being created and my salary would be significantly increased.”
Hobi watched as her eyes caught his and then darted away.
“Go on,” he encouraged.
“When I got there they took me straight into the director’s office. I thought that was weird, but I…..I didn’t know.”
“He told me that day that I would be taking over your duties and that you were being given a promotion. I was so excited for you,” her voice broke and she took a minute to catch her breath.
“ I was so excited! I could not wait to see you ! Olivia stopped by and took me out to lunch. She had a hundred excuses as to why we could not call or see you just then. She also told me the apartment they had promised me was actually rooming with her. Just like old times, right?” Izzy stopped with a bitter laugh.
“You know what happened next. I finally got to see you that night and you told me about your new job and that it was a promotion and how excited you were. I should have paid closer attention. I was just stunned and you seemed so happy. It was not until we got back to Olivia’s that she told me that was not true.”
Tears were falling freely now.
“I did not know Hobi! I swear to you!! I did not know. Olivia does not believe me! She says that I had to know what was going on, that I had applied for so many jobs and so many times that it was bound to happen.”
Izzy was rambling now, her hands clutched in his shirt. He tried to calm her, explain to her, but she had started and she had to finish.
“Olivia says that the company could only have one of us, the chouce was me or you. She said that you would not understand why you were sent away, why I …t..ttt..took your job.”
She was struggling to finish and he was stunned at what she was saying.
“I tried, Hobi, I tried, I promise. I tried to call you but your phone was already being answered by the company answering service."
"Then I called the director that night. He was so angry that I called. I told him that I wanted to go back to LA and that you did not have to leave, that you could stay and have your job back.”
She drew a deep breath to continue and Hobi felt the anger radiate off her.
“He called me a “little idiot” and said that was not how it was going to work. He said there was not a job in LA anymore and if I refused the position he just gave me I was fired, without references and my portfolio stayed with them.”
Izzy looked at him with such guilt his heart ached. “I wish I had said “no” so you did not have to go away,” she whispered.
“Olivia got mad when she found out that I called the director, then her mom called and cursed both of us."
"Olivia refused to tell me where you were and I was going crazy to see you, to at least talk to you. Then after another bottle of wine and a couple of pills she told me."
"I barely made it to the airport. And when I did, I……I couldn’t do it. I could not figure out a way to tell you. I was still trying to make sense of it myself. I am so sorry…I wish….”
He kissed her gently and wiped her tears.
“shhhhhh, shhhhhhhh,” he gentled her until she was quiet.
“And Olivia, did she take any responsibility?” he asked, his voice still calming.
Izzy shook her head, missing the look of anger that raced across his face.
“A couple of months later she let slip that her mom had contacts here and that she was keeping tabs on what you were doing,” she told him.
“Other things she has said let me know her mom was involved with the teansfer."
"Olivia says that you would not understand that either and that once you knew you would never want to see or speak to either of us again.”
Her voice was hollow, like she was telling a story she had rehearsed too many times.
“Then recently she told me the same thing when I confronted her about sending me here, blind to your position in this company. She told me the same thing again tonight,” she paused a drew a shuddering breath.
“ Hobi….I am so very, very sorry,” she said slowly.
He shook his head at her and dropped a kiss in her hair.
