FALLING SLOWLY ||Complete||

Burned bridge

Here she is not Hae Soo, but Ha Jin, and here breath comes easily. She takes a look at the brushes and sniffs appreciatively at the powders before flashing a grin at Woo Hee, who waits with her arms folded until her inspection is over. The knowledge that she is still the best makeup artist they could find at a short notice makes her pride swell a little. She has sworn off that passion of hers, when she had been accepted into the ranks of the Hae family. Hae girls did not dress other people - her aunt had said with utmost conviction. It was beneath their station to have a daughter - adopted or not - involved in a career like that.

But still Ha Jin found her escape from the weight of her responsibilities still in here, where she would fill in whenever they were short of someone of her caliber. It was non - commissioned work. Charity - she labeled it for the benefit of her new family. Ladies were allowed to do that.

Her mobile had been turned off, ever since she reached out to Woo Hee. One thing she is sure of is that she knew of her own mind. If she answers one of the many calls Wook had been giving since morning, she would succumb to his soothing words and go back to the glided cage of playing princess of Haes. She is not in the right mind to play Hae Soo, tonight. Tonight she would breathe instead as Ha Jin, after a long time. 
Eventually she would forgive him, she confesses to herself. Find that string worth of patience to listen to his part of the story. But that will not be tonight

“All set?” Woo Hee asks finally, clipboard in hand. She is always prime and proper, her friend. The only person who agreed to call her with her old name. There is a sense of hard work - no nonsense stretched into her very being. Ha Jin smiles at her with a curt nod before getting up.

“We are done here.” She tells with the rare satisfaction of a job well done and starts to pack her case. “What are your plans for tonight - might I be able to tempt you to go out with me?”

Woo Hee grins at her as she considers the idea but shakes her head nevertheless.

“We are not done though.” She says as she scans her clipboard.

“Huh? Shoot is almost done no?”

Her expression skeptical, Woo Hee shakes her head.

“Almost but not all.” She sounds tired and annoyed. “That Hwang guy didn’t turn up yet did he?” She mutters darkly, “then after I’m supposedly enlisted to watch over the arrangement of their Media conference as well. Athletes…!” she shakes her head. “I’ll breathe free once this world championship cover is off my shoulders - what’s wrong?”

“Hwang So?” Her voice is almost a whisper.

”That’s the one.” Woo Hee, taps the clipboard. “Always late. I’ve had my fair share of lectures because of him. But he is supposedly the hope of the season - aish, where is this guy!”

“You said seven o’ clock did you not?” His voice makes her tingle with nerves, Ha Jin turns away from it but instead catches his eye in the vanity mirror. “Hello Miss Hae!”
The ever polite Hwang So is dressed impeccably in sleek black, transformed from his careless attire to elegant style effortlessly. Her throat runs dry at the sharpness of his profile and she avoids his eyes turning to fiddle with her supplies. “Still, I’m sorry if my manager mixed it up.”

“Your manager never gets anything straight does he?” Woo Hee says darkly before turning to Ha Jin. “Jin - ah, you can take it from here right? I have to run along and check the conference hall too. There is this fishy reporter guy in the list, I need to see what he is planing to ask before letting him in.”

Ha Jin nods mechanically, knowing there is no excuse to be offered at the moment. She shifts uncomfortably as So takes his seat and looks at her hopefully. With a pleased nod Woo Hee leaves them, the ticking of her heels on the floor vanishing along the corridor.

“She is working herself into a temper,” So comments offhandedly.

Soo tries to shrug and make it look nonchalant but she can’t bring her eyes to lift up to his face yet. She lays out the brushes and does the tone checks on autopilot.

“So you are a makeup artist?” There is a note of amusement in his voice. She nods, opting to shift her attention to the task at hand instead.

“I’m just helping out - their scheduled professional had a bit of a situation.” Words come easy now that she has a brush in her hand. She holds it tight for courage. Her grip shakes however as their eyes meet.

He holds her wrist gently but unexpectedly.

“You are not looking at me.” The general observation makes her eyes snap up. He is frowning lightly, fingers still swathed around her wrist. “What’s the matter - Hae Soo?”

Her lips are dry and her heart pounds in her ears. In an involuntary movement Soo wets her lips feeling the dry contour under her tongue with distaste. The movement makes his eyes shift into her lips and snap back at her eyes. A slow smile curls the corner of his lips as his fingers fell away.

“Easy Hae Soo - I’m not going to eat you up.”

For all the small mercies - she thinks with a frown.

“Close your eyes.” she commands for the sake of her own sanity. He follows a little too obediently.

“Are you hiding Hae Soo?” He asks after a moment, when she has almost relaxed into the well known routine of her work.

“From whom?”

His eyes snap open, a moment too soon for her to move away. The starless depths keep her frozen in mid stroke as Soo waits for his answer.

“You fought.”

Always seeing too much. She sighs with distaste there is no need to bother him with clarifications. 
“I don’t like lies.”

So raises his eyebrows and she gulps.

“Hypocrisy it might sound to you of cause. But you have no idea - oh no you don’t!” She snaps and moves away, stashing her supplies with too much force than required.

“He lied to my face. I’m just taking time to come in terms with that.” He says nothing, but she senses him standing up. Her hands are balled, breath uneven, she lets the frustration take control of her for a moment. Bottled up for too long, pent up and brewing - she lets it all wash off and Hwang So takes it in stride.

He stands in front of her and slowly takes her hands in his. Taking time and with frighteningly delicate movements he unfolds her curled fingers and then she looks up at him.

“Breathe.” She blinks in confusion as her mind clears a bit. His voice is exceptionally calm. “And tell me from the beginning.” She says nothing. There is something about So that steals her speech. With his index finger So rubs her palm in a soothing circle. That almost friendly gesture feels so intimate suddenly, that a shiver passes down her spine. “I’m listening Hae Soo.”

”I’m not Hae Soo.” She says in the end exhaling deeply. “My name is Go Ha Jin.”
His hand slips away, in the pause that follows her admission. Looking up, she finds a strange look that flashes through his eyes.

“You remember?” His voice is almost a whisper, a reverent one at that.

“Yes - you saved me didn’t you?”

As she watches, her gaze curious she notices the moment something breaks inside him. So takes a step back from her.

“Is that what he lied to you about?”

“Does that make any difference?” The hurt in her voice surprises her as she hears her own voice. There is a darkness eclipsing his features as she speaks and involuntarily she reaches out in desperate need to chase it away. Her hand only brushes the expensive material of his jacket.

“It’s not his fault.” He tells her, with a faint smile that does not touch his eyes. “I am the reason he lied.”