Pretend Love

Chapter 12: Tossing and turning

"Ow!" Sungjae exclaimed, holding his nose. When he removed his hand, it was covered in blood.

"Stay the hell away from Suzy!" Vincent warned him, "or you'll end up with way worse than a broken nose or a cracked lip."

"Why do you care? She's just your ticket to living the American dream. And you're just her ticket to a promotion."

"I hear you've been talking to Richard Bae," Vincent scoffed. "Did he tell you to go on a fishing expedition? Try to dig up some dirt on your big brother? I bet you just jumped at the chance, didn't you? Anything to even the score, right?"

"I'm not keeping score, Hyung. But if I was, I'd say I am a hell of a lot closer to getting into Suzy's pants than you are."

"Oh, you're asking for it," Vincent growled and lunged at Sungjae, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

"What are you doing?" a voice exclaimed. "Vincent!"

The two men, currently acting more like boys than adults, froze at the sound of Suzy's voice. Vincent got to his feet first, pushing Sungjae down in the process.

Suzy took one look at the two of them and tended to the most wounded. "You should go get that cleaned up before it gets infected," she said and helped Sungjae to his feet.

"Gomawo, Suzyssi," Sungjae said, "I honestly don't know what came over him."

Suzy looked at Vincent, who was seething, and didn't know what to think.

"When you leaned against that tree, it stained your dress, and Hyung thought..."

Suzy's jaw dropped.

Vincent didn't say a word, simply clenched his jaw.

"I'll be right back," Suzy said to Vincent and helped Sungjae inside, calling for Soo-young to help him get cleaned up.

In the kitchen, she grabbed a washcloth and wetted it before returning to Vincent, who was waiting by the car. Without a word, she walked up to him, took his right hand and wiped the blood from his knuckles. Then she tossed the towel at him and got in the car.

Vincent looked at her as if demanding an explanation.

"You're taking me to lunch, right?"

Vincent didn't reply, he simply tossed the cloth in the backseat and got behind the wheel.

They were halfway to the nearest town before Suzy broke the silence. "So, you wanna tell me what that was really about?"

"No."

"Fine. Then how 'bout this... When exactly did you start seeing me as whore?"

If Vincent had been sipping a glass of wine, the inside of the car would have been sprayed with red liquid. "Excuse me?"

"I suppose it's my fault for agreeing to this arrangement in the first place - letting you buy my cooperation - but I can't believe you would think I'd give it up for your brother. Do you really think that little of me?"

"You don't know my brother, Suzy."

"This isn't about him, Vincent. It's about what you think of me."

"Does it matter?" he said coldly.

"No, I suppose it doesn't. But if we're going to fool people into thinking we're in love, you better start acting like you trust me."

"Fine," he huffed.

"Fine." She crossed her arms and pushed back against the seat.

They drove in silence the rest of the way. Vincent parked the car outside a small restaurant and got out. Suzy remained in the car and so he walked around and opened her door.