Vulnerable Heart

Chapter 9: Day 9: Breaking

{G}

"Why?"

That was the only question Ga Eul could think of as she lay on her bed. Hours had gone by one, two, three... It was hard not to burst into tears at this point. Why had she believed that So YI Jeong would keep his word? He had stood her up.

"I'm an idiot." Ga Eul whispered to herself hugging her body and wanting to bury herself deep within the bed.

She hadn't brought along much on the trip but her mother had insisted she bring a small black dress. The dress was short, to her knees but had that air like flow to it that poofed the dress up enough from the bottom, on the top it hugged her body enough and the material was warm enough to keep her just like that at night. Her hair was in soft curls and she wore the softest makeup.

"Natural beauty is what a woman should strive for." Ga Eul remembered her mother saying to her.

"What use is that now?" She wanted to ask herself. Tears welled up in her eyes and her shoulders shook once again.

There was a knot that had been swallowed. Causing an irritation to go down her throat knotting itself down to where her collar bone was. Irritating her further and further with lack of air until she could only gasp and force herself to swallow. It was then that the strain moved to her heart and all Ga Eul could do was clutch at it tightly.

"Ga Eul. You pabo." She spoke to herself. Scolding herself once again for even thinking that she could believe in him. Had liking someone that had been out of her reach before not taught her a lesson? Why was it that Ga Eul always believed in fairytales?

She wanted to forget and as she tried to cling to the rest of the night and find herself a bit of peace there came a frantic knock at her door. Wiping at her tears as quickly as she could Ga Eul headed for her door wondering who was knocking at such a later time.

"Yes?"

"Who is it?"

"Ga Eul. It's Geum Jan Di." Came the hesitant voice of the young heiress.

"Is something wrong?"

"Do you need anything?" Ga Eul questioned heading towards the door and opening it to find Jan Di with a look of dread on her face. Her eyes were red and swollen and Ga Eul was confused as to why Jan Di was crying. Briefly, she wondered if Goo Jun Pyo might have hurt her feelings in some sort of way.

"Are you alright? Did something happen?" Ga Eul asked once again.

This time, Ga Eul was shocked when Jan Di hugged her rather tightly.

"It's Yi Jeong." Jan Di spoke causing Ga Eul to freeze. The tightness in her heart increased but it was like the rest of her body became numb and somehow her mind had gone foggy. There were moments in time when things somehow stood still and everything became unbalanced as if the world suddenly decided this was where things would, and could go wrong. This was one of them.

"Ga Eul. He's been kidnapped." The words sounded so far away. Like a dream. Or a nightmare. It was difficult for Ga Eul to breathe once again let alone speak, or find any thought. Everything was blank and it was like her body and mind had at once become unresponsive.

"Ga Eul."

"What- What happened?" She could hear someone ask.

"Someone came. Ji Hoo and Ariel. They saw the men that took him. They were armed and."

A sob escaped Jan Di once again before she continued.

"There was nothing Ji Hoo and Ariel could do."