Love dust... 26

Mike took one silent step after another. The same black shoes from the elevator were now right in front of him and he was patiently following them. He quickly checked the surroundings - the black shoes headed for the rear parking lot, which threw a pleased grin on his face.  Right before Seunghyun could touch his own pocket to probably take out the car keys, Mike's fingers clenched in his hair, pushing him forward for another 3-4 steps so they could reach the car in front and he knocked him on the car's hood.   Seunghyun didn't had any time to react, just a muttered unrecognizable word left his lips before Mike shoved one hand in his throat to force him stay down.

"Just 2 more days..." Mike found himself leaning towards Seunghyun's ear. "Stay put 2 more days and you'll be safe...' he hissed.

"Nu... nugusaeyo*...?" Seunghyun muttered but  any other word or reaction that he could thing off just vanished into thin air when Mike rolled him around to face him. Before he could even realize it, Mike punched him twice in the face, leaving him thrown to the ground.

"Don't make me meet you a second time!" Mike pierced his eyes and soul with his cold voice. He knew Seunghyun won't dare to follow him so he walked away without a haste.

Seunghyun indeed didn't even stood up, he simply looked at his newly found nemesis as he was walking away.

"Michyeosseo..." he muttered smiling, but instantly regretted his smile since the corner of his mouth felt like slicing off. Some unorthodox words and the back of his hand calmed down the pain and he stood up shaking off the dust on his clothes. He rolled around twice.

"It wasn't even my car..." he pouted seeing the slight bent on the car and continued his walk towards his car.



***

"Ohh... i should really think wisely about my payment..." Mariana chuckled taking a big sip from the white mug.

"I know. You should.... And i'll give you anything you'll ask!" Liana hastened to speak but her colleague's too pleased face made her reconsider: "...as long as it's legal" she quickly added.

"What you're doing it now... is that legal?" Mariana smiled.

"It might not be moral, but's definitely legal" Liana hid her embarrassment in her own big mug of coffee.

"I'm just joking with you" Mariana softened up. "You know i'll do anything to help both of you..." she would've continue her speech but she quickly pretended to drink from her coffee while whispering" Watch out!"

"Huh?" Liana almost asked but she felt a kiss on her head. She looked up and quickly (forcefully) smiled seeing Mike. 

"What are my two lost ladies doing?" Mike smiled a little too pleased, then sat next to Liana.

"We found each other in the end" Mariana smiled "so now we carry on with out work" she also pointed towards the 40 restless, running kids.

"So... did you talk it out? Who's shift's when?" he stared at Liana quite strange, or at least that's how she felt it... or was it the quilt speaking?...

"Yeah" Mariana answered nonchalantly.

"Bummer! That means i'm too late?" he took a drink from Liana's coffee.

"What do you mean?" she looked like she was asking Mariana for help.

"When's your turn to babysit the sick kid?" he sounded a little too cold.

Both of the women knew he usually wouldn't speak about a child like that, so something was really off.

"Tonight" Mariana answered first.

"Tonight..." Liana also said.

"You won't fire her if she won't be able to come tonight, right?" Mike pierced Mariana's eyes, almost startling her.

"I... um..." she quickly looked for Liana's.

"Oh...come on... pretty please!... This is our first and only day in Korea... and i'd like to spend it only with her..." he said grabbing Liana's arm.

"Well... how could i..." Mariana tried her best to find a reason.

"Say something!" Mike whispered to Liana's ear, but even if he meant to make it sound playfully, Liana felt its true form.

Mariana felt it too and she was about to get up when Liana's eyes stopped her; she discreetly nodded, then she smiled.

"Yes, please... could we?..." Liana wasn't sure weather she couldn't or didn't wanted to hide the angst in her voice.

"As you wish..." Mariana couldn't conceal her disappointment.   

"Thank you so much!!" Mike smiled and pulled Liana off of her chair.

"Hey! I agreed only for tonight! You can't just leave me alone with 40 kids!" Mariana jumped up too when Mike already started dragging Liana away.

"I promise I'll make it up to you when we'll get back home!  We'll spend  a whole week with the kids so you can go on vacation!" Mike yelled while walking away.

"Hmph!" Mariana scoffed. "Looks like he found out something" she though out loud drinking from her coffee again, but she almost spit it out when a voice from behind scared the bits out of her.

"Yes he did..." Seunghyun said sitting next to her.

"God!..." she was about to say something foul about him, but his swollen lip cooled her down. "What happened to you?"

"As i said... he found out" Seunghyun eye-followed them. "Where do you think he's taking her?"

"He did this?" Mariana seemed she didn't hear him.

Seunghyun only nodded.

"Do you think she'll be ok...? Should i go after them?..." Seunghyun spoke more for himself.

"No, definitely not" Mariana finally answered, still without being able to take her eyes off of his lip. "If he sees you again... Who knows... But i don't think he'll..." she knew them since they first started dating and Mike never seemed to be the violent type, but one may never know. This exact thought traveled towards Seunghyun who got up ready to run, but a nice ringtone stopped him. He quickly got his phone out hoping for another call, but insted he just rolled his eyes and turned it off. He was about to place it back in his pocket when it rang again.

"Wae*!!" he furiously answered.

"Whaaa..." Ji's voice could be heard. "You're the one causing the fuss and yet you're the one screaming and getting angry..." Ji tried to sound funny but the lack of any response from his friend made his quickly understand something wasn't right. "It's anything wrong?..." he asked in lower tone but the other 3 boys entered the line, one screaming "Hyung, where are you! We miss you!" , another one yelling "Hyung, come back!".

"Ji-ah..." Seunghyun sighed deep "...i'm really not in the mood..."

"In 30 minutes we'll begin the rehearsal for today's concert... " Jiyong almost lacked the courage to speak.

"Ne*... I'l be right there..." Seunghyun broke his friend heart with his utterly resigned voice.

"You want me to come get you?" Ji barely managed to ask.

"No" he answered letting the long lost tone to make Jiyong understand he hung up.

"Really, you may go, if you have to" Mariana said. "I'm sure they'll go somewhere to talk and they'll be back..."

"If they get back... no! Doesn't matter WHEN she gets back, please  would you let her know that i need to get a call from her?

"It won`t be needed. I am sure she will do it on her own" Mariana said handing him a tissue.

"Thank you very much!" he said taking a deep bow.


***

Liana just threw a short glimpse at Mike who was driving without taking his eyes off of the road. She knew something wasn't right, but she also knew that any word right know could pass as a dare, so she did her best to keep a poker face...and she was actually succeeding.

"Are you angry with me?" Mike suddenly asked, still without even looking at her.

"Me? Why would i?" Liana tried to smile.

"Because you... because of what i asked Mariana" he tried to answer her smile but his twitching jaw gave away his true feelings.

"What? About her babysitting instead of me?"  Liana used her softest and more innocent voice, sensing the mined ground she was walking on.

"Yeah" Mike answered glancing at her.

"Definitely not. I really wanted to get away anyway" Liana nonchalantly got more comfy in her seat, making Mike stare at her almost in disbelief. She smiled  and gestured that he should keep his eyes on the road.

"Is there anywhere you want to go?" Mike did his best to keep it cool.

"Not really. Anywhere you want" she answered annoyingly honest.

Mike couldn't believe his eyes. Was he misjudging her? Was it really everything OK and he just imagined things?  Was she that of a wonderful actress?  He rolled his eyes and brought them back on the road, when something beamed. The same devilish smile bloomed on his face seeing Seunghyun's image on the 3-floor-huge billboard on the building in front of them.

'At least she's aiming high' he thought before turning to look at her.

"Are you in the mood for something noisy?" he asked pointing towards the billboard.

"Noisy..." Liana followed his eyes.

Even if her eyebrows tilted a little, she kept the smile on her face.

"What, you wanna go see them?" she mocked him a little too visible.

"Don't you?" he asked receiving the fuse he needed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she decided to light it up.

Mike pushed down the brake a little to sudden so he could only focus on his next words.

"Would you do that for me?" she pierced his eyes without even the slightest amount of smile on her face.

'Let's see where this game leads to, if you're so in the mood to play' Liana threw the glove understanding that he really dug on something.

'Is she not even trying to hide it now??' Mike bit the inside of his cheek to forbid the words to come out. He took an invisible deep breath (at least that's what he thought) and spoke:

"Well, we're just on time. It starts in about an hour. Should we just step in?" he said checking the time on his dashboard and the long row of over excited girls getting inside the building.

Liana smiled. 'If i say yes i'll might prove he was right... if i say no, i'll definitely prove he was right...'

"So?" Mike cut through her thoughts.

"As you wish" Liana answered with confident voice.

"You're unbelievable!" Mike flared up, hoping that he might scare her and she'll give herself away, but he felt like he could just rip the steering wheel off its place when she looked at his with the most innocent eyes.

"Why?" she asked in the same confident voice, but just this time her eyes spoke for her.

"Sometimes i really wonder if i should slap you or give you some kind of an award for the best liar!" he snapped louder than he should've. At first he got pleased seeing the colors changing on her face, but when she opened up the door and got out the car, he remained motionless for a couple of seconds. He quickly blinked several times as if he needed to wake up from a dream or something and couldn't believe his eyes when she started walking towards the concert venue. A couple of foul words left his mouth before he snapped out of the car too. In 3 or 4 steps he got to her and pulled her arm.

"What are you doing?!"

"I am helping you! To not live in that "dilemma" of yours!" Liana freed herself. "You do not know if you should slap me... hmpf!..." she kept on walking, mumbling on her own.

"Wait!" Mike grabbed her arm again, before she had only a few more steps to reach the screaming girls. "I don't know where that came from... I'm sorry... you know i'd never..."

"Today's the word, tomorrow the bang!" she tried to free herself again but he wouldn't let go.

"So what now? You're gonna go after him??" Mike finally blew off.

"What? Go where?..." she tried to act annoyed but it seemed like all of her strength left her while Mike pulled her back inside the car.

"Stay there!" Mike roared when she touched the door's handle.

Liana's eyes filled up in an instant; instead of opening the door she fasten her seat belt.

Mike slammed his door after getting inside the car too.

"I..." she mostly mumbled when an approaching car from up front caught her eye and she couldn't hold up her tears anymore: Seunghyun was staring at her from behind his steering wheel. The engine noise shock her visibly, making Mike to drive off grounding.

Seunghyun couldn't dare to even blink for a couple of seconds until the car holding Liana  passed by him. When he realized what it just happened, he turned the keys several times until the car announced it was ready for departure. He rolled the steering wheel a couple of times but before he could hit the speed, he urgently had to hit with both of his feet the brakes. His eyes now got stuck on Ji's lost gaze. When did Jiyong appeared in front of his car? If it wouldn't be  an emergency he's find it really funny with his sun glasses fallen off on one corner and the juice straw almost half way up in his mouth, but not now! Now all he could see were Liana's tears falling down. He got out of his car in an attempt to follow Mike's car. Of course in about 4 steps he understood that it got lost long ago. His anger got the best of him and he started punching and kicking the air around him.

"Hyung..." Ji barely mustered up the courage to get a little closer.

"Wae?!!" he snapped at poor Ji.

"Are you ok?..." Ji asked feeling immediately the dumbest person in the world.

Seunghyun, even though he got a little surprised by his friend's question, he felt the need to state the obvious:

"NO!" he said holding up his hair.

Jiyong would've wanted to say something but he just couldn't find what. He just stared at his older friend as he searched with uncontrolled moves his phone inside all of his pockets.

Seunghyun dialed a number for for times in a row and every time it ended with come curse words.

"Hyung..." Ji interfered once more.

"Waaaaeeeee!!?" Seunghyun shot fire through his eyes.

"Um... " Ji pointed towards a mass of girls who seemed they recognized them and already started chanting their names. He grabbed Seunghyun's arm to slowly drag him away. They both pretended to smile and wave at them, and the girls started screaming louder and louder.

"He took her!" Seunghyun explained his need to always look back. "He took her and she was crying..."

"Hurry up, hyung!" Ji pulled on Seunghyun trying to hide and wondering why in the world his juice started shaking.

In a few steps they managed to enter the building and he quickly let the bottle on some table.

"Hyung..." he rolled to face Seunghyun. "Oh my God! What happened to your face?" he turned to get back his juice to put it on Seunghyun lip, but he wouldn't cooperate.

"Did... did HE did this??" Ji asked a little too fervent.

"As i said! He took her and..."

"And it's between the two of them now, hyung!" he caught on his friend's arm. "Don't look at me like that..." Ji soften up a little. "Think about it! Your presence would do her no good..."


***


Liana was now over the initial shock; she wouldn't talk, nor even look at Mike and anytime a tear would dare to pop up she would angrily wipe it away.

The plummet silence was brutally interrupted by a jolly ring tone.

Mike's heart started rushing faster than his car, while Liana's slowed down to the limit of hurting her.

"Why won't you answer?" Mike muttered madly.

Liana defiantly took her bag and searched for the phone inside it. She kept it in her hands still not answering it. 

"Why won't you answer?" Mike asked again  totally disappointed after checking Mariana's name on the screen.

"I'm not in the mood to talk..." Liana only answered in quaky voice.

"Maybe she has something important to say" Mike raked her up.

"I highly doubt it" Liana wouldn't answer his declaration of war.

"Ok..." Mike took a deep breath. "Answer me while i'm asking nicely... Is there anything you have to tell me?"

Instead of an answer Liana turned her face away.

'Why' was supposed to be his next question but right now he felt that if he'll open up his mouth to speak, some other words might get out, so he took it all out on the poor steering wheel that was about to pop in his hands and on the poor acceleration foot lever that was about to touch the floor.

"Can you drive a little slower...?" Liana  softly asked realizing that every building or car or tree became merely some colored lines on her window shield.

Instead of an answer, Mike pushed the lever a little bit more.

"What are you trying to do??" Liana acquired more power on her voice.

"I'm calming myself down.  Why? I thought you liked a little adventure in your life" Mike gibed her again.

"If you have something to say, just say it, God dammit!" she almost shouted out the curse words that were hanging on the tip of her tongue, but Mike's look and the phone's ringtone numbed her.

Unlucky enough, the cellphone was face-up in her hands so when it rang, it lightened up with Seunghyun's name on it.

'Why the fuck did i used his real name?!!'  she thought and discreetly pressed the sideways key to turn it back on back.

"Answer it!" Mike's jaw twitched again looking at her through the rear-view mirror.

Liana hesitated at first, but it kept on ringing.

"I said answer it!" Mike leaned forward to grab it, making the car tilt a little too.

"Slow down and i'll do it..." Liana pierced his eyes.

The phone kept on ringing still and Mike instead of slowing down he sped up towards the 90 degrees line.   

"Get that phone already!" he roared so Liana  really swiped it up to answer the incoming call.

"Ne!" she said trying her best to hold her angry tears up.

"Noona!!" Seunghyun almost yelled making it seem like even the people from Mars could've hear him. "Noona, are you there? Say something!" the pleads kept on coming throwing different shades of black on Mike's face.

"I fucking told you to stay put for just two days!!" Mike roared as pissed as it could. "If anything bad happens it's all your fault!" he rolled the steering wheel too sudden making Liana drop her phone to grab the safety handle on the door.

"Please slow down!" Liana yelled when the car's drifts let behind a couple of dark stripes on the road.

The reaction she got was exactly the opposite of what she asked for, Mike drifting his way in another dangerously sharp lane.

"Stoooop!" Liana yelled louder this time, but all in vain again.

She leant to look for her phone, but Mike wouldn't allow that and in one sudden hitch on the steering wheel he made her to get back hanging on the safety handle even though she could still hear Seunghyun calling her name.

Indeed, Seunghyun at first turned numb when she finally answered the phone, but once he heard her screaming he started shouting her name, making everybody around him freeze.

"Please stop!" he could still hear Liana's voice through the screeches and the huffs or the puffs inside that car.

"Why would i?" Mike's too pleased voice cut her whining. "Give me one good reason..." he started grinning.

"You're gonna get all three of us killed!"...













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Nugusaeyo* - who are you