Chapter 83 - Stalking is a Trend

"Yeah, I'm following her now," Ye Rim said into her cell phone's microphone as she hurried to keep Eun Ha in sight. Her unnie had suddenly left her bedroom after spending the whole weekend in the dark, and looking rather in a hurry.

All this suspicious behavior had raised Ye Rim's distrust, and she couldn't allow her best friend to get in trouble. If she wasn't like this because of money, then would it be because of a man? The thought was not entirely out of the question, though Eun Ha was shy and reserved about love.

"Aren't you exaggerating, Ye Rim?"

"Oppa, I know my unnie. She is involved in something. She likes to keep secrets. And that's usually a problem!"

"Well, if that is so, you might want to see what might be going on. Even smart people fall for well-executed scams today. Take care of your unnie, Ye Rim," Kim Jun Yeon from across the world spoke. "Where are you now?"

"I think she's going to… an MMA fight?!" Ye Rim was surprised to realize what kind of event it was, both by the posters and the type of audience around the venue. As Ye Rim approached to the entrance alone, she was a little intimidated by the appreciative male glances, and she wasn't even at her best.

"Is your unnie the sporty type?"

"Quite the contrary… I'll hang up, oppa. It'll be noisy inside anyway."

"Are you really going in ?! It's not the place to…"

"Don't even start, oppa. Eun Ha is there and so I'm going in."

"Wait. I'll ask someone…"

"Even if I agreed, it would take time. The place is full of security staff for obvious reasons. It will not be dangerous beyond normal. See ya, oppa!"

"Ye Rim, wai…!" but she hanged up already.

Ye Rim shouldn't waste time arguing with Jun Hyeon across the world about a woman's security measures. Eun Ha had already disappeared from her sight, and she needed to get in soon.

Arriving at the box office, Ye Rim was shocked by the ticket values, stamped in large print. Her hand hesitated as she reached for the wallet in her purse. Leaning in to speak to the ticket clerk on the other side of the glass, she asked,

"Oppa, do you take accept credit cards?"

"Ye Rim ssi?!" the person on the other side of the glass exclaimed, surprised and happy. Ye Rim came closer to see, and recognized the young man at his duty station:

"Oh omo! Geun Pal!"

Smiling, he pushed a complimentary ticket in her direction, saying:

"The main event starts in 5 minutes, one more person will make no difference!"

She couldn't be more pleased with her luck at stumbling upon an acquaintance in a convenient place like this. She reached for a business card from Pearl, and returned the kindness:

"Oh, okay, thanks, Geun Pal. I'm going in then! Go see me sing! It's on me! We'll talk later!" she thanked him effusively, and headed for the entrance, still ecstatic over her good fortune to have saved her ticket price by someone she had not seen for a considerable time. When she handed the ticket to the concierge it came to her mind that she should have asked Geun Pal about Eun Ha. He would surely have seen her.

Upon entering, she was a little stunned, but it was not difficult to move forward asking 'excuse me' directly at the nape of the neck of the brute ahead of her.

This tactic had a fairly low failure percentage.

They turned around in a daze, she smiled with an innocent expression apologizing with her big eyes, and they made room like gentlemen, absolutely mesmerized.

If she didn't know the power of beauty she would be an idiot in this world. If it had worked so well since she was a baby, why not use it harmlessly like now?

'If I wasn't a good person, I really would have the world. Oh aigoo, why am I so good…? Tsk tsk.' She blamed herself for not having the courage to take full advantage of her appearance all the time. She knew very well that was one of her greatest advantages.

She had been raised by a divorced father and surrounded by men from the autorepair shop. They only told her very late that there were rules for girls. Only when it was too late did his father think he had raised a little monster who didn't want a quiet life, marrying the mayor's son and having a perfectly prosaic life.

And for Ye Rim, most of the female rules of modesty and decorum were just restrictions that some women placed on others. And that was why Ye Rim had been fascinated to hear about Queen Maeve and her power over herself. She didn't have to accept being chosen by a man and being his trophy. She would choose him, instead.

But it was a long way between empowerment theory and practical life in a society like hers. So a slinky smile and big kitten eyes served her as much as money bills in situations like this.

'Look, Dr. Kim on the other side of the world wanting to find a friend to work things out for me… What a cluelessness.'

Impressed how all these thoughts came to mind as she made her way to the center of the gymnasium and near the ring, she took a deep breath, pushing away her philosophical considerations and focusing on looking for Eun Ha. Turning right and left , she couldn't see Eun Ha anywhere.

'She's very short, it won't be easy to see her in the middle of all these people.' Ye Rim came to the conclusion. She had to go somewhere she could see better.

Stretching her neck she saw an area near the ring that was emptier than the rest. It should be the VIP area. She also had the impression that there was a small platform, whose reason of being she did not understand right then. But if she could climb up there for just a minute, she would find her extravagant unnie quickly.

Again advancing through the audience, she reached the entrance of the VIP area.

On the loudspeakers, the fighters were being announced with fuss and pomp. But that was only in the back of her mind, for all she wanted was to get to a place high enough to find her unnie in the crowd.

Spotting a security guard, she went to him, but to guard against any rejection, tossed her hair aside as soon as she got his attention: "Oppa, I'm going to talk to my friend there…"

Before she finished speaking, the security was opening access to the VIP area for her to enter.

The first round bell rang.

Rushing past the VIP chairs, and noticing with a glance that Eun Ha was not there, she went to the platform, which was only half a meter high and decorated with the sponsoring brand logos. It was very close to the ring, perhaps a podium for photos or something, she thought.

They would probably ask her down if it was forbidden to be up there. And she was pretty sure it was. But she had no time to waste. At the first opportunity, she up the two steps, and quickly looked around, trying to locate her unnie.

Then she felt a strong shiver run down the back of her neck, and turned.

A spotlight flashed right into her eyes right now, blinding her momentarily, but in the middle of the light, she saw a monster in the ring.

Now she was staring at the Ukrainian fighter, and he at her.