Chapter 98 - Back in Town

"What a ridiculous man, to use this type of blackmail to have a free personal secretary!" Ye Rim cursed Jun Hyeon while maneuvering the car in the airport parking lot. The singer had received a text message from the doctor, requesting his 'new old friend' to pick him up at the airport. All she had to do was take his car, which was at the Ji Hyeon Foundation, and go to the airport on Dr. Kim's arrival.

KJH: 'After all, that's what friends are for, isn't it?' His last message was the coup de grace.

Within the experiment he proposed, those were the rules, but the singer was going to find a way to have a pay back. Although Ye Rim followed Jun Hyeon's entire crisis during his business trip, he was still quite annoying at times. He always wanted to be right about everything!

'He might as well have a secretary to do these things,' she thought, finally finding a place to park. Looking at the clock, she realized that she took a long time in traffic and finding a vacant parking space. Also, it had been a long time since she had driven, and Dr. Kim's car was without a doubt the most modern car she had ever driven in her life. Ye Rim had to admit that she had been a little confused at first.

And the funniest thing was the face of Dr. Kim's secretaries when she arrived at the clinic asking for the car keys. Yes, they knew someone was coming to get the car, but they probably didn't remember 'Seamstress Nam' and her smug smile. 

Okay, maybe she was picking too much on the two employees who sent her the bouquet of flowers with a very dubious message. Especially when all the blame had been on their boss to begin with.

Rushing out of the car, Ye Rim went to the international arrival gate, trying to guess what kind of traveler Dr. Kim was. 'Will he arrive tired and moody? Sad? Or full of tricks?'

At the entrance, the singer saw that the passengers were already leaving through the landing gate. There were many people huddled near the gate, waiting for friends, relatives and business contacts to arrive, so it was a little difficult for Ye Rim to get around and try to get closer.

In fact, she was unable to stay close to the containment tape, so she had to settle for a place further behind some people hired to wait for business groups. Trying to get past them was definitely being jostled and thrown back again.

'Did he really need me here? Isn't he an a.d.u.l.t who knows how to take a taxi? Aish, how tiresome!'

Still, Ye Rim watched with increasing anxiety as each person left the gate.

Then she saw Kim Jun Hyeon leaving the gate, pushing the luggage cart.

Unexpectedly, her heart started to pound. He looked so handsome, with his brown overcoat and a shaggy scarf, his hair a little messy from the trip! She saw it when he looked around, looking for something, but of course he wouldn't see her, because Ye Rim had an idiot with a sign doing his best to stand in front of her, as if on purpose! 'My God, why is he getting more and more beautiful?!'

Ye Rim tried to go around the group of people and find Dr. Kim on the other side, so she lost sight of him for a moment. 

When she finally caught sight of him again, which was not so difficult since he was tall, Kim Jun Hyeon was not alone.

There was this tall, elegant woman, very close to him, touching the lapel of his coat intimately.

Many things happened within Ye Rim at that time. The first was a bitter sensation in the throat and a strong pain in the chest, followed immediately by a sensation of heat rising towards the head, contracting her brain: a sudden painful sensation of migraine.

Rage.

'Who is this woman?! Who is she to be so intimate? Why isn't he doing anything?!'

Ye Rim advanced blindly towards the couple, arriving at the exact moment that Kim Jun Hyeon took a step back, away from the tall woman. The singer approached her 'old friend' sideways, just in time to see the beautiful woman opening her purse as she spoke to the doctor, "Let me see, I must have a handkerchief here."

"It's nothing too bothersome, don't worry. It's just a speck of the meal on the plane. Thank you, Na Ra."

Ye Rim stopped immediately, taking a second look at Na Ra. 

So this was Na Ra, Jun Hyeon's 'big first love'? According to the belief, every first love has something tragic, but in fact in their history it was ridiculously tragic.

To make matters worse, Ye Rim recognized Na Ra. This woman had been a successful model years ago, and her face was known across the country. And she still kept her beauty intact: beautiful and silky hair in a modern cut, huge eyes in a face of flawless skin, as well as a slim and enviable body. In addition, Na Ra had style and elegance, as well as having that aura of a successful woman who managed to scratch Ye Rim's almost unshakable ego. 

Somehow, Ye Rim felt out of place and small compared to the former model who was Jun Hyeon's first and everlasting love interest.

After the things she had heard in the past few days, Ye Rim didn't really know how to act. Taking a deep breath, she simulated a joy and nonchalance that she did not feel inside, and exclaimed,

"Oppa! Sorry I'm late! Parking was difficult!"

Dr. Kim turned to Ye Rim, surprised by her sneaky arrival, and smiled,

"I thought I was abandoned by my dear friend!"

"Well, I had a setback or two, but I'm not that late, 'friend'!" maybe Ye Rim had sounded more spiteful than the occasion demanded, but she couldn't help it. Furthermore, the situation was uncomfortable; it's not like she has any real reason to feel threatened, is it? She and Dr. Kim weren't meant for each other, and all they could really be was what they were: friends. And nothing else.

Na Ra looked at them with a static smile on her face, waiting to be introduced. And Dr. Kim soon did that,

"Ye Rim, this is a longtime friend, Hae Na Ra. She is the President of Hae Event Productions."

The singer couldn't help but cast a withering look at Dr. Kim. She really wanted him to read her thoughts now, and Ye Rim sure as hell was trying to convey them through the look: 'Friend?! What do you mean, 'longtime friend'?! You're not the one who doesn't believe in friendship between members of the opposite s.e.x, are you?!' Even more knowing that Na Ra was his dream girl.

But in real life, Ye Rim bowed respectfully to the other woman, without any scandal or verbal hints. An awkward silence followed, when Jun Hyeon did not immediately introduce Ye Rim. Na Ra kept the smile on her face, but the singer noticed the scrutiny and veiled evaluation. Just today that she had decided to be 'the old friend' and had come with clothes that she would normally wear to go to the supermarket! Shabby jeans and an oversized coat over a T-shirt, and she hadn't even done her makeup properly!

'Wow, I hate competing with other women since Bombshell, but this is ridiculous, I'm feeling like I have to be up to her. And for what? I'm really just oppa Jun Hyeon's friend.'

"And your friend, is...?" Na Ra naturally wanted to know, but Jun Hyeon's hesitation forced her to be impolite.

'My God, he is really a boar, I'm glad he's not my boyfriend!' Ye Rim thought, feeling slightly relieved.

"Exactly," said the doctor, turning the body towards Ye Rim, with a dubious smile. "This is Nam Ye Rim, my 'old friend you don't know'." 

Of course, that was a provocation, only Ye Rim didn't know for which of them. 'What is he doing, anyway? He's not going to use me to make her jealous or something, right?'

Na Ra frowned, clearly confused, and looking a little frustrated said,

"Actually, I thought I knew all your 'old friends'."

But the surgeon gave no further explanation, "Goodsee you, even if in airport. Did you come for someone, Na Ra?" In fact, the doctor's body language indicated that he was preparing to say goodbye, keeping his eyes on Ye Rim. 

"Jun Hyeon, I actually came to get you," said Na Ra.

This certainly surprised the doctor, and Ye Rim saw his discomfort, "But how did you know that…"

"We have to talk. It is important," definitely, the businesswoman was emphatic and firm, realizing that the doctor was not sure what to do in that situation.

"As you can see, Ye Rim came to get me. She has my car..."

Na Ra looked at Ye Rim again, and said,

"Honey, you don't mind going back alone, do you? Today Jun Hyeon is mine."

The woman was definitely determined and possessive, it was easy to understand what Jun Hyeon had seen in her, beyond beauty. Still, Ye Rim was feeling betrayed. 'Not because this woman came, but because a friend asked me to get out of my way for a favor. He wouldn't throw me out like that, would he?'

"Na Ra, I am not YOURS today. But we can talk at another time. Now I need to take my luggage to the car. Ye Rim is doing me a favor, she came to get me."

" It's important, dear. Can you lend me OUR FRIEND this morning? It's hard to get his attention nowadays, I had to do my best today.'

Ye Rim barely recognized her own voice, saying timidly,

"Sure, no problem!"