28 FIRST KISS

"Hey let's play this game!!!"

The sound of a girl's voice made Soojin open her eyes. Her cheeks reddened from the almost kiss she had. She turned her face back to the game and aimed at the target.

"Are you ready???" Youngjae asked.

She nodded her head. "Yes."

"Okay. Shoot!!!"

!!!Bang!!!

Bullseye. The target was hit exactly in the middle. The staff clapped his hand for the perfect aim.

"Miss, if you hit the other two targets perfectly, we will give you our special prize."

"Special prize???" Soojin asked.

"Two tickets to a movie."

"Wow!!! That's great!!!" Youngjae blurted.

"Do you want to try, Miss??? Or we can give you your prize now, a large teddy bear."

She turned her face to her date. "What do you think???"

Youngjae nodded, "Do it!!!"

She flashed a quick smile. "Okay, I'll do it!!!" Soojin shouted.

When she held up the gun, Youngjae set his hands back on her arm to fix her aim.

He whispered into his ear, "When I say shoot, you pull the trigger. Okay???" 

She nodded.

"Okay, shoot."

She hits the target.

"Next one. Shoot."

She fired up the gun. It was both at the center. Bullseye.

They gave each other a high five. "YEAH!!!"

The staff smiled and handed the tickets to her, "Congratulations, miss!!!"

"We can use this for our next date!!!" Soojin exclaimed.

"What???"

When she realized what she said, her face reddened. She stammered to find a reason.

"Ai-ahhh… I-I m-mean…"

"Can we use that for our next date???" Youngjae asked.

She gazed at his face. He wanted her to stop feeling embarrassed about what she said. Soojin sheepishly smiled and nodded.

They had their dinner at one of the benches. Burger, fries, and a drink. Comfortable. Fun. Then Youngjae brought up the incident at the cafe.

"The truth was, I wanted so bad to meet you, I followed you there."

"What???" She was surprised.

"Joomi told me you don't have a boyfriend then I saw you with another man. I suddenly felt curious."

"He's only a friend."

"But he does like you, right???"

"Are you jealous???"

"Of course, I am." He proudly answered.

They laughed and finished their dinner. Realizing it was already midnight, they decided to go home. Soojin felt time moved fast when she was having fun but it's faster when she was with Youngjae. She wanted to stay longer with him.

Walking back to the parked car. 

"Soojin???"

"Yes???"

"Can I ask you to go out with me again??? This time I won't annoy you if you say no."

"I thought we're going to watch movies together." She replied.

"I like you. I honestly do. I never expected…" Youngjae to look down on his feet.

"Expected what???"

"Y-You would say yes."

"Maybe being annoying does work." She giggled.

They continued walking until they reached his car. Youngjae opened up the door for her to get inside. Then sprinted to get to the driver's side when a car stopped at the back of his vehicle, blocking their path.

Two men stepped out and strolled in his direction.

"Mr. Gil Youngjae!!! How's your night???" One of the men greeted him.

He leaned down inside the vehicle, "Soojin, whatever happens, stay in the car, okay???"

She was worried but nodded, taking a glance at the man who approached Youngjae.

"What do you want??? I told you, I don't know where Sun Ah is." He yelled.

"Oh, the boss knows where her daughter is now. He just needs to ask you a few questions." The man answered.

"Where's your boss??? I have someone with me. I can't just leave her." He explained.

"He's at the car waiting. Don't worry. We'll take care of her."

Youngjae turned to take a glance at Soojin inside his car. He doesn't trust the man. Stepping back, he reached for his pocket and handed the keys to his vehicle to the woman inside.

"If they tried to open the door, leave immediately. Don't wait for me."

"B-But…"

"I'm sorry, Soojin. Don't worry, I'll take care of this." He smiled.

Youngjae closed the door of his car and walked towards the parked vehicle behind them. The old man inside let him in.

"Mr. Ryo???"

"Sun Ah is dead." His face was full of grief.

"What???" His eyes widened.

"They found her body at the pier."

"I-I didn't kill her—"

!!!TSUG!!!

The blood splattered to the window with fractions of the brain from the dead man's head. His body fell leaning on the backseat of the car. The old man opened the door and called his men.

"Dispose of him."

"What about the woman with him???"

"Dispose of here too. I don't care." The old man replied. He turned to the driver to start the engine once the two men dragged the body out of the car.

Soojin waited for Youngjae, she stared at the rearview mirror and saw the two men dragged him out of the car and into another vehicle not far from her.

Her heart was drumming rapidly from fear. She didn't get to see Youngjae's face to see if he was badly hurt or why wasn't he moving. The car stood unmoved where they put him. The dark-tinted windows concealed the mystery.

When unexpectedly the door of the car opened. The man came out and marched toward the vehicle where Soojin waited patiently. He quickly opened the door and sat in the driver's seat.

"Soojin, are you okay???" Youngjae asked.

She nodded, "Yes, how about you???"

Soojin could see blood on the man's shirt but there was no visible wound on his face or body.

The man sneered, "Don't worry. It's not my blood. Let's get out of here."

"Okay." She handed the car keys back to the man.

Youngjae picked up one of the four keys and tried to insert it into the hole but it didn't fit in. He tried all three before he got the right one and started the engine.

"Are you okay???" She sounded worried.

He nodded, "Yes, they must have hit my head too hard, I'm still slow with this body."

"I can drive for us if you want???"

"No, it's fine. I'll just take you to a bus station so you can go home fast."

"Aren't you going to take me back to my place???"

"Uhm… d-do you want me to???"

"No, it's fine. I'll just take a taxi home."

"No… just point the direction and I'll take you there."

"O-Okay," Soojin answered.

It was a baffling conversation with Youngjae that she didn't expect. Like talking to a stranger and surprisingly forgetting where she lives. He was far from the man who was sweet and caring minutes ago.

'They must have hit him too much in the head, he became disoriented,' Soojin guessed.

The car drove away from the parking lot and into the main road. She gave him the directions to her house. The car stopped and the man hurriedly opened the door for her.

'At least he didn't forget to be a gentleman,' She thought.

Before the man could get back inside the car, she called him.

"Youngjae???"

"What???"

She handed the two movie tickets that they won to him.

"What's this???" Youngjae stared confused.

"I want you to hold on to it for our next date."

"Date???"

She blushed, "Y-Yes. This weekend."

"Ohhhh… Uhm… Yeah… sure… let's have a date."

Youngjae took the tickets and put them in his pocket. He turned around without a word to her and she felt frustrated.

'Maybe I should do it. He'll feel better if I did." Soojin thought.

She called the man again.

"Y-Youngjae…"

The man turned his body around and asked, "Yes???"

Soojin lifted her body and reached upward to his lips. It's her first kiss.