A heavy and suffocating silence hung between them. His stare was sharp, unyielding, but beneath it was something else. Something… conflicted, like he was pleading with no words.
He looked exhausted, like he hadn't slept all night while pondering this issue.
"Please," he said, his tone softer than the rough authority he was trying to pull. "You don't understand what you've gotten involved in."
"Then explain it to me," she blurted before she could stop herself.
That made him pause. His grip on the door loosened slightly.
"Not here," he said. "Let me in and I'll—"
She stiffened.
"Are you insane? You think I'm letting a beast into my apartment?" She flared at him.
He exhaled sharply, massaging his nose bridge.
"I'm not going to hurt you."
"That's exactly what people say before they actually hurt you! I'm not dumb."
The two stood in a silent standoff for a few seconds with her clutching the door, and him trying not to force his way in.
Then, she made a snap decision. He was distracted so this was her chance.
She swung the door shut with all her strength, slammed the lock, and backed away, sighing in relief.
"Okay," she muttered to herself, trembling. "He's outside while I'm inside. Perfect. I just have to stay alive until Monday."
Then, she heard his voice through the door. He was calm even in a situation like this.
"I'm not leaving until you open the door, Miss Han." He said and her eyes widened.
Couldn't he just give up?
"Go away. I don't have anything to talk to you about." She said and waited for a response but there was none.
"We have so much to discuss." He said and she gritted her teeth.
He felt so different from the man who had been ordering her around, not giving her the time of day, and acting like she was a newbie in the industry.
He was pleading. And then there was that personality she saw last night. The one that felt too soft and made him seem like an entirely different person... As if he snuck a twin with a different personality in front of her.
"Does he have dissociative personality disorder? When his ear is out, he's shy and soft, but when his ears are hidden, he's cold to the core." She mumbled, but then scratched it off her thoughts.
She didn't care.
Then, the knocking continued. She clicked her tongue.
She would rather ignore him forever.
He would eventually get tired of waiting for her.
"I'll just make breakfast since I'm up. I can't think on an empty stomach." She told herself and went to the kitchen.
Isabelle has been living quite a hard life, but she's never let anything stop her from achieving her goal.
Still... This time, she didn't know if she would be able to continue as it was if there was someone dangerous threatening her life.
Her phone began to ring.
It was Yuna.
"Hey, you at the office?"
"No, took a sick leave?" Isabelle said which took Yuna by surprise and thus warranted a silence from her end. "What's wrong?"
"I just asked without an expectation but to think you actually took a sick leave. Are you dying or is the sun rising from the North now?"
Isabelle shook her head. Yuna always knew how to make jokes.
"No seriously, are you dying? I don't think there's ever been a time when you agreed to take a sick leave, even when you had such a high fever."
"Well," Isabelle tilted her head.
She had been working so hard that she wouldn't miss her chance at a promotion. Taking sick leave just means she can't take on more work and her previous work will pile up, so she would rather endure it and keep working.
But now that her shot at s promotion was gone... Now that it felt all her hard work up to this point was meaningless, she couldn't help but relax her shoulders a little bit.
Just a little bit.
"Anyway, I'm in your building," Yuna said. "I'll be at the door in a minute."
Isabelle nodded her head and the call ended.
But it suddenly felt like she was forgetting something.
She spread jam over her bread but then paused as a knock came on the door. That's right. In front of her door was still.
She quickly picked up her phone and called Yuna but she could hear the ringing tune outside her door.
She was already here.
Then... She gulped... Was Elias gone already?
"Hey, why did you lock this super handsome mister outside your door?" Yuna asked and Isabelle palmed her face.
Elias was still there.
This was getting annoying.
Doesn't he know what it means to give up?
Or was this matter so serious that he didn't care about his dignity?
She didn't have any choice.
If he wanted her to keep it a secret and not tell a single soul then he'd have to walk away when she tells him to.
She opened the door and found both of them in front of her door.
Yuna was fluttering her eyelashes, trying to catch Elias' attention, but Elias was fixed on getting an audience with Isabelle, so he didn't even pay attention to her.
"Elias Yoon," Isabelle called.
"Can we talk now?"
Yuna's eyes flicked between them wondering what that tension was all about. She could sense romantic sparks but it was not quite there yet.
"Seriously?" Isabelle scoffed. "If you want us to talk about it in front of my friend over here, then I don't mind." She grinned, believing she had the upper hand but then Yuna, foolish Yuna, said,
"Oh, if you two have something important to talk about then I don't mind giving you some space," she winked at Isabelle, as if proud to be playing Cupid when this had nothing to do with love. "I'll leave you two to it."
"No, no, you can't leave." Isabelle grabbed her arm but she took it as Isabelle trying to run away from yet another love sign.
'Oh my poor Isabelle. You've been single for so long that you don't even know when a man wants to catch your attention so badly. Don't worry, this best friend of yours will handle everything.' she thought.
"Where are you going?"
"Oh, here and there," she flicked her head left and right. "But don't worry about me."
"I appreciate it," Elias said and Yuna's ears tingled happily.
"Don't mention it." She winked at Isabelle one more time, giving her a thumbs-up. She then skipped away happily and with no regret.
Isabelle sighed. This was completely unbelievable.
Yuna didn't even know she had thrown her best friend into the beast's jaw.
"Elias Yoon," Isabelle called but when she looked, he was gone. He was no longer in front of her. "Where—?"
Before she knew it, a hand grabbed her and pulled her inside the house, shut the door, and then pinned her to the door with both her hands pinned above her head.
Elias... What did he want with her?