บท 13: How We First Met Part 2
Haneul's outside the courtyard walking back to the library when he sees a pit of smoke, automatically running to the entrance only to get his hand burned by the handle. Still, he looks around anxiously, "where the…where is the fire coming from? Inside or here? Damn, emergency sprinklers should have rung by now!"
He thumps on the door with all his might as if believing his strength is enough to tear it down. But at the same time, his shaky hands pulls out his phone and dials emergency to get help.
He drops his phone, looking at the windows from the side of the library, trying to peak through the thick cloud of smoke within.
His eyes freeze at the sight of Belen's hand near the window. He begins to thump stronger on the windows to see if she'd react but nothing. Panicking in pace, he fears the worst and runs to the nearest classroom by the library searching through the closet to find a long metal stick, like a baseball bat except thinner.
Adrenaline rushing through his veins, without hesitation, he starts hitting a window away from Belen and finally shatters it as the pit of smoke comes out. But as he tried to get in, his vision becomes impaired with the dense smoke drowning him out like a tsunami. But this does not stop him when he yells helplessly, "Belen!!! Belen!!! Answer me, Belen!!"
But he hears a groan very close to him. He jumps inside, getting scrapped and cut by the small shattered glass on the window and floor. Thankfully, the smoke became light enough for him to see when he notices Belen lying like a corpse near the window unconscious.
"Belen!!!" he rushes to carry her over his shoulder, but getting out becomes difficult. So he pulls the nearest table as an aid to help him jump out the window with Belen on his back.
Just when he thought the worst was over, he looks over at the grass where Belen's body landed. He looks at her unconscious body with terror in his eyes when he feels her pulse only to feel nothing. Time is running out. At this rate, she consumed too much smoke, so Haneul decides to try CPR.
After many trials, her heart faintly beats, suddenly he hears the sirens approaching quickly along with heavy footsteps. But the police point their guns at him by mistake making Hanuel a suspect.
"Help!! This girl right here is just barely breathing! Please! Just help her! You can cuff me if you'd like, but please! Save this girl!"
The officers rush to handcuff him while the medical team quickly attends to Belen taking her away when the police rudely ask, "son! You'll be coming down with us!"
But a medical team assistant stops them, "he needs immediate attention! Did you consume any of the smoke?"
The police push her away, "eh! He's only going to lie to keep us from taking him! Get out of the way he's not so severely damaged as the young girl, so tend to her!"
But a doctor takes Haneul away from the police's grasp, "this boy needs a check-up! Come to the hospital. I guarantee you he won't run away."
The police officer coldly stares at Haneul, examining his bleeding fingers, cuts on his face, and distressed uniform. "Fine! But if that boy escapes! You'll be held responsible!"
The Doctor ignores his comment and pulls Haneul into the same car they put Belen in rushing to the nearest hospital.
***
Beep Beep Beep continuously.
Belen slowly opens her eyes, but her vision is a blur after recognizing, "why is it so bright? I-I can't move my neck…where am I? why is it so cold?"
Her vision clears, "am I dead? Or in the hospital?"
She sees a familiar face smiling at her warmly like a mother relieved to see her awake. Belen whispers, "Mi-sun?"
Mi-sun quickly rushes to the nurses, but Belen reacts negatively, "too…loud."
Moments later, Belen is treated upon her awake. Still, in another private room, Jang Haneul is being questioned by police authorities when he hears the news that Belen is awake. His heart palpates, unable to believe the story that he rushes out immediately to see her. The Doctor asks the police officers, "was it wise to let him go?"
The police officers nonchalantly shrug it off, "he's a victim of the fire, he told us everything, now it's our turn to investigate the rest of the classmates and the whole faculty to see if they were in on this."
"What makes you so sure they were all in on this plot?"
"Ah! Well! It's simple, think about it this way, Doc! We received the call from this young man, but he said the emergency sprinklers didn't ring at all. Now isn't that odd?"
"I'm no detective, and neither are you, but what if those sprinklers weren't working?"
"EXACTLY! That's where it becomes the schools' fault. These prestigious schools are always trying to hide something. You were there right, Doc! How can that amount of smoke become undetectable? If not the whole faculty, then at least one person, one teacher…oh! I can smell the drama."
***
Unfortunately, once Haneul arrived to see Belen, he was too late, she's fallen back to sleep. This incident is under wraps as the students, along with the faculty, become suspects and are therefore investigated. The school decides to close for three weeks until all of the investigating is over.
Since then, Haneul's been staying at the hospital waiting for Belen to wake up again. Professor Young enters the room to look after Belen telling Haneul, "you can rest now, I'll look after her while you rest."
But he rejects her offer, she sighs, "Haneul, please take a look at yourself. Do you honestly want Belen to see you like this? At least ask the doctors if you can shower and sleep while I watch over her."
"No need! It's fine!"
She smiles at his stubbornness, "Okay, let's do this then. You'll take a shower and sleep for thirty minutes, and when I leave, I'll come to wake you up!"
"Ha! As if!"
Mi-sun enters the room quietly shocked to see Professor Young, but she asks, "Miss Mi-sun, can you please ask your son to take a break, I'll stay here for the meantime."
Mi-sun pulls Haneul out of the room, whispering, "I'll stay here, son, now you go and wash your face and hair! For goodness sake, please son rest! Look at yourself! Your handsome face is full of wrinkles! This won't do! Go to sleep!"
"But! Mom!"
Mi-sun takes her stance, "GO!"
Haneul gives up like a puppy dejected while dragging his feet to the nearest bathroom. Though as soon as he finished, he sat down outside the room near a bench his eyelids become heavy with sleep as he slowly falls asleep laying down on the bench as if it were a comfortable bed. Mi-sun smiles, feeling sorry for him as she goes on to cover him with a light blanket.
Belen wakes up again, but just as she saw Professor Young, she immediately reacts this time being able to talk, "Professor Young? What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to tell you everything that happened. I just came out of being investigated by the policemen." From there on, Professor Young relayed everything to Belen, frightening her as if she just watched a horror movie. Instead, the fact that it happened to her made it more traumatic, causing her exterior wall to melt as she began to sob quietly.
Professor young can't help but feel sorry for Belen as she pats her back, trying to comfort her trembling body.
***
The next morning Haneul wakes up, shocked to see the sunshine so brightly in his eyes when he looks around, unable to believe that he fell asleep through the night. He gets up, making his way to Belen's room when he walks in on the doctors, checking her stomach with their stethoscope. He blushes red leaving the room, "who was that?" Belen asks.
The Doctor replies, "it was your boyfriend."
Confused by the Doctor's words, she asks, "what boyfriend? Whose?"
"That young man, Jang Haneul, I believe, he's been staying here looking after you."
Her expression softens, "really?"
The Doctor smiles, "ahem! Well, I see you're all better, now all you need is to practice walking! You've been in bed all week, make sure to ask that young man for help walking unless you want me to ask a nurse to help instead, it's your choice."
"Nothing's wrong with my legs, right?"
"Don't worry! It's just as your body was unconscious for a week. You might have a bit of trouble walking for now."
"I see, thank you, Doctor."
"Shall I send him in?"
"Oh, …sure."
As the Doctor left, Belen is in a daze thinking about everything, feeling scared holding tight to the bedsheets as her heart begins to palpate stronger and stronger thinking about the incident. And is interrupted with Haneuls entrance, "B-Belen?"
She looks up as if lost, but life quickly seeps into her eyes at the sight of Haneul when she warmly smiles with tears running down her cheeks. At that moment, Haneul runs to hug her as she begins to weep in his arms.
***
Days later, Haneul's been helping Belen get better and staying with her at night while she sleeps because the traumatic incident still plays in her mind as she closes her eyes. Somehow having Haneul there makes her feel better until one-day, Haneul decides to be honest with her,
"Belen…"
"Yes?"
"I want to tell you something about myself, no one else knows about my true background except mother, I mean Mi-sun."
She reacts to his serious tone, "Yeah? Go on…I'm here" she smiles at him for support.
He goes on, "My parents abandoned me when I was five years old, …outside an alley near a convenience store. My mom told me to wait there for her and left. Days passed, I couldn't even keep count, but no matter how much I cried, and people asked me where my parents are, I did not know how to answer them. Some tried to take me home with them, but like a stray cat, I ran away. I can't remember how many days went by that I didn't eat food. I became like a homeless, scrapping through the trash cans trying to eat anything I can that was food. I even went as far as to steal food secretly and was often chased off by restaurant owners. Yeah, I was like a stray dog with no owner fighting to live, but for what? I don't know, maybe deep down I was waiting for my mom to come back. Those days felt like years to me, when the police finally got me, they found no record of me in any of the hospitals in Korea. I couldn't even remember my parent's names. Everything felt so new to me. I didn't know what to do. The police have no idea what to do with me, so they contacted the nearest orphanage in that area, which happened to be Dreams Fountain. I was quiet. I rarely spoke unless I needed something like food, go to the bathroom. Mi-sun was put to look after me. She became my mother. Soon after, about a year or so, I got better and started interacting with the children. But well no one knew my age, I did, but since I stopped talking, I didn't want to reveal my age or rather I forgot. Until one day during elementary school, we were being taught the order of ages, greetings, elders, and so on. I was often bullied because I rarely spoke, quiet, and taller. The kids kept calling me names and beat me, but this time I fought back and revealed my age as if my brain remembered on its own. Though I was six years old, I had to go through school, knowing that I'm two years older than anyone in my grade level. I turned 20 years old in March. That's the truth behind my past. I…when I heard your story. I got envious of your attitude. So happily accepting the fact that you're an orphan, it made me think, comfortable for you to say since you've never lived here with the effect of everyone looking down on you because you're an orphan.
Belen asks, "if you can look for them…would you?"
Haneul hesitates to answer, "I think I would… Can I be honest? I don't like my name at all. If I had the chance, I'd love to change it. My name is only a reminder of my parents abandoning me."
Hearing his story moves Belen's heart to shed tears quietly, but Haneul asks sweetly, "don't cry…I was mean to you and treated you unfairly, but in reality, I…umm, when I thought about how you'd become our family, I couldn't accept it because…well."
Belen cuts him off by caressing his cheek, surprising him to stare into her bright, steady eyes looking into his soul not out of pity but as if she were crying for his sake since he spoke about everything so dryly without a hint of sorrow or emotion.
"Noah…" she dearly calls him, making his eyes widen full of life as if his blind eyes can see a beautiful warm light.
Enchanted by her voice, he repeats, "…Noah?"
She nods, barely able to speak due to her tears, "If you hate your name that much then can I call you Noah?"
He unknowingly kisses her hand, shedding a light tear, "I…love it," he stares at her with loving eyes, not that of a boy, but of a tender man, who'd fallen in love.
***
It's the first day of school that classes have resumed, but because of the investigations, many of Belen's classmates are investigated while many others transferred. Therefore more students who were on the waiting list became Professor Youngs class along with the ten students who were found innocent. Though as the semester continued, Belen and Haneul were inseparable. Many began to tease that their dating, but no matter how much they deny it, others wouldn't listen, so Belen chose to ignore them. As school was about to come to a close for Summer break, Haneul's called to the counseling room by Professor Young.
"Ah! Great timing, Haneul. I've got great news for you!"
"…" looking confused yet uninterested, what could he possibly find good news?
"the extra courses you took last year have just been accumulated into the system today, and you have all your credits! So! You can graduate early! This week will be your last week at school!"
"what?" he asks coldly.
"I thought you'd be happy? Isn't this what you wanted? Graduate early? That's why you took those extra courses last year…right?"
"Oh!..." suddenly everything processes in his mind, "graduate, finally," he thinks, but suddenly Belen's name pops into his mind worrying, "then I won't be able to see her anymore…it'll be too different," he shakes his head.
"Is something the matter, Haneul?"
"NO!"
Surprising, the Professor to jump a little, she asks, "No…as in what?"
"I want to graduate with my class."
"Really? But I thought!"
"Well, I changed my mind, plus it'll give me a chance to apply to Universities like the rest of the students. If I were to apply now, I'd most likely have to find a part-time job and wait until I get accepted."
"Hmm…that is true, well, you don't have to decide now. You can give me your answer by the end of the week."
He firmly claims, "I'm telling you my decision now."
She merely nods, "fine, in case you change your mind, the option will be open until the end of the week."
***
That night Belen and Haneul are laughing and giggling under the apple tree sitting on a worn-down cement bench.
"You've been smiling a lot more now than before," Belen comments.
"that's because I love my new name."
"But is it alright to call you Noah outside? And not in school?"
"I don't want anyone to call me Noah except you. Oh, by the way, I've meant to ask, how did you come up with that name?"
She contemplates, "hmm…it was easy, Professor Young told me everything about the incident. And that you were the only one who knew about it and went from teacher to teacher, but nobody believed you. I mean, you even warned me, and I didn't believe you either. When I was little, my father would often read the bible, and he'd put on cartoons about the important figures of the bible. One of them was Noah." She chuckles, feeling embarrassed.
But Haneul teases her, "keep going and?"
"Well, I remember getting mad! I would tell my dad why did nobody believe Noah? And he'd say, 'because everyone thought he was crazy.' I don't know why, but he's only trying to save them from the water! and I claimed, if I were there, I'd believe him no matter what!"
Haneul laughs, making Belen blush in embarrassment, "I'm so serious! I was mad! I think I even took it out on my friends in school and would tell them about Noah. But they didn't know who I was talking about. That's when I learned the difference between religions. They were Catholics, and we were Christians."
"Noah…I like it! It's unique. I've never heard of it before," he smiles, making her feel a little better revealing her story.
But her smile quickly disappears, looking up at the night sky, or so she wishes. Instead, the apple tree branches cover her sight of the stars. Something is bothering her when she hesitates to speak, "Noah…I haven't told you the truth yet, and I know you probably won't believe me, but I consider you my best friend," her throat becomes dry.
Haneul stares at her, worried about what she might say, "G-Go ahead. I'll listen to whatever you have to say."
"I'm not an orphan. My dad sent me here to Korea so I can experience normal high school life. Back home, I'd get bullied, to the point I thought about suicide. But I told my dad everything, and he decided to send me here. Fortunately, I'm glad he did! Well, what I'm trying to say is that I'm not an orphan. I'm from the famous Astares family. I don't think you've heard of us since no one in school seemed to talk about them. My name is Belen Astares, not Astartes! And in a way, I'm what you call 'wealthy'" she air quotes "wealthy."
"What do you mean by the air quotes?"
"my dad is the owner, no the President of a famous mall in the U.S."
His eyes widen, "wow, that is more than wealthy…so you were born with a silver spoon," he says, trying to make her feel better, but it does the opposite.
"yes, I was. My parents are divorced. I chose to live with my dad because he gave me the most attention. But my little brother and I were separated. I was able to spend enough time with him, and we grew immensely close. And well, since summer break is right around the corner, I invited him to come here! To celebrate his birthday together with us!"
"S-So he's coming here? Like in a week?"
She nods, "yep! Is that fine with you?"
"How old is he?"
"14!"
"Oh! That's not bad. Then we have to start planning what to do to make sure he makes great memories here with you!"
As he said, this Belen lightens up excitedly, shaking, "ah! I was nervous you wouldn't like him, but I'm glad you're fine with it!"
Haneul felt relieved to know it was nothing like "I'm leaving." But he did figure that this year might be the only year he'll be able to spend with her. He didn't want to ask the obvious because he knew that after graduation, she'd be returning home. As they both went inside to sleep, he's kept awake with the thoughts of Belen leaving. He's fallen in love. Or so he thinks.
***
Emiliano was expected to arrive. Still, as Belen kept waiting and waiting to get a call from her father that his flight has departed, she got the worse news possible. He got into an accident on his way to the airport and is currently in critical condition. They don't think he'll make it. Hearing the news directly from her dad makes her heart sink in despair as her body froze in place weeping and weeping until she can no longer shed tears. Haneul saw this and knew he couldn't comfort her but mustered the courage to and was successful when he says, "go to him…go see him."
Belen merely looks up at him with lifeless eyes breaking his heart, but he holds his tears back and yells, "what are you doing crying?! Go! Get on a plane! You're rich, right! Then go! See him! Before you regret it!"
His words shine a light to Belen's lifeless eyes as she grabs her phone and wallet, running out the missionary and looks back one last time, "thank you…"
As she left, Haneul becomes quiet that Mi-sun tries to comfort, but he shakes his head, "I need to be alone."
He's sitting under the apple tree, tears begin to fall on his lap. "Please come back… please stay. Ha! As if she'd stay, her brother means so much to her how could I…compare" he looks up at the apple tree crying silently.
***
Two years later.
"JANG HANEUL! Are you questioning your supervisor now? Who do you think you are? The President of the Blue house?"
22-year-old (23 in Korean years) Jang Haneul, tall, slim, black sleek hair, handsome features is currently working as an assistant in a known huge corporation. He's been working there for six months now and is currently asking his supervisor, a greedy old man, if his position can be moved up.
"Please excuse my rudeness, sir! But I've been working harder than the rest of the applicants, and they've already received permanent positions! All I'm asking for is to be given one as well!" his timid high school days are over. Since graduation, he's changed into a corporate worker, moving from big named companies to another. He first started as a manager for idol singers, from groups to individuals. But soon after, he got tired and decided to work in a corporate office.
Nonetheless, when it came to his interview, he scored almost entirely, his resume was terrific! Graduated from the top university with honor rolls, clean record but the only tiny flaw was the fact that he is an orphan. No family, friends as contact information other than his "mother" Mi-sun.
The corporates often hired Haneul, trying to overlook the fact that he's an orphan. Still, during his test runs, office workers saw him as too perfect to be accurate and instead feared that if he rose higher into a secretary, then he might betray the trust of the CEO.
Therefore when he saw other employees who applied the same time as he did rise into a higher permanent position than himself. He'd often question his supervisors to the point that he'd hand in his letter of resignation just as he did this time as well.
Feeling dejected he decides to visit the orphanage but as he entered the front yard he notices someone sitting on a bench underneath the apple tree. He walks past it uninterested, when a familiar soothing voice says, "Noah…"
His eyes widen at the sound of his name. No one has ever called him that, that's why after hearing someone say it makes him desperate to see who it is, hoping to see Belen.
He slowly turns to the apple tree, amazed to see a beautiful woman with long ebony wavy hair, smooth caramel skin, glimmering brown eyes, and perfect crimson lips dressed in a short formal knee dress showing her amazing hourglass body.
Again she smiles, "Noah…" drawing him closer like a siren.
No longer Haneul, instead Noah smiles at the sight of Belen giggling, "Hi, Noah!"
Noah drops everything he's carrying to hug Belen to confirm his doubts, "it's you? Belen?"
"Noah…too strong, let me go, please."
"ahh sorry!" he lets her go staring intently at her whole appearance.
She shyly pulls her hair back, asking, "what is it?"
Unknowingly he says, "beautiful."
Making her smirk, "well, I see you've certainly changed! Is that what you say to get any woman nowadays?"
Noah shakes his head, "ah! No, I'm sorry I meant that well you look never mind. So tell me what brought you here?" he sits down.
But as he did, she stands up before him, "I came here for you!"
"for me?"
"Yes! Noah! Will you please come work with me, actually for me, but together I know we can make A Star Mall mine."
"I don't understand, A Star Mall? I work for you? In what?"
She sighs, "become my secretary! Geesh, I thought you were smart!" she laughs.
"you changed too, you have a short temper!" he teases.
"I can help you find your parents…"
"let me get this clear, you want to hire me as your secretary for A Star, and you are?"
"The President of A Star Mall."
Seeing her confidence outshine her past self makes Noah smiles, "if I accept your offer, where will I live?"
"that's not a problem. I bought an estate and next to my house is the house you'll be staying in. Or rather paying with your paychecks, and oh! Another thing! You'll be with me all day long."
"why me?"
"Because I don't have any allies, you're my only best friend, and the position of secretary is permanent."
He nods, extending his hand out, "I accept your offer!"
They both shake on it, making them break out in laughter. That night Noah left everything to Mi-sun, even his name, and legally changed it to Noah Alvares.
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