Two Worlds

Chapter 2

"Ni shi piao liang!" I smiled at my best friend and said "Xie xie, Yi-ge" it's been quite a while since I spoke mandarin. I can still understand some words and construct sentences but not as fast as before. We worked in the same company for 2 years now and he's still the same sweet, kind, and funny older brother figure that I've always known. 

His name is Ang Yi. He's Chinese born from an elite family. We happen to become colleagues in the same company. He's quite bored with life and he wanted to try becoming a teacher and that is how we met each other. And just like me, he also has other works than just simply being a Mandarin teacher. He's also a choreographer and a multilingual. He also speaks English and Korean language so well you can mistake him as a native for both countries. He taught me a lot of Chinese words and since I'm also interested in his country and culture, so I also went out of my way to study Mandarin on my own. Learning a new language is really fun and according to one of my research articles, it makes a significant amount of change for the benefit of your learning and memory. Plus, it also helps in eliminating language barriers.

"Did you bought a new jacket, last night? It really suits you!" I'd really date him if it weren't for the demands at work. I'm too busy to think about getting into a relationship. He's very understanding of my situation so we decided to just stay friends. I have to focus on my own success in order to achieve financial freedom and he does too. That's why I respect him so much. I was lost in my own thoughts, internally mind mapping for a good plot for my new book, when he called me by my name. "Say, Jess. Do you want to play a game?" I was surprised when he asked me that. It's true we've been hanging out for a long time now but never have we decided to actually date each other for the past 2 years. Not until he asked me that. 

He's a rich kid. An heir and it's such an honor that he trusts me enough to disclose that information to a commoner like me. Sometimes, he's very mischievous and whenever he asks me for a favor, I know it has something to do with his ex-toys. "What game?" I asked. His evil smile sent shivers down my spine. I almost spit out my drink when he asked me to act as his girlfriend for 10 years. I looked at him as if he grew another head and yet, he looks calm and expecting me to say yes. "You need to lighten up! Life is short! Make the most out of it!" I never thought something as childish as this would actually cross his mind. 

"Are you sure you're not going to use me against you ex-toys?" I raised an eyebrow and he shook his head innocently. One thing about me is that I know all of his secrets. He always tells me everything from his family, their company and how is it like to be the next CEO, how frustrated he is to keep up with his social status, the places he visits, what kind of woman she likes, what turns him on, what keeps him interested, his past lovers, how he can make any woman chase and lust after him... everything... I'm the only woman she met who didn't go crazy in love over him. I'm always indifferent that sometimes, he always wonders what is inside my mind. He also went as far as stalking me and sending his friend, a private investigator, to get information about my personal life. 

"You're very mysterious. You always keep me wondering about what kind of person you really are!" he tilted his head innocently like a cute puppy "Plus, you're highly educated and you know enough about my personal life to be able to adapt! I have a plan, don't worry!"

I almost laughed at his childish flirty wink and ruin my usual poker face. I quickly composed myself and asked what's in it for me. He smiled deviously and said "You still haven't met my friends yet" while rubbing his palms together. I felt weirded out and imaginary saw a demon's horn growing out of his head. So I just nod and accepted the deal of being a billionaire's girlfriend for the next 10 years. 

"How I wish this won't turn into a distraction for my own research..."

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"This will look good on you! This one too! Oh, I always see the girls love to wear something like this!" Han-oppa cheered excitedly while shopping with me at the mall. He's a very bubbly person and he loves to joke. He seems like a very happy person and always knows how to lighten up the mood despite the pressure at work. "You need to wear heels... sometimes... and not always your Nike Shoes on" he looked at me with puppy eyes, afraid that he might have hurt my feelings.

His name is Han Li. Unlike Yi-ge, Han-oppa is a Korean and he works as a rapper, songwriter, music producer, and composer. He also plays a lot of musucal instrument. They met each other in Seoul when Yi-ge and his family decided to migrate there when they expanded their business in South Korea. That's how Yi-ge learned Hangul. The two loves playing guitar as well and I really admire their friendship except that Han-oppa's very tall and it makes my neck stiff from looking up in an angle to meet his eyes. He's a gentleman so I give more credit for not just his looks. I really love his personality.

 "Just tell her she's a piyak" I almost lost myself and jumped on Hun-oppa to strangle him to death for calling me that. I worked in Thailand as a teacher for 3 years and piyak in Thai language means tiny or little chicken. He's lucky that Han-oppa was there to restrain me. Or else, there would be blood from a certain Hun-oppa who is too busy scrolling through his iPhone 11 pro max. Typical spoiled brat rich kid. He makes my blood boil.

The other one is Hun Li. They're cousins and in my brutally honest opinion, I don't think these two are actually relatives. If Han is a very lovely gentleman, Hun-oppa is the exact opposite. I admit he's very hot and tall and can make any women swoon over him. He works as a fashion model and recently, he was awarded the best-dressed man at the Louis Vuitton Fashion Show or something. I forgot that even but I heard he was also nominated as the most handsome man for 2018. But even so, he'll have to walk over my dead body before I bow down to his awesomeness. I'm not his ordinary girl and I won't give up without a fight no matter who he is. 

Hun-oppa stood up and told us that he'll pay for all the items Han-oppa picked out for me. I almost feel guilty for him when I saw the prices of the items. My whole one month salary will fly away for only five items. Not to think that I got like ten or more items on the cart. This is insane. "Don't worry, that's even less than 1/16 of what I plan to spend, peasant" he smirked and I almost feel like strangling this man but since he's the one paying, I just shook my head at his childishness. His sassy remarks make me smile sometimes. I think he knows exactly how to make me react since we don't know each other really well compared to Yi-ge.

Han-oppa smiled, carrying the shopping bags for me. "I can't wait for you to meet Min-hyung!" I suddenly felt a strong gust of wind and some items at the far corner fell out of nowhere. "Those are expensive!" I thought while looking at those items that fell. Hun-oppa placed his arm over my shoulder and quickly guided me out of the mall. Han-oppa followed. I noticed the grim looks on their faces and out of the corner of my eyes, I noticed the candles on display suddenly lit up with fire...