He sat in the same seat he’d sat in two days before. He was praying to the God he was pretty sure never heard him. Praying she’d come back today.
He was upset. Upset about Stasia. He was disappointed in himself that he had somehow scared her away. But still not understanding exactly how he had scared her away. What precisely had he said that she had taken offense at? His snide comment about her being hungry? Why would that have scared her away? He still didn’t understand.
He was also very worried about Anastasia. How many more days till she moved in with that madman and came completely under his control? Yoongi had to find her before then! But, how?
He pulled her letter from his pocket. His eyes scanned it again. He studied her signature. Anastasia. Anastasia. Why did that name ring a bell? Then his eyes saw it. AnaSTASIA. What? No. It couldn’t be. She couldn’t be the girl he had run into here at Starbucks! Could she? But how many girls named Stasia could possibly be living in Seoul, anyway?
Maybe more than one. It was a city of over ten million people. So what were the chances he would meet his mystery writer in his Starbucks? Probably not very good.
His reverie was disturbed by a familiar sight. The front door opened, and a young lady walked in. Her crown of white blond hair hugged her head lovingly. Yoongi’s head snapped up, and he realized something. He needed to hide. If she saw him, she would flee from him. He looked around hurriedly. The empty table next to him held a newspaper. He lunged for it. He opened it up and hid behind it.
Every so often, he would peek around it to observe her progress in line. Finally, she picked up her order. Would she come his way? His heart was pounding in his chest. He hid behind the paper. Then he heard the bell over the front door chime. He looked up just in time to see her outside walking away in the direction opposite him. He threw the paper down as he jumped up and followed her out the door. He kept a discreet distance between them. He tailed her all the way to an apartment building. She went inside.
How was he going to find out which apartment was hers? He gazed up at the skyscraper. There was no way. If he followed her, she’d catch on soon enough. He decided to simply wait for her to reappear.
He didn’t have long to wait. Five minutes later, she stepped out of the building and began to walk briskly down the street. He followed her all the way to a school. Finally, he decided to make himself known.
“Is this where you work?”
His quiet voice snaked around her from behind. She jumped out of her skin. Her heart pounding in her throat, she spun around.
Yoongi!
She was immediately swamped by relief. And sorrow. And hope. Why was that still there?
She just stared at him. She needed to lose him. Thankfully, she had several minutes before she had to be in class. She recalled his question and nodded.
“What do you want?” she asked quietly.
“I’ve found you, Anastasia.”
Her heart fell to her toes. He had figured her out!
He saw the panic in her eyes and rushed to reassure her. “It’s all right,” he spoke quietly, like he would to an injured animal that he was afraid would flee from his healing touch. “I just want to help you.”
“Do you really? I thought you did when you did your VLIVE.” She began to cry. “When you wrote me that beautiful song. But when I met you the other day and didn’t immediately tell you my whole story, you shut down. You pulled away from me. You sounded like HIM. And I began to wonder if you’re all the same.”
Ouch. That hurt.
“He uses sarcasm too. As a defensive shield against me. Sometimes as a sword to wound me too. I hate sarcasm.” She paused then excused him, “It’s all right. I don’t need your help. I left him.” She turned away from Yoongi.
“You’re lying to me.”
His soft voice sounded again behind her. It arrested her. He wasn’t going to make this easy now. Was he?
“What does it matter?” she asked hopelessly. “Who am I to you? Even if you take me on as your pet project of the moment, pretty soon you’ll be flying off on your world tour. And I’ll be all alone when he comes looking for me. Which he surely will do. He doesn’t like to lose.”
“I’m not leaving you to face him alone. I came to find you because…you can’t move in with him.”
She spun around. “What choice do I have?!”
“You always have a choice,” he continued to speak softly, trying to still the storm within her.
She shook her head. “That’s easy for you to say. You have a choice. You have money. You could relocate. I have to stay in the same apartment. At the same job. And I have no one here! No one!”
“You have me.”
