CHESKA GOT everyone’s attention and managed to stop the man from hurting Carter. Park Gung frowned. He didn’t like the way she interrupted his business. And his eyes were pure evil. Even from that distance, she could feel his negativity.
Eun Young grabbed her hand and forcibly pulled her back to where they were hiding. "Unnie, what are you doing?"
But Cheska remained where she was standing. She couldn’t go back into hiding. She also has no plans of backing down from Park Gung’s group. She had no idea where she got her guts on standing up against these brutal men. All she knew was that she wouldn’t let anyone hurt Carter.
Park Gung grinned. “Ah! Who is this? Your girlfriend? ” He tapped Carter's cheek. “Jjalsaeng gisyeon neyo. You are handsome eh.”
"How much do you need?" Cheska asked straight up.
Park Gung raised three fingers. “Sambaeng man won. Three hundred thousand won. ”
She raised up her head. She didn’t try to count in her head nor convert the amount into peso like she always does. “I have money. I have three hundred thousand won. Just don’t hurt them. Don’t burn this house. ”
"Cheska, no!" Carter objected. There was fear in his eyes. For her.
She ignored his objections and went back to her room. She was not afraid for herself. She was more afraid of what Park Gung would do to all of them if she don’t do anything. There were lives that depended on her. Her hands were shaking as she took the money from her bag. She needed to hurry. Those gangsters might hurt Carter even more and the people downstairs. She took six-fifty thousand won bills from her wallet and didn’t even care if she had enough money left.
Eun Young was just quietly waiting for her outside the room. "Unnie…"
"Stay here. Don’t go anywhere until they leave.”
"Kamsahamnida, unnie," girl said and bowed.
She nodded and went down. Park Gung wouldn’t let Carter go until she handed him the money. “Here. Take my money. Leave this place. Don’t bother them.”
“Good. Your girlfriend has money. I will be back.”
Manang Selina cried and hugged her. “Thank you, Cheska. Thank you."
“Are you all right? They didn’t hurt you, did they?”
The old lady shook her head. “I’m okay. But what about the money you gave them? You may not have enough money for yourself.”
“Don't worry about that, Auntie. We’re all safe and that’s all that matters. I can still earn back that money from my work. As long as you’re safe, that’s enough for now.”
"Umma!" Eun Young came out from her hiding and hugged her mother. “Umma!”
“No need to cry now. I’m safe.”
She saw Carter helping out the four guests who were still crying from what they had experienced while apologizing profusely.
“Are they okay? Were they hurt?” she asked Carter. He was helping the last one up.
“They’re fine. They were just traumatized by what happened,” he said through gritted teeth.
"Maybe I can help," she said and turned to the guests. “C-can I help you with anything?”
Manang Selina and Eun Young followed them with a medicine cabinet. “We will take care of everything here. Just fix the living room, Carter.”
“Nee, umma.” Carter hurried down to the living room and put away the scattered things. The house looked like a whirlwind just passed by. It’s so disheartening to see that even the throw pillows were slashed out by Park Gung’s group.
"Are you okay? Aren't you hurt?” Cheska asked Carter.
He turned over the sofa and pushed back on its place. “I'm fine. You should not have interfered.”
"What do you want? That I just hide away while they hurt you?”
“It would be a bigger mess if they hurt you. I don’t know how to protect you. And gave them a huge amount of money.”
“That is a small amount compared to when they burn down your house and we all got hurt at the same time. None of us would have gotten out safely. Is that what you want to happen?” Cheska asked him, her voice challenging. "Earlier was not the right time to think about pride. There were lives in danger and needed to save, Carter."
He gave her a challenging look but in the end, he just turn away from her. "You just don't know how I feel…"
“Fine. Prioritize your feelings then. You can’t even say thank you first,” she complained.
They heard footsteps above. When she looked up, she saw the guests were already dragging their suitcases, each of them carrying a bag.
Manang Seline was following them behind. “Jebal ttonaji maseyo. Please don’t leave,” she pleaded.
But the visitor ignored her. “We are leaving. We don't want to die here.”
Sadly, Carter opened the door for them while bowing. "Mianhamnida."
Manang Selina sat down on the stool dejectedly. "We don't have any more guests left."
“Let them be, Tita. I’m pretty sure there will be guests that will come later,” she consoled the old lady.
“That will never happen. Those guests’ experiences will surely spread out to others. I-I don't know what to do anymore.” Manang Selina buried her face in her palm. "The money from those guests would have been a great help to pay Park Gung."
“I will get paid tomorrow, umma. I also have an online lesson with a student in Busan. It's a sudden schedule so the fee is higher. And we have orders for mangoes from the Philippines. We’ll get the payment for that this week and you still have orders for kimchi. We’ll get over this,” Carter was trying his best to lighten up the mood.