The handsome man is a thief

"Oh, shiiiiiiiit!!!!!" Sochun eyes widened, and he rushed towards his jacket at the corner of the room. "Crap! Where are my shoes?" Sochun looked around the space, pushing the women and his drunk friends off their seats. "Minji will kill me if I even miss a second." He dashed towards the door while he typed a text message to his girlfriend to tell her he was on his way.

"Wait! Who is going to pay for all this?" A lady called from behind Sochun. So he walked back into the room and smiled sweetly at her.

"Just put it on my tab. My father will cover it." And with that, Sochun made a quick getaway towards the street to catch a taxi.

Crap!

---

Minji looked around the venue. The private rehearsal had been overrun by her fans and wannabe-followers; she did not mind. How would she become Korea's number-one, if she did not have fans flooding every venue she performed at. She paced backstage and peered out to see if her idiot boyfriend had made it. "Where are you Sochun?… I might actually kill that man this time." She slammed her palms on the wall. "He was supposed to buy me flowers for, after the show. We talked about this, rehearsed it even". Minji could not hold back her anger, so when the stage manager tapped her shoulders, she spun around with such fury that the woman cowered away from her in fear.

"M-Minji, you are goi...going on next in 15 minutes." The lady backed away from Minji as she stammered.

"If Sochun doesn't appear in 10 minutes. He is dead to me. I'll snip his dic-" She squeezed the lyrics sheet in her hands.

"I hope you aren't talking about me." Sochun tapped Minji's shoulders and ducked just as she tossed the paper at his head.

"I ought to kill you. Asshole." She stomped after him, but he scurried away from her. "You're late."

"You're so sexy when you're mad Minji. I had to visit a different florist, they didn't have the roses you wanted." He brandished the hidden flowers from his back and smiled with such sincerity, that if Minji didn't know what a lying-snake he was, she would have believed him.

"You reek of so much booze and perfume. Am I supposed to buy that bullshit? Who were you with this time?" She gritted her teeth at him "Tell me who?" Minji hit the flowers out of his hands, ignoring them as they fell on the floor. "Some skank? No… Last time it was your Aunt… and before that your cousin." She shoved him back. "I'm tired of this shit. Can't you do anything I ask properly? You don't love me?"

"Of course I love you." Why else would he put up with all of her antics, Sochun thought to himself. "I have something very special planned for after my beautiful-Minji's performance, you are going to be the only person everyone is talking about. So even if you lose-" And just as he said it, Sochun regretted it. Minji's beautiful features twisted in pure wrath.

"Lose! Lose? Me?" She pushed him into another performer. "This is just the rehearsal Sochun. Are you saying I'm not good enough for a rehearsal?" She slapped away his hands as he tried to calm her down.

"Minji it's time..." The stage manager shyly poked her head and whispered at them.

"This isn't over, I want a full explanation for where you were, and how you are going to make up for your behaviour." She pushed Sochun out of her way and stomped onto the stage. Minji shoved through her backup dancers so she could stand at the front of the stage. She intended on being the star of the talent competition, no one was going to get in her way; especially not Sochun. So she put on her prettiest smile and proceeded to dazzle the crowd.

"Ah… I'm hungry." Sochun scratched the back of his head and pushed his unruly long-hair behind his ears. He pulled out his phone to order some food when he caught a pretty lady staring at him in the corner. He grinned his usual charming smile and casually walked up to her to introduce himself–not like she did not already know who he was. Everyone on campus did. He was Paek Sochun, and his father's talent agency was one of Korea's top ten, so even though he could not stand his old man, he had to admit that being his son came with all the perks.

***

Doona looked around her unit. She ran into her room, her bathroom, her kitchen, she even ran out on her balcony. "Where is it?" She collapsed on her couch. "Where is my suitcase?"

She could not believe her predicament. Her laptop was in that suitcase; her shoes and the top her mum bought her for her birthday, but especially her laptop. "My laptop, my laptop!" she moaned. What was she going to do now? She could not remember where she had left it, so she decided to retrace her steps... And suddenly it hit her.

"The elevator!" She leaped to her feet. "I hope it is still in the elevator." She swung open her door speedily and ran towards the elevator she had boarded earlier. When the elevator dinged open, Doona prayed to every god that her suitcase was still in there, but... nothing.

Thief! She thought. "That handsome man in the turtleneck stole my suitcase. Dammit, how could I be so careless again?" Doona entered the elevator angrily, determined to report him to whoever was in charge of the building.

***

"And who was this man, that stole your suitcase?" The lady behind the entrance desk tapped her chewed-up pen against the lost and found form. Doona stared at the woman, who, instead of taking her predicament seriously, yawned and spoke to Doona like she could not be bothered.

"I said, a handsome… I mean a man with a nice face and nice hair, and umm… he was wearing a denim jacket with a turtleneck." Doona placed her hands firmly on the counter as she tried to subdue her irritation.

"And… So what? There are lots of men like that here. Don't you have anything better than a nice face?" The lady responded dryly as she proceeded to tuck the form away. Doona's hands turned into fists, she needed to get her laptop back. The thief could keep all her clothes and shoes for all she cared, but she needed her laptop.

"So what should I say? I've told you everything, he lives on the third floor. When I was in the elevator, that's the floor he came out of..." As Doona began to explain from the beginning again, the woman's eyes lit up.

"Did you say the third floor… Are you talking about Yi Chihun?" She beamed at Doona. "You know Yi Chihun?" She looked way too excited about the situation.

"I don't know. I'm telling you someone stole my suitcase… Yi Chihun, or Yi Chonhun, or Yip Chiboon. I don't care… I need my laptop back." Doona almost screamed at her.

"Laptop now? I thought you said it was your suitcase." The woman settled down, and the annoyance on her face returned.

"Mrs?" Doona began but realized that she did not know the woman's name.

"Matron. Call me Mrs. Matron." The woman scratched her pen on her head, as she flipped the magazine that she was reading before Doona's ambush. Doona exhaled loudly to relax. What kind of name was Mrs. Matron anyway? She thought to herself, but she wasn't bothered enough to figure out the answer.

"So Mrs. Matron, what should I do?" Doona rubbed her hands together, hoping the woman would help her before she exploded with anger.

"I dunno... wait on his floor till he returns?" Mrs. Matron licked her finger then turned the page of her magazine, not even looking up to address Doona. Mrs. Matron was done with the conversation.

"Fine. I will wait on his floor." Doona slammed her hand on the counter then turned towards the elevator.

"You better pray it isn't Yi Chihun… That boy works all day and night. So who knows when he will be back. I don't even know how he gets any school work done." And as Mrs. Matron mentioned school, a tiny bomb exploded in Doona's head. Her eyes widened, and she got fidgety.

"I'm late for my registration." She hopped quickly towards the elevator, stabbing the open button. "Oh no. If they tell mum, she will kill me."