In a Long Time (Kim Seungpyo and Lee Kyungwon's Story)By Guiyeoni

Secret Diary.... (Seungpyo & Kyungwon teaser...)

++Seungpyo’s Diary..++

2001, September..

....It’s been a......... a week since Kyungwon broke up officially with me..

Today, I went to sing karaoke with the guys..

I wanted to forget about Kyungwon with singing..

....I spotted the same booth Kyungwon and I had gone into...

I didn’t want to go in... I really didn’t want to but...

....I missed Kyungwon so much, I just decided to walk in..

.....On the wall... I spotted a small note Kyungwon and I had written when we had come together...

+++Seungpyo and Kyungwon~ Let us love~~+++

The note was faded...

And I took a pen out of my bag and went over the little message to darken it..

I don’t want our memories to disappear like our relationship...

If Kyungwon sees this... maybe Kyungwon will come back to me...??

++Kyungwon’s Diary++

2001, September...

Today, I decided to go to the arcade with Yehwon to let off some stress..

I decided to sing a rock ballad so we went to sing karaoke.

The booth I had gone in with Yehwon... was the booth that both Seungpyo and I had gone in...

I spotted the small message on the wall..

....I thought it had faded away... The big message written on the wall...

+++Seungpyo and Kyungwon~~ Let us love~+++

Phew... Today, I only sang rock ballads... and parted ways with Yehwon...

I couldn’t pretend to be happy anymore... I feel bad towards Yehwon...

And... I felt bad for Seungpyo too....

++Seungpyo’s Diary++

2001, October...

Today, I went to the dry cleaners to pick up my pants...

Hyunsung was in the PC Bang, and I went to go find my uniform in the dry cleaners under the PC Bang. And I heard a familiar voice...

“I thought you said you don’t feel anything when you see Seungpyo!!!” (<-- The Guy was Muhshesuh Chapter 90)

It was Yehwon’s voice...

.............And following that...was another familiar voice....

“But I still don’t like if we see each other!!!”

.....It was Kyungwon... and Kyungwon passed me quickly... I don’t think she saw me..

...............

....She said she doesn’t like me....

The girl I love... said that she doesn’t like me....

Pretending to be happy, I talked to Yehwon.... and with Yehwon’s pulling, we went to the PC Bang where Hyunsung was at.

...........

I acted as if nothing was wrong around Yehwon....

But while I was playing Hyunsung’s game... I started to cry... I’m so stupid...

++Kyungwon’s Diary++

2001, October..

Today, Yehwon and I went to the dry cleaners to get my skirt fixed...

....And at the dry cleaners, I saw Seungpyo’s pants that he had left to get fixed...

Thinking that Seungpyo might come by any moment... I quickly ran towards the arcade...

And Yehwon, that b***h, took Seungpyo to the PC Bang.

Leaving me with a crappy text message..

Something feels weird.. A little sadness? Why is this.. I talked with Jungmin earlier..

Why can’t I forget about Seungpyo? I’m.... a bad person...

I feel bad.....

++Seungpyo’s Diary++

2001, October...

The 3rd years barged into our room! And they took Eunsung and Hyunsung out!!

Kim Hansung sunbae doesn’t usually come into the 2nd year classes...

Something makes me nervous...

I have to do something....

I couldn’t think.. But right then I remembered about Seungpyo hyung, Yehwon’s brother.

I quickly called Yehwon.. But it was Kyungwon who answered..

........I could recognize that voice... with the words...”Hello..”

It was the voice that I had wanted to hear so much... Kyungwon’s....

But Kyungwon said that her name was ‘Duhkja.’

Does..... she hate me... that much....??

.............

.....................I wonder if she knows that the person that always calls and hangs up....is me...

I recorded small conversations that we had on my phone... and listen to them over and over..

In a short while, Seungpyo hyung came to our school.. and I think everything turned out fine...

.........

............I was sitting behind school.. listening to Kyungwon’s voice on my phone when...

I saw Kyungwon and a Sang sunbae... The Sang sunbae was pulling her wrist and taking her somewhere..

.....I don’t know what came over me, but I stood up to the sunbae..

.....Luckily, Kyungwon was able to run away... But I got beat up pretty badly... It hurts...

........But my heart hurts more....

....The recorded voice... Kyungwon’s voice... It’s been forever since I’ve talked to her...

....The thing I’m sad about is... that I miss her.. But I can’t see her...

++Kyungwon’s Diary++

2001, October..

I was at school with Yehwon... when Yehwon’s phone rang...

We thought it’d be Kim Hansung.. But... it was Seungpyo...

..I said that my name was Duhkja..

..........I think Seungpyo has forgotten my voice...

I quickly ran towards Sang with Yehwon... I’m really scared...

..I saw Yehwon’s brother.. dressed weirdly... and holding a stick....

I could see him hitting the 3rd years...

Some scary looking Sang guy asked if I had any time...

I was crying.. wondering what to do... when some guy behind me started cussing at the sunbaes....

I quickly ran away...even though I didn’t know who it was...

He’s my life saver...

I thought I’d run into Seungpyo.. But I didn’t see him once...

These days, Jungmin is going through hard times.. So am I.

Tomorrow’s Yehwon’s birthday.. What should I get her?

++Seungpyo’s Diary...++2001, October...

Today is Yehwon’s birthday!!

With all his money he earned.. Eunsung rented a cafe!! I went with him!!!

He even wrote Yehwon a love letter.. How can a person change so much..? He’s so greasy... -0-

And I saw Kyungwon there too....

.........I saw Kyungwon....

...As if nothing was wrong.. I greeted her cheerfully... Smiling.. Kyungwon greeted me too...

We talked a lot.. like friends.. It wasn’t awkward... We talked about a lot of different things..

I was nervous.... that she’d think I was boring... that she’d think I was stupid....

...I’m so stupid....

Kyungwon said that she was doing fine....

Like friends, Kyungwon and I were able to talk face to face...

...I was happy... really happy... But then Kyungwon got a call..

It was that bastard named Lee Jungmin..... Kyungwon.. left.. talking on her phone...

...And I drank everything I could see and started home... Man, I’m dizzy...

...I listened to all of our conversations I recorded on the phone... again.. and again...

....I can hear Kyungwon’s voice..

I saw her earlier.. But I miss Kyungwon again...

I wonder how long it’ll be until I can think about her without starting to cry...

....Kyungwon....

++Kyungwon’s Diary++

2001, October..

Today was Yehwon’s birthday...

Eunsung... is really muhshesuh...

I was really jealous....

But it was the first time I’d ever heard such a lame love letter.... -0-

I saw Seungpyo there...

I didn’t know how to act.. But Seungpyo greeted me smiling...

..........Why....

.....Why do you suppose I got sad? We’re back on speaking terms... But I became sad...

I was so stupid....

While we were talking.. I got a call from Jungmin...

.........And I felt guilty towards Jungmin....

...I quickly left, thinking that I’d end up liking Seungpyo again....I quickly started home...

Seungpyo seemed happy.. He seemed.. truly happy....

....He’s probably forgotten about me, right??

I’m so stupid.....

++1 Year after the entries.....++

++Seungpyo’s Diary++

2002, July..

This morning.. I saw Kyungwon.. in the alley.. She was drunk and was crouched on the sidewalk....

I saw the Kyungwon that I’d longed after for 1 year...

She was surrounded by Gong high kids...

I felt myself get angry and I threw myself at the Gong kids...

...I think I got beaten for at least 2 hours....

........I forget how long it’s been since I’ve been hit like this...

I didn’t get angry for being beaten.. But I got angry at the fact that Kyungwon was being bothered...

I pulled myself up slowly and carried her on my back...

Kyungwon was very drunk....

.....Knowing that Kyungwon was on my back.. my heart started beating like crazy...

The only thing I felt was pain...

....And I heard Kyungwon whisper....

“Thank you.. Thank you so much...”

I think I started crying.....

..............

....Because it was Kyungwon who had said that to me... I started crying.. like an idiot...

I felt a boost of strength.... And wanted to talk to Kyungwon.. to tell her to come back to me...

But then Kyungwon whispered something again...

“Jungmin... Thank you so much... I drank a lot today.. It’s your first time seeing me drunk, right....”

.....

............I guess...... Kyungwon thought that I was that bastard...

...I sat Kyungwon down on her front steps... and pushed her doorbell and ran...

Because I didn’t think I could look at her in the face....

Kyungwon‘s voice recorded on my phone.....

.....

.......was erased today.....

I’m the stupid one... Even after a year....

Now.. Really, Now.. No-- Tomorrow.. No.. Starting from this moment.. I’m going to forget about Kyungwon...

I don’t want to behave stupidly anymore....

I’m sick of crying...

.....Kyungwon....... Bye......

++Kyungwon’s Diary++

2002, July...

This evening.. No, wait.. Morning...? I drank a lot....

Jungmin had said that he’d pick me up on the sidewalk.. so I was sitting on the sidewalk when some guys came up to me... Right then, I think Jungmin ran towards us..

..............

...I don’t know how many minutes... maybe hours passed.. and I was placed on Jungmin’s back...

Jungmin.. took me all the way home...

............I wonder if he knows the reason I drank is because of Seungpyo...

I felt guilty... And I felt thankful to him for looking over me...

....I told him I was thankful...

....And I stupidly said....

“I.. don’t think I’ve forgotten Seungpyo... I think I still like Seungpyo... Jungmin.. I’m sorry... Jungmin... I’m so sorry....”

.............

................Luckily, Jungmin ran away before he had heard me...

It would have been better if he’d heard... I couldn’t tell him today either....

But it’s weird, I just got a call from Jungmin...

And he’s never carried me...

I guess he was drunk too.. seeing that he can’t remember anything...

..........If he’d heard me...

.....If only he’d heard me...

No.. I can’t think like this... I can’t hurt two people....

I’m going to forget Seungpyo.. I really am....

That’s the best for Seungpyo and Jungmin....

...But for some reason.. I miss him a lot....

........I’m getting a feeling that this isn’t the end of the pain though... I think.... it’s going to be more painful starting tomorrow... I’m getting a sad feeling.....that this is going to be true…

Chapter 1

“Hello.... Starting from today, I’m going to be the student teacher for all of you~ My name is

Lee Kyungwon.. ”

+CLAP CLAP CLAPP CLAAP+

“I used to come here way back when~ I might not look like it but I’m only 22. I’m only 3 years

older than you..~ . HEHEH!!”

........

...........

I wasn’t expecting such a dull reaction... Did I act too perky?

Anyway....

I, Lee Kyungwon, got accepted into an art school in Kyungkido...

And to fulfill my dreams as an art teacher,

I’m going to be a student teacher for one month~

If there’s one problem at this school, it’s that there aren’t any guys here...

And it’s the school Yehwon and I went to 3 years before...

I thought I had gotten rid of this place...

O_O... But another month..?!

For my first class, I was back in my 3rd year 2nd classroom....

I can see the girls

Dressed in the ugly uniforms that I used to wear

Sitting there bored....

........I felt weird for some reason...

“Excuse me! Miss Lee!!!”

ㅇ_ㅇ....??

A girl asked, who was sitting in the front row....

...........

With a white face, and straight black hair that reached her shoulders,

and big wide eyes, she was staring at me....

A REALLY.... REALLLY pretty girl was sitting there...

...........

... Something I didn’t really like was...

That she looked liked Kim Hyobin.....

At that age, my skin was that fresh too.. ...

It felt a little weird having her just stare at me....

“Your name is Lee Kyungwon???”

“....? Yeah.... Why?”

“You came out of this school..?”

“Yeah, did you hear something?”

“....Do you have a boyfriend.....?”

.......

.........

........

“Yeah, I do~ Why? ^0^”

“...It’s nothing ^-^”

.........

................

.....................

She’s a little weird...

Since today was my first day as a teacher, I didn’t teach and all I did was introduce myself to

all the rooms.

And around 5, I dragged my feet out of the school....

Lee Jungmin, you said you were going to pick me up. Where the hell are you... ....??

I wonder if the cafe’s busy...?

....

.........

........

“....Miss Lee!!!!”

.......Miss Lee.........?? Me....?

I turned my head towards the voice....

A student was wobbling toward me while carrying a large flower plant...

Luckily, because of my strength (that most women don’t have) I was able to pluck the plant

quickly away from her hands...

“Thank you!”

“You should be more careful with things... Huh? You....”

.....

.............It’s the girl who asked if I had a boyfriend today in class.....

The girl that looked like a doll...

“Are you leaving? ^-^”

“Yeah, what are you doing?”

“An errand, I was going to go home, but the other teachers called me to move these

plants...TT_TT...”

“I see, what a mean teacher~~ Oh right, what’s your name?”

“Me....? I’m Noah~”

“Noah~?”

“Yeah~ Eun. No. Ah.”

“Wow, what a pretty name~~~~”

“Hehe~ Not really, your name’s prettier!!”

.......

..........What a nice little girl...

“Thanks~~ Give me your plant, I’ll move it for you~”

“Huh? Huh? No I’m fine!! I can carry it! I’m fine~ See you tomorrow~”

And turning down my offer to carry the plant, she disappeared wobbling...

She’s cute.. ^-^

She acts a little ditzy, unlike her image...

...I felt myself warming to her already....

...........

Wait.. This isn’t time for me to thinking about things like these….

I have to go to the cafe...

And hit Lee Jungmin on the head.....

...Oh! And yell at him too....

.....

.........

...................

+CLINCK+

I’m inside the small cafe run by Jungmin and his nuna....

........

Luckily, I didn’t see Jungeun unnie but I could see the backside of Jungmin’s head...

+SMACK!!!+

“OWWWWWWWWWW!!!”

“You said that you were going to pick me up!!!!”

“Hey, so you hit my head???”

“...I walked all the way over here TT_TT...”

“Whew... What will the customers think.........!?”

...........

............

Lee Jungmin, that jerk, grabbed a plate and walked over to a table....

“Are you mad?”

“Just sit down!”

Tch. You don’t even ask how my first day went.. TT_TT.....

I sat pathetically at a corner booth.....

.........

.............

..................

.........................

..........................

An hour passed....

And then 2 hours.....

However, busy from all the serving and orders, Jungmin didn’t even bother to walk over to me

once...

It would be less boring if Jungeun unnie was here...

Should I call Yehwon??

No, then Eunsung will follow her....

And then he’ll glare at me for making fun of Yehwon when we’re joking around..TT_TT.

“Jungmin!!!!!!!!!”

.........

..........

“Jungmin!!!”

“WHAT?!?!?”

“How much longer do I have to wait...? TT_TT...”

“Just a little while longer.. I have to work until nuna comes...”

“Well, when is unnie coming then.. TT_TT....”

“I don’t know, she’s going to be a little late... She’s on her way from meeting Yehwon’s

brother...”

........

..............

..................

She went to go meet Seungpyo oppa..? Then that’s going to take forever... TT_TT...

.................

..................

This is my fourth cup of lemonade....

+CLINCK+

The door to the cafe opened...

I curiously looked over to the door...Huh?!

Noah? It was Noah....

She was dressed in a casual suit with her hair tied in a knot...

She opened the door to the cafe..... And smoothly walked in...

I quickly hid my face...

But alas~~ Her eyes had already found me...

****....

“Miss Lee..?”

“Uh... Hi~”

“Wow! It’s so great to see you here!!”

She said, running towards me....

And behind her... I saw a guy....

........

.............

....................He froze for a second.....

“Oppa~ What are you doing? She’s our new teacher~ Come over here!!”

Noah said in a whiny voice...

And the guy slowly headed over to us.....

Noah sat down across from me, and the man sat next to Noah....

.........

.............

“Miss Lee, he’s my boyfriend~~”

“Oh~ I see... Hello, you’re very lucky to have a girlfriend as pretty as Noah~ ”

“Hi, it’s nice to meet a new person~”

.........

.............

...............

........................

...........................

He took off his hat, and slightly bent his head....

.................

.....................

...........................It was the guy....

.....................that I hadn’t forgotten since I was 18... for the past 4 years......

.......The guy that I didn’t get a chance to see after we turned 20.... No... The guy I avoided.....

Avoided because.... I didn’t trust myself around him.....

........

And instead.... ended up liking him even more.....

..........

.............That guy... just.....

......said........

…that it was nice to meet a new person....

...........

“My name’s Kim Seungpyo~ ^-^, If you’re a teacher.. then would you be older...O_O..?”

“No! No, oppa, she’s just a student teacher... She’s 22. Right?? ^0^”

..............

..........................

.................................

...........................................

“Huh....? Yeah.. Yeah.. I’m 22... How old are you...?”

“..We’re the same age, how weird is that..? Look after Noah in school.. ...”

................

....................

.........................

“Yes, of course I will.. Noah’s so pretty, you’re really lucky... Noah.. I’m going to go now...”

“What? ...Why? Is it uncomfortable to be around my oppa?”

“Huh......? No, this is my fourth cup.. I should be going now.... Have fun, Noah, I’ll see you at

school tomorrow~”

“.....Well.. Okay then... I’ll see you tomorrow, Miss Lee~~”

“Bye ^-^..”

....I felt my legs slightly give away...

“Are you alright, Miss Lee?”

“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine, I’ve been sitting for such a long time that my legs fell asleep. Stupid legs,

huh? ^-^ I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Oppa~ Aren’t you going to say bye to my teacher?? Come on!!”

“Fine, fine... I’ll see you around Miss Lee.. ^0^”

"................... "

........

............Seungpyo has changed a lot....

The childish Seungpyo that I knew was gone...

And sitting next to Noah.. He was a man.....

..........He’s gotten taller in the last 2 years....

His skin still clean....

That crooked canine....

The bananas that appeared when he smiled....

The small dimples under his eyes......... were all the same....

His small face.... His shiny looking hair....

If there was something that had changed....

.......It was his longer hair....

And the way he talked to me....

..........As if it really was the first time he’d met me...

His voice.. The way he looked at me... His face expressions... are all... making me a bit..... A

bit..... I don’t know.........

.........

............

“Hey! Are you leaving?!”

Jungmin yelled.....

I ignored him and just walked out the cafe....

........

.............

As I was leaning against the pole to catch a taxi,

I spotted Jungmin running towards me...

“LEE KYUNGWON!”

..........................

...........

+.......PANT PANT+ “Hey, you-”

“Sorry, I’m just a little tired, I want to go home early... I’ll see you tomorrow...”

“You... You’re doing this because of Kim Seungpyo, aren’t you...”

“.........You.....saw him.....?”

“...He came into the cafe... Are you doing this because of Kim Seungpyo...? Are you....?”

“....If I said no, I’d be lying...”

“What’s wrong with you?! It been 4 years since you’ve broken up with him!! Why are you

acting as if you still like him?!?!”

“.................Why don’t just go into my head and ask that to my brain....? Because I kind of want

to know why it’s doing this to me too.”

......

..........

And with that, I opened the door to the taxi and walked in.

“HEY! LEE KYUNGWON!!!”

“I’ll see you tomorrow. Sorry.”

+VVROOM+

How do I look at Noah tomorrow....?

She’s a really sweet girl... A really nice girl.....

..........But because of some stupid reason....

..........I don’t know how I’m going to look at her...

............

..............

But differently from what I’d thought, I was able to get along with Noah and I grew closer to

her....

I don’t know if it was because she was an only child, but she talked to me as if I was an

unnie....

And I liked Noah the best out of my other students...

............And a week passed...

..........

...........

.........

Today, I’m going to Yehwon and that Ji Eunsung’s house warming party....

I’m going....??

No, actually, I’m being FORCED to go.....

These two lovey-doveys have moved in together since 2 weeks ago...

After fighting long and heavily with their parents, they started living together....

And.....This is where the house warming party comes in.....

As Yehwon’s best friend.....

I HAD to be there.....

...........

..................I should be going with Jungmin...... But we haven’t really talked for a week....

Should I go WITH him...?

Or just go...?

I think I’ll just meet him there....

The taxi driver stopped in front of a bunch of apartment buildings...

There apartments are rumored to be one of the best and most expensive....

Why are these 2 so lucky??

How can they live here without having to pay barely any of their rent? TT_TT...

.....As you know...

Eunsung is LOADED...... ..

Was it the 5th floor that they’re living on?

+DING DONG+

A second later, the door swung open..

Hold crap, that scared me....

And a face that I was very familiar with poked his head out...

“Hey! HAN YEHWON, IT’S YOUR FRIEND!!!!!!!!!!!!”

....Is this how you treat a guest....? Well, it’s not like I was expecting anything from you....

“KYUNGWON!!! You’re here!!!!!! You’re our first guest!!! How’s our house?!??!?!”

ㅇ_ㅇ.......ㅇ_ㅇ.......ㅇ_ㅇ......

I entered the house thinking that it would be dirty and not very nice looking....

But it wasn’t.....

Oh right, Yehwon’s a neat freak and she’s good at arranging things...

Two rooms... 1 bathroom...

Double bed....

...Lee Kyungwon... How have you been living the past 22 years...?? TT_TT...

“HEY! Don’t let her sit on the bed!!!”

Ji Eunsung yelled at Yehwon...

“Why? Who cares, let’s just let her sit~”

“Are you going to wash the covers then?!??!”

......… ...............

“Hey! Fine, I won’t sit! Sheesh! It’s not like I don’t have a bed at MY house!!!!”

“......But you don’t...”

I glared at Yehwon....

“..I want to leave… ...”

“Hey, best friend~~~ I’m sorry~~~~~~~~~~~”

+DING DONG+

The bell rang once again...

.......ㅇ_ㅇ.......

“Eunsung, can you answer?!” (<-- Yehwon)

“I opened the door for your friend though!!!” (<-- Eunsung)

“What if it’s Hansung oppa...?” (<--Yehwon..)

“Aw, dammit..”

With that, Ji Eunsung dragged his feet to the door...

In entered Hyunsung, and a guy named Lim Taehwan (<-- one of the 4 kings at Sang too) also

headed into their apartment..

Ji Eunsung looked at them... with less than welcoming glances....

And the two guys started cracking up at the apron that Ji Eunsung had around his waist...

HAHAHA... Loser~~

Ji Eunsung shoved their heads out and tried closing the door on them,

But they eventually got in....

......The 4 kings are all gathered here.... except for Kim Seungpyo.....

......Tch, not a bad sight

...........

If Kim Seungpyo came...

It’d be exactly like 4 years ago.....

As the guys were just drinking and Yehwon and I were getting the food ready,

The door opened once again.

..............................

And I heard a familiar voice...

“Eunsung!!!!!! I’m here!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Wow, wow~ Oppa, is this where your friend Eunsung oppa lives??”

..........

...........Seungpyo entered with a bright grin....

And next to him... was Noah with an excited but a nervous smile.....

...........

..............Not again................

Chapter 2.

.........

.............The atmosphere of the room slowly got awkward....

I wanted to hide behind Yehwon,

But that stupid girl walked over to help save her precious Ji Eunsung (Ji Eunsung was getting

picked on by his friends....).

I gave an awkward smile to Noah....

.......And Noah just looked at me with her wide eyes....

“Miss Lee!!!”

“Oh~ Noah, hi~”

........

...............Seungpyo walked past me and greeted his friend....

We’re all back together..... like we used to be a few years back....

....

Noah stuck next to me and was talking about this and that while Yehwon was looking at Noah

with a distasteful look...

And she whispered to me..

“Hey... That kid looks like Kim Hyobin... ...”

“I know, I know, but she’s really sweet. Be quiet or she’ll hear you...”

“Miss Lee, is she your friend that you told me about??”

“Yeah~ See that guy over there??? That guy? He’s living with my friend here.. That’s why I

came over in the first place.”

“Oh~~ I see, that oppa is really good looking... Seungpyo oppa’s friends are all good looking

^0^”

“Yeah, we know. It’s because they were the 4 Kings back in the day when they were in high

school... <<.... Does Seungpyo treat you right?!”

Yehwon asked..... a little rudely....

I pinched Yehwon’s thigh,

And smiled at Noah...

........

............

Soon, we were all surrounding a big circular table....

.........Yehwon and Eunsung were together and.... clockwise from them was Hyunsung.... Lim

Taehwan....Noah.... Seungpyo.... and next to Seungpyo ... was me....

On the table, there was a bunch of alcohol, and the rest of the food were just side dishes....

....Is this all the food that they have at their house...?

..............

...................

“Hey~ Hey, guys, don’t drink from our house cups.. We’ll get Cholera...” (TN: I have NO clue

what 콜레라 is... so I just guessed...)

Ji Eunsung snapped at Hyunsung and Taehwan, still pissed from his loss earlier...

Yehwon passed around the beer...

“So, Miss Lee, you’ve known this Eunsung oppa since high school... Right?”

......

............The table became quiet after Noah asked the question.....

However, because of Ji Eunsung’s pissiness, we started get loud again..

.......

...........

“...Yeah, I’ve known him... They’ve been going out since high school... ^-^”

“....Then how come you didn’t know Seungpyo oppa?? Wasn’t he also close to Eunsung oppa

back then?”

........

............

................

.............

................

Yehwon, annoyed, opened her mouth, but I shot her a look to shut her up...

And while I was busy trying to think of what to say.....

“They used to go out, but broke up because of the Yankee bastard... Hey, where is Yankee

anyway?? Go lock the door so he can’t come in...”

.......

................

....................Because I couldn’t stop him, Ji Eunsung just spat it out...

“Yankee...?? What’s a Yankee...?”

........

Luckily, Noah didn’t understand what he had said...

And was asking him what a Yankee was with a curious face...

........

................

“Eun Noah, do you have to ask about everything.....”

............

.............It was Seungpyo... and his cold words,

Noah bowed her head.....

And I could see tears falling onto the table...

She’s really sensitive, isn’t she.... Kids these days...

“Noah, Noah~ Why are you crying.. Don’t cry.. Come on, don’t cry...”

I comforted Noah, and led her to the room with the bed...

..........

“Noah, why are you crying... Stop... Don’t cry....~~”

“....Oppa’s weird..... TT_TT”

“It’s because he drank...... Don’t cry, it’s not good to cry~”

“It’s so scary here TT_TT... Oppa’s scary... And so is that one oppa with the white skin!!

Especially him. TT_TT...”

White skin.....? She’s talking about Ji Eunsung....

“Okay, okay, don’t cry. You can stay with me in here..”

I don’t know if it was because I was her teacher...

.........But after comforting her, she was able to fall asleep...

She looked like a baby, sleeping soundly with tears still in her eyelashes....

Noah fell asleep just like that...

...........I wanted to go out, but I couldn’t... I didn’t want to see Seungpyo’s face....

Ji Eunsung.. Dammit, you’re the problem.. YOU ....

+CREAK+

Right then... the door opened a crack,

And with a tired expression on his face,

Seungpyo walked in..........

...............

..................

“....Noah’s... sleeping....”

"..........."

“ , I’ll just go out...”

........

............

............Seungpyo...... looked at me with an exhausted expression and didn’t say anything...

....Seungpyo..........

Before tears could fall, I quickly headed towards the door....

“Lee Kyungwon...”

.......

.........

.............

“....Yes...?”

“.........It’s been a long time.....”

"...........Yeah, it has... hasn’t it...........”

“How’ve.... you been....?”

“Uh, good... I ...guess...”

“...That’s good....”

“....Noah cried a lot.... She’s a lot more sensitive than other girls her age... So treat her right...”

“You’re a teacher...?”

“No~ Just for the moment, I’m a student teacher..”

“Oh... I see....”

“Yeah....”

..........

.............

.............

...................

For a second... it was silent..

“I’m going out....”

"............................."

“Tch~ You got a lot tougher, squirt~ ^0^”

......To break the awkwardness, I told Seungpyo that he’s gotten tougher and sped out of the

room....

............It’s hard.........

It’s hard....... pretending that you’re happy when you’re not.....

The first thing I saw as I walked out of the room.... was Jungmin.....

He was sitting in my seat, and was glaring at Ji Eunsung.. And vice versa...

“You’re here.....”

“Yeah, I am... What were you doing in there....?”

“One of the kids from school came too...”

“.....Why’d a student come here??”

“No, he’s Eunsung’s friend’s girlfriend....”

“Ji Eunsung’s friend.....?”

................

..................

Jungmin looked at Ji Eunsung up and down....

“Hey, better take your damn eyes off me before I poke them out... ...”

With Eunsung’s words, we all were surprised...

“Are you crazy..? Stop acting so immature~~”

With Yehwon’s tugging, he moved his stupid eyeballs somewhere else...

Jungmin sighed, getting up, he took my hand and headed towards the sofa..

.....................

...............................

And he quietly said....

“Is it... Seungpyo..? Your student’s boyfriend I mean..”

“........Yeah, it’s Seungpyo...........”

“So.. another person inside the room was also Seungpyo... Huh?”

“...Yeah, I said that he was going out with her... What’s the problem......?”

“Phew... Forget it... It’s nothing, let’s go Kyungwon...”

“Go? Go where...?”

Jungmin buried his head into my shoulder...

“I don’t know.. I don’t want to stay here where that Seungpyo guy is.... I don’t like the two of

you being so close together... ...... Let’s go...”

“...What’s wrong with you...? You’re not acting like yourself...”

"..........."

Jungmin got up wordlessly, and offered me a hand....

......Does he want me to take it and leave with him.....?

.............

.............I didn’t want to stay here any longer either...

So I accepted Jungmin’s hand.............

The door to the room Seungpyo and Noah were in opened quietly....

And I saw the two of them with their hands held....

Noah still seemed tired....

And Seungpyo’s face was cold....

............Jungmin, bit his lip... and while holding my hand tightly, started walking past them....

“Kyungwon~ Are you leaving?!??!!”

Yehwon asked surprised....

“Yeah, I’m going... I don’t feel too well..........”

“Aw man! I can’t do anything about you not feeling well, but... I wanted to you to sleep

over~~”

“No, my head just.. It’s pounding... I’ll come over tomorrow, have fun, you guys...”

......

.............

“Okay~ You promised.. TT_TT...”

“Okay~~ ^0^”

.......

.........

“Miss Lee, you’re leaving already?!”

This time it was Noah.. TT_TT...

She was looking at me with a pleading expression not to go....

....No, I will not give in.. I will not give in.....

“Yeah, Noah, I’m going. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.. Don’t stay out too late, go home soon.

.....

..............Don’t have her out so late.....”

I said to Seungpyo..... Jungmin stared at me....

........

And to follow, Seungpyo said to me...

“...I’ll do that, I hope you feel better...”

............

...........

.................

...................

.........................

“..Thank yo-”

Before I could finish talking, Jungmin tugged on my hand and pulled me out of the house....

When I looked back,

I saw Noah still looking tired....

And when I looked over at Seungpyo.. our eyes met for a second......

.......and...

....Seungpyo’s eyes seemed a little.....

........angry....

................

Chapter 3

The Car Ride home...

+SQREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!+

Jungmin’s driving seems a little reckless and scary today....

His knuckles have turned white from gripping the handle so tightly.

.............When we reached my house, Jungmin’s closed mouth opened as if he was going to say

something....

“.I’ll see you tomorrow..”

“Lee Kyungwon...”

..

....

“I know what you’re going to say... We’re older than we used to be, don’t make such a big deal

out of something small.....”

.............

..................

......................

“........Don’t make me go crazy, you’ll get hurt too...”

...........

..............

.....................

What does that mean...? There are times when Jungmin says things like that out of nowhere....

..............

...Wordlessly,

I slammed his car door shut. Slammed it hard enough for the door to come off...

And went inside......

I’ll have to see Noah again tomorrow...

....I don’t think I’ll be able to look at her with a happy face....

Whenever she smiles, I see Seungpyo in that smile.

..............

+Next Day+

Luckily the next day, I didn’t see Noah in my first class...

After 2nd period ended though,....

“Miss Lee....”

.........I know who that voice belongs to... I know the owner of that voice....

When I turned around, I found an especially perky looking…

…especially twinkly eyed… Noah…

Oh~~ you curled your hair too....

“Noah Did you get home safely yesterday?”

“Yeah! Did you?”

“Of course I did, we went through a lot yesterday.”

“...Oh no! You went through more looking after me... Oh right, yesterday, that oppa is your

boyfriend, isn’t he? ^0^..”

.........

............

“Huh...? Oh, Jungmin? Yeah, he’s my boyfriend... Oh right, that pale skinned freak didn’t bother

you after I left, did he?”

“....White-skinned?? Oh~ That amazingly good looking oppa? ^0^”

............Amazingly....????

Is Eunsung..... AMAZINGLY good looking??

“....Sure, that amazingly good looking guy.”

“I left right after you did~”

“....Why?”

“Seungpyo oppa kept saying he’d take me home, and that he wanted me home early... I

wanted to stay longer....”

.........Seungpyo............Did that.............?

“Oh! Oppa’s going to come to school today~ ^0^”

“...oppa...? That Seungpyo person?”

“Yeah~ I was going to introduce him to my friends ^^, Does my uniform look weird??”

....Oh~~ That’s why you curled you hair.....

“You look great, really pretty.... Besides, your face is pretty too .”

“Hehe~ It’s the first time oppa’s going to see me in a uniform. I’m a little scared. Come with

us!”

“...Huh? No, it’s fine Have fun with your oppa. I have to get to class..”

“..O_O...Oh, then I’ll come visit later~ ^0^ ...”

“O-okay...”

.............

.................Seungpyo’s coming to school.....

I’m guess I’m going to have to run away 10 minutes before school ends....

That day, I gave each class a piece of paper and pencil to draw whatever...

And found myself looking out the window every now and then... And 10 minutes before the

bell....

“...I’m going to go the office real quick.”

And like that, I lied to all the students,

And grabbed my bag that I had hid in the bathroom,

And quickly ran out.

I hurriedly ran so that none of the other teachers or the principal would see me..

.....And when I had run out of the school....

............I blinked my eyes to see if I had seen wrong.

Why was it that....... seeing Seungpyo leaning against the front gate reminded me....

Of 4 years ago when Seungpyo and Eunsung had come to pick us up....

He was standing right there.... and the image from 4 years ago and now started blurring

together....

..........I grew sad........

I was standing stupidly,

But Seungpyo had seen me......

If I pretend to look somewhere else, he’ll know that I was looking at him....

But it’s a little embarrassing to just walk past him.

What do I do... TT_TT..?

What do I do... TT_TT...??

“....So we meet again.................”

..............

.........................Seungpyo said in a calm voice....

Lee Kyungwon, I guess you forgot.....

You and Seungpyo aren’t anything anymore.. Just 2 people who just met again after 4 years.....

We’re just two people, I know. Then why the hell were you overreacting... like a dummy....?

“Uh, uh, hi~”

.....Did I just sound retarded or what?

“...Did classes end just now?”

He asked, slightly smiling at me...

I could slightly see his crooked tooth... I haven’t seen Seungpyo smile in a long time....

....It’s been 4 years since it’s just been the both of us... Huh...?

“I asked if classes just ended ^0^”

“..Ah~~ ...uh, Yeah... uh.. It’s not over, there’s still 10 minutes left...”

“What the hell? You’re ditching the last ten minutes of school???

“Ditching is not the word I would use.... It’s my way of getting home.....10 minutes faster....

..”

“OVER HERE!!!! This teacher is ditching her last 10 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Want to die??”

My hand was immediately on Seungpyo’s head and pulling his hair...

...What the hell am I doing.......

“..Uh sorry....”

With an awkward apology, I let go of Seungpyo’s hair.

This is what we did 4 years ago... And now...

We can’t joke around like this....

“It’s fine....”

Seungpyo smiled..

“You’re still the same... You know, the whole mob boss image~~ ^0^”

“Like you aren’t~~ You’re still the same.... Being Floppy~~ ..”

“I am not! >_<...”

“I haven’t seen that face in years.. ... Don’t you know that your nickname was Floppy at a

time?”

“...’Floppy’??? TT_TT....”

“Yeah~ Yehwon and I would always call you ‘Floppy’ instead of your name.”

“Why the hell am I ‘Floppy’?! TT_TT...”

“...Go look in the mirror....”

“Wanna fight??”

“ ..”

.........

..............In no time at all, we were back like the old days....

This is more like you... Seungpyo, this is more like the Seungpyo I know... The serious

Seungpyo around Noah isn’t you...

You look more comfortable like this....

........For some reason, I felt myself getting sad again........

“...It’s time for classes to end~ The girls are going to come out soon.... You’re going to get

scraped clean by Noah’s friends....”

.......

...........

“Want to.... come.....?”

“Where.................?”

“...With me, Noah, and her friends. Want to....come............?”

“Nah, it’s okay. I’ll have to pass. Noah asked me earlier, you guys have a load of fun on your

own~”

“......Is there some reason why you can’t....?”

Kim Seungpyo, you dummy... I don’t think I can handle you and Noah together....

It’s too hard...

"...................... I’m busy today~”

..............

................

“With Lee Jungmin...?”

......................

“No~ next time, if I get a chance, I will~”

“Oh okay... Well, next time then....”

“OPPA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

With her curled hair flying behind her,

Her uniform looking a little shorter than usual....

Her mouth caught on her ears.... was Noah running over to us....

Behind her were some girls....

I know who they are.. They’re the ones who always sleep when everyone’s supposed to be

drawing... ...

“You’re here~ Are you Noah’s friends?”

“HI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Noah’s friends yelled.....REALLY loudly.....

“OMG!! He’s so much hotter than I was expecting~~”

“I heard he was one of the 4 Kings at Sang~ Eun Noah, you byatch, you’re so hella lucky~~

Oppa, you’re really hot~ If only you weren’t my friend’s boyfriend~”

Kids these days.... If they see Eunsung, they’ll probably pass out..

Well, actually, once he hits them ...

Seungpyo grinned, and looked at them as if they were cute...

While Seungpyo was meeting the girls,

Noah spotted me and walked quietly over...

“...Are you ... going to go too....?”

“...Huh? Where?”

“With Seungpyo oppa, my friends and me....”

“No~ I’m not .”

“What are you doing standing here? O_O..”

..............

.....................

Noah asked, her eyes wide...

“Oh~ I just met him on the way out of here by chance.... We were just greeting each other.

Have fun~”

“Did oppa say anything else?”

“...What are you talking about?”

“HEHE!! It’s nothing~ It’d be fun if you could go too~~~”

“Huh? No~ I have to get somewhere today~”

“I’ll ask oppa to drive you home~ OPPA!”

While she had her back to Seungpyo, I quickly ran out past the gates...

.....Wearing heels........ I almost broke my ankle....

“MISS LEE!!!!”

Noah yelled loudly, and I turned around.

“I’ll see you tomorrow~ Bye~ Buy Noah and her friends a lot~ ^0^”

The kids stared at me as if they couldn’t believe I was bailing on such a good looking guy.

And…

Next to them was Seungpyo with a small smile, then it became a large grin.....

Chapter 4

On the way home on the bus....

My cell phone stared to ring...

When I looked at the caller ID.. it was Yehwon...

“Hello?”

“KYUNGWON TT_TT!!!”

“What’s wrong with your voice??”

“I can’t believe that stupid Ji Eunsung!!! I can’t believe him!! TT_TT!!”

“...Why? What happened?”

“He broke the TV and ran away!! TT_TT!!!”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“He said some crap about knowing how get cable TV without paying or whatever!!! Then he was playing with the back of it for a long time, and then all of a sudden!!! He just left with a blank face!!! TT_TT!!! And he didn’t come home last night!!! I felt that something was weird and turned on the TV, but it’s not turning on!! TT_TT!!! What do I do?!?! TT_TT!!!”

“Just watch it at my house ....”

“It’s fine.. I just called because I needed to get rid of some steam... He does something wrong at least once a day!! How am I supposed to live with him, Kyungwon?!?!?! TT0TT!!”

....So on the bus ride home...

I had to listen to Yehwon’s whining....

Tch, at least she has someone to cry about.. ..

But even though she complained a lot,

She seems to tell me a lot of crap that I don’t care about...

For example....

He came home drunk once and beat the crap out of the mob boss that lived next door...

Or...

He set free a bird that was stuck on the verandah...Or…

That she can go into night clubs for free because of Eunsung....

......

But I was still jealous....

As soon as I hung up with Yehwon, my phone rang again...

It was Jungmin......

I didn’t answer.... ignoring the glares that I got from the people on the bus,

I didn’t answer his call....

If I meet Jungmin right now, I feel as if I’m going to blow up.... I don’t want to do that....

I walked home, and turned on the music full blast.... and stared at my window....

.......I remember the time when I was in my 2nd year of high school when Seungpyo came to my house...

Because of Yehwon’s stupid lie that I got my neck caught in the window,

...Seungpyo.... was outside my house yelling up at my window calling my name loudly...

Doing stupid things to get me to come down... But back then, I’d already given my heart to Jungmin....

.....Back then... I was really mean to him....

But now... It’s turned around....

Was Seungpyo like this 4 years ago??

.....You’re getting punished, Lee Kyungwon...

So.. Don’t pity yourself, you deserved all of this.......

My cell phone rang again..........

I just took out my battery.....

Sorry Jungmin, I’m really not in the mood to meet you....................

........The music flowed into my ears....

My cell phone continued to ring...

But I still somehow fell asleep....

And in the morning, I heard a loud banging....

That sound was coming from my house entryway..

Was it a robber??? Rapist?? Stalker?!?!?

Yeah! I’ll go with stalker!! I KNEW someone was following me these days~~

What do I do?

My shaking hands reached towards the phone,

When I heared a familiar voice...

“Kyungwon............. Kyungwon.............. Lee Kyungwon...........”

........

.................

.....................

I breathed out a sigh of relief,

And when I walked out, it was Jungmin... half passed out.....

How much did you drink...? Ugh, you stink...

His hair was messed up.... He grinned up at me...

“..Are you crazy? Why’d you drink so much?”

Before I could finish what I was saying... Jungmin hugged me tightly...

....Hugged?? No, more like squeezed....

“Kyungwon... Don’t go.... Don’t go anywhere... Just stay with me..... Why do you keep getting further away? Just stop where you are.... I’m here, I came to where you are... So just stay where you are.... Don’t leave... Just stay like where you were before....”

Jungmin whispered....

.............

What do I do...?..... Seungpyo... Jungmin...

What am I supposed to do.......?

Lee Kyungwon... Like four years ago..

You’re causing pain to the person who loves you....

You’re giving pain to someone who loves you.....

I slowly hugged Jungmin back....

“Don’t cry, Lee Jungmin... I’ll stay here... I’m not going anywhere.... Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere...”

“....I keep seeing Kim Seungpyo’s face and yours together......”

Jungmin choked out....

Jungmin might have known from the beginning, that starting from 4 years ago, I started longing more and more after Seungpyo..... And that what he’s been with was only a shell for

these past years....

He might have known for a long time.. But just pretended that it wasn’t happening....

I continued to hug Jungmin....

And morning slowly came....

..I’m here... and so is Jungmin...

...And Seungpyo’s there... and Noah’s there.....

This is how it should be...

Chapter 5

Morning....

I got a blanket and covered Jungmin with it...

I have to get ready for school....

My body’s asleep and numb... TT_TT...

Because he’s been leaning on me all morning....

I guess I can’t teach anything today... TT_TT... (She’s already thought of an excuse not to teach

again.. ..)

....

........

+PITTER PATTER+

+PITTER PATTER PITTER PATTER+

What’s this sound? Is there a leak in the house?

When I looked outside, I noticed rain falling...

Rain that seemed as if it weren’t going to stop any time soon.....

I quickly got my makeup on, and dressed neatly...

And made breakfast.

I usually don’t make breakfast...

But since Jungmin’s going to have a huge hangover....

I made broth, and some soup....

After I finished, I was just blankly looking out the window,

When someone placed their hands on my shoulders...

“You’re awake...”

“..Yeah..... uh........ What am I doing here?”

“Don’t you remember? You practically knocked my door down last night..”

“.....I did?”

“..Never mind.. Hold on, I’ll give you breakfast....”

“.... Kyungwon, I’m sorry...”

Jungmin’s hands squeezed my shoulders....

Ow, that hurts....TT_TT............. ...............

......................And ten minutes passed....

“Ack! It’s boiling!”

I yelled and sped towards the kitchen...

And I finally had a reason to get away from the clampers of death (<-- she’s talking about his

hands )

............

.................

.........................

We sat across from each other....

And everytime we made eye contact, we’d just awkwardly smile and continue eating...

“I should be going to work.”

“..Yeah, I have to get to school.”

“I’ll drive you, let’s go.”

“...I’m fine, I’ll just take the bus..”

“...Stop it, I said I’ll take you.”

“Okay, then you can..”

Jungmin went out first to turn the car on.

And I looked at Jungmin from the window.

.......And I swore to myself....

That I wasn’t going to bring pain to anyone else....

+VROOM VROOM+

Jungmin started the engine,

And since the school and my house weren’t too far away,

We got there quickly.....

The raindrops were getting bigger....

And falling down faster and harder....

Crap.. ....

“What are you thinking about?”

“I was just looking at the rain.”

“This weekend, my parents are coming from America.”

“What? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“They want to see you.”

"............"

....What.....?

Are you saying, that they’ve accepted me....? .....I think it is.....

“You’re going to meet them, right?”

“Huh...?”

“You’re going to meet my mom and dad, right?”

“...Yeah, I guess I should.. We’re here. I’ll get out here..”

“..Get out in front of the building... It’s raining...

“It’ll only take a few seconds if I run.”

“....I’ll drive you...”

Without stopping the car, Jungmin continued to drive me....

I could see another white car behind us heading the same direction.

My heart started beating faster... Why? I don’t know....

It’s just that… my heart started beating quickly without any reason at all...

What’s wrong with me...?

.......................

.................................

.......................................

The passenger side to the car behind us opened.

And I saw a familiar student smiling brightly.

It was Noah..

The drivers side opened, and HE got out as well...

Seungpyo was holding a black umbrella, and grinned towards Noah...

.....................

............................

“Let’s get out.”

...........

...............

..................Jungmin said....

Jungmin looked over at Noah and Seungpyo.....

"...."

He looked at me angrily....

With a frozen expression, he got out of the car,

And came to my side to opened the door for me.

...............

..........................

. ...........................Rain’s falling on my head...

Ma hair is getting wet....

......ㅇ_ㅇ.........ㅇ_ㅇ...Jungmin...ㅇ_ㅇ..

Jungmin took my hand and walked over to where Noah and Seungpyo were standing....

What hell is he doing.. TT_TT....

Is he still drunk?!??!

Noah smiled at me.....

And..................

Seungpyo started blankly at Jungmin... Then at me.....

“It seems we’ve met a few times already.. But we’ve never gotten to introducing ourselves... My name is Lee Jungmin...”

.........

................

........................Jungmin said in a cocky voice...

Seungpyo stared.....

Noah just stared at all of us.....

And all I could do was just stare at Noah....

For a second, I could only hear the rain....

“....Isn’t it awkward to talk respectfully?”

Seungpyo asked....

His voice was quiet.... but it wasn’t....

It was soft.... but it wasn’t......

“Awkward? We’ve known of each other for a long time, haven’t we? But I’m pretty sure that this is our first conversation... Isn’t it polite to speak respectfully to someone we’re talking to

for the first time?”

Jungmin asked him, smirking at the same time....

I squeezed Jungmin’s hand to signal to him to stop,

But he didn’t............... ................ .............................

And Seungpyo looked down at our hands....

He was silent..

He slowly opened his mouth....

“Polite....? I don’t think you deserve to say anything about being polite in front of me....”

.........ㅇ_ㅇ........ㅇ_ㅇ.....

....I can only hear the rain...

“Can I ask what that means...?”

“You’re not asking because you don’t know, are you...?”

They’re weird! What’s wrong with them?? TT_TT!!!

It looks as if they’re fighting TT_TT......

Seungpyo wasn’t backing down...

He seemed as if he was charging right back at Jungmin....

“What if I don’t know....”

TT_TT....

“Jungmin~ You’re going to be late for work.”

I asked tugging at his arm,

But he didn’t budge...

“What if I don’t know what your talking about.....” ......... ...............Seriously, what the hell is wrong with him right now? TT_TT....

“Lee Jungmin! I told you to stop!!! I’m so sorry, can you just leave?”

I yelled loudly.

Seungpyo, Jungmin and Noah all reacted to my yell..

Noah looked as if she was going to cry....

.......And passing Noah, Seungpyo walked passed me quietly....

And whispered something under his breath...

The rain was falling faster than ever...

B-but I heard what he said....

...........................

.........

Because it was Seungpyo’s voice....

I heard because it wasn’t just any Seungpyo.. It was Kim Seungpyo.....

“.........Not again............”

What’s that mean? Again? What is that supposed to mean?

He neared his car...

Noah yelled after him, but Seungpyo didn’t stop.

And Seungpyo opened his mouth...

“Lee Jungmin, you might want me to disappear...... But keep in mind, there was a time I was like that towards you.... No..... I still am.....” .......... .............And with that, Seungpyo got into his car and sped away.....

Spraying rain water at all of us....

The car disappeared from our sight quickly.....

“Fawk...”

ㅇ_ㅇ..ㅇ_ㅇ??!

Jungmin cursed.... and got into his car....

And like Seungpyo... he disappeared quickly.....

................

.............................................

What is all this....

Is this a dream.....??Chapter 6

................

....................

What the hell is all this....

How did this all happen.....?

Polite....? What did Seungpyo mean....?

The thing that happened 4 years ago.... Then does Seungpyo still....

“Miss Lee.” ........ ................

“Yeah, Noah?”

“What is all this? Why is my oppa acting like that?”

Noah asked, large tears falling out of her large eyes...

Her voice was a pitch higher than usual...

“You see.. Noah... So....”

“How do you and oppa know each other....?”

Noah’s not asking as one of my students right now....

She asking me this question as a person who loves a man...

“............It’d be better to ask your oppa... It’d be better than hearing it from me... It’ll be a lot better hearing from your oppa.”

“....So... there is something..... seeing that you’re talking like this.....”

“.......It’s all past... Let’s go in... You’ll catch a cold...

“Tell me... Tell me why my oppa’s acting like that... Tell me.”

...Noah will find out soon enough......

But... I don’t think I can tell her.... I don’t think I can open my mouth.....

I still have to see her for a few weeks....

.....I still have to teach her for a few more weeks....

If I tell her, how am I supposed to look at her.....?

“Tell me... I want to hear it from you........”

..........

...............

Noah’s voice was shaking.....

...........What am I supposed to do....?

I want to cry too, Noah, I want to cry too...

The one who feels like crying is me... not you......

Because of Seungpyo.... Because I made the mistake of letting go of Seungpyo.....

The one who wants to cry... The one who wants to just forget about life and cry is me....

“HOW DO YOU KNOW OPPA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

...............

....................

Noah yelled me.... It was a command more than it was a question.....

Does she like Seungpyo that much......?

I guess......... I should tell her then......... I really have to now............

“...Your oppa... No, Seungpyo... We used to go out when we were in high school...”

.........

..................

.......................

............

Noah just stared at me....

“The person named ‘Kyungwon’ that oppa was talking about was you...... I didn’t want to believe it... I guess I knew all along...”

........

...............

Her oppa said that....? Seungpyo has talked about me.........?

As Noah said this, she started running as fast as she could......

“NOAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

......The place Noah was running to.......

.................

........................

Was the school... ....

I guess she’s getting back to class.....

I quickly ran towards her.....

Wearing heels.................... ....................

Panting, I tried to catch up to her,

But she was inside the classroom already....

Noah was inside her homeroom class,

So all I could do was just watch Noah through the window.....

....................Noah had her face buried into her desk....

And she kept her head down like that....

I’M the one who wants to bury my face into my arms and cry!!! TT_TT ....

I can’t wait for her here....

I went into the teacher offices and I kept hearing Seungpyo’s voice...

’...Not again...........Not again ............... Not again .............’

Like Noah, I buried my face into my arms....

(Actually, I kinda wanted to try it because I saw Noah do it..)

And time passed....

........

.................

....................

“Miss! Miss Lee!!!”

...........

“Miss Lee!!!!!!”

.......

“....uh, yeah?”

“Aren’t you getting to class...? You have 1 period to teach~”

I got up.................

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry...”

“..uh, you don’t have to be sorry towards me....”

I bowed to the teacher who had awakened me,And headed towards my class...

........

I slammed the door open.......

And looked around, but Noah’s seat was empty....

.................

.........................

“....Good morning...”

.............Where did Noah go.........

......................... ?

“Why is this seat empty?”

“...Noah, she left.” ......... ...............One of Noah’s friends who was with Noah when Seungpyo came to this school said... smirking at me.

“...Left? For where?”

“I don’t know. She just left.”

“You don’t know.”

“Of course I don’t.”

........

....................

.........................

“You know Noah’s home number, right?”

“I doubt she’d have gone home.”

“What’s her cell phone number then?”

“.......I don’t know if she’ll answer her phone....”

....................Breathe in..........

............................Breathe out......

“DIAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

.....

..........

I threw my phone at the girl, yelling....

For a second.. Everyone just stared at me.....

“You want me to.... dial Noah’s number.....? TT_TT...”

She asked with different expression on her face than she had just a few seconds ago....

I nodded...

After pushing the number into my phone with a shaky finger,

she handed the phone to me carefully so that she wouldn’t have to touch my hand...

........… .....

Dammit... I didn’t want them to be scared of me.. TT_TT ....

With the phone pressed to my ear, I walked out of the classroom...

The phone kept ringing...

+RING RINNG RINNNG RINNNNG RINNNNNG+

So you’re not going to answer....?

The principal passed me with the phone to my ear...

“Hello~”

“.............”

...The phone started ringing again....

It rang 10 times.... But no one answered....

Should I send a text message.....? And I was about to hang up when.......

..........when I heard a guy’s voice answer the phone.

“Hello.........”

....It was a playful but sexy voice at the same time....

Is this her brother...?

“Hello...?”

“...Who is this?”

“......I’m.. Noah’s teacher... Is Noah there.....?”

“Did something happen at school?”

“...Yes, something happened... She left school.....”

“....She left..............?”

“Yes, are you her oppa...? Is Noah at home?”

“Oh.... I’m not her brother... I’m just an oppa....”

.........

.................

..................

Why the hell is this voice so familiar... ...??

It’s a voice..... that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget....

“....Kim Seungpyo......? Am I right?”

“This is Seungpyo.... How’d you....?”

“.........It’s Kyungwon.........”

“...................Huh.......???”

“Your girlfriend left!! She left school!!! It’s because of you!!!!!!!!”

......

.............Wait.. What the hell am I saying....?

Why am I yelling at Seungpyo....

Am I yelling because I’m jealous of Noah....?

Because he answered Noah’s cell phone...?

“........Are you at school.........”

“YEAH!”

“Noah left.....??”

“Well, that’s what I said!!!!”

“........Why are you yelling....?”

“.............You don’t know where she is?”

“I’m at school too.”

“Okay.. Forget it....”

“.........Kyungwon!”

“...Yeah.”

“...Come out... Let’s meet...”

".............."

.........I’m so selfish........

For a second, my heart beat quickened.....

Lee Kyungwon... Stop it....

“...Why should I meet you? I have to go look for Noah.”

“It’s about Noah and I have a lot of things to say to you!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

.........

...............Seungpyo just yelled........

I keep remembering scary Seungpyo from earlier this morning....

........................................................

“..........Okay... Let’s meet.........”

.........

................And we hung up.....

I turned my head to the side and when I did, I jumped..

Sticking close to the wall, trying to hear my conversation, were the girls....

.........

.................................

“...I’m going to go out because of Noah... I’ll be right back... Just stay here....”

“Yes, ma’am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Back then, I was happy too when my teacher left for important business....

As I left the school, I asked myself again...

And again after that....

Kyungwon.... You are meeting Seungpyo because of Noah.... Right...? You’re meeting him because of Noah.....

.....................No, you’re not.....

Lee Kyungwon....... You’re so selfish.......

Chapter 7

I was inside the cafe, waiting for Seungpyo.

‘Cello’…Why here of all places? What was Seungpyo thinking when he wanted to meet here?

Why would he want to meet me at the same exact place I broke up with him 4 years ago?

...............Why am I like this after 4 years....?

.......I’m starting to hate Lee Kyungwon....

......

......ㅇ_ㅇ.....

Right then...

I heard loud footsteps outside loud enough to shake the cafe....

And the footsteps stopped in front of the entrance to the cafe.

For just a second, it was silent,

And then the door opened with a small ring.

It was Seungpyo....

His black hair wet from the rain...

With large black eyes, Seungpyo looked around the cafe.

And when he spotted me, Seungpyo just stared at me for a while...

I was starting to get a little embarrassed.

“...uh, you’re here... Hi....”

I awkwardly shook his hand.

And Seungpyo sat down across from me.

And answered with a “Yeah, hi.”

For a second, we were just looking at the table.

No one wanted to open their mouth first.

“What do you want?”

I asked quietly...

Seungpyo answered with a clear voice..

“Two lemonades!!!!’

.........

...................

He still remembers... that I like lemonade........

....

Seungpyo was rubbing his chin with his elbow on the table...

We were silent....

“...You know... Noah...”

I said.

And with Noah’s name.. Seungpyo slightly frowned....

“Yeah?”

“Noah left school... I told her... I’m sorry...”

“....Told her what...”

“...Us.......”

.........

...........

While we were just silent,

The lemonade came out...

“Us..”

“That we used to go out, you told her that..” .......

How can he say it as if it’s not big deal ... ....??

“Yeah that. I told her.. I think that she wasn’t expecting me to actually tell her straightforward... What do we do?”

“We can’t do anything about it.. It’s already past.”

"................You’re right... It is.....”

"...................."

And like that... our 3rd wave of silence hit us.....

....................

Seungpyo rested his black eyes somewhere else inside the cafe...

I don’t know what it was...

“Noah’s in her 3rd year now. She’ll be going to college next year.... The events that have happened might impact her grades...And if they drop, it won’t be good for her transcripts.”

I said, bringing Noah up once again....

“I’ll catch her...”

“....Huh.....?”

“I’ll catch her if she falls..... Don’t worry...”

......You do that Kim Seungpyo.... Catch her... She’ll need you to do that for her.....

“Hahaha~~ Tch! You’ve evolved a lot from your high school days~”

................

...................It’s hard laughing when you don’t mean it....

“All thanks to someone......”

What’s that mean...?

Seungpyo muttered something... It was soft, but I heard him....

....Someone.....?

With a cold voice, I looked up at Seungpyo...

“Be sure to catch her... I know you’ll be able to. She’s smart, and if you help her a little then she’ll get a lot better. I’m asking you as her teacher. You can do that, right?”

“Isn’t it hard talking without taking a breath of air?? O_O...”

...… .... He knows how to make someone feel stupid, doesn’t he.....

“Come on! Let’s get a little more serious here! I skipped my class to meet you. And if you talk like that, then my skipping class becomes a waste!!”

.....What the... Lee Kyungwon... What you just said is more childish than what he said.... TT_TT .....

“Hey, mine becomes more of a waste. I skipped an important lecture to get here... TT_TT ...”

I cannot have a serious conversation with this guy......

He’s the same as 4 years ago!! TT_TT!!!

Next to Noah, I thought he was all grownup....

But with me, he’s the same as before!! TT_TT!!! (AHEM.. I'll take out the 'but with me' part ..

..)

........But... this just might be the thing I longed for.....

“Fine, yours and mine were both a hella big waste. Let’s just stop now.”

“What kind of grown woman says ‘hella’?! >_< !!”

“What kind of grown man is so childish?? ...”

“I am not!!”

“Are too.”

“Stop it!! TT_TT!!”

+RING RIIIIIIIING RIIIIIIIIINGGG+

While Seungpyo was talking, my cell phone rang..

It was Jungmin......

I flipped open my phone...

“HELLO ^0^!!!”

“It’s me, where are you?”

“Honey~ I’m outside right now~~ ^0^”

“Outside? Are you meeting someone?”

Jungmin asked, his voice darkening.

“Oh~ I’m going to go back, don’t worry. You’re picking me up today, right?”

“What’s happened to you all of a sudden.”

“What are you talking about?”

“...You’re never this perky....”

“Oh Honey~ What are you talking about~ You’re coming, right?”

“Yeah... I’ll come.. Did something happen today?”

“...No~ Nothing happened! ^0^ You’re coming, you promised! I’ll talk to you later~ I love you!”

“........uh Okay......”

“Muah!!!”

+CLICK+

.............

..........

.................Lee Kyungwon..

I never would have guessed you’d ever get so greasy.................

It’s because of Seungpyo... This way, we’ll go back our places.. where we belong....

With a straw in his mouth, Seungpyo looked at me...

.....I don’t see a trace of a smile on his face.

It’s not an angry expression..... Lee Kyungwon... What did you expect... I started getting a little sad.

“Sorry~ I sounded really gross, huh? ^0^ You should do it with Noah sometime .”

".............."

............Seungpyo was silent..

And I felt myself become embarrassed....

“Hey, hey, is it THAT gross?? Wasn’t I cute? EHEHEHHE”

“....You.... love him...?”

..........

...................

........................

“......Yeah.. I love him.....”

"............."

“........Hey, what’s wrong with you all of a sudden.....?”

“You guy have been going out for 4 years .”

“.......Yeah, 4 years... How long have you and Noah been together?”

“4 long years, I’ll give you credit for that~ Damn, 4 years...”

“How long have you and Noah been together?”

“...Not that long.”

“Those are the good days~~”

“..............What do you like about him....? There must be something you liked about him if you’ve been with him for 4 years.....”

..........

...................

.....................

The person I love... The person I long for....

The person I want...

Is the person in front of me... forcing a smile..... It’s you, Kim Seungpyo....

..........................

.................................I can’t tell him... Seungpyo... I can’t tell him.....

I can’t cause pain to more people than I already have....

“What I like about him~~!! My Jungmin, uh~~~”

...ㅇ_ㅇ..Hmmm..ㅇ_ㅇ......"

.. What do I do...There’s nothing for me to say...

OH! RIGHT!

“Well you see! There was this time when I was getting picked on by these gangster people! And you know what he did? He just continued to get them, and he saved me!! ^0^... He’s that kind of person~ He even brought me home even though it must’ve hurt~~ ^0^!! The next day, when I brought it up, he acted as if he didn’t know anything at all!! Isn’t my Jungmin amazing??! ^0^!!”

.........

..............

...................For a second... Seungpyo’s face expression turned cold....

...........I’m seen many different faces.... His angry face, his sad face, I’ve seen a lot...

But it’s my first time seeing his face so cold..... It’s my first time...

....

“...You’re talking about 4 years ago...”

Seungpyo spat out...

How did he know? Were there rumors going around?

“Yeah, in high school~~ How’d you know? Were you the gangster?!?!/ HAHAHAHAHAH!! >_<!!!”

"..................................”

“I was just kidding. What’s wrong?”

“What if... the person who saved you wasn’t him.... What if it was another stupid bastard.... Then you might have fallen in love with that bastard.....”

“No~ ^_^Jungmin saved me because it was Jungmin... There wasn’t anyone else who’d want to save me anyways~~!!”

“You must be happy that you can just live inside a box~~”

.........

................Seungpyo said, his voice sarcastic....

His cold face, hurt me....

“Well yeah! What’s good about thinking complex things?!”

“....What if I told you it was m-”

“Excuse me~ Can I take a picture?? ^0^.”

Seungpyo was in the middle of saying something,

When a waitress walked up to us with a polaroid camera....

Seungpyo stopped what he was saying and closed him mouth....

“What picture?”

“Our cafe is have a little couple board~ We take pictures of couples and we’re going to put them up~ We’ll give you a shot too~ You guys make an adorable couple~”

“...uh... We... We’re not going out... We’re just friends....”

The waitress looked at us....

“But, can I still take a picture? You guys just look so good together....”

When I glanced over at Seungpyo....

He still had the icy expression on his face and was looking out the window.

“That’s fine ^0^ Make it good~ Seungpyo, let’s take a picture together!”

I got up from my seat and sat on the seat next to Seungpyo....

I slung one arm around Seungpyo and the other into a ‘V’

Grinning brightly, I gave permission for her to take a picture of us.

..................

She thanked us and took two pictures.

The waitress handled one photo to me and took the other one with her....

When the photo came out,

I saw myself grinning like a nerd....

And Seungpyo’s face not even looking at the camera with the cold expression still on his face....

If you looked at it...

You’d have thought I was a crazy nagging fan girl and Seungpyo was the annoyed celebrity....

“Seungpyo, look at this~ We came out good, huh? Seungpyo, you have a killer profile~ Look at me! I look pretty, huh? ^0^!!”

..............

Wordlessly, Seungpyo snatched the picture from my hand....

“I’m going to keep this....”

“...uh.... S-sure.... You can have it....”

...........

.....................

............................ And once again..... Silence...........

……

“Do you want to give Noah a call..??”

...........

...........

“No…”

“….uh… Okay… …”

……………..

“Hey! What’s up, talk a little, will you?! Do you have someplace to go??”

“No…..”

Seungpyo just continued to stare at the picture… He didn’t even bother looking up at me to answer.

I guess… he doesn’t like being around me….

Is he worried about Noah…? Yeah, that’s probably right…

With his chin rested on his arm, he continued to just stare at the picture..

And then he slowly looked up…

Then he said to me…

“….Do you know the story about the little mermaid…?”

The little mermaid…? What’s that got to do with anything?

“Oh course I know~ What’s the little mermaid got to do with anything? Oh, do you want to see

the movie or something? Tch You‘re the same as before~ ^0^”

“…..What do you mean ….. How am I the same….?”

“…..? You…?”

“..How am I the same as before…?”

“Well, you still act like a country boy playing in the mountains.. Clear and happy, like a little kid.”

“……………….”

Seungpyo let out a sad grin….

“…What? What’s wrong with you all of a sudden?”

“Let’s go.”

“Are you mad that I compared you to a country boy?!”

….Seungpyo got up from his seat and walked to the counter by himself…

…Is being compared to a country boy a bad thing?

I wouldn’t mind if I was called a country girl…. TT_TT

…Awkwardly, the two of us left the café…

The rain outside was still falling heavily.

Seungpyo silently handed his black umbrella to me…

“Why are you giving me your umbrella? It’s yours!”

“No, you take it.”

“But you’ll get wet!”

“I need to meet someone around here.. You can use it…”

“I’m fine ^0^, I’m going to ride the bus, so I’ll be fine…”

ㅇ_ㅇ..........ㅇ_ㅇ....

For a second, Seungpyo looked at me with angry eyes…

“I’m not a damn kid!!”

“…Wh- what are you talking about.. I was just telling you to take the umbrella and to not get wet… Hey, why the hell are you acting so pissy?! Are you pissed that I told Noah?! That’s it,

huh?!?!”

"..................Are you acting like you don’t know… or are you really stupid….”

“What?”

“..I’m going… Go back to school.. And don’t skip…”

…Seungpyo slowly walked into the rain…

As I watched his frame slowly get smaller and smaller…

I wanted to call out his name….

No, I wanted to run over to him and tell him…

But I just covered my face with the umbrella and I just looked after him…

…crying like a dummy until I couldn’t see him anymore….

What do I do…. Really… What do I do?

I like Seungpyo…. A lot…. What do I do… Jungmin… What do I do…..?

….

I like Seungpyo enough to go crazy……

I like Seungpyo enough to cry….. Enough for it to hurt…. What do I do…?

The tears I held back started to cascade down my cheeks…

….And I stood there for a few hours… just crying…..

.............

...................

...............................

....................................

I went home…

And I cried because it hurt.. Because I was sad…

Because I missed him… and back to because it hurt…

And I had a dream…

……Seungpyo was in my dream…

I was with Jungmin… and behind us was Seungpyo…

Seungpyo was staring at us.. Seungpyo was crying….

And on Seungpyo’s face was a multiple amount of scratches…

Seungpyo opened his mouth and he quietly said…

“…………Are you acting like you don‘t know…. Or are you stupid….”

…..Those words kept stirring up the emotions inside of me….

...........

..............

....................

=RING RIIING RIIIIIIINNNNNNG!!+

“…Hello…?”

“Miss Lee…?”

“Oh, yes?”

“It’s already 10 o’ clock.. What are you doing at home, you should be at school…”

“….I’m sorry… I’m not feeling well today… I’m sorry.. Tomorrow… I’ll be there…”

“Oh! I’m sorry, is it the flu?”

“Yeah… I think it is…. I’m sorry I couldn’t go..”

“There’s nothing you should be sorry about~ Get a lot of rest…”

“Thank you……..” ....... ....................

It’s 10 already….??

My head hurts….

There was a text message on my phone…

“Answer the phone….”

It’s Jungmin….

Am I supposed to call him…?

I exhaustedly punched in a number…

“HELLO!

“Yehwon, it’s me Kyungwon.”

“Huh? Kyungwon~ Why didn’t you answer?!”

“You called….?”

“Yeah! Let’s go drinking today!”

“..You and me?”

“Yeah, yeah! Eunsung when on a MT trip today!! It’s our only chance, let’s go! ^0^ !!!”

(Eunsung and Yehwon go to different colleges.)

“..Okay, let’s go drinking…”

“What wrong with your voice? Are you sick? Are you at school?”

“No, I’m not sick.. I just woke up.. That’s why…”

“You didn’t go to school? O_O …?”

“Yeah, I didn’t have to go today.”

“Really?! Come over to my house then!! We’ll hang out at my house and then go drinking!”

… … When are you going to grow up…

“Okay, okay, then let’s go do that.. Hold on, I’ll be there soon.”

“Okay! I’m so excited!! Hurry, okay?!?!?!”

“…..Okay…………” ....... ................

Chapter 8

+DING DONG+

Yehwon poked her head out of the small crack of the door that she’d opened..

“Kyungwon!!!!!!”

“…What happened to you.. ..”

“I’m just so happy!! HEHEEH!! Do you know this is the first time in a while I’ve been able to go out at night?”

“You’re going to stay out all night?”

“Oh course!”

“What are you going to do if Eunsung finds out … …?”

“Don’t say something so unlucky.. I’ll die if he catches me…”

“…You probably would.. +COUGH COUGH+!!”

“What’s wrong? Are you sick???”

“No, I had some phlegm inside my throat..”

“Spit it out outside.”

“+KWAK!!!+ There! Happy?!”

“Ew, nasty!”

“Move, you byatch.”

I pushed past Yehwon and walked into their house…

It’s my 2nd time in here..

It’s still as clean as before…

..........

“Yehwon?”

“YEAH?!”

Yehwon yelled from the kitchen.

“..Hey, why do you guys have two blankets?”

“….We use separate blankets.”

“Why?”

“I put the bunny on the bed and it peed… That’s why.. Eunsung said that he’s not as dirty as I am….”

…… …

“..That sounds like something he’d say.”

That’s right…

The rabbits Yehwon bought 4 years ago…Haven’t died; they’re still alive….

When I look at the rabbits as big as my forearm hopping around the whole place, I think I can understand what Eunsung has to go through.

..........

“Come to the living room~”

….She’s 22-years-old… Not even married… Has no money… But…

She has a TV, VCR/DVD player, a stereo, sofas not excluding a loveseat, bed, a coffee table, a dinner table…

How lucky….

And like that,

We were able to catch up on things that we haven’t been able to talk about…

My head got a lot clearer and I started to feel better…

The things that Yehwon talked about were,

How she hated the 1st years who kept chasing her boyfriend….

She made fun of them too..

...

The things I talked about were the things that happened at school…

……We should be heading out now….

……I’m going to go and drink like crazy….

Yehwon went into her room and took out clothes that she had obviously hidden from Eunsung….

The sun has started to set…

….The sky’s getting dimmer and darker…

“We’re going to a club!! ^0^!!!”

“What about Eunsung…?”

“It’s not like I’m going to m- meet some guys! To drink! And dance!”

“Why are you stuttering??”

“Because I had a lot of spit in my mouth!”

“Right.. I believe you~~”

What a cutie… .. She’s going to get caught being that stupid….

There are at least 10 guys that know Ji Eunsung in every nightclub around this area…

You stupid girl ..

But still, Yehwon skipped out of the house.

I was waiting for Yehwon at the front door when my phone rang.

………It was ……… Jungmin…

I should answer…

“Hello?”

“Where the hell are you?!”

“….Yehwon’s house…”

“What are you doing, what are you doing, huh!?!?!?”

“…What are you taking about…”

“You don’t call, you don’t answer! What’s with you these days…!?”

“I should be asking YOU that… Yesterday was the only day that I didn’t call you…”

“Only day…? Only day that you didn’t call me!?”

“I was sick!!”

“……….Yeah..? Where were you sick then….!!?”

“Forget it… I’m fine now.. I’m not in the mood, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I’ll go to Yehwon’s.”

“I want to hang out with Yehwon.. Just the two of us…”

“You two? There’s only 2 of you?”

“You… What, you thought that we’d be paired with Ji Eunsung and Kim Seungpyo!??!?!??!?”

".................."

Yehwon ran towards me, surprised…

“What’s wrong, who is it..?”

“It’s nothing.. Jungmin, I’m hanging up….”

“…Lee Kyungwon….”

“What.”

“What’s … wrong with you? Just a few days ago you wanted me to pick you up… You told me loved me… When I went to pick you up, you weren’t even there… You get mad… It’s because of that Kim Seungpyo bastard, isn’t it…”

“STOP IT!! Dammit! I’m hanging up~~!!!”

+CLICK+

I hung up on him… I don’t know why I’m mad at him.. It should be him who hangs up on me…. I can’t stand myself…

My head hurts….

……..Lee Kyungwon.. You’ve gone crazy…..

“Hey.. What’s wrong… Why aren’t you telling me… And why did Seungpyo’s name come up?”

“…I haven’t called recently, and I acted b***hy towards him.. He just jumped to conclusions…”

Sorry Yehwon.. I can’t tell you… I’m sorry… Really, I am…

“…Are you okay?”

“Of course I am! Do you know who I am? I’m Lee Kyungwon!! Let’s go! Let’s go! We’ll go to a night club, the a bar!! Let’s get wasted today!!!”

“ALRIGHT!!!!! >0<!!”

…..+SIGH+….. Han Yehwon…

Chapter 9

The place that we arrived at….

Was a night club in the very center of the city.. The one rumored to have a lot of good looking people… Even the name just screamed out at you..

+++Queen+++

The entrance was pretty quiet, it was 10 at night…

We walked up to the 2nd floor…

The stage on the first floor had blinking lights and young people moving their butts around and

around…

When I turned around, I spotted a waiter looking at me and Yehwon…

…..I don’t know if he was looking at us because he wanted to know if we were booking….

Yehwon was shaking her butt so much it looked like she was shaking her nostrils too.

“Ow~~! It’s too loud!!!”

“It’s been forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s been forever since I’ve been so free!!! TT_TT!!!”

“Will you get rid of that face? You look like you came to a club for the first time .. .”

“TT_TT Kyungwon… I’m free….. TT_TT ….. I’m free now!!”

“Just don’t go to the middle of the floor. If one of Eunsung’s buddies sees you, then they’ll drag you out, you know.”

“Don’t worry! Eunsung’s buddies are busy in Suwon!! ^0^”

“Whatever… You just keep thinking like that… You’ll get caught sooner or later..”

..........

.............

................

................ ……………..30 minutes passed…

In front of Yehwon and me, waiters placed a multiple amount of bottles down for us….

But Yehwon and I are still fine… so far.

No one’s come over for a booking..

I guess I was just hallucinating or something…

“Let’s go!! Kyungwon, let’s go dance! Huh!?! Huh!?”

“No~~ Thank you.. I’m going to just stay here….”

“Let’s go~ Let’s go!”

Yehwon gave me a puppy face and shook my arm..

I might pass out from a headache if I dance outside.. TT_TT…

“…Huh, I got a call…….”

“…..Is it Eunsung….?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen this number before.. I wonder who it is…”

“Hey! Be careful, it might be Eunsung!”

“Hello????”

Not paying attention to my warning, that dim-witted girl answered her phone… And as I looked at her face, I could see it was getting more and more panicky…

Haha, I told you to be careful…..

“…..Me?? I’m at home!! ^0^ Huh? Music? Uh, I have the stereo on! …………….Huh…. Huh…………? Eunsung.. TT_TT … I’m sorry….”

Yup……

It’s 2005 right now.. The cell phones have evolved so that when you answer, your location also appears….

….Han Yehwon…. That girl is….. Slow …

For a long time, I could hear Eunsung yelling at Yehwon over the phone…

..........

Yehwon just listened to him yelling….

And then she FINALLY decided to talk.

“…So..? You’re going to come here?? HAHA! Like you can!!! You can’t! Do you know why? Because you’re in Kangwondo, stuck in traffic!!! I dare you to come! I dare you!!! >_< !!”

….I think she’s drunk….

If she wasn’t.. she wouldn’t talk crazy talk like she is right now…

“Nyah!! Nyah!! Nyah!! I dare you to come!! When you get here tomorrow~ I’m going to be gone!! You know why? Because I’ll be at Kyungwon’s!! You don’t know where Kyungwon lives!!! Hahaha! Do you? Do you? BWAHAAH!! You like cursing at your girlfriend?! You like it, huh?! Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah!!! What are you going to do about it?! Kangwondo boy~~!! I’m hanging up!! >_< !!”

………… …………. …………….

When I looked up at Yehwon from my drinking, she was busy cackling to herself and taking the battery out of her phone…

“Han Yehwon..”

“Yeah?”

“You’re crazy, aren’t you?”

“No~~ ^0^”

“No.. No, you ARE.. You’re crazy….”

“I said I’m not!! I’m a free person today!!! WHOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

As she finished talking, Yehwon sped.. I mean SPED towards the dance stage on the 1st floor..

When I chased after her,

she was already on the stage….

Moving everything that she had on her body…..

The way I see it… Yehwon was shaking her butt because of two reasons:

1) She’s scared of tomorrow..

2) She’s half crazy…..

No, but the thing I’m pissed about is….

Why MY house?!???!?!!??!!?!?! TT_TT

Chapter 10

..

If Ji Eunsung finds out where I live… He’ll barge in..

Bi+ch at me for taking Yehwon out…

And then drag Yehwon out…. ..

It’d be better for me to go to my mom’s house…..

Leaving Yehwon to dance her butt off,

I came back upstairs to our table and started drinking….

…..10 minutes later….

Yehwon sped like crazy towards us again….

................

I want to emphasize the word CRAZY….

“Hey! Hey! Kyungwon! Let’s go!”

“…Why?”

“His buddies!!!”

“Buddies? Whose?”

“Ji Eunsung knows where I am right now! He’s probably called his buddies to find me!! If I get caught, I die!! Let’s go! Let’s go!”

“.. Why do you live like this…? No wait, why do I live like this. Because of this girl I befriended, I can’t even play as much as I want..”

As soon as I finished talking, Yehwon pulled on my wrist….

(Her arm strength is so strong… … In high school.. she got 2nd in the whole school for arm wrestling.)

..........

..................

.......................

“..You can let go now. My wrist hurts !!!”

We left the club, and we were in an alley.

“..It’s fine, we’re safe now…”

“You said you were a free person!! I thought you said that you were fearless! Well, if you’re fearless and if you’re a free person, why the hell are you running?!”

“…TT_TT I’m scared …… TT_TT …”

Yehwon said, looking at me with a red face…

.....

..........

The time was a little over 11.

“Where are we supposed to go then?”

“Let’s go to a bar! There’s a small place I know where not a lot of people go.”

“………………….”

“Please~~~ Kyungwon~~~~~”

“…….Dammit..”

And we left the club

And she really brought me to a small bar… A really quiet bar….

There weren’t any other customers besides me and Yehwon..

Yehwon, who already had 5 bottles in her stomach, was a little drunk already…..

……….My face was also getting a little red….

I can’t drink anymore…

If I do, I don’t know what I’ll tell Yehwon…

….BUT~~~~~ Yehwon kept passing bottles to me….

“Hey~~ Drink!!!!”

“No, I’m fine. No more for me.”

“It’s my last wish.. TT_TT …… It’s my last wish, please!!”

“Are you going off to die?”

“….I might tomorrow… I really might die.. TT_TT….”

“…I think running away is the best.”

“I can’t even go where I want anymore! TT_TT! What is this?! Last time, the girls from middle school and I got a get together at a bar! Then all of a sudden, this huge guy came and dragged me out!! 4 times!!!!”

“Was it Eunsung’s friend?”

“I don’t know! He said that he was Eunsung’s junior in high school.. TT_TT … You know how

embarrassing it is?! I mean, it’s like having paparazzi stalkers follow you everywhere!!! They always find me… Somehow!!!! Is that all they do?! Look for their senior’s girlfriend!!! If they were good looking, I wouldn’t say anything.. But he looked like a damn fish, and they still follow me!! It’s embarrassing!! It hurts me!! TT_TT!!!”

“…….uh….. Uh……….. Uh………. Okay…?”

“I mean!!! He was a year younger than me!! But he looked at LEAST 10 years older than me!! You know what he says after finding me?!? He says, ‘Mrs. Ji!!! Let’s go!” TT_TT!! I hate that stupid fish guy!!”

“TT_TT …”

“MRS. JI!! LET’S GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

A loud voice yelled, loud enough to break down the bar…

The voice sounded annoyed, and as if they were trying to sound like a professional bodyguard…

...… ......

Standing behind Yehwon was ‘the fish guy’

He looked to be 190 cm, and he looked really healthy.

Yehwon was wailing…

“Yehwon, I think it’s Eunsung’s junior.”

“TT_TT, Hi, so we meet again.. TT_TT ….”

Unlike a few minutes ago when she was professing her hatred towards the fish-guy, she bowed politely to him..

His face was red…

I could see his bottom lip trembling..

“The damn fish greets you hello!!!!”

“TT_TT You’re so funny.. TT_TT….”

………..

“The damn fish says, ‘Mrs. Ji, let’s go. ’”

The fish muttered quietly…

It sounded something like a threat….

“Yes… Yes, of course… TT_TT.. I was just getting up… Kyun- Kyungwon, let’s go together…”

She looked at me with shiny eyes…

They looked like bunny eyes….

I’m sorry … My friend…

However…..

I’m scared of the fish-guy too….

“I’m going to stay a little longer… You go ahead…”

“…..Kyungwon.. Let’s go… Let’s go… TT_TT …”

Yehwon was practically begging…

But I looked someplace else…..

I’m also scared of the fish guy.. TT_TT..

And like that, Yehwon,

Disappeared like the wind… Quietly~~~

Followed by the fish-guy…..

.........Chapter 11

...........

.................

Now… I can …. Drink a lot.. By myself….

I feel guilty, thinking like this, because of Yehwon….

But now.. I really can get drunk….

…Let’s get drunk today…. It’s been a long time since I’ve been drunk….

Yehwon…. I’m sorry, you’re going to forgive me for sending you away with the fish guy, right? TT_TT..

.......

............

....................

...........

It was fun drinking by myself…. I didn’t know how quickly the time was flying by….

Hmm, wonder how Yehwon’s doing right now with the fish guy…. He’s probably guarding the

door so that she can’t come out…

........

While crying and cursing me..

...Jungmin is probably drinking too…..

And Seungpyo…

Seungpyo would be…..

…………

….Stop it.

…You know that you’re going to cry if you start thinking about Seungpyo….

I hate…. Being so pathetic….

I don’t want to cry from drinking…...... ………I’ve already drunk…. 10 bottles…..

I’m started to get a slight headache…

“…Excuse me… Tt’s time for us to close…..”

The waitress lady said gently to me..

I think she’s trying to get rid of me….

……..

“I’m sorry…. I was just about to leave…..”

I tried to stay awake….

I wanted to walk in a straight line.. confidently….

But.. it didn’t work the way I wanted it to…

How am I going to get home……?? TT_TT

......

.........

Walking shakily, I left the bar….

I don’t know what time it is..

But it must be pretty late… because I don’t see anyone on the sidewalks…

I don’t even have money for a taxi because I used it all….

So…

I’ll have to walk home …

........

..............

I put a lot of thinking into my walk….

I want to just sit on the ground…

……Should I call someone….?

Who should I call….

Jungmin…?

…….I don’t even have anyone to call now…

If I call Yehwon…

She’s probably still at home with the fish guy still guarding the door.

Yehwon’s out.

I’m in the middle of the city…If I just go on a little more…. Then I’ll be home…

As soon as I get home, I’m going to sleep….

…….No, wait, I should eat some medicine….

……..No, wait. I need to wash up first.

Kyungwon! You have to think straight!

............ ……………There were more people in the city as I got to the core….

I’d have thought that they were all gone….....................

I could even see a few people like me…

They had people helping them…

But I was the only one alone….

I miss Seungpyo…

I really miss Seungpyo…..

No, wait, I can’t think about him…

If I think about him, I’ll cry.

Another one of my habits when I drink is that I can’t stop crying once I start.

Stupid Lee Kyungwon, if you cry here, no one will help you feel better...... ................... ........................

..........… ...... +Push+ .............

“What the hell….?”

“….I’m sorry…”

Some guy said, bumping into me….

.........

..................

When I looked up slightly, it looked like it was a guy in college with bright yellow hair.

“It’s fine….”

When I was about to pass the guy….……..

I felt his eyes on me even thought I was half drunk.

….I turned around squinting…

…………….And I closed my eyes…..

Then I opened them again….

Open….

Close….......... ............................... ..............................................

I saw 3 people with bright yellow hair…

All were guys…

And with his mouth closed tightly… was Seungpyo looking at me…

…..Fawk…. Dammit, why now?

I hate people I know seeing me when I look like this…

……….I’m crazy, I’m crazy……

Tears are starting to gather in my eyes….

I feel anger bubbling inside me and sadness….

…..I turned back around again….

And slowly started walking… Step by step….

I didn’t hear anything behind me, so I turned back around once more.

The four guys were still standing where they were, just staring at me….

…..The other three had pitying looks on their faces…

And….

…I could see Seungpyo just staring at me….

I turned my head again….

It’s exhausting….

He’s in front of my eyes again, he’s so close to me….

I just turned around again….

With my back to him…..

I started walking away…

Tears are flowing down my cheeks….

The tears that I held back were starting to flow…

Flowing? Streaming is more like it..

The tears were just streaming down….

****….

They won’t stop..

........

...........

“Kyungwon…”

................

...................

.......................

It was Seungpyo’s voice.

One of Seungpyo’s hands were on my shoulders….

….I couldn’t bear to look at him… I couldn’t look at Seungpyo like this….

.............

However, Seungpyo gently turned me around towards him….

….My head still bent down, I said quietly….

“Can I just go…? Seungpyo, can I just go….?”

“What the hell, are you crying?”

Seungpyo’s hands went up to my face…

……Weakly, I looked up at him…..

And Seungpyo was silent….

....

“I told you to go… I just told you to go… Stupid bastard.. Why’d you come, why’d we meet here…?”

“…..The reason you’re crying right now is because of Lee Jungmin, is it?”

…Stupid… Retard… Idiot… The reason I’m crying is because of you…..

.......

Seungpyo’s voice was low and dark…

“…It’s Lee Jungmin.. It’s Lee Jungmin.. I’m right.. It’s Lee Jungmin…”

ㅇ_ㅇ.......ㅇ_ㅇ.........ㅇ_ㅇ.....

In a second, Seungpyo’s two hands were on my shoulders…

.... ……Ow………..

“….Where is he…..?”

"................"

“I asked where he was….”

“….Why are you like this….?”

"........................"

“….It’s between me and Jungmin.. It’s none of your business… It’s sounds weird that you’re saying that… I’m going to straighten everything out of my own… I’m fine…”

Seungpyo grabbed my right wrist and started pulling me somewhere.

“…..What…? What’s wrong..? What are you doing…?”

“Where does Lee Jungmin live.”

……It seemed as if he was half crazy…...............................

…..Why is he acting like this… Why is he doing this…..?

Right then, one of his friends said…..

“Seungpyo! What are you doing? She’s a girl!!!”

What the hell are they thinking….?

Wordlessly, Seungpyo continued to drag me in some direction holding my wrist.

“Let go!!! Let go!!!!!!!!!!!”

......

..............

.................

“Lee Jungmin’s not here!!!! He’s not here!!!!!!!!!”

.......

.............

.........

........

“I’m not crying because of Lee Jungmin!!!!”

….However, Seungpyo didn’t stop. .......... ............. ..............

“…..Kim Seungpyo… It’s because of you…. It’s because of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

.......

...............

.................... …………………Seungpyo froze in this tracks….................. .....

“…….Say that again….”

“…..You heard me…”

“I want to hear it again…”

“I’m crying because of you… Because of you… So let go of me….”

Seungpyo let go weakly…

.......

“…..Why would you be crying…. Because of me….?”

“Because I hate it.”

“Hate what.”

“That I met you like this, that’s why I’m crying.”

“….That’s… why you’re crying….”

“…..Yeah………….”

“I’m sorry… I didn’t know you hated me that much…. Sorry…. I won’t touch you again…..”

......

.................. …………………Quietly, Seungpyo walked past me…........................

…No, I don’t like it like this…

Lee Kyungwon, even if you’re selfish…

It’s okay to be selfish…

I’m a b***h.. I’m an evil conniving b***h…

But…...........

I…. I just want to be selfish… I want everything my way….......................... ..........................

“Yeah! I’m crying because of you!! I’m crying because I hate seeing you!! Because I just met you! Because I met the person who’s giving me all this pain!!! …Because you just saw me like this!!! That’s why I’m crying… I’m crying because I’m embarrassed…. Because we keep getting tied into a knot… I’m crying because I’m sad…. That’s why I’m crying……”

......

..............

..............

Was if because of the beer I drank…?

I told Seungpyo everything…….

…….I told him everything….

My tears wouldn’t stop.. They kept coming…..

.................

.....................

I was in Seungpyo’s arms….

Seungpyo had brought me closer to him without me even knowing…..

It’s the first time… It’s the first time Seungpyo’s ever hugged me…

…... .........

It feels like a dream…

What if this is a dream….?

If it’s a dream, I’ll have to wake up….

..................

I’m afraid…. I’m afraid to be happy… because it might just be a dream….

................

..............................

Seungpyo just held me tightly, not saying anything….

He was just hugging me tightly….

….The tears in my eyes were falling onto Seungpyo’s shirt…..

….Seungpyo opened his mouth……

“I waited for you…. Why did… it take so long….?” he asked in a strained voice…..

Instead of answering, my tears that were falling grew bigger….

...............

.........

............... ……………….We were like that for 30 minutes….......

Seungpyo didn’t lower his arms…

And I didn’t try to move away….

...................

.............................

The only thing that interrupted our embrace was the ringing of Seungpyo’s phone….

Chapter 12

Seungpyo paused for a second.

“..Answer it..” ...... .........

Seungpyo let go of me, took his phone out his pocket, and stared at it…

I can guess who it is….

I know who is the person that’s calling..

It’s obvious who it is because of Seungpyo’s face..

His phone continued to ring…

Deciding what to do, Seungpyo looked up at me, and instead of answering, I gave him a smile.

As he received my smile, Seungpyo gave me one of his own and answered the phone. .......................

“Hello, yeah, it’s oppa. Noah, do you want to meet right now? …..I have something to tell you….” ..... ........... ………….For some reason, I feel guilty to look at Seungpyo…. Because of me….. Another person is going to get hurt…

………….Because I felt apologetic to Noah, I started to put a little distance between me and Seungpyo.

As I was starting to walk away, Seungpyo’s warm hand gently grabbed my wrist and he shook his head twice.

What do you want me to do… …. ??

…………..Whew……………

“….Huh? Yeah, let’s meet. Oppa has something to say to you.”

.......

When I tilted my head to look at Seungpyo’s face, I could see that he was slightly frowning… (TN: Sorry to be interrupting…. But doesn’t that sound hella sexy? ^0^ )

“Let’s meet, I have to tell you… Then do you want me to tell you over the phone? Over the phone? You want me to do that? …You want me to tell you now?”

......

..................

Noah’s avoiding him…

Noah knows what Seungpyo’s about to tell her… She knows…

That’s why Noah is avoiding Seungpyo right now.

...............

I keep remembering…

4 years ago..

Seungpyo did that too… He told me not to say anything more… You asked me not to say anything…

………

“Well, then what do you want me to do? What should I do… Huh?”

….Seungpyo’s voice was a pitch lower….

Following that… Seungpyo closed his phone calmly….

“…What did… Noah say…?”

“…She doesn’t want to hear what I have to say…”

“……….What were you going to tell her?”

“The thing you’re thinking about.”

“What am I thinking about right now?”

“The thing I’m thinking about .”

“Stop twisting everything around .”

..........

...........

“I’m not twisting anything around… Why… are you going to run away again..?”

...........

..................

.......................

Instead of answering, I just shook my head ‘no’ with tears in my eyes. Looking down, I just continued to cry, and I could feel Seungpyo wiping them away for me..

“….Thanks, Kyungwon.”

“….Thanks? For what?”

“…It feels like a dream. Really, it does. .”

Me too… It feels like a dream for me too… I hope I never wake up…

..............

“Let’s go , Let’s go, I’ll walk you home ^0^.”

Seungpyo held my hand, and started swinging his arm making my arm swing with his…

….He’s still the same he was in high school..

“I’m fine, go with your friends. My house is close to here.”

“Hey guys! You go ahead!”

Instead of answering, Seungpyo yelled loudly to his friends who were just staring at us stupidly.

“..I said I’m fine, you go ahead. >_< I love walking home by myself!”

“I want to love walking to your house too!! >_<!!”

……….. Yeah, he’s still a kid….

And…. That’s how the two of us walked…

With both our hands swinging together as we walked…

……4 years ago… I never appreciated Seungpyo’s brightness and I felt that he was too immature… And that’s what might have driven me to go to Jungmin….

I was stupid…..

I was stupid for chasing away the person I love…..

I was stupid for breaking up with him.

But….

But right now, Seungpyo and I are back…

We’re back…. To where we were…

I’ve just realized….

That the person I’ve loved all these years…..

.....

Is Seungpyo….

.........................

.............................

The thing they say about time flying by when we’re with the people we love….

…is so true…..

It only felt like a few seconds since we started walking…

But we’re in front of my house already….

“Want to come in for a while? I’ll get you something to drink…”

“O_O Don’t your parents live at home?”

“I live by myself. .”

“..Oh~ Really? Lucky!”

“..Yeah, I like it. Come in for a sec.”

“…okay, why not. ^-^”

..............

.................

..................

Seungpyo walked into my house in awe.

…..I’d always thought my house was dull and dark….

But right now, with Seungpyo in here with me…

I felt like it was happier and brighter than any other house was…….

................

“Do you want coffee?!”

“I want milk!”

“…Fine, have milk , I’ll pour it for you, hold on a sec.”

I walked into my kitchen, and grabbed a carton of milk from the fridge. While I was pouring…

Seungpyo was opening cabinets and drawers in my kitchen…

…like a country boy who had come to Seoul for the first time…

“….Kyungwon, do you smoke….???”

ㅇ_ㅇ..............?????

“No, I don’t… why?”

“….There’s an ashtray here…”

........

.........

I guess it’s Jungmin….

“Uh, yeah.. You want sugar in your milk?”

“…Lee Jungmin came over a lot… I guess, huh? “

“…Not a lot, just once in a while…” ........ .............. ...............

Seungpyo didn’t pay attention to what I’d said and hopped onto the sofa.

With the cup of milk, I carefully walked over to Seungpyo…

“Here .”

“……”

“ What now?”

“……………..Starting from now on---!”

".....… ........."

“I’m the only one allowed into this house!”

“…So you’re saying I can’t invite my friends over?”

“I meant the male species… I’m the only one allowed.”

“…..Okay, just you. I won’t let my dad come in either, and I’ll just stray away from my family…

.”

“…And your dad…”

“AHK! You’re so cute >_< !! You’re so adorable!!”

With my left hand, I grabbed Seungpyo’s cheek and pinched it tightly.

With one cheek pinched, he said in a tough voice…

“Don’t call me cute anymore~ I’m going to be like Eunsung from now on….”

“What did you just say?? O_o..?”

“I’m going to be like Eunsung from now on! Don’t say that! I don’t like hearing that I’m cute! >_< !”

“I dare you to talk like Eunsung… If you do, I’ll beat you!!!!!”

While I was saying that, I twisted Seungpyo’s cheek.

But OMG. He is just too cute. TT_TT

Hmm. If we get married and have a kid, then I won’t have to worry about being exhausted from the kids. HEHHEHEH ^0^.

“Why are you laughing…?”

“No, I’m just happy .”

“..Hey, let go, my cheek hurts… .”

“I told you not to talk like Ji Eunsung!!!”

“..Ow~ Ow~ I won’t. >_< I won’t! Ow, let go TT_TT …”

“You promised!” .......... ............

We just talked for 30 minutes…

I walked Seungpyo out to the gate as he was leaving…..

“See you~~!”

“I’ll call you~”

“….uh okay, but Kyungwon….”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t know your number…”

“..Oh right Give me your phone.”

“Phone?”

“Yeah, give it to me .”

………..Seungpyo was holding onto his phone….

“..Give it to me~”

I snatched the phone and I was going to put my number in the number one slot…

……..But that number was already taken by another number…

…….My house phone number….

….From 4 years ago….

I don’t think Seungpyo knows what I just saw…

…As calmly as I could, I put my number in the very last slot and handed Seungpyo’s phone back to him.

“…Call me later~”

“..Okay >_< .”

.......

............

“Seungpyo…”

“..Yeah…?”

“I love you~ >_< !!”

".............."

I turned around to run into my house before he could say anything.

..............

AHK !! AHK!!!

I’m so embarrassed!

Seungpyo was staring after me stupidly….

...........

......................

...............................

............. ……………..And I ran up to my room, and turned on my stereo.. onto my favorite song and smiled like crazy.

Then.. I started crying….

…..For a little over 2 hours……. I would laugh, then cry, then laugh again, and cry again…

……What do I do about Jungmin….?.........

The thing that brought me out of my crazy trance was a call from Seungpyo…

That day…. No wait, that morning..

We talked until 7.….

About everything, and nothing….

..............

I guess this is love……

Chapter 13

……….That day….. I didn’t go to school, instead I made up some lame excuse that I was sick….

…That afternoon… Seungpyo came over…

And we talked until 10 that night…

We talked about random things…

We laughed about random things…

Yehwon hasn’t called…..

Jungmin hasn’t either……

Because of no interruptions that day, Seungpyo and I were allowed to catch up on 4 years….

.........

...............

......................

The Next Morning….

I was busy getting ready for school….

I’m going to meet Seungpyo this afternoon….

Seungpyo said that he’s going to meet Noah today….

He said he’s going to meet Noah and tell her today….

......................

.......................

…..He said that he’s going to tell her everything….

Then what about me…?

Do I have to meet Jungmin today??

Today is the day I was supposed to meet his parents…..................

When I go to school…. I’ll have to see Noah….

Truthfully, I’m scared…

I don’t know how I’m supposed to talk to her, how I’m supposed to look at her…

….What can I to say to her….?

+THUMP THUMP+ My heart is beating rapidly….

I don’t know if it’s because of my beating heart…

….But I have to go to the bathroom TT_TT…

.....

It’s been three days since I came here last….

The stares that the other teachers were giving me weren’t exactly nice either….

….I have a class first period…….

...........

..............

Luckily… I don’t have to teach Noah’s class today…

What a relief….

…..There’s a reason for Noah and me not to see each other today….

With my heart beating a little less rapidly with that thought, I walked into my first period class.

“Good morning, Miss Lee! Long time no see~!! ^0^”

“…. ….”

.......

.............

For the first time since I became a student teacher… I taught…..

….Damn, it’s not as easy as it looks….......

My free period, I’m going to go to the office and sleep .

No wait, the empty classroom is better.

4 years ago when I used to come here, my homeroom teacher would go find an empty classroom and go to sleep for a period.

I hid my shoes…

.......

.........

.......................

Right then….

Noah, who was walking quietly by, passed me….

….She passed me calmly…

She passed me, who had frozen on the spot….

“….No-….”

No, forget it….

It’s funny to be apologizing….

For a second, Noah stopped walking… just for a second…

But without turning around, she continued to get further and further away from me…

…..I walked into the teacher’s office and collapsed at my seat.

I took out my phone and checked to see if I had any missed calls.

…I have three….

First was Seungpyo…. And the rest were Jungmin….

I spotted I had one new message…

“I hope you rot in hell .”

It was obvious who it was….

Han Yehwon, were you THAT mad?? -__-

With heavy footsteps, I looked for an empty class…

I found one and I found something to lay on, tying my hair in a ponytail, I slowly felt sleep envelope me.

I can’t believe that I‘m starting to fall asleep…

Today’s Saturday… Saturday…

Happy Saturday… Saturday….

….I have to go met Jungmin’s parents…..

……But before that…. I have to tell Jungmin…..

Today…would be the best day to tell him…

…But I can’t do that, I’m too scared…

With a bunch of different thoughts in mind, I slowly fell asleep….

….

I could hear my cell phone ringing, and I opened my eyes….....................

I waited for the person to hang up….….But the caller didn’t…

...................

Annoyed that I’d been awakened, I snatched my phone and looked at the caller ID..

It was Jungmin’s number…

…….

“Hello….”

“…You…..”

…….Jungmin’s voice was shaking… I could hear his voice shaking….

“…Jungmin…?”

“Where. Are. You.”

……Something’s wrong…. Jungmin is scaring me….

“..I’m in the first empty classroom on the right of the hallway….”

“Come out.”

“…There’s still 2 hours left….. Why? Is there something wrong?”

“I’m going over there right now.”

“…I have class right now… I’ll meet you at one.”

“I told you before, didn’t I? That if I get mad, you’ll get hurt too….”

....... ………..Jungmin’s voice was chilly….……There were no emotions in his voice……..His voice was in monotone….

Something’s weird… This is weird…..

“Did… I do something.. To make you mad…?”

Even though I said it, it sounded stupid….

“No. You did something to drive me crazy.”

“……I have something to say to you too. Let’s meet later… Let’s hear the reason I made you crazy later…”

“I’m not going to listen to what YOU have to say.”

+CLICK+

He hung up……

........ ………..I was wide awake now….

And I was thinking…..

What’s wrong with him…?

He… didn’t see…. The other day….

Seungpyo… and me…..........................ㅇ_ㅇ................... .... ................

It might have worked out for the better….

If he’s seen… then I won’t have to tell him….

But something doesn’t feel right… I’m getting a bad feeling…..

…..Something’s making me nervous….

.......

Chapter 14

…I started dialing Seungpyo’s number….

It rang 4 more times…

…And finally I could hear Seungpyo’s bright voice…

“Hello ^0^ !”

“It’s me, Kyungwon,… but Seungpyo….”

“Yeah! What’s up?!”

“…uh, you said you’re going to meet Noah… today, right?”

“Yeah….. But she keeps avoiding me…”

“…Okay, I saw Noah today at school….”

“…She came today?”

“Yeah.”

“Then… I’ll go to your school later after class..”

“What…?”

“I said I’m going there later… Noah keeps avoiding me… I might as well go to her instead of have her come to me… If you can, come to the back exit…

………Not the front entrance….

Jungmin’s cold chilly voice echoed inside my head…

“No, don’t come today.”

“What…?”

“Don’t come…Don’t.”

“…I have to… Noah keeps avoiding my calls… The only thing I can do is confront her at your school.. O_O…”

“No.. Just meet her later… at some other place… Not today though, not today….”

“Is… there something happening…?”

Seungpyo asked worriedly….

I keep imagining Jungmin’s cold face, and Seungpyo’s warm worried face inside my head..

Closing my eyes, I pinched the bridge of my nose….

“No, nothing’s happening… Just don’t come today, okay? Don’t come today, Seungpyo..”

“What’s the reason you’re keeping from me…”

Right then, the door to the room opened, and a student walked in…

“..uh, yeah?”

“I… I’m supposed to clean here….”

“What…? What time is it right now?!?!

“…Classes just ended.. O_O.”

Oh my gosh, what do I do… TT_TT..??

How long have I slept then…..

I had a class I was supposed to teach… TT_TT..

“Hello…? Hello~~?”

“Seungpyo! I’ll call you later!!”

I hung up on Seungpyo, and pushed past the student…

I ran towards the teacher office……

............

The teachers inside all ignored me.. TT_TT…

I went over to my desk and grabbed my bag….

Clicking my tongue on the roof of my mouth, I started walking down the hallway…

…I have to go to Seungpyo right now…

…If Seungpyo comes…

Jungmin and Seungpyo will meet…..

Hopefully… That won’t happen….

I was quickly nearing the front gate and while digging in my purse for some money so that I could grab a taxi…

..............

................

As I was searching inside my bag, I saw something on the ground….

What….the…..

A ripped piece of paper….?

What is this….?

I looked over at it…. It was someone’s head….

…Is it a picture…?

Behind the piece with the head, there was another, of an arm….

…Wait, is this…..

It’s not…............ .............. .................

Alarmed, I picked up the pieces, and when I looked up…......... ........................

I saw Jungmin throwing the pieces of the picture onto the ground….

“…Jung…min…”

This picture…

This picture is of me and Seungpyo at the coffee shop…

I stared dumbly as Jungmin continued to tear the picture and throw it on the ground….

I started sweating…

“Long. Time. No. See.” ... .......

“What the hell is up with you…?” ..... .......

“What the hell….?”

Jungmin said coldly…

He continued to stare as I just looked at the ground…

He walked towards me and I looked up at him…

“….Let’s not talk about it here, let’s go somewhere else…”

I flinched as Jungmin threw the rest of the torn pieces of the picture into my face…

“Don’t change the subject. The reason I came here is because I wanted to hear an excuse.”

.....

..........

Jungmin stared at me as if he were going to eat me…

….If Seungpyo comes……

“Excuse? The reason I’ll tell you… Let’s go somewhere else, there are still students here.”

“Why… Because Seungpyo’s girlfriend might come out…?”

“…..Come on…”

It’s Jungmin who should be mad….

But I could hear my voice coming out chilly and cold….

I turned around and started walking, but….

......

..........

...............

I didn’t hear him following after me….

When I turned back to face Jungmin, he was staring at me… Standing still….

“…Let’s not talk about it here… You came here to hear something from me, didn’t you? Let’s go… We’ll talk someplace else…”

.......

But Jungmin just stood there…

I raised my arms and tried pulling Jungmin with me…..

“You think I’m playing around right now? …Is that it, Lee Kyungwon?”

........

...................

.......................

“I’m not playing around either…”

“Tell me here, tell me an excuse.. Any excuse…”

“….I don’t have one… It’s exactly as you saw it… You know what’s happening… “

...........

.......................

...............................

“You’re telling me, you and that bastard have decided to meet again… Right..?”

“……We haven’t started…. We’re meeting each other again…”

“What…about me…”

“……I’m sorry… I was going to tell you today… You can curse me… You can hi-”

…Right then, Jungmin’s shaking hand fiercely struck my cheek.

……I’m glad he did that….

It’s better than he curses me than cries over me…

“You’re going… to throw me away….”

“….I’m just going back to before…”

“Yeah?”

Jungmin’s hand started to shake again, and I closed my eyes…

......

..........

What…? Why didn’t he hit me…?

When I opened my eyes…

….He had his hand raised, and I could see tears falling down his cheeks…...........

“Any excuse… please, I’m begging, just give me any excuse… Just tell me that you guys met by chance, and you just took a picture…. Just make something up….” ........ ...............

Chapter 15

“I’m sorry, Jungmin… I’m sorry, I’m really sorry…”

Jungmin and I stood staring at each other…

Looking at each other, our tears fell…

I tried to stop crying as more girls came out of the school…

But I couldn’t…

“Jungmin… Jungmin… I’m sorry, I’m really sorry… I don’t like it either… I don’t like doing this… It hurts…”

Jungmin just stared at me, his tears falling silently…

I wanted to say something, but tears continued to fall out of me eyes… Jungmin didn’t say anything and just continued to look down at me.

And… I can see that Jungmin’s eyes are growing larger…

................

As if he’s seen something, Jungmin just numbly stared…

I turned my head and looked where Jungmin was looking.

.............

.................

Seungpyo’s standing there…

I don’t think he’d seen us yet and he was nearing closer to the front gate…

Jungmin started heading over to Seungpyo, he passed me and started walking over to Seungpyo…

“Jungmin… Jungmin….”

.............

No matter how much I shook him and pulled him back, it was no use.

“I’m not going to let you go… I can’t let you go.”

“Jungmin…”

“I can’t…I won’t…”

…Muttering this under his breath, Jungmin glared at Seungpyo…

Right then, Noah came out of the front gate.

Why is everything getting so twisted? Why is everything getting so complicated?

Seungpyo stepped in front of Noah, who was about to pass him.

Seungpyo said something to Noah, who was yelling and crying hysterically.

…Jungmin was nearing closer to them…

Now, I can’t do anything… There’s nothing I can do to stop any of this…

There’s nothing I can do…except cry…

Just because of me…Three people are going through pain…

Because of me…Because of a stupid thing like me…

Noah spotted Jungmin first…

And not bothering to slow down, Jungmin headed straight towards Seungpyo.

Seungpyo spotted Jungmin right then…And then he looked over to where I was standing.

When he spotted me crying, his eyes widened in surprise, and then he turned back to look at Jungmin.

………Seungpyo and Jungmin stared at each other…

Seungpyo said something…and Jungmin just stared at him, his mouth in a tight line.

With cold pained eyes, Noah looked over at me and gave me a hateful look.

…I just looked down…

Right then, Jungmin started running towards Seungpyo.

“Seungpyo!!!!”

The name I yelled was Seungpyo’s, not Jungmin’s.

“What the hell is all this?! All this is because of you!!!” Noah screamed at me.

......

Jungmin and Seungpyo were rolling on the ground.

Noah and I tried to pull them apart, but they paid us no heed.

Jungmin’s fist flew towards Seungpyo’s face and Seungpyo’s fist flew towards Jungmin’s.

“Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!! Jungmin!!! Nothing’s going to change! Fighting isn’t going to change anything!!!”

With my loud yell, Jungmin stopped for a second…

I can feel the stares from kids all around us.

…Wiping away a trail of blood from his mouth, Seungpyo asked me…

“….Are you okay, Kyungwon?”

..........

..................

“Don’t say Kyungwon’s name!!!”

Jungmin said angrily…He’s so scary…

“You’re bothering Kyungwon right now.”

Seungpyo said in a calm and quiet voice.

Jungmin looked up at me and stared at me with blank eyes.

“…I’m bothering Kyungwon? …It’s you… You’re the one who has come between me and Kyungwon. It’s because of you Kyungwon’s trying to leave me…”

........ ……….Noah started to cry….................................

“4 years ago… The one who got in between us… was you, Lee Jungmin…”

Letting out a ragged sigh, Seungpyo looked at Jungmin.

“…We loved each other back then…”

…

“And so… I let her go… I let her go to you… If you really love her… You’ll let her go too.”

“No. I can’t. I need Kyungwon.”

.......

.................. …..Jungmin stared at me…

“Let’s go, Kyungwon,” he said and grabbed my wrist.

.......

..................

...........

..............

Seungpyo’s hand grabbed my other hand.

“Hey stupid, why are you letting him pull you away?”

Jungmin glared at him with cold eyes…

“Do you really want to die.”

Seungpyo smirked back at him, “Don’t you know that I fought like mad in high school? I never would have now if I knew I’d end up fighting with you…”

.....

..........

Silence followed after Seungpyo’s words.....

The three of us just froze…

Right then, we heard the screeching of tires.

…And it screeched to a stop in front of the front gates.

Everyone’s eyes turned to the screeching car.

With wide eyes, Yehwon stepped out of the car.

The tears that I had finally managed to stop just started flowing again once I saw her.

“Kyungwon! Why are you crying?!”

She yelled loudly running over to me. ................ ………….Jungmin’s hand slowly let go.

….However, Seungpyo’s hand still held on tightly, and I continued to cry as Yehwon hugged me tightly.

......

“Kyungwon, don’t cry, don’t cry. Why, why are you crying? You stupid girl, why are you crying, I came to b***h at you, but I can’t if you’re crying.”

Yehwon’s voice slowly started to get strained as if she was keeping her tears back too.

................

“Hey, what the hell’s the matter.”

…..A familiar voice that I’m not very happy to hear

“It’s weird, Eunsung. Kyungwon won’t stop crying.”

“Aw fawk, why’s everything so complicated, and why the hell are there so many kids?! Hey!

HEY! You kiddies, get lost!! GET LOST!”

As Eunsung yelled in an annoyed voice, the girls slowly backed away, afraid.

….I guess there is a use for you…

The only ones left were…Seungpyo, me, Jungmin, Noah, Yehwon and Ji Eunsung.

Yehwon comfortingly patted my back lightly. Noah was just crying, kneeling on the ground. Jungmin had his head bowed and out of his closed eyes, I saw a couple of tears falling.

And…

“…What the fawk, Kim Seungpyo… What the hell is wrong with your face.”

“…It’s nothing, it’s just…”

“Did you get hit?!”

Eunsung’s already loud voice yelled even louder.

“No, it’s nothing. What’s the matter with you all of a sudden?”

“Hey, don’t turn around the damn convo. Who is it? Who’s the bastard who did this…?! Is it this b***h?!”

.......

.......

“Be quiet, Eunsung, we’re at school… Hey, let’s not stay here. Let’s go somewhere…If the teachers see, they won’t like it too much, it’s bad for Kyungwon,” Yehwon said carefully.

................................

Eunsung neared Jungmin with an eyebrow scrunched near the front.

“You tell me, you fawking Yankee. What’s wrong with Seungpyo?”

Wordlessly, Jungmin started laughing…

“HAHAHA, what a close friendship you guys have. Really. How nice… HAHA!”

“Hey, is he drunk?” Ji Eunsung asked turning to me.

“Like Yehwon said, let’s not stay here.”

Seungpyo said, still holding onto my wrist, he started dragging me into Eunsung’s car.

............

.....................

Angry, Eunsung got into his car and Yehwon stared worriedly at Noah and Jungmin..

“HEY! BEARHEAD!! Get in the fawking car!!!”

Ji Eunsung yelled shoving his head out the window…

“…Jungmin, Noah, let’s go ^0^.”

….Oh right, Yehwon doesn’t no anything…

…She doesn’t know anything about Jungmin…Me…Noah…and Seungpyo…..... ..........

Jungmin threw Yehwon’s hands off his arm. Confused, Yehwon walked over to Noah, however, Noah also ignored her.......... ...........

Pouting, Yehwon got into Ji Eunsung’s car.

Chapter 16

Eunsung’s car slowly started off….............

We passed Jungmin…and Noah….

She was crying hysterically, tears just pouring down her face.

Jungmin was staring at me with cold eyes…

Lee Kyungwon…Are you happy now? …I hate myself, more than I did before…

Leaning on Seungpyo, I just wordlessly started to cry…

He comfortingly put one of his long arms around my shoulders.

…And I just continued to cry, leaning on Seungpyo…

“Only today, okay? …Don’t cry tomorrow, only today.”

Instead of answering, I just nodded my head.

“Hey, Kim Seungpyo, who was it? Tell me. If you don’t…there’s a high chance I’ll drive into a pole…”

Ji Eunsung said in a cold voice.

“I wasn’t the only one who got hit, I hit them back…”

“How many times did you get hit…”

“Once…”

“Then how many times did YOU hit them.”

“Ten times ^0^.”

“You swear on all your friends.”

“Yeah~~ ”

It was then Eunsung’s voice defrosted, and his eyebrow un-scrunched.

Even the speed of the car slowed down.

I want to count the number of brain cells in that head. I really, I really do. I wonder how many

thousands- no I mean, hundreds are in that head… It even might now be in the hundreds…

Right then, my cell phone started ringing….

My cell phone…and Seungpyo’s cell phone too…

Seungpyo smiled lightly towards me and handed his phone to me, and then he took the phone in my hand and took it…

............

..................

“Hello.”

“Hello.”

We answered our phones at the same time…

….It was Noah.

For a second, I could hear her crying, and she hung up soon after.

Seungpyo was silent when I looked over at him.

Over the phone, I could hear Jungmin’s loud yelling.

…I slowly took the phone from Seungpyo.

“…Lee Jungmin…Stop it…You’re so scary… I hate myself… I know I haven’t done anything good…But you’re so scary right now…”

“Kyungwon, what do I have to do…? No, don’t do this… What should I do… Do you want me to wait? Huh? …If I wait, will you come? Okay.. Okay, I’ll do that.. I’ll wait… I’ll wait for you, okay…? You have to be quick, okay…? It’s not going to take too long…Is it?”

...... ………..Jungmin’s voice sounded half hysterical…................

“Jung…min, stop it… I’m begging you… Just stop it…Even if I do go back to you…there’s no way I can like you again, there’s no way I can love you again… It’s too late… Jungmin, please… Just please…”

“Oh…Then it’ll take a little time…? Okay…Okay… Then…Take as long…as you need… Just- You have to come back thought, okay? 1 year….? 2 years…., Or longer…?”

.........

..............

..................

Jungming was smiling… I could tell…

Through his tears…he was smiling…

I can feel goosebumps on my arms…

…Slowly, I closed my phone and started shaking in Seungpyo’s embrace…

...... ………I guess Yehwon realized something then….........

“…Are you guys…. You guys are what I think you are…Right?”

“…Sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, Yehwon…”

Seungpyo said quietly, and Yehwon slowly nodded her head…........ Seungpyo put his hand on my head and the three of us were silent…

“Hey…I want to know too…”

Stupid Eunsung was the one who broke the silence…

But we just remained quiet….........

The place the car stopped was….

A bar…

I wanted to go home…But I knew Yehwon wanted to talk to me…

I can’t say no to what Yehwon wants…

The four of us entered the bar with heavy footsteps…

Eunsung…and Seungpyo…

And…Yehwon and me…

For a second, we broke off into pairs…

..........

............

…..When the beer arrived, Yehwon grabbed a bottle and started drinking, not bothering to pour it in a cup.

Eunsung slowly seemed to be understanding what was going on…Finally..

“…I’m sorry…Yehwon, I was going to tell you…”

“…Tell me from the beginning… Don’t leave anything out… Tell me everything…”

......

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...............

An hour passed, then two…

I told Yehwon everything. When I’d finished, Yehwon had finished 9 bottles and her tongue was starting to slur when talking.

Luckily, Eunsung had his back to her and didn’t see her half drunk.. If he had… I don’t even want to think about it….

“…*hiccup*…That’s what…happened….Huh?”

“…I’m sorry Yehwon, I- I was scared of myself… Really, I was scared…”

“….Jungmin…My Jungmin… What do I do… ?? Poor Jungmin…WAAHHH WAHHH!!”

….Oh right….I’d forgotten Yehwon and Jungmin have been friends since they were seven…

Chapter 17

Sitting in the table in front of us… Seungpyo jumped up from his seat and knocked a whole tray of fruit on the floor.

“Hey, hey pick it up, pick it up~~ If you love me, pick it up >_< !!!”

He said in a slurred voice, and to follow that…

“I told you to spray the peanuts if you were going to spray them at all, didn’t I?”

Eunsung asked in a scary and quiet voice.

Yehwon stared at me with drunk eyes…

“…Jungmin… TT_TT… You know Jungmin…”

She said, starting to cry……She paused a moment to calm down her shaking…

“You know Jungmin… In America… He started doing bad stuff in middle school, he did drugs and b~~~~~ad stuff…”

What…the hell is this…?

Seungpyo stared at us for a second…

“It wasn’t often… But for a lot time, he was depressed too…”

Seungpyo looked at me with a worried expression when he saw me with a blank expression on my face…

“…Then he got brighter and happier… Especially when he was around you. But earlier… At school… I felt as if I was seeing him back then… Even I was scared…”

“…Why’d he do that kind of stuff…?”

“Problem with his parents, wrong crowd. Jungmin was really dark and scary back then, like he was earlier… If he goes back to the way he was, then I- WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

Yehwon buried her face into the table and started bawling.

Hearing Yehwon cry, Eunsung turned around to face us and got up from his seat.

“…What’s wrong…? Hey, hey, Han Yehwon.”

Then, he slowly turned his head towards me and said in a scary voice, “You made her cry,

didn’t you… .”

With that, he sat in front of her and started comforting her awkwardly.

“Why are you crying…Hey, don’t cry…Aw fawk, this is going to drive me crazy. Hey, why are you crying, did that girl over there make you cry?”

Yehwon shook her head, continuing to cry.

“…Are you crying because I yelled at you?? Is it because I yelled at you that time you went to the night club… Huh? Is that it?”

...... ………..Yehwon shook her head again.

“Then, is it because I broke the TV antennae?? Is that why you’re crying?”

At this, I let out a little laugh.

Eunsung turned to me and stared at me, then he opened his mouth.

“I heard about you guys. Go over to Seungpyo.”

".............................."

“..Hurry, get over to him.”

"........................."

“Get the hell over there… .”

"................"

He sounded as if he wanted to be alone with Yehwon, and so I got up and walked over to Seungpyo was who drinking and I weakly smiled.

“Are you drunk…?”

“NOPE!! >_<!!

“I think you are…”

“Sit ^0^!! Sit, hurry sit ^0^!!”

Seungpyo forced me down next to him.

“Watch, this time I’m going to spray peanuts!! Watch, okay?”

“…..Seungpyo…..”

“Yeah?”

“…Have you called Noah…?”

.... …….Slowly his smile faded, and he looked down.

“You haven’t, have you…”

“…..Not yet.”

“You have to call her…You have to tell her that we’re together… If we take any longer, then both of them are going to go through more pain.”

“…I’m going to…I will…”

“…I’ll tell him too… I’ll tell him that we’re together now, okay….? So that we can be happily together…”

Seungpyo nodded.

“I’ll be back, just stay here, okay? Or stay with Eunsung and Yehwon, I’ll call you…”

“No.” ..... ......

“…I’ll be right back, it’ll take just a short while.”

“Where are you going….?”

“I’m going to go talk with Jungmin… Clear things up.”

After hearing what Yehwon told me…I feel as if I have to apologize and at least TRY to break up on a good note. I want to tell him that I’m sorry… Maybe I’ll beg him to forgive me and let me go……I’ll ask him to forget me and meet someone else…I WANT to beg to him to forgive me like this…

.........

...........

Seungpyo looked up at me with sad eyes…

“Then let’s go together…”

“…Stupid, we can’t… I’ll be right back, I’m just going to talk to him for the last time…”

“Let’s go together, I want to go too…”

Seungpyo got his jacket on.

“Stay here. Seungpyo, what’s wrong with you? If you go, things will get more complicated. I’ll just figure everything out by myself quietly, okay…?”

“…Then call him. You can do that.”

“I can’t do that… I’d feel more guilty than I already feel. I want to tell him that I’m sorry face to face… I’ll break up with him officially, you do that with Noah too, please…?”

Seungpyo didn’t say anything and he looked as if he were trying to keep something back....

“Seungpyo, I’ll be right back.”

........

When I slowly got up, Seungpyo opened his mouth…

“You’re not going to come back…”

“….Of course I am.”

“Why can’t you--Why can’t you--Think about the 4 years I waited for you… He’s only been sad for a day…Why can’t you just let him be sad for a day…? …How come you think about him going through pain, but you didn’t think about me and my pain for four years…?”

“….I’m going to be with you from now, aren’t I? Just one day, Seungpyo. Okay…?”

“…That’s also what you said to me then…”

".........."

“You avoided me… You didn’t tell me anything, I thought I was going to go crazy when you did

that. I wanted to hear why, why you were avoiding me… You didn’t even give me a chance to hold you back…. I didn’t even have a chance to make you stay with me… Then you told me you wanted to break up… 4 years was a long time, Lee Kyungwon… it wasn’t a short time…”

.... ……I wanted to say something…I wanted to tell him it was harder for me wanting to tell him that I loved him than those four years he waited for me…………But I couldn’t…. because I didn’t want to make it sound like some kind of excuse…I stared at him numbly…

“Back then… I was young… I was stupid… I’m sorry, just one hour… I’ll just talk to him for one hour… I’ll straighten everything out in one hour and come back to you smiling. Then we’ll really be happy, okay?”

"..........."

“You’ll wait for me, right…? Just one hour, just wait one hour….”

"......................."

“.. My pretty baby, just keep eating for one hour, it’ll be quick. You have to wait!”

I gave him a peck on the cheek, and left the bar.

And as I came out, the tears I kept back started to fall.

When I thought about all the pain I brought him those four years… I feel like I’ve committed some kind of crime…

Seungpyo… Seungpyo… Just one hour…

Just wait one hour…

Then I’ll be with you forever…

I’ll make up for all the pain I brought you…

I’ll make sure you don’t cry because of me ever again…..

Inside the bar, Seungpyo got up shakily and walked over to Eunsung and Yehwon…

“You guys know the story about the little mermaid? The mermaid saved the prince, but he didn’t know that… So the prince married another princess from a far away country… The mermaid was sad, but happy at the same time because she was able to be with the prince in his castle… But do you know what happened in the end for the mermaid…?”

Yehwon just continued to cry, but Eunsung looked up at his friend and said sincerely,

“Didn’t she eat an apple and die…???”

............

..............

.................

“………..No, she became a bubble and died…”

............

Seungpyo said, a tear falling on the table…

Chapter 18

Back with Kyungwon…

…I’m in front of Jungmin’s house right now…

My heart’s beating like mad right now…

….Just one hour… Only one hour…

I’m going to keep my promise with Seungpyo…

Gathering my courage, I pushed the bell…

…Jungmin lives with his nuna…

.........

.........

….I pushed it again…

“Jungmin…. Lee Jun-”

Right then!

Jungmin opened the door and for the first time, I saw him drunk… His eyes were scary…And I could smell the alcohol on his clothes…

“…You…You…..”

“…Did you drink- ahk!”

Before I could finish, Jungmin’s hand pulled me in, and he closed the door.

From the front door, I can see at least 10 empty bottles…

.....

“…I came to tell you… To make it official… It’ll be better for you…”

“…Official…? Make what official….”

He asked… his voice shaking… He seemed really, really drunk…

“…I’m sorry Jungmin… I know it’ll be hard… But can’t you just give me up…?”

“No.”

Jungmin said in a cold voice.

Taking my hand, he seated me on the floor next to him and he put his face close to mine, crying…

................... ……..And an hour passed…...

“…Jungmin… Lee Jungmin…Can’t you just listen to me…?”

Jungmin didn’t respond and just cried, not letting go of my hand…

“…I’ll tell you straight forward. 4 years ago, my heart was with Seungpyo… I wanted it to stop, I just wanted to keep it from you… I wanted to forget Seungpyo, but… I guess love doesn’t let you forget…. Jungmin… Seungpyo went through four years of pain because of me… We love each other so much… Can’t you just send me to him…? Just let me go to him, please?? I’ll beg you, Jungmin, I’ll beg…”

Jungming looked up at me…“I won’t ask you to love me… I won’t ask you to like me… It’s okay if you like Kim Seungpyo… Just be next to me…! Can’t you just be next to me, where I can see you… If I can’t see you… I’ll go crazy… I’ll die… I’ll die if I don’t see you…”

Jungmin held onto my hand even tighter……I shouldn’t be allowed to live……How can I think about Seungpyo when I’m bringing Jungmin so much pain…?.......

“…Jungmin, we’re…not kids anymore… It won’t happen just because you want it to… Just stop.. Please…? I’m begging you…Jungmin…”

“No. No. No, you can’t go. I’m not going to let you. I love you too much… Haha, no.. You can’t go…”

Right then, my cell phone started to ring……It’s Seungpyo…

I reached my hand into my pocket, to take my phone out, but as soon as I took it out, Jungmin snatched it from my hand and took out the battery…

“Jungmin… What is wrong with you… Why are you doing this..??”

“Let’s just forget about all of this.. I’ll let it pass… We can go back to before, it’s okay!!”

Jungmin started laughing and then it turned back into sobs…….I kept thinking up Seungpyo’s sad face waiting for me….........

….I shook Jungmin’s hand off with all my might and stood up.

“I’m going.. Jungmin, I’m going… It’s too late for me to come back to you… I love Seungpyo too much…!”

As I was quickly heading towards the door, Jungmin made me stop in my tracks…

“If you go… I’ll die…”

......

..............

............

“…What…?”

“I’ll die… If you go, Lee Jungmin will die…”

“…No you won’t… You’re just saying that…”

“Are you testing me…? Do you really want to see…? Do you want to see how much I love you…?”

“You’re crazy… You’re not in your right mind… You’re weird, Lee Jungmin, you’re acting crazy right now…”

….Jungmin grinned….

From his eyes, tears are continuing to fall, but his mouth continues to go upward in a smile…

“NO!!!!!!!!!!”

I yelled and ran towards Jungmin as he extracted a small knife his pocket and start slitting his wrist….

.................

...........................

No…….No………..No……….... .......... ................ ...................... ........................... ......................................

+Hospital+

“…It’s not serious…Luckily, you got him here just him time for it not to be too dangerous. He’ll be up in a little while… He just needs a lot of rest…”

The doctor said in a low voice…

He gave one glance to Jungmin and left the room quietly….

........

......................

.........................

My face was covered with tears and sweat…

I collapsed onto the floor and started wailing…

….If this was a dream… I wish it was a dream….

Chapter 19

I slowly fell asleep…

I guess I was exhausted from crying…

I could hear someone running quickly towards this hospital room and I woke up. The door opened and there stood Jungeun unnie…

“Jungmin!”

Jungeun unnie ran to her brother and was crying while touching her brother’s pale face.

….Then she turned to me and said…

“Kyungwon, is it true? Jungmin…that he tried to commit…”

“…Yeah…”

“You know the reason, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Can you tell me…?”

.......

Unnie just stared at me, her face blank… For a second, she looked over at Jungmin’s face then mine and then walked closer to me and hugged me…

“It must have been hard, Kyungwon. Unnie didn’t know anything… I’m his nuna, but I didn’t know… Poor Kyungwon, it must have been hard, so hard. It’s okay since I know, okay? You were scared weren’t you…This is the first time he’s tried anything…”

Jungeun pat my back comfortingly…

My tears were dampening her shoulder…Unnie, I’m so sorry… I’m so sorry…

I’m really…I’m really sorry…

“Right, Kyungwon, you must be hungry… You haven’t eaten anything in a while have you, do you want anything?”

“..I’m not really hungry…”

“You have to eat. You look half dead from all the crying! Do you want rice? Hamburgers? Pizza?”

“Unnie…I’m fine…”

“Okay! Pizza .”

Jungeun unnie forced a smile on her face, and left the room… Through my tears, I could see her tears… She was trying to be happy in front of me so that I’d be stronger. Lee Kyungwon, what is this… Because of you…Jungmin, Yehwon, Jungeun unnie and…

……..Seungpyo……

Seungpyo!!!!!

I’d forgotten about him!

I started to run towards the door to find a pay phone….

….…..

“…Kyung….”

“Jungmin!”

I turned around towards Jungmin who was calling my name…His face was so pale…

“Are you okay? Can you open your eyes?”

“..Kyung…won….”

“Yeah, you idiot, what were you going to do… Stupid…”

“I told you…I’ll die without you…”

“…Jungmin…I-”

“…I don’t want to hear…”

“…Jungmin…..”

“I’m going to sleep…It hurts…I’m going to sleep…”

“……Okay, get rested then…”

I got up to find a phone when Jungmin’s weak voice stopped me again…

“Don’t go, stay next to me…”

“..You said you were going to sleep…”

“…Stay with me…”

Jungmin pulled me closer to him….

……………

……..Seungpyo……..

I don’t know if Jungmin saw the tears trailing down my face, but he just smiled and closed his eyes…

His hands are so cold…

…Seungpyo’s were so warm…

Seungpyo will be waiting for me…

….It’s 4: 30 in the morning…

Seungpyo was only supposed to wait an hour….But it’s been over 6 already… He’ll be waiting for me… If it’s the Seungpyo that I know…he’ll be waiting for me…

…When Jungmin fell asleep, I slowly took his hand away and opened the room…

I saw unnie with a box of pizza in one hand, she grinned widely at me…

…I can tell she cried a lot outside, her eyes are red…

“Let’s eat ^0^.”

“…. …..”

The two of us finished the small pizza and…it was already 5...

..

“+Burp+ Man, I’m full. Are you, Kyungwon?”

“ .”

“You can go know, unnie will look after him. You look tired, oh right! You have to get to school to teach! You’ll be late, hurry, go!”

Unnie pulled me up and shoved me out the door…

“Don’t send her away!”

Jungmin’s yell echoed inside the room.

“…Are you okay?”

Jungeun unnie asked nearing Jungmin…

“Don’t send her away!! Don’t let her go! Kyungwon, don’t go!!!”

I let go of the doorknob and stood numbly in that room…

“You stupid retard! What were you thinking?! Huh? What were you thinking? Are you okay?”

“I’m okay, nuna…I’m fine, don’t send Kyungwon away…”

“…Kyungwon’s tired too… It’s been a few hours, Kyungwon has to sleep too…”

“…Kyungwon….Don’t go…”

“…Stop it!! I know that it’ll hurt you, but think about her! Kyungwon…It’s okay to go…”

“…Jungmin, I’m going…”

“Kyungwon!!!”

“Lee Jungmin, stop it!!!”

I could hear Jungeun unnie yell loudly at her brother as I stepped out of the room.

…I sped out of that place as fast as I could…

I looked around crazily around the hospital for a pay phone….

There’s one…........... ................. .......................

Seungpyo…just wait…

Chapter 20

RING………….RING………………Ring…………….

“The number you have reached-”

…I’ve already tried a few times, but Seungpyo hasn’t answered… I tried calling Yehwon too… But she didn’t answer either… Seungpyo’s probably really mad….Right..?

I ran like crazy to the bar that Seungpyo and the four of us were at last night…

..........

When I arrived, panting, I looked around, but no one was there…

I wanted to go over to Yehwon’s house, but they live too far away… There aren’t any taxis at this time…

…I don’t know where Seungpyo lives…

My phone’s at Jungmin’s house…

…Is there really no way I can contact Seungpyo…?

..............

I don’t know how I did it…But I reached my house around 7...

As soon as I collapsed on my bed, I fell asleep…

When my eyes opened, it was 3.

I shot out of bed and I dialed Seungpyo’s number with my home phone…

….For a long time, it kept ringing…............ ........ .............

Finally… I could hear Seungpyo’s low cold voice answer the phone….

“Hello…”

…..As soon as he answered, I felt my throat tighten up…I couldn’t talk…

“Hello?” Seungpyo voice became a tone higher and he asked quickly.

“Seung….”

As I was about to call him name, my front gate opened and Jungeun unnie barged in, tears on her face and her hair bustled…

“Kyungwon!! Jungmin…Go to Jungmin’s room.. Please…”

“…Unnie...What’s wrong…?”

“…Jungmin, he…. Jungmin…He tore all the needles out of his arms, yelling that he was going to bring you back. That he was going to find you… Jungmin’s acting weird… They’re keeping him back, the doctors and nurses are barely keeping him back… What’s wrong with my brother….”

“…Unnie, I’ll tell you in a little while…”

“Oh, you were on the phone… I’m sorry, I’ll wait outside.”

“You don’t have to, just stay here.”

“No, it’s uncomfortable for me. Take your time …”

Jungeun unnie left my house weakly, her backside looks so exhausted…

“…Lee Jungmin…again…?” Seungpyo asked quietly over the phone…

“Seungpyo, I’m so sorry!! I really couldn’t go, I was going to.. I wanted to.. But I couldn’t… You waited a long time, didn’t you… I’m so sorry…”

“Are you going…?”

“….Huh?”

“Are you going to meet Lee Jungmin…again?”

“…Jungeun unnie’s asking me to…What do I do…?”

“You said yesterday was your last…”

“….Later, we’ll meet later, Seungpyo… Where’s your house…?”

“Come over right now…”

“…Seungpyo…”

“….Come over right now, I have to see you right now…”

“…I can’t right now, you know that too… I think of Jungeun unnie as an older sister…”

“If you’re not going to come…then don’t bother coming at all…Don’t go to see Lee Jungmin, come right now…”

“…Later…Later, and I’ll tell you everything then…The reason I made you wait…I’ll tell you later…”

“It’s hard for me to wait for you… It’s exhausting waiting for you, Lee Kyungwon…It’s hard loving you…”

“…Right now, it’s just… I want to see you too. You’re the person I want to see the most right now… But I can’t Seungpyo, I’ll go later…”

“…Now…”

......

“Okay…I’ll go…Where are you…?”

...

......... ………I hung up the phone and walked towards Jungeun unnie…

“Unnie, I’m so sorry… I’m so sorry but…”

Unnie turned around and smiled at me…it looks as if she’s been crying this whole time…

“..Yeah…?”

“I have to go somewhere really quick, is it okay if I meet you at the hospital…?”

For a second a flash of disappointment flashed in Jungeun unnie’s eyes.”

“I’m so sorry, it’s just really urgent…”

“ That’s fine, you’re going to come though…Right…?”

“Of course .”

..........

We finished our conversation and left for the bus stop together…. We had to go in different directions…. Unnie waved at me from across the street…

….She’s such a good person…What would I do without her…

How do I tell her…How do I tell her everything….?

……….

My bus arrived and I bowed at Jungeun unnie and got on the bus…

I can see Seungpyo…

The thing I want to do when I see him is hug him tightly, and cry…And then he’ll comfort me and everything will be okay…

With my heart beating heavily, I got onto the bus and found a seat…

…The thing that made my heart drop…

..........

Was Jungmin, staring coldly at me outside of the bus…............

Chapter 21

…Inside the empty bus…not counting the driver were 3 people…

One of them…was Jungmin staring quietly at me…

I felt my fingers, then my hands, and then my whole body start to shake uncontrollably…

When did I start fearing him…?.......

A cold silence filled the bus and 20 minutes, I was nearing the neighborhood that Seungpyo said he lived in. I should have got up, but I couldn’t due to my shaking legs.

Taking a deep breath, I stood up, and stood by the front door to get out.

The door opened and I sped out of the bus….

….Like I’d predicted…............ .................... ......................... …….Jungmin got out the back door.

He slowly started walking towards me…

I wanted it to be a dream, I wanted it so bad to be a dream…

But Jungming opened his mouth…

“…Where are you going…?”

“…You’re crazy.”

“Yeah, I am. I’m crazy about you…”

“You’re scary… Jungmin, I’m serious, you’re so scary…”

“…I love you…”

“…Stop it.”

“I love you… I love you enough to not care what happens to me… I love you.”

“I love Seungpyo.”

“I don’t care. Just stay with me.”

“…Stop trying to get something that you can’t. I love Seungpyo, I want to be with Seungpyo. Not you, I don’t want to be with you.”

“If I can’t have you, I’ll die. He won’t, I will…”

“But I’LL die if I can’t be with him.”

“Yeah…? Then we’ll die together, let’s go do that.”

“No, if I die, I’m going to die with Seungpyo, not you.”

My guilt towards Jungmin had turned into something else…What was it…?

“If I don’t die, then I need to be with you…”

“….What…What do I have to do…Jungmin…What do I have to do for you to let me go…?”

I asked Jungmin. No wait, I begged Jungmin.

I begged him, anger covering up my voice.

For a long time, Jungmin stared at me silently…

I looked away for a second and when I’d turned back to him, he had a small smile on his face.

“Farewell kiss…”

“….What…?”

“Farewell kiss… A last kiss… After that…It’s goodbye…”

“…Then you’re going to let me go to Seungpyo?”

“I keep my word, you know that.”

.....

............

..............

For Seungpyo… For me… For us

….I’ll just close me eyes, it’s just one kiss…

Just one little kiss and I’ll be able to go to Seungpyo…

I can go to Seungpyo who’s waiting for me…

It’s weird that he’s saying he’ll let me go with a kiss, but when I thought of Seungpyo…

…I neared him, and I lightly kissed him lips…

..........

Jungming pulled me to him tightly.

“…Stop.”

I pushed Jungmin away and when I saw the smile on Jungmin’s face, I turned around with a heavy heart.

.............

Frozen to his spot was Seungpyo just staring at the two of us dumbly…

“Lee Jungmin…I’ll never forgive you…”

I spat at Jungmin and started to run towards Seungpyo.

Seungpyo turned around and silently started walking slowly.

“SEUNGPYO!”

I called to him loudly, but Seungpyo didn’t turn around…

I touched his shoulder trying to stop him, but he didn’t turn around…

Deciding the only thing I could do was stand in front of him, I ran in front and blocked his way.

“No! It’s not what you think! Listen to what I have to say!!!”

"..................."

Seungpyo’s eyes stared at mine, and he slowly opened his mouth…

“I don’t want to. I don’t want to see you. I don’t even want to think about you. I’m not even going to wait for you this time….”

He said coldly, and Seungpyo started to walk.

“It was my last!!! He said that he’d let me come to you!!! That’s why I did it!!! I wanted to be with you!!! That’s why… I’m not lying…It’s the truth…”

Seungpyo continued to walk and said, not looking at you…

“Last…? You say that word a lot… I’ll say it this time. This is MY last… Hope you have a good life……..”

........

......

The strength in my legs gave out and before I could call his name, I collapsed….............. .....................

As darkness surrounded me…I closed my eyes….Final Chapter…

When I opened my eyes, I saw Jungmin sitting next to the bed with a cigarette in his mouth.

“…Get out.”

“Nah, I don’t think I will…”

“Get out. If you don’t, I’ll die…”

Exhaling a puff of smoke, he smiled…

“Then I’ll die with you .”

“…Get out, please…I don’t want to see your face… If I could, I’d kill you… But I can’t, and I hate myself for it…If I could, I swear to God I would… Get….Out…”

“Want food? You must be hungry, it was hard for me too. Bringing you home.”

“GET OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JUST GET OUT PLEASE!!!! JUST DISAPPEAR!!!!! …Get ….Out…”

For a long while, Jungmin stared at me, then smiled.

“I just repaid you, I only did what you did to me. We’re even now.”

..........

..................

......................

“You didn’t do anything to me…You did it to Seungpyo…”

Right then…

With a ‘thump,’ something fell to the ground. When I turned around behind me, I saw Jungeun unnie staring at us, her bag on the floor…

“What did I just hear…? Kyungwon, what did you just say…?”

“Oh, nuna, you’re here . You found me, it took you long enough. .”

“Lee Jungmin, you tell me… What were you two talking about…?”

I started crying and Jungmin opened his mouth and said in an inhumanly calm voice…

“Nuna, you know Seungpyo? Kyungwon went to Seungpyo, she doesn’t like me anymore. So I blocked her. I kept her back. Nuna, you know that if it’s not her, then I can’t live… I kissed Kyungwon in front of that Seungpyo bastard. Now, they’re broken up. Nuna, I begged Kyungwon, I cried in front of her not to let me go…But Kyungwon wanted to leave me, isn’t she

bad…? … She didn’t care about me at all, she only wanted Seungpyo… So I stopped her…

…”

Silently…numbed… Jungeun unnie stared at me, then slowly at her brother….

Her hands were shaking… Her lip was trembling… She slowly walked closer to us… With a mask of anger and coldness that I’d never seen, she was looking at me…

I closed my eyes…

+SMACK!!!+

..............................................

.......... …………She swung her hand…........... ................ .....................

And it made contact with Jungmin’s cheek…

Jungmin silently glared up at his sister…

.............

..........

“Do you know what you just did, Lee Jungmin…?”

“You know what happened to me, nuna? Who are you to hit me…”

“I’m your nuna… That’s why I hit you, come out….”

Jungeun unnie grabbed Jungmin’s hand, but he didn’t budge.

“Why should I? Nuna, you can go out yourself. Why would I go out…?”

“Lee Jungmin, stop it. You know what you are right now? You’re pathetic, I don’t think I can even look at you.”

“Then don’t, I never asked you to. Close your eyes and get out. I have things to say to Kyungwon…”

“What happened to you….? Huh…? When did you become like this… What’s wrong with you? What’s wrong with you, huh? Jungmin, why are you doing this…?!”

Jungeun unnie asked holding Jungmin’s hand and trying hard to keep her tears back.

........

“It’s because I love her. I don’t need to hear what you’re going to say. Get out.”

“You don’t love Kyungwon. If you love her, you should let her go. If you love her that much, it doesn’t matter what happens to you, you should always put her first. …Right now, you’re not.”

Jungmin stared down at the ground….

“Nuna, get out… I’ll do everything on my own, nuna, get out.”

“…I told you to stop….Didn’t I?”

Jungeun unnie’s voice darkened…

“I can’t.”

“There’s been exactly once in my life I’ve been pissed off, as I am right now. That was in my 3rd year of high school because of some Bi+ch named Suh Inah. And now you…”

Jungmin was silent…

I looked at him with my swollen eyes…

Jungeun unnie neared him and let go of his hand…

“Mom and Dad are going to get here in a few hours. I’m going to tell them that you need to go back to America. I don’t want to see you after today. I’m going to make sure I get what I want.”

Jungeun unnie said coldly and left the house. Jungmin looked down at the floor…

“Everyone….hates me…They’ve thrown me away…”

Jungmin looked over at me and then quickly left the house.

.........

................

...............

“Ha..Haha…hahah…hahhhaaha….”

When cried turn to laughter, it’s because of two reasons…

One: When sadness turns to happiness.

Two: When sadness and loneliness combine…

I laughed like a crazy person…............. ...................... .............................

The only thing I can think about…is…only Kim Seungpyo…

+Three months later+

I’d gone to Seungpyo’s house many times, I’d pressed his number at least 10.. No, at least a 100 times a day…

Seungpyo always answered the same way…

Who is this…..

.......

Yehwon only knows that Seungpyo and I broke up…And that Jungmin moved back to America…

She doesn’t know about Jungming trying to commit suicide…

She only knows that I didn’t go back to Seungpyo…She thinks I’m the one who threw him away….

Yehwon thinks that I betrayed Seungpyo again and went to Jungmin… I didn’t bother trying to explain to her…

..........

Eunsung hated me…

Like before, Yehwon grew farther from me…

...........................................................

Only Jungeun unnie was there for me…

“Kyungwon, are you done packing…?”

“Yeah .”

“You finished by yourself?! I told you that I’d help you!”

“I didn’t have much…”

“What time’s the flight tomorrow?”

“You don’t have to see me off, you know.”

“You say that one more time and I’ll hit you…Got that?”

".........."

“You think you’ll do well over there?”

“Of course, I’m Lee Kyungwon.”

“…Where’s Yehwon?”

“Her dad came home early today… …”

Jungeun unnie doesn’t know… She doesn’t know that Yehwon, Eunsung, and Seungpyo are avoiding me…

She doesn’t know at all…

She thinks that I told them everything…

She thinks that Seungpyo understands…

…And I told her that I’m meeting Seungpyo…

…I told her that Yehwon and I hang out everyday…

........................

I didn’t want her to worry about me anymore…

So I hid everything from her…

I don’t want unnie to be sad for me anymore…

I’m going to do everything on my own…

Right now, unnie is the only one I have…But I’m still happy…

….I think…I’m happy…“Kyungwon, are you also meeting Seungpyo today?”

“Huh? Why?”

“Before you do, want to go for a drink? Oh right, it’s your last night so you’ll obviously see Seungpyo, huh? Before you guys meet, unnie and you will drink for just an hour. Alright! ^0^!!”

“Let’s go ^0^ .”

“Huh?”

“I can just meet Seungpyo later at night!! Let’s go! Unnie, hurry, let’s go!”

“Really?”

“Of course!! ^0^ !!”

I linked arms with Jungeun unnie and for the first time in 3 months, I came out to the city…

“Wow, I haven’t been out in forever! Bet you come walk on these sidewalks everyday!”

“How’d you know?”

“What else is there to do with your boyfriend?”

“Sidewalks?! I know everything in the alleys too!!!”

“Good for you .”

.......

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Unnie walked into a bar.

She always smiles….But sometimes…There’s a shadow that covers her face…

Unnie has a stronger tolerance for alcohol than Yehwon…

We’d started off with one bottle, but all of a sudden it had become 10 bottles…

My head is becoming cloudier…

10 bottles…Lee Kyungwon, you’ve drunk more than this…

…You’ve gotten weaker..

“Kyungwon, are you okay? Stop drinking.”

“I’m okay! ^0^!!!”

“Oh my God, you’re totally out. How are you going to meet Seungpyo?”

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“I’m not >_< .”

“It’s your last day, of course you have to!”

“I can’t meet Seungpyo, unnie… Hehee, I can’t… Seungpyo doesn’t know me… Seungpyo said that he didn’t know me…

“You’re totally drunk… …”

“Seungpyo said he didn’t know me, unnie…He said he didn’t know me…”

I could feel tears flowing out of my eyes…

............. Dammit….

…I shouldn’t have drunk anything…

“Kyungwon, something’s up, isn’t it…?”

“No~~!! If I don’t have you, I don’t have anything ^0^!!! Man, I’m full hehehe!! >_< !”

Unnie got up with a hard face and started to call somewhere…

I can hear her voice, but I can’t understand what she’s saying….

KEKEKEKE!!

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“What’s his damn number?!”

Unnie’s loud voice asked angrily….

Damn, she’s scary…

Unnie hung up her phone…

With the scary mask on her face, she furiously punched in numbers….

“Unnie!! Drink some more! Unnie, drink some more!! Hehe!!”

“Kim Seungpyo, listen to what I have to say.”

Unnie just said Seungpyo…

Oh right, her boyfriend’s name is Seungpyo too.. Han Seungpyo….

I must have heard wrong… >_<

“Han Seungpyo is Han Yehwon’s brother!! ^0^ !!! Han Yehwon is Han Seungpyo’s younger sister!!”

What the hell am I saying right now…?

Ow… My head hurts…

Time passed, and Jungeun unnie sat in front of me, I think,… I couldn’t see clearly…

Jungeun unnie was crying, and she hugged me… What the hell is wrong with her…?

“You dummy!! Dummy, you dummy, dummy… Lee Kyungwon…You dummy…”

“Unnie, I’m not a dummy, I’m smart… Hehe, ow, unnie, it hurts, let go of me… TT_TT”

But Jungeun unnie didn’t….........................

With unnie hugging me, I fell asleep…

I was so tired, I fell asleep…

When I woke up, I was on Unnie’s back.

Was she always this strong…? >_<

“Wow!! Unnie, you’re so strong!! Yahoo!! Yahoo!!!”

Unnie was silent…

“Unnie, where are we going?”

…Unnie’s still silent….

“…Hehe, unnie, are you mad that I’m drunk…? You are, aren’t you?”

A teardrop fell to the ground…

I think it fell from unnie’s eye…

“Unnie!! Why are you crying?! >0<!!”

…She was silent…

“Unnie!! Yahoo!!! >0<!!!!”

….Why the hell is she so silent?

She just kept walking…

“…Unnie, I have to go meet Seungpyo…I need to go meet him tomorrow… So unnie, just put me down…”

............

“Really!! Seungpyo said he was going to throw me a party since it’s my last day here!!! Unnie, if you keep hugging me then I won’t be able to meet him!! Put me down, huh!? >_<!!”

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“Retard, Seungpyo’s right here…What are you talking about…”

......ㅇ_ㅇ....ㅇ_ㅇ......

“Unnie, what’s wrong with your voice…? You sound like Park Kyunglim…”

“….Why didn’t you tell me… Lee Kyungwon, why didn’t you tell me… Who…Who told you to go through this alone…?”

“…….Seung………pyo…?”

....

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The person carrying me wasn’t unnie…It was Seungpyo…

“…..Who told you that you could go to Japan… Tch, after squeezing all the tears out my eyes, who said that you can go to Japan…? You can’t go.”

“…..Seungpyo……….Seungpyo……….Kim Seungpyo……..”

“Yeah…?”

“Are you really Seungpyo…? Really…? You’re Seungpyo…. Are you the Kim Seungpyo I

know…?”

“Yeah, it’s Kim Seungpyo… It’s Kim Seungpyo who almost went crazy because of Lee Kyungwon… It’s Kim Seungpyo….”

“Seungpyo………..Seungpyo………..”

I buried my face in his back and started bawling…

It really is Seungpyo…It really is….

…..I raised my hand to touch his hair… It’s Seungpyo….

It’s Seungpyo…

“Why didn’t you tell me…? I didn’t know…I thought that it was something else…Who told you to go through this alone… Retard…”

Seungpyo asked, his voice tight.

“You didn’t give me a chance to explain…You said you didn’t know me…You said… +sniff+ That you didn’t know me….”

“….If it wasn’t for Jungeun nuna, I might have lost you… Eunsung went over to your house and ripped your tickets, so there’s no way you can go now…”

“….I’m not going to go…Even if you try to make me go away, I’m not going to… Why’d you come now, dummy…? If you were a day late, I might not have been able to see you ever again….”

“….I came did-”

Before Seungpyo could finish, his tears made him stop.

............

“OW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Hehe, it’s not a dream…”

“Why’d you pull out my hair?!?! TT_TT!!”

“It’s not a dream… …”

“You should have pulled out your own hair, why’d you pull out mine?! TT0TT!!”

“…hhe… Because I’m so happy…because I like Seungpyo so much….”

It was early morning….

Under a bright moon, a billion stars, and the night sky, I made a wish…

Seungpyo & Kyungwon…Please let us love….

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...................

“Kyungwon, you know the story about the little mermaid…?”

“Yeah, I do...Why?”

“Then do you know the story about the mermaid who doesn’t become a bubble and die…? The one about the mermaid that marries the prince and lives happily ever after??”

“Yeah! Yeah!! I would watch that movie all the time when I was little!! But why?? >0< ?!”

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“The mermaid wants me to tell you that she says ‘Thanks’.. …”