SHOOTING STAR - HANBYUL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6fR2oAT6E0

You could not believe your eyes.

After all these years, Wongeun was still the one who came to your aid. Just like the first time he protected you from Hayoung back in high school when she used to talk down to you up until your final days together before the break up, Wongeun had always been the one to protect and defend you from every terrible situation you were put in.

Your eyes grew even more watery as you looked at him, touched by his actions. Your pursed lips managed to quirk up a bit as you two locked eyes. Why couldn’t you just have stayed with Wongeun? Why couldn’t your heart just fall in love with someone as perfect as him? Why did it keep choosing Kai, when time and time again has proved that he was only loyal to his feelings for Hayoung? At the thought of Kai, your smile slipped off. One hand flew to your mouth, hoping to hide the ugly way you cried, but Wongeun gently pulled your arms away with a kind expression on his face. He glanced back at the banquet hall, and then back at you before asking, “Do you want to stay here and talk?”

You crossed your arms and shook your head, sniffling, “I want to be as far from here as possible.”

Wongeun pulled you protectively next to his side, his hand on the small of your back as he gently urged you forward, “Come. I’ll take you somewhere to get your mind off of things and I’ll drop you home okay?” In the past, he would always get you ice cream or take you to the beach, make you laugh and then take you home, but since he was no longer your boyfriend those kind of sceneries were far too romantic for his liking. He didn’t mind taking you there, but he didn’t want to be reminded of his old feelings for you. Instead, tonight, what Wongeun wanted to be… was your friend.

You nodded at his suggestion, relieved to escape from this treacherous nightmare. You were never going to say yes to a high school reunion dinner again, and you were definitely never going to say Yes to being Kai’s date. As long as Hayoung was still in the picture, you never wanted to be Kai’s side again. If it meant dealing with her, you’d rather just drop everything and move to Antarctica.

Wongeun walked you to his car, held the door open for you with one hand shielding your forehead in case you bumped it on the ceiling and waited until you strapped yourself right into the seat before going over to his side. Once the heat was on and the tears slowed down, Wongeun sped off into the foggy night. Your eyes flickered over to Wongeun, thankful for him coming to rescue you, “Thanks for helping me tonight. I probably would’ve stood there in shock, crying, until Chanyeol and Kris came to help me.”

He reached out and affectionately patted your head, “You’re too modest, Hari. I’m glad I was able to help you tonight…” He turned to look at you, but when he noticed that you were crying again his voice trailed off, the smile on his face slowly fading until worry lines crossed over his forehead. He smoothly drove with one hand while the other one popped open the glove compartment and handed you a box of tissues.

“Thank you,” you held onto the box of tissue and shut the compartment up for Wongeun.

Wongeun bit his lip, wishing that he had come a few minute earlier to stop all of this from happening. By the time he had reached the banquet hall, it was the end of the video and all he could see was the confrontation between Hayoung and you. If he had ran, he could’ve prevented Hayoung from hurting you and he also could’ve slammed a fist into Kai’s face to wake some sense into that boy. Sure, Kai was dongsaeng, but he could be real stupid when it comes to being a good friend. Especially when he was in love.

Wongeun drove in silence for a while, turning on the radio and putting the volume on low while he let you adjust back to reality. From the corner of his eyes, he could see you still wiping your tears away, and honestly, he was a little annoyed. “Hari… can I ask you something?”

“If you want to ask me if it hurts, nope. My cheek feels great, it’s never been better,” you replied sarcastically.

Wongeun was not amused. He eyed you with his dark orbs, no hint of humour inside of them.

You sort of guessed from your last encounter with Wongeun, that he had more to say than just catching up with you. Sighing, you straightened up on your seat, “I know what you’re going to say.”

“Do you?” retorted Wongeun, his eyebrows were starting to knit together. Although Wongeun had a great way of masking his hurt through his charming smiles, there were moments like these that all felt too similar to you. Often times, when things got too much for him, Wongeun’s eyes would turn serious like they do now, and his lips would turn into a set of straight lines as he thought about what he could say to make you understand.

“You’re going to tell me to get over Kai and move on with my life, right?” You asked, quietly, playing with the used up tissue in your hand.

When he didn’t answer, you knew you were right.

“I already know that I should, but I can’t,” you clutched onto your chest with a frown. “Every time I think about moving on from him, my heart hurts. I don’t want to imagine not feelings what I do for him.”

Wongeun made an abrupt right turn, making you both lurch forward.

“Sorry,” he muttered, pressing his foot on the gas to weave between two cars until he was safely ahead of them. He drew in a deep breath, “But Hari… Look at you, you’re miserable. You are going through hell for someone like him, when you can experience better feelings with someone else.”

You stared at Wongeun, sensing his annoyance towards you.

“Even better, maybe you can actually focus on school and go to LA just like you wanted back then. What happened to the tough chick by the name of Shin Hari back then?”

“I’m still here. I never left.”

“Then act like it. Stop letting your feelings dictate how your mood is. If he doesn’t love you, and he doesn’t understand that you are hurting too, then you should move on. Do not hold onto him, thinking he will change when clearly… after getting hit in the face, all he could do was shake his head and walk away from you. Like, who does that?” Wongeun was starting to get angry the more he talked about the situation. He didn’t have any more lingering romantic feelings for Hari, but it still broke his heart seeing Hari cry over a stupid guy like Kai.

“I’m not letting him dictate anything,” you replied weakly.

Wongeun rolled his eyes, “If it’s not him dictating your mood, then it’s Hayoung. You shouldn’t let anybody have the power to make you feel crappy. If someone makes you feel like , then you cut them out, Hari.”

*Is that what you did with me?* You wanted to ask, but resisted the urge to do so. Instead, you threw your hands up in the air, whining, “Oh, I don’t know!”

“What do you mean you don’t know? I’m not asking for your opinion Hari— I’m telling you to move on.” It wasn’t a question, nor a statement but a demand.

At that moment, your phone rang. Your heart rose up in hopes that it was Kai calling, to apologize for tonight but when you saw that it was Kris calling, your shoulders deflated right down like a popped bubble. You slid your finger across the call button, “Hey Kris.”

“Where did you go? Are you okay? Why aren’t you texting any of us?”

In the background you could hearing Chanyeol angrily roaring, “We were looking everywhere for you!”

“I’m okay,” you replied calmly. You looked over to Wongeun with warm eyes, “I’m with Wongeun right now. I’ll call you guys tomorrow.”

Before you could hang up, Kris said, “I’m sorry tonight, Hari.”

You blinked in surprise, not used to having Kris apologize. He was never one to say sorry to anyone, not even you. It was like the word sorry hadn’t existed in his vocabulary, which was why when he said it now, you felt a chill slide down your spine. Was this really Kris Wu?

“For what?” You managed to croak out.

“For not being on your side tonight and protecting you when we should have been next to you all along,” confessed Kris.

“I forgive you,” you smiled. “It’s okay to not always be on my side, I already know how tough it is for you guys if you chose to help me out. I’d rather Kai be mad at me than any of you.”

Just as Kris was about to speak, you could hear a scramble in the background and then Luhan had the phone. “From now on we will be on your side. Hayoung was so lucky tonight that we all held back for Kai’s sake or else I would have thrown a chair into her face.”

Your eyes grew twice in size at the malicious comment. “Luhan… have you been hanging out with Chanyeol too much lately?!” You heard Chanyeol yell out, “HEY! I’M A NICE GUY WHAT ARE YOU SAYING!” making you go into a fit of giggles.

“GIVE US THE PHONE! LET NOONA KNOW WE LOVE HER AND WE ARE SORRY FOR NOT STANDING BY HER!” screamed Sehun and Tao. You figured that you’d be on speaker since all