life goals

 ~story by crestfall_112~

The bar which Hanbin booked for today’s get together was a nice one. It wasn’t too crowded and the foods and drinks were delicious. They also played some good music, from RnB to jazzy stuff. It was definitely a perfect place to hang out together with your officemates after the work hours at the end of weekdays. Hanbin was rather proud of his choice.

Park Sooyoung thought otherwise. The bar was . Blasting music and dim light in the room made her head spinning dizzily. She didn’t even want to go drinking in the first place. She just wanted to go home, take a shower and snuggled into her blanket quickly. Which was obviously something she couldn’t do right now because she stuck between her smelly officemates and glasses of beers and smoking hot grilled meat.

Why the hell they even have this stupid event anyway?

Oh, she forgot it. They got a new department head after Mr. Jung was promoted to vice director. So this new department head –Mr. Han—wanted to get closer to them and decided to make them all attend this get-together slash drinking party.

Earlier, Sooyoung was ready to make excuses for getting herself out of this event, but her gigantic friend Choi Junhong was determined to stop her from being so gloomy lately.

“I need someone to take me home if I got drunk.”

That was what he said. 

“Don’t you remember that it’s always me who take care of you every time you broke up with your boyfriend?”

And that was also what he said to her. Junhong was stating the truth Sooyoung couldn’t deny. It was always him who has to deal with her drunken state after she broke up with a guy. Moreover, Sooyoung was proud with her title as a best friend and didn’t want to ruin her perfect record, thus in the end letting Junhong –alongside Hayi and Hanbin to be exactly—dragged her to the get-together location.

An hour later, after three glasses of beer, somebody started babbling nonsense with mouth reeked of alcohol. Surprisingly the one who got drunk fastest was their new head department. Now, he stood up from his chair and speaking as if he was doing a presentation.  

Hanbin had tried to bring him back to the chair, but Mr. Han pushed the poor guy away. 

“So when  I was still a staff like you guys, I have this chance to go to Borneo to do field research there. Do you know that Dayaks people have cool piercing from metal that can make your ears longer? No… no… no… longer as if your earlobe will be longer. I was offered to do so, but my girlfriend at that time might kill me if I did that. But in the end she still broke up with me and ‘till this day I can’t forget her, how? It was such a shame, now I wanted to get that piercing. I have no wife so I’ll do everything as I desired... why don’t I have a wife… buy me a wife…”  

Now it was Junhong who tried to stop the older man. But before Junhong could do anything, Mr. Han already collapsed down, his head low on the top of the table. Thanks god, he didn’t slam his face to the barbecue plate.

“He gets drunk so fast,” said Hayi, Sooyoung's short officemate who alway has default face look . She shook her head while sipping her beer.

“That was embarrassing,” Sooyoung added. She eyed her supervisor with a pity. Ha. Poor man, couldn’t even forget a girl from god-knows-how-long ago.

“Oh let him be. The most important thing is he paid for these already,” Hanbin chimed. He took another bite of meat and raised his hand for the waitress to get him another plate of side dishes.

“I want to go home,” Sooyoung sighed. Junhong looked completely judging her.

“Why are you always uninterested?”

“You know that I’m no cut for drinking,” Sooyoung muttered.  Junhong laughed when he heard that.

“But you still do that when you’re breaking up.”

“Oh shut up!”

Now, Sooyoung was getting annoyed. Why did he always have to dig back her bad luck with guys at this moment?

“Wait, you broke up with Sungjae already? Oh my god where was I when this happened?” Hayi was setting her glass aside and now facing Sooyoung with pure curiosity.

Sooyoung rubbed her forehead in frustration. Junhong needs to pay for this someday. 

“Well yeah. They broke up two months ago.” It was Junhong, though, who answered Hayi’s question.

Sooyoung threw a murderous glance to Junhong. She swore that she would just kill her best friend if he didn’t keep his mouth closed. 

“Ow, breaking up is ,” said Hanbin flatly as if he was talking about weather forecast.

“Okay, we all know that. Now can’t we just stop? Hayi, how about your master program scholarship? Any news about that?” Well, Sooyoung tried her best to steer the conversation away from her love life. Hayi did apply a scholarship to pursue master degree overseas, so she thought it was a good thing to discuss.

Upon hearing Sooyoung’s question, Hayi’s face turned brighter and curled into a proud smile.

“Well, I got a call to do interview with the foundation which hold the scholarship but we don’t know the final result yet. It will be announced next month, the result. But still I think it’s a good news, don’t you?”

Sooyoung nodded. Hearing an excited Hayi made Sooyoung happy too. Hayi was a good friend, at least Sooyoung considered her as one. They had stuck together ever since their trainee year and when they found out that they’ve been placed in the same department, they got much closer. To add it, contracted to her stern look, Hayi’s bright personality match well with Sooyoung’s slightly unexcited side.

“Why don’t you go for the scholarship too, Sooyoung?” asked Hayi. 

“Nah. I want to focus on getting promotion. So that I can leave you all behind,” she answered, half joking. Hanbin and Hayi scowled at her words, meanwhile Junhong only chuckled beside her.

“She simply hates school,” Junhong quipped, which earned him side-eye from Sooyoung.  

“Don’t get too mad, Syoung. I hate school as well.” Hanbin patted her shoulder. 

“We’re not like Hayi who loves and eager to learn more. I’m all satisfied with all the things I got from school. Now it’s time to make money,” he continued.  

“Big money,” Junhong agreed. 

“You guys are so money oriented,” Sooyoung s. 

“Aren’t we all?” Junhong replied. “You’re not telling me that if you still working and dreaming of promotion for a bigger salary,” he paused, “considering your grandeur lifestyle. You told me to buy you that whatever—overpriced--Birkin for your birthday. I won’t buy that.” 

“Hey! I’m – okay, well.” Junhong got the point, though. But Sooyoung definitely joked about wanting him to buy her that expensive bag. She also knew that Junhong not serious about the last thing. Junhong was already used to her being spoiled to him ever since they were kids.   

Speaking of the bag, it unintentionally reminded her of her ex-boyfriend. He gave her a branded bag for her last birthday and they spent that moment with a romantic dinner in a famous hotel’s restaurant. She wondered what was he doing right now. When they were still together, after work hours like this they would talk to each other via the phone until one of them couldn’t keep her eyes open anymore. Somehow, she missed his voice saying good night and I love you to her.

Well, that was all already a past. They broke up. Sooyoung was over him. Nothing left. Nada.

She could hear the three friends of her chatting about their future plan and low snore from Mr. Han between her noisy thoughts. Hayi was talking about her original life goal to be a professor in mass communication and Junhong spoke his admiration for her. Hanbin said his dream was to become a famous rapper. Junhong joined him and the two guys started to discuss their favourite music and indie scene and Hongdae.

Sooyoung knew about Junhong’s fascination towards music since long times ago. He used to make songs and let her listen to them before asking for her opinion about his music. It was before the second term of middle school, she recalled. She felt bad for him when his family completely opposite him from taking that way. But he said that was okay. It was just a hobby. 

Sooyoung’s goal was to work as an office worker. She loved the rush hours and deadlines. She loved the piles of paper on her desk, loved analyzing the data and giving presentation about her projects. In short, Sooyoung loved her job. And if she became less passionate lately, her latest break up must be getting in her way.

When Hanbin finally asked Junhong about his life goal, Sooyoung was sure about what will his answer be.

“So, Junhong. What about you?”

Junhong shook the beer glass in his hand and took a sip of it before answering Hanbin’s question.

“It hasn’t changed much. My life goal is to marry Sooyoung.”

Silence. 

Hayi put down her glass from . “Okay,” she said. “Was that a confession?”

Hanbin looked super clueless, but he only nodded and didn’t speak a word. Instead, he glanced at Sooyoung who remained still in her effort to digest this situation.

 “WHO’S GETTING MARRIED? WHO MARRY WHO?”

The sudden explosion from Mr. Han was enough to make the four of them jolted from their seat. The other customers were starting to look their way and Hanbin once again tried to calm Mr. Han down.

“Choi Junhong!” Sooyoung hissed to the guy beside her and gripped his arm tightly. But Junhong only looked at her and shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s true.”

“Guys, Junhong was joking about that. I know his real goal,” Sooyoung tried her best explaining it to her friends, but suddenly Mr. Han interrupted again.

“EVERYONES GETTING MARRIED BUT ME! WHAT DID I DO WRONG TO DESERVE THIS!”

“Oh my god! Hanbin please make him shut his mouth!” Hayi almost screamed in frustration.

“You’re drunk.” This was Sooyoung’s accusation towards Junhong.

“God, no! I’m not drunk!” Now it was Junhong trying to defend himself.

“You’re partially drunk don’t object me.”

“WHY IS UNIVERSE CONSPIRING AGAINST ME?! CAN’T SOMEONE FIND ME A NICE GIR---“

“Sooyoung, Junhong, we will take Mr. Han out. The bill will be directed to Mr. Han’s card so don’t worry about this.” Hayi quickly stood out and pulled Hanbin from his chair and grabbed Mr. Han’s arm with another hand.  

“C’mon Hanbin! We need to get this man out before he creates bigger commotion!” 

“WHY---.” Mr. Han’s wailing started to sound quieter and quieter as Hayi and Hanbin took him to the outside. Now, it was only Sooyoung and Junhong left in the bar.

“I want to slap you,” Sooyoung said shortly. 

“I guess, I’m partially drunk,” replied Junhong as he scratching the back of his neck.

***

The following day after Junhong’s “life goal” was being revealed, Sooyoung didn’t see him at all. Usually, in the weekends when they’re both singles, they would hang out together. Simply went jogging in the Sunday morning or watching movie in the Saturday afternoon was their routine. This time, though, Sooyoung wasn’t sure about seeing Junhong. Not after his ridiculous statement about wanting to marry her.

Sooyoung was a hundred percent sure that Junhong was drunk at that time. But the thing is, now she just couldn’t stop thinking about him and his stupid life goal. 

What if Junhong said the truth? What if it’s true that he wants to marry her? Didn’t it mean that he like her?

Since when and why?

Those questions kept haunting Sooyoung’s mind until the new week officially started.

So, on Monday when finally she had to face Junhong in the office, she decided to pretend that the incident from the last week never happened. Sooyoung was relieved when she noticed that Junhong also didn’t act anything different. He greeted her like usually he did, and they also chatted and joked normally. There was nothing wrong with him, Sooyoung concluded.

She had no idea that the bad storm waited at the lunch hour.

She could feel people’s eyes on her when she went down to the cafeteria and low whispers trailed behind. When finally she saw a girl from the creative department walking toward her, she started to feel uncomfortable.

She had a bad, very bad premonition about that smile on her face.

“Sooyoung! Congratulations!” That girl –was that Wendy or Seulgi?—beamed at her. Sooyoung pushed her long hair back nervously and gave an awkward smile to the other girl.

“Okay. Thank you. But what is this congratulation for?”

The girl’s eyes got wider. “I heard that you’re getting married.”

….

….

“I’m sorry but I am what?”

Now it was the girl from the creative department who looked confused.

“I heard from Hanbin from your department that you’re getting married,” she kindly explained to Sooyoung who was now swearing mentally at Hanbin.

Apparently, Kim Hanbin was also pretty drunk that night.

***

“KIM HANBIN!”

The sinner was happily chatting with Hayi about last Sunday concert when Sooyoung finally found him. He looked at Sooyoung with puzzled expression for some moment until Sooyoung started to spit her anger.

“What the hell were you doing? Telling people I’m getting married! Where the did you get that idea?! Answer me KIM HANBIN!”

“Whoa… calm down! I thought that you and Junhong are---.“

“What about me and Junhong, huh?!” 

“Didn’t he propose to you last week?”

Sooyoung was speechless with the innocent tone in Hanbin’s question. Next to her, Sooyoung could hear Hayi sighed helplessly.

“Are you also a part of this?” Sooyoung turned to Hayi, which Hayi answered with a hurt look.

“No! It’s purely Hanbin’s stupidity,” she said. “I tried to remind him not to talk to anyone about the happy news until you guys deliver it by yourselves, but Hanbin was so excited and so he slipped his words.”

"I’m sorry, Sooyoung. Should've let you announce it before bringing it up to people,” Hanbin said with a regret, but Sooyoung ignored him.

“Wait, Hayi… did you also… seriously think that was a proposal and I'll marry Junhong?”

 A thin line appeared on Hayi’s forehead. “Wait… that wasn’t an actual proposal? I thought Junhong said that he wants to marry you?”

Sooyoung’s jaw dropped after hearing Hayi’s words. “Hayi… were you also drunk that night?”

Hayi shook her head. “No! I’m the one who safely brought Mr. Han to his home. Well, Hanbin was slightly drunk, but I was fully sober!”

“But I really thought that you guys are together. I mean, you guys are definitely close and even closer than ever nowadays. When I heard that you and Sungjae have already broken up, I thought you’re with Junhong now. “Ah, that’s why Sooyoung and Junhong look so much closer now”, that was what I thought at that time. And then he said that his goal is to marry you.” 

Lee Hayi was so kind to explain her misunderstanding, but Sooyoung didn’t know what to say anymore. Right now, she just wanted to disappear.

***

“We need to talk.”

Sooyoung heaved her breath. She turned around and found Junhong's tall figure standing in front of her. 

“Okay,” she replied with a tired voice.

They sat next to each other on the sidewalk bench and for like ten minutes they stayed still in the silence.

“You know, I’m sorry about today,” he started to speak. Sooyoung sighed.

“It was Kim Hanbin’s fault. But yes, you started it all.”

“But Sooyoung, I was serious about that. I am serious,” he said. Sooyoung groaned at the sincerity of his voice.

“Oh, please. Don’t give me that.”

“Why not? Can’t I?” Junhong sounded hurt when he asked that. Sooyoung turned to face Junhong and studied his face.

“You are my best friend. It’s the rule,” she murmured.

“Well, so what? Screw the rule. Is it because falling in love with your best friend doesn’t sound so thrilling?” he demanded. Sooyoung was at a loss of words. Honestly, Choi Junhong didn’t even know anything at all.

She looked away from Junhong and stared straight to the traffics on the street in front of them. The humming noises from the car engines blended together with the soft sound of the wind and filled silence between them.

“Do you remember when we’re little, I was the one who comforted you when you got beaten by the other kids?” she asked without looking him.

Junhong frowned. “What’s with this sudden throwback? Are you trying to shift our topic?”

“No. It was funny for me to remember when in the following years you’re always the one who comfort me when I’m down. You’ve grown so much stronger.”

“Okay, well. We’re all growing up, definitely,” he nodded.

“Since when do you have that stupid goal of yours?”

Junhong paused a while before answering Sooyoung’s sudden jump of question.

“First year of high school,” he shortly replied. Sooyoung sighed. 

“Why?”

“I don’t know why exactly. But I think it has something to do with your idea about romance and marriage. I remember it clearly. You want to get married at age twenty-eight, have three children. You want a husband who’s also could be your best friend. You want to keep working even when you’re married. I said that it would be hard to manage between work and kids when you’re a mother, but you sounded confident about that,” he paused.

“I remember it all. And that year I thought you get prettier. Other boys started to talk a lot about you, and I just couldn’t help but to notice you.”

“I like you since then. I broke the rule.”

Sooyoung didn’t reply to him. She gripped her knees tightly. Right now, she was about to tell him something important. Something that he didn’t know about her.

“Junhong, if you think you’re the one who broke the rule, you’re wrong,” she said carefully.

“What do you mean?” 

Sooyoung glanced at him and smiled. “I used to like you back then when we’re in middle school.”

He just stared blankly at her but changed it into a disbelief in zero seconds.

“WHAT THE HELL PARK SOOYOUNG?!”

Sooyoung laughed her heart out seeing his reaction. Junhong’s face now was a mixture of red and purplish shade.

“You’re joking!” He accused her. Sooyoung, still laughing, shook her head repeatedly.

“No no no! I’m serious! I liked you at that time. I think it was because you always brought your own song for me to listen. Somehow it was romantic, you know? And I tried my best to suppress that feeling. And I kinda succeeded.”

Junhong ran his fingers through his hair. He looked so conflicted and disappointed. Sooyoung thought that side of him was cute. 

“Can’t you just like me again?”

Sooyoung had no answer for his question. She thought about this already since last week, if there is any chance for her to like him again. It shouldn’t be that difficult. Junhong was probably the easiest guy for her to fall in love with, considering that they were originally close and understood each other the best.

But she also wasn’t sure about that. 

“Can’t you try to like me again?”Junhong reached out to hold her hand, there was a begging in his question. Sooyoung lifted her gaze from their locked hands to his eyes. 

“I don’t know, Junhong. That was a long time ago. We’re different from that time.”

“Even if you’re different from that time, I still want to marry you,” he insisted.

“Can’t you just say that you like me? It feels like a proposal when you said it like that.”

“I like you, Park Sooyoung. Wait, no. I love you, Park Sooyoung,” Junhong said that while looking at her eyes with an intimacy that somehow made her felt so embarrassed. Why did 

“Maybe I can manage to like you again. But I don’t know. I guess… I need some times to get used to this.”

Sooyoung just wanted to smile when she saw a big grin on Junhong’s face. He looked like a kid who just got his Christmas present and honestly she liked that smile of Junhong. His eyes would disappear into a thin arch and she got to see his dimples.

Okay, maybe she had always liked him. Honestly, she wasn’t sure herself if she ever stop liking him that way.

For now, she would just believe that it was a lucky thing to fall in love with your best friend.
 

***

“Sooyoung! I got the scholarship!”

Sooyoung lifted her head from her desk and found Hayi running to her direction. She jumped from her seat and welcomed Hayi’s tight hug.

“Congrats! Oh my god you made it!” Sooyoung chirped in excitement as they broke the hug.

From his seat, Hanbin was clapping lazily. Hayi hit his arm and snapped. “Can’t you get a little excited! At least congratulate me.”

Hanbin sighed. “Congrats. So, when will you fly to Amsterdam?”

Hayi pouted and whispered to Sooyoung. “He’s so weird.” Sooyoung just giggled. Kim Hanbin is such a transparent kid,  she thought.

Right at that moment, Sooyoung  caught the sight of Junhong who just walked into the room and waved at him.

“Hayi’s scholarship is granted!”

“Oh, wow! Congrats, Hayi! One step closer to your goal, huh?” he slapped Hayi’s shoulder playfully. Hayi smiled widely at him.

“I hoped you also get your goal quickly!” She said cheerfully before clasped her hand over after realizing what had she said. She glanced to Sooyoung with a horrified look.

“Oh… I mean… I don’t….”

“Ah, I yes. Thank you. My goal is still the same, tho. I want to marry Sooyoung. I hope it can be fulfilled quickly,” he said sweetly.   

“Ugh, seriously, Choi Junhong. Don’t make everything awkward,” Hanbin groaned. Sooyoung rubbed her face and sighed.

“I told you not to say it like that. They could mistake it as a proposal, you dumb. You don’t even do it right,” she nagged. Junhong looked like he thought of something, then touched Sooyoung’s arm.

“Well, then. After work, can you come with me for a while?” he asked Sooyoung, then mentioned a jewelry shop’s name to her. Sooyoung furrowed her eyebrows.

“Why?”

“To buy you a ring, of course.”

Sooyoung just wanted to die of embarrassment from his cheesy line.

“Wait! You guys are really together?! Since when?” That was a shocked reaction from Hayi. 

“Are you guys getting married for real?!” And this one was from Hanbin.

“MY GAWD WAS THAT A PROPOSAL?!”

And the last one was from Mr. Han who suddenly popped out from his cubicle.

-end-

A/N : Okay. I failed lmao. I didn't intend to do this long, but I guess that's just me being random. I apologize if there's any mistake such as grammar, spelling and weird languages. it's three am and  english is not my native tongue. I hope you enjoy reading this. any kind of feedback will be really appreciated. And thank you for those who commented and subscribed to this story! I hope I didn't disappoint you.

warm hugs,

ra/crest