Once Again
Crossing PathsKriing Kriing
The telephone beside Joy's bed emits a loud resonant sound. She reaches to the phone beside her bed while trying to open her eyes.
"Hello?"
A familiar voice fills her ears.
"Dad."
"Hello my beautiful daughter. It's been a while."
"After all these years and you're suddenly calling me now..."
"I just want to know what you have been doing..."
"Why does it concern you? You left me for almost three years."
"Sooyoungie..."
"I even had to stop going to school because of you."
"I'm sorry..."
"Sorry? Is that all you can say to me?"
"I had to go to Australia. It's the only way for me to get money."
"Do you think I care about the money?"
"Listen, I sent money to your aunt. She's enrolled you to this school."
"I'm 21, I'm supposed to be in college."
"You can't go to a good university if you never finished high school."
"I don't need to go to a good university."
"Just do as I say and after you graduate, I'll take you here."
"What? Take me there? Why can't we stay here?"
"Australia is a good place."
"Look, Dad..."
"I sent the address to your phone."
"What? Dad..."
"Take care my little Sooyoung. I will talk to you soon."
Before Sooyoung could say something back, her dad suddenly hangs up.
"Dad? Hey? Dad?"
Joy lets out a deep sigh, "What an ."
...
Just a few seconds later, Seulgi comes in her room, "Hey, was that your dad?"
"Uh, how long have you been there?" Joy asks.
Seulgi walks towards her, "So you're going back to school huh?"
"Yeah..." Joy says as she nods her head.
"Wouldn't it be weird if there's some 21 year old in high school?"
Joy smiles, "But I look young..."
Seulgi laughs at Joy, "That's right."
"You look cute when you laugh. Your eyes disappear. It's really cute," Joy blurts out.
The sudden compliment makes Seulgi turn red, "What?"
Joy laughs at her reaction. It's the first time she has seen Seulgi blush because of her. She smiles at the thought that maybe she can actually capture this girl's heart.
And this may be the start of it all.
...
Joy goes out using her bike to find the school her dad talked about. While biking, she stumbles upon a familiar looking woman. She's wearing golden specs with her hair tied up. She gets off her bike and locked it on the pole. She walks towards the woman and taps her shoulder, "Hey, umm, Irene-unnie?"
Irene turns around and gives a confused look, "Hmm...do I know you?"
Joy awkwardly smiles at her and bows down, "I'm sorry...I'm Park Soooyung...well you know my friend...Seulgi-unnie..."
"Oh, I know her. It's okay. Do you need anything?" Irene says.
"Uh...I'm trying to look for this school..." Joy says while showing the address to Irene.
Irene nods, "I work at that school as a teacher. Why are you looking for it?"
"I'm a new student there and I didn't know the way..."
"I didn't know Seulgi is friends with a highschooler. Don't you have a uniform yet?"
Joy shakes her head, "Not yet."
Irene waves her hand, "Come with me, let's go to the school together."
Joy unlocks her bike and walks towards Irene, "My bike has two seats, just give me directions."
Irene frantically shakes her head, "Oh no, it's okay, just ride it and I'll walk."
Joy smiles at her and grabs her hand. She pulls Irene with her and tells her to get on the bike. Irene didn't have another choice so she gets on the bike and holds Joy's shoulder's tightly. "Let's go!" Joy shouts as she starts pedalling.
"So how long have you been teaching?" Joy asks.
"For 2 years. I honestly don't like teaching," Irene replies.
"Eh? Why are you still teaching?"
"I have to because of my sister. She's a little satanic troublemaker. I have to look after her in her school."
"Wow, that's cute. I wish I had a sister."
"You wouldn't wish for one. My little sister is problematic. She always goofs around and likes causing trouble."
"Your parents haven't disown her?"
"What? No. Even if she's like that, she's still my sister. She's still my parents' daughter."
"How old is she?"
"She's 18. How old are you?"
Joy stops and thinks for a moment, "I'm also 18."
"Oh, so that means you're going to be her classmate. Goodluck."
"Well..."
"Heads up, we are close. Just turn around over there."
Irene quickly gets off the bike as soon as they arrive at the gates of the school, "I will go now. Let's act like this never happened. I am a teacher. Goodbye."
"That was fast," Joy says after Irene suddenly runs off immediately. Joy walks inside the school and starts looking for the uniform shop. She goes around for a while and finally sees the shop. She goes in and asks the person inside if they have a uniform her size. The person hands in her uniforms and she pays for it.
"I'm ready to go to school tomorrow," Joy whispers to herself. She goes out the shop and runs back to her bike. She looks at the school again and breathes in and out, "Welcome to hell."
...
Joy comes home and immediately goes to Seulgi, "Hey Seulgi, I just met Irene-unnie."
Seulgi quickly turns her head at Joy's direction, "What? How? What happened?"
"She's really nice. She thinks I'm a high schooler though. She's a teacher at my school."
Seulgi looks at her with a confused face, "What? She's a teacher? Since when?"
"She's been a teacher for two years. She said she only teaches because of her sister."
"What..she has a sister... How come you know all of this?"
"She told me."
Seulgi sighs, "She never told me these things."
"Really? Well that's weird."
"What's the school like? Is it big? Did you get your uniform? Does it look good?"
Joy lifts her hand and tells Seulgi to stop, "One question at a time. The school isn't really that big but it's not small either. And I did get my uniform and it looks okay."
"I'm sorry, I'm just nervous."
"Why would you be? I'm the one who's going to school tomorrow. Now, I'm going to sleep. Goodnight Seulgi."
"You're going to sleep on me? How dare you?"
"Well I have school tomorrow. I'm sorry. Close the lights when you go out."
"Fine. Goodnight. Sooyoung," Seulgi says as she starts walking towards the door. She flips the lightswitch off. She opens the door and walks out. She breathes out and closes her eyes, "Why am I like this..." she whispers to herself.
...
The next day, Joy wakes up at 7 am. She walks out her room and cooks her own breakfast. She thinks of Seulgi yet again so she goes to her room to find out that she's still asleep. She sees Seulgi all curled up without a blanket on. Joy quietly walks in and puts a blanket on top of Seulgi to keep her warm. She tries to touch Seulgi's face but Seulgi suddenly moves and Joy quickly runs out her room in a quiet way.
After eating and washing herself up, she goes back to her room and takes out her uniform. She wears her uniform and observes herself on the mirror, "I look good in this." She grabs her bag and keys and heads out the dorm. She unlocks her bike and starts pedalling on her way to school.
As soon as she reaches the school, she bumps into someone else's bike, "Hey watch, where you're going!" the person shouts. The voice seems so familiar. Joy looks up and to her surprise, the person is actually the same girl she met at the mall. "You again?" Yeri shouts. "I can't believe I'll see you again," Joy says with an annoyed face. "Surprise," Yeri says.
Two girls walk up to them, "Yo, are you a new kid? This is the first time I've seen you," one of the girls say, "I'm Yeeun. I'm in Yeri class. You seem to know her," she says. "You kinda look like Chaeyeon-unnie. I'm Eunbin by the way. I'm in a class lower than Yeri-unnie," the second girl says.
"What year are you in, new kid?" Yeeun asks.
"I'm in third year," Joy says nervously.
"Really?" Yeri says in a mocking tone.
"So you're in the same year as me and Yeri. That's nice, what class are you in?"
"I'm in Irene-nim's class," Joy answers.
"We are classmates then. Come with me," Yeeun says as she grabs Joy's arm. "By the way, Yeri is a little troublemaker. Don't mix yourself up with her," Yeeun whispers. "I can still hear you," Yeri says. "I know," Yeeun replies. Yeeun and Eunbin both take Joy to Yeeun's classroom. Yeri just follows them.
The class starts and Irene walks in, "Goodmorning class. Today, we have a new student. Her name is Park Sooyoung," she says she as she points to Joy.
Joy walks in the middle, "Hello...I am Park Sooyoung, you can call me Joy...umm...I like to sing, I guess," she says shyly. All of the students starts cheering and clapping. Irene slams her book on the table to shut everyone up, "You can sit over there next to that blonde girl. Her name is Kim Yerim." The students start whispering to each other.
Joy walks up next to Yeri and sits down, "I can't believe I have to sit next to you."
Yeri rolls her eyes and stands up. She walks out the room and everyone just watches her. "That girl..." Irene whispers. She then continues the class without Yeri.
Yeri walks up to the rooftop and lies down. She takes out her phone and starts listening to some music.
Almost Is Never Enough
by Ariana Grande
I'd like to say we gave it a try
I'd like to blame it all on life
Maybe we just weren't right, but that's a lie, that's a lie
And we can deny it as much as we want
But in time our feelings will show
'Cause sooner or later
We'll wonder why we gave up
The truth is everyone knows
I'd like to blame it all on life
Maybe we just weren't right, but that's a lie, that's a lie
And we can deny it as much as we want
But in time our feelings will show
'Cause sooner or later
We'll wonder why we gave up
The truth is everyone knows
Almost, almost is never enough
So close to being in love
If I would have known that you wanted me the way I wanted you
Then maybe we wouldn't be two worlds apart
But right here in each other's arms
And we almost, we almost knew what love was
But almost is never enough
If I could change the world overnight
There'd be no such thing as goodbye
You'd be standing right where you were
And we'd get the chance we deserve
Try to deny it as much as you want
But in time our feelings will show
'Cause sooner or later
We'll wonder why we gave up
The truth is everyone knows
Almost, almost is never enough
So close to being in love
If I would have known that you wanted me the way I wanted you
Then maybe we wouldn't be two worlds apart
But right here in each other's arms
And we almost, we almost knew what love was
But almost is never enough
Oh, oh baby, you know, you know, baby
Almost, baby, is never enough, baby
You know
And we can deny it as much as we want
But in time our feelings will show
'Cause sooner or later
We'll wonder why we gave up
The truth is everyone knows
Almost, almost is never enough (is never enough, babe)
We were so close to being in love (so close)
If I would have known that you wanted me the way I wanted you (babe)
Then maybe we wouldn't be two worlds apart
But right here in each other's arms
And we almost, we almost knew what love was (baby)
But almost is never enough
Oh, oh baby, you know, you know, baby
Almost is never enough baby
You know
-
The wind blows on her face. Suddenly, someone walks by.
"Hey, troublemaker," Irene shouts.
Yeri takes her headphones off and sits up, "What a surprise, you're here," she says.
"I told you not to skip class. Why don't you ever listen to me?"
"I don't care. Be quiet, I'm listening to Ariana."
"Mother didn't leave us for you to be like this."
"Don't put mom into this conversation!" Yeri shouts.
"Why don't you just listen to me?"
"You're not mom. Just stay away!"
"Fine," Irene says as she walks away. She stops for a moment to look back at Yeri and starts walking again.
A single tear rolls down Yeri's face as she remembers her mother again. She takes out the necklace and sighs.
The door on the roof opens again and this time it isn't Irene.
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