Until She Leaves

My Hometown

 

 

The umbrella slipped from Wheein’s grip. Hyejin’s hair was blonde now, she realized. It was a few shades lighter than her own.

“Oh my god!” Hyejin ran to Wheein’s side and held her own umbrella over the older girl. She was too close. “What are you doing? You’re going to get sick!”

Wheein was silent, staring at Hyejin. This was real, she thought, the girl she’d been avoiding for so long was right in front of her.

Hyejin frowned, eyes concerned. “Are you okay?”

Wheein blinked, no longer distracted by Hyejin. The frigid air and rainwater that seeped into her coat and clung to her skin became apparent to her again. “Oh I—” Wheein kneeled down to pick up her umbrella while Hyejin made sure Wheein wasn’t exposed to the rain. “I’m just surprised! I didn’t expect you to be here.”

Wheein stepped back to use her own umbrella. Hyejin smiled, assuming that was the only reason for Wheein’s distance. “I could say the same thing about you,” Hyejin said.

“Um—” Wheein scratched her cheek, eyes darting to the side. “What brings you here anyway? Being an idol and all, I figured you’d be too busy to come back for the holidays.”

“I thought so too.” Hyejin pointed behind her with a thumb. Wheein was startled when she laid her eyes on the camera hoisted on a man’s shoulder. A woman held an umbrella over her and the man, waving at Wheein. She waved back. “But the company decided that I could work and relax at the same time.”

Wheein furrowed her eyebrows, confused with that statement. However, that didn’t matter. She needed to remove herself from this conversation.

“Well, that’s nice and dandy,” Wheein turned around. “But I should go. The last thing I want to do is ruin your video.”

“Woah there!” Hyejin gently grabbed Wheein by the shoulder, spinning her around to face her. “I haven’t seen you in so long, but you’re already so eager to leave,” she teased.

Wheein flinched. “Of course not!” she shot back. She rummaged inside her coat pocket, revealing a crumpled list. “I can’t stay and talk anyway; I have to hurry to the farmer’s market.”

Hyejin snatched the paper out of Wheein’s hands. “Well let’s go then!”

Wheein stared with wide eyes. “What?”

“You need to go shopping right? Let’s go then.” Hyejin caught hold of Wheein’s hand, interlacing their fingers.

“But your music video—”

Hyejin turned her head towards the two professionals. “Is recording us at the farmer’s market alright for the video?”

The woman shrugged. “The purpose of this video is to show the fans a more personal side of you,” she reminded Hyejin. “There’s no specific place you need to be. If you think you’ll have a good time there, just go.”

Hyejin squeezed Wheein’s hand. “Yeah,” she replied. Even though Wheein couldn’t see her face, she could hear the smile in her voice. “I’m sure I’ll have a good time.”

Wheein couldn’t argue after that.

The stroll to the market wasn’t awkward like Wheein expected. Hyejin filled most of the silence, running on about the looks she’d gotten during the train ride.

“I mean,” Hyejin said. “How is a strange man recording a woman’s every movement in any way offputting?”

Wheein scoffed. “If it were me, I would’ve tried to in all of your shots.”

Hyejin laughed, covering with one hand. Wheein looked away.

When they arrived at the market, they had no trouble finding the ingredients Wheein’s mother listed. However, the same couldn’t be said for carrying them.  

Hyejin grunted when Wheein piled two more plastic bags in her arms. “Do I really need to carry all of this?”

Wheein rolled her eyes. “Hey, you’re the one that wanted to come in the first place. I’m gonna put you to good use.”

“Does she plan to invite the whole town for New Year’s?”

Wheein hummed, looking around the current stand. “Knowing my mom, I wouldn’t put it past her.” She lit up when she found the last item her mother asked for.

“I’d like three of these please,” Wheein held up three fingers and the storekeeper nodded with a smile.

“Alright!” Wheein raised her fist in the air. “We have everything we need,Hyejin. Let’s go—”

Wheein looked over her shoulder to see that Hyejin was gone. “...Back.” She pouted, setting her hands on her hips. Where did she go?

Before she could call out for Hyejin, Wheein felt something soft press against her cheek. “Huh?”

“I didn’t want you to get a cold,” Hyejin explained, patting her friend’s face with the clean rag. “So I bought this for you.”

Wheein’s face warmed. She settled her hand over Hyejin’s, moving it away. Wheein inspected the pattern. The towel was a bright yellow, imprinted with multiple pawprints. Cute.

Wheein smiled. “Thank you.”

Hyejin sighed, running a hand through her hair. “You finally smiled. I guess I was stressing for no reason.”

Wheein wiped her neck with the dry cloth. “What were you stressed about?”

Hyejin paused. “It’s stupid. I shouldn’t bring it up.”

“Oh, well now you have to tell me,” Wheein insisted. “You can just whisper it so those two won’t eavesdrop.” She gestured to the two employees, the woman bearing an agitated expression as she carried even more bags than Hyejin. The cameraman nearby was amused by the fact that he had to hold one too.

Hyejin groaned. “Fine.” She leaned forward until she was an inch away from Wheein’s ear. “For a moment, I thought you didn’t want to see me.”

Wheein stood still, speechless. A wave of guilt coursed through her. “I care about you, Hyejin,” she whispered.

Hyejin drew back, flashing a grin at the older girl. Wheein knew she must’ve had a strange expression, but she didn’t bother hiding it. “I know.”

Hyejin shoulder’s slumped suddenly and she rested her forehead against Wheein’s shoulders. “Are we done yet?” Hyejin whined. “My arms are turning into rubber.”

Wheein swallowed. “Yeah,” she strained. “We can go back.”

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Would you like some more?” Hyejin’s mother asked the cameraman. She held a frying pan and spatula, practically beaming.

His stomach rumbled, begging him to say no. “S-sure,” the cameraman said. His face paled as he watched her pour kimchi rice until there was no more room on his plate. He gulped and stared at the manager across the table, hoping she would see his cry for help.

The manager ignored it, purposely holding up a hand to cover her view of him. She would’ve given him support if it weren’t for the fact that her own stomach was about to burst open.

She perked up her head when Hyejin took a seat next to her. Hyejin was looking at her phone, a smile spread across her face.

“I take it the call went well,” the manager stated.

Hyejin jerked her head toward her. “Huh? Uh—yeah. It did.” She stuffed her phone in the back of her jeans.

“You must be really happy now that your friend accepted your offer.”

Hyejin shrugged, inspecting her manicured nails. “I guess you could say that.”

The manager huffed, placing her chin on top of her interlaced fingers. “Come on, don’t try to act cool now.”

Hyejin pursed her lips, crossing her arms as she leant back against her chair. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“You’re known by your fans and by your members as fatal—Ahn Fatal, they call you. But as soon as you see your friend, it’s like you’re a kid with a puppy. Or worse, Byulyi with Yongsun.”

Hyejin frowned. “How else was I supposed to react? I haven’t seen her in a long time.”

The older woman laughed. “You acted as if you haven’t seen her in years. Don’t you talk to her all the time on the phone, being best friends and all.”

“That’s…” Not true. “Different. Messages aren’t as personal as being with someone in person. You can’t make memories that way.”

“Well,” the manager grinned. “Now’s your chance to make all the memories you want with Wheein.”

Hyejin smiled back. “Yeah,” she breathed. “You’re right.”

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Wheein kicked the door shut, plastic bags already slipping from her grip. “Mom, I’m back!”

Wheein’s mother descended down the stairs, mouth agape when she saw her. “Honey, be careful with those!” She dashed to her daughter’s side, snatching the fallen groceries from the ground and taking some from her daughter’s arms.

“Sorry!” Wheein slipped off her wet shoes and hurried to the kitchen, setting the groceries down on the countertop.

Wheein’s mom followed behind, sighing. “It’s fine. I admit, I asked you to bring home too much.”

Wheein huffed. “What are you talking about?” she asked in a high pitched tone. “These babies—” Wheein flexed her arms. “Can handle anything you throw at them.”

Wheein’s mother shook her head, chuckling. “You should add some meat on your bones before you say things like that.” She set down the bags, dusting off her hands.

She turned to Wheein, shocked when she finally saw her properly. “Wheein! Why are you all wet?”

“Oh, this?” Wheein motioned towards her damp clothes, acting as if it wasn’t a big deal. “I just got unlucky when it started raining.”

Wheein’s mother rubbed at her temple. “Well hurry up and take a shower then,” she shooed Wheein away.

“But don’t you need help putting these away?”

Wheein’s mother motioned for her to turn her around, lightly pushing her until she was in the hallway. “You helped enough. Besides, the last thing you want is to get sick and stay at home for the rest of the break.”

Wheein didn’t respond.

“See? Now go.” Wheein’s mother walked away, leaving her daughter alone.

Wheein quietly went upstairs, sulking until she shut her bedroom door.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Wheein scrubbed hard at her cheek, at her hand, until scarlet rose in her skin. It wasn’t enough. She stayed longer than she should have under the scalding water, trying not to let her thoughts wander as the water beaded down. It wasn't enough. The rain wouldn't leave.

She spent the rest of the afternoon in her room, paintbrush in hand. She clenched the tool, frustrated with every she made. She couldn’t concentrate. This wasn’t the picture she had in mind. It wasn’t in her mind at all.

She set down her brush and fell back on her bed, resting an arm over her eyes. Why did she decide to come back? If she had known that she was going to confront the very reason she didn’t want to remember, she would’ve went with Myung-Hee instead.

Wheein sighed, her body aching with exhaustion. She had to relax, let her mind calm down. She felt her consciousness blur and was about to fall asleep, but she was brought back into attention when she heard her phone ring.

She sat up and leaned forward to grab her cellphone from the nightstand, blinking rapidly. Her eyes widened when she saw the caller ID. Reject the call. No. No, that’s too suspicious and she might try again. I should just answer. But why does she need to call why can’t she text me— okay, I need to make a decision already or my phone will make one for me.

Wheein answered the phone and held it against her ear. “Hello?”

“Wheein, it’s me,” Hyejin said. “How are you?”

Wheein raised an eyebrow at the mundane question. “Um— I’m good. What about you?”

“Oh I’m doing well.” There was silence between them and Wheein wondered if her bad luck was mocking her at this point.

“Look Wheein,” Hyejin piped up suddenly. “I wanted to tell you that it was really great seeing you again. I had fun today.”

Wheein bit her lip. She mulled over words, over how much of the truth she could say. “I had fun too.”

“That’s not the reason I called though.”

Wheein’s stomach dropped. Her nails dug into her blankets. “What is it?”

As if she was preparing herself for something, Hyejin took a deep breath, making Wheein nervous. Hyejin was always the more confident one, so the idea of her being hesitant frightened Wheein. “You know how I explained that the camera guy was following me for a music video? The point of that video was to show the members of Mamamoo having fun during the holidays— get the fans to relate to us, I guess. Some worried about the video though, since two of the members went together to visit their families while I went alone.”

Wheein hummed. She imagined Hyejin’s fans sympathizing with her for being considered the third wheel.

“I told them that I didn’t mind, but they had a hard time believing me. But my manager came up with a solution when she saw you.” Wheein flinched. “She said that not only will my childhood friend being in the music video make fans not worry about me, but they’ll also be ecstatic to know that I’m not restricted to only being close to my other members, Yongsun and Byulyi.”  Hyejin paused. “What do you think?”

No, tell her no. Wheein turned to her canvas. She had an excuse to reject Hyejin’s offer. She was going to be busy with her project, that’s the only reason she came, that’s the only reason she couldn’t leave— she couldn’t do it. Not again. “I—”

“I know this is a sudden request,” Hyejin interrupted. She let out a huge breath. “I need to confess something. Back when I said I didn’t mind being alone for this music video… I was lying. I wanted to see my parents again and all, but I didn’t know how I was going to do this music video by myself. But I know I can act natural if you’re with me. I know it’ll be fine if you’re there.”

Wheein’s hand grasped tighter at her bed cover, wrinkling the blankets. She sighed, her breath shaky. “Okay,” she said softly. “I’ll do it.”

“What?” Hyejin sounded surprised, but elated. “Really?”

“Yeah, really… I have to go Hyejin. I’ll see you soon.”

“Alright, bye Wheein. Thanks, this means a lot to me.” Hyejin hung up, leaving Wheein with silence.

Wheein pulled the phone away from her ear and flopped her hand on the bed. Her hands were trembling, her eyes were trembling, her lips were trembling.

This was temporary, Wheein convinced herself. It would end the same way, but Wheein was prepared this time. She would be able to pretend everything was fine, that they were still close, until Hyejin left. Then, Wheein would go back to avoiding her.

________
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[Author's Note]: Hello, I hope you guys haven't waited too long for this update. I was planning to finish this a lot earlier, but I was very busy with school the entire week. Hopefully, I made it up to you guys by making this chapter a lot longer than the rest. I'll try my best in updating the next chapter faster!

P.S. I do not know why this chapter looks so much different than how my previous chapters when it comes to format. I usually just copy and paste from my google doc so I don't know what I did differently for this one.

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Comments

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mmm_always #1
Chapter 10: THIS IS SO GOOD
Wheesateas
#2
Chapter 10: I'm not gonna lie but when I first saw the number of chapters I didn't except this slow-burn to be this angsty. I thought it'd have some drama until they'd figure it out but I certainly didn't think it'd affect me this much. My insides were twisted almost throughout the entire story, especially whenever they interacted. I cried more than once and during Hyejin's focused chapter my heart actually sunk...I felt so bad for her when Wheein said all that stuff to her.
I'm rambling but my point is that I love angst and this story hurt so well, I absolutely hated and loved it.
Thank you so much for taking your time to write and share this and I hope you'll share more in the future :)
noubliepasdetaimer
#3
Chapter 10: just wanna saying that this is the best slow-burn fic that I've ever read! I kept coming back to re-read it, you did so well, I really love the ride of the rollercoaster of emotions of this story :')
thank you for this fic, Author.
aglaonema #4
Chapter 10: Damn, I love it
SilverTiles #5
Chapter 9: AAAA THIS IS SO GOOD ;_;
smolwndy
#6
Chapter 10: i read it in one go and ahskdldlfg gosh my heart

i cried a lot more than i should :') seeing my baby wheein sad really tore my heart. but, like what wheein said, it was definitely worth it. this is definitely one of the best mamamoo fics i've read.

thank you for the wonderful work, author-nim!
Squeakytoys
#7
Chapter 10: Ahhhh, this was wonderful, thank you sharing authornim, I’m crying at 1 in the morning, but it’s the good kind of crying, the one where you’re just delighted that there’s a happy end to all the suffering (people can be so daft)
Again, thank you very much for sharing
starrynight0417
#8
I read this a long time ago and I've just realize that I haven't left any comment nor an upvote. I really love this, I can't imagine if Wheein didn't become a singer.