CHAPTER NINETEEN

Sometimes it felt like Park Sooyoung was a character straight out of a television drama. She could be the protagonist walking down the sidewalk carrying a bag from the convenience store, with the sun lighting her way. Her every action was done in slow motion – her red hair blowing in the wind, her long legs taking one step at a time, even her biting the popsicle would defy the laws of time.

It would be the scene where the other protagonist falls in love with her. Or it could be the scene where the biggest bully finds her favorite target outside of school. Cherry red hair shining in the sun and screaming danger is coming. The convenience store bag dangles like a potential weapon. The pretentious smile after aggressively biting the melting popsicle, legs making a straight line towards the person she was hellbent on tormenting at the moment.

Regardless of which character she would be, this is how I saw Sooyoung after getting out of the car when we stopped in front of the house in Huam-dong. She was distracted enjoying a green popsicle, walking towards our house carrying purchases from the nearest convenience store. Our arrival could not be more synchronized.

Wendy was once again ensuring that her song sheets were safe in her arms, she also carried the poster that I decided to bring with me. I was by her side holding the handle of my suitcase, waiting for Seulgi to pass me my mother's food containers that were on the passenger seat. Instead, the woman walked right past the two of us and stopped in front of Sooyoung, who was less than two meters away from us.

“Your hair is beautiful,” she said and I was sure she was giving the sweet smile she always had. “Could you hold this?” Seulgi offered my mother's food containers, making a perplexed Sooyoung in front of her.

At the same time, Wendy hurriedly passed the papers and the poster to me, her eyes were slightly open as if she was scared. And I could have sworn she muttered, “Good luck” before turning around and hurriedly getting into the passenger seat. When I turned back to Sooyoung, she was awkwardly holding the containers in her arms, the melted popsicle starting to run around her fingers leaving a green trail. Seulgi had also disappeared inside the car.

So, the two opted for the bully Park Sooyoung scene, and ran away from her before the confrontation, leaving the weaker lamb behind. Why wasn't I surprised?

“Unnie, are you moving?” Sooyoung asked me when we were already inside the kitchen.

Sooyoung was strangely calm for someone who just saw the “enemy” right in front of her. She took the lead to enter the house; I followed her towards the kitchen dragging my suitcase. I saw her place the containers of various side dishes on the table, and then she opened the refrigerator and placed the convenience store bag inside. They were kiwi and watermelon popsicles, she said and went to the sink to wash her hands.

“I just brought a few things from my house,” I replied looking at the small suitcase next to me, “I picked up extra pajamas for you, so stop taking the boys' clothes.”

“You’re the best, Joohyun-unnie.”

“This is also for you,” I said after making sure her hands were clean and dry, handing the stack of papers to her.

She looked curiously at the papers until she finally understood what was written there. Once again, Sooyoung remained calm and asked me, “How was the meeting?”

“Same thing,” I sighed. “We have a conflict of interest on some songs and she didn’t want to negotiate at first, but she will.”

The band leader went back to looking at the papers, peeking at some random pages without saying anything else. I liked to think that I knew Park Sooyoung well enough to say that she was uninterested. She could have been worried that she would no longer be able to sing the songs that had been with them for years, yes. But she didn't want to participate in the details like finding out who did this or that. She wouldn't contribute much since she didn't actively participate in the song creation process.

Furthermore, after years together, she trusted the other band members to resolve this matter. They would talk to her first before deciding anything, of course. Another important thing about those pages was that none of them should be new to her. She was Wendy's friend, she must have seen those lyrics over and over again while she was still just the guitarist and Wendy, or rather Seungwan was the original vocalist.

There was also the possibility that she would not look deeply into those lyrics so as not to remember the past. If I could catch a glimpse of Seungwan there, Sooyoung would certainly be able to see a lot more. Despite all the anger she felt towards Wendy, even she would be hurt remembering her former friend. Or she would become even more enraged, that was a possibility too.

"What is that?" She pointed to my hands with her head.

“Oh,” I started to feel my face heat up, “it’s a poster of Wendy I brought from home.”

“Decorating the room… I don't know, it looks like you're moving here,” her tone was casual, clearly teasing me.

I couldn't help but notice the small hope in her eyes.

“It’s not that, it’s just –” I stopped myself, not wanting to share the reason. Somehow, I felt like that moment in my room was just between Wendy and me. And Sooyoung didn’t need to know that I finally admitted to being a fan, “Never mind.”

“Whatever,” she dismissed, ready to leave the kitchen.

“Aren’t you going to ask me about earlier?” I asked making her stop in place, “About me being with Wendy today?”

Sooyoung sighed. Her hands squeezed the pad of paper so hard that I could hear the sound of crumpling paper.

“What you do in your free time is none of my business, Joohyun manager-nim,” she replied through her teeth before going back to her sweet voice, “But if you want to talk about what the night was like with your mom and fake dad, I’m all ears.”

“Don't do that,” I said softly.

I would like to talk to her about the conversation with my mother, after all, if it weren't for Sooyoung's request a few hours earlier I would have stayed in Incheon. Because I was almost certain that I would continue in college, but at that moment I didn’t know anymore. However, I couldn't ignore how strange Sooyoung's behavior was, “Don’t push me away like that.”

“I don’t understand, unnie.”

“You're very calm for someone who's vocally passionate about saying when something bothers you,” Sooyoung didn't even roll her eyes when I said that the poster was of Wendy, “You don't need to pretend she doesn't exist and bottle up what you're feeling. Talk to me, Sooyoung-ah."

“Huh? I was just surprised to see the garden gnome here. I'm not pushing you away, much less keeping anything back. Plus, it’s too early to start a fight, but I can do that if you want,” she said the last part in an innocent voice.

"No fights!" I hurried to say, “Just… I’m here if you want to talk.”

Sooyoung smiled, which made me hug her. I was relieved not to be rejected by her, she instantly hugged me back. That didn't mean I was satisfied with her answer. She wasn't acting like herself, and holding on to her feelings could be dangerous. I needed to find a way to get Sooyoung to open up before she exploded, especially if it could hurt the band in the competition.

“You owe me fried chicken, though,” she said stepping away.

"I am?"

"Yes. I barely ate my kiwi popsicle and it completely melted into that thing outside. Chicken is compensatory,” Sooyoung declared confidently.

Confused, I asked, “Fried chicken for a popsicle? Isn’t that an exaggeration?”

“I was craving that popsicle,” she said slightly upset.

"Craving?" I asked in surprise and tried to keep a joking tone with my other question, despite being a little worried, “You’re not pregnant, are you?”

"Pregnant?" she asked in surprise and a little too loudly, her eyes wide open. I think she was more shocked than I was about it. “Well, I said you have magic fingers, but I didn’t realize it would be literal.”

“Yah!” I choked on the air and started hitting her arm. Honestly, that girl and Yeri would give me a heart attack someday, “Don’t be gross!” Sooyoung just laughed while accepting my slaps.

“Welcome home, unnie,” she said softly despite having turned into my punching bag. That comment made my heart melt.

Eventually, I stopped my s and started laughing with her. We ended up agreeing to have lunch together with the boys before leaving for work. I ordered fried chicken over the phone and Sooyoung went back to the convenience store to buy me fresh kimbap. When Sooyoung handed them the song papers, I almost died with Sehun taking them with his greasy hands. All of Wendy's effort went away with a hot sauce fingerprint on the front page.

Taemin, who woke up to eat, and Taeyong chatted excitedly pointing to some notes that Wendy made. I guess I wasn't the only person impressed with the level of detail she provided. Despite wanting to listen to their observations, I ended up chatting with Sooyoung and even ended up telling her about the trip to Yeouido. I must confess that that was an attem