Round Seventy

“Gyuri!” Taeng was all smiles as he walked towards his friend. However, she did not return his smile as usual. And it was by pure instinct that he did not announce the good news that he had been on the verge of announcing. “What’s wrong?”

“Taengoo…”

Taeng was stunned when Gyuri’s sorrowful eyes met his. This was not the Gyuri that he knew. What was wrong with her? “Gyuri, is something wrong?”

Just then, a voice from the studio called for him. “Taeng DJ! You’re up in five!”

“Taeng, go ahead. Have a good show!”

Gyuri smiled reassuringly at him but he was still bothered by her downcast expression. “Are you going to be okay? We’ll talk about it after the show, okay?”

“Don’t worry about me Taeng. Go. You’ve got a show to do.”

“Okay. I’ll be right back!” Taeng flashed the biggest grin he could at her, hoping to cheer her up a little before entering the studio.

~~~~~

“Hi everyone, welcome to Taeng DJ’s Dukong Dugeun! I’m so happy to meet you again, on air! But my friend Gyuri looks sad today so I hope that every one of you can share your happiness with her. I’m very happy today because something good happened to me last night. It was Valentine’s Day yesterday and I had planned a big surprise for my girlfriend. My sister helped me to prepare everything. I love my sister so much. She asked me if I love Fany more than her this morning and I didn’t know what to say for a while. But I decided that I couldn’t decide. I love them both the same! So I told her that. She was very happy to hear that. And I’m happy when she’s happy. So I’m happy! But I haven’t told you about the surprise! Hayeon, my sister, helped me to buy the perfect present for Fany. Thank you Hayeon! I love you! Then I got stuck in the fridge box that I hid in. I was so sad! My surprise was ruined. I couldn’t jump out of the box with the flowers that I bought for Fany like we planned. But it was okay in the end. I crawled out of the box and got the flowers out. I was sad but I couldn’t give up! So I gave her the flowers and she looked so happy! YAY! Do you know what I did after that? I asked her if she wanted to marry me! Do you know what she said? She said yes! She said yes to me! I’m so happy! Are you happy too? I hope you’re happy too! It’s nicer when more people are happy, right? So I hope that Gyuri will cheer up after hearing this! And I hope that this song will make you feel happy too! Yay!”

~~~~~

After the program was done, Taeng stepped out of the studio and looked for Gyuri but that girl was nowhere to be found. “Did you see Gyuri?” he asked one of the crew who walked by.

“I think she just left.”

“Thanks!” Taeng hurried to the exit, hoping to catch up with her. He caught a glimpse of her at the lobby of the building and ran after her. “Gyuri! Wait!”

She must have heard him because she stopped and turned around.

“Gyuri, where are you going?”

“Home.”

“But we haven’t talked.”

“You’re so happy and I don’t want to dampen your spirits with my problem.”

“Problem? You have a problem? I’m your friend Gyuri, let me share the problem with you.”

“Do you really want to know about my problem?”

“Yes!”

“Okay…” Gyuri sighed.

~~~~~

“Your boyfriend is so mean!” Taeng exclaimed indignantly after listening to Gyuri pouring out her woes.

“Ex…boyfriend…” she corrected.

“He didn’t even apologize to you!”

“Not every guy is nice like you, Taeng.”

“But…but…he’s so mean!”

“Lots of people lie and cheat. At least I know what he’s really like now.”

“You’re…You’re so strong, Gyuri.”

“Am I?”

“You are.”

“But why do I feel like crying right now?”

“If you need a shoulder, you can use mine.”

Gyuri sniffed and looked at him with eyes b with tears. And the next thing he knew, she was bawling her lungs out with tears rolling down her cheeks. “I HATE HIM I HATE HIM I HATE HIM BUT I STILL MISS HIM I’M STUPID AREN’T I!”

Alarmed to see her violent outpour of heartache, he wrapped his arms around her to comfort her as best as he could. “I’m here for you, Gyuri. You can use my shoulder as much as you want.”

“TAENG…” sobbed Gyuri.

Taeng felt helpless. He knew that he was powerless to change anything and it depressed him to no end. He could not help his friend. All he could do was hug her and pat her back. That was all he could do. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the most familiar figure approaching them as he continued to comfort Gyuri. The familiar figure came to a stop a distance from him and he wondered why.

“Fany? You’re here!”

He wasn’t sure if he was imagining things or not but he thought Tiffany didn’t look quite happy at all.

“Taeng.”

Gyuri pulled away from him and turned around. “Tiffany, I’m sorry. You’re here for Taeng aren’t you.” Gyuri nudged Taeng towards Tiffany. “Go. Go ahead. I’ll be fine.”

“No, I can’t just leave you here like this.”

“Tiffany is here for you, Taeng. Go to her.”

“We planned to go somewhere for supper. Why don’t you come along with us?”

“Really? Can I?”

“Fany, can Gyuri come with us for supper?” Taeng asked hopefully.

Tiffany’s smile didn’t quite meet her eyes, but she nodded and said, “Yes. Come with us.”

~~~~~

“Her boyfriend is so mean! Isn’t he, Fany?” Taeng definitely looked very indignant.

“Ex…he’s the ex now…” Gyuri corrected Taeng again.

“I’m sorry to hear that…”

Tiffany felt sorry for Gyuri. Genuinely sorry. No girl would ever want to bear witness to her own boyfriend cheating on her but Gyuri was that unfortunate. And to think that Gyuri had wanted to give her boyfriend a surprise. Little did she expect that her boyfriend would be the one surprising her instead.

However, as much as she sympathized with Gyuri, she couldn’t help but feel bothered by the sight of Taeng being so close to the heartbroken girl. His arm was around the girl’s shoulders, patting her; comforting her.

Sigh. No. She wouldn’t be selfish and petty. No. Taeng was a good man. He possessed a big heart that genuinely loved his friends and family. Yes. That was the very reason why she fell head over heels in love with him. His pure and generous love. She shouldn’t feel jealous about this. She wouldn’t. She shouldn’t.

~~~~~

“I would like to return this bag.”

“I’m so sorry, Miss Jung. Is there anything wrong with the bag?”

Jessica shook her head sadly. “There’s nothing wrong with the bag. It’s perfect. I love it.”

“But why…”

“My fiancé. He…He…”

“He doesn’t like the bag?”

“It’s not that.”

“Well, there’s no better owner than you, Miss Jung. It looks so good on you.”

“I know, right? It was made to be mine.”

“Precisely, Miss Jung. It’s such a pity if you return it.”

“Can you reserve it for me for the time being?” Jessica made up her mind in that instant. She would find a way. That had to be a way around this. She’d talk it out with Yul.

“Most definitely. We can reserve it for you.”

“I’ll be back for it.” Jessica gazed longingly at the bag and it one last time. “Goodbye Kelly. For now. I’ll be back. I promise.” Jessica was determined to get it back. That bag was meant to be hers.

~~~~~

“Have you returned the bag?”

Jessica nodded sadly. “I’ve returned it.”

There was no need to tell him that the shop had put it on reserve, right? No, there was no need to.

“Okay, we can talk now. I’m ready to talk.”

Jessica sat a little straighter and put her elbows on the table. She couldn’t help it. He looked so solemn that it didn’t seem right to be casual about it.

“Sir, here’s your coffee.” The waiter then turned to Jessica. “Your strawberry smoothie.”

“Thank you.” Yul smiled politely at the waiter before turning back to her. “Let’s talk about the deal. You said that it’s difficult for you to keep your promise because you like the bag very much. I tried to understand it from your point of view last night but I wasn’t very successful. A promise is a promise, Jessica. You made that promise. You agreed to the deal.”

“I’m sorry.”

“We have to solve this problem, Jessica.”

“I’ll try harder to keep my promises, Yul.”

A sudden surge of ominous feelings coursed through Jessica from head to toe. She didn’t know why but she had the feeling that she wasn’t going to like what Yul had to say next.

“If our relationship is going to work and last, you are going to have to keep your promises.”

And there it was. Talk of a relationship that would last.

“Are…are you…saying…” Jessica couldn’t bring herself to verbalize her thoughts. She didn’t want to say the ‘b’ word.

“Jessica. I’ve made it clear that I can’t afford to pay for your lifestyle. And if we are to live together, we can’t lead such drastically different lives.”

Her lips quivered inadvertently. He hadn’t mentioned the word yet but it was the gist of what he had said, wasn’t it? “Yul…”

“I know that you’ve lived like this all your life. I know that your father can afford to pay for all of your shopping and more but how are you going to live with me with a lifestyle like that? How are you going to be my wife?”

Jessica couldn’t breathe. No. No. Please. The conversation was heading towards an ominous direction.

“And what will happen when we have kids, Jessica? What kind of lifestyle will we want them to have?”

“Our kids’ lifestyle?” Jessica blinked. She hadn’t given much thought about kids and their lifestyle at all.

“Yes. Kids. Children. Our own. I will want us to have our own children. Two, at least. We’ve talked about this before.”

“I haven’t thought much about it.”

“Well, it’s time to think about it and how we’re going to raise them.”

This was too much. Overwhelming. Overpowering. Her senses. Were crushed under the depressing thought of all that responsibility.“Can…can we not have kids then?” she asked in a tiny voice. Having children didn’t seem as cute as she’d thought anymore.

Yul seemed to grow even taller as he sat in his seat. “I want kids, Jessica.”

And there it was. A big looming wall of personal differences. Differences in monetary values. Differences in their wants. Differences in their needs. Where had this wall popped out from? And how could a lovely, fluffy cloud suddenly transform into this dark, gloomy, ominous one that hung over their heads as they sat facing each other in the café?

~~~~~