Chapter 3 – Welcome Back

“Yah, Yonghwa how long are you going to play with yourself in that shower!” Yonghwa heard a male voice yell from behind the door. “I know it’s fun and all, but seriously, I have to pee!”

“Keep your on Jang Woo,” Yonghwa groaned after coming out while still drying his hair. “And I wasn’t playing with myself you ert.” Jang Woo gave him a playful smile and dashed into the bathroom in order to relieve himself of the abdominal pain Yonghwa had caused him.

“Oppa, are you going to go to Seohyun unnie’s house tonight?” Krystal worriedly asked him. Yonghwa’s temper flared up once again at the way Krystal brought up Seohyun once more.

“Yah, Jung Soo Jung,” Yonghwa angrily called her by her real name. “Didn’t we just go over this a few hours back? I don’t even want to hear Seohyun’s name coming out of your mouth. If this is about trying to stop me from going tonight, forget it.”

“I wasn’t going to ask you about that anymore,” Krystal defended. “I was just wondering if you were going is all.” Yonghwa’s glare died down and softened into a brotherly gaze. Krystal stepped back a little as her brother came near her in fear that he would try to hit her again, but was met instead with another hug from him.

“Thanks Krystal,” Yonghwa thanked while tightening his grip on his dongsaeng. “I know you’re only worried about me and I really appreciate it. However, I know what I’m doing here. I may look like a fool to you, but I enjoy being that fool.”

“Pabo!” she yelled angrily. “You’ve protected me so many times in the past and now it’s my turn. Don’t be all cool and stuff now. The brother I left at the airport four years ago wasn’t cool at all.” Yonghwa smiled down at her and released his vice grip on the smaller girl. He gave her another thankful glance and headed to his room without another word. He did truly appreciate the gestures his sister took to protect him from getting hurt, but it was his fight and nobody else’s.

“Knock knock,” a cute voice called from the doorway to his new room. Yonghwa turned around while buttoning his dress shirt to meet his friend Eun Jung coming in. He couldn’t even recognize her voice nowadays. He thought he would never see the day where tomboy Eun Jung did anything related to aegyo.

“You know Jang Woo will throw a fit if he sees you in here while I’m changing…” Yonghwa sighed.

“Yeah, yeah whatever,” she brushed off. “Anyways, I came to warn you that my sister is going to be at the welcome back party.” Yonghwa’s face went slightly pale at the mention of the crazy girl. Park Hyomin… that name used to drive him insane. Hyomin was so much like his friend from America Mishti that it was scary. They both were eccentric, hyper, and most importantly, had huge crushes on him.

“Don’t worry I’ve learned how to deal with her,” Yonghwa replied with a chuckle. “Park Hyomin hasn’t met the new and improved Jung Yonghwa.” He puffed out his chest as he finished fixing himself up and stood up straight with arrogance.

“Stop that,” the short-haired girl scolded. “You definitely can’t play the cool guy act.”

“Watch me,” he defiantly ordered. “Tonight, I’m going to be stealing all of Joon’s thunder.”

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Jang Woo’s small car packed with four other people pulled into the driveway of the Seo mansion, finally ending the agonizing ride there. The group composed of Yonghwa, Krystal, Jang Woo, Eun Jung, and Hyomin eagerly jumped out of the tiny automobile and stretched their legs in relief.

“You really need to get a new car,” Eun Jung complained. “I can’t even believe that five people can even fit in that thing.”

“You want a new car? Go and buy me one.” Yonghwa shook his head while the couple bickered loudly during their walk to the front door. He stayed back a little and admired the sight before him. The mansion that Seohyun lived in never ceased to amaze him. The place was so simple, yet elegant at the same time. He looked around his surroundings and remembered all the times he spent there as a child. A smile crept onto his face as he remembered the moments he shared with Joon and Seohyun all those years ago.

“Feels weird being back here huh?” Krystal asked, popping Yonghwa’s dream bubble in the process. “It’s all still the same though.” Yonghwa nodded in agreement and continued to look around the giant garden once more.

“Let’s go on ahead,” Yonghwa suggested. “We can look around later.”

The group of friends walked through the front doors and into the palace where their dear friend Seohyun lived. “Welcome everyone!” bellowed a deep voice. “How long has it been since I’ve seen you all.”

“Annyeonghaseyo,” the young adults greeted in unison.

“Aigoo… you kids are all grown up already. Has it really been that long since you graduated high school?” the older man continued to joke. “I must be really getting old.”

“Appa… stop bugging my friends so much,” Seohyun teased. “Thanks all for coming.” Yonghwa once again was left stunned by the dazzling smile that she flashed them while taking her father’s side. Everyone had dressed formally for the occasion, but Seohyun was a cut above the rest.  He couldn’t even begin to describe her as his mind once again had stopped working.

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop,” Seohyun’s father chuckled. “Oh, who is this handsome young man? He seems familiar, but somehow he seems like a new friend.” Everyone turned towards Yonghwa’s direction as he straightened up his posture and took a step forward towards the man he wished was his father-in-law.

“Annyeonghaseyo Seo sajangnim,” he formally greeted while giving a deep 90 degree bow. “How have you been these past four years?”

“Seo sajangnim?” the older male asked in confusion. “Ah! Jung Yonghwa?! Aigoo, my old friend’s son? Is that really you?"

“Ne, sajangnim,” Yonghwa politely responded.

“Cut it out with the sajangnim stuff while we’re here. Call me ahjusshi like you used to back then,” Seohyun’s father laughed. “Wow, you’ve changed a lot young man. I can’t believe you’re that scrawny kid that took such good care of my little girl whenever she would get sick.” President Seo took a look at the young man in front of him to see if his eyes were correct. Yonghwa back then was thinner than a sheet of paper and dressed shabbier than the homeless people on the street. The person in front of him was dressed even more elegantly than some of the wealthy neighbors. His thin frame was replaced by a more muscular and manly build as well.

“How about we all go inside and get ready for dinner?” Seohyun suggested. Everyone nodded silently while her father interrogated Yonghwa some more.

“How have you been my boy? It has been ages since I last heard of you. You didn’t forget about your favorite ahjusshi while you were in the States did you?”

“Aniyo, how could I ever forget about you President Seo? You know as well as I do that I owe you and your family a huge debt. Without you I couldn’t have ever become what I am now,” Yonghwa quickly defended. President Seo gave Yonghwa a fatherly look and abruptly brought him into a hug.

“How’s your father doing? I heard he opened up a little restaurant in Busan and haven’t seen him in a while. You know you don’t owe me anything Yonghwa. Your father served me well and he was one of my best friends while doing so,” the rich man explained. Yonghwa’s eyes began to tear up as he returned the hug. Seohyun’s dad had always been like a second father to him. Whenever any of the rich people in the neighborhood looked down on him, he was always there to defend him.

“He’s doing fine from what he said over the phone,” Yonghwa replied while ending the contact between them. “I’ll be visiting him soon and I’ll tell him you said hi.”

“Why didn’t my little girl fall in love with you instead?” his second father asked out of the blue.

“Eh? What was that?” Yonghwa asked in confusion.

“I had always hoped you and that girl would have ended up together. You’re responsible, loyal, trustworthy, hardworking, and most importantly you’re a true friend for her. How good would it have been if it had been you by her side,” President Seo explained. Yonghwa was caught completely off guard by this confession. Never had he once thought that Seohyun’s father felt like that.

“Yeah, how good would it be…?” Yonghwa mumbled without realizing it.

“Instead of that Lee Joon…” the old man stated in almost a growl.

“What’s wrong with Joon?” Yonghwa asked out of curiosity.

“He’s rude, reckless, and hotheaded. I don’t know why my daughter loves that boy so much,” he spat out.

“Joon is also my best friend Seo sajangnim,” Yonghwa began to explain. “Seohyun doesn’t choose just anyone to be by her side. Joon may look like that to you, but he treats her very well. I’m sure you’ll get to see the true Joon if you just open up to him.” It killed him to be defending his rival in love, but Joon was also his best friend. He had to put his feelings aside for the moment and defend the man who was almost his brother. “Besides, Seohyun wouldn’t ever fall for someone like me. She needs someone from her background by her side. A simple butler’s son wouldn’t be good for her.”

“Yah! I never want to hear you saying that again. What’s wrong with being from a poor household? You’re worth more than any of the rich snobs that live in this neighborhood,” Seohyun’s dad lashed out. Yonghwa smiled at the praises from the man in front of him and nodded. “Promise me that when you become a big time doctor you’ll take care of my Joohyun for me, even when I’m gone.”

“Hey… don’t say those kinds of things. You still will live for a long time President Seo. But I’ll be sure to take care of her, I promise.”

“I think they’re waiting for us over there at the dinner table. How about we go and talk over some home cooked food?”  He wrapped an arm around Yonghwa’s shoulder and began to lead him towards the dining room when they heard one of the maids rush over to open the door.

“Father, sorry I’m late…” Joon dragged out through heavy breaths. “I promise that it won’t happen again. Right behind him, Kim Hyuna walked through the door in an elegant, but y dress.

“I’m not your father boy,” the angry man spat out. “Will you ever correct that bad habit of being late? Ah, Hyuna, nice to see you.” Yonghwa noticed how Joon was completely ignored as Seohyun’s dad went over to greet the beautiful girl.

“How are you tonight father?” Hyuna greeted while not taking her eyes off of the person she had met only a few hours back at the airport. If he had looked good while wearing just plain old jeans, he certainly looked good in the suit he was wearing. She bit her red colored lips ily while dazedly gazing over at him. It hadn’t even been five minutes and she was already giving it her all to grab his attention. Sadly for her, the male could only focus on Seohyun’s boyfriend, Joon.

“I thought my best buddy from forever was going to be here,” Joon spoke out. “I don’t see him around though.”

“Jashik~…” Yonghwa laughed out loud. “Get your over here and give me a hug.” Joon smiled and ran over to the guy he had missed for four years. “How have you been man? You don’t know how much I missed you.”

“Hey, hey, you know I don’t swing that way,” Joon joked. “Aw who am I kidding? I missed you too buddy. We have a lot of catching up to do.”

“Let’s save that for the dinner table,” Yonghwa suggested with a smile.

“Annyeong Yonghwa-ssi, we meet again.” Yonghwa turned away from Joon and finally paid attention to the girl that had come in a few moments ago. He had to admit, she was definitely eye catching, but he had no interest in her.

“Yah… Hyuna are you going to a club or a formal dinner,” Joon teased. “You’re lookin pretty dolled up for a simple dinner. Care to give us the details?” Anyone in the room would definitely have to notice the way that Hyuna was dressed. The ruby colored dress was a perfect match to the lipstick she wore that night. Her makeup was smoky and fierce, not something that one should wear to a family event. The slit her dress had at the side left nobody wondering what kind of legs Kim Hyuna had because they were visible to people miles away. Her obsidian hair shone in the dim lobby light and the slight curls at the end only made her even more breathtaking.  She was a complete counter to the angelic and pure look that Seohyun had that was for sure.

“Can’t a girl look good every once in a while?” Hyuna replied in a husky voice. “You’re not looking so bad yourself. And Yonghwa-ssi, you clean up pretty nicely.” Joon caught the hint almost immediately and shoved Yonghwa closer to the short girl. Hyuna was hitting on Yonghwa plain as day, but he didn’t seem to get a clue.

“Ah, well thanks…” Yonghwa trailed off, ignoring her once again. A small pout manifested itself on her face, but instantly went away. Either he wasn’t interested or he was playing hard to get. Either way, it was an interesting game for her to play and she looked forward to winning it.

“Shall we go ahead to the dinner table?” President Seo finally spoke up.

“Ne, Seo sajangnim… err I mean ahjusshi,” Yonghwa politely agreed. Hyuna took a glance at the way the two men seemed to be close. She knew Yonghwa was a family friend from a long time ago, but Seohyun never really gave her the details even though they were pretty good friends. If Yonghwa was that close to Seohyun’s dad, then he must be from this neighborhood. If he was from Seohyun’s neighborhood, then that also meant he had money, at least that’s what made sense in her head. The sultry smile on Hyuna’s face grew even wider as she thought of just how much of a good catch that man was.

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“Appa! Way to take forever, we’re all starving here,” Seohyun cutely scolded when she saw the new crowd walk in. “Joon! Hyuna! You’re finally here!” The excited girl ran over to her best girlfriend and the man she loved with a happy skip. Yonghwa stepped to the side and continued to chat with her father as she happily greeted the newcomers. He noticed the way she smiled his favorite smile towards Joon effortlessly. His eyes burned with jealousy as he wished that he was the one at the receiving end.

“Oppa!” another cute voice called. Soon enough Yonghwa had a smaller frame attached to his arm and he wasn’t too excited about it. “Yonghwa oppa~ how come you didn’t tell me that you were coming back?”

“Hyomin ah…” he hesitantly responded. “You know, I just wanted to make it a surprise you know.” Yonghwa didn’t particularly hate Eun Jung’s sister, but he didn’t want to give her the wrong ideas. She was part of the group back in high school, so he considered her a friend. However , she liked him so much he was sure that if he even gave her the smallest bit of care, she would run to the civil registration office and have a marriage contract drafted for them.

“Hyomin, I think Jang Woo’s lights were on,” Hyuna spoke out softly. “Do you think you could go check on them? You wouldn’t want your battery to run out on you guys.”

“Ah thanks Hyuna! Oppa I’ll be right back. Save me a seat please.”

“Yeah, sure,” he mumbled, but in actuality was happy to have the giant ball of energy away from him. Before he could walk away from Hyuna and take his seat, he felt a slight tug on his sleeve. Yonghwa didn’t even bother responding to the silent request for him to stay. All he did instead was stare deeply into Hyuna’s sultry gaze in defiance.

Joon looked over at the couple having a staring contest and gave out a small snicker. He hadn’t known Hyuna for that long, but he knew her enough to tell when she was ready to pounce. With a motion of his head directed at Seohyun, they both focused their attention on the two creating tension in the room. If the sparks between them could be seen, they would surely be enough to light the house on fire in a matter of seconds.

“Yah, you two can stare at each other after dinner is over,” Joon teased. “Let’s eat everyone!” Soon enough everyone was sitting at the table happily munching on the homecooked food Seohyun’s personal assistant, Seon Nyeo, had cooked. The older woman was old enough to be Seohyun’s grandmother, but she was almost like a mother to her. Everyone appreciated the things that she did for them ever since they were all children.

“Here,” Yonghwa quietly whispered while passing Seohyun the plate of vegetables. “I noticed your skin color got a lot better than before. If you continue to eat all these vegetables, you’ll be all better before you know it.” Krystal watched the stupid smile she hated find its way onto his face. She both loved and hated that smile at the same time. It was full of his honest feelings, making her happy for him. However, it was because of those feelings that he was getting himself hurt.

Seohyun blushed a little and reached over the table to give Yonghwa a slap on the wrist. Yonghwa, not being able to hide his obvious love for her blushed equally as hard and gave her the most idiotic chuckle he could possibly make. Not only Krystal, but Jang Woo and Eun Jung caught the way he was acting. Seohyun, being completely oblivious to his feelings, just flashed him that smile he loved. Her eyes closed a little as she smiled, making him even more crazily in love with it. Hyomin was too angry that Hyuna had stolen her seat next to Yonghwa to catch it while Hyuna was too busy staring at Yonghwa’s features to care.

“I see you’re still the same thoughtful kid from before,” Seohyun’s father spoke up for the first time since the dinner began. “You’re going to make a great doctor. That father of yours sure is lucky to have a son like you. Instead I got stuck with this daughter of mine.”

“Appa! Are you saying you would rather have had Yonghwa as your son?”

“Yeah, I would as a matter of fact,” he responded sarcastically causing everyone to burst out in laughter.

“Don’t worry Mister Seo,” Joon cut in. “Pretty soon you’ll have me as your son and you won’t need to care about Yonghwa anymore.” The laughter bellowing inside the older man’s chest immediately ceased as Joon began to speak. Soon enough the tension in the room became heavy enough to choke the people present.

Yonghwa gave President Seo a sideways glance and noticed the way that his eyebrows slightly furrowed as he stared Joon down. It was obvious to everyone at the dinner table that he was not very fond of Joon. It wasn’t because he had a personal vendetta against the handsome boy, but because he loved his daughter so much. Seohyun’s mother died during childbirth, leaving behind a sickly girl that miraculously survived. Ever since then he had the little girl under constant surveillance in order to preserve the last gift his late wife had given him. Joon was probably just a little too free spirited for his taste. Sure Seohyun smiled a lot around him, but he didn’t particularly like the fact that he made Seohyun walk out of the protective bubble she was supposed to stay in.

“So you’re going to medical school?” Hyuna asked in hopes to lighten the mood.

“Yes,” Yonghwa replied without enthusiasm.

“Where are you going to school?” she continued to prod. Yonghwa didn’t even bother to look up from his bowl of soup to answer her questions. Hyuna’s mood began to go sour as she was continually ignored by the bored looking boy. She had heard so many good things about him, yet he didn’t seem to live up to them.

“He’s going to start going to Seoul National University’s medical school in the fall,” Seohyun answered for him. “Oppa, I’m so excited for you to be back with us.” Hyuna paid no attention to the way Yonghwa’s head perked up once Seohyun began to speak.

“Ah, so we will be seeing you around school too?” Hyuna asked hopefully. Even if he was indifferent to her charms, she was confident that she could get him to fall for her if she tried hard enough. Yonghwa acknowledged her question by answering with a simple nod. While it wasn’t what she was looking for, at least it was an answer.

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Dish after dish was piled onto the dinner table as Seon Nyeo brought more and more food for the happy youngsters to eat. They hadn’t feasted on great cooking like that since the last time they were all together back in high school. The crowd moved into the living room where they each broke off into their own small conversations. Yonghwa had stayed back to help the old maid pick up the table, even after President Seo begged him a thousand times not to. As he came into the room, he noticed Kim Hyuna waiting for him patiently. Once again he ignored her as she took a spot next to him while he walked.

“Yonghwa come over here,” the head of the Seo household called. “I see you’re friends with Hyuna.” The two males looked over to Hyuna who had left Yonghwa’s side when Seohyun’s father called her over.

“I guess you could say that,” Yonghwa replied. “I just met her today and it seems like Seohyun and her are really good friends.” Hyuna and Seohyun chatted merrily while Joon was trying to tell them a funny story about how a Chinese investor once confused him with a member of K Pop group MBLAQ and how she refused to let him go unless he performed one of their songs live for her.

“Hyuna fills the role of a sister very well. You know Seohyun has wanted a sibling for the longest time. When you left, she was pretty lonely for the first year,” the loving father began to explain. His gaze became softened, just like the gaze he gave his own daughter. “Hyuna has helped Seohyun become more of a woman. At first I didn’t like how she wanted to change Seohyun so much, but now I understand. Ever since then her self-esteem became much higher and she became more independent.”

“I see…” Yonghwa replied absentmindedly. At first he had his suspicions about Hyuna. He usually is never wrong about his first impression with someone. In his mind, Hyuna was still bad news. However, President Seo wasn’t one of the richest men in Korea for nothing. His wisdom was definitely trustworthy and if he found Hyuna worthy of being Seohyun’s friend, he was probably right.

“Maybe this girl isn’t so bad after all…” Yonghwa thought to himself.

“Go on and catch up with all your friends,” President Seo ordered. “I’m sure they have a lot to talk to you about.” Yonghwa gave the man a slight bow and walked over instead to the backdoor of the house. He had already caught up with Jang Woo, Eun Jung, Hyomin, and Krystal. Since he didn’t really feel like dealing with Hyuna for the night either, he decided to go catch a bit of fresh air. The stone and brick patio was the same as he had left it, as was the entire back yard.

“Nothing has changed,” he chuckled happily to himself. “Not even your stupid feelings huh Jung Yonghwa?” Anger welled up inside of him as he let his fist connect with one of the stone rails the patio had around it. Pain coursed through his fist, but it didn’t matter. The pain he felt for feeling jealous of his two best friends was much worse. It made him furious, outraged, sick with anger…

“Joon, I’m so happy to see you again. You don’t know how much I’ve missed you these past few weeks you were gone,” he heard the voice of his beloved one explain. He looked up from his aching knuckles and noticed that Joon and Seohyun were sitting in the spot that had once belonged to him. The fountain water reflected the dim moonlight streaking down from the full moon, just as it had the night of their high school graduation, the night he began to lie to himself about loving that girl.

“How much did you miss me?” Joon asked with an idiotic grin on his face. Seohyun stretched her arms out as wide as she could in order to show him. He took that opportunity to steal a hug from her. The two giggled as they struggled to keep themselves from falling into the cool water flowing from the special fountain. Just as Joon cupped her cheek to bring her into a sweet kiss, Yonghwa couldn’t take it anymore. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that there was a shadow walking around the edge of the large pool to the right of him. It was the perfect excuse to get him out of the unpleasant situation he was being placed in.

“It’s not safe to walk around a pool in heels you know,” he pointed out to the small figure he approached from behind.

“Aish! You scared me!” she cried in fear. “Ah, it’s you.” Hyuna turned around to meet the man she had begun to fancy since earlier that morning. Yonghwa couldn’t help but notice the way the moonlight slightly made her large eyes sparkle. Yonghwa felt a sense of curiosity spring up inside of him. Why is it that he had a woman like Hyuna in front of him, but he didn’t even feel the slightest bit of arousal? He was sure that any other man would be aching to get his hands onto her milky skin, but why wasn’t he driven insane by her?

“You should go back inside,” he quietly suggested. Hyuna noticed the way that he was sluggishly dragging his feet across the concrete surrounding the pool and found it strange. Even though he hadn’t been too enthusiastic about her to begin with, she could tell something was up. “It wouldn’t be very fun if you fell into that cold water this late at night.”

“Y-yeah…” she shyly replied. Even if Hyuna was known to be a forward and bold woman, she was still like any other girl. A light tinge of pink covered her cheeks while she hesitantly nodded towards the man worrying about her.

“Sorry,” he mumbled out of the blue.

“Eh?” she responded out of confusion. “What was that?”

“Sorry for ignoring you at dinner so much,” he apologized without even looking her. “If you’re Seohyun’s friend, I guess you’re not so bad.”

“Okay then… thanks?” she replied after going back into her shy state.

“Don’t misunderstand me though,” he cut in before she could be happy about it. “Just because I’m apologizing to you, doesn’t mean we’re friends.” Hyuna’s smile dropped at his abrupt comment but she stayed quiet in order to see why he was being that way. “I still can’t shake this feeling away that you’re up to no good. I know I am judging you after only knowing you for a day and that’s wrong. Still, I’m going to go with my gut tells me.”

“Wow… you’re nowhere near the guy all your friends think you are,” Hyuna angrily spoke up. “Seohyun thinks you’re the sweetest guy on the planet, even sweeter than Joon. That girl admires you with all her heart, but for what?” His eyes lit up for a split second upon hearing what Seohyun really thought about him. Of course, her actions always gave him that impression, but he had never once heard those words come out of .

“She said that?”

“Yeah, she did. I don’t know why though. You’re nothing but a pretty boy that’s full of himself-”

“Later,” he interrupted her while walking back towards the patio. Hyuna was basically letting out steam from her ears as Yonghwa casually flicked his wrist in a wave and continued to walk away from her while she was talking.

“Yah! Stop right there!” Hyuna cried. The small girl’s heels clicked and clacked against the hard tiles surrounding the pool in an effort to catch up to him. Yonghwa had no intentions of following her orders and continued his arrogant stride up the steep flight of stairs leading to the elevated patio. Hyuna managed to grab ahold of his arm as he climbed the last stair, tugging forcefully in an effort to obtain his attention.

Yonghwa, not being ready for the physical contact, continued to walk up the stairs. The force of the pull sent him backwards, tumbling down the stairs. The nerves in his knee shot pain throughout his leg, causing him to turn his attention to his now ripped pants.

“Aish…” he mumbled as he nursed the bloody wound the fall had left him as a gift. His left knee was pretty cut up, but he wondered why the rest of his body was relatively unscathed except for a scratch or two. He felt something soft moving under him and realized that Hyuna had broken his fall. Yonghwa quickly stood up, ignoring the gash in his leg to tend to the semi-unconscious girl. “Yah Kim Hyuna! Kwaenchanha?”

“You think I’ll be okay after you we fell down 20 stairs and you decided to park your fat on top of me?!?” she yelled. Yonghwa supposed she should be fine if she had the energy to yell at him like that so he was somewhat relieved.

“Hey, we heard a noise. What happened?!” Seohyun gasped. “Hyuna! Oppa! What’s wrong?”

“Yonghwa don’t just stand there. Aren’t you supposed to be some kind of doctor or something?” Joon stupidly asked. Yonghwa shook his head and lifted Hyuna’s head from the hard floor.

“Stupid… I just got my undergraduate degree. I haven’t even started medical school yet,” Yonghwa stated in a matter of fact voice.

“This isn’t the time to worry about that now,” Joon defended himself, even though he had been the first to start the stupid argument. “Let’s help her up.” Hyuna shoved Joon’s hands to the side and began to stand up on her own. Just before she was up and about, her leg twisted awkwardly and she tumbled back down to meet the floor. Yonghwa took the chance to grab her small waist to help her back up.

“Carry her,” Joon suggested. He knew again what Hyuna was trying to pull. She rejected his help so that Yonghwa would have to care for her. Yonghwa rolled his eyes and bent down in front of the hurt woman in order for her to get on his back. Hyuna shamelessly put all her weight on him and held on tight. Although she was in pain from her twisted ankle, she couldn’t help but inwardly smile as she felt the warmth of Yonghwa’s back on her body.

“Yah, face some other way would ya?” Yonghwa scolded. Hyuna chuckled a little as she felt his neck heat up in embarrassment. Her breath was obviously setting off some nerves in his neck and he couldn’t deny that. Ignoring his actions, she buried her face deeper into the curve between his shoulder and his neck and inhaled his musky cologne. Yonghwa couldn’t deny that he was involuntarily by the action, but he kept walking towards Seohyun’s room without hesitation.

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“How is the pain?” Seohyun asked Yonghwa as he left Hyuna to sleep on her bed for the night.

“Her ankle isn’t too bad but it still hurts quite a bit. Pabo got herself hurt for being a brat…” Yonghwa trailed off.

“I meant you silly,” Seohyun explained with a giggle. She took his hand in hers and dragged him into the hallway right outside her door. He took her silent offer for him to sit down in the chair where she had an array of things prepared to treat him.

“Ah,” he groaned in pain while she rolled up the leg to his now tattered pants in order to expose the wound.

“How did you even slice your knee this bad from just falling?” she cried in surprise. “Leave it to clumsy old you to do that to yourself.” Slowly, she took a wet cloth from a small bucket and began to wipe away the blood with warm water. The pain began to die down as her tender touch caressed his aching skin. He up the pain when she rubbed some medicine over the wound and placed a large bandage over it.

“Thanks.”

“Now you have to heal up nice and fast okay Mister Knee,” Seohyun begged his knee as if it were a sentient being. She rubbed the bandage one last time and planted a sweet kiss over it. “Now it will heal for sure.”

“Hyun…” Yonghwa mumbled.

“Don’t you remember how I would always fix you up when we were kids?” she reminded. Yonghwa’s mind replayed every single time they would end up in the bathroom together cleaning up his wounds caused by his incessant clumsiness. The childish way she would always kiss his wounds and talk to them so they would heal faster brought a nostalgic smile to his face. “Today ended on a good foot huh? Well except for Hyuna’s.” Yonghwa let out a choked laugh as he realized the dumb pun she had just made. Seohyun also burst out into laughter that wracked her entire body when she caught what she did. The sound of her laughter was like honey to him, sweet and irresistible. He had missed these kinds of moments the most during his stay in Los Angeles.

“You really think your jokes are that funny?” he sarcastically asked.

“Yeah, they are. By the way, I almost burst out laughing when my dad almost ate Joon alive at the dinner table,” she continued speaking through laughs. Yonghwa remembered how he promised Eun Jung that he would steal Joon’s thunder and he had. Although, he couldn’t really keep his promise of being a cool guy since he was sitting here with Seohyun as if he were a shy ten year old.

“Yah!” he exclaimed when he felt her weight unexpectedly falling onto him. Her arms s around him and brought him into a sudden hug.

“I missed you,” she simply stated. “Hyuna is a good friend but nothing beats you.” She tightened her grip on him with every word that made its way out of .

“Hyun…” he mumbled again as if that’s the only thing he could say. He couldn’t even bring himself to hug her back out of the surprise she gave him.

“This is going to sound weird, but I really want to say it,” Seohyun said in a suddenly shy voice. “Yonghwa, saranghae.”

“Eh?”

“You heard that right Yonghwa. I won’t say it again,” she teased with a playful slap to the arm. “I think Jang Woo is just about ready to leave. I have to go put this back in the bathroom really fast so I’ll go meet you guys at the door in a minute.” Before Yonghwa could ask her anything else she sped off with her hands full.

“Nado… nado saranghae Seo Joohyun. More than you’ll ever know.”

Author’s Note: Yay another chapter down. I think I’m back in the writing spirit since I’m past 6000 words this chapter even though I keep telling myself to keep it between 4000-4500. Although I won’t be updating every day like I used to, I do seriously plan on keeping this story going until the end.

Now back to business. To some people it might seem like Seohyun is throwing around some mixed messages but that’s not the case. Yonghwa knows it. He knows Seohyun loves him as a best friend, almost a brother. He doesn’t like her because he mistakes that love for romantic love, but because he of his own will loves her. It for him to be in that position, but I hope to capture the struggle between his feelings for her, and his reality. Let’s hope first hand experience helps me capture it more easily.

Also, I think some people might hate the way that Yonghwa is being so pathetic, but trust me that will change. I just wanted to have Yonghwa being the one chasing after the girl. From what I’ve seen it’s always the girl getting the short end of the stick and I wanted to try something different. Yonghwa will definitely man up and fly straight if you guys don’t like this weak side of him. Also, a friend of mine read this and said she felt Seohyun was a . While I can see that, that’s not really what I was going for so I apologize for that.

** Dictionary **

Sajangnim – Honorable company president

Nado saranghae – I love you too.