Chapter 7 – Intervention Part 2

***(The Hyuna-Yonghwa relationship haters better brace yourselves, just sayin…)***

Eun Jung spent an hour blankly staring at her food while Jang Woo did the same. They had come to the restaurant with huge smiles on their faces, but now all that had been ruined. What should have been a special night for them and Yonghwa was now turning out to be a disaster. The couple would steal a glance at Joon and Seohyun happily munching on their food without a care in the world. If only they could go back in time and make it so that it was Yonghwa sitting in Joon’s spot, but sadly they could not.

“Happy birthday Seohyun,” Joon wished again. “I’m still surprised you got here so fast. You usually are a really calm driver.”

“Yeah, well… I heard my dad was in trouble so I had to come here as fast as I could,” she pointed out with an angry tone. Joon just grinned at her as if telling her that it was just a joke. She got the message and reluctantly smiled back at him. She couldn’t be angry at him since all he wanted to do was celebrate her birthday.

“What were you doing when I called you? It seemed like you got here too fast from home even if you were speeding,” Joon noticed.

“Well I was on my way to…” Seohyun began to explain before realizing that she promised to meet Yonghwa earlier. She looked down at her watch and noticed that she was already an hour and fifteen minutes late for her appointment with him. “Damn it!”

“What’s wrong?” Joon asked absentmindedly.

“I was supposed to meet Yonghwa at 8 tonight. It’s already 9:15 and he’s probably still waiting for me,” Seohyun explained. She felt incredibly stupid for forgetting the appointment altogether. Sure Joon had tricked her, but that wasn’t an excuse once she realized what he was really up to. “Joon, I think I should go see him. I feel bad now because he probably wanted to celebrate my birthday too.”

Seohyun quickly scrambled to put her things in order and stood up. At that moment, all thoughts of Joon disappeared. The only thing that matter right now was that she hoped Yonghwa wasn’t mad at her.

“You’re just going to leave me like that?” Joon asked in a disappointed voice. “Are you really going to choose him over me?”

The question struck Seohyun like a brick across the face forcing her to sit back down. Joon’s voice had a hint of betrayal in it, something she never expected to hear from him. Even so, something about the situation made her want to go see Yonghwa, even if she had to ditch Joon in the process.

“Joon, let’s not start this now. You know as well as I do that Yonghwa is my best friend. He used to celebrate my birthday with me as if it was his own when we were kids,” Seohyun spoke in a sad voice. She expected Joon to understand where she was coming from but instead she noticed his face twisting itself further into a frown. “How would you feel if someone broke a tradition you had going for more than ten years?”

“I would understand it due to the circumstances. Seohyun, I love you. I know you feel the same way. Are you going to tell me that you would rather spend tonight with someone other than your boyfriend?” Joon asked threateningly.

That question put Seohyun into a further state of confusion. opened and she was so close to giving Joon an answer he didn’t want to hear. For some odd reason, she was about to tell him that she would rather be Yonghwa. However, her brain registered the words again and she stopped herself.

 For a split second, she wished that Yonghwa was in front of her instead of Joon. She knew that Yonghwa would understand everything and let her do what was best for her. She quickly shooed away those thoughts that she felt should not have been there in the first place. Yonghwa was her best friend and nothing more. Why was she feeling strange things for him?

“Joon, I don’t want to fight tonight okay?” Seohyun pleaded. “I just feel like I’m being unfair to Yonghwa. He asked me to meet him first and you used a lie to get me here. I’m sure if you put yourself in his shoes you would be hurt.” Joon had to admit that he was being rather selfish, but he felt like he had the right to be. Seohyun was his girlfriend, not Yonghwa’s .He would just have to understand the situation and deal with it.

“Arasso,” he agreed after much thought. “I’m going to go to the bathroom really quickly. I’ll give Yonghwa a call while I’m in there.”

Seeing the distressed look on Seohyun’s face, he knew he had screwed up. Joon knew he had to be understanding in the situation, but it still didn’t seem fair. Why should he have to share his girl with someone else? Sure they were best friends, but surely everyone would assume that he had the right to spend that night with Seohyun more than anyone.

“You better not make him feel bad,” Seohyun commanded with a hint of worry in her voice. “I’ll call him myself if I have to.”

His already sour mood became even sourer when he heard the worry in her voice. A sudden jealously began to burn inside him with the way she was acting. If he were crazy, he would go as far as to say there were some hidden feelings they were speaking about. In order to not ruin the night, however, he calmly walked away from the dinner table without adding more fuel to the fire.

“Seohyun you can’t possibly…” Joon mumbled to himself once inside the bathrom. “No, that’s outrageous.” He had always been a dense person, but for some reason, he felt as if there was something weird going on. Seohyun’s eyes had a spark of defiance in them that he had never experienced. It was the look someone had on their face when they were standing up for something they dearly loved. Now that his thoughts were in that mindset, paranoia began to set in.

He remembered all the times when they were younger how Seohyun and Yonghwa always seemed to be together. Even after they started dating, Yonghwa wasn’t shifted over to second place. Joon always had to share that first place spot with Yonghwa. No matter how good of a friend he was, something about the entire situation was making him suspicious.

Hey buddy I have a message here from Seohyun. She says she’s sorry she can’t come. I invited her out to a surprise dinner and she says she can’t leave her boyfriend at a time like this. I didn’t know that you were going to meet her so sorry. I want to let her go but she doesn’t want to. You understand right?  – Joon

He quickly hit the send button before he regretted typing out those words. Joon knew he was doing something wrong when he put words in Seohyun’s mouth. She hadn’t said she couldn’t leave, in fact, that was the complete opposite of what she thought. His jealousy was much too strong at the moment for him to care. It all seemed like crazy talk, but something about the way things were playing out seemed fishy.

Joon made his way back to the table where he noticed that Seohyun’s sour mood still hadn’t passed. “I called Yonghwa,” he lied. Seohyun’s angry gaze met up with Joon’s but she didn’t look like she wanted to talk. “He says he’s fine and that he will just see you some other time.”

“A-a-are you sure..?” Seohyun asked in disbelief. An invisible force suddenly smashed against her chest and forced all the air out of her lungs. “Yonghwa was okay with everything?” Joon just nodded and continued to pick at his food. Something in prevented her from breathing. Yonghwa wouldn’t ever say anything like that. It pained her to think that he was actually okay with not celebrating such a special day with her.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

*bzzzzt* *bzzzzt* The phone on the couch vibrated once Joon’s text came in but Yonghwa was nowhere to be found. Yonghwa came out of the bathroom rubbing the water out of his hair with a towel a minute later, completely oblivious of the message that he had just received. He glanced up at the black hands of the clock in the living room as they read 9:25 pm. 

Even though Seohyun was late, he hadn’t really been one to complain. It gave him time to prepare the perfect seaweed soup that was a necessity at every birthday dinner. After he had finished, it still didn’t seem like she would get there on time so he decided he could take a quick shower. The heat from the stove as well as the excitement he felt all day had him sweat all day, giving him a need for a hot shower.

Now that everything was ready, he sat down at the table with the now cool food to wait for her. He supposed cold food wouldn’t be too delicious, but he could just heat it up when she finally came. The smile on his face never faltered, even after she was almost an hour and thirty minutes late. That smile only grew when he placed his hands on the guitar he had ready for the birthday song he had ready for her. His fingers began to pluck at the strings lightly, leading him to hum a familiar tune. Soon enough the hum evolved into a song he wished he could be singing to the girl of his dreams.
 

Do you hear me? I'm talking to you
Across the water across the deep blue ocean
Under the open sky, oh my, baby I'm trying

Girl I hear you in my dreams
I feel your whisper across the sea
I keep you with me in my heart
You make it easier when life gets hard

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again

(The most absolute perfect song to describe his feelings http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8Hgp150Eno )

If only those words could be said between them. Yonghwa didn’t really like American music all that much, but that one song was something that caught his breath every time he heard it. He was going to take the biggest gamble of his life. Yonghwa decided to finally tell Seohyun how he felt. It didn’t matter if he was potentially ruining the one thing that kept him alive. Even if Joon came after him and murdered him for betraying him, he would still take the chance. It would all end that night.

Before he could continue singing a sudden yawn struck him and a tired feeling filled him. He hadn’t slept the night before as he planned everything to perfection and he had done quite a bit of work in order to prepare. He wished he could just cuddle up in his bed and sleep but he had to wait for the person he promised to meet.

“Stay awake Yonghwa. You can’t screw this up now by sleeping,” he told himself.

For some reason, staying awake quickly became one of the toughest battles he had ever faced. His eyelids felt as if they weighed as much as a steel beam. Every few seconds they threatened to close and throw him into a state of sleep he desperately needed. Eventually, the dizzy feeling in his head was too much to bear and he lightly rested his head on the dinner table in defeat.

As he slept, the hands of the clock mocked him with their incessant ticking. Soon an hour passed, then another, and then two more. As if laughing at him with pity, the clock seemed to speed up as he slept. What had Yonghwa done to the clock for time to pass by so fast? Nothing, but it seemed like the goddess of time felt like making his life miserable for her petty enjoyment. Finally, the clock stopped speeding through the hours as it rested on the 1:00 am mark.

“Aish, what the heck...” Yonghwa groaned while staring groggily at the clock.

He read the hands and snapped out of his stupor quickly. The surprised boy took a look around the room and noticed that Seohyun hadn’t come by. The candles were now nothing but little stubs with a light that would die at any second. The food remained uneaten and as cold as if it had been in the refrigerator. All his hard work… all his planning… it had all gone down the drain. If the clock mocking him hadn’t been bad enough, there was still one more thing in the room taunting him.

In front of the place where Seohyun was supposed to sit was a blue velvet box with a red ribbon tied across it. He reached over to pick it up and slowly peeked inside of it. Just as he had left it, the silver butterfly remained curled up inside its home, waiting for its new owner to come claim it. Yonghwa forcefully shut the case and slammed it down onto the table. He let out a forced laugh as he stormed over to the front door and ran outside.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hyuna awkwardly walked around the apartment building Joon had described as the place where Yonghwa lived. Her foot was still a tad bit swollen, but it was much better than it had been a few days ago. Even so, the climb up to his floor had been a horrible one. The elevator didn’t seem to work, leaving her to manually drag herself up to his home.

“I hope he’s okay,” she said to herself. Ever since she had yelled at him at the event, she felt like dying. At the moment she insulted him, she could only feel jealousy for the girl she didn’t even know.

Yonghwa had a face that conveyed his raw emotions and it angered her that another person had his heart. Once her anger died down that night, she realized she had hurt his feelings. Even if he had gained determination from it, she didn’t feel right afterwards. She knew that he was going to get angry for dropping in uninvited, but she had to make sure to right the wrongs she caused.

“Hmm 512…” she whispered. 

Hyuna braced herself for the yelling as she reached over to ring the doorbell to the place Joon had told her to go to. Before she could hit the blue button, she noticed that the thick silver door was cracked open. If it was rude to drop by uninvited, it was sure as hell rude to enter a house without permission. However, curiosity got the best of her and she entered the apartment hesitantly.

“Yonghwa!” she called out in hopes that he was still around.

Upon entering the living area, she noticed the dim lights on the candle holder. The confused girl walked around the table and noticed all the food that had been set out by Yonghwa a few hours earlier. “It’s freezing cold,” she observed when she took a spoonful of the soup in . Hyuna froze once she noticed the silver trinket sticking out of a dark blue box.

She picked up the butterfly necklace and held it against the dim orange light the candle stubs were giving off. “That girl never came did she?” Hyuna asked herself sadly.

She sensed the aura of heartbreak surrounding the table. Everything looked like the perfect setting for a confession. The bit of food she tasted was good, even if it was cold. The candles, the gift, and even the guitar all seemed like something that would make any girl’s heart waver. She couldn’t help but sniffle a bit at the situation. Even though it wasn’t her that got stood up, she could feel the rejection he probably felt.

“Pick up your phone… pick up…” Hyuna begged as she called his phone. She put her phone down when she heard a vibration coming from the living area. There she saw his phone and let out a deep sigh. “Aish, pabo!” Hyuna quickly threw her shoes back on and ran out into the street. If he had left his phone, he couldn’t have gone far. She looked around and ran aimlessly in the neighborhood she was unfamiliar with.

“Excuse me! Young man! I have to close soon!” yelled a voice that caught Hyuna’s attention. “Aish, you young people these days… Excuse me! You have to leave soon!”

Hyuna took a look inside the small tent where the screams were coming from and noticed a familiar head of hair lying down peacefully on one of the tables. Beside him were four green bottles of what was most likely soju. She took a look inside the bottles and noticed how they were both drier than bone.

“Ahjumma!” he yelled loudly. “Can’t you see that I’m really thirshty!? Aren’t you shupposed to sell people things if they want them!??”

“Aigoo! I can’t sell you anymore soju. I would rather not have the police come here and give me heat for letting you get alcohol poisioning,” the older woman growled.

“Excuse me, ahjumma…” Hyuna spoke out. “How long has he been here?” The ahjumma turned around when she heard the delicate voice coming from her side and shook her head.

“This boy has been here for almost an hour and I have to close my shop,” the shopkeeper explained. “He won’t stop asking me for drinks and he even tried to pay me more money. I would be glad to provide my services, but he is getting too out of hand.” Hyuna looked down at Yonghwa with a stare of pity and sighed. She wanted to be angry at him for being so stupid, but she couldn’t bring her heart to feel that.

“Oh! Look who we have heeeeeeeere!” Yonghwa yelled once he noticed Hyuna. “Hyuna~ how are you doing tonight?” He stood up and gave her a bear hug which caused her to open her eyes wide in surprise. “My favorite girl in the whole wide world!”

“Yah get off of me!” she exclaimed in efforts to try to shoo him away. “What are you doing here you idiot? Let’s go back home.” Hyuna grabbed his arm and began to drag him away from the tiny shop. She felt his entire body go limp and he plopped back down onto the stool with a thud.

“No! I want to shtay here!” he pouted like a five year old not wanting to eat his vegetables. Hyuna gave out an exasperated sight and tried her hardest to pull him out of the seat. Even in his drunken state he was much too strong for her and he refused to budge. “Ahjumma! Let’s have another bottle here for the pretty lady!”

“Miss, are you here to take this clown away from here? I’ll call the police if he doesn’t leave soon,” the owner threatened. Hyuna tried again and again to move him from the spot but he wasn’t having any of that. Eventually she had to give in and she sat down in the stool across from him.

“I just called Jang Woo. He’s coming to pick you up in a bit,” she explained to him.

“Nooooooooooo don’t call Jang Wooooooooooo~!!!” Yonghwa exclaimed loudly. “He’s going to take advantage of me since I’m drunk!” Yonghwa suddenly crossed his arms against his chest and began to mumble about how Jang Woo was a ert and would try to take him to bed that night.

“Eh? You think Jang Woo is going to you tonight?” Hyuna asked in disbelief. “You’re crazy. Ugh, let’s just go please? I don’t want you to make a scene when Jang Woo gets here.”

She stood up to drag him out of the small shop and much to her surprise he followed her. He mumbled something about how it would be better to run away from Jang Woo and hide under his bed. She only rolled her eyes and helped him walk back to his apartment.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After what seemed like an hour’s walk, Hyuna finally threw herself on Yonghwa’s couch in relief. Even though Yonghwa was laughing his off like an idiot, she could tell it was all a front. He felt as if someone had torn his heart out and fed it to rabid dogs and she knew it. It hurt her to see him like that, but she had no idea what to do.

“Yonghwa…” she whispered. “So what happened tonight? I’m here for you.” She knew she had no right to intervene in his affairs after what she said to him, but she wanted to help. After all, Hyuna had been the one to encourage him to confess to the girl in the first place.

“She didn’t come,” Yonghwa answered back in a slightly more sober voice. “Let’s just go to sleep.” His attitude had done a complete 180 since they were at the small stand. Instead of the idiotic smile and stupid laughter he now sported a scowl that displayed the anger he felt. “I don’t want to talk about this.”

“No, we have to talk about this. I was the one that begged you to do this thing for that girl,” Hyuna whined. The situation wasn’t going at all how she had hoped. In her mind the girl was going to show up and they would break it off cleanly. Why was it that things had turned out this way?

“Life is short… and regrets are never ending…” he commented. “Hyuna why am I like this? Why am I regretting everything I have done up until now? Tell me why I am such an idiot!” She jumped slightly at the way he raised his voice, but she didn’t fear him. He was drunk and angry, not the best combination for her sake. Someone like that could easily put her wellbeing in danger, but she was confident he wouldn’t do anything to her.

“You’re not an idiot Yonghwa. I’m sorry I made you believe that a few days ago. Please, just go to sleep and forget that tonight even happened,” she begged him.

“I left Korea. I left my family. I left my friends. Four years Hyuna… four ing years I was gone. That woman was enough to make me leave my home for an entire four years…” he trailed off. Hyuna wanted to run up to him and punch him. He was making things too hard on himself and she couldn’t stand seeing it.

“Yonghwa be quiet and just go to sleep!” she ordered.

“Why!!?! Why can’t I have what I want? What did I do to deserve this? Yes, I’m weak! Yes, I’m a loser! I’m all that and more. ! ! Ahhhh! I hate this so much!” he cursed and cursed.

Yonghwa stood up and began to bang his head against the wall closest to him. Hyuna stood up to stop him, but froze in her spot once he glared at her. Even through the anger burning in his eyes, she saw the utter devotion of mind and soul to the girl he loved. She could tell that he still liked her even if she caused him so much pain.

“Yonghwa stop! Stop! Stop! Just throw her away like she threw you!” Hyuna yelled back histerically. “Why do you let her step all over you?! Throw that stupid away! She doesn’t love you back the way she should. Don’t let yourself be hurt by her anymore!”

Yonghwa suddenly charged forward at Hyuna like a rhinoceros that had been poked far too many times for him to handle and put his hands on her shoulders. “Call her a again. I dare you,” he commanded through gritted teeth.

“That girl is a . B-i-t-c-h, ,” Hyuna complied defiantly. Hyuna wasn’t afraid of him.

He had the upper hand in the situation. He was much stronger than her and his judgment was clouded by the many liters of alcohol in his blood. If he wanted to he could snap her neck in half within the next second. Even so, she wasn’t afraid to stare back at him with those same venomous eyes. “What are you going to do about it? Are you going to hit me? Are you going to take your anger out on me? Go ahead, do it!”

Yonghwa ground his teeth even more and tightened his grip on her shoulders. Before he could act on his threats, he was silenced by something unexpected. Hyuna closed the gap between them and placed over his. She moved furiously over his, as if threatening to eat his lips clean off of he moved. Yonghwa had never experienced such a fierce kiss in his life. He felt intrigued by it. Hyuna could taste the alcohol in his mouth but she didn’t care. He would probably view her as a taking advantage of him, but she ignored the thought.

Yonghwa felt himself angrily kissing her back, letting out all the rage he had felt througout the night with the gesture. He knew it was wrong for him to do something like that, but he needed release. Even though he wasn’t dating Seohyun he felt like he was betraying her. The enraged young man opened his mouth and eagerly let the woman in front of him explore every millimeter of his lips without hesitation. After what seemed to be hours without a breath of air, he pulled away from her face almost painfully.

“What are we doing?” he asked her. Hyuna looked back at him with a red face and just stared. “Why did you do that Hyuna?”

“Because I like you. I want you to see that I can be someone that fills that need you have. It won’t be easy for me to replace her, but I promise you I can,” Hyuna assured him.

Yonghwa, still in his drunken state, tried to slowly put the pieces of the puzzle together in his head. If someone else were to see him at that moment, they would call him an idiot. He had a girl in front of him that was envied by every woman on the planet. She was gorgeous and there wasn’t a soul on the planet that could deny it. She was practically giving herself to him. If he didn’t take that offer he was truly stupid.

“How can you be so sure?” he asked to make sure. Even if he was being stupid, he didn’t care. Seohyun couldn’t ever be replaced.

“Because I can do this.”

 Hyuna once again boldly threw herself onto him and planted another kiss on his lips. This time it was much more sensual than the last one. Every one of his senses was set off with her actions. The smell of her perfume, the sweet taste of her lips, the delicate softness of her skin, the sound of her moans, and the fierce look in her eyes… everything about her set his nerves ablaze with pleasure. Even so, there was one thing he wasn’t feeling: true emotion for her.

“You can’t replace her. You can please my body all you want, but you’ll never be able to open the door into my heart. It’s not love you feel for me Hyuna. It’s lust. I won’t deny I feel aroused by what you’re doing, but it’s not real. You don’t like me, you just want to use me.”

The conversation was much too awkward for Yonghwa to continue. What was even worse was that he was actually tempted to fall into her trap. He was drunk, dejected, and needed something to get his mind off of things. Hyuna was the perfect temptation to solve all his problems.

“Then let me use you,” she shamelessly begged. “Let me show you that even through lust you’ll be able to feel something for me. I can give you things that girl will never be able to. Are you really going to give this chance up? We both felt the sparks flying when we kissed. Let’s just keep them alive and see where it takes us. What do you have to lose?” Hyuna pushed Yonghwa onto the couch and ignored his attempts to get away from her. She supposed from the way he wasn’t really fighting her meant that he did find what she was doing acceptable.

“Hyuna… I don’t want this.”

“You’re lying. Your hands are on my hips are they not?” she laughed. Yonghwa noticed the way his hands were at her sides as she straddled him and pulled them away. “See your body wants this. Don’t fight your instincts.”

“Ahem…” coughed a male voice from the door. “Hyuna, I think it’s better if you leave.” Hyuna quickly stood up from her spot on Yonghwa’s lap and tried to make herself look presentable. Her hair was in a mess and her clothes were ruffled from the way Yonghwa had run his hands on her.

“He’s still a little drunk,” she explained to Jang Woo. “I think he should just go to sleep for the night. I’ll see you guys later.” Without so much as a second glance, Hyuna ran past the newcomers and slammed the door closed.

“I’m going to bed,” Yonghwa told them without a greeting. “See you in the morning.” Before he could walk away from them, Jang Woo placed a hand on his shoulder and turned him around. A quick punch brought Yonghwa down to the floor without any warning.

“Yeobo!” Eun Jung cried as she ran to Yonghwa’s side. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Snapping this idiot out of his dream world. You’re ing pathetic Yonghwa. Seohyun didn’t come to meet you and this is how you deal with it? You get drunk off your and use another girl’s body? I used to look up to you,” Jang Woo insulted. Yonghwa stood up with Eun Jung’s help and remained frozen as Jang Woo lectured him. “I was so envious of you for having such a good goal in your life. When you left for America, I promised myself would become as focused as you.”

“Yeobo…” Eun Jung whimpered.

“I wanted to try as hard as you did so I wouldn’t be a loser in life,” he continued.

“So?” Yonghwa asked arrogantly. “How is that my problem?” Eun Jung jumped to the side when she saw Jang Woo throwing yet another punch at Yonghwa’s already beat up face.

“Now I feel stupid. I thought you went to the United States because you wanted a better life for your family. Now I know why you did that though…” Jang Woo said with tears filling his eyes. It hurt him to do this to one of his best friends, but someone had to do it. “You left because of a girl. You made a decision that will follow you for the rest of your life for a girl that doesn’t know you’re in love with her.”

“Yeah so what? You’re right. I only wanted to become a doctor so I could become rich and be up to Seohyun’s level. So what?” Yonghwa defiantly answered again. Yonghwa knew he was lying to himself somewhat. He had wanted to become a doctor so he could help Seohyun be healthy again. Anger was blinding him, causing him to say things he didn’t want to say.

“You just don’t get it do you? I know you have the purest love for Seohyun. I know you can’t even think about her ually since you feel dirty thinking about her like that,” Jang Woo pointed out. “I never thought I would see the day where I saw a man with such pure thoughts about a woman. Even so, she’s not everything in your life Yonghwa.”

“What would you know?”

“I don’t know,” Jang Woo replied. “I do know that you’re one of the best men on this planet. Don’t throw that away for someone who won’t see you for what you are.” Yonghwa sat down forcefully onto the ground and hung his head in shame. Jang Woo was right, Hyuna was right… he was just being pathetic and not bothering to see the truth.

“Thanks Jang Woo. I see what you’re saying now,” Yonghwa whispered. “Eun Jung ah, remember how I said today was the end?”

“Y-yeah,” Eun Jung suttered with tears rolling down her face.

“Tomorrow, you’ll meet a new and improved Yonghwa,” he assured them.

“You’re forgetting Seohyun?” his friends asked in unison.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen. However, I won’t sit here and cry about her any longer. I’m going to live up to my full potential. If Seohyun can’t see it, I’ll make her see it. If not, I’ll try as hard as I can to forget her.” Even though he promised himself he would end things that night, he couldn’t. Hyuna’s advances helped him realize that no woman would ever replace Seohyun in his heart.

“You’re not thinking about actually going for her are you?” Eun Jung asked in disbelief. “Tell me you’re not going to try to take her away from Joon…” Jang Woo and Eun Jung feared what Yonghwa would do out of desperation. As much as they cared for him as a friend, it would not be okay for him to steal another man’s woman. That was not acceptable no matter how good of a friend Yonghwa was.

“I don’t know about that yet. I do know that I’m going to tell her everything when I get the chance. Depending on if she  accepts me or not, I’ll go from there.”

Jang Woo pulled Yonghwa off of the floor and helped him to his room. The boy looked both physically and mentally exhausted from the events of the day. Eun Jung offered to cure his wounds which had had to accept or else she would throw a tantrum. He smiled a little when he realized just what great friends he had. Finally the worried couple left him to rest up after a very eventful day.

“Jung Yonghwa, you’re really something aren’t you?” he whispered to himself. His whispers were followed by the noise of his phone vibrating. The alcohol coupled with the darkness of his room prevented him from grabbing it initially, but after a few attempts he succeeded and answered it.

“Yoboseyo? Yonghwa?” a female voice answered.

“What do you want?” Yonghwa brusquely answered.

“It’s me Seohyun,” the girl answered back when she heard his angry voice.

“I know who you are, I can read,” Yonghwa replied in a cold voice. “Do you need something?”

“Are you drunk? You sound like it. Yonghwa I know you’re mad about tonight but I can explain. I’m so sorry I didn’t meet you like we promised.” Yonghwa let out a scoff at her attempts to explain herself. He knew that he couldn’t be angry at someone because they don’t like you, but the alcohol wasn’t letting him think straight.

“I’m not angry Seohyun. It was my fault to think that I had the right to spend your birthday with you. I know you have more important people in your life.” He hadn’t even seen the text message that Joon had sent him, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to tell him that she was together with Joon.

“Yonghwa I-”

“Forget it Seohyun. I’m fine. I had a great time without you. Go to bed, it’s late. Its fine, I don’t need you around to have fun. It was just your birthday after all. We will have plenty more to celebrate.”

Before Seohyun could respond she heard him hang up. Tears began to sting in her eyes for a split second while she tried to make sense of what happened. The feeling she had in the restaurant returned with a vengeance. Once again she felt like something was all the air out of her lungs and preventing her from living. The Yonghwa from years ago would never say ‘it was just a birthday.’

“Why do your words hurt so much Yonghwa?” she asked herself.

Author’s note: Whew this was an intense chapter. I got a little excited with the emotions here so pardon all the swearing. I swear a lot so I don’t mind but I know a lot of people are sensitive about it. So we had Yonghwa being a pathetic loser for most of the chapter, but now it’s going to end. He’s gonna toughen up and stop chasing after Seohyun like a lost puppy. He’s still going to like her obviously, but let’s hope that he gives Joon a good fight.

Sorry to everyone who was expecting something 'good' in this chapter. I think I may be letting you all down.

Also I just wrote out chapter 14 and it is AMAZING at least for me. It is the chapter that really really is GOOD STUFF. I'm not even lying. Now you will all be waiting for Chapter 14 to come out and I'm going to slowly tease you guys until it's out. Mwahahahahaha

p.s. Even though Yonghwa promises to not cry about her anymore, he will. Don’t worry about that :). Even tough guys need to cry sometimes right?