Chapter 8

            The look on his face as he glanced around the room made me want to simultaneously smack him, and vomit. It was a strange feeling. Obviously, he was disgusted with my house. He was probably too used to the luxuries of the rich. That was the only excuse I could come up with. Why had I let him in my house? It’s definitely tinier than where he probably lives, and I didn’t have time to clean up. What was I thinking?

            Gathering myself and putting on my best face, I cleared my throat. He turned to me quickly and cocked an eyebrow. “S-something to drink?...” I asked, somehow suddenly tongue tied.

            “Tea.” He turned around once more and went back to lazily inspecting everything.

            I rolled my eyes and headed for my little kitchen. Once the water was on the stove, I began walking back to the living room. However, I was quickly stopped in my tracks by the sight in the room. There was President Kim, as stuck up as ever, actually smiling… At my stuffed animals? What?! Part of me wanted to march in and throw him out, but I was halted by the look that washed over his face as he stared at my calendar. He was suddenly… almost… mad.

            Before I could ponder this strange occurrence any longer, the kettle began whistling, signaling that the water was done boiling. I stirred in the tea leaves as fast as I could and carried everything out on a tray. When I returned, he was sitting on the couch, almost deep in thought. I carefully placed a teacup in front of him and poured some tea in it. He immediately picked it up and threw the liquid down his throat, with no apparent regard for temperature or lack of sugar. With a sigh, I leaned over to pour more tea into the cup. As I did so, I remembered my questions.

            “So…” I began hesitantly, “What happened between you and Kiseop?”

            The look that President JaeSeop gave me could kill. At least, at first. Then his expression softened a bit and he picked up his drink. “A lot of things happened.”

            “Such as?”

            “We were best friends before he left. And then his dad died, and…”

            “…and?”

            “He changed. When he came back he was different. I didn’t know him anymore.”

            He paused, sipped his tea. I waited for him to continue explaining. “…and??”

            “That’s all,” he shrugged.

            I would have exploded right then and there, had the phone not decided it was the perfect time to ring. I angrily picked it up and smashed my thumb down on the “answer” button. “Hello?!”

            “Hey, Kev!” a cheery voice came through the line.

            “Oh,” I gulped, trying to calm down, “hi. What’s up?”

            “Can you come meet me at the coffee shop?”

            “When?”

            “How’s ten minutes sound?”

            “Perfect!” Just hearing his voice brought a broad smile to my face, and I promptly forgot about President Kim. “But why all of a sudden?”

            “I have a really good idea for your novel,” he laughed. “See you in ten minutes!”

            “Okay, see you!” I hung up the phone and walked to the door, grabbing my jacket. Halfway there, my eyes fell upon JaeSeop. Oh.

            “Where you headed?”

            “Uhm… I have a meeting. I have to go. You should leave.” I motioned for him to get up and go, but he didn’t get the hint.

            “All of a sudden? I think you’re just making excuses.”

            “Seriously, I have to go. Could you please leave?”

            “Alright, alright, I’m going.” He stood up and made a beeline for the door. His hand was on the doorknob, ready to turn it, to leave my house, when he stopped, turned to me, and asked me who I was meeting.

            “That is… Uhm… You see…”

            “Just tell me!”

            “Kiseop!” Woo-hoo. Back to the daggers look again. “Why do you care?”      

            “I’m coming with you,” he stated abruptly.

            “WHAT?!” I took a deep breath to calm myself down and looked up at him. “No. You’re not.”

            “Come on,” he sighed. His hand firmly wrapped around my wrist and he pulled me out of the house without another word.

            “Hey! Let me go! You’re not coming! Stop it!” I fought to get out of his grip for the rest of the walk to the car, but to no avail. During the drive there, I gave up my argument. Let him do whatever the heck he wants! I don’t care!

            We reached the store and both climbed out of the car. Before reaching the door, I realized what I was walking into. “No! You’re not going in there! We’re leaving!” I tried to pull him back to the car, but he was stronger, and I ended up getting yanked inside the shop.

            My eyes quickly met the surprised gaze of Kiseop, who was sitting at our normal table. To my astonishment, SooHyun sat next to him. JaeSeop pulled me over to the table and motioned for me to sit down. Once I was in my chair, he wordlessly plopped down beside me. DongHo sidled up to our table and asked for our drink orders. Kiseop and SooHyun had already gotten their drinks earlier, so I just asked for a latte. JaeSeop ordered the same thing, and everyone at the table was a little surprised to hear him speak.

            “So why the emergency meeting?” I asked, setting my gaze on the now grinning face of Kiseop. “What’s this idea you have?”

            “I decided I wanted someone else to read your novel, but I couldn’t figure out whom. And then SooHyun popped up, so I asked him!”

            “So you’re a third opinion?” I asked SooHyun.

            “That I am,” he laughed.

            “I’m glad we’ll be working together,” I smiled. DongHo walked over to us, an oversized mug in hand. In it was one latte, with a heart drawn in the foam. I felt the heat rise in my cheeks. Boy, was he going to pay for that later. As he set it down between JaeSeop and me, Hoon began playing a rather slow, sappy love song from the piano in the corner of the room. I shot him an angry look, but he just smiled and shrugged, continuing to play. I did my best to calm down, but my face kept getting redder and redder. Kiseop’s expression was unreadable. I couldn’t tell what was going through his head as he took in the situation. SooHyun looked extremely amused with everyone, but he also seemed a little confused. As for JaeSeop, he simply picked up the mug and took one huge gulp. I made a mental note to murder my friends when I got the chance.

            JaeSeop set the mug down, stood, and once more wrapped his hand around my wrist. For once, I was glad he did so, because it was a decent excuse to leave such an awkward situation. At least now I could go home, away from everyone, and relax. After a few minutes of sitting in the passenger seat wordlessly, confusion began to set in. We were going the wrong way.

            “Uhm… where are we going?” I asked. Of course, JaeSeop said nothing. “Fine,” I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest. If he wouldn’t say anything, then I wouldn’t either.

            A few minutes and one angry silence later, JaeSeop pulled into the parking lot of GongWon Park. I wanted to ask why we were at the park, why he had driven there instead of taking me home, but I decided to maintain my angry silence.

            When we were both out of the car, JaeSeop grabbed my wrist once more and pulled me down a dirt path that stopped at the base of a willow tree. He stepped under the stringy leaves and pulled me after him. I was momentarily distracted by the beauty of nature. The sun was slowly sinking below the horizon, and fireflies were blinking everywhere like stars.

            But soon my anger overtook me again, and I ripped my wrist from the now loose grip of Kim JaeSeop. Unable to hold back any longer, I suddenly let out my anger. “Why are we here?! Why do you just drag me wherever you want all the time? Am I your only friend?” I scoffed. “Well if I am, I see why! You’re a jerk, Kim JaeSeop! A 100%, bona fide J-E-R-K, and you need to leave me the heck alone! Don’t just invade my house and in on my personal meetings! Don’t grab me and pull me along whenever you feel like it! Can’t you just GO AWAY?!”

            I began to turn, to leave him there under that tree all by himself, when his hand fell heavily on my shoulders, holding me in place. My eyes met his. “What part of ‘go away’ do you not understand?! It means get out of my life and st--”

            I was abruptly cut off by JaeSeop’s lips, which were firmly pressed against mine.

A/N: I bet you regret waiting so long for this cliffie xP I'm sorry it's taken SO long for an update! As you may or may not know, after Chapter 7 was posted, band camp began. And for those of you who have never experienced it, band camp, in essence, is the very definition of having no life! Then, once band camp ended, there came the rather arduous task of finishing my two summer reading books. Let me tell you, I'd rather have gone through band camp TWICE than read those! And this past week, school began! It's marching band season, which means no life on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays for the next two months! And, on top of that, I have three AP classes (which are at the difficulty level and have the workload of college classes) and I am taking an online college class. So I apologize for the time in between Chapter 7 and this one, and I also apologize in advance for the long gaps of time that you will find between chapters in the future! 

@kagaki: That might end badly, though. And Kevin doesn't always think straight xD

@I-love-kevin-woo: ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER. :P Why can't 2seop be friends? The world may never know... LOL JK we'll find out eventually, I promise ;)

@kaachan: I wish they'd always be that superfast... But alas, life gets in the way. :( Maybe it will end up like his novel... *wink wink nudge nudge*

@KevLene91:  I LOVE SOOHYUN. HE'S THE ONLY ONE THAT MAKES SENSE. AJ IS TOTALLY JUDGING KEVIN THOUGH LOL. 

@Yuukey: SooHyun is the ultimate everything, fangirl included. :P DONGHO IS AWESOME OKAY.

@ForeverMidnight: I'm not sure. They're all really good ideas. But they just don't go well. I think the writer will have a grand idea of what's going to happen, but then they are so excited that they make it happen faster than they want, so it ends up being ridiculously short with no plot development. Some of the 'you' stories are okay. They're just... weird. I'm glad you like mine, though. I think so far, even though DongHo is so much fun to use to troll and everything, and Kevin is so clueless, and all the other characters rock, I've liked writing SooHyun the best. At least so far. We still have to see how Eli turns out... ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER. MUAHAHA. I like cliffhangers. They make me want to keep writing xD

@UbiquitousxSS: AND I LOVE YOU.