Chapter four— Best Friends Forever

“Oh...” I knew I’d bump into Jiyeon, but I wasn’t expecting to see her so soon. I probably sound like a total coward, but compared to her, I feel like a total loser. There goes my self-esteem. I'm not as pretty as she is, I can't dance like her, and I don't have enough confidence. As you can see, I’m doing the opposite of what I've been wanting to do; instead of training to become a professional, I’ve been replacing batteries from microphones and setting up stages that I’ve dreamed to perform on. Watching her succeed makes me realize how pathetic I am. She deserves this more than I do...

“She’s in her dress room right now and-” My eyes suddenly trailed away from Seukhye as I saw Daehyun approaching a blonde haired girl wearing a plain white shirt over dark skinny jeans. They seemed to be really close considering they were hugging. The way they smiled and greeted each other made me question whether he was really single or not. Seukhye realized I wasn’t listening to her and turned to see what I was looking at, “I guess you can still recognize her.”

I turned to Seukhye, “Hmm?”

“Weren’t you looking at Jiyeon?”

My eyes shifted back to the girl and I tried my best to look at her face, “She does look different...”

“Then all those rumors about her getting her face done must be true.”

“She looks a lot brighter than she used to be.”

“Are you going to go talk to her?”

Before I could turn to her and reply, I noticed Daehyun and Jiyeon walking away together, “I guess not.”

“I wonder how they know each other...”

“Maybe he isn’t single.”

“He is single. Daehyun told Yongguk himself.”

“They don’t seem like they’re just friends.” I headed back up the stairs to the control booth.

“Why would he lie to Yongguk that he’s single?” She questioned as she followed me.

“Maybe he was single then and now he’s taken.” I predicted.

“But why her..?” Am I the only one sensing that she doesn’t like Jiyeon?

“She is every guy’s ideal. She’s pretty, smart, cute, and-”

“That’s what she wants everyone to believe. I bet she’s a total bish when guys aren’t around her.”

“And how would you know that?” I asked as we entered the booth.

“I don’t, but my sources tell me that she makes a 180 degree transformation behind the camera.”

I rolled my eyes and sat on my rolling chair, “What sources?”

“Tumblr.” She would.

“I’ve been her friend since I was in elementary and she wasn’t like that.”

“She’s older now and you haven’t seen her in years. Everyone changes.” She is right again. Even I changed after entering my sophomore year in high school. “And she’s famous now.”

“I agree, but would you really believe everything you see on Tumblr?”

“Okay, maybe not everything but one of my followers told me that she has seen Jiyeon before and she was not the adorable little princess she thought she was.”

“What happened?”

“She said she was visiting Seoul to attend one of the live broadcasts and when she was backstage, she caught Jiyeon slapping her stylist because her outfit blended in with her dancers.”

“How do you know it’s not a lie?” I didn’t know if I wanted to believe this because Jiyeon was not the type of person who would bully people because of something so unreasonable.

“Her blog was dedicated to Jiyeon and after what she saw, she closed it.”

“Oh I see.”

“Like you said, she is famous and it might have changed the way she acts towards people.” I know this might be the wrong time to mention this, but I really wonder how my life would’ve been if Seukhye hadn’t spoken to me in high school. Back when I used to be a loner, I would debate with myself about every little thing that arose in my head and never end up with a conclusion. Now that I have Seukhye, not only do I have someone to talk to, but I can also relate to her opinions. This is one of the many reasons why I put up with her and Yongguk.

I sighed, “You’re right. I can’t approach her like I used to when we were little. We’re much older and she may not even remember me.”

“You know what?” She turned me and my chair towards her, “Forget everything I told you about Jiyeon. I didn’t see her slap her stylist and like you always say, judging someone like that is wrong. So I think the best way to solve your problem is to it up and approach her first.” Okay I was not expecting her to say that, but I agree and I will go to Jiyeon and confront her about her sudden departure. “Now.” Seukhye stood from her chair and pulled me up with her.

I nodded my head, “I can do this.”

We both headed out of the booth and down to the waiting room. Once we got to the front of the door, I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. “Come in.” I heard from the other side of the door. I took a last look at Seukhye before entering the room. “Yes?” I looked around and Jiyeon was alone sitting on the couch while playing on her phone.

“Hi Jiyeon...”

She glanced up before looking back down at her phone, “Do you need something?”

“Uhm- It’s me, Yeonjoo.”

Jiyeon paused and finally looked at me, “Who?” She chewed on her piece of gum.

“We used to be friends in elementary and middle-”

“Oh! You must be Yeonhee!” She jumped off her seat and ran towards me, wrapping her arms around me. “It’s so nice seeing you again!”

“Uhm- I’m Yeonjoo, not Yeonhee...” I tried to breathe.

She let me go and stared at my face, “You’re not Choi Yeonhee from high school?”

I shook my head, “We were friends in elementary and middle school though.”

She tilted her head, trying to remember who I was, “Hmm... Sorry I’ve had so many friends that I don’t remember.”

I guess that could happen? “It’s okay...”

“Do you work here?” Jiyeon asked.

I nodded, “Yeah, I’m the-”

“Great! Then would you be an angel and clean this mess? My manager left the room without cleaning it. I would do it, but I just came back from getting my nails done and they’re not dry yet.”

“Oh but I don’t-”

“Thank you!” She said before skipping back to the couch to play games on her phone.

I sighed and looked at the mess on the table in front of her. There were crumbs and empty bags of chips thrown not only on top, but under the table as well. I walked over and picked up the mess.

“Over there too.” She pointed out with her foot.

I reached over for the last piece of trash, “I guess I’ll be going now.”

“It was nice seeing you again and hopefully we’ll see each other often since you work here.”

“Haha yeah, see you around.” I waved bye before leaving the room.

“So how was it?” Seukhye asked as we walked back to the control room. “Did she remember you?”

“She mistook me as Choi Yeonhee.”

“Who’s that?”

I shrugged, “Some friend from high school.”

Seukhye arched an eyebrow, “So she can’t remember anything about you?”

“I guess so...” Honestly, I was a bit disappointed. How can she forget me? After all we’ve been through together. “You were right. She has new people in her life, why would she care to remember someone from her childhood.” With that, I walked up the stairs and entered the booth.

“Hey where were you?” Daehyun asked as I sat on my seat.

“Bathroom.” I lied.

“Oh I see.”

I looked through my notes, but no matter how many times I tried to forget what happened in the waiting room, it kept coming back to me. What happened to ‘best friends forever’? “Uh- Daehyun?”

“Yeah?” He responded as he checked the new lights that were delivered today.

“You seemed to be close to Jiyeon.” I mentioned.

“Oh, we used to be friends in high school.”

“I see... Then you must know Choi Yeonhee?”

He stopped what he was doing and looked at me a bit surprised, “How do you know her?”

Now I look like a total creeper... Damn it. “Uhm, I just overheard a conversation and yeah...”

“Oh, uh- yeah she was a girl in our class.”

“I see...” I didn’t dare to say another word.

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Here is chapter four! Thank you to all of my new subscribers and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll try my best to post chapter five this week (: Have a nice day~