Step 17 : Rebound Guy

“She’s back. Seohyun is. I will text you the location she is at.” Minhyuk said and Yonghwa stood up, grabbed his car keys with hurried steps and anxious look he fiddles with his car keys.

"Unnie, I can't do it. Not when he is starting to be a coward again. How can i be sure my heart will not be hurt again, if he looks reluctant in taking care of it."

Soon as he arrived, he looked at Seohyun who is making her way out of the building.

“Op..oppa?” His worried face turns into a relief making the girl in front of him confused.

A drip of sweat from his forehead fell onto the ground. “Hey.”

“Miss Seohyun, your car?” SM security guard went forward and gave her, her keys. “You better hurry, the fans are flocking in front of the building this morning.”

“Ahh ahrasso ahjusshi.” Seohyun looked at Yonghwa confusedly when he only responded to her with a hand gesture asking her to go.

“Just go.” Yonghwa mouthed at Seohyun from a far. She replied him with a smiled like nothing has ever happened to them, before closing her car door and picking up a phone call from someone not noticing how Yonghwa kept staring at her to check whether everything is fine with her or not. From the way she ties her hair, to the way she dress… he make sure everything is normal no hints of weirdness. He sighed in relief. His anxious heart is calming down once again. Finally.

She speeds off, and just like that Yonghwa will never see Seohyun again for the rest of the month.

***

“Sungie?” She is b with smiles seeing the figure in front of her.

“It must be nice, going around like this. So are you sure you are going?” Ji Sung nodded to Seohyun’s question.

“Like you didn’t travel a lot. I heard you guys even get free rides because they kept on seeing your face at the airport. Anyways, how’s life?” Ji Sung carried his heavy luggage and put it onto Seohyun’s car trunk.

“Nothing special, really.”

“A date will make everything special right?” Ji Sung messed with Seohyun’s hair making she flared her nose at him.

“I guess so.” She huffed before smiling and giving her car keys to Ji Sung going ahead to sit on the passenger seat.

“Is it really okay for you to skip your schedule for today?”

“Yep, I have no mood to go to that anyway.”

“Why?” Ji Sung wore the seat belt taking a short glance at Seohyun.

“It just.” Seohyun longingly looked outside of her tinted car window. “I don’t feel like doing it.”

‘Seohyun, why are you being so obvious in front of me. It’s because of him right?’ He thought to himself but do not dare to utter any words to her so he kept his mouth shut for the meantime.

***

“Today we have a lot of guest star on our show. Beast, SNSD, 2PM, KARA and CNBLUE.”

“Annyeonghaeseyo.” All the idols shouted to the camera when the filming started.

“Where’s Seohyun?” Minhyuk nudged Jungshin’s shoulder.

“How should I know? Maybe she has another schedule.”

‘BANG’ Yonghwa slammed his script on the table earning a loud gasped from his dongsaeng. He slammed the door and went out for a fresh air. It’s too excruciating to hear them talk about her absence. He knew it okay.. He knew it, no need to repeat it again and again.

“No need to be so pissy hyung.” Jonghyun stood next to him at the balcony.

“I needed to do this.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“I know fully well those judging eyes of yours.”

“Good then.” Jonghyun took a deep breath and turned his head to face Yonghwa. “Then you know fully well that you are a coward.”

“I know.”

“GREAT! So what are you doing right here, mopping like some lonely guy when she obviously pinning for you?”

“She needed time, she rushes too much.”

“She rushes because it’s freaking you hyung! WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU!? ” Jonghyun tries to control his welled up angers.

“You promised them damn it. You promised them!” Jonghyun clenched his teeth in anger pointing at the Soshi girls that are sitting at the corner of the building

“I know. But I need to sort out my feelings. I can’t rest when it involves Seohyun, my insecurities got the best of me.”

“Then fix it, if not I will beat the hell out of you myself. I stayed quiet before, because it’s not my place to get involved. But not this time, if you just going to weep around those long lost memories of yours and still stuck with the past I will push you to move on yourself if she found someone else. Because you know what, SHE DESERVES IT.” Jonghyun didn’t felt like staying there any longer, he can hardly breathe with those sorrow that Yonghwa was emitting.

“She’s with Ji Sung.” Jonghyun paused before continuing his sentence “NOW.” and Yonghwa took a deep breath.

Yonghwa shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.” He continued it with a sigh. “Is it stupid of me wanting to know.. wanting to feel secure so I rejected her.” Jonghyun raised his eyebrows ready to smack his hyung head but waited for more explanation. “I wanted to know that it wasn’t a heat of the moment decision made by Seohyun..”

Jonghyun are ready to open his mouth when Yonghwa cuts it off. “I know.. I know. It’s Seohyun… but like you said it’s me after all. She might be affected. Pity can takes it effect too you know. Yes she is a complete thinker but the fears are still there flying around me. I wanted a closure with Ji Sung. She and him, I might be asking for too much but I think that’s bound to happen if she wanted to be with me.” Yonghwa suddenly closes his eyes. “At least before, there wasn’t anyone else in between us.. and I can felt that she genuinely like me although I have my doubts but now it was something different. I felt like she doesn’t actually love me.”

“What do you feel yourself to her then?”

“A rebound guy.” He closes his face in frustration.

“The signs were there. You thought I didn’t see it? The video tape with Ji Sung in her car, the book that Ji Sung wrote when I first said my feelings to her that she holds so dearly, the quiet moment where she reminisce about Ji Sung when I get her a drink or something and do not forget the frame that has her and Ji Sung on it. I ignored it and I said that it was okay. I’m going to win her back. The moment where I hold on to my dear heart that’s bleeding thinking that’s worth it for her and that I from all deserved it. Things take a turn, when the real things came back. Even if I heard she uttered an ‘I love you to me’ I questioned it. It’s stupid but I did. Who would be more genuine than she is right? But even she can be confused. I just needed her to once again, try to come up to my level make a bit of gestures for me to be sure. I just needed that for me to be sure for the rest of my life that I’m just not the ‘rebound guy’.”

He stopped talking when he felt a pat from his dongsaeng at the back. “Girls will be girls, as complicated as ever. But it’s Seohyun, you got to trust her man.. it’s your girl after all. Trust is vital as food.” Yonghwa suddenly burst out laughing.

“Yaa glutton.” Yonghwa headlocks Jonghyun.

“In your service as always hyung.”

***

At the airport Seohyun was wearing a hoodie and a Ray Ban shades to cover her face feeling hopeful that nobody will be seeing her. She fidgeted at her seats waiting for Ji Sung to get her a cup of coffee with the fears of somebody discovering her.

“Hyung, isn’t that Seohyun?” Jungshin blurted out forgetting that his hyung today really didn’t want to welcome any talks about Seohyun as the subject. Seohyun looked around when she heard somebody is saying her name. It makes her anxious the fact that the crowd will go insane once they knew she is here. And then her eyes locked at a group of members that is surrounded by securities, cameras, and fans. “Ahh.. nevermind.” Jungshin gulped nervously seeing Yonghwa intense face that is still not facing the seat Seohyun is sitting, and the face of the SNSD maknae who turned crestfallen once she knew it was them.

“I might be mistaken.” Jungshin murmured trying to adjust the situation back to normal.

“Let’s go.” Yonghwa lets out a stern voice showing his authority ignoring the sparkling eyes that is still looking at him in a very much what people called a ‘confused state’.  He walked away, and she smirked bitterly to herself.

‘You think that I will just ignore you oppa.’ She thought to herself when she started to type in a text.

To Yonghwa Oppa

That hurts, you know. What you just done to me. It’s not like I’m just a doll sitting there. I knew you know that I’m here. If I can feel it, then you should too. You should. Nevermind, goodbye. Have a safe flight Yonghwa sshi. When I get married, the way you wanted I should be able to send you some cards.

She took a last look at the direction he is taking. She sighed knowing fully well that it’s not good to be here right at this moment especially when there are tons of cameras due to CNBLUE so she stood up and turned her back away from the direction Yonghwa is heading, fighting her way through the crowd. Yonghwa felt his phone vibrating in his pocket so he took it out and saw an unknown number appeared but he knew it was her. He still memorized her number after all. So he looked back to see the person who is sitting at the seat are gone. He panicked and held his phone tightly as he looked around. And he saw that she nearly stumbles down, afraid that she might be noticed he took a step forward but stopped when a glared came out from her hazel orbs saying through her dark shades that he needed to stay away if not something worst might happened. He got it but it hurts like hell. He flashed a knowing smile, and the fangirls screamed.

“RUN!” He screamed to the CNBLUE members. And he started it first, earning a very confuse looked but the CNBLUE members did ran together with him so does the people around him. Leaving Seohyun walking alone without being busted in her disguise.

“Hey.” Ji Sung reached out to her and grabbed her waist to make herself more stable.

“Here’s your coffee. It seems my flight is about to depart in any given time. I guess this a goodbye. I enjoy your company today.” Ji Sung’s said and looked at her with a sincere smile.

“Ne. I enjoy our date today. It’s a ‘DATE’ okay.” Seohyun grinned emphasizing the word ‘date’.

“Sadly the last one too. Anyway, thanks for sending me off.”

While those two are busy talking, a person was looking at both of them from a level above eyeing them suspiciously, feeling anxious.

“Me too. Uhmm Seohyun for the last goodbye, can you just do this for me.” Ji Sung took away her shades and let the hoodie down revealing her brown wavy hair looking seriously like a goddess when it fell. He touched her shoulder and that made the person who is watching them from upstairs, Jung Yonghwa started to tightly held on the railing. Ji Sung leaned on and stole a kiss on her forehead. She froze and stared at him.

“I promise, 'that' is the last time. Don’t worry, your special someone SHOULD understand.” He ruffled her hair while his other hand held her hand for the last time.

On the other hand, Jung Yong Hwa who is silently watching stayed silent and looked at her text. He felt that his heart is silently crying.

Whereas, both of them are busy saying their last goodbyes.

“You deserve to be happy. Although, he seems like a jerk coward but his heart never change.  That is something we called loyalty, Seohyun. You guys are lucky that both of you find each other and I hope that it will stay at the right path.”

“I know, I won’t let him go. I’m not that stupid to listen to all his choding whining.”

“What are you going to do then?”

“Win his back.” She chuckled. “I think I might have made he felt very undeserving of me with my lack of response. I think, he is doubting his place on my heart.”

Seohyun watched Ji Sung made his way out of her sight, and other book is closed in her life. The fact that ‘Han Ji Sung’ is gone.

***

Seohyun strutted her way in the main lobby of FNC headquarters making a very stupid reason which is to meet her ‘dear friend’ Jaejin at the customer desk. Surely, they won’t be that stupid not to let her in right.

“Now..now this is super weird Seo Joohyun. You can just meet me at the café or something but you asked me to come to you here.”

“It’s closer to my company.”

“Why don’t we just met at SM if it’s for your convenience.” Jaejin started to knowing fully well what did she want from him.

“Yonghwa hyung is on the 4^th floor, Studio 9. My job is done.”

“I saw him stupid. You are late.”

“Hey, not my fault I’m still clearly sleeping at my room when you called. How was it?”

“Terrible, I got jealous. I even imagined that I pushed his AOA’s hoobaes away from him. Giggling, hand linking. What the cake?!?. My fault, I saw him and I just bowed and walked away leaving him frozen and then that happened. GAHHH.”

“Wow! I didn’t know you are possessive and stupid.” Seohyun glared at him. “Okay, I know genius! You are just STUBBORN. Stop being stubborn and PRIDEFUL. Meet him, he might felt jealous when he heard that you are meeting me instead of him.” Jaejin stopped and took a breath. “I think I already highlighted in my sentence all the necessary words, so a fast food 95 liners meet up will do.”

“Thanks jinnie, I know how you love your bed.”

“It’s worth it, If I can see you at a fastfood restaurant.”

It was a fine morning in the FNC headquarters and Jung Yonghwa was there at the studio producing a new AOA’s song. Apparently as its title track. The fine morning stuff, it was a lie. His heart was far from fine, it’s a complete mess. Don’t start talking about his mind, it felt like it being shredded, not useful at all and where do he turned to? Yes the thing he did the best.

SONGS.

“Let’s take a break until you finally got it right, your harmony was terrible. It’s like scattered lambs trying to find its way back home. Get it back together if you want to make a real ‘hit’ song.”

“I think it’s because of Seohyun.” Murmurs filled with her name was everywhere around the FNC office. And he felt so damn pissed off, she was there not because of him. It’s because of JAEJIN. What kind of dumb person did not get it.

“Yonghwa oppa?” Seohyun awkwardly knocked the studio door. It aren’t helping her how scary he looked before. One minute friendly and then turned into a complete “YONG” Dragon in English. He rarely showed her that part of him but she did knew a scarier version of that one.

Everyone in the studio gasped, they just can’t believe that Seohyun is really in front of them, in FNC.

“Annyeonghaeseoyo Seohyun sunbaenim.” The AOA members bowed respecfully to the maknae of  'the legendary' girl group.

“Oh annyeonghaeseoyo, forgive me if im interrupting. I could wait.”

"Aren't you busy?"

“Yes, but oppa it’s you I’m meeting. Thus, it’s not a problem.” Seohyun smiled.

EHHHHHHH. People are looking at her with eyes popping out.

Yonghwa came closer to her and started to talk with a low tone, just enough for both of them to hear. His mouth is really close with her ears. If they took a look from a far, it will look like they are lovers that are warmly hugging each other

“Why?” He said, while his breath are tickling her ears.

“I miss you.” She said confidently as if it wasn't wrong to say that. As if, she did not care what people think anymore and it's weird.. because it's Seohyun. She are fully aware of her surroundings and like to take control of it. Thats what she is. Well thats what people thinks but he knew it. She changed and she aren't kidding with her words. When she said it, she meant it.