Seohyun

“You like him, don’t you?” Mrs. Jung suddenly blurted out as we were preparing for the barbeque.

I stopped at whatever I was doing. I looked at her, frozen.

“Wh-what are you talking about, Mrs. Jung?” I managed an awkward smile while stuttering.

She laughed loudly at my reaction. “Hahaha, just kidding! But your reaction says that it’s true.” She tugged my arm.

“A-andwaeyo…” I lowered my head in embarrassment to hide my reddened face.

“Ahaha, it’s okay, Seohyunnie. It’s so lovely seeing you two. And you are already like a daughter to me.”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mrs. Jung…” I turned around to hide my embarrassment and continued preparing the plates and utensils on the dining table.

“Hhaha, relax, Seohyunnie. I’m just teasing with you. It’s fun to tease youngsters nowadays.” She laughed as she patted my back.

The dining table has been set. The side dishes for the barbeque were all ready.

“Seohyun-ah, can you call Yonghwa in his room to come prepare the barbeque grills in the back yard?” Mrs. Jung called to me.

“Ne, Mrs. Jung,”

I walked up to his room. I was about to knock on the door when I heard his voice and the sound of guitar strumming. It was beautiful. His voice lingered in my ears. I wanted to listen more, but I thought that it wasn’t right. He said that he would let me hear it first. I thought it was better to listen to it when he really wants me to hear it. It would feel more special. I knocked on the door and the sound of guitar strumming immediately stopped. Before I heard an answer, the door was opened from inside. I found myself face to face with Yonghwa oppa.

“Yonghwa oppa, your mother wants you to help with the grills in the backyard…”

“Arasseo…come on.”

I helped him set up the grills in the small yard at the back of his house. Because the backyard was small, we would only use it to barbeque the meat outdoor so that the smoke would not fill the house. We would eat in the dining room afterwards.

“Okay, that’s it. All set!” Yonghwa oppa shouted in satisfaction.

“Hihi, this is fun!” I exclaimed.

“Mwoya? What is fun? Setting up the barbeque grills? Or getting dirty with the charcoal here and there with me?” He pinched my cheek and laughed.

“YA! Of course setting up the barbeque grills! What makes you so confident?” I stuck out my tongue and fled. “Merong!”

“Jashik!”

When we were running around trying to catch each other and make charcoal stains on our faces, Mrs. Jung interrupted.

“Guys, someone’s knocking on the door, could be one of your friends.”

“Ah, geurae. I’ll answer the door!” Yonghwa oppa stopped chasing me and went to the kitchen sink to wash his face before answering the door. I followed closely behind.

Knock, knock.

“A minute,” Yonghwa  oppa answered.

I watched the door closely as oppa pulled it open. My eyes grew wider in happiness when I saw who it was. I ran towards her and swung my arms around her.

“Woah, Seohyun-ah! You got me shocked for a second there,” Taeyeon eonni smiled and hugged me back.

“Eonni! Bogoshipeosseo,” I tightened my arms around her.

“Nado, Seohyun-ah. I miss you too,” she said warmly.

“Woah, since when did you guys get so close?” Yonghwa oppa interrupted.

I turned to him. “Maybe you just never noticed.” I shrugged.

I never show my closeness with Taeyeon eonni in front of him. Eonni and I had become close ever since that conversation in the park. We rarely openly hung out, but we always kept contact.

While oppa and eonni was greeting each other, someone else interrupted.

“Um, excuse us but, just so you know, we were here too the whole time.” I saw Sunny and Sooyoung standing not far behind Taeyeon eonni.

“Ah, mianhaeyo! Where are my manners…” I quickly approached Sunny and Sooyoung. I told them to come in after we greeted properly.

Inside the house, the newcomers were greeted by Mrs. Jung. After they have introduced themselves, Taeyeon eonni and I sat at the couch while the others helped Mrs. Jung in the kitchen.

“Eonni, how are you and Tiffany?” I asked her as softly as I could so it wouldn’t be heard by oppa.

“We’re doing really fine, Seohyun-ah. We went shopping yesterday and something really sweet happened. I’ll tell you about it later,” She said with a bright smile on her face.

“Aww, you guys are so adorable, you know? You have to let me go with you guys the next time you go shopping!”

“Hahaha, arasseo. I’ll ask her to invite you next time.”

Taeyeon eonni liked to share her stories with me. She told me all about Tiffany. I met Tiffany once in the supermarket when she and Taeyeon eonni were buying groceries. Since then we communicate often. Taeyeon eonni too always share with me every time she went on a date with Tiffany. I have to admit, they really look adorable together.

As we were deep in our story-sharing session, someone knocked on the door.

“It’s okay, I’ll get it.” Yonghwa oppa came out from the kitchen.

“Annyeong, oppa,”

“Ah…annyeong,”

I was seated in the couch and could not see directly who was at the door, but I was sure it was Yoona eonni’s voice. I got up and walked towards the door to see her. It was Yoona eonni alright. As I approached the door, Yonghwa oppa, who was at the door, seemed to be greeting Yoona eonni awkwardly. I stopped pacing for a second to let out a sigh before continue to approach them.

“Eonni! Why are you late?? You told me to come first but—“

She put her finger on her lips. Oops.

“Hmm? What is it?” Yonghwa oppa looked puzzled.

“U-uh…nothing!” Yoona eonni and I shouted in unison.

Before we came inside the house, I heard someone calling.

“Hyung!” It was Jonghyun oppa and Jungshin.

“Hey guys!” Oppa approached them.

After greeting each other we all got inside the house. Everyone was already enjoying themselves even before the barbeque started. We haven’t put the barbeque meat in the grills because Jessica eonni and Minhyuk was still not here.

“Hyung, Minhyukie said that he will be late for some reason. He said to start without him.” Jungshin said to Yonghwa oppa.

“How about Jessica?”

Taeyeon came from the dining room. “Jessica just texted me and said that she will be late too. She didn’t say why though.”

“Hmm, well, if it’s okay with you guys, then we’ll start grilling the meat,”

“YES!!” everyone cheered in unison.

-----

The barbeque party went well. Even though it wasn’t much, everyone was enjoying themselves. Among all the people that were here, a couple of them always caught my attention. It was Jonghyun oppa and Yoong eonni. They were talking in the small backyard by themselves while the others were inside. I watched them in awe from inside through the see-through glass doors that separated the inside of the house and the backyard. Yoong eonni was so awkward and red while Jonghyun oppa showed his sweet smile and adorable dimples.

In the middle of watching them, Yonghwa oppa came and took a seat next to me.

“Are they…you know,”

“Mmm, I think they are, oppa…”

“I see…”

I looked at him. His expression was strange. It looked like he was worried but there was also a hint of relief in the corner of his lips. Could it be that he was still thinking about Yoona eonni?

Before I speculate anything else, I decided to ask him to go outside.

“Oppa, let’s go outside. The night is too beautiful to miss…” I searched for an excuse.

He sighed before answering. “Yes, you’re right. Let’s go.”

We went to the porch. We took a seat on the only bench on the porch and looked up to the sky. It was filled with beautiful glowing stars.

“I told you, it’s just too beautiful to miss…” I said to him.

“Haha, yes. It’s really beautiful.” He said while still looking at the sky. Even though his eyes were fixed at the night sky, I knew that his thoughts were somewhere else.

“Oppa, are you still thinking about Yoona eonni?”

“I don’t know. Well, I still think of her sometimes. It feels different though.”

“’Good’ different or ‘bad’ different?”

He chukled. “Molla,”

I stared back at the beautiful starlit sky. I didn’t know what to think or feel. Just then he took a deep breath and turned to me.

“I don’t know about that, but I know one thing. Yoona is my past, not my present.” He said to me as if trying to assure me. “Besides, I already have someone in my present.”

“Really, oppa? I’m happy for you…” I tried to sound happy but sounded worried instead.

He smiled. “Hey, by the way. Can you stay for a while after everyone’s gone? The song’s finished.”

“Jinjja? Wow, oppa! That’s fast!”

“Hahaha, I was just too excited to finish it and let you hear it. I’m a man of my word, after all. So, uhm, can you?”

“Ne, arasseo, Yong~”

He suddenly froze, his eyes fixed on me with a puzzled look. Then I realized what I’d done. My tongue slipped and called him by what I used to imagine calling him with. Baboya!

“What was that? You called me Yong~”

“I-I…i-it was…”

“Gwaenchanha. I like it. Call me Yong~ from now on.” He laughed.

“A..aniya…”

“Please? It was your fault that you slipped calling me that. Don’t blame me for liking it,” He stuck out his tongue.

“Ya! Choding!”

“Hahaha, so if that’s it, can I call you Hyun~?”

I felt my temperature rose. I bet on a million stars that my face was as red as a rose now.

“M-mwoya oppa?!” I slapped his arm lightly.

“Hahaha, it’s cute right? Hyun~ Hyun~~~”

In the middle of our choding argument, a voice suddenly came from the door behind.

“AHEM!”

Both of us were startled at the voice. The voice sounded thundering over the silence of the night. We both looked at the direction of the voice and saw Taeyeon eonni and Jungshin at the doorway, arms crossed. There were evil smirks on their faces. I’m dead, I thought.

Before getting up to go inside the house, I looked at Yonghwa oppa. He mouthed the word “Come on, Hyun~” and winked. I acted like I didn’t like it and denied it all the time, but the truth was my heart beat uncontrollably. I was struggling to contain this crazily-beating heart, afraid that it would leap out of my ribcage.