Chapter 30

“Are you okay honey?” Yeseo slowly walked towards your bed.

You had the lights off and covered your face with the covers of your bed. You pretended to sleep by not replying to her. You heard someone else’s voice too.

“You think she’s mad?”

“Gee, if I knew I wouldn’t have asked her that question now would I, Einstein?” Yeseo said sarcastically.

She was clearly with Baekhyun.

“Where’s your tall friend?”

“I don’t know, after Hae Ra left, he left too. He might be outside, taking a walk or something.”

“Let’s go, I think she’s already asleep.” Yeseo said before shutting the door close, leaving you alone in the dark room again.

You pulled the covers away and sat up on the bed. Thank God the lights were off or you would have seen your own reflection in the mirror. You were sure your eyes were swollen from the tears. Your face was damp and the front strands of your hair stuck to your face. The only light in the room came from the window. The moon was shining so brightly outside in the night sky. Just then you felt a short vibration and from the corner of your eyes, you saw your phone lit up.

I’m sorry…

…

You scoffed and threw your phone to the furthest corner of the bed. Your phone buzzed again and you fought the urge to grab it and read his text.

No, Hae Ra. You’re supposed to be angry with him. For what? It’s not like you like him right? Well, for playing with your feelings and being such an to you. Nobody treats you like that.

You were having a little argument with yourself and your phone kept buzzing with the spam of texts Chanyeol was sending you. Finally, you gave in, not because you wanted to read his text, but because you were annoyed from all the vibration. You read his texts.

I know you’re angry at me Hae Ra. Can we just talk for a while?

…

Please reply me Hae Ra..I’m really sorry. I want to know why you’re angry with me.

…

Are you seriously not going to reply me?

…

You can’t possibly be asleep right? It’s only 8PM.

…

You didn’t want to read the other texts and was about to put away your phone when he called you. You almost jumped of the bed from the sudden call since you didn’t expect it. After debating with yourself on whether to answer the call or not, you pressed the ‘Accept’ button and placed the receiver against your ear. There was silence at first but you could hear the soft sounds of the waves crashing. You figured he was at the beach again. After a few seconds, you heard his voice.

“Let’s talk. I want to know why you’re angry with me. Meet me at the beach, the same place where we sat before dinner.”

Before you could say anything, he hung up. You stared at your phone, processing what had just happened. You thought hard on what decision you should make. Your brain was telling you to forget about it and just ignore him. But your heart was telling you otherwise. At the same time, you didn’t want things to be awkward between the both of you. Apart from Yeseo, he was your only friend in school and even though you hated it at first, you were starting to accept his presence. It felt nice to eat lunch with someone and not just alone. It was nice to have someone by your side and not just alone. And because of him, you were able to forget about your father. You felt that with him by your side, you could finally be set free.

Alright, I’ll go meet him. I’ll give in, push away my ego, and apologize for overreacting. And we can continue to be friends again.

You assured yourself and made your way towards the door. You had the shock of your life when you saw Kyungsoo standing in front of you. His eyes were wide open too, since he didn’t expect you to open the door right before he was about to knock. He collected himself and faced you.

“I want to talk to you.”

“Oh, but I’m on my way to—“

“Now.”

Before you could finish your sentence, Kyungsoo grabbed your arm and dragged you off. You tried your best to pull your hand away but he had quite a strong grip on it.

“Kyungsoo, I need to meet—“

You stopped midway. You could see the side profile of his face and it seemed as though he was angry about something. You’ve never seen this side of Kyungsoo before. Was it one of his bipolar moments? You couldn’t remember anything you did that made him that mad. You looked behind; the door that led to the beach where Chanyeol was waiting for you was becoming further and further away. You thought of texting him and telling him Kyungsoo wanted to talk to you but you realized you left your phone in the room.

Genius Hae Ra.

Kyungsoo brought you towards the other end of the villa and the both of you exited through a small door. The both of you walked in darkness for a while, and you could hear the sound of the waves crashing. The both of you entered through another door and as it closes shut, you could hear it made a loud echo. He flipped on some switches and you could hear the generator running. A few seconds later, the lights came on and an empty pool was in front of you. Like, empty-without-water kind of empty. It was just a large basin with dirty blue tiles.

Kyungsoo let go of your arm and placed his hands in the front pocket of his pants. He walked towards the edge of the empty pool and sat down. Looking up at you, who was still in awe, he patted the space next to him, inviting you to sit down. You slowly sat down, careful not to slip and fall nearly two meters down.

“Ta-da!” His voice bounced off the walls and he stretched out his arms towards the empty pool.

“What is this place?” You said.

“It’s our old swimming pool in this villa. I used to swim here.”

“What happened? Where did all the water go?”

Kyungsoo fell silent for a while. You studied his face and noticed it was gloomy.

“It’s been ten years since I came back here. After..” He stopped and swallowed back his tears.

“After my mother passed away, we didn’t come back here at all. My mother loves this place. She was from Busan so she really liked the sea, pool, water. She’s just like you Hae Ra, deeply in love with water.” He looked at you and smiled softly. You didn’t know why but you felt pained to see him smile. You knew how hard he was trying to put on a strong front. You could understand what he was feeling.

“Was that why your father didn’t want to have a swimming pool at your house?”

He nodded, his eyelids drooped a little and his lips pouted slightly. “He didn’t exactly say that was the reason but, anyone is smart enough to figure it out.”

“Why did you bring me here then?”

Kyungsoo tried his best to smile then and sat up straight. “After my mother passed away, I used to come here alone and sat at this very spot. It helps me to think you know, even though back then I didn’t really have any friends, I felt as though my mother was here and I could tell her anything. This place is sorta like my escape room. For when I want to be alone and think. After what happened during dinner, I could tell something was bothering you, so I thought you needed someone to talk to.”

Touched by his thoughtfulness, you smiled.

“I know I’m like, the last person you would want to have a conversation with so I can leave if you want—“

“You can stay. And besides, I don’t want to look like a psychotic and deranged teen talking to herself while sitting on the edge of an empty pool in the middle of the night.”

The both of you laughed.

I think I’m getting used to his bipolar side.

“Okay, so would you mind telling me why you just walked off without finishing your dinner?”

You sighed.

“I don’t know how to put it in words. I was angry but I don’t know why. Weird huh?” You chuckled but Kyungsoo just stared at you with a serious face.

“Was it because of what he said? Do you…like him Hae Ra?” He said quietly. Your gaze shifted from the empty pool to his deep brown orbs.

You didn’t know what to say. Heck, you didn’t know if you did like Chanyeol. Do you? Do you really like him? Kyungsoo’s gaze fell on the jacket you were wearing and he scoffed.

“Looks like you do. You’re even wearing his jacket. That’s his right? I saw him wearing it earlier.” He said in a soft voice, almost a whisper.

You looked down and realized that you were still wearing the jacket when Chanyeol gave you during your walk at the beach. That was when you remembered you were supposed to meet him. You quickly stood up and straightened yourself.

“I uh…I have to go. I’m supposed to meet Chanyeol by the beach…” You said. You didn’t know why you suddenly felt so guilty to leave.

Kyungsoo smiled and nodded but he didn’t face you. You felt a pang of pain in your chest. “Do..do you want to walk with me back to the villa? We can still talk on the way—“

“I think I’ll stay here for a while more. I missed this place a lot so..” His voice drifted off.

You placed your hands together and bit your lower lip, not knowing what to do. “I see. I guess, I’ll leave now. Good night Kyungsoo.” You said before slowly making your way out of the place.

“Goodnight.” He said, with his voice lifeless and monotonous.

After leaving the swimming pool, you quickly made your way to the beach.

I hope he’s still there. He won’t be mad at me for making him wait right? Besides, I can just tell him I was talking to Kyungsoo. He’d understand right? Who am I kidding, he won’t when it comes to Kyungsoo. I’m dead.

With a fast pace, you light jogged towards the beach. It was really dark outside, except for the moon. The moon was abnormally large and it bathed the sea in a luminous glow. The wind was even stronger than before and your hair was flying everywhere you had to tuck a few loose strands behind your ear. You tried to remember the place you and Chanyeol sat and continued to walk.

After a few minutes of walking, you could see the same spot from this morning, but no one was there; just the log. You looked around you, trying to see a tall figure anywhere nearby but to no avail. Nobody was there except you. Suddenly the air seemed colder and you hugged yourself and pulled the hoodie of Chanyeol’s jacket over you to keep yourself warm.

Is he really gone? Should I wait for him here? Ah right, I should text—Dang it! My phone is back at the room. Maybe I’ll wait for a few minutes. Maybe he went to the toilet or something.

You sat on the cold log for a few minutes, maybe close to an hour and Chanyeol was still out of sight. You sighed and stood up before making your way back to the villa. You knew then that Chanyeol was upset with you for making him wait. But what were you supposed to do? Kyungsoo just had to appear and pull you away without giving you a chance to free yourself. If anything, you should be upset with Chanyeol. He was the one that upset you in the first place. It was his fault from the beginning.

You kept making excuses in your head that you were starting to get angry again. You stomped off the beach and into the villa. Just then you saw that Chanyeol was walking towards his room. He noticed you and from the look on his face, he was hurt but you didn’t care of course. You were too angry to care. Instead, you marched in front of him, angrily took off his jacket and threw it to his face.

“Take this back you stupid jerk!” You said to him and quickly your heels and went into your room, making sure to slam the door as loud as you can. Chanyeol just stood there, dumbfounded. He clenched his jaw to contain his anger and went into his room as well.

Back in your room, Yeseo was already getting ready for bed and was shocked when you suddenly slammed the door.

“Hey! What’s the matter with you? Where did you go? I thought you were already asleep.” Her eyebrows furrowed.

You ignored her and went straight for your bed. You covered your face with the covers and shut your eyes. All you needed was a good sleep to calm yourself. You slowed your breathing and thought of happy thoughts. Slowly, you could feel yourself drifting off to sleep.

“I hate you, Park Chanyeol.” You mumbled before completely surrendering yourself to sleep.