Chapter Twenty-Seven

"Shut up! Let me be happy first."

1st of February 2015

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Kai sat there and for a moment, his eyes closed. A flash of light had taken over his vision and all of a sudden, he was shown something he swore he saw before or at least, he thought he had experienced it for once in his life.

“Yah! Princess! Come back here!” A younger boy shouted, quickening his pace in running. He could see a smaller boy running and up ahead, there was a girl. Her image was blurred but he was certain there was at least another person; a female, a younger girl.

Her voice was blurred and he couldn’t hear or make up her voice properly.

But he sure as hell knows that she must be someone important because he was chasing after her so badly.

“Please! I said I was sorry!” The younger boy groaned – it was him, he assumed. He noticed that voice anywhere.

“Yah! If you don’t come back, I’ll tell on you, princess!”

And in that moment when he thought he was going to have a glimpse of this ‘girl’s’ face, it all faded to black.

His eyes opened once more and he felt as if he had gone into another dimension to experience his childhood again. With a deep sigh, Kai shook his head and got up, rubbing his temples as he walked away towards his dorm, “Every single time…” He mumbled, unable to put the pieces together each time he had these flashbacks.

He knew there was someone important but… he just couldn’t put it down to pieces on who it was.

“Whatever.” Kai muttered under his breath, making a left turn as he headed back to his possibly fussy roommate who would interrogate him the moment he steps in.

 

 

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Hee Young stood there and pressed her back against the door and slid all the way down. With a deep sigh, she shook her head and buried her face in her hands, unsure with what was this foreign feeling bubbling up in her. Her mind took a toll on her and it was as if there was a projector in her mind to display a certain memory.

She shook her head and sighed, “I don’t want to try.”

Mr. Kang’s shoulders fell and so did his face, “W-What do you mean you don’t want to try?”

Hee Young looked up to Mr. Kang, showing her tear filled eyes, “What if he doesn’t remember me?”

Mr. Kang sighed and moved both hands to grip onto her shoulders, shaking her out of her senses, “He’s your best friend! The both of you have been dancing ever since you both could walk – are you telling me don’t even want to try?!”

The girl simply shook her head with the tears rolling down her cheeks, closing her eyes as she breathed out a weak but firm, “No.”

The older man stared down on her with a look of confusion and his grip on her shoulders loosened, “B-But why are you not even going to try? W-We both know he means a lot to you and I’m sure you know he didn’t mean what he did before the accident,” Mr. Kang tried to persuade her, trying to get her to change her mind because he knows, they both need each other. “What he said, he didn’t mean it, Hee Young-ah. He was going to apologize.”

Hee Young sniffed and shook her head as the tears streamed down, “I know,” She croaked out painfully as she looked up to meet with his eyes, “I know that’s why I’m not going to try because there’s no confirmation if he’ll even remember me,” The girl used the back of her hand to wipe her tears away, “It’s going to hurt much less if I don’t try.”

“You know, if you don’t try to even remind him of who you were…he’s never going to remember on his own, you know that right?”

Hee Young nodded her head with a small frown, “I know.”

“And you’re going to walk out of his life like that? Even after all this while?”

It was hard but as she gave a slow nod, one that seemed so hard to do, she mumbled softly, “Yes.”

Her eyes opened and she stared down at the floor, unsure of what was going through her mind as of now. Yet, she got up and hurriedly paced over towards the cabinet where she opened the drawer. She fished out the key and managed to unlock one of the drawers. Her hands trembled as she pulled out a black box that filled with certain items she was sure she was never going to use anymore but she didn’t have the heart to throw them away.

On the top of the box, there was a certain name on it but she didn’t know if she could open the lid. Her hand lingered on the top of the cover, her mind trying to give her the strength to open it but her phone vibrated on the table, halting her from doing so.

It was a phone call – which would result to why it was vibrating longer.

She put the box onto the shelf and kept the key once again into the drawer but this time, the box was on the shelf by her cabinet. She closed the cabinet and turned around, picking up her phone to see the caller ID.

Unknown.

She her lips nervously and then realized she had nothing to be nervous about. With an exhale, she ended the call without even answering and placed her phone down. She closed her eyes and breathed in, before exhaling out once more, “If she calls again, then I’ll finally-“

Damn it, her mind cursed.

She glanced down to the table again, noticing that the caller was persistent.

She instinctively reached over and ended the call once more, her heart saying, “Just one more time. One more time and then I’ll-“

Oh me.

She picked up her phone and swept it to the left before putting her phone by her ear. She could hear a shocked gasp on the other side and she could also hear her surprised voice saying, “D-Dong Min! She answered the call!”

She was too busy informing her ‘husband-to-be’ or fiancé, if you wish, that she had answered the call that she wouldn’t even go on with her initial purpose.

And this is why I don’t answer your damned calls… Hee Young’s mind mumbled out of pure annoyance as she cleared , reminding her mother that she did pick up the call.

Her mother hurriedly cleared , finally realizing that the other side of the line had someone waiting for her to speak, “H-Hee Young, is that you?”

She didn’t even try to hide anything and she gave a decent hum as a response.

Her mother tried to create a conversation, “H-Have you had your dinner yet?”

Another hum.

Her mother grew anxious, “How w-was class today?”

She didn’t want to wait until fifty questions were asked until she reached her true reason to why she called. Instead, Hee Young cut the bush until it was gone, “Please save you and me the slack and get to the true point of why you called me.”

Hee Young could hear Dong Min’s unsatisfied hiss on the other line, “Where are your manners when you talk to your mother?!”

Hee Young smirked, “I said ‘please’ didn’t I?”

She could tell her mother was defending her when she told the principal to keep quiet and that she’ll handle it on her own. Hee Young could hear the door closing on the other end and definitely, she had isolated herself for a moment.

“Can we meet up for dinner? J-Just the four of us?”

I’m sure unnie would want me to say this…

“Text me when and where and I’ll try my best – don’t call unnie, I’ll tell her myself. If I do know that you disturb her at work once more, we won’t show up at all.”

“A-Alright! Sure! Anything that’s convenient!”

“I’m hanging up.” Hee Young announced before she curtly ended the call without waiting for a response at all. Hey, at least she announced this time.

 

 

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That night, as Hee Min was about to go to bed, her phone vibrated by the bedside table. She reached over for her phone only to see a text message from her favorite person.

She tapped on the message and it revealed the words that contained in them.

‘Mom called and guess who finally answered?’
10.42p.m. || Young♥

Her eyes widened as she fiddled with her reply and within half a minute, her reply was sent.

‘What? You finally answered her call?! What did she say? Or… what did you say?’
10.42p.m. || Sent

Her sister’s reply came in quicker than she had expected.

‘We’re meeting with them for dinner and I’ve told her not to bug you and that she’ll have to deal things with me. P.S. if she does find you, tell me – that’s the rule and the last chance she’ll get to meet up with us.’
10.43p.m. || Young♥

Hee Min raised an eyebrow, finding it odd that Hee Young would actually agree to this – she wasn’t expecting this to happen that soon. She was hesitant with her reply and she had erased her message over and over again. She tried rephrasing her words nicely, making sure she was extra careful. Once she pressed the ‘send’ button, she could only hope she was careful enough.

‘Are you sure, Young-ah? We can still think things through, you know? I don’t want you to get hurt.’
10.45p.m. || Sent

And with a smile on her face, she was assured perfectly with the reply from her sister.

‘As long as I have you, I won’t get hurt anymore, unnie. Great, that was weird. Let’s talk another time, when I get the details of the dinner. Goodnight, unnie.’

Hee Min scrolled down further, only to confirm that indeed, Hee Young was her most favorite person in the world.

‘I love you.’

 

 

 

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“H-Hey, Hee Young!” A voice chimed into her ears and just for some reason, she knew who it was. Though, it felt foreign because it felt like she’s not seen him in a while now despite it being a few days. Maybe it was because he was usually around her all the time and when they’re away from one another for so long, it felt foreign.

She glanced to her side, giving Minseok a quick smile before letting it fade, “Hey, Min.”

He grinned as he stared at her, noticing that she was going to head to her first class of the day soon. He just knew that it was going to be with Kai because-

“Slept well?” Kai asked, leaning on the other side of her locker as she stood in between the two guys. She let out a soft ‘tch’ before rolling her eyes at him, “When did you care?”

He raised both hands in front of his chest defensively whilst Minseok simply watched… and listened.

“Hey, no need to get snappy on me. I thought we had a mutual bond.”

She snorted, turning to look at him, “Really?”

He lowered his hands down, shrugging, “Or not.”

“Yo! Kai! C’mon! You said you’d help me out!” Lay shouted across the hall, causing Kai to snap his head at the source of where the voice was coming from. With an o.k. sign raised up in the air, Kai turned to pat Hee Young on the shoulder casually, “See you in class.”

With that, Kai easily took his leave and Minseok felt a kick in his gut.

This is your chance, Minseok. Ask her now.

He blinked at her and lightly tapped her shoulder, in contrast to how Kai casually did it earlier.

“Hm?” She hummed in response, turning to look at him with a raised eyebrow. He leaned over and helped her close her locker and made her turned to face him as his hands rested on her shoulder. She raised an eyebrow, noticing his hands before she looked up to him, “Yah, what are you-?”

“Shh,” Minseok hushed her, placing a hand over and she let out a soft scoff out of amusement before she nodded, keeping silent as she gave him the chance to speak. He moved his hands away and placed them behind his back, his eyes locked onto hers. She had the urge to say something but she held it back when she saw how much he was struggling just to ask something; as if he was about to ask her to give him her soul.

“Uhm... Are you free this Sunday?”

She looked away to think and his eyes nervously followed hers before he remained staring at her – the anxiety was killing him slowly.

“I’m not too sure but as of now, I think I’m free-“

“Great!” Minseok let out almost too soon before he cleared his throat, controlling himself before he said, “Could you meet me in the auditorium on the third floor? Say… 6p.m.?”

She gave a slow yet torturous nod that made his heart felt relief as she finally gave him a decent nod, “I guess I can. Unless there’s anything on last minute then I’ll let you-yah! You didn’t even hear me out!” She shouted when he grinned and gave her a tight hug, cutting her off before sprinting down the halls. She spun around and hollered, “Kim Minseok!”

“I heard you, I heard you! I’m late for class!”

She saw how quick he ran down the halls and she was unable to hold back just a grin as she turned to face her closed locker. “Late for class my .”

...

Speaking of late, she then glanced at her watch... “Oh .”

 

 

 

 

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“Woah, slow down there Usain Bolt.” Junmyeon chuckled, holding Minseok by the shoulders when he nearly crashed into him by Junmyeon’s locker. Minseok had this huge grin on his face as he was left breathless, his chest heaving up and down as he leaned back against the locker beside Junmyeon’s. The latter smile and patted Minseok’s shoulder, smiling, “I guess she said she was free?”

Minseok nodded excitedly, “She said yes!”

“To show up, Minseok. She didn’t say yes to-“

“Shut up! Let me be happy first.”

Junmyeon moved his hand away from his shoulder and raised them in front of his chest, “Alright, Mr. Big Shot – you call the shots here.”

Minseok snickered and sighed in the next once he caught his breath, his grin still visible on his face, “Now all we need is Jong Dae-“

“Did I hear someone calling for me?” A guy casually walked by, slowing down just to stop by Minseok and Junmyeon in front of him. Minseok nodded and patted Jong Dae’s shoulder, “Did you deal with the reservations?”

Jong Dae nodded, “Auditorium 5 is ours on this Sunday, from 6.00p.m. till 7.00p.m. and also two seats for this weeks’ movie premiere.”

Minseok moved his hand from Jong Dae’s shoulder, rubbing both of his hands in the next as he released an exhale – a shaky one, “Okay… T-Things… are in place.”

Junmyeon scoffed and shook his head, “Not everything, MInseok.”

Minseok raised an eyebrow, turning to look at Junmyeon frantically, “What do you mean?!”

Junmyeon easily reached over and placed a hand over Minseok’s chest, above his- “Your heart, Minseok-ah.”

Jong Dae shivered out of awkwardness and easily took his leave, “I swear, your major is making you weird as hell.”

Junmyeon snorted and looked over his shoulder, watching Jong Dae walk away after saying such things, “You’d be crying to me when you need therapy!”

Jong Dae waved a hand nonchalantly, “Wait fifty years, old man!”

 

 

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“You’re late.”

Hee Young didn’t answer as she simply took her seat on the floor, beside Kai as she placed her bag to the side. He scoffed and her and looked away, “Rude.”

She raised both eyebrows in acknowledgement but that was it – she didn’t want to talk much, today.

At least, until-

“This is your principal speaking. Kwan Hee Young please report to the principal’s office after your first respective class.”

And when the PA system went off, Kai could only turn to his side to see that Hee Young’s expression had changed.

“What did you do now?”

She shrugged and shook her head, “Who know? I may have broke his itty bitty heart for being too rude to my-”

“Mother?” Kai went out on a ledge, guessing the obvious.

She nodded with a soft breath of, “Oh yeah.”