Chapter Twenty-Nine

"I freaking love you."

"I know you do."

9th of February 2015

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“Mind if we join you guys?” Lay smiled warmly, his dimples evident and Kai seemed to look elsewhere as he slurped onto his drink. Minseok, being the nice guy, scooted to the side, making space for Lay, “Sure.”

Although Minseok was somewhat, protective of her, he knew that Lay and Kai couldn’t possibly mean any harm. After all, the three of them had a class together so that could mean that they must’ve had a mutual friendship with one another.

Or at least, that’s how Minseok mind works.

Kai silently sat down beside Hee Young, coughing lowly, “Liar.”

She cleared , and slipped the word in, “Gullible.”

He rolled his eyes at her and Minseok wanted to carry on the conversation with Hee Young – it’s been a while since the two could sit down and talk. Truthfully, he didn’t care about the two people joining them because as long as Hee Young was placed in front of him, that’s all that matters.

“Hee Young-ah, what was it that you wanted to tell me?”

Hee Young straightened her back and Kai somewhat took a glance at her with the corner of his eyes. She seemed tensed – why? His eyes turned to focus on the two whereas Lay focused on the boy in front of him rather than the one on his side.

“About this Sunday…”

Minseok grinned at her mention of that and he cut her off excitedly, “Jongdae got us tickets for the movie this weekend! The seats in the last row, too!”

“Ah… about that…” She started softly, causing Minseok to listen twice as attentive, “What about it?”

“My dad…?” She said suggestively and somehow, Minseok could tell where this was going. “Mhm…?”

“He… sort of have plans for me and Hee Min this Sunday as well. And I can’t exactly go on his words or… you know,”

Minseok continued her words then on after, “You’ll get cut from your classes…”

She nodded twice slowly, already feeling the guilt sinking in, “Yeah…”

Minseok couldn’t hide his disappointment but he was trying not to show it, either. He had this bittersweet grin on his face as he laughed it off, “I-It’s okay! I mean, I could get Jongdae to differ the auditorium booking and… I guess I’ll bring someone-“

“May I volunteer?” Lay chuckled softly, trying to ease the tension that Minseok was feeling. Guy to guy, Lay could feel how pained Minseok felt and the tone itself made Lay felt pitiful towards MInseok who tried to still be happy. Kai saw how Hee Young’s eyes had a glaze of worry – worried of how Minseok felt that he soon turned his gaze towards Minseok who had this look of sadness in his eyes. The latter tried to hide it with another wide smile, “Sure! See? I have a friend to go with, now.” Minseok turned to laugh at Lay, “I hope you like action.”

Lay nodded enthusiastically, “I do! They’re so fun with all the adrenaline and are we watching the one that just came out? I forgot the title… what was it again?”

Minseok laughed, “I forgot, too! But we could discuss on when to meet before we go.”

Then, Minseok turned to smile at Hee Young, using a hand to place it on hers to assure her properly, “Don’t worry about it, okay? A-Another time, hopefully.”

She nodded with a small smile, “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head, “Don’t worry about it.”

And even though his words said to not worry, she couldn’t help but just worry a bit more – Minseok was not okay.

 

 

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“Yah, stop worrying about me, alright? I said it’s fine.” Minseok laughed a bit as the two walked to the nearby park. It was quiet and that’s exactly how she likes it to be. He turned to look at her get all flustered and he knew she felt bad for canceling plans especially when her new plans are not what she’s excited for. Not that she would be excited for the one with him but he could roughly tell she’d rather not go for the dinner.

“W-Who said I was worried?” She stammered a bit, clearing then on after with her hand gripping onto her bag pack strap tighter, “I… I just don’t like changing plans here and there. That’s all…”

The two settled down on the bench, and Minseok turned to look at her worriedly, “What did Hee Min say about this?”

Hee Young exhaled quietly and glanced at Minseok, “She said she’s fine with whatever I’m fine with.”

“A-And your… dad?”

“I don’t like him one bit. I’m not even going to call him that in person.”

“But Hee-“

“Over my dead body, Minseok,” She grumbled, turning to give him a proper look in the eye, “And if you’d rather not see me dead, I’d rather you not try to talk me into that.”

Minseok used a hand to do motions of zipping his lips and locking it with a key. Then, he threw the key over his shoulder, making her shake her head with a small smile.

It was small – but it was just enough for MInseok.

“You’re smiling.” Minseok grinned, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

She looked at him and lightly punched his arm, “Am not.”

He played coy, clutching onto his arm with a soft hiss, “Ah!”

Her eyes widened at him but then when she saw that look of mischief in his eyes, she rolled her eyes, “You abusive idiot…”

He smiled and let out a sigh, not thinking much as he leaned over towards her. He rested his head on her shoulder and the smile on his face remained, “But I’m your idiot…”

She heard the tone in his voice and she didn’t exactly have the heart to tell him to get up. Then again, she didn’t exactly want to lead him on further than she already has but what can she do? She’s the only person he can rely on and she’s been protecting him from everyone else since square one – she’s been there longer for him apart from his parents. It was hard to just tell him from the on start when he’s so dedicated to begin with; it was hard to break Minseok’s heart. 

However, she still tried to set the boundaries but it always…

“Minseok, I think you should-“ She spoke halfway, trying to move her shoulder.

He remained firm, placing a hand on her arm as he continued to stay like that against her, feeling comfortable, “Just a while… Class was tiring just now…”

…fail. It would always fail.

 

 

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“Hey…” Hee Young breathed through the phone, making Hee Min smile when she could hear her sister’s voice because lately work has been catching up and Hee Min doesn’t have that much time to spare anymore. Hee Young was partially grateful for that because she doesn’t want her sister to see her in this condition – a condition of not knowing what was wrong.

“Hey there, young one. How’s class today?”

Hee Young shrugged a bit despite Hee Min not being physically there to see it, but she knew Hee Min could tell what Hee Young was doing, “It was fine. It was pretty normal, really.”

“What about you? How’s work?” Hee Young asked in return, making Hee Min groan as she leaned back against her pillow, staring up to the ceiling, “It wasn’t that well but I guess it’s better now that I’m talking to someone that I actually like.”

Hee Young smiled a bit, “You miss me, huh?”

Hee Min sat up on the bed, gasping, “Hey! As if you don’t miss me!”

Hee Young snickered a bit but waved it off as she sat down on her bed, “Ah, is that so?”

Hee Min growled playfully, “You’re being so high and mighty just because we’re not seeing each other until the-“ Hee Min found herself stopping, pausing midway of her sentence before she cleared , “Are there any details about the dinner?”

Hee Young let out a sigh – great. Her sister has a way with everything, as so it seems.

“A-About that…”

Hee Min pressed her lips together, sitting up properly, “T-That’s why you’re calling…”

“You know I can’t lie,” Hee Young admitted, getting caught red handed when Hee Min found out the initial reason why her sister was calling. “Principal?”

Hee Young nodded with a groan, “Yeah. That man needs to learn his manners.”

Hee Min found this ironic, “Oh, you’re complaining?”

Hee Young rested her head on the pillow, an arm in between, “It’s true! You should see the way he talks to me!”

“And the way you talk to him.” Hee Min countered and that’s when Hee Young could realize why they were sisters in the first place.

“Touché…”

Hee Min laughed for a bit, making the atmosphere slightly lighter before she would result in asking, “What did he say…?”

Hee Young stared to the ceiling, the words coming out easily, “Dinner’s this Sunday – The Black Canyon. A ride will come to your place and my college and then we’ll all meet there together.”

Hee Min raised an eyebrow, “Wait, we’re taking different cars there?”

Hee Young nodded, unaffected by the way her sister was disapproving with this – as if she wanted to go to talk to ‘him’ about anything else, “Yeah. That’s what the geezer said.”

“Geezer?” Hee Min snorted.

“That’s his code name for us – memorize it.”

Hee Min would love to take in that joke and laugh at it but at the same time she didn’t want to. Not when she knows the principal isn’t exactly nice to her and even though Hee Young wasn’t that nice to begin with either – she knows her sister. She was only acting this way because… well… no one wants to replace their real father.

“Give me a moment, yeah? I’ll call you right back.”

Hee Young frowned, but allowed her sister to proceed, “Alright.”

And when Hee Min abruptly hung up like that, Hee Young was left to put her phone to the side for a while, still staring up to the ceiling. The choreography she would need to practice with Kai came up and then it would alternate to Minseok leaning on her shoulder. As she blinked, hard, once more, her vision changed to when she…

“You despicable, terrible, girl!” A woman shouted, pointing finger at the girl in front of her.

She was unfazed, blinking up to the older woman giving her a glare, “Your son kicked me and I deserve to return the favor.”

“Where is your father?! Or mother?! I need to talk to them!”

The younger girl crossed her arms, cocking an eyebrow, “My daddy’s not here yet.”

The woman raised her hand, “Then I guess I’ll have to punish you myself.”

A normal girl would hide or run or scream – or even try to avoid that hit. But this girl stood there, staring right up to the woman as if she dared the woman to do so. However, she thought she was really in for a blow when the hand descended so quickly that her eyes closed, feeling the force coming nearer.

It was a soft gasp that made her eyes open, seeing that another person had stopped her.

“Who are you to hit my daughter?” A voice lowly echoed the silent park – it seems like everyone had went home.

Her father shoved her hand away gently before crouching down to the girl who met gazes with her father, “Hee Young. Are you alright? Did she hurt you?”

Hee Young grinned and shook her head, “Nope. You came just in time!”

“Excuse me!” The woman cleared , causing her father to look up to her once more. He got on his feet, definitely looming over her height, “What?”

“Y-Your daughter kicked my son!”

“Only because he kicked me first. And, he tripped me.”

Hee Young’s father simply looked back at the woman while his hand delicately made Hee Young stand behind him. Hee Young reached up for one of his hands and he held onto it tightly – no one was going to hurt her.

“Your son isn’t an angel either, don’t you think?”

The woman stuttered, unable to properly speak, “Y-You-“

“And before you try to punish my child, don’t. She’s mine to teach and she’s mine to educate. Before you educate my child, you clearly need to educate yours because he’s the cause of all this.” He then pointed over her shoulder, making her follow his finger to see that indeed, her son had picked another fight with another boy. She didn’t even bother to apologize because it was clear on whose fault it was. She simply dashed off, trying to control her son once more.

“You go, daddy!” Hee Young laughed, cheering for her father.

He turned around and crouched down, framing her cheeks in his hands, “You know, violence doesn’t solve anything but don’t let others hurt you, alright? Remember, your words are more painful because-“

“My bark is more painful than my bite.”

She received a pat on the head lovingly and the cooing of her father’s voice made her feel at ease, “That’s my tiger.”

Her eyes opened, snapped from her little daze that she was suddenly placed into. She didn’t even realize her eyes were closed and she turned to her side, finding out the reason why she was brought back to reality. She reached for her phone and answered the call, putting it by her ear before she exhaled a soft, “Hello?”

“Are you okay? You sound a bit…”

Hee Young sat up on the bed, shaking her head with a hand rubbing her face, “I-I’m fine. What did you do?”

Hee Min grinned and said, “I called them just now.”

Hee Young’s eyes went wide, her voice coming off a bit shaky, “Them – who?”

“You know… mom…?”

Hee Young’s tone changed – and Hee Min could sense that. “You what?”

“Wait, wait! Listen-“

“I told you not to call them! I said if anything, I’d be dealing with them!”

“I told them I would drive you there! I mean us, but you know what I mean!”

Hee Young seemed to be at lost for words and the only thing she could say was, “W-What…?”

Hee Min laughed a bit, “Yeah, I know… I didn’t like the fact that we’d need to go separately so I called them and told them I’d drive you there, I know where it is – end of conversation.”

Hee Young raised an eyebrow, finding it a bit weird but at the same time… she was grateful.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Really, really?”

“Yes! Really, really!”

There seemed to be a mutual liking in this.

“I freaking love you.”

“I know you do.”

 

 

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Author's Note; I wanted to put this up yesterday but there was this weird glitch that freaked me out that I completely didn't touch Microsoft Word right after that. But here it is, aha. There were slightly more comments not and I do really appreciate it; because there's 1800+ subbed to this; but the comments are less than 100 after each update. Wait, nope. There are less than 20 after an update and it just... it feels like , guys. Which just got me to think that there are so many silent readers here. C'mon. Let me know what you're feeling while you read my story; chapter after chapter. I'm human, too.