*this one took a while, the next few chapter's about the other pairings, for the ball. Sorry for taking so long,*

“1,2,3.., 1,2,3.., 1,2-ouch!”

“S-sorry!” Yonghwa quickly apologized.

“It’s okay,” Eunjung smiled softly at him.

“This is pointless,” Yonghwa slumped down on the floor. “We’ve been at this for the whole day.., and I don’t think I’m getting any better,” Yonghwa sighed slowly.

“No it’s not,” Eunjung frowned. “You’re not that bad.., and I’m sure you’ve improved at least a little..,”

“Really? Coz’ I don’t think your feet agrees with you,” Yonghwa joked.

“…, maybe we should take a short break,” Eunjung agreed reluctantly.

Yonghwa chuckled at her persistence. “You’re pretty hard-headed aren’t you?”

“I prefer the term, ‘determined’,” Eunjung said while rubbing the soles of her feet. “Hey, since we’re already taking a break, you wanna go and grab something to eat?”

“Ok, sure, did your mom left us something?” Yonghwa asked.

“No, I don’t think so,”

“Ok, then where do you wanna go?” Yonghwa said.

“Go? Go where?” Eunjung asked back.

“If your mom didn’t leave us anything to eat, we have to go eat out at a restaurant,” explained Yonghwa.

“Well, I was thinking that maybe, I’ll cook us something to eat,”

“Do you know how to cook?” Yonghwa asked, surprised.

“W-well, a little bit,” Eunjung said shyly. “I mean, I’ve picked up a few things here and there, by watching my mom,”

“I don’t know,” Yonghwa said reluctantly. “Maybe we should just go out to eat,”

“Aish, just come with me,” Eunjung pulled him up, and out of the hall, and into the dining room. “Just stay there, and wait. I’ll cook us something to eat,” Eunjung said excitedly, before rushing off to the kitchen.

Yonghwa smiled warmly, seeing her eagerness. He sat down at the dining table, and tried to remember the things he learned from her today. After a few minutes, he got up and surveyed the room. He looked at her family’s photo, and some of her pictures with her friends. IU was in one of the pictures, with Suzy.

He then went over to the living room. He looked around and noticed some of the decorations there, including several medals and a picture of her holding up a trophy. When he wanted to go back to the kitchen, he noticed a beautiful pink headset, embellished with crystals. Yonghwa picked it up and noticed there was something like initials and dates engraved on it. He put it back before returning to the kitchen.

***

“All right! It’s finished!” Eunjung said excitedly, while bringing over the dish she cooked onto the table.

“Hmm, it actually smells good.., that’s a good sign,” Yonghwa said calmly.

“Aish, just try and taste it,” Eunjung said, putting the food on the table.

“Samgyeopsal?” Yonghwa said when he looked at the dish.

“Yup, try it,” Eunjung looked at him expectantly.

Yonghwa reluctantly picked up his chopsticks, and picked one of the slices and dipped it into the sauce. He hesitated for a while before putting it into his mouth. “Here goes..,”

Eunjung watched excitedly as he chewed on the piece of meat he put in his mouth. Yonghwa’s face changed from one of doubt, to surprise, and finally delight.

“Woah, this is delicious!”

“Isn’t it?” Eunjung asked excitedly.

“Yeah, the sauce is amazing! Where did you get it?” Yonghwa asked, as he put another piece into his mouth.

“Get it? I made it,” Eunjung said smugly. “It’s my mom’s secret sauce. She taught me how to make it. Tastes great doesn’t it?”

“Seriously?” Yonghwa asked in amazement. “It’s delicious!”

“It is right?!” Eunjung asked excitedly. “Here, let me have some,” Eunjung said as she sat down across of him and picked up her chopsticks, and filled with a slice of the dish. “Mmm.. that hits the spot,”

“I didn’t know you could cook so well,” Yonghwa said while eating. “Mmph, even the meat tastes great,”

Eunjung blushed slightly at the compliment. “I’m not that great a cook,” she said. “Cooking ‘Samgyeopsal’ is actually very easy. You just have to know how to grill the meat, and make the sauce, that’s it,”

“Of course it sounds easy when you put it like that,” Yonghwa argued. “It’s like saying that to fry a chicken, you just have to get a chicken and then fry it,”

“Well, it’s true,” protested Eunjung. “And besides, ‘Samgyeopsal’ is the only thing I know how to cook,” Eunjung said shyly.

“Well.. at least you know how to make something, which is better than most of the kids nowadays,” Yonghwa said as he put another slice into his mouth. “Mmph.., I can’t get enough of this,”

“Well then, is this good enough to prove that there wasn’t anything for you to worry about in the first place?” Eunjung said smugly.

Yonghwa cocked his head to one side. “Well.. when you think about it, you’ll be pretty hard-pressed to mess up ‘Samgyeopsal’. It’s just grilled meat..,”

“Just grilled meat?!” Eunjung asked in disbelief. “No it’s not! You have to know how to grill the meat, so that it’s cooked both inside and out, to make it tender, and juicy. You have to learn to listen to the sound of the meat, to know the timing of when to flip the meat, and how long it takes to cook different parts of the meat,” Eunjung explained passionately. “Cooking is an art, and it takes years of practice to perfect it, you know,” Eunjung said smugly.

“How much of that were the truth?” Yonghwa asked her back.

“Probably less than half,” Eunjung admitted, while laughing. “Jang Woo and I always argued about this,” Eunjung said without thinking while laughing. When she finally realized what she had said, her smile quickly faded, and she stayed silent for a moment. “I meant, we used to argue about this.., not anymore,” Eunjung said slowly.

Yonghwa thought of what to say for a moment. “Well, I for one, love it,” Yonghwa assured her.

“Thanks,” Eunjung smiled weakly at him.

“So.., where did you learn how to cook ‘Samgyeopsal’ anyway?” Yonghwa asked, trying to change the subject.

“My mom taught it to me,” Eunjung said.

“She must’ve been one hell of a cook,” Yonghwa said earnestly.

“I know right?” Eunjung said excitedly. “She’s the best cook ever! She makes our family ‘Samgyeopsal’ all the time. I absolutely love it. It’s mine and Jang-,” she caught herself before finishing that sentence. “I meant, it’s my favorite food..,” Eunjung said softly.

Yonghwa regretted asking the question immediately. The room was silent for a minute. “Whew, if I keep eating this, I’ll probably choose ‘Samgyeopsal’ as my favorite dish too,” Yonghwa said playfully.

Eunjung chuckled slightly at his remark. “Really?”

“Of course,” Yonghwa insisted. “Heck, even a vegetarian would choose to eat meat, once they had a taste of this,”

Eunjung giggled softly when she heard him. “But then, if they tasted it, they wouldn’t have been vegetarians in the first place, now would they?”

“Oh? I didn’t think about that..,” Yonghwa wondered. “I guess I’ll just have to force feed them then,”

Eunjung laughed out. “I don’t think they would appreciate that very much,” Eunjung argued.

“No, I guess, they wouldn’t,” Yonghwa nodded his head. “Still, I don’t think I’ll share this with anyone else in the first place,”

Eunjung laughed again at him. After she calmed down, they started chatting about other things while eating.

“Hey, I hope you don’t mind, but I kinda checked your house out for a bit,” Yonghwa admitted.

“Sure, I don’t mind,” Eunjung said casually.

“Are you an only child?” Yonghwa asked her.

Eunjung looked behind her, at her family photo. “I guess you saw that, huh? Yeah, I’m an only child,” Eunjung admitted.

“Then.. you’re the one who won all those medals back there?” Yonghwa pointed to the medals in the living room.

“Yup, that’s me,” Eunjung smiled proudly. “I’m a three time taekwondo champion, and… I’m a black belt,”

Yonghwa nearly choked when he heard what she said. “Y-you?!” he asked in disbelief.

Eunjung giggled at him. “Of course me. You don’t need to look so surprised..,”

“It’s a bit hard to believe,” Yonghwa smiled awkwardly. “You look like a normal high school kid,”

“Yeah? You wanna try me out?” Eunjung started cracking her hands.

“N-no! No, I don’t!” Yonghwa said hurriedly.

Eunjung laughed out again when she saw him panicking. “You’re pretty funny, aren’t you?” Eunjung said to him.

“I try,” Yonghwa said, smiling. “You seemed pretty close to IU and Suzy,” Yonghwa pointed to the picture of the three of them together.

“Yeah, I guess you could say that,” Eunjung said. “They used to be my best friends back in ‘Dream High’,”

“Too bad Suzy didn’t come with you guys to our school,”

“Still, her house isn’t that far away from here, so I still see her every now and then,” Eunjung explained.

Yonghwa nodded thoughtfully. “Did they give you that?” Yonghwa asked.

“Give me what?” Eunjung asked him back.

“The pink headset, in the living room,” Yonghwa pointed out. “It’s really pretty,” Yonghwa commented.

“Oh.. that,” Eunjung said softly. “That’s a birthday present,” Eunjung explained.

“No wonder it’s so pretty, with the initials, and the date, and all,”

“Jang Woo gave it to me..,” Eunjung continued. “..for my 17th birthday,”

“Oh..,”

“It had our initials and the date we met,” Eunjung explained. “He said he decorated the crystals one by one, and he gave me a letter with it. It was his first time writing a letter to a girl too,” Eunjung continued glumly.

“I’m sorry,” Yonghwa apologized.

Eunjung smiled weakly at him. “Yonghwa-ssi, can I.. can I tell you something?”

Yonghwa stayed silent for a while. “Yeah, sure,”

Eunjung stared at the floor for a while before continuing. “I don’t think I’m ready to let him go.., I can’t,” Eunjung said slowly. “I keep thinking about him all the time. Everything I have.., everything I see.., reminds me of him. Every time I close my eyes, all the memories I’ve had with him came rushing back to me. And every time I open them.., I see all the places I’ve gone with him,” Eunjung said desperately.

“I keep hoping and wishing that it’s a dream.., keep feeling like this is a nightmare.., but I just can’t wake up from it,” she cried softly. “Every night I look at my phone like an idiot, waiting for him to call me.., waiting for a call that I knew wouldn’t come. And every night I kept going back and forth between calling him.., and deleting his number. I know that things are over between me and him, but.., I can’t believe it, I don’t want to believe it,” Eunjung explained to him. “You must think I’m pathetic huh? Of course you do, even ‘I’ think I’m pathetic,”

Yonghwa looked at her helplessly. He didn’t know what to say to her, he didn’t know how to help her.

Eunjung pulled her knee up and rested her chin on it. “It just hurts so much.., to feel so helpless.., so powerless. I kept telling myself that ‘it’s ok,’.., that ‘everything will turn out alright’.., but deep in my heart I don’t believe it. And it hurts even more to have to smile all the time.., to have to get through the day, when all I want to do is just let it all out! And cry! And feel sorry for myself! I know feeling sorry won’t change a thing.., but keeping this bottled up inside of me just hurts so much..,” Eunjung said, looking like she was on the verge of breaking down.

Yonghwa stood up, went over to her, and crouched down right next to her. “It’s ok. I’m here aren’t I?”

Eunjung looked towards him. “I-I’m sorry, Yonghwa-ssi. I shouldn’t have troubled you with something so stupid. It’s stupid, right?” Eunjung chuckled skeptically.

“No, it’s not,” Yonghwa said earnestly.

“I just felt like I had to tell someone about it,” explained Eunjung. “You were there when.. when it happened.., so I felt like you’re the only one I can share this with,” Eunjung said.

“If you need to let it out, I’m here. If keeping it bottled up inside hurts you so much, you can tell it to me,” Yonghwa said, trying to calm her down. “If it can help lighten your burden, you can share it with me. If you need a shoulder to lean on, you can use mine,”

Eunjung smiled warmly at him. “Thanks..,” Eunjung said softly. The whole room was quiet for a few minutes. After a while, Eunjung finally raised her head. “I’m ok now,” Eunjung said. “Thanks for listening to me. Some kind of champion I am, huh? Getting all worked up over something so stupid, right?” Eunjung smiled weakly at him.

Yonghwa looked at her worriedly. “Eunjung..,”

“It’s ok. I’m sorry for troubling you,” Eunjung apologized to him, while wiping away the tears in her eyes. “Hah, I can’t believe I showed you such a weak side of me,” Eunjung laughed awkwardly.

Yonghwa thought about what he should say to her. “Hey, would you like me to play you a song?”

“Hmm?” Eunjung looked over towards him. She took a long breath, before continuing. “Yeah, sure,”

“Hold on, let me go get my guitar. I left it in the hall,”

***

Always the exactly same sky, and always the same day,

Only thing that is different, is that you are not here

I thought I’ve let you go. Without anything left

No, no, I still haven’t been able to let you go

Longing for you, I am longing for you.

Because I am longing for you, I call you and call you by myself everyday

Missing you, I am missing you.

Because I am missing you, now I just call out your name like a habit. Even today

Day by day, I feel like I am dying, so what could I do?

Love you, Love you. I love you.

Without even being able to tell you these, I’ve had to let you go like that.

Sorry, I am sorry.

Can you hear me? Could you be able to hear my late confession?

I love you.

***

“That was beautiful, thanks,”

“I’m glad you like it,” Yonghwa said, as he put away his guitar.

“What was that song just now?” Eunjung asked.

Yonghwa smiled slightly. “Because I miss you,”

Eunjung nodded her head. “Can you teach me how to play the guitar?” Eunjung asked him.

“Huh? Sure.., but it takes a long time to learn it. Maybe later, when you’re free,”

Eunjung thought for a moment. “Then, maybe you could just teach me that song?” Eunjung asked again. “I just have to learn how to play a few chords, to play that song right?”

“I-I guess..,” Yonghwa said. “All right then, sure,” Yonghwa said, handing her the guitar. “Let’s get started,”

***

“No, no, you have to put your finger here, not there,” Yonghwa said, putting her finger over the right chords. “There, try again,”

Eunjung strummed the guitar a bit.

“Great,” Yonghwa clapped his hands in satisfaction. “Are your fingers okay?” Yonghwa asked, slightly concerned.

“Y-yeah, they hurt a bit, but I’ll manage,” Eunjung assured her.

“Okay, now then, let’s try again, this time from the beginning all the way to the end,” Yonghwa suggested.

Eunjung nods her head. “Okay,”

Yonghwa closed his eyes, to listen closely. Eunjung took a deep breath to calm her nerves before she started playing the guitar. She pushed the chords Yonghwa taught her, and strummed accordingly.

“Great!” Yonghwa exclaimed, when it reached the end. “That was great, Seohyun!”

Eunjung was surprised when she heard him.

After a few moments, only then did Yonghwa realize his mistake. “S-sorry, I was-.., sorry,” Yonghwa stuttered.

“I-it’s okay,” Eunjung quickly assured him.

There was an awkward silence between them for a while, before Yonghwa broke the silence. “W-we should get back to practicing for the dance,” he said while getting up.

“Y-yeah, we should,” Eunjung said quickly.

Yonghwa picked up his guitar. His mind started wandering back towards Seohyun. He let out a deep sigh, before joining Eunjung in the hall.