Chapter 21

It looked like school was getting back to normal, as if it was brought back to the first day of this year. Seung Ho and I still said hi to each other in the hallways whenever we saw each other and whenever he had time on his hands, he would accompany me and Jae Kyung at lunch since Ji Min had been skipping to go train for his idol life. It was quite relaxing and I kind of liked that things were going this way – it made everything much more easily. As for Chen, who probably could be here as well, but isn’t, hasn’t been at school either; I’d have to go find out why.

After the fair that night, Chen and I spent more time together. We just talked and talked about nonsense. It kind of felt like I was getting him to open up more and more and it made me feel better because for once, I didn’t feel like I didn’t know what was going through his mind. He seemed more easy going the more I got to know him and he liked to joke around a lot – maybe because we have gotten closer so he was more comfortable in teasing me more. But just because he had said this much for me to know him, I wanted to know more.

“Is Ji Min really going to be an idol?” Seung Ho asked me and Jae Kyung at lunch. “I mean, he would have thought that he could be that talented?”

“Excuse you, Yoo Seung Ho, but my Park Ji Min is multi-talented, if you didn’t know.” Jae Kyung scoffed jokingly. “He can sing and he’s quite an amazing dancer.”

“Is that so, Miss Han Jae Kyung?” Seung Ho chuckled at her for being so over protective of Ji Min. “And what about you? What kind of talent do you have?”

“Beauty, of course.” She rolled her eyes, as if he was supposed to know this already.

“Oh right. I’m sorry. I just never noticed it because my eyes were always on Choi Ga Eul.” He looked over at me and smiled, making Jae Kyung roll her eyes at the both of us.

“Yah, Seung Ho, now you use all these pick up lines when the two of you aren’t even talking anymore?” She shook her head at Seung Ho. “I bet things would have gone a little easier between the two of you if you’ve made a move earlier.”

“Stop reminding me that I already lost my chance.” He sighed dramatically. “It’s enough to know that she likes someone else other than me.”

“His name is Kim Jong Dae.” Jae Kyung answered him, as if he had forgotten to mention it.

“He was so out of the ordinary.”

“He was not.” I glared at Seung Ho.

“Okay. But seriously, Ga Eul, who would have expected you to like him out of all of the people here? I mean, look, Ga Eul.” He gestured towards the crowd in the cafeteria. “There are hundreds of people here and you ended up falling for this Kim Chen, who barely even talks!”

“He talks to me.” I smiled like a goofball.

“So tell me, then, Ga Eul, what made you fall for him?” Seung Ho propped his elbows up onto the table and looked at me – Jae Kyung was mimicking his pose.

“Everything.” I smirked. “He’s… How do I even say this?”

“Ewww, please do not be cheesy about this.” Jae Kyung stuck her tongue out at me as if she was going to puke.

“Oh please, Jae Kyung.” I rolled my eyes as I flipped my hair dramatically. “I had to deal with you and Ji Min for the past how many freaking years of cheesiness?”

“But we’re cute so you can live with it.” She smirked.

“Please give me a garbage bag, Seung Ho.” I pretended to gag. “I think I’m seriously going to puke on her.”

“Yah. Yah.” Seung Ho nudged both our foreheads backwards. “You two are such idiots. You two both make me puke.”

“Yah!” Both Jae Kyung and I yelled together.

He only chuckled. It was a shame that we didn’t see each other as good friends before – he was such a good person and I liked that we seemed so close after having our mutual “breakup”.

“So, Ga Eul, have you told him yet?” Seung Ho asked looking over at me.

“Told who what yet?” I asked confused.

“Chen…? That you like him…?” He furrowed his eyebrows at me – was I supposed to know of this already?

“She’s still debating.” Jae Kyung rolled her eyes recalling what I had said about telling Chen my feelings towards him.

“Shut up.” I glared at her.

“You mean you haven’t told him yet?” Seung Ho’s face fell. “You’re kidding me, right? I mean, you go and tell me off and now you’re not even going to tell him that you like him?”

“Do I not make it obvious?” I asked.

“Obvious or not, it has to come from your mouth.” He shook his head at me. “Watch, Ga Eul, you’re going to wait and then when you tell him, it’s going to be too late just like what happened between the two of us!”

“That’s not true.” I shook my head at the thought of this. “It’s not going to be like that.”

“He could be right, Ga Eul.” Jae Kyung patted Seung Ho’s arm, letting him know that she was agreeing with him. “

I didn’t reply anymore to them. I thought about the consequences because they were right – if I waited too long, anything could happen and I won’t be ready for it when the time comes. I shook my head. I can’t let that happen, or at least not in a bad way.

After school, I was dragged to wherever Ji Min was with Jae Kyung, who was eager to see her boyfriend more than anything. I’ve never been to this place – it was a dance studio that was located in Gangnam. There were probably other boys like him practicing just like him and it made me wonder if there were any people from our school who would come here since they’d have the same dreams as Ji Min. When we walked in, I couldn’t help but be mesmerized by all of the different songs that were being played in the building.

We walked passed many different dance practice rooms, including vocal rooms. I peeked in each of one, curious to see who was inside, and envied how talented they all were. I could hear some guys singing really well and it made me want to go in and cheer them on, but Jae Kyung wouldn’t even let me watch. She kept pulling me along with her until we ended up where Ji Min was. The practice room was filled with Ji Min and at least eight other guys. I looked closer and to my realization, I noticed Lu Han, Xiu Min, and Lay dancing in there as well.

Jae Kyung said something to me as if anyone could hear her through the loud blasting music from each room.

“Huh?” I asked since I couldn’t hear her well.

“Nevermind!” She yelled frustrated at me – it wasn’t my fault she talked as if her voice was going to be heard.

We waited outside of the dance room since we couldn’t go inside due to the boys practicing inside. We leaned against the walls of the room and waited as we listened to all different kinds of music blasting out at us. I was curious – were Lu Han, Xiu Min, and Lay planning to become idols as well? I would have never thought that the quietest kids at our school would even think about doing something like this. I guess the quietest people always have the biggest surprise for everyone around them – this was one of them.

“Ga Eul!” Jae Kyung yelled through the loud music.

I turned to face her.

“I have to tell you something!” She yelled again.

I nodded my head.

She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the building so we were finally outside of the building – I didn’t understand why she couldn’t do this earlier. I looked at her and suddenly, she looked sullen, as if something just hit her mind and she was guilty about something. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen her like this.

“What’s wrong?” I asked looking at her.

“So I’ve been thinking about this a lot…” She started to fiddle with her fingers. “Actually, I’ve been thinking about this for a long time and after listening to what Seung Ho said today… I think I might just have to say it.”

“What are you talking about?” I was confused. This was the first time I’ve seen Jae Kyung seem so skeptical and it made no sense – had she been keeping a secret from me? “Yah, Han Jae Kyung, tell me what’s wrong.”

“I’m telling you this before Ji Min, so I suspect that you would keep it from him until I say something.” She looked at me with stern eyes.

“Why don’t you tell us both at the same time?” I asked confused.

“Because… Because I want to tell you first.”

“But Ji Min’s your boyfriend.”

“And you’re my best friend.”

I nodded my head. “Okay.”

She took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. “I’m… I’m…” She stopped and looked down at her hands. “God, how am I going to say this without breaking down?”

“Did something happen?” I asked as I touched her shoulder slightly. “Jae Kyung, stop stalling and tell me already.”

“You know you’re my best friend, right?” She looked at me with concerned eyes and I nodded in response. “And that you’ll always be my best friend…” I nodded once more. “And that no one could ever replace you wherever I go, right?”

“YAH!” I snarled at her. “I get it. I’m your best friend and I know that no one will ever replace me because I’m the best. Now, get on with it!”

“I’m moving.”

“Huh?” My face literally fell. “What do you mean you’re moving?”

“I’m moving to Japan after we graduate.”

If I even get to graduate, I thought to myself, but I thought it’d be better than to make the situation worse than it already was.

“For college?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Forever.”

“Why? Your mother wants to?”

She nodded her head.

“Is this why you and Ji Min haven’t been hanging out a lot lately?” I asked confused. “You’ve been packing all of this time, haven’t you?”

“The day I didn’t show up to school, I went there to check out my new place…” She seemed guilty because she hasn’t said anything to us all of this time.

“It’s okay if you move, Jae Kyung. I mean, just because you move doesn’t mean that we won’t contact each other or that you and Ji Min can’t da –.”

“I don’t want to leave you though.” She was already crying and I didn’t even notice it because I was so busy blabbering my own thoughts to her. “And what if I’m gone and Ji Min can’t take care of you? What are you going to do? Or what if you have a heart attack and I’m not there?” I wrapped my arms around her. “And what if Ji Min wants to break up with me because he’s becoming an idol or because he doesn’t want to do long distance relationships? What am I going to do without the two of you next to me?”

I patted her hair down as I hugged her a little tighter. All of this time, my best friend has been going through her own thoughts like this without even telling me nor Ji Min and I wondered how she was feeling every single day. Was she crying herself to sleep because she was thinking about this constantly? Was she crying every morning when she woke up only to realize that every day it’s getting closer to the day she was going to leave? Or that was she crying because she didn’t want to miss the chance of hanging out with me before I die? Either way, she was suffocating in her own thoughts and I wished she had spoken up earlier.

“You’re going to be okay, Jae Kyung. I will always be here by you no matter where you are in the world – I’m a phone call away. And if you really want me to, I will fly to come see you.” I pulled back and stared at her. “And Ji Min will want to stay with you no matter how far apart the two of you are. You can’t just assume that he wants to break up because you’re far or that he’ll forget you just because he wants to make his dreams come true.”

After Jae Kyung stopped crying, I let her go back into the building alone. I decided to head home and not wait for Ji Min, only because my heart suddenly felt heavy. When I got into the house, I saw that my father was sitting on the couch watching TV. It’s been awhile since I’ve see him just sitting around since he’s been working so much, or at least that’s what he’s been telling me, and I couldn’t understand why. I didn’t want him to overwork himself – we were fine the way we were.

“Hi Appa.” I plopped down next to him and rest my head onto his shoulders. “I’ve missed you a lot.”

“What’s going on?” He asked ruffling my hair.

“Nothing, Appa. I just feel like I haven’t seen you for awhile.”

“It has been awhile since we’ve actually had a conversation, hasn’t it?”

I lifted my head up from his shoulders and looked over at her with a small smile.

“I have a surprise for you, Ga Eul.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“I can’t tell you now.” He said as he suddenly hugged me tightly.

“Why not?” I asked confused.

“Because.” He hugged me tighter. “Now’s not the time to worry about what I’m going to surprise you with.”

*A/N: No Chen, but forgive me. I promise you, more Chen tomorrow and I'm sorry for the late update! I had so much for this story, but I think because I want to shorten it up, it'll be turning out this way. Please forgive me for my bad habits. School is drowning me, but I want to finish this before Chen's birthday! I'm trying. Kerrrr! Remember this: I will update 9am KST time but 7pm EST! Please read and comment. I'd love to hear about your opinions, so please don't be a silent reader. Thank you and read with lots of love! Keke~! Muah