YOUNGBAE'S POV

 

Since class ended, Jiyong and I went outside near the lockers.  There, we talked about our first opinions of the classes we were enrolled in.

 

“So what you think about our history class?  It seemed too boring for me.  Why learn about the past if we’re in the present?!,” Jiyong whined before pouting.

 

“Yah, we didn’t have history back at YG, so it’s something different.  It could be interesting,” I said optimistically. 

 

“Fun?!  Yeah right!  Anyways, I’m already liking math class,” Jiyong responded, forming a devilish smile.

 

“Wae?  We just got there when class was about to end.  We hardly saw anything though.”

 

“What?!  Hardly?!  You didn’t see the two cute girls in the front?!  You blind, dude?!"

 

“Oh, sorry.  I didn’t know that we were supposed to be distracted from school.  The whole reason Hyun Suk hyung put us into public school was because all of us were distracted in our home schooling at YG,” I reprimanded Jiyong a bit.  He sighed to my reminder.

 

“Gomenasai, Youngbae-kun,” Jiyong joked.

 

“Yah, just because we learned basic Japanese doesn’t mean it’s still a joking matter, Jiyong-ah!,” I scolded him, before the both of us broke into laughter.  As we continued to laugh, I got pushed and yelled at from behind.  Jiyong had to catch me to keep me from falling down.

 

“Yah!  Why haven’t you called me?!  For three years, I was waiting for a call!  I was worried and everything!,” a girl whose voice I easily recognized.

 

“Ahhh, Yul.  H-ho-how’ve you been?,”  I awkwardly said as I turned towards her and another girl, rubbing the back of my neck in the process.  “I didn’t know that you were already in Seoul.”

 

“Geojitmal!  I know your mom told you about me coming here!  She came to my own house just to tell me that!”

 

Jiyong quickly came between us, as did Yuri’s companion.  He pushed me back as he said, ”Can you girls wait a bit before he responds?  I got to talk with him a bit.  That okay?”  They nodded in response. 

 

When we got a bit farther away, Jiyong put me in a playful headlock.  “Yah, those were the girls I were talking about! And next thing I know, one of them was your girlfriend?!  You had a girlfriend this whole time?!  No wonder you weren’t interested in those other girls!,” Jiyong joyfully whispered.

 

“Yah.  She’s not my girlfriend…She was a close friend of mine until I came to Seoul for YG Entertainment.”  Jiyong just nodded after hearing the truth from me.  “Besides…she probably doesn’t feel that way,” I whispered as I looked down.

 

[FLASHBACK]

 

Yuri and I were close friends since that day when I protected her from a couple of bullies.  I treated her like I would treat anyone, as if I had known that person for a long time.

 

But there was something different when I was with her.  Too bad I only noticed it when she started dating another guy.

 

*****

 

Back in middle school, a friend of mine around Yuri’s age asked me for some help.  Since I was typically a helpful person, I agreed.  He said that he liked Yuri a lot and knew that I was close to her.

 

I was surprised, but also happy that there was someone who liked Yuri.  So I helped the boy out, telling him Yuri’s interests and dislikes, as well as promising to give Yuri a good impression of him since I knew him for a long time.

 

When I went to talk to Yuri, she seemed pretty happy, almost jumping for joy, when I told her someone I knew was interested in her.  When I told her who, she became a bit quiet, as if she was thinking of someone else, but she was still interested in meeting him.

 

I brought her to my friend, and they got along pretty well.  So well, they were able to speak casually with each other in just a few minutes.

 

At that moment, my heart started to beat weirdly, but I just thought it was just from being glad that Yuri had someone who liked her.

 

*****

 

A few weeks later, they officially started dating and my heart was beating weirdly more often.  I took me too long to notice what was really happening.

 

I liked Yuri.  Love, even.

 

But I didn’t want to get in the way of a budding relationship.  Especially one that I’ve helped to create. 

 

Around the same time, I received a call from YG Entertainment, offering a trainee spot to me starting that week.

 

I took that chance.  To start working towards my dreams.

 

And for Yuri’s relationship to flourish.  Without me.

 

[END FLASHBACK]

 

When Jiyong heard that, he showed me that he knew what I meant, since he placed his hands on my shoulders and shook me.  I looked up to him and we made eye contact, him making a small apologetic smile for assuming the situation.

 

We walked back to Yuri and her friend.  “Ahhh, sorry about that.  You know, guy stuff,” Jiyong told them.  Yuri just looked at me, expecting my response to her question.

 

I sighed before finally speaking.  “Yul, I’m sorry I didn’t call you like I said I would, but it’s not like I don’t have a good reason for it.  At YG, they wanted us to focus on working on our skills like dancing and singing, so they restricted our usage of cellphones.  They would even have a supervisor follow us around to check if we were following the rules.”  I looked at Yuri to see her reaction.

 

She was looking down with her hair covering her face a bit.  She started to walk towards me, and then gave me a light punch to the chest.  Suddenly she hugged me and looked up to show her crying face.  “Yah, I was worried, okay?  I thought I lost my best friend since there was no call,” she weakly said.

 

“Yah, I thought I was your best friend?!,” Yuri’s friend joked.

 

“Yah, Im Yoona!  This isn’t time to kid around!,”  Yuri yelled.

 

Behind me, I heard Jiyong say, ”Her name’s Im Yoona?  Cute name for a cute girl.”

 

“Anyways, all that matters is that I’m here right?,” I interrupted as I messed up Yuri’s hair a bit.  She nodded.  “I heard that you broke up with my friend, but both of you are on good terms, right?  I know he’s a good guy.”  Once again she nodded before releasing her embrace on me.

 

“Now that we’ve gone over this little situation, how you doing, Miss Yoona?,” Jiyong said as he took Yoona’s hand.  Yoona was starting to blush a bit.  I started to chuckle at him as Yuri facepalmed at the sight of her friend.

 

“Jiyong-ah, do you want me to report this to Hyun Suk hyung?”  I half-joked.  At the mention of hyung, he let go of Yoona’s hand, while Yoona started to fan herself.

 

Just then, another girl’s voice emerged from the side.  “Youngbae oppa!”  This girl ran up to me, basically tackle hugged me and kissed me on the cheek.  Jiyong, Yoona and Yuri all glared at me.

 

“Youngbae-ah, is there something you’d like to say before I decide that I should tell hyung about this?  Other than you have too much secrets?,” Jiyong said in a obviously annoyed manner.  Yuri also seemed surprised as she looked at me, waiting for an answer.

 

Crap. Uhhhh.  Think.  Think.

 

“Uhhh…it’s not what it looks like?”