Chapter 14: Confession

Spring

SooMin tumbled down the hall sending an avalanche of words before her:

“He’s come home before he said he would and surprised us all! He’s in omma’s room and was just asking how you were when I heard you sneak in. You must go and see him unnie!”

I let out a sigh. The sooner this is over the better it will be for me.

Propelled by SooMin I was rushed to Mrs. Oh’s room.

“There he is! Isn’t he splendid? My oppa has become so handsome this past year! Don’t you think so unnie?”

For a minute everything danced before my eyes as a familiar pair of brown eyes met with mine, and I heard a gruff but soft voice ask, “How are you, Kwon HyeYeong?”

I know I answered him but I was in such a state of shock at seeing him so unexpectedly that I can’t remember what I said.

It was not a large room, but SeHun seemed to fill every inch of it with his presence. As he continued to talk to his mother, I ventured a look at him and was glad my back was toward the light coming from the window and his was not. It was the perfect vantage point.

His shoulders had broadened and his soft childish jawline had been replaced by a sharper, chiseled one. It was difficult to tell while he was sitting, but it looked like he had grown taller. His hair looked like it had once been neatly combed but he had since run his fingers through it causing some of it to have a pushed back, messy look. Despite the physical changes, he was still the same SeHun I knew. The glint of playfulness lingered in his eye as he joked and laughed with his family.

I sat there listening as he animatedly talked about his experiences in LA. Every now and then he looked at me with a nod or a smile just like old times and I would melt internally. I was so caught up in it that for a while I completely forgot about what YunHee had told me about SeHun and Park EunMi.

Shortly YunHee came flying into the room and on her arm was none other than her faithful fiance Choi MinHo. This gave SeHun a greater surprise than he’d given to us by showing up. He didn’t have the faintest suspicion about what had been going on here between YunHee and MinHo. She had said herself, “If SeHun won’t tell me his secrets then I’m not telling him mine!” So she had said nothing about she and MinHo dating--let alone being engaged--to her cousin and swore us all to secrecy on the subject.

When she announced that she was engaged, SeHun looked so staggered that we all thought he was going to fall over or be ill, but once the initial shock wore off he gave his cousin a smile of affectionate satisfaction.

“Congratulations noona!” then after a brief pause, “Ya! Did all of you know about this?!”

We all nodded.

“Families should not keep secrets. I feel so left out!” he said with a playful pout.

“I wanted to tell you so bad oppa! But YunHee unnie promised me one of her purses if I didn’t!” SooMin chimed in.

“Hey Big Mouth! That was supposed to be a secret!” With that YunHee chased SooMin out of the room. Their squeals and giggles could be heard throughout the apartment.

“And what do you think of this whole MinHee ship?” asked SeHun as he wheeled around to look at me.

“I like it very much,” I said heartily. I truly was happy for my friend and for MinHo.

“Glad to hear it! Hope you’ll be happy to hear about another secret that’ll be announced before long,” SeHun said with a wink at me.

Then with an odd laugh, he wrapped his arm around MinHo’s shoulder and led him off to his den for what I assumed was “manly talk.”

I was left alone in the room with only one depressing thought:

He’s going to tell everyone that he’s back together with Park EunMi. I just know it.

The rest of the evening went by quickly with all the catching up and sharing pictures and videos and eating and drinking. How I got through it without becoming an emotional wreck I’ll never know. I looked down at my watch surprised to see how late it was getting. I didn’t want to interrupt the merriment, so I quietly slipped out of the room into the hall.

I was taking off my house slippers to put on my galoshes when a voice from behind startled me:

“Did you really mean to run away and not let me walk you home?”

I turned to see SeHun standing with his arms folded across his toned chest.

“I’m not afraid, if that’s what you’re implying. I’ll have you know I’ve been walking myself home for more than a year now. You could say I’m a pro at it. Plus I didn’t want to take you away from your family,” I began, hoping I didn’t look too pleased by his attention and offer.

“But I want to be taken away,” he said. “It’s been more than a year since I walked you home. Do you remember it? Doesn’t it seem too long ago?”

“Everlasting!” I meant to say it quite playfully and smile, but inspite of my intentions I did not speak gaily and a slight pout began to appear on my face.

SeHun reached out and my cheek. “I’m afraid you’ve been overreaching yourself. You look tired out.”

I pulled away from his hand. “Oh no! Don’t worry about me! It suits me to always be busy,” I said as I put on my raincoat.

I could not escape his hand as it reach out for me again. “But it doesn’t suit me to have you getting thin and pale you know.”

I looked up meaning to thank him for his concern, but never did. There was something deeper than gratitude in his honest brown eyes that could not allow me to hide the truth anymore. SeHun’s face flushed and he took my hands. I was about to say something but he spoke first:

“HyeYeong, I must tell you something! I--”

“Yes, I know,” I held out my hand to stop him from speaking further. “Your omma’s been expecting it. SooMin has been expecting it. We’ve all been expecting it to be honest. And I--I hope you’ll be very happy with Park EunMi, SeHun.” I reached out and shook his hand as I tried to hold back the tears and turned the door handle.

“What?!” He gave me a look that made me think he thought I’d lost my mind as he shut the partially opened door.

“Well…YunHee said that you had been spending a lot of time with her, so we all thought you two had gotten back together. And that--that was the big secret we thought you were going to reveal,” I replied meekly.

“But it’s not! It’s true that EunMi and I spent a lot of time together in LA but it wasn’t just the two of us! I only spent time with her because Key was interested in her and wanted me to introduce them. The secret isn’t that EunMi and I are back together. The secret is that Key is engaged.”

“To Park EunMi?” I squeaked, grabbing on to the wall for support.

“Of course! Who else would it be?”

“YunHee didn’t say--that is she never mentioned Key except in passing--and, and she said you talked about her most--and so we all thought--” I stammered.

“That I was in love?” he finished for me.

“Yeah,” I whispered.

“You guys were right. I am in love, but not with Park EunMi. You want to know who the girl is that I’ve been in love with the past year?”

I caught my breath as if a dash of cold water had fallen on me. Is it me? Please, SeHun, let me be the one.

“It’s you, my cheon-sa. I love you Kwon HyeYeong.”