▴ High4 & IU- Not Spring, Love, or Cherry Blossoms

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Seoul. September 9, 2014

"I'm leaving!" I yell. 

I pull on a beanie over my pigtails and lace up my boots. Mother leaps over to give me a kiss and a hug. 

"Don't do anything stupid!" She smiles. 

I scoff and hit her shoulder playfully. "Umma! I'm not seventeen anymore." I grin. 

Shooing me off, my mother shuts the door gently behind me. Puffs of cloud evaporate into the air as breathe in and out. Even if I have lived here for nearly five years now, I never really got to get a good look at the buzzing city. Tilting my head back, I gaze at the sky. No stars. Chuckling, I make my way down the stairs. 

"Ahjussi!" I yell as soon as I hit the streets. Almost immediately, the taxi stops at my feet. Smiling broadly, I hop on. The driver tips his cap and I lower my head down in return. 

"Take me to the Han Kang Restaurant please." I say as I settled comfortably on the seat. The driver nods and his lips curl up in amusement. 

"Busan?" He asks. 

"Eh?..." I remark, confused. 

"You're accent." He points to his lips and I laugh and wave my hand in embarrassment. 

"Yes... I lived in Busan." I giggle. It's funny how old habits die hard. 
Sighing, I lean back. However, my phone vibrates under my hands. 

"Aish..." 

I pull out the green case phone to my ear. I get greeted by my editor's nasal voice. We talk about how my work has been pushed too far back. I couldn't help, but roll my eyes over and over again. Another habit that I never got over with... My short temper. Shutting my phone, I blow a raspberry in frustration. Couldn't he allow me to enjoy some time with my alumni? Geez. 

"Agassi... We're here." 

Nodding, I hand him a few paper Wons and step out of the car. I walk a few steps and open the door. I pause when I hear H.O.T's Happiness blare out of the radio. It's like I just traveled back to 1997. Chuckling, I shake my head and walk in. 

"Seo Eunji!" My friend motions me to sit in front of her. And I do. Smirking, I point to her long bangs. 

"Looks like you haven't changed your hair in seventeen years." I tease. She giggles and nods, totally not picking up the hidden message. "Yeah... It's been my signature style." 
Flipping her hair over, she tucks each bang over her ears. "But I can accommodate to this twenty first century side part hairstyle." 

All around me, echoes of "oh" reverberated across the room and my friend boasts through actions. I can only sit back and watch as the Class of 1997 toast and cheer for their reunion. 

"Huh? It's Aejung." One guy points out. Everyone glances back with their beers hanging in the air. I turn back to with a slight pout. 

"What is this? How could there be a party without me?" Aejung asks. She takes off her unnecessary sunglasses and grins as she her eyes sweep from one end of the table to the other. Her eyes land on me and she scurries over and plops her bottom next to me. 

"It's been long chingu-yah~" She squeals. 

I smile. "Yeah it's been long.... ." 

We both playfully glare at each other. It's been years since our last fight as best friends. Maybe it'll start again today. To be honest, Aejung has been always that cute girl with a nice eye smile that any guy would kill for. Too bad, she never bat an eye for anyone except... 

"OMG! Have you seen Kim Myungsoo from Infinite? He's so good-looking and god damn cute!" Aejung fangirls. 

I scoff at her. Seriously? Kim Myungsoo? He's ten years younger than her! Well, it is her charm I should say. She only had an eye for idols and no other guys. Her taste in men changes every week. It's a wonder she's engaged. 

"So~ Have you had any eyes on an idol? Or are you still tied to Tony An?" Aejung pokes my cheek. I slap her hand away and she laughs. 

"Tony An my ." I mutter. Everyone chuckles as they overheard what we were talking about. It's impossible to forget how much of a H.O.T fanatic I was. Scarier than a Sasaeng, some would say. 

"What's so funny?" A deep rough voice boomed and no one had to look up to guess who it was. However, we did it anyways. 

Gazing up, all of us look up to Park Chanyeol, the funny eared guy. He grins from ear to ear and the rest of "EXO" walks in. 

Byun Baekhyun enters first. He's the one whom everyone made fun of due to his short height. 

Kim Jongin, otherwise known as Kai enters next. Let's just say he's full of swag even though he's not. 

Following after Kai comes Kim Suho*, the transfer student who used to sell magazines and videos at a ridiculously high price. 

Trailing after was Do Kyungsoo, the sweet innocent guy who I became closer to in my senior year. 

And finally, the man who makes a grand entrance was the brat whom I've known since he came in diapers, Oh Sehun. 

Smirking, each of them sit side by side next to each other in the empty seats before them. Sehun takes the seat to my right as my left side was already taken by Aejung. 

"Glad you could make it Ohmija..." I jeer. Sehun raises an eyebrow as I reach for a beer bottle. My hand gets quickly swept away and curls over something cold. I look down and my face falls into disgrace as I read "Soybean Milk" on the label. It just HAD to be this? 

"Don't worry. I brought a cooler full of them." Sehun whispers into my ear. My eye twitches. 

"Do you want to die today?" I ask through gritted. I whack him upside in the head and he just blinks slowly. He grabs the milk carton from my hands and pokes the straw through the hole and takes a sip out if it before handing it back to me. 

"Eww!" I groan. 

Baekhyun laughs. "So you guys still bicker after being with each other for thirty-five years." He retorts, amused. 

"Remember when Sehun completely destroyed Eunji's H.O.T Poncho?" Chanyeol pipes up. 

I facepalm myself as people gossip about how Sehun had to stay in the hospital for six months because I drop kicked over the fence. 

"Hey guys!! Come over here!" Baekhyun breaks the commotion and ushers us to his side. Curious, we all come over as he pulls out his Nixon camera. 

"What's with that lousy camera?" Kyungsoo jokes. Baekhyun huffs and gives a lecture about how selcas were getting popular these days. "You guys are just like oldies... So far behind the world." He sighs and shakes his head. 

"Hey! Who was it that didn't know H.O.T was 16 years ago?" I retort with a smile. Everyone chuckles and Baekhyun blushes as that never got over with us. Not knowing H.O.T, was like committing a grave sin. 

"Aish~ Lets just get this picture over with already." Kai flips his hair cooly and we gap. A thirty year old trying to act twenty... hilarious. 

"Okay... In one, two, three, everyone say 97!" Baekhyun cheesily says. 

"NINETY-SEVEN!" We all yell. I hold a "v" sign casually and Aejung clings onto my other arm. 
Sehun and his crew stand in the back with his arm draped around Kyungsoo. 

*Click* 

The camera flashes shut. And that's how it started... Our reunion...

A/N: Hopefully you listened to the sing while reading. ^_^ Have any ideas who Eunji's hubby might be? Keke...