FIVE

Park Jimin was one of the few faces that she knew right after she woke up. He visited her once at the hospital along with her high school friends, Anri and Sena. He used to be in the same class as her during their third year and according to the two girls, they used to be close too. Jimin went to another university along with Sena and he was currently taking up a major in music. The thing that confused Maeri now is that Jimin was standing on the other side of the street with Taehyung and it seemed like they were really close. At first she thought that they might’ve been friends who went to different schools but moments later, some students that Maeri recognized from the yearbook appeared and they greeted Taehyung as well.

“What the?” she wondered. Did Taehyung go to the same school as her too? How come she didn’t know anything? She was still puzzled, the bus arrived and she got on it but she was still staring at the group who were talking like they haven’t seen each other for a long time already.

When she arrived home, she immediately searched through her yearbook and saw Taehyung’s picture, he belonged to Class 3-B. “Ah, so he did went to the same school” she said to herself, she also concluded that the reason why she didn’t recognize Taehyun was that Sena and Anri only showed her pictures of her classmates wherein Jimin was included since he also belonged to Class 3-A; she also recalled Taehyung’s companions a while ago to be part of Class 3-A as well.

The next day, it was decided that a month from now they’ll be heading to Gyeongju to shoot the scene where Jiyoung goes back to her home town and Jin follows her but next weekend they’ll be heading to N Seoul Tower.

“Ooh~ Seoul Tower, how romantic!” Namjoo beamed, “I know right? Jeez, I can’t believe that it was Jungkook's idea to go there in the first place” Haerin responded and Jungkook shot the other two girls a scary glare but then Maeri called his attention.

“According to Baekhyun-sunbae, he won’t be able to come with us next weekend since he had some matters to attend to so you’ll be his substitute and let Youngjae film the scenes” she said. “Is that all?” Jungkook responded, “Yeah that’s all” Maeri said as she slightly felt annoyed then they heard a knock on the door even though it was open.

“Is the president here?” Taehyung asked as he was looking around, “Ah if you’re looking for sunbae I think he’s in the music room. I’m heading there right now, let’s go together” Maeri said as she packed up her things and told the others that she’ll be going ahead.

On the way to the music room, Taehyung was very quiet when suddenly “So you went to M High School too?” Maeri asked and Taehyung flinched. Maeri noticed it and wondered why he had that reaction, “Yeah, how did you know?” he responded. “Yesterday I saw you with Jimin and some of my classmates but I didn’t recognize your face, you belong to another class right?” Maeri asked and Taehyung nodded his head. “Well Jimin and I used to be classmates during our first and second year but in third year we got separated” he added. “I see… so, if you went to M High School then it means that you… might know who I am?” Maeri asked. Taehyung paused for a while as he looked at her then “Ah, I remember that there was a student in Jimin’s class who got involved in an accident three days after graduation… I think her name was…” “It was me” Maeri continued and Taehyung turned to her with a puzzled face. “I was the one involved in the accident and because of that, I… couldn’t remember any high school memories of mine” she added. Taehyung was quiet for a while, he didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t sure if what he was about to say would comfort her but then “But you don’t have to feel sorry for me or anything alright? I really don’t like it when people treat me that way and please… keep this a secret between us?” she said, Taehyung smiled and nodded his head.

They reached the music room and saw Minhyuk flirting with one of the members of the Classical Music Club. Out of habit, Maeri rushed towards Minhyuk and pulled him away then she gave him a proper scolding, Taehyung felt like he was watching a mother scold her child and he laughed at them. Right after Maeri scolded Minhyuk, she gave him some documents to sign and after that, she told Taehyung that she’ll be going ahead.

“Thanks for coming with me” he said, “No problem. It was fun talking to you too, I even thought that you hated me” she responded, “Eh?” Taehyung wondered and asked why she had that in mind, Maeri told him the instances whenever their eyes meet, Taehyung would look away or would simply treat her as if she wasn’t there. He felt bad about it but before he could explain anything, Minhyuk called his attention and asked what he wanted; Maeri bade goodbye and left.

The weekend came and they decided to meet in front of Namsan Tower at around 10 o’clock in the morning. The first one to arrive was Jin and he decided to look around for a while, for some reason he was feeling excited since they’re going to shoot in Namsan Tower. Moments later, Maeri arrived and was surprised to see Jin. “Oh? You’re early” she said as she sat on the bench, “You make it seem like I’m always the one who’s late” Jin responded. Maeri chuckled and said “Well aren’t you always? This is the first time that you were the first to arrive”, feeling embarrassed Jin replied “W-Well that’s because it’s close to where I live” then he sat next to her.

Jin was looking around the place and noticed that there were a lot of couples in the area where they were staying, he turned to Maeri who was busy texting the others to hurry up since it was past 10 already. “I wonder if we look like a couple right now…” he thought suddenly, a man wearing a costume approached them and gave them a flier. It was a newly opened restaurant and they had a discount for couples

“The discount is only available for today so I suggest that the two of you head there right now” the guy suggested.
“Eh? But we’re not a couple” Maeri responded and Jin felt like a giant boulder landed on him, “Really? But this spot is famous for couples so I thought that you were one but anyway, you can still grab the discount since it seems that you two are on a date” the guy said “But we’re not-” before Maeri could finish what she was saying, the man left after spotting another couple. She released a sigh and looked at the flier, “Well their food does look a little bit yummy” she said. “Then why don’t we go there now?” Jin suggested, “Are you an idiot? We still have to film some scenes today” she responded and Jin felt like another boulder fell on top of him after Maeri called him an idiot.

After 30 minutes of waiting, Maeri received a call from Jungkook. He told her that he and the others decided to meet at the university first before going to Namsan and that they were on their way but because of a traffic accident, they might arrive late. Maeri scolded them because of what happened but she immediately calmed down and told them that they’ll just start the shooting in the afternoon. She released a sigh after the phone call with Jungkook ended, Jin asked her what happened and she told him their change of plans.

“I’m so sorry sunbae, even though you were early for the first time” she apologized.

“N-No need to apologize, things like this might happen from time to time” Jin responded

“Yeah but… seriously, I’m going to kill them when they arrive” Maeri said as her eyes were flaring up. Jin then thought of something

“Why don’t we go to this restaurant while waiting for them?” he suggested as he pointed at the flier, Maeri was hesitant at first but after hearing hers and Jin's stomach grumble, they decided to head over there.

“Good morning you lovely couple, please have a seat” the waitress said as she led them to a sofa meant for two people and they were facing the glass window that had a great view. She also gave them the menu and told them to just press the button by the table in case they’re ready to order. The two of them felt uncomfortable since they were sitting close to each other and on top of that, it was a couple’s seat that they were sitting on.

“Maybe we should eat at another restaurant” Jin said as he didn’t want Maeri to feel awkward but she told him that there was no need and asked him what he wanted to order. While waiting, they were quiet for a moment then Maeri remembered that the script was with her. She took it out of her bag and told Jin to start memorizing the lines since it was still their free time. Jin was in the middle of memorizing his lines while Maeri decided to read some magazines, Jin then turned to her and said “Don’t you think it’s unfair that I’m here reading a script and you’re just reading a magazine?” “Well if I were the actress then I would be reading along with you but since I’m not…” Maeri said, Jin then took the magazine away from her and replaced it with a script. “Then be the actress… just for now anyway” he said, “No way. I’m not good at these things” Maeri responded “Oh come on! You’re just going to read the script, I’ll start” Jin said and he started reading as well as act out his role.

At first Maeri thought that he was just fooling around but when she realized that he was really serious, she was starting to get nervous.

“You… do you like me?” Jin said while acting out his role. He wasn’t the usual Jin, he kept his cool even though if it were the current him, he would’ve turned really red already.

“I err… I” Maeri on the other hand though was the one who became flustered, even though it was just acting, she felt like it was real.

“I… I like you” she responded in a stiff way and it made Jin laugh. “Okay that’s enough, you can’t do it” he said while laughing. It annoyed Maeri and she turned away from him “Told you so” she said but then Jin couldn’t stop laughing, she hit him with the script and he cried “Ouch!”

“I’m sorry but you were annoying” she said, Jin pouted and said “Not cute.” Moments later, their orders arrived and the two of them quietly ate. Suddenly, an order came and it was a heart-shaped cake “Uhh… we didn’t order this” Maeri said to the waiter, “Oh this is on the house since we noticed that the two of you seemed to have gotten into a small fight” the waiter said and he left.

“Fight… do we really look like a couple?” Maeri asked as she turned to Jin, he was startled and immediately looked away “W-Who knows” he said.

Right after eating, they received a call from Jungkook and were told that they have already arrived. They went to meet them and told them that they should eat lunch first before they proceed to the shoot.

“Eh? What’s this? You and sunbae already ate lunch?” Jiyoung asked as she was trying to hide her jealous face but it showed anyway, “Yeah since we were hungry and it’s your fault for not coming on time” Maeri responded. “Why you…” Jiyoung hissed but then Dongho grabbed her and told Maeri that they will be eating lunch first. Maeri released a sigh and said to herself “Even though she’s a good actress, she’s difficult to handle” then she turned to Jin and asked him to accompany her as they prepare the site while the others eat.

“Sunbae, make sure to mark that spot over there” Maeri said as she pointed at the tree.

“Yes, yes” Jin responded as he walked towards the tree. “This isn’t romantic at all” he silently cried, “Eh? Hyung?” Jin faced him and his eyes widened “Jimin!” he said, surprised to see Jimin. “What a coincidence, who’s with you?” Jimin asked, “T-That, I’m with-” but before Jin could finish what he was saying, Maeri called him “Sunbae!” she said as she walked towards him, she noticed that he was talking to somebody. She turned to the person and was also surprised to see him

“Park Jimin?” she wondered

Jimin flinched when he heard her voice, she slowly faced the person who called out to him, wishing that he guessed wrong

“Maeri…” he said as he faced her.