Chance 5
Heaven, Happiness, & Chance [HIATUS]
CHANCE #FIVE
“I am the one who was supposed to die right?”
Donghae, Siwon, and Sooyoung are still in Yoona’s room.
Donghae is still focusing on that bothering photo. Siwon looks busy with his iPad while sometimes steals a glance at Sooyoung who is still eating. Nichkhun just left the room as he is required to assist a senior doctor to perform a surgery. Kyuhyun and Seohyun are going outside to get some soft drinks.
In the photo that Donghae is seeing now, all five of them are there. The order of people in the photo is Kyuhyun, Sooyoung, Yoona, Donghae, and Siwon. They are sitting around a table. Everyone is smiling, including Donghae, except Yoona. Yoona is the one who looks sad. Yoona looks like she is almost crying actually. It seems like they are celebrating something that time because the table is full with cakes, snacks, and some drinks. It’s usual for them to hang out together but to have a very crowded table like that is rare.
However, Donghae still can’t remember anything about that photo. Oh wait, he remembers some things actually. He does remember about where the five of them took that photo. It was at the Venus-Hyoyeon café, the café where Lee Hyukjae works part-time. Donghae also remembers that it was Hyukjae who took that photo. Donghae then remembers that he was late to join the party that time as well.
But the big question remains the same, why does Yoona look sad?
In his restlessness, he tries to reconfirm again to Sooyoung and Siwon even though he already asked them before. It’s just really itching for him that he needs to ask again.
“Sooyoungie… you are you don’t remember what we were doing when we took this photo?” Donghae shows the photo again to Sooyoung.
Sooyoung shrugs her shoulder indicating that she doesn’t know and Donghae moves his eyes to Siwon, hoping that the latter will at least give him a hint. However, Siwon gives an apologetic look. It is obvious that Siwon can’t recall about it as well.
Donghae looks really sad now. He is really down.
“Aishhh, why does she look really sad? Why is she sad when I am beside her?”
Donghae is tortured by this indeed. He is the type who will blame anything on him after all. When he is about to give up and turn to the other page, Kyuhyun and Seohyun make their entrance to the room. It brings a new hope for Donghae. He wishes Kyuhyun can help him this time.
Donghae stands up and approaches Kyuhyun. He stands beside him and points the photo while asking the doctor.
“Kyunnie, I really need your help. Since you are smart, I am sure you still remember about this photo.” Donghae talks to Kyuhyun.
Kyuhyun looks at the photo and he thinks. He makes a little smile.
“Kekeke… Donghae-ah, of course I still remember about this one.” Said Kyuhyun.
“Really? Then tell me what is it about? Why does Yoona look sad?” Donghae is insisting to know.
“Aigooo, I wonder how can you forget something so special about it? It was when we cele-”
“Cho Kyuhyun!!!” Sooyoung stops Kyuhyun. She is giving him a meaningful stare.
Kyuhyun then makes some nods showing that he understands what Sooyoung means.
Donghae looks confused.
“Yahhh, what does it mean? Are you guys hiding something from me? Yah…” Donghae can’t hide his frustration. Sure it frustrates him more than ever now. It seems like these three friends of his actually know the truth.
Well, actually, both Siwon and Sooyoung lied before. They remember about the photo. They even know why Yoona looks sad. They know what they celebrated that time.
“Hae-ah, I’m sorry for lying but I think you should try harder to figure it out.” Siwon voices out.
“I can’t believe that you still forget about it even now. After all, you are the owner of that photo album Lee Donghae. I’ll give you a hint then… you are the cause of why Yoona was sad that time and she was sad because you forgot something that day. After all these years, you still can’t remember about it? Aigooo, how slow you are Donghae-ah… kekeke.” Sooyoung teases Donghae. Everyone is teasing him.
Donghae feels really bad and guilty now.
Kyuhyun already sits on the couch between Siwon and Seohyun. Donghae is back on his seat as well.
Donghae has given up on forcing his friends to tell him the truth. At one side, it’s really bothering that they keep it from him. However, at another side, if it was really something important and it was related to Yoona, then he feels like he should discover it by himself. How can he forget something important about Yoona?!
“What is it? God…”
He ponders again and in his anxiety, he closes his eyes. He wants to try harder. He concentrates even more to recall that day but it is still a deadlock. He just can’t go anywhere. He totally forgets about it but the desire to change the sad expression on Yoona’s face is growing bigger. He decides to open his eyes and he realizes that Jessica is already there, standing near the window where the fresh air enter the room.
Everyone has frozen again. Everyone doesn’t move. Time has stopped again.
“Miss me Donghae-sshi?” Jessica starts a conversation but Donghae doesn’t respond to it. He is a bit shocked actually by the sudden change.
“Please tell me the truth…” Donghae asks Jesica to tell him the truth about the photo instead.
“I would be happy to help you but I think your friends were right. You should figure it out by yourself and make up for your mistakes and thus I am here right now… you wish to change it right?”
“But what if I fail again?” Donghae responds.
“How can you know before trying?” Jessica smiles.
“I failed before right?! Nothing changes!!!”
“Oh come on… you did make a change. The first photo has changed, hasn’t it?” Jessica replies to Donghae’s last argument.
“But…” Donghae stops himself, unable to reason out again.
“You don’t think that a little change in the first photo will change everything, do you? It is silly if you think that way. That little change will not change everything in the present but sure it changes something. Just… the impact is not that big at the moment.”
Jessica pauses for a moment before adding “And therefore, I think, you should try for another chance… every change that you make… will probably give you a chance to find the happiness you have been longing for Donghae-sshi…”
Donghae is once again stupefied.
He deeply thinks about it.
“So… will you take the chance or not?” Jessica’s words are really tempting. Donghae really wants to take the chance but he is worried that he is incapable of doing the right thing.
There is only silence for some seconds.
“Neh… wish me luck then…” Donghae sounds hopeless though.
Jessica smiles and flicks her fingers.
The next thing Donghae knows he is already being pushed and pulled again in this tunnel of time. He has become the time traveler again in this dark tunnel. He knows he will lost his consciousness in a moment but before that, he suddenly remembers about the most heartbreaking conversation he had with Yoona.
It was so painful to even just remember about it but sadly he can’t forget it, forever.
…
“Please… leave him for me…” Said Donghae, he was really drunk. It’s almost midnight.
He was hugging Yoona from her back. He was chasing her before and finally he hugged her so she couldn’t walk away and avoid him anymore. They were in a lonely street near Donghae’s house.
“Leave Nichkhun and choose me… I beg you… Yoona-yah… Please…”
Donghae was crying… a lot. Donghae was under the effect of drinking a lot of beers. But, wasn’t a drunk person the most honest one?
Yes, he was telling the truth. He was really telling the truth to Yoona. He wanted Yoona to leave Nichkhun and come back to him. He was so broken into pieces when Yoona announced that she would be engaged to Nichkhun. Hence, he bought those beers and drank them in order to forget the fact. However, he just couldn’t erase it from his mind.
Even worse than that, he found himself begging for Yoona to leave Nichkhun.
One of Donghae’s hands was placed around Yoona’s neck and the other one is around Yoona’s waist. Donghae then rested his chin on Yoona’s shoulder. Since Donghae was hugging Yoona from her back, Donghae didn’t notice the tears that were pouring down from Yoona’s eyes.
Yoona was indeed really sad. She was torn as well. Her heart was broken.
But then she forced Donghae to release her. Donghae can do nothing to prevent Yoona from walking again. Several steps after being released by Donghae, Yoona turned her body to face Donghae.
“Why…?” She speaks.
Her tears kept coming out.
“Why you never understand Hae…?”
She was sobbing and her voice was trembling. Donghae was speechless. He could feel that Yoona was hurt. But hell why??? He didn’t know what Yoona meant just right now.
“You really… you really never understand.”
Then Yoona left… without hesitation, she left the drunken guy there, crying alone.
…
Then he goes senseless after that.
He is really determined to look for two things. First is he wants to know what they celebrated and by knowing that he hopes to know the reason why Yoona looked so sad that time.
It happens so fast that Donghae knows he has arrived at that time.
It is really noisy.
He can hear the crowd.
He feels really excited actually.
He slowly opens his eyes and he is in his classroom.
It is so nostalgic and it brings back a lot of memories.
…
Yoona is crying.
Hearing Yuri’s story makes her can’t stay being cool.
“B-but… really… I don’t know about it.” She pleads.
“I really don’t have any idea about what happened to you… God… I swear I don’t know about it Yuri-sshi…”
Yuri only smiles as her reaction.
“Of course. It is expected that you don’t know about it and you really don’t need to know about it.” Yuri says to comfort Yoona.
“But now… n-now I have to repay f-for that, right?” Yoona is still crying.
“For what Yoona-sshi?”
“For killing you of course.”
“I am here so I can repay you right?!” Yoona continues. They are facing each other now.
“Kekeke, Yoona-sshi… I think I should have made it clear that you are here not for that. It doesn’t even true that you killed me. It was our fate Yoona-sshi.”
“Then why am I here then?” Yoona questions the tanned-girl.
“So I can teach you something.”
“Teach me?”
“Neh…” Yuri answers shortly.
Yuri then adds “Everyone that you will meet in heaven will teach you something. They will teach you so you can learn and understand about your life. I’m your first person Yoona-sshi and that’s why I need to teach you a lesson.”
“What lesson?” Yoona is still sobbing.
“That there is nothing such coincidence in this world. That random doesn’t exist, Yoona-sshi.”
Yuri looks away from Yoona’s face and she stares at the beautiful view of Seoul before her eyes.
“That you can’t separate a life from another life. That you can’t separate a story from another story because every story is like a piece of puzzle that will complete the stories in this whole world. You really can’t separate it like you can’t separate the line that connects the sky and the sea. It is like you can’t separate each color of the rainbow. Simply because it is one from the very start.”
Yuri then faces Yoona again.
“Still… it’s just not fair…” Yoona mumbles.
“It was me who is supposed to die that time… not you…” Yoona says.
“…”
“If only I didn’t ask you to give me that taxi… if only I didn’t have a date that time… if only you didn’t give me that taxi… you wouldn’t die that time, would you?!” Yoona is still dominated by her own tears.
“If only I didn’t plead to you that time…”
“If only I wasn’t late…”
“You won’t die… I should be the one who died that time…”
Yoona keeps repeating that line over and over again. She feels really guilty. Her tears won’t stop any soon for sure. She is really hurt. It really pains her. It really breaks her heart even when Yuri has explained that it’s not her fault.
“Yoona-sshi… it’s just how it should happen. We can’t go against our fate. It’s how it should be and that’s what the best thing. Our life has been planned and designed and according to that, I should be late that time, you too, and I should give the taxi to you when you begged, and I take the next one, and I died because of the accident. It’s the truth. We can’t deny it.”
Yuri can only smile again to coax Yoona after that.
“I w-was s-stupid. I s-shouldn’t h-have asked y-you. I really shouldn’t.”
“Yoona-sshi, didn’t I tell you that it was how it was supposed to be. It is our fate and it is not a coincidence. It’s not a random thing. You don’t need to feel-”
“BUT IT’S STILL UNFAIRRR!!!” Yoona interrupts Yuri. She bursts more tears and she shouts at her. It really pains her. It is really hurting for her to imagine everything that has happened to Yuri’s life.
“It is unfair… it m-must have b-been really hard on you… it’s so sad… it’s unfair and it’s my fault…” Yoona weakly says again. She sounds powerless after the shout.
“You know what Yoona-sshi? Fairness or justice doesn’t rule people’s life or death. If they do then we won’t ever see those kind people died at such young age.” Yuri walks closer to where Yoona stands now. Yoona can’t control her emotion. She is so fragile at this moment, too fragile after learning everything that Yuri said.
Yoona feels really sorry.
“Everything that happens in the world has its own meaning. Like I said to you, it’s not merely a coincidence when you meet an old friend in a very unexpected place. It’s not a coincidence when a twin brother fall in love with the same girl. And it’s also not a coincidence when a car crashed while you are supposed to be in that car… It happens everyday and to everyone.” Yuri wipes the tears on Yoona’s face away.
“It’s how our life goes Yoona-sshi and it’s not a random thing because it has a meaning. Whether it’s a sad or happy moment, there is always something good that comes from it. Life is beautiful. It always is and always will. That way, our life will be complete and balanced.”
“Then… what about your family? What about the people who love you? What about them who you love? It’s not fair for them as well. Yuri-sshi… I still can’t understand.”
Yoona stares deeply at Yuri’s eyes.
“I don’t understand… what’s the goodness of your death then? It only left sadness, didn’t it?”
Yoona floods her cheeks with her tears again.
“Well… you are alive that time. That was the good thing of my death.”
“But we don’t know each other. Why do you sound so willing? We were strangers?”
“Strangers…” Yuri is ready to reply. “They are actually your family. You just don’t know and meet them yet…”
Then Yuri hugs Yoona after that. She hugs her tightly and right at that moment, all of Yuri’s feelings flow into Yoona’s system. Yoona can feel Yuri’s feelings and she can sense what the tanned-girl has been gone through all this time. Yuri’s happiness, sadness, relief, anxiety, nervousness, pain, anger, excitement, everything.
“You need to go now Yoona-sshi. Some people are waiting for you.” Yuri whispers.
Afterwards, Yoona’s body feels really light. It feels really floaty. Then Yoona also sees that her body is shining. She can see her hands that are placed on Yuri’s back are brightly shining.
“What happened to my body?” Yoona says to herself.
“Don’t worry, it’s only the sign that you will leave this place.” Yuri answers even though Yoona doesn’t slip a word out from while breaking the hug. Yuri steps backward.
Yoona can only observe her own body. Slowly, she can feel the wind blows the air. What surprises her is that every blow sweeps her body apart little by little. It looks like her body is slowly turning into stars. Her body disappears and it turns into white pieces that are floating and shining in the air. It looks like the fireflies.
“Goodbye Yoona-sshi… and goodluck…” Yuri states her farewell as she waves and smiles.
Yoona looks sad. Partly because she is still affected by Yuri’s story and partly because she simply doesn’t want to leave. She is afraid of another lesson that she’ll receive from those other persons.
Realizing that almost all of her body has turned into these floating stars, she then speaks to kill the silence.
“Thank you Yuri-sshi…”
“Neh.” Yuri replies.
“Ahhh… by the way… I tried to avoid a boy before I crashed my car. I tried to save him. Did I make it? Is he still alive? Is that little boy safe?” Yoona exclaims after remembering about the little boy.
Yuri doesn’t answer though. She just stays silent.
Yoona takes it as a no.
“So I failed. I couldn’t save that boy. After all, both my life and death are useless…” Yoona mumbles wearily.
“There’s no useless life or death Yoona-sshi. The only useless time in our life is the time when we think we are alone. That’s all.”
Yoona still can hear that last sentence from Yuri before being consumed by the wind that blows her away.
And it’s just darkness again.
…
“Yah! Lee Donghae, until when you will just sit still there! You are the coordinator after all!”
Sooyoung yells at Donghae who just opened his eyes. Donghae needs to adjust first.
“What is going on here?” He asks himself.
Donghae observes his classroom. Everyone seems busy. Everyone is doing something. He is the only one who sits calmly there. Slowly, he finally understands that it is the time when they are having the school art and sport festival and Sooyoung just reminded him that he is the project officer for their class.
“Hae… Hyukkie is here. He is waiting at the school gate. Let’s get him.” Siwon abruptly pulls Donghae’s hand.
Yoona and Sooyoung who are working on some decoration things can only see the two boys going outside of the class while Kyuhyun is ordered to take care of the trash.
Their class will open a café for the festival and thus Lee Hyukjae is there to help them. It is Donghae’s idea. Their class will collaborate with Venus-Hyoyeon café and Hyukjae will help as the bartender. Hyukjae skips his own school only for today and Donghae has said numerous thank you to him for that.
The festival will start at 10.00 am and right now is 8.00 am so everyone is in rush to get everything done.
About ten minutes after leaving the class, Donghae and Siwon are back together with Hyukjae in the classroom. Sooyoung notices it and she greets him.
“Hyukkie! Thanks for coming and helping us.”
“Ah neh Soo. You are welcome.” Hyukjae replies.
Yoona greets Hyukjae thereupon.
“Annyeong…” Said Yoona.
“A-annyeong Yoona-sshi.” Hyukaje is somewhat blushing with Yoona’s greet. They are actually not really close compared to how close Hyukjae and the others.
“Let’s continue working. We still need to do several things.” Donghae makes an order. Even he comes from the future, he slightly can recall how he leads the class this time and of course he keeps his mind on his initial mission.
It’s 9.30 am now and Donghae’s class is almost done. Only finishing touch is left. Yoona and Sooyoung are done with their tasks. Siwon who helps Hyukjae with the preparation of the bar has done as well.
“Haechi… are you done?” Yoona approaches Donghae who is tidying up the layout of their class-turned-café.
“I am… waeyooo?” Donghae looks at Yoona.
“Would you like to accompany me walking around the other classes and stalls?”
“When? Now?”
“Hmmm, if you’re free of course.”
“Well I think I’m free now. Let’s go.”
Donghae smiles before asking “Why don’t we ask Siwon, Sooyoung, and Kyu to join us?”
Yoona doesn’t reply though. She can’t answer with yes nor with no. She looks hesitant and Donghae notices it.
“Is this related to why she becomes sad?” Donghae suddenly wonders about the possibility.
“Maybe she wants to talk about something only with me…” Donghae thinks to himself again.
“After thinking about it, let’s just go together without them. What do you say?” Donghae asks.
“Neh… thanks Haechi.” Yoona replies simply.
Unknown to them, Siwon, Hyukjae, and Sooyoung has been observing them thus far. Siwon and Sooyoung giggle when they hear the result while Hyukjae only smiles a bit.
It’s when Donghae and Yoona are about to step out from their classroom when one of their friends calls Donghae’s name.
“Donghae-ah, could you help me with this thing? Somehow, it’s not working.” Yunho, this guy’s name, asks Donghae to help him with the sound system to liven up the café’s atmosphere.
Donghae doubts his decision will please Yoona but he puts his responsibility as the coordinator first. Being this amiable person as ever, Donghae can’t say no when someone asks for his help, even when it comes from a stranger. Being his friend for such a long time, Yoona knows this particular trait of Donghae. She admits that she wants Donghae to refuse to help Yunho but she knows it is selfish.
In the end, Yoona gives in and says “It’s ok Haechi. Just help Yunho. We can travel the festival later.”
And Donghae does what he is told by Yoona.
Thus far, Donghae doesn’t change anything. It still happens like what the past had.
Minutes pass really fast and the festival has officially started. Donghae still works with the sound system with Yunho. It’s Yunho’s task actually but Donghae can’t leave his class without the music there.
Yoona is waiting when the café’s first guest comes in.
“Annyeong… is Choi Sooyoung here?”
“Oppa!!! Hankyung-oppa!!!” Sooyoung greets the guest. She walks towards him and then they even hug each other. He is Sooyoung’s boyfriend. He is a college student. Everyone looks surprised, especially Siwon. Yoona can see the broken hearted expression on his face.
“Yoona-yah, I’ll go walking around now to enjoy the festival. Want to join us?” Said Sooyoung.
“I’m ok here. I’ll just wait for Donghae.”
“Ok then. Bye!”
“Bye…”
Yoona stares at Siwon and Siwon realizes it. The tall guy immediately looks for something to do. He ends up helping Donghae and Yunho to ignore and avoid Yoona’s stare.
While everyone is busy with the festival, there is actually one guy who is busy being bullied.
The guy’s name is Cho Kyuhyun.
He was walking to the landfill to throw all the trashes from his class when some bad students caught him. It is already a routine for him though. It isn’t something new and he is already used to it. Being the smartest student in the school, he is indeed the best target of those bullies. Those bullies will ask and eventually steal his money. Even after that, they aren’t satisfied and they will give some punches and kicks for Kyuhyun.
Kyuhyun willingly accept this treatment. He thinks that it’s not even worth it to fight back because he will just lose. It will just worsen the situation if he does so he gives what those bullies want.
So there he is, lying weakly on the ground after being tortured. He is trying to gain his composure.
He is mad for being weak but he can do nothing about it. Even when he knows that the next day he will get this again, he doesn’t bother to tell his friends. Yes, sadly he never tells Donghae, Siwon, Sooyoung, or Yoona about it. He keeps it to himself because he doesn’t want to burden them.
He is now sitting on the ground, being bathed by the sunlight. He rested his back on the wall of the school building near the landfill. It’s hard for him to see because he got punched on his eyes.
When he is hardly breathing, suddenly he feels his hand being taken and open.
He can’t see who it is. A bottle of fresh soft drink is then being placed on his open hand.
“Who are you?” Kyuhyun asks but the girl is too shy. Yes, it’s a girl. She is Yoona’s cousin. She is called Seohyun, her real name is Seo Juhyun. She is too shy to answer back so she left after that, leaving Kyuhyun wondering about who the person is.
Back to the classroom.
The sound system finally works and there are already several guests lining up to their café.
“Sorry to make you wait Yoona-yah.” Donghae nervously says.
“Nevermind… keke… you are Lee Donghae for a reason. Kekeke…”
Donghae doesn’t understand but decide not to prolong this crap conversation and proceeds to walk. Yoona follows him when another call can be heard.
“Donghae-ah, where are you going? Can you help me?” It’s from Jaejoong this time. It seems like he needs the help to arrange the logistics of the café.
Yoona is already hopeless at this time. She is just waiting what Donghae will decide. Again she is confused. It’s a good thing that Donghae is very kind but he is way too kind. Yes he is the coordinator but it doesn’t like he should do all the things right?! Yoona contemplates but she will just accept what Donghae will say.
“Yoona-yah… I… I honestly don’t know what to say now…” Donghae forgets about what he did before. He wants to change things in this second chance and he knows that he can do that by spending his times with Yoona now. But he holds the responsibility too and he can’t let it go.
“I don’t mind waiting again actually…” Yoona sadly says.
“Thanks…” is what Donghae can say before helping Jaejoong.
Yoona waits at the corridor. Their café is getting crowded so she decides to wait there. She is a bit surprised when Siwon comes to her side and says “Donghae is too kind and also too slow…, isn’t he?”
“Kekeke… what do you mean Siwon-ah?”
“You know what I mean Yoona. I’m just observing things around you two.”
What Siwon means is Donghae is too slow to decide on what thing is important for himself. Siwon knows that Donghae has been in love with Yoona like forever already and that’s why he can say that. Siwon also can see that Yoona loves him back and it is more accurate to say that Donghae is slow to realize it.
“You will lose her if you are too slow as well.” Yoona suddenly says.
“Eh???” Siwon exclaims.
“Sooyoung…” Said Yoona again.
“What do you mean Yoona-yah?”
“You know what I mean Choi Siwon. I’m just observing things around you two. Kekeke…” Yoona precisely says back what Siwon said to her before.
“Kekeke…” Both of them then are laughing.
“I guess he forgets that today is your birthday Yoona-yah…”
“I guess so… kekeke” Yoona sadly laughs. “He is indeed so slow neh?! Kekekeke…”
Yoona knows that Siwon and Sooyoung are in love with each other. Sooyoung even said to Yoona before about it. Yoona can also feel that Siwon feels the same for Sooyoung. But Siwon is always so mysterious. Even when they are close as friends, Yoona never know who Siwon really is, where he lives, who are his parents, what his favorite things are.
There must be something blocking Sooyoung and Siwon but Yoona can’t find it. Yoona once said to Sooyoung that her habit of changing boyfriend will make Siwon gives up. However, Sooyoung reasons that she does that to see whether Siwon has the guts to ask her out or not. Yoona replied to her, saying that it would be impossible to wait like that because Siwon will think that Sooyoung doesn’t like him but Sooyoung is just stubborn. She said that she is testing him. Knowing that she can’t interfere too much, Yoona gives up.
But today, it surprises Yoona that Sooyoung already has a new boyfriend. It was just a week ago he broke up with Lee Sungmin, one of their schoolmates. Well, this Lee Sungmin already has a new girlfriend as well who is famous as Sunny with Lee Sunkyu being her real name.
“I guess I’ll just depend on time and wait…” Siwon concludes after the laugh.
“Me too…” Yoona replies.
…
Yoona opens her eyes and she is in front of the merry-go-round.
She’s back in the amusement park again where she left Eunhyuk before.
The amusement park is really crowded now but there is only one person who rides the merry-go-round and it’s Eunhyuk.
The merry-go-round stops playing when Yoona’s tears start to fall. Eunhyuk comes down and walks towards her. Yoona is ready to cry and Eunhyuk comes at the right time as he hugs the girl to let her cry on his shoulder.
“I d-don’t w-want to meet the other p-persons… please Eunhyuk-sshi…”
Yoona cries really hard.
“Why does it hurt when it is heaven? I think heaven is the place where I can find my happiness?! Where is God? Why does He let me cry in heaven?” Yoona randomly shouts while pouring out her tears.
“…”
Eunhyuk doesn’t reply.
He just keeps hugging her and when Yoona is calmer, he finally speaks.
“I would love to end your sorrow but unfortunately… I don’t have the authority to do so Yoona-sshi. My job is only to transfer you to meet all these persons and it’s the time for you to meet the second one.”
Yoona actually knows that she will, in the end, need to go on. It’s the process that she needs to face, like or dislike.
Eunhyuk breaks the hug. He smiles and then he flicks his fingers.
Everything starts to be darker and darker. Yoona know it’s the time to meet the second person. In her curiosity about this second person, a big question mark appears in her mind.
“By the way… who are you Eunhyuk-sshi? Pease tell me who you really are?!!!” She yells between her tears but Eunhyuk just grins before everything goes black again.
…
“Yoona, I’m really really sorry.” Donghae apologizes. It’s almost 5.00 pm and the festival has ended and Donghae spent his time helping the logistics team who is busy with the café. It’s a good thing that the café is really popular thanks to Hyukjae’s experience with the drinks.
“You did the right thing for the class Haechi-ah, no need to apologize. I would probably do the same if I was the class coordinator.”
“But still… I mean… It actually means I’m not a good leader because everything is messed up that the logistics team need more help… It won’t happen if I made better preparation.”
“To me… you already did a great job…” Yoona manages to sincerely say it even though she is sad that she can’t enjoy the festival with Donghae.
“Besides… it seems like you forget something today… but it’s ok… you are very busy this whole past week.”
“Forget what?” Donghae asks.
“Nothing… really it’s nothing Haechi keke. We’re going to wait you in the café ok?! See you.” Then Yoona leaves Donghae to join Kyuhyun, Siwon, and Sooyoung who are waiting in front of the stairs. Donghae still have a meeting with the other committee members.
Donghae can only see Yoona’s figure getting smaller and smaller.
He thinks that in the end, he can’t change anything even when he goes back to the past. Yoona’s sad face is there.
“Let’s go.” Yoona says to the other three when she joins them.
“Omo, Kyunnie, what’s wrong with your eyes?” Yoona is shocked to see the scar on Kyuhyun’s eyelid.
“He clumsily hit an electric pole before.” Sooyoung answers and of course Kyuhyun lied to Sooyoung and Siwon before.
“Aigooo, you should be more careful later on genius boy. Keke.” Yoona jokingly says. Everyone laughs while heading to Venus-Hyoyeon café where Hyukjae has waited.
After the closing meeting with the whole committee members, Donghae stays alone in his classroom, thinking about his failure. It’s something he didn’t do in the real past. Previously, he will go directly to the café to join the others after the meeting simply because that time he didn’t worry about Yoona’s sad face. But as this is his second chance, he decides to not give up easily because his objective is to change that sad face.
“What do I forget?”
He tries to figure it out.
He tries really hard but he still doesn’t find the answer.
“What do I forget about?”
“God… please…”
It is almost one hour he is there and he is already really late to join the others in the café when four persons come into the classroom.
The four persons are his headmaster, the other three are unnoticed.
“Donghae-ah… you’re still here?” His headmaster greets him.
“Ahhh… neh sir… I am cleaning some things here after the festival.”
“This is a new student and his parents. I’m taking them to a school tour. He will start next week and he will probably be in this class or the next one so I want to show him how it looks like.”
The headmaster says.
“Ahh I see. Annyeonghaseyo… Lee Donghae imnida.” Donghae bows and the new student and his parents return the bow.
“They are from Thailand actually. Ok then, we’re going to see the library now. Don’t go home too late and don’t forget to study. It’s already the end of May. Exams are coming. Arasso?” The headmaster explains.
“Neh.” Donghae simply says and that’s when he realizes something.
“End of May?” Dongahe ponders when the new student and his parents are leaving with the guide of the headmaster.
“End of May?” He repeats.
“What date is today? Hmm… it’s May 30th… what day is May 30th?” Donghae knows that there’s something important for him on May 30th but it doesn’t come out yet.
“Oh my God…” He finally remembers.
“Today is Yoona’s birthday.” He scolds himself.
“How can I forget about it?”
Donghae quickly takes his bag and he runs outside the class. He forgets Yoona’s birthday and it explains everything.
Donghae has been really busy this past week that he eventually forget about Yoona’s birthday, moreover when her birthday is on the same day with the festival day.
He runs with all his might. He gets out from the school now. He is running really fast, the fastest he can.
He remembers that the first time he goes back to repair the first photo, he also ran. He ran on the basketball court to score some points. This time, he runs again so he can wish Yoona a very happy birthday.
“Stupid!!!”
He scolds himself again.
Meanwhile, in the café.
“Aigooo, where is he?” Sooyoung grumbles.
“I can’t reach his cellphone.” Kyuhyun says.
“By the way…” Yoona speaks to draw the attention to her. “Just don’t mention that we are celebrating my birthday today if he still forgets about it…”
“Ehh? Waeyoo?” Siwon questions Yoona.
“Nothing… Maybe I’m too selfish because I want him to remember about it without everyone telling him. Besides, he promised me that he will never forget my birthday so yeah… I hope you can understand.”
The other can only agree with Yoona’s request.
It’s when they are about to take the photo but Donghae is still not there.
“Just let’s take the picture together without him… I’m tired of waiting.” Sooyoung says.
“Yah… how can we do that?” Siwon protests.
“I need to go now actually.” Kyuhyun makes a sound. “I have a dinner plan with my parents." He adds.
“I need to go to. Hankyung-oppa is waiting for me.” Sooyoung emphasizes it.
“Neh… let’s just take the picture now without him.” Yoona cuts everyone.
“Fine then… Hyukkie, would you help us please?” Siwon asks Hyukjae’s help.
Hyukaje nods and takes the camera from Siwon’s hand.
Everyone takes their position and is ready to take a picture.
“One, two, thr-”
“HAPPY BIRHDAY YOONA-YAHHH!!!” Suddenly the café’s door is forcefully opened and unveils the exhausted Donghae.
“Hhhhhuhhh… I’m sorry for forgetting your birthday… hhhuhh… I don’t even bring you any gift now… All what I want to do now is wishing you a happy birthday… hhhuhhh…”
Donghae explains.
Everyone is surprised but thanks God it’s only them who are there in the café.
Yoona is about to cry but she manages to hold her tears.
“T-thank y-you…” Said Yoona.
Siwon, Sooyoung, Kyuhyun, and Hyukjae smiles.
“Yahhh!!! Stop this touchy moment and let’s take a picture.” Siwon exclaims while Hyukjae pulls Donghae to join the crowd. Donghae sits beside Yoona. The order is Kyuhyun, Sooyoung, Yoona, Donghae, and Siwon.
“Ready? One, two, three…” Hyukjae says and it is followed by a “click” and the flash light from the camera sends Donghae back to the present time again.
…
Yoona opens her eyes.
She is in front of the hospital building where she takes her internship but it looks lonely. No one is there.
She knows she will meet the second person here but who it is.
The sky is changing colors again. She walks in. She doesn’t know what but something leads her to walk and she enters the hospital office. There is really no one here. She stops exploring the office when there is a figure in front of her.
“Doctor... is that you?”
Seems like Yoona is familiar with the second person.
…
Donghae already sits again on his chair beside Yoona’s bed. He is holding the photo album.
“Ahhh… that photo…” Sooyoung suddenly notices a photo.
Donghae is surprised.
“It was when Yoona thought you forgot her birthday Donghae-ah. She was really sad that time. But thanks God you showed up at the right time, kekeke.” Sooyoung comments.
Siwon, Kyuhyun, and Seohyun smile along.
And indeed, the photo has changed once again. Yoona is smiling in the photo. There is no sad face again but… is it really the only thing that has changed?!
...
At the same time, at another venue of Seoul.
"Fany-ah... let's go..."
Taeyeon calls Tiffany who is still standing in front of a tomb. They put some fresh flowers there and prayed before.
"Neh... sorry. I just... I just still can't forget it."
"I understand."
"Thanks Taenggo-ah..."
Then they both leave the tomb.
Kwon Yuri is the name that is printed on that tomb.
~TODAY IS AN IMPORTANT DAY FOR YOONA~
“Yahhh, are you still mad at me?”
The 10 year old Donghae chased Yoona from her back in the school's corridor.
“Didn’t I come last night to celebrate your birthday?”
“But you were almost late Haechi…” Yoona replied.
“But I thought you had forgiven me.”
“Not really… not before you promise me one thing.” Yoona arrogantly said.
“What?”
“Don’t ever forget my birthday… even when you don’t have a gift, you should always wish me a very happy birthday. Arasso?”
“Neh…”
Donghae gladly replied.
Today was important for Yoona because it was the day when Donghae promised to always wish her a very happy birthday on May 30th.
She never thought that she would really be sad if Donghae didn’t say it to her.
It was probably because every single day, she has fallen deeper in love with that guy.
**********
A/N
Aigoooo, I'm super duper sorry for updating this late. SORRYYY1000x everyone. Hope you can enjoy it.
And here are the supporting pairing beside YoonHae:
1. SooWon
2. SeoKyu
3. KhunA
4. YulTi (later on...)
5. TaeNy (later on...)
But they are really just supporting couples. Won't write much about them... sorry...
“I am the one who was supposed to die right?”
Donghae, Siwon, and Sooyoung are still in Yoona’s room.
Donghae is still focusing on that bothering photo. Siwon looks busy with his iPad while sometimes steals a glance at Sooyoung who is still eating. Nichkhun just left the room as he is required to assist a senior doctor to perform a surgery. Kyuhyun and Seohyun are going outside to get some soft drinks.
In the photo that Donghae is seeing now, all five of them are there. The order of people in the photo is Kyuhyun, Sooyoung, Yoona, Donghae, and Siwon. They are sitting around a table. Everyone is smiling, including Donghae, except Yoona. Yoona is the one who looks sad. Yoona looks like she is almost crying actually. It seems like they are celebrating something that time because the table is full with cakes, snacks, and some drinks. It’s usual for them to hang out together but to have a very crowded table like that is rare.
However, Donghae still can’t remember anything about that photo. Oh wait, he remembers some things actually. He does remember about where the five of them took that photo. It was at the Venus-Hyoyeon café, the café where Lee Hyukjae works part-time. Donghae also remembers that it was Hyukjae who took that photo. Donghae then remembers that he was late to join the party that time as well.
But the big question remains the same, why does Yoona look sad?
In his restlessness, he tries to reconfirm again to Sooyoung and Siwon even though he already asked them before. It’s just really itching for him that he needs to ask again.
“Sooyoungie… you are you don’t remember what we were doing when we took this photo?” Donghae shows the photo again to Sooyoung.
Sooyoung shrugs her shoulder indicating that she doesn’t know and Donghae moves his eyes to Siwon, hoping that the latter will at least give him a hint. However, Siwon gives an apologetic look. It is obvious that Siwon can’t recall about it as well.
Donghae looks really sad now. He is really down.
“Aishhh, why does she look really sad? Why is she sad when I am beside her?”
Donghae is tortured by this indeed. He is the type who will blame anything on him after all. When he is about to give up and turn to the other page, Kyuhyun and Seohyun make their entrance to the room. It brings a new hope for Donghae. He wishes Kyuhyun can help him this time.
Donghae stands up and approaches Kyuhyun. He stands beside him and points the photo while asking the doctor.
“Kyunnie, I really need your help. Since you are smart, I am sure you still remember about this photo.” Donghae talks to Kyuhyun.
Kyuhyun looks at the photo and he thinks. He makes a little smile.
“Kekeke… Donghae-ah, of course I still remember about this one.” Said Kyuhyun.
“Really? Then tell me what is it about? Why does Yoona look sad?” Donghae is insisting to know.
“Aigooo, I wonder how can you forget something so special about it? It was when we cele-”
“Cho Kyuhyun!!!” Sooyoung stops Kyuhyun. She is giving him a meaningful stare.
Kyuhyun then makes some nods showing that he understands what Sooyoung means.
Donghae looks confused.
“Yahhh, what does it mean? Are you guys hiding something from me? Yah…” Donghae can’t hide his frustration. Sure it frustrates him more than ever now. It seems like these three friends of his actually know the truth.
Well, actually, both Siwon and Sooyoung lied before. They remember about the photo. They even know why Yoona looks sad. They know what they celebrated that time.
“Hae-ah, I’m sorry for lying but I think you should try harder to figure it out.” Siwon voices out.
“I can’t believe that you still forget about it even now. After all, you are the owner of that photo album Lee Donghae. I’ll give you a hint then… you are the cause of why Yoona was sad that time and she was sad because you forgot something that day. After all these years, you still can’t remember about it? Aigooo, how slow you are Donghae-ah… kekeke.” Sooyoung teases Donghae. Everyone is teasing him.
Donghae feels really bad and guilty now.
Kyuhyun already sits on the couch between Siwon and Seohyun. Donghae is back on his seat as well.
Donghae has given up on forcing his friends to tell him the truth. At one side, it’s really bothering that they keep it from him. However, at another side, if it was really something important and it was related to Yoona, then he feels like he should discover it by himself. How can he forget something important about Yoona?!
“What is it? God…”
He ponders again and in his anxiety, he closes his eyes. He wants to try harder. He concentrates even more to recall that day but it is still a deadlock. He just can’t go anywhere. He totally forgets about it but the desire to change the sad expression on Yoona’s face is growing bigger. He decides to open his eyes and he realizes that Jessica is already there, standing near the window where the fresh air enter the room.
Everyone has frozen again. Everyone doesn’t move. Time has stopped again.
“Miss me Donghae-sshi?” Jessica starts a conversation but Donghae doesn’t respond to it. He is a bit shocked actually by the sudden change.
“Please tell me the truth…” Donghae asks Jesica to tell him the truth about the photo instead.
“I would be happy to help you but I think your friends were right. You should figure it out by yourself and make up for your mistakes and thus I am here right now… you wish to change it right?”
“But what if I fail again?” Donghae responds.
“How can you know before trying?” Jessica smiles.
“I failed before right?! Nothing changes!!!”
“Oh come on… you did make a change. The first photo has changed, hasn’t it?” Jessica replies to Donghae’s last argument.
“But…” Donghae stops himself, unable to reason out again.
“You don’t think that a little change in the first photo will change everything, do you? It is silly if you think that way. That little change will not change everything in the present but sure it changes something. Just… the impact is not that big at the moment.”
Jessica pauses for a moment before adding “And therefore, I think, you should try for another chance… every change that you make… will probably give you a chance to find the happiness you have been longing for Donghae-sshi…”
Donghae is once again stupefied.
He deeply thinks about it.
“So… will you take the chance or not?” Jessica’s words are really tempting. Donghae really wants to take the chance but he is worried that he is incapable of doing the right thing.
There is only silence for some seconds.
“Neh… wish me luck then…” Donghae sounds hopeless though.
Jessica smiles and flicks her fingers.
The next thing Donghae knows he is already being pushed and pulled again in this tunnel of time. He has become the time traveler again in this dark tunnel. He knows he will lost his consciousness in a moment but before that, he suddenly remembers about the most heartbreaking conversation he had with Yoona.
It was so painful to even just remember about it but sadly he can’t forget it, forever.
…
“Please… leave him for me…” Said Donghae, he was really drunk. It’s almost midnight.
He was hugging Yoona from her back. He was chasing her before and finally he hugged her so she couldn’t walk away and avoid him anymore. They were in a lonely street near Donghae’s house.
“Leave Nichkhun and choose me… I beg you… Yoona-yah… Please…”
Donghae was crying… a lot. Donghae was under the effect of drinking a lot of beers. But, wasn’t a drunk person the most honest one?
Yes, he was telling the truth. He was really telling the truth to Yoona. He wanted Yoona to leave Nichkhun and come back to him. He was so broken into pieces when Yoona announced that she would be engaged to Nichkhun. Hence, he bought those beers and drank them in order to forget the fact. However, he just couldn’t erase it from his mind.
Even worse than that, he found himself begging for Yoona to leave Nichkhun.
One of Donghae’s hands was placed around Yoona’s neck and the other one is around Yoona’s waist. Donghae then rested his chin on Yoona’s shoulder. Since Donghae was hugging Yoona from her back, Donghae didn’t notice the tears that were pouring down from Yoona’s eyes.
Yoona was indeed really sad. She was torn as well. Her heart was broken.
But then she forced Donghae to release her. Donghae can do nothing to prevent Yoona from walking again. Several steps after being released by Donghae, Yoona turned her body to face Donghae.
“Why…?” She speaks.
Her tears kept coming out.
“Why you never understand Hae…?”
She was sobbing and her voice was trembling. Donghae was speechless. He could feel that Yoona was hurt. But hell why??? He didn’t know what Yoona meant just right now.
“You really… you really never understand.”
Then Yoona left… without hesitation, she left the drunken guy there, crying alone.
…
Then he goes senseless after that.
He is really determined to look for two things. First is he wants to know what they celebrated and by knowing that he hopes to know the reason why Yoona looked so sad that time.
It happens so fast that Donghae knows he has arrived at that time.
It is really noisy.
He can hear the crowd.
He feels really excited actually.
He slowly opens his eyes and he is in his classroom.
It is so nostalgic and it brings back a lot of memories.
…
Yoona is crying.
Hearing Yuri’s story makes her can’t stay being cool.
“B-but… really… I don’t know about it.” She pleads.
“I really don’t have any idea about what happened to you… God… I swear I don’t know about it Yuri-sshi…”
Yuri only smiles as her reaction.
“Of course. It is expected that you don’t know about it and you really don’t need to know about it.” Yuri says to comfort Yoona.
“But now… n-now I have to repay f-for that, right?” Yoona is still crying.
“For what Yoona-sshi?”
“For killing you of course.”
“I am here so I can repay you right?!” Yoona continues. They are facing each other now.
“Kekeke, Yoona-sshi… I think I should have made it clear that you are here not for that. It doesn’t even true that you killed me. It was our fate Yoona-sshi.”
“Then why am I here then?” Yoona questions the tanned-girl.
“So I can teach you something.”
“Teach me?”
“Neh…” Yuri answers shortly.
Yuri then adds “Everyone that you will meet in heaven will teach you something. They will teach you so you can learn and understand about your life. I’m your first person Yoona-sshi and that’s why I need to teach you a lesson.”
“What lesson?” Yoona is still sobbing.
“That there is nothing such coincidence in this world. That random doesn’t exist, Yoona-sshi.”
Yuri looks away from Yoona’s face and she stares at the beautiful view of Seoul before her eyes.
“That you can’t separate a life from another life. That you can’t separate a story from another story because every story is like a piece of puzzle that will complete the stories in this whole world. You really can’t separate it like you can’t separate the line that connects the sky and the sea. It is like you can’t separate each color of the rainbow. Simply because it is one from the very start.”
Yuri then faces Yoona again.
“Still… it’s just not fair…” Yoona mumbles.
“It was me who is supposed to die that time… not you…” Yoona says.
“…”
“If only I didn’t ask you to give me that taxi… if only I didn’t have a date that time… if only you didn’t give me that taxi… you wouldn’t die that time, would you?!” Yoona is still dominated by her own tears.
“If only I didn’t plead to you that time…”
“If only I wasn’t late…”
“You won’t die… I should be the one who died that time…”
Yoona keeps repeating that line over and over again. She feels really guilty. Her tears won’t stop any soon for sure. She is really hurt. It really pains her. It really breaks her heart even when Yuri has explained that it’s not her fault.
“Yoona-sshi… it’s just how it should happen. We can’t go against our fate. It’s how it should be and that’s what the best thing. Our life has been planned and designed and according to that, I should be late that time, you too, and I should give the taxi to you when you begged, and I take the next one, and I died because of the accident. It’s the truth. We can’t deny it.”
Yuri can only smile again to coax Yoona after that.
“I w-was s-stupid. I s-shouldn’t h-have asked y-you. I really shouldn’t.”
“Yoona-sshi, didn’t I tell you that it was how it was supposed to be. It is our fate and it is not a coincidence. It’s not a random thing. You don’t need to feel-”
“BUT IT’S STILL UNFAIRRR!!!” Yoona interrupts Yuri. She bursts more tears and she shouts at her. It really pains her. It is really hurting for her to imagine everything that has happened to Yuri’s life.
“It is unfair… it m-must have b-been really hard on you… it’s so sad… it’s unfair and it’s my fault…” Yoona weakly says again. She sounds powerless after the shout.
“You know what Yoona-sshi? Fairness or justice doesn’t rule people’s life or death. If they do then we won’t ever see those kind people died at such young age.” Yuri walks closer to where Yoona stands now. Yoona can’t control her emotion. She is so fragile at this moment, too fragile after learning everything that Yuri said.
Yoona feels really sorry.
“Everything that happens in the world has its own meaning. Like I said to you, it’s not merely a coincidence when you meet an old friend in a very unexpected place. It’s not a coincidence when a twin brother fall in love with the same girl. And it’s also not a coincidence when a car crashed while you are supposed to be in that car… It happens everyday and to everyone.” Yuri wipes the tears on Yoona’s face away.
“It’s how our life goes Yoona-sshi and it’s not a random thing because it has a meaning. Whether it’s a sad or happy moment, there is always something good that comes from it. Life is beautiful. It always is and always will. That way, our life will be complete and balanced.”
“Then… what about your family? What about the people who love you? What about them who you love? It’s not fair for them as well. Yuri-sshi… I still can’t understand.”
Yoona stares deeply at Yuri’s eyes.
“I don’t understand… what’s the goodness of your death then? It only left sadness, didn’t it?”
Yoona floods her cheeks with her tears again.
“Well… you are alive that time. That was the good thing of my death.”
“But we don’t know each other. Why do you sound so willing? We were strangers?”
“Strangers…” Yuri is ready to reply. “They are actually your family. You just don’t know and meet them yet…”
Then Yuri hugs Yoona after that. She hugs her tightly and right at that moment, all of Yuri’s feelings flow into Yoona’s system. Yoona can feel Yuri’s feelings and she can sense what the tanned-girl has been gone through all this time. Yuri’s happiness, sadness, relief, anxiety, nervousness, pain, anger, excitement, everything.
“You need to go now Yoona-sshi. Some people are waiting for you.” Yuri whispers.
Afterwards, Yoona’s body feels really light. It feels really floaty. Then Yoona also sees that her body is shining. She can see her hands that are placed on Yuri’s back are brightly shining.
“What happened to my body?” Yoona says to herself.
“Don’t worry, it’s only the sign that you will leave this place.” Yuri answers even though Yoona doesn’t slip a word out from while breaking the hug. Yuri steps backward.
Yoona can only observe her own body. Slowly, she can feel the wind blows the air. What surprises her is that every blow sweeps her body apart little by little. It looks like her body is slowly turning into stars. Her body disappears and it turns into white pieces that are floating and shining in the air. It looks like the fireflies.
“Goodbye Yoona-sshi… and goodluck…” Yuri states her farewell as she waves and smiles.
Yoona looks sad. Partly because she is still affected by Yuri’s story and partly because she simply doesn’t want to leave. She is afraid of another lesson that she’ll receive from those other persons.
Realizing that almost all of her body has turned into these floating stars, she then speaks to kill the silence.
“Thank you Yuri-sshi…”
“Neh.” Yuri replies.
“Ahhh… by the way… I tried to avoid a boy before I crashed my car. I tried to save him. Did I make it? Is he still alive? Is that little boy safe?” Yoona exclaims after remembering about the little boy.
Yuri doesn’t answer though. She just stays silent.
Yoona takes it as a no.
“So I failed. I couldn’t save that boy. After all, both my life and death are useless…” Yoona mumbles wearily.
“There’s no useless life or death Yoona-sshi. The only useless time in our life is the time when we think we are alone. That’s all.”
Yoona still can hear that last sentence from Yuri before being consumed by the wind that blows her away.
And it’s just darkness again.
…
“Yah! Lee Donghae, until when you will just sit still there! You are the coordinator after all!”
Sooyoung yells at Donghae who just opened his eyes. Donghae needs to adjust first.
“What is going on here?” He asks himself.
Donghae observes his classroom. Everyone seems busy. Everyone is doing something. He is the only one who sits calmly there. Slowly, he finally understands that it is the time when they are having the school art and sport festival and Sooyoung just reminded him that he is the project officer for their class.
“Hae… Hyukkie is here. He is waiting at the school gate. Let’s get him.” Siwon abruptly pulls Donghae’s hand.
Yoona and Sooyoung who are working on some decoration things can only see the two boys going outside of the class while Kyuhyun is ordered to take care of the trash.
Their class will open a café for the festival and thus Lee Hyukjae is there to help them. It is Donghae’s idea. Their class will collaborate with Venus-Hyoyeon café and Hyukjae will help as the bartender. Hyukjae skips his own school only for today and Donghae has said numerous thank you to him for that.
The festival will start at 10.00 am and right now is 8.00 am so everyone is in rush to get everything done.
About ten minutes after leaving the class, Donghae and Siwon are back together with Hyukjae in the classroom. Sooyoung notices it and she greets him.
“Hyukkie! Thanks for coming and helping us.”
“Ah neh Soo. You are welcome.” Hyukjae replies.
Yoona greets Hyukjae thereupon.
“Annyeong…” Said Yoona.
“A-annyeong Yoona-sshi.” Hyukaje is somewhat blushing with Yoona’s greet. They are actually not really close compared to how close Hyukjae and the others.
“Let’s continue working. We still need to do several things.” Donghae makes an order. Even he comes from the future, he slightly can recall how he leads the class this time and of course he keeps his mind on his initial mission.
It’s 9.30 am now and Donghae’s class is almost done. Only finishing touch is left. Yoona and Sooyoung are done with their tasks. Siwon who helps Hyukjae with the preparation of the bar has done as well.
“Haechi… are you done?” Yoona approaches Donghae who is tidying up the layout of their class-turned-café.
“I am… waeyooo?” Donghae looks at Yoona.
“Would you like to accompany me walking around the other classes and stalls?”
“When? Now?”
“Hmmm, if you’re free of course.”
“Well I think I’m free now. Let’s go.”
Donghae smiles before asking “Why don’t we ask Siwon, Sooyoung, and Kyu to join us?”
Yoona doesn’t reply though. She can’t answer with yes nor with no. She looks hesitant and Donghae notices it.
“Is this related to why she becomes sad?” Donghae suddenly wonders about the possibility.
“Maybe she wants to talk about something only with me…” Donghae thinks to himself again.
“After thinking about it, let’s just go together without them. What do you say?” Donghae asks.
“Neh… thanks Haechi.” Yoona replies simply.
Unknown to them, Siwon, Hyukjae, and Sooyoung has been observing them thus far. Siwon and Sooyoung giggle when they hear the result while Hyukjae only smiles a bit.
It’s when Donghae and Yoona are about to step out from their classroom when one of their friends calls Donghae’s name.
“Donghae-ah, could you help me with this thing? Somehow, it’s not working.” Yunho, this guy’s name, asks Donghae to help him with the sound system to liven up the café’s atmosphere.
Donghae doubts his decision will please Yoona but he puts his responsibility as the coordinator first. Being this amiable person as ever, Donghae can’t say no when someone asks for his help, even when it comes from a stranger. Being his friend for such a long time, Yoona knows this particular trait of Donghae. She admits that she wants Donghae to refuse to help Yunho but she knows it is selfish.
In the end, Yoona gives in and says “It’s ok Haechi. Just help Yunho. We can travel the festival later.”
And Donghae does what he is told by Yoona.
Thus far, Donghae doesn’t change anything. It still happens like what the past had.
Minutes pass really fast and the festival has officially started. Donghae still works with the sound system with Yunho. It’s Yunho’s task actually but Donghae can’t leave his class without the music there.
Yoona is waiting when the café’s first guest comes in.
“Annyeong… is Choi Sooyoung here?”
“Oppa!!! Hankyung-oppa!!!” Sooyoung greets the guest. She walks towards him and then they even hug each other. He is Sooyoung’s boyfriend. He is a college student. Everyone looks surprised, especially Siwon. Yoona can see the broken hearted expression on his face.
“Yoona-yah, I’ll go walking around now to enjoy the festival. Want to join us?” Said Sooyoung.
“I’m ok here. I’ll just wait for Donghae.”
“Ok then. Bye!”
“Bye…”
Yoona stares at Siwon and Siwon realizes it. The tall guy immediately looks for something to do. He ends up helping Donghae and Yunho to ignore and avoid Yoona’s stare.
While everyone is busy with the festival, there is actually one guy who is busy being bullied.
The guy’s name is Cho Kyuhyun.
He was walking to the landfill to throw all the trashes from his class when some bad students caught him. It is already a routine for him though. It isn’t something new and he is already used to it. Being the smartest student in the school, he is indeed the best target of those bullies. Those bullies will ask and eventually steal his money. Even after that, they aren’t satisfied and they will give some punches and kicks for Kyuhyun.
Kyuhyun willingly accept this treatment. He thinks that it’s not even worth it to fight back because he will just lose. It will just worsen the situation if he does so he gives what those bullies want.
So there he is, lying weakly on the ground after being tortured. He is trying to gain his composure.
He is mad for being weak but he can do nothing about it. Even when he knows that the next day he will get this again, he doesn’t bother to tell his friends. Yes, sadly he never tells Donghae, Siwon, Sooyoung, or Yoona about it. He keeps it to himself because he doesn’t want to burden them.
He is now sitting on the ground, being bathed by the sunlight. He rested his back on the wall of the school building near the landfill. It’s hard for him to see because he got punched on his eyes.
When he is hardly breathing, suddenly he feels his hand being taken and open.
He can’t see who it is. A bottle of fresh soft drink is then being placed on his open hand.
“Who are you?” Kyuhyun asks but the girl is too shy. Yes, it’s a girl. She is Yoona’s cousin. She is called Seohyun, her real name is Seo Juhyun. She is too shy to answer back so she left after that, leaving Kyuhyun wondering about who the person is.
Back to the classroom.
The sound system finally works and there are already several guests lining up to their café.
“Sorry to make you wait Yoona-yah.” Donghae nervously says.
“Nevermind… keke… you are Lee Donghae for a reason. Kekeke…”
Donghae doesn’t understand but decide not to prolong this crap conversation and proceeds to walk. Yoona follows him when another call can be heard.
“Donghae-ah, where are you going? Can you help me?” It’s from Jaejoong this time. It seems like he needs the help to arrange the logistics of the café.
Yoona is already hopeless at this time. She is just waiting what Donghae will decide. Again she is confused. It’s a good thing that Donghae is very kind but he is way too kind. Yes he is the coordinator but it doesn’t like he should do all the things right?! Yoona contemplates but she will just accept what Donghae will say.
“Yoona-yah… I… I honestly don’t know what to say now…” Donghae forgets about what he did before. He wants to change things in this second chance and he knows that he can do that by spending his times with Yoona now. But he holds the responsibility too and he can’t let it go.
“I don’t mind waiting again actually…” Yoona sadly says.
“Thanks…” is what Donghae can say before helping Jaejoong.
Yoona waits at the corridor. Their café is getting crowded so she decides to wait there. She is a bit surprised when Siwon comes to her side and says “Donghae is too kind and also too slow…, isn’t he?”
“Kekeke… what do you mean Siwon-ah?”
“You know what I mean Yoona. I’m just observing things around you two.”
What Siwon means is Donghae is too slow to decide on what thing is important for himself. Siwon knows that Donghae has been in love with Yoona like forever already and that’s why he can say that. Siwon also can see that Yoona loves him back and it is more accurate to say that Donghae is slow to realize it.
“You will lose her if you are too slow as well.” Yoona suddenly says.
“Eh???” Siwon exclaims.
“Sooyoung…” Said Yoona again.
“What do you mean Yoona-yah?”
“You know what I mean Choi Siwon. I’m just observing things around you two. Kekeke…” Yoona precisely says back what Siwon said to her before.
“Kekeke…” Both of them then are laughing.
“I guess he forgets that today is your birthday Yoona-yah…”
“I guess so… kekeke” Yoona sadly laughs. “He is indeed so slow neh?! Kekekeke…”
Yoona knows that Siwon and Sooyoung are in love with each other. Sooyoung even said to Yoona before about it. Yoona can also feel that Siwon feels the same for Sooyoung. But Siwon is always so mysterious. Even when they are close as friends, Yoona never know who Siwon really is, where he lives, who are his parents, what his favorite things are.
There must be something blocking Sooyoung and Siwon but Yoona can’t find it. Yoona once said to Sooyoung that her habit of changing boyfriend will make Siwon gives up. However, Sooyoung reasons that she does that to see whether Siwon has the guts to ask her out or not. Yoona replied to her, saying that it would be impossible to wait like that because Siwon will think that Sooyoung doesn’t like him but Sooyoung is just stubborn. She said that she is testing him. Knowing that she can’t interfere too much, Yoona gives up.
But today, it surprises Yoona that Sooyoung already has a new boyfriend. It was just a week ago he broke up with Lee Sungmin, one of their schoolmates. Well, this Lee Sungmin already has a new girlfriend as well who is famous as Sunny with Lee Sunkyu being her real name.
“I guess I’ll just depend on time and wait…” Siwon concludes after the laugh.
“Me too…” Yoona replies.
…
Yoona opens her eyes and she is in front of the merry-go-round.
She’s back in the amusement park again where she left Eunhyuk before.
The amusement park is really crowded now but there is only one person who rides the merry-go-round and it’s Eunhyuk.
The merry-go-round stops playing when Yoona’s tears start to fall. Eunhyuk comes down and walks towards her. Yoona is ready to cry and Eunhyuk comes at the right time as he hugs the girl to let her cry on his shoulder.
“I d-don’t w-want to meet the other p-persons… please Eunhyuk-sshi…”
Yoona cries really hard.
“Why does it hurt when it is heaven? I think heaven is the place where I can find my happiness?! Where is God? Why does He let me cry in heaven?” Yoona randomly shouts while pouring out her tears.
“…”
Eunhyuk doesn’t reply.
He just keeps hugging her and when Yoona is calmer, he finally speaks.
“I would love to end your sorrow but unfortunately… I don’t have the authority to do so Yoona-sshi. My job is only to transfer you to meet all these persons and it’s the time for you to meet the second one.”
Yoona actually knows that she will, in the end, need to go on. It’s the process that she needs to face, like or dislike.
Eunhyuk breaks the hug. He smiles and then he flicks his fingers.
Everything starts to be darker and darker. Yoona know it’s the time to meet the second person. In her curiosity about this second person, a big question mark appears in her mind.
“By the way… who are you Eunhyuk-sshi? Pease tell me who you really are?!!!” She yells between her tears but Eunhyuk just grins before everything goes black again.
…
“Yoona, I’m really really sorry.” Donghae apologizes. It’s almost 5.00 pm and the festival has ended and Donghae spent his time helping the logistics team who is busy with the café. It’s a good thing that the café is really popular thanks to Hyukjae’s experience with the drinks.
“You did the right thing for the class Haechi-ah, no need to apologize. I would probably do the same if I was the class coordinator.”
“But still… I mean… It actually means I’m not a good leader because everything is messed up that the logistics team need more help… It won’t happen if I made better preparation.”
“To me… you already did a great job…” Yoona manages to sincerely say it even though she is sad that she can’t enjoy the festival with Donghae.
“Besides… it seems like you forget something today… but it’s ok… you are very busy this whole past week.”
“Forget what?” Donghae asks.
“Nothing… really it’s nothing Haechi keke. We’re going to wait you in the café ok?! See you.” Then Yoona leaves Donghae to join Kyuhyun, Siwon, and Sooyoung who are waiting in front of the stairs. Donghae still have a meeting with the other committee members.
Donghae can only see Yoona’s figure getting smaller and smaller.
He thinks that in the end, he can’t change anything even when he goes back to the past. Yoona’s sad face is there.
“Let’s go.” Yoona says to the other three when she joins them.
“Omo, Kyunnie, what’s wrong with your eyes?” Yoona is shocked to see the scar on Kyuhyun’s eyelid.
“He clumsily hit an electric pole before.” Sooyoung answers and of course Kyuhyun lied to Sooyoung and Siwon before.
“Aigooo, you should be more careful later on genius boy. Keke.” Yoona jokingly says. Everyone laughs while heading to Venus-Hyoyeon café where Hyukjae has waited.
After the closing meeting with the whole committee members, Donghae stays alone in his classroom, thinking about his failure. It’s something he didn’t do in the real past. Previously, he will go directly to the café to join the others after the meeting simply because that time he didn’t worry about Yoona’s sad face. But as this is his second chance, he decides to not give up easily because his objective is to change that sad face.
“What do I forget?”
He tries to figure it out.
He tries really hard but he still doesn’t find the answer.
“What do I forget about?”
“God… please…”
It is almost one hour he is there and he is already really late to join the others in the café when four persons come into the classroom.
The four persons are his headmaster, the other three are unnoticed.
“Donghae-ah… you’re still here?” His headmaster greets him.
“Ahhh… neh sir… I am cleaning some things here after the festival.”
“This is a new student and his parents. I’m taking them to a school tour. He will start next week and he will probably be in this class or the next one so I want to show him how it looks like.”
The headmaster says.
“Ahh I see. Annyeonghaseyo… Lee Donghae imnida.” Donghae bows and the new student and his parents return the bow.
“They are from Thailand actually. Ok then, we’re going to see the library now. Don’t go home too late and don’t forget to study. It’s already the end of May. Exams are coming. Arasso?” The headmaster explains.
“Neh.” Donghae simply says and that’s when he realizes something.
“End of May?” Dongahe ponders when the new student and his parents are leaving with the guide of the headmaster.
“End of May?” He repeats.
“What date is today? Hmm… it’s May 30th… what day is May 30th?” Donghae knows that there’s something important for him on May 30th but it doesn’t come out yet.
“Oh my God…” He finally remembers.
“Today is Yoona’s birthday.” He scolds himself.
“How can I forget about it?”
Donghae quickly takes his bag and he runs outside the class. He forgets Yoona’s birthday and it explains everything.
Donghae has been really busy this past week that he eventually forget about Yoona’s birthday, moreover when her birthday is on the same day with the festival day.
He runs with all his might. He gets out from the school now. He is running really fast, the fastest he can.
He remembers that the first time he goes back to repair the first photo, he also ran. He ran on the basketball court to score some points. This time, he runs again so he can wish Yoona a very happy birthday.
“Stupid!!!”
He scolds himself again.
Meanwhile, in the café.
“Aigooo, where is he?” Sooyoung grumbles.
“I can’t reach his cellphone.” Kyuhyun says.
“By the way…” Yoona speaks to draw the attention to her. “Just don’t mention that we are celebrating my birthday today if he still forgets about it…”
“Ehh? Waeyoo?” Siwon questions Yoona.
“Nothing… Maybe I’m too selfish because I want him to remember about it without everyone telling him. Besides, he promised me that he will never forget my birthday so yeah… I hope you can understand.”
The other can only agree with Yoona’s request.
It’s when they are about to take the photo but Donghae is still not there.
“Just let’s take the picture together without him… I’m tired of waiting.” Sooyoung says.
“Yah… how can we do that?” Siwon protests.
“I need to go now actually.” Kyuhyun makes a sound. “I have a dinner plan with my parents." He adds.
“I need to go to. Hankyung-oppa is waiting for me.” Sooyoung emphasizes it.
“Neh… let’s just take the picture now without him.” Yoona cuts everyone.
“Fine then… Hyukkie, would you help us please?” Siwon asks Hyukjae’s help.
Hyukaje nods and takes the camera from Siwon’s hand.
Everyone takes their position and is ready to take a picture.
“One, two, thr-”
“HAPPY BIRHDAY YOONA-YAHHH!!!” Suddenly the café’s door is forcefully opened and unveils the exhausted Donghae.
“Hhhhhuhhh… I’m sorry for forgetting your birthday… hhhuhh… I don’t even bring you any gift now… All what I want to do now is wishing you a happy birthday… hhhuhhh…”
Donghae explains.
Everyone is surprised but thanks God it’s only them who are there in the café.
Yoona is about to cry but she manages to hold her tears.
“T-thank y-you…” Said Yoona.
Siwon, Sooyoung, Kyuhyun, and Hyukjae smiles.
“Yahhh!!! Stop this touchy moment and let’s take a picture.” Siwon exclaims while Hyukjae pulls Donghae to join the crowd. Donghae sits beside Yoona. The order is Kyuhyun, Sooyoung, Yoona, Donghae, and Siwon.
“Ready? One, two, three…” Hyukjae says and it is followed by a “click” and the flash light from the camera sends Donghae back to the present time again.
…
Yoona opens her eyes.
She is in front of the hospital building where she takes her internship but it looks lonely. No one is there.
She knows she will meet the second person here but who it is.
The sky is changing colors again. She walks in. She doesn’t know what but something leads her to walk and she enters the hospital office. There is really no one here. She stops exploring the office when there is a figure in front of her.
“Doctor... is that you?”
Seems like Yoona is familiar with the second person.
…
Donghae already sits again on his chair beside Yoona’s bed. He is holding the photo album.
“Ahhh… that photo…” Sooyoung suddenly notices a photo.
Donghae is surprised.
“It was when Yoona thought you forgot her birthday Donghae-ah. She was really sad that time. But thanks God you showed up at the right time, kekeke.” Sooyoung comments.
Siwon, Kyuhyun, and Seohyun smile along.
And indeed, the photo has changed once again. Yoona is smiling in the photo. There is no sad face again but… is it really the only thing that has changed?!
...
At the same time, at another venue of Seoul.
"Fany-ah... let's go..."
Taeyeon calls Tiffany who is still standing in front of a tomb. They put some fresh flowers there and prayed before.
"Neh... sorry. I just... I just still can't forget it."
"I understand."
"Thanks Taenggo-ah..."
Then they both leave the tomb.
Kwon Yuri is the name that is printed on that tomb.
~TODAY IS AN IMPORTANT DAY FOR YOONA~
“Yahhh, are you still mad at me?”
The 10 year old Donghae chased Yoona from her back in the school's corridor.
“Didn’t I come last night to celebrate your birthday?”
“But you were almost late Haechi…” Yoona replied.
“But I thought you had forgiven me.”
“Not really… not before you promise me one thing.” Yoona arrogantly said.
“What?”
“Don’t ever forget my birthday… even when you don’t have a gift, you should always wish me a very happy birthday. Arasso?”
“Neh…”
Donghae gladly replied.
Today was important for Yoona because it was the day when Donghae promised to always wish her a very happy birthday on May 30th.
She never thought that she would really be sad if Donghae didn’t say it to her.
It was probably because every single day, she has fallen deeper in love with that guy.
**********
A/N
Aigoooo, I'm super duper sorry for updating this late. SORRYYY1000x everyone. Hope you can enjoy it.
And here are the supporting pairing beside YoonHae:
1. SooWon
2. SeoKyu
3. KhunA
4. YulTi (later on...)
5. TaeNy (later on...)
But they are really just supporting couples. Won't write much about them... sorry...
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