6 Months later….

Eun Gi’s POV:

I took a deep breath as I stepped out into the open of Korea for the first time in 6 months.  It was 11pm at night and cool night breeze blew gently on my face. I dragged my luggage as I hailed for a cab back home. As I placed the key into the key hole, I heaved a sigh of relief as I was glad to be back. Much to my surprise, Soo Young was waiting for me in the living room.

“Eun Gi!!!!!”

“Soo Young!! You waited for me? IT’S SO GOOD TO BE BACK!! I bought loads of stuff for you in England!”

We hugged each other for a good 10 seconds before I started to unpack my stuff.  Soo Youngg stared at me in disbelief as I unpacked the things I bought from England. “Were you shopping for the whole six months?” She jokingly asked.  –

That night, before I slept in my ever so comfortable bed, I thought to myself, “Eun Ji ah,  the 6 months that have passed was a good time for you to learn that there are so many more people out there who care for you. You should learn to learn yourself too. Change for a better person…”

The next day, I wore a new floral dress with a white sweater and boots. As how we did 6 months ago, Soo Young and I made our way to school, and we talked so much that we forgot we had reached the crossroad. “Tell me more later ok? Bye!” Soo Young said. I nodded and made my way to school.  When I reached school, I saw Sunggyu already in class but not Myung Soo. I asked Sunggyu where he was.

The smile on Sunggyu’s face faded. Sunggyu kept quiet for a moment,

 before saying, “He…he met with a car accident 2 weeks ago…”

.

 When I heard the words ‘car accident’, my heart stopped beating for a split second. It felt like déjà vu.

Sunggyu continued, “He’s alright, but he lost his mobility. He’s now on the wheelchair… He came to school for that day but everyone laughed at him, so he stayed at home since then… Eun Gi ah, can you please follow me home and speak to him? I really don’t want him to give up on himself this way. Anything for you if you’re willing to.” I nodded my head, I was very worried for Myung Soo. Soon, Mrs Kim stepped into class. “Ah! Eun Gi! You’re back! I bet it was amazing isn’t it? You certainly need to be more active in discussions in class so everyone can benefit!” I smiled and nodded my head shyly.

-

After school, I followed Sunggyu home and went to his room alone, only to see him lying on the bed, totally listless and looking like he hasn’t bathed for a whole week.

“KIM MYUNG SOO!” I called out. He looked at me, before burying his head under the blanket.

 I pulled the blanket away and told him, “Are you seriously going to give up on yourself like this?”

 Sunggyu told me that this was only temporary, and it’s not permanent, as long he was willing to go for treatment. This isn’t the Myung Soo I knew 6 months ago.

“ Do you think only you’ve been through this period of time? I have too! I didn’t mention in my letter but I too had to sit on a wheelchair after that accident, but look. I’m fine now alright? I even had to give up my dream of being a dancer. You were the one who told me that as long as there is a little bit of hope in life, we should treasure it. Have you forgotten? Why, why do you want me to come back to see you in such a pathetic state?”

He stared at me blankly, not uttering a single word.

“If you’re going to stay this way, I’ll leave now but I’ll be back tomorrow.” I said.

Before I left the room, he said to me, “I don’t have any right to love you now.”

“If you’re going to give up on yourself like this, then you certainly don’t have any right.”

I left his room, unable to believe what had become of Myung Soo. I looked at Sunggyu and shook my head. “I’m sorry. I really don’t know how much of what I said did he really listen. I’ll be back tomorrow morning. About 6.30am, is it alright?” Sunggyu nodded and thanked me before I left.

When I reached home, I told Soo Young about Myung Soo. She stared at me in disbelief and said, “When he had all the looks, everyone wanted him. Now when he’s on the wheelchair, only you’re still true to him. And Sunggyu of course.  Look at how cruel other people can get.”

-

The next morning, I woke up extra early and made my way to Sunggyu’s house. He too, was all dressed and ready to go to school. “Let’s hope you succeed this time” he said, as I walked up to his room. I opened the door and the lights. He still carried on sleeping. I went to the bathroom and brought a pail of cold water to his room.  I walked up to him and poured it on him. “YAH! What are you doing?” He shouted.

 I said sternly, “I did it the nice way yesterday but you didn’t want to listen. I’M GIVING YOU 15 MINUTES TO GET DRESSED OR I WILL SERIOUSLY STOP BEING YOUR FRIEND. I DON’T THINK YOU’RE WORTHY TO BE MY FRIEND AT THIS STATE YOU’RE IN.” I left his room, praying silently that he would pick himself up.

Thankfully, 15 minutes later, he was all ready and dressed.

“FINALLY!” Sunggyu shouted as he high fived Myung Soo.

Myung Soo looked at me and said, “Eligible to be your friend now? Yah! You’ve changed a lot Eun Ji. The old Eun Ji wouldn’t pour water on my head. Good to see you like this.”

I smiled and nodded, before we all left for school together. When the three of us stepped into class, Mrs Kim was already in class. “Good to see you again, Mr Myung Soo. Go on, we’ll wait for you.” I helped to wheel him to his seat, before sitting down.

During break time, the three of us sat at the same table. Just then, Yuna walked over and said, “Oh, you’re back already. You can have this ex-King Ka all you want already. We have a new kingka who just joined our class yesterday. He’s rich and got good looks, and best of all, he can walk. Seeya!”  Sunggyu rolled his eyes at Yuna and told Myung Soo to ignore them. The three of us looked across the cafeteria, seeing that a group of girls had crowded around the guy. “Must be the new Kingka” Myung soo said. I told them to wait while I bought some food.  Just after I bought three hot dog buns, I turned to look at the new kingka. Why does he look so familiar? Then, he waved to me and walked over. “Eun Gi? It’s really you? I’m Woo Bin, we met in the university in England!”  I nodded my head and invited him to join us for the break. “I might just be killed today for stealing their Kingka!” I exclaimed as I walked with him over to the table where Sunggyu and Myung Soo were sitting.

Myung Soo’s PoV:

“I’m guessing they know each other?” Sunggyu told me as he pointed to Eun Gi and the kingka. Just then, they walked over and Eun Gi introduced him as her friend in England who was in the same university. I invited him to join us to eat. Eun Gi and him shared many stories about the times in England and even Sunggyu looked like he was enjoying himself. Somehow, I felt this tiny bit of jealousy deep down inside but decided to keep it in.

“And remember the time when there was a rat in the class? You literally screamed like there was no tomorrow. It turns out that it was just a fake rat and our course mate just wanted to scare us,” Woo Bin continued.

Eun Gi nodded and Sunggyu burst out laughing. I smiled and acted like I too, was amused.

“Ah…. It’s so good to see you here,” Eun Ji said as Woo Bin hugged her.

“Guys, you know, Woo Bin was like my bestest friend in England and I won’t forget how happy I was when I found out there was another Korean student in class.” Eun Ji chirped.

Soon, break time was over and we had to make our way back to our classrooms. Eun Gi told us to return to class first while she collected some worksheets from the printer on behalf of Mrs Kim.

Eun Gi POV:

As I walked to the printer room, the familiar voice of Yuna called me. I turned around and looked at her, straight in the eye. “You’re really an irritating bug you know. I’m officially giving Myung soo to you now, so leave Woo Bin alone.” She barked.

“Or what. You’ll break my headphones again? Or will you slap me again? You can be jealous all you want but I’ll have my rights to make friends.”

“Oh… So our dear Eun Gi is getting more daring… Please don’t forget, I’m the queenka of the school. You had better watch out. I assure you, things won’t get this easy for you as long as you cross my path. You hear me?” She hissed as she glared at me.

“Yuna, can I ask you one question? What joy do you have in doing this?” I questioned.

-

After class, I was walking with Sunggyu and Myung Soo when Woo Bin called me from the back. I turned around and saw him catching up with us. I then remembered that I had promised him earlier today that I’d treat him to a cup of coffee as a form of repaying his kindness for lending me his lecture notes when I was absent on one of the days.

“Oh yeah… I remember now… Let’s go. You guys wanna come along? I’m gonna treat him to a cup of coffee to repay his favour.” I asked politely.

With that, the four of us left and headed for a nearby coffee house. “2 cups of hazelnut latte takeaway please.” Woo Bin told the staff. I smiled at him, surprised that he remembered I liked to drink Hazelnut Latte. “What do y’guys want?” He asked politely to Myung Soo and Sunggyu. Upon collecting all our drinks, we made our way to the park. As we walked, Woo Bin suggested that we took a seat on the bench and we casually started talking about how it was fate that we’d be in the same school twice.

“I’m surprised you remember my favourite drink.” I chuckled as I told Woo Bin.

“And that you love puppies so much you almost broke one of its neck?” he said as he laughed.

I covered his mouth and smiled sheepishly at Sunggyu and Myung Soo. The 4 of us then carried on talking to one another.

After we were done, Myung Soo said that he had to leave for his treatment and Sunggyu followed him. We bid goodbye as Woo Bin and I continued talking. He asked me what I thought of this current high school. “If I ever had to describe my high school life, I’d say it was a bitter-sweet journey. Learning to open up to unexpected challenges, learning to trust and learning to believe that you can. This is my high school life.” I said, smiling. Woo Bin joked and said that he was sure to enjoy his time here from the way I had described it.

Myung soo’s POV:

“Sunggyu, it’s too late now isn’t it? How am I gonna win her heart? Even woo Bin knows so much about her… More  than I do.” I asked Sunggyu as we made our way to the therapy centre. “Never too late.” He replied, without giving it much thought. “But she isn’t the kind of girl I can just give flowers and kisses to please her.” I replied, just before we entered the Doctor’s room. “You gotta prove with actions then.”

After the therapy session, I decided to go to the mall to shop for some simple groceries together with Sunggyu. He went to the fresh food section, as per usual, and picked out some food that he deemed as delicious. I went to the biscuits section and wanted to find the chocolate biscuits that were Eun Gi’s favourite so that I could surprise her for her birthday. I picked it and placed it in the trolley. That day, I stayed in my room and wrote a heartfelt card to Eun Gi, hoping that it was enough to win her heart.

“Happy girls are the prettiest.” – Audrey Hepburn

The next day, I asked Eun Gi to meet me earlier at the garden. When she arrived, she was dressed in a white knitted top and a floral skirt, with a trench coat.

“Myung Soo? Why did you want to meet me here today?” she asked. I brought out the box of her favourite chocolates and handed it to her. She exclaimed, “More biscuits? Woo Bin bought me two whole boxes of this yesterday as well! Are you guys trying to make me so fat?” I slowly took out the card from my bag and handed it over to her, wishing her Happy Birthday. She received it with thanks and said, “THANK YOU!!! I’ll read it later when I’m home. YAYY you still remember my birthday.” I laughed and replied, “Of course.”

Eun Gi POV:

That day after school, I went home to see a whole table full of food.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAYYYYY EUN GIIIIII! I LOVE YOU!” Soo Young shouted as she hugged me. I received the present and rushed to the table to see what she had prepared for me. “FOOD! Haha Woo Bin and Myung Soo even bought me the same chocolate biscuits and each gave me a card!” I exclaimed in excitement. After having lunch, I went to my room and decided to open Woo Bin’s letter first. I smiled as I read the contents of letter, until I saw the last line, “Will I have the honour of stealing your heart? I love you.” I froze. I re-read the letter again to make sure that I didn’t read it wrongly. Flustered, I decided to read Myung Soo’s letter. I was about to finish the letter, when I saw the last line, “I’m working really hard to get back on my feet and I’m really going to succeed soon. I hope I have the right to love you now. <3”  I put down both letters and called Soo Young to the room. I told her what was in the letter and she stared at me in disbelief.

“Soo young! Don’t just stare at me! What should I do?”

“Okay! Wait… what are your feelings towards Woo Bin?”

“I don’t know… He makes me smile and feel happy.”

“Myung Soo?”

“He makes me feel warm and gives me a sense of belonging, I guess.”

“Oh gosh. This is hard. Does your heart pound extra fast when you see either one?”

“Not really. But my heart was pounding a lot faster when one of them handed me the card.”

I whispered his name into Soo Young’s ear. Soo Young broke into a smile. “You’ve got your answer.”