CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

 

To think that Jinri was the one who decided to part ways with Chanyeol was practically unbelievable to Soojung. After being her best friend for years, she was pretty sure that Jinri was too crazy in love with her idiot of a boyfriend to even separate from him. But then she knows how much the boy loves her back as well, probably a lot more than her, so what he said might be true after all.

 

After agreeing that the school grounds was not the best place to talk about this matter, both Chanyeol and Soojung had decided to skip school that day. Even though they were alone at the time that she caught him, they both knew how gossips spread so rapidly at the walls of Imperium Academy so Soojung had asked for the keys of Chanyeol’s Lambourgini to drive off the school grounds and talk.

 

“I do not know what you’ve done, but it must be pretty stupid considering that she broke up with you.” Soojung looks at her right side, where Chanyeol was sitting. “What have you done?”

 

“It’s not what I did, Soojung. It’s what will I do.” He takes a short pause before continuing, “After graduation, I’m going to Vienna.”

 

“Why?”

 

“To study, of course.”

 

“I know. I mean, if you are going there after graduation, it would just make sense that you’re going to study there.” She rolled her eyes. “What I wanted to say is, why Vienna? Out of all the places in the world, why pick a city in Europe? And don’t you dare tell me a stupid reason like, ‘because it’s beautiful there’ or some sort of .”

 

“Wow, you sound exactly like Jongin.” The boy chuckles.

 

Surprised, Soojung's eyes widens, thinking that she was the only one who knew about what he was telling her. “Hold up, he knows about this?”

 

“He was the first person to know if you exclude my family.”

 

“That ! And he didn’t even bother on telling me!”

 

“I guess he keeps a lot of secrets from you.”

 

What he said catches her attention, curious about the things his fiancé hasn’t told her yet. But she knew that it wasn’t the time for that. “Okay, stop changing the subject, Park Chanyeol.”

 

“Anyways, Vienna is a small but beautiful city. It’s the place where Beethoven wrote most of his pieces and it's where he spent his last years-”

 

“So basically, you want to be Ludwig Beethoven 2.0?”

 

“Yes- I mean, no. God, he’s a musical genius, Soojung. I can’t top that. I just want to stay at the place where one of my inspirations stayed at, you know?” He explains. “Me leaving Seoul means that it’s the first time that Jinri and I will get separated. And… it will be hard.”

 

For the past years of being in a relationship, Jinri and Chanyeol has actually never been separated excluding the holidays that they spent with their families, though sometimes Jinri joins Chanyeol’s family and vice versa. That was just one of the perks of having a family who accepts your relationship.

 

“Do you know why she suddenly stopped accepting project roles after that sitcom of hers?” He asked, and the girl just shook her head. Jinri has actually never talked about her upcoming projects with her. All she had these past months were photo shoots and hosting gigs. “That’s because she wanted to spend the remaining school months with you, Soojung. After high school, she’ll be too busy to hang out anymore. She’s not planning on entering any university because she’s going to pursue acting.”

 

“That… doesn’t really surprise me.”

 

“And as she gets busy here, I will be too in Vienna. I know for a fact that a long distance relationship doesn’t last. If we were to break up, I’d rather have my heart broken here when I’m with my friends. I don’t know what I will do if we break up when I’m in Vienna all alone.” He explains.

 

Soojung wanted to cut him off to say that what he was saying about long distance relationships was an utter bull, but decided not to. It was her first time seeing her friend talking so serious. And by the way that he talks, there’s no denying that he does truly love her.

 

“I don’t want her to get lonely at night. I don’t want her to wait for me. I want her to have fun, date another man and be happy.” He laughs bitterly. The thought for his girl dating another man was painful, but it was better that way. It would be better that way. “Besides, she’s a magnificent, beautiful, lovely girl.”

 

Those words were just perfect, Soojung thought.

 

“Falling in love with Choi Jinri is not difficult.” Chanyeol smiles.

 

“You know, if there’s something that I learned from my past relationship, it’s that you just don’t let go so easily.” The girl beside him suddenly says, making him look at her. “If Derek flew from Los Angeles to Seoul just to see me, then you, a boy who confessed his love for a girl in front of the whole school, can have a long distance relationship with her.”

 

She then looks at him back, not a sign of anger written on her face, and continues, “Love can do everything, anything. And despite the fact that I always get jealous of you whenever my best friend talks highly of you, I must admit that you’re perfect for her, Chanyeol. So please, win her back and no matter how hard it gets, don’t let go of her.”

 

“Soojung, that’s the nicest thing that you’ve ever told me.” Tearing up a little, he was about to hug her when she gestured him not to. “You just gave me an excellent idea!”

 

“Wait, what do you mean?” She asked, but he didn’t reply. Instead he unbuckles his belt and exits the car… until he realizes that he was already in his own car.

 

He immediately comes back and upon entering, the first thing he says was, “This is my car.”

 

“Are you low key telling me to off and leave? Because I swear to God if you kick me out I will-”

 

“Actually, I will just take a cab. Please kindly drive my car back to my house.” And with that, Chanyeol leaves the car again, leaving Soojung slightly flustered by the fact that he just ordered her to do something when it usually the other way around.

 

 

 

Not even 24 hours have passed when Jinri called her, saying that she and her broken up, Soojung feels her phone vibrate at her pocket. She peeks at it and sees her name at the caller ID, but she couldn’t answer it that time as she was with her brother, who thankfully bought her ‘the teacher didn’t come today’ excuse, avoiding a scolding from him.

 

The next day, the two reconciled love birds arrived together at school, hand in hand. Soojung was the only who noticed the huge grins on their faces, as if they fell in love with each other all over again. Sehun was too busy freaking out about something, but she wasn’t really listening to it.

 

“Good morning everyone!” Jinri greets her friends happily, her hands still glued to her boyfriend’s. “Isn’t the weather so lovely today?”

 

“No it isn’t, Jinri.” Sehun frowns. Obviously, somebody wasn’t having a great morning unlike Jinri. “Did you know what happened to me?”

 

“Uhm, no?”

 

“Well, last night my father introduced to me his girlfriend, and it turns out to be Sooyoung’s mother.”

 

“And that’s a bad thing because…?”

 

“Because I was planning on wooing her.” He mumbles, crossing his arms. “Of course, if it’s okay with the ex.” He glances at Jongin who just shrugged.

 

“I thought you’re going out with Youngji?!” Soojung asked, surprised. But then she shouldn’t really be. She was talking to Oh Sehun after all.

 

“She never actually liked me. I guess my good looks are a burden for her. Plus, a bitter old man told me not to hang out with her anymore.” He then glances at Jongin not so secretly.

 

“Why are you prohibiting Sehun to see Youngji?” Soojung annoyingly asks Jongin, her eyebrow raising. Maybe she could understand why he didn’t like seeing her with the Ehra students, but he didn’t have to prohibit Sehun to hang out with Youngji. “That’s just… unfair! And uncalled for!”

 

He turns to the shorter girl. “Actually, I prohibit all of you to see anyone from Ehra High, especially you. You don’t really know how they act, or how they really are.”

 

“No matter how many times you tell me that, I still won’t do it Jongin.”

 

“You are so stubborn, Soojung. But still, I won’t stop reminding you until you finally listen to me.”

 

Everybody looks at the now an angry Soojung, whose arms are crossed in front of her chest, and the much more relazed Jongin, whose hands were in his pocket, looking like didn't care. He knows anyways that no matter how many times he tells her what not to do, she would still do it so there wasn't really any point on getting mad.

 

“Ah, you guys, we’re back again by the way.” Jinri says cheerfully, looking at Chanyeol who looked at her back with much love. Now the attention were at them.

 

The two boys (the only ones who didn't know about their break up that lasted for a day only) exchanged looks confusedly. “You guys broke up?”

 

 

 

Jongin wasn’t so sure if he should laugh or be embarrassed by the fact that his younger cousin was now kneeling as he cried at the other side of the field because of the painful defeat that he and his teammates received from Imperium Academy. He understands that losing is hard, and he would probably do the same if they were that close to the finals.

 

Jogging torwards Mingyu, he tried to help him get up, but the younger one refused to be helped.

 

“Leave me alone.” Mingyu sniffs, shoving him slightly. “I hate you.”

 

“Come on, Mingyu. Don’t be like this.”

 

“Shut up! I really wanted to win the finals… Or atleast get into the semis-”

 

“If you really want to win the finals and get to hold the trophy, why don’t you just transfer to Imperium next year? We would love to have you there.” Jongin offers his hand once again, and this time, Mingyu finally accepts his help.

 

Once he got up, he mumbles something to his cousin, probably cursing him. Jongin didn’t comprehend, but he doesn’t ask what he meant and just accompanies him back to the tunnel by putting his arm around him. Since they aren’t in the same team, they had to separate eventually, with Jongin patting the younger one’s head as his sign of goodbye.

 

Back in their locker rooms, his team captain approaches him. “Hey, is your cousin okay? He didn’t look too good.”

 

“He isn’t, but he will be.” He chuckles, already imaging how bitter Mingyu will act around him on their family reunions. “I bet he’ll transfer to Imperium now.”

 

“Well, the academy would be glad to accept another Kim in the team.” Jinwoo says. “Anyways, the coach would probably make us a lot harder in the upcoming trainings as we only have two more games until the finals, so expect a much more longer training hours." He grabs his towel from his sports bag and before heading to the shower room, he whispers, "I was informed that Ehra won their match this morning, which means they have the possibility to reach the finals as well."

 

Jongin looks at his captain, the last part of his sentence caught his attention.

 

"This is our final year in this team, Jongin. I've been with you from the beginning. We got to win the league. We got to bring the trophy back to the academy."

 

"Don't worry, capt. We will certainly win." He smirks. 

 

 

 

Just when Soojung was about to go back to her homeroom after her 30 minutes break, she passes by her locker to get her books. She feels someone stand beside her but she doesn’t move an inch, thinking it was just Jongin again. But then the person clears his throat and she was sure as hell that he wasn’t her fiancé.

 

“Oh, Taeyong! W-What’s up?” She blinks, surprised that he was there. She wasn’t scared of him, but for some reason seeing him there made her feel nervous. “Sorry, I thought you were Jongin.”

 

“So Jongin does this to you a lot, huh?”

 

“If you mean him standing beside me and annoying me with his presence, then yes. Yes, he does.”

 

“I could imagine him doing that.” Taeyong chuckles. “How was New York?”

 

“Amazing. The trip was short, but it was still amazing. We had a lot of fun.”

 

After running out of things to talk about, they started to feel a little awkward. Still, Soojung was confused on why he was talking to her. “Did you just want to ask about New York that’s why you’re here or-”

 

“The last time we talked, I thought that I acted quite rude. Well, I'm always am, but much more than usual.”

 

So she could listen and pay attention more, she closes her locker and fully turns to him. “The last time we talked- oh! At the balcony?”

 

“Yes, that time.” He mumbles. 

 

“You mean, that time when you told me that I couldn’t go to the rooftop anymore, right?” Taeyong nods slowly, his eyes on the floor.

 

"I'm honestly feeling a little guily about it, so yeah..."

 

“Aw, are you apologizing? I mean, I know that you like to be alone and all that, but I never thought that you would actually apologize for that. You don’t seem the type to do that-”

 

“Excuse me?” He finally looks up at her, glaring a little. “What do you mean I’m not the type to do that?”

 

Soojung could only smile awkwardly after realizing what she has done. “Oh? Is that the bell I hear? I gotta go.”

 

Before she disappears, she hears him shout, “You’re welcome at the rooftop anytime you want!”

 

 

 

One day while she was eating lunch with her friends at the school, Seulgi approaches their table and informs her that the Headmaster Son wanted to see her. And even though she wanted to go after lunch as she hasn’t finished her meal, Seulgi insisted that she head there already because she was ‘very much needed this instant’.

 

“Ooohh, I guess somebody is in trouble. What did you do now?” Jongin teased when she finally gets up from her seat to leave. Seulgi was still at their table. Thankfully she was too busy talking to Sehun about something, so Soojung flashes her middle finger at her lovely fiancée, causing him to laugh out loud.

 

Honestly, she wasn’t going to lie – she was a little nervous to go at the headmaster’s office, and the fact that she was needed so badly just doesn’t help. She stops on her track at the middle of the empty hallway to think if she has done something wrong. But she couldn’t think of anything. She didn’t even do anything to begin with.

 

The headmaster’s assistant opens the doors for her and the first thing she sees inside was the headmaster in his chair, and the two comfortable couches that she and Jongin sat at months ago. The only exception is that one of it was occupied by a man. If the assistant didn’t tell her to enter, she probably won’t as she thought that Mr. Son was still busy talking to another person.

 

“Ah, Soojung. Darling, come.” The Headmaster gestures her to sit at chair next to the man, which she found was a little strange because she thought she would have to talk to him alone. “You didn’t mention that your family was having issues?”

 

The man then turns his head around, and with a smile, he greets her, “Good afternoon, sister-In-law.”

 

“J-Jin oppa.” Soojung’s body freezes automatically upon seeing her sister’s husband. She was not expecting him at all. “W-Wow. It has been a long time since I Iast saw you.”Even though she just literally just got there, she was already wishing that the school bell could ring so she could leave. Could you even blame her? This guy was the same person who treated her sister like .

 

“Soojung-ah, did you hear me?” Now sited, she looks at her right side, seeing her brother-in-law smiling in front of her. He laughs a little before continuing, “I guess not. I’m sorry for suddenly coming at your school when you’re having your lunch. I know you’re hungry so I brought these.” He hands her a pastel pink box of pastries.

 

“Thank you, but I’m already full.” That was a lie. She wasn’t even able to take a bite of the steak that she got. If only Jongin didn’t annoy her before Seulgi arrived, she would have ate half of it.

 

“Since there’s still a little time left till your next class starts, why don’t you talk to your brother outside?” The headmaster suggests. And even though she wasn’t looking at him, she could feel Jin’s smile growing wider.

 

 

 

In silence, Jin and Soojung stood in front of one of the school’s huge windows that showed its infamous beautiful yard. Some students were already coming out, they have probably finished eating and wanted some fresh air before the classes start but Jin has not yet spoken, his hands on his pocket and it seemed like he was thinking deeply. Soojung wanted to ask what he wanted in the kindest way as possible, when he finally started to talk.

 

“Now I don’t want to be rude to kids, so I’ll just get on the point with you.” He has just started, but she was already offended when he called her a kid. “Where has your sister gone?”

 

Confused, she wasn’t sure how to answer. “Uhm, I guess she went to work? Why are you even asking that to me when I’m-”

 

“Cut with the bull.” Jin suddenly curses, taking her aback. Only his expressionless face remains, a complete opposite of the smile that he had displayed in front of the headmaster. “I went to both her office and your house and she wasn’t in any of those places, so where the is she?”

 

“Well, she’s probably shopping or something? I don’t know? Why... do you sound so mad about this?”

 

“Mad? Me? I am not.”He laughs lightly as he shook his head. “You don’t want to see me mad so just tell me where my wife is.”

 

“I told you I do not know! If you really want to see her badly, then why don’t you wait for her back in the mansion?”

 

“Because she’s never coming back!” Jin explodes, his face suddenly becoming red from his sudden outburst. “Her clothes are gone, her belongings are gone, everything that she has is gone!” He then starts to mutter something in Chinese, words she could probably understand if he spoke a little slower.

 

Soojung stood in front of her brother-in-law, confused and nervous. Confused because of his sudden outburst and nervous because of the possibility that he’s saying the truth. “She… she couldn’t have just…”

 

“Runaway?” He finishes her sentence for her. “She’s with Lee Donghae, isn’t she?”

 

“T-That’s ridiculous! My sister will never go with him knowing-”

 

“But she did! She’s gone now! Ugh, why am I even asking this to you when we both know you’re not even close to your own sister?” Jin shouts harshly at her, and she could only look away from what he just said. “In the short time that I spent with her, she has never spoken about you. Not even once.”

 

 She mumbles under her breathe, “It doesn’t matter if we weren’t close as sisters. I know Jessica adores me with all her heart.”

 

“In that case, shouldn’t you know where she is? If she does, shouldn’t she have told you then? Or are you just pretending that you don’t know?”

 

“W-What?”

 

As he steps closer to her, Soojung backs away slowly, afraid of what he might do to her. Though she knows that he wouldn’t dare, not when they’re in her school and she could just scream so people could hear her.

 

“I’m going to give you a month, Soojung. If you do not tell me where she is, I will dig up your secrets and tell them to your family.” He thought that he could just make up some lies to ruin the younger girl’s relationship with her family, but seeing the sudden fear in her eyes made him think otherwise. He smirks at her, “So you do have secrets? Where should I start? Does your fiancée know something?”

 

With tears on her eyes, the girl backs again slowly, and this time Jin doesn’t come any closer to her. “No wonder my sister never loved you.” She spats out before running away from him, just in time for the school bell to ring.

 

 

 

“Why didn’t Soojung come back? She left her plate untouched, and she’s probably starving right now!”

 

“She probably didn’t want to see you, Jongin.”

 

While on their way to their next class, Soojung’s friends couldn’t help but to talk about her as she never went back to the cafeteria. They found it quite strange, considering that just before lunch, she was talking about how excited she was to eat. They finally spot her with her bag, rushing after closing her locker. If they didn’t call her out, she wouldn’t even notive them.

 

“Uhm, you do know that you have a class still, right?” Chanyeol points out the bag that was swinging on her shoulder after seeing it with her.

 

“I have to go. I’ll explain it to you guys later, I swear!”

 

Before they could say another word, Soojung starts running away, just proving how she wanted to get the hell out of there. Still dumbfounded by what just happened, the four friends see Seulgi pass by them with her other friends, and being the curious one that he is, Jongin asks her in the spot on the reason why the headmaster wanted to see her.

 

“Ah, you really can’t help yourself when it comes to Soojung, can you?” She teased. He could only laugh awkwardly and gesture her to shut up. “Honestly, I don’t even know why. But there was this guy on his office who introduced himself as her brother-in-law so I suppose-”

 

“Brother-in-law?” Jinri suddenly pops out behind Jongin’s back. “So, Jessica unnie’s husband?”

 

“Yeah, I think so. She only has one sister right?”

 

Instead of answering Seulgi’s question, Jongin turns to Jinri with a worried expression on his face. “I’m going to call her up.”

 

 

 

With heavy steps, the first thing Soojung does when she arrived in the mansion was head to her sister’s room, ignoring the remarks and questions the maids are asking her on how and why she was at home that early. She felt sorry for not paying attention to them, but she really didn’t have the energy to explain that she’s feeling too ed up to concentrate in class so she had decided to skip her two last classes of the day.

 

Deep inside her heart, she hopes that Jin was just ting on her. She couldn’t think of any valid reason why, but she really hopes he was. Because she was Jessica’s sister, or just because he was bored and wanted to mess up with someone, anything will do.

 

She hasn’t even reached the door, but she could already see the maids cleaning inside since it was slightly open. They were even rearranging her things, outraging the younger Jung as she knows that her sister doesn’t like it when people move her stuff without her permission. She enters the room without knocking.

 

“What are you doing?! Don’t change the sheets! You literally just changed them two days ago! Jessica unnie doesn’t like it when you snoop around her things so don’t do that! And did you just throw her work away?!”

 

“Miss Jung, please calm down-”

 

“Calm down?! I am, but Jessica unnie won’t if she sees you people touching her things so please stop!”

 

The maids exchanged looks.

 

“U-Uhm… We’re very sorry to tell you miss but… it seems like your sister has left the country.” Soojung turns to the maid who was talking behind her, frowning. “She shortly left just when your parents headed to work. She had brought all her clothes with her and asked us to clean up her room. And unlike before, she didn’t mention when she will come back.”

 

To prove if they were telling the truth, Soojung goes to her bathroom to check up all of her sister’s beauty products. All of them were gone. She then proceeds to check her sister’s wardrobe only to see it empty. Her clothes, her shoes, her hats – all of them were gone.

 

One of the maids taps her shoulder and hands her a white envelope. Slowly, she reaches for it, unsure what it was for. “We we’re told to give this to you, Miss Jung.”

 

Nervously, she opens the envelope that had a handwritten letter from her sister.

 

To Soojung

 

If you’re reading this, it means that I have already left.

 

Nobody knows where I’m going, not even Donghae nor Jaejoong. I already could imagine their faces once they found out. Hopefully, Jaejoong doesn’t lashes out to you when he finds out. Though I would kicw to hear from you every day, don’t even bother to call me. You don’t even have to send me messages. I am completely cutting my ties to everyone so Jin wouldn’t know where I am, just in case he asks people. Don’t worry. Your sister and your nephew will be fine.

 

Growing up, I tried to be a good role model for you. Someone who you could look up to, a sister you could be very proud of. But I have made a mistake. It’s a mistake that I do not really regret as I am truly in love with the father of my child. The thing that makes me sad is that I know our parents will never accept this, especially our father. My only wish is that you won’t have loveless marriage like me. Knowing Jongin, I doubt that you will. He’s a young boy who appreciates who you are. I can see it in his eyes. It’s a pity that I won’t be attending your wedding, nor will I see how the two will grow as a married couple.

 

To end this letter, I just want to apologize for not spending much time with you, as kids and these days as well. I was far too caught up with my own dream that made me the cold, perfectionist and strict person that I am today. But your support has given me the strength to keep my baby, and I know that our family won’t be happy knowing that the child I’m carrying is illegitimate so I have fled the country to go to another place. Even though I do not say it, you do know that I love you, right? I really do, Soojung-ah.

 

I won’t be saying goodbye, because I will see you soon, surely.

 

With much love,

Your sister Sooyeon.

 

Quietness filled the room as Soojung drops the letter from her hands. It was evident that she’s surprised and unhappy by what she just read with the expression in her face. The maids surrounding her could only stare and exchange looks.

 

“Please, get out…” The girl mumbles, her voice cracking a bit. “Leave.”

 

They all do what she orders and leave her alone in Jessica’s room. As soon as the door closes, she reaches her phone from her backpack that she dropped beforehand. She tells herself that she’s not going to cry, but she could already feel the tears forming in her eyes while waiting for her brother to pick up.

 

“Soojung-ah, can this wait? I’m in the middle of a meeting-”

 

“She’s gone, Jae. Jessica left us.”

 

There was a long pause before Jaejoong finally replied back.

 

“I’ll be there in 15 minutes.”

author's note: 

im back y'all! :D after 9 months of suffering at school, my summer vacation has finally started! (i speak as if i'm never going back to school lmao) did y'all miss me? 'cause i missed all of you T_T anyways, since school has ended, i promise to update a lot these days. well not everyday because i'm a slow poke, but i'm pretty sure i would update more now. maybe twice/once a week? my goal is to finish ihyn this summer, and then start the sequel shortly after.

before i say goodbye, i just want to ask if you guys don't mind if the story finishes with a lot of chapters? i mean it already has a lot of chapters, but by the end of the story, it would probably have more than 40 chapters? i'm honestly not a fan of super long stories and before i started this, i thought it would only have like 30 chapters or something. but the ideas kept on coming and i just couldn't stop writing lmao. if you guys don't mind, the story would probably end with like 55-60 chapters. (i really hope you guys don't mind bc i really like writing the story askhdaisdhad XD)

that's all for now, i think. and as always, i hope you all have a lovely day! <3