[CONTENTID1]Another Side, Another Story V[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]A SELECTION OF CHOCOALTE-BOYS[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

(A/N: Thanks to everyone who voted! I really appreciate it! I'm currently counting up the votes and it seems that there is tough competition between 3 of the guys. Anyways, to make up for it, I've decided to add 4 'what if' chapters after the Epilogue is over, just because so many people voted!! Hence, even though one of the guys will win, the top 4 runners up will have their own 'what if' epilogue too. ;))

My Friend

Her feet walked on her own accord. For many days she locked herself away in the spacious hollowness of her room and cried silently into her pillow. She wasted tears on so many things. She cried for Sungyeol, for her friends, for herself, and of course, she cried for Suzy.

This was the girl that meant so much to her. She still remembered the first day when when she was swinging in the playground those many years ago. The sun washed the earth in a yellow glow and the laughter of children were dimmed somewhere in the ringing of her ears. Then, Jaejoong ran up to her, and smiled with his toothy smile. His front teeth had just fallen out.

“I want to introduce you to someone,” he had said, and then he pointed at a timid and small girl, no older than herself somewhere in the fading background.

Nana was immediately excited. For some reason, she found it hard to make friends. All the girls hated her and called her snobby. It was because Nana had the best clothes, the best shoes and the most dolls. In her house, she had a whole room full of toys just for herself. She was oblivious to the way people talked about her behind her back, even at the age of four, but the moments after caught up with her.

With her tiny legs, she ran to the little girl of three, who was busy trying to construct a chain out of broken daisies. The girl looked up to her with wide, shiny eyes and held up the chain for her. Nana stooped down and she fixed the chain on the crown of her head.

“You look like a princess,” the girl giggled.

“Like, my parents think I’m a queen,” Nana replied in glee. “I’m Nana!”

The girl gave her a gentle smile. “I’m Suzy.”

“Would you like to be, like, my best friend?”

Suzy nodded enthusiastically. “I would love to!”

The memory wiffed away into a pall of smoke and dreams inside Nana’s head. She blinked away a tear and wiped it with her pinky finger.

What happened to them? What happened to her?

She lost herself in a fit of rage and turmoil that day. Her heart was in pain, and she ignored the fact that Suzy also went through such agony. Heck, the younger girl had witnessed Sungyeol crumble right before her eyes. Nana shuddered as she imagined the scene unfold. A part of her wished that she was in Suzy’s place. Maybe she could have stopped him from hurting himself.

However, the real reason her heart bled tears was because of a simple truth that only registered in her brain now. Sungyeol never liked her more than a friend but she was a fool blinded with love. At first, she admitted that it was his handsome features that enticed her to him but as she learned more about his bright personality, she kept sinking into a quicksand of bliss.

To acknowledge that he preferred her friend over her only wrenched her insides apart, but as a friend, she broke the importance of being a sister that wasn’t related by blood. How could she have been so horrible?

The thought just made her want to scream inside a claustrophobic room until her voice died away. Her feet came to a halt outside her destination. As she breathed in the end of December’s snow, she stared at the rugged sign that flared ‘Kimchi’ in the darkness of the alley.

There was a rustle of noise and out popped a giant she hadn’t seen in a while. He closed the door shut to Bok Choy and stared at her with rheumy eyes.

“Nana-Nana-Nana!” he called, and she rolled her eyes.

“Like, what is it now, Yifan?”

The giant rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. “Are you here for dinner? I can give you a discount at Bok Choy.”

Nana sneered in disgust. “That’s so stupid. How many times do I’ve to tell you? Do you have any mush left in that noggin of yours?”

Of course, sometimes she believed that Yifan’s brain only consisted of mashed up worms and nothing else. He grinned at her sheepishly, shivering in the snowy weather. His fingers turned blue and his cheeks reddened. She didn’t know why but she wanted to tell him to retreat back into his forsaken restaurant. The last thing she wanted was Yifan to die from frostbite right in front of her.

“But you never gave it a chance. Besides, aren’t you and Suzy fighting?” he said, teeth chattering eccentrically.

Nana perked an arched brow. She pursed her lips and glowered at him. It wiped the indiscreet smile off his face.

“Where’d you hear that?” she demanded, strutting closer in her heels and giving his shoulder a push.

Yifan raised his arms as a mechanism of defence. “Everyone’s talking about it.”

Nana felt her heart sink into her stomach. She was suddenly devoid of energy and wanted nothing more than to cuddle into her bed back at home. Her eyebrows strained. She must have appeared very dejected because Yifan’s eyes popped in their sockets. Guilt was evident in his features.

“H-hey, I’m sorry,” he reassured, daring to pat her shoulder. “I didn’t know that it was true.”

Nana slapped his hand away. He flinched again when she raised her hand. “It’s none of your business, or anyone else’s for that matter. Get lost, Yifan. You, like, ruin my day by just existing.”

His features contorted. His fingers clenched into his palms. “...really?”

She opened to add more salt into the wound but they heard footsteps edge closer into the alley. Both turned around to see Suzy arrive before the restaurant. She stiffened in her spot, staring at Nana like a wounded deer trapped in the middle of the wilderness.

Her pale cheeks were flushed and she donned a thick jacket and a woollen scarf. Sadness flitted across her eyes, and they stood staring at each other for a long moment. Seeing her so close again only made Nana recoil away.

It reminded her why she fought with the girl in the first place. Surely, Suzy was at fault as well, right? Nana shouldn’t be solely blaming herself. So, she lifted her chin up high and stalked past her without another glance.

The Best of Men

Suzy was very special to him for many reasons. Firstly, Mr Kang never thought his wife would have anymore children after their first child died from leukemia. He still remembered the day he cradled the tiny, immobile body into his arms. His wife cried as if the morrow should vanish but he was serene.

He sang Minah his last lullaby into her ears, aware that she would never hear it again. He remembered how she loved his bedtime stories and she would jump with joy whenever he returned from work. Minah became the little bundle of joy that held more love for him than the rest of the world combined. She became the reason that he enjoyed life in general.

For a long time, before Minah was born, the Kangs thought they would never be blessed with the gift of a child. After being married for ten years, they were informed by the doctor that Mrs Kang was pregnant. It was a miracle. No one guessed such a miracle to occur, but it did and Mr Kang remembered how the two of them wept with tears of happiness.

Their happiness didn’t last long because Minah was diagnosed with cancer at the age of five and she died a couple of months after. Years passed when the Kangs were still haunted by the tintinnabulation of her laugher. Every room reminded them of Minah, and the temporary joy that she imbued in their lives.

It wasn’t until years later when they heard the cries of a baby outside their house. Mr Kang opened the door and he found a tiny little baby girl wrapped in a tattered pink blanket at the entrance to their home. She was crying so much, tiny little fists clenched, her pudgy feet kicking at the air. Her voice faded against the roar of a storm outside. He thought the wind would take her away.

At first, his heart froze inside his chest. He was certain that he was dreaming but he collected the baby into his arms, and when he did, he heard the sync of her heartbeat next to his. There was a little note inside the blanket.

‘Please take care of my daughter. Bae Suzy is her name.’

And from that day forward, the Kangs were blessed once again with a gift they though