Chapter 21

“I got the weirdest dream last night Yong!! It’s making me cringe to death!! WAAAAHHHH” she shrieked at the top of her lungs inside the car, out blaring the sounds that’s coming out of the radio.

He briefly looked at her whose feet are up on the passenger seat hugging her knees silly. He chuckled seeing how she’s acting, her expression changes from one second to another, it’s like she’s seeing colorful butterflies one minute then  dungeons the other. He could feel her inner conflicts in whatever it is that’s bugging her. She would open as if she would say something then would immediately close it meaning she’d thought otherwise and would rather not talk about it at all. Though he had known her all these years and could read her body language, oh how he would give anything just to see what’s running in her mind. Their weekend getaway has now come to an end and is on their way back to home, as soon as they step out of the confines of the car, they know they would have to face the reality of growing up.

“Rea-lly Yong-hwa it- was- so- wei-rd!!” her eyes widened as she said each syllables

“It must be something really big for you to turn 6 words to 8!”

He laughed this time as he can see the annoyance and amusement on her face all at the same time

“Ok spill, what is it?”

She looked at him seriously and held his arms with both her hands “I want to tell you but I can’t coz it’s also embarrassing”

“Come on Joohyun, whatever it is, it can’t be that bad right?”

“That’s the thing! It’s that bad!”

“If I won’t let it go, will you ever tell me?”

She haughtily release her hold and looked out the window “No”

He shook his head and smiled “Then I’ll let it go” He knows Joohyun very well, the more you pester and ask her to say it, the more she won’t say anything but once he lets it go, the information will pour out as natural as the rain. He’ll just have to wait for her to come around.

“So how was your weekend?” Joohyuns mom asked the two as they sat for dinner

“Fun! I didn’t know there were a lot of different kinds of seafood! Like there are some weird ones and there are some regular ones and they come in different colors!! Like macaroons!”

“I do hope they don’t taste like macaroons because that will be so weird!”

“No don’t worry it didn’t it was delicious, something refreshing to my palette”

Yonghwa took a piece of meat from Joohyuns plate and ate it “Joohyun sorta gave me a scare, when she first tasted the sea cucumbers she turned red! I thought she was going to have an allergy attack! Turns out she bit way too much and food got stuck on ”

“It’s because I’m a genius! Okay!”

“Pabo!”

“Merong!”

“Are we raising another set of 5 year old?” Mrs. Seo looked at her husband

He in turn looked at the two who was sitting at his side and scrunched his nose “I don’t know more like 3 year old?”

“Dad!”

“Ok we rest our case!” he leaned to his wife “Nah it’s 2 year old” while she nodded and smiled

They hang out for the remaining days before Yonghwas enlistment, it was fun since they were able to spend time with their friends and family and most importantly with each other. They went to the places they would usually go. Their favorite restaurant where they’ll older boiled pork wraps and afterwards would head to their favorite café where they would order different desserts of which will be eaten by the other instead. Their faces has smile plastered on but their footsteps get heavier as the day of their separation neared.

Other people may not understand but for them, it’s like losing a piece of themselves. They’ve always seen each other as two peas in a pod or Hansel and Gretel, or David and Goliath of which one is useless without the other. They had their fair share of misunderstandings throughout the years but that’s what made their friendship stand above all the rest, it is only with each other that they are willing to give in. They will never be caught dead playing dumb nor stupid or purposely looking like a trash in front of others but if it’s just the two of them, they can go on for days without even bathing. IT’s that kind of comfortable friendship where there is no inhibitions, no pretentions.

“So Yong, are you really really ready for this?” she asked him while she folded his shirt placing it inside his duffle bag 

He snorted “Is that even a question? Like do I have a choice?”

“Yes it’s a question and no you don’t have a choice!”

He laughed sarcastically “Joohyun for some reason I always find your little questions insulting, why’s that? Are you doing that on purpose?”

She shrugged “No but maybe because I ask what I want to ask without asking and thinking how you’ll feel about my question”

“Ah yes the beauty of being you!”

“That’s a sole privilege I’ve bloody earned after all these years of hardships!”

“How many years of hardships?” rubbing his chin

“hmmm 8 long excruciating years!”

“There you are again with your cynic comments!”

She tilted her head back in laughter “It’s not cynic it’s a fact my dear!” after her laughter subsided she cleared “but I’m sure gonna miss you, almost 2 years of peacefulness I should be in complete bliss but here I am, abhorring the forthcoming boredom”

“Yeah right boredom my arse! You can fool everyone but not me Seo Joohyun, there’s a glint in your eyes that’s saying Sayonara er in my face! You’re even going for a vacation in the US while I suffer!”

She walked towards where he was seated and bent down to be face to face with him and smile “Ain’t not my fault your born a guy!” at the same time lightly tapping his face

“If you feel bored you can always hang out with the others” he pointed matter of factly

She huffed and walked towards his closet to get more clothes as he looked on “Nah! I’ll probably get a new bestfriend while you’re a