Nine.

Twelve Meters and Closer
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"Hayi," Chaerin peeked inside her sister's room, smiling slightly at her rumpled up bed. "Still asleep? It's a beautiful day," she grinned and got ready to pounce on the bed, when a voice behind her startled her.   "What are you up to, eonni?" Chaerin turned, surprised, as Hayi herself, dressed and wide awake, squinted up at her sister.    "Darn it. I was going to wake you up." Chaerin pouted. "You're up early," she observed.   Hayi smiled. "I was thinking of looking up some things today."   "What things?"   "Umm," she hesitated. "Part-time jobs...and then some classes."   "Ohh," Chaerin nodded, impressed. "What sort of classes?"   Hayi smiled bashfully. "Maybe something of baking?" she let out a little laugh.   "Really?" Chaerin smiled widely. "Aww, that's amazing, baby girl! It's so good of you to finally think that up. I knew you didn't love pastries for nothing. You need to learn quickly and then design my wedding cake, ne?"   Hayi almost snorted. "What wedding cake? You're not thinking of getting married anytime soon, are you? The best time I'll be able to make you something is a birthday cake."   "Did somebody say 'birthday cake'?" their father appeared around the corner. "Hayi, I'm done with the computer. You may use it. Are you going to look up some cake?" He wiggled his eyebrows until his daughters laughed.   "Dad, she's looking for a baking school. She'll have no one else to feed her concoctions but to us."   "Really?" their dad smiled, then turned serious. "But what of your job right now at the magazine?"   "I was thinking of that...I'll save up first until the next term at the baking school, if that's okay, and if I can juggle a bit, I'll continue for a while. But since it gets too busy at the company, if it's like that until the next term, I'll quit and find a part-time while I study." Hayi hesitated for a bit. "If that's okay with you, Appa."   Her father looked at her for a moment. "It's going to be difficult starting from scratch again. But if you're sure that you want to go through that," he grinned mischievously. "And since there shall be bread and cake and no cost involved for me..."   "Appa!" Hayi exclaimed as Chaerin laughed loudly.   "All I'm saying is, you're young and you can do what you think needs to be done. Try it." He smiled at his daughters. "Appa and Eomma shall support you both all the way."   Hayi smiled gratefully at her father. "Thank you, Appa. Thank you, eonni." she gave them each a hug. "But if it doesn't work out --"   "You don't know that yet!" Chaerin laughed. "Just try it first. Then let's see where it takes you."   "Yeah..." Hayi said, thoughts drifting to a boy on the apartment across theirs. I hope we both find the same courage to move forward in our lives and see where that takes us, right, Hanbin?     Hanbin lingered outside the apartments even though it was fifteen minutes until his bus arrived, the bus that will take him to the train terminal, which will in turn take him to the university. It was Sunday night already; he held up five fingers as he counted off. It was the longest that he had stayed; yet it was probably the best. There's a niggling feeling of something different on the fringes of his life, mixed with anxiety. He had yet to figure out if it was good or bad. He gripped his suitcase tighter in his hand.   Jinhwan was nice enough to wait with him, though he stood a little distance away. In his hands were the banchan his mother made for him, in a pile of containers wrapped in yellow cloth.   Plastic boxes, in fact, that were brought to them by a certain little brown haired girl three years ago, with huge, observant, curious eyes.   The same pair of eyes he'd been anxious to see before he left.   He could tell Jinhwan was a little impatient, yet, as is his style, he didn't voice it. Mosquitoes were prevalent then, and he kept swatting his face  with his hand.   Finally, Hanbin bit his lip and turned back to his hyung. "Sorry. Let's just go, I don't think she's coming."   He had texted Hayi earlier telling her to meet him in front of the apartments at 5:00PM, and that he had something to give her. Hayi responded with a lot of apologies, since she said she was in church and was st
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chaeyunhye
I only started back-reading and replying to comments! Gaah sorry! -_-

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Aida_Rusdi
#1
Chapter 11: How irony that i read this after hanbin leaving ikon and can't help to point out some similarities between this story line with the real life situation right now. Like how this jiwon got involved with drug and it's the freaking thing people accused hanbin with. Like how hayi said "welcome back, hanbin-ah" and that's how i want it to happen so much since hayi is having her comeback around but it feels so much emptiness without hanbin as her best friend to fill his singing parts. Despite this one very thing happened, it still manages to hurt me beyond words. And i shouldn't ponder about it often for now as I'm sitting for my final exam till 1st july. I need to stay focus, yet we know it's still futile to put aside the thing that matter to us. Let's just hope everything will go back the way it was, better and greater.
Midnight-Rose
#2
re-reading again and again, cuz this is an amazing masterpiece
Midnight-Rose
#3
Chapter 10: this was so beautiful and heartwarming <3
i really loved how you balanced between the angst and the fluff, well done!
cinnamonspunk #4
Chapter 10: Thank you for taking the time to write this!
cinnamonspunk #5
Chapter 8: Bravo! Hanbin’s speech to Jiwon was well written!
cinnamonspunk #6
Chapter 7: I love the line, “My comfort pales in comparison.” It just rolled off the tongue nicely!
I also thought of the line where Lee Hi says it doesn’t matter if you know what you want to do or not, as long as you look forward. There’s depth to it, and I agree with her. People are always saying you have to follow your dreams, but dreams don’t make good leaders. You can give up things that you’d like to do for the best things.
cinnamonspunk #7
Chapter 6: I love the verse you put in the beginning. “Love is the great reversal.”

And these two are so sweet!
cinnamonspunk #8
Chapter 4: Okay so he didn’t commit suicide. Death is really an awful thing. But it can be overcome.

You capture emotions well!
cinnamonspunk #9
Chapter 3: Oh no, he committed suicide! It’s such an awful thing ): I wish people knew that they have hope in a living God so that they won’t just throw away their lives.
cinnamonspunk #10
Chapter 1: I think the way you describe details is lovely, and when you started talking about lights and warmth, I immediately thought of this, “God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.”