Part 5: Beautiful Silence

When Oh Hayoung opened the door for him, her eyes were widened, genuinely startled over his presence. Her hands were lifted, all together covering which slightly opened due the mixed feeling inside herself.

“Sunbaenim?” the younger followed once she had her hands down. “W-what bring you here?”

To be honest, it wasn’t like this what Jiyong had expected. First, the reaction of the youngest of Apink members was none other than surprise, and it wasn’t leading anywhere like anger, annoyance, even disgust. There wasn’t something like an urge to slap him or even kick him away immediately, and it actually got him surprised as well.

And second, what Jiyong could immediately note was the way she called him, it changed but at the same time it didn’t sound changed. This girl used to get really comfortable calling him oppa, and between the members she was actually the only one who called him that way. Between the rest Apink members, their relationship was probably the closest one and Jiyong found that he quite liked the fond between them. She was always open, and supportive, and it surely gave him a feeling of being welcomed.

However, although the way she called him changed, there was a similar feeling lingering, and he could see she was still the same Oh Hayong he knew. He’s truly glad for this.

“Hi, Hayoung-ah. It’s been awhile, right?” with a smile he greeted her and immediately got an honest nod. “Can I … see her, your eonni?”  He was here already and he wouldn’t waste a single chance for it.

“Eunji eonni?” she asked the obvious question. And as if it was the most difficult riddle, Hayoung sounded truly oblivious. The surprise on her look hadn’t fully subdued and her voice didn’t indicate anything but being completely lost.

His smile softened by then, he nodded lightly. If Jiyong was asked who’s the most innocent person he ever met, the kind of person whose expression was always telling honesty even without their realizing, the answer was Oh Hayoung.

“Oh, I’m sorry Sunbae, I was still … yeah, of course Eunji eonni, as if there is other her than her,” she corrected herself, chuckling a bit as if trying to compensate for her silliness.

“Is she home?” he asked, bringing the girl’s attention back to biggest question. And again, she was jerked in surprise.

“Oh I’m sorry, Sunbae … yes, yes. Oh I mean, no, she’s not home. Sorry, where is my mind?” Hayoung paused for two second, taking a breath then continued, “She’s not home, Sunbae.”

Sighing, Jiyong felt as if his heart dropped on the floor, not beating. There was then a slight disbelief crawling onto his mind, maybe she lied, maybe she was ordered to say that. But there wasn’t any sign that Hayoung wasn’t telling the truth. From the way she looked at him, he could find a genuine disappointment, which probably mirrored his.

“There was no one when I was home, Sunbae,” she added, her tone was slightly down. “Or, do you want me calling her and you wait inside instead?”

He looked up immediately.

“C-can I?”

She smiled loosened before nodding, “sure. Come in, Sunbae, it must be cold.”

When he first stepped into their new house, Jiyong noticed its size was bigger than their previous one, it looked twice bigger. All the news about his girlfriend’s group that he ignored the whole year seemed giving him a real report of how’s reputation they had right now. From this property only Jiyong could imagine the number of their income digits, which even though was far from his, was still pretty a lot, like really a lot.

Hayoung handed him a warm chocolate when she joined him sitting on the couch.

“She doesn’t pick up the call,” she said. Her tone was again down, carefully exclaiming her genuine intention. “But I sent her a text, telling her to come home immediately.”

He smiled thinly, understanding and thanking her at the same time.

“So, how are you, Hayoung-ah?” Jiyong spoke, trying to make up the situation.

“It’s fine, Sunbae. I’m fine, the members too, and … Eunji eonni too.”

“Oh, good. Glad to know that.”

Lie.

Strange, there was a part of him who wished ‘fine’ wasn’t her answer. Fine shouldn’t exclaim Eunji’s life right now. It was probably his pathetic self which hoping she wasn’t feeling that way, just like him. There were other options like, she missed you, or she would look sad whenever your name was mentioned, or she always checked on your update. He would feel better with that, but no, it was ‘fine’ and he couldn’t lie that it disappointed him a little.

He shouldn’t feel this way though, he was in pain for a long time, and it wasn’t good at all, knowing the feeling better than anyone, it was too selfish to wish she felt the way he felt this whole year.

Jiyong immediately shook his head, as if trying to get his mind back.

“And how are you, Sunbae?” Hayoung kindly helped him back to reality.

He looked up, smiling thinly.

“I’m fine, good … but honestly … it’s not completely good.” His smile getting thinner, exclaiming what he truly felt. “I look pathetic, don’t I?”

“Sunbae …” and her voice sounded sad, as if she felt what he encountered.

“It was a mess, Hayoung-ah. I didn’t know what I did and what I should do, and I guess I deserved all of it.”

“I’m sorry for that,” she said. “In the beginning, it was hard too, for Eunji eonni, actually. She refused to go out, she didn’t smile a lot, she even stopped talking for a certain time. I wasn’t aware of what really happened, but I felt genuinely sorry for both of you.”

Locking his gaze on to the younger’s eyes, Jiyong was pretty flustered. He didn’t expect this. All of this, from the way this member greeted him to the way she shared things he needed with honesty. When he stood waiting for the door to be opened, he had expected something worse. If it was Chorong, he was probably left standing on the door the whole day, he knew her too well to know how she’ll manage him.

If it was Bomi, which was Eunji’s best friend, Jiyong would probably face the worst. She was the one who stopped her from calling him anyway. From the way she yelled, he could tell the amount of hatred that girl had for him. And she was pretty good with physical greeting, he would probably get a slap or a kick, just like before, without letting him muttering a single word.

Naeun, as the quiet one, would probably only told him she wasn’t home then coldly closed the door. He couldn’t imagine Namjoo and Hayoung, but it was pretty much the same.

It exclai