Chasing Her

002

Had she gone crazy?

Ah Reum didn’t know what was on her mind when she decided to take Baekhyun up on his offer and visit the arcade with him, especially since the first thing she wanted to do when she saw him was run away. However, instead she stayed glued to her seat with a mouth that said nothing but his name as the clock that stood beside the gigantic fountain ticked for seconds on end, and yet they had still not said a thing to each other. What left Ah Reum so speechless when she saw Byun Baekhyun anyway? It was not like they were close or anything, right?

To Ah Reum, Baekhyun was an acquaintance. They knew each other simply because they were in the same class, and as much as the latter wanted to hide his feelings for her, she was not so oblivious that she did not sense it. If anything, he was too obvious. Ah Reum was aware of how Baekhyun had a crush on her to the point that she almost felt bad for treating his confession as an entertaining show that she can conveniently watch on television at any time. Ever since she found out that he had a crush on her, she felt like a jerk for acting as if she did not know.

Baekhyun often left sticky notes on her desk, filled to the brim with his tiny handwriting, which basically summarized everything that they learned the days she didn’t come to school. Not only that but whenever she felt down, he gave her a ride on his bike and showed her the most picturesque locations she can only find in pictures.

He was a good person from what she remembered, so Ah Reum did not hate him.

However, to say that she does not think about it to this day is an understatement as she always wonders what would have happened if she had accepted his feelings or if just she flat out rejected him. It would have been less stress, and perhaps she could get the chance to be happy. Then again, it’s a good thing that she stayed oblivious to his feelings, especially since continuing to chase after Sehun was what enabled her to become good friends with Sooyoung, Jongdae, Luhan, Yerim, and Seulgi. If she hadn’t, who knows if they would have even looked at each other?

At the time, she was happy that Sehun did his outmost best to keep him away from her because it made her believe that he had feelings for her after all. Now that it came to her mind again, that same fulfilling feeling does not seem to make her heart clench anymore. Instead, she begins to wonder if she’s the bad one this whole time for confessing her love for him when it is not him, but rather a boy, who she won’t see again.

Luckily, Baekhyun only suffered because of his feelings for her. Ah Reum would not know what to do if he got severely hurt because of her as well.

The second she saw everything, from the letter to the grave, she wondered why it took her so long to remember. Jiashuai was not someone that should have easily been forgotten, especially since it was her fault that he died. His parents could not even look at her despite how often they used to smile at her and thank her for being friends with their “baby boy” that they feared would end up alone in such a foreign country.

The time they spent together was limited, but she cut it short because of her stupidity. She sure is bad luck. What bothers her more is that she does not remember why exactly she ran away. All she knows is that Zhang Jiashuai died, and he died because of her.

Despite indirectly rejecting Baekhyun, Ah Reum always had a soft side for him. She could never forget that look on his face when she gave him her first kiss.

First kisses were important to everyone since they were so hard to come across, so when she just gave hers away like it was nothing, Sehun could not help but hide his disappointment. Baekhyun, on the other hand, looked so happy like a child playing with bubbles, desperately trying to pop each and every one. Ah Reum never understood why he had gotten so worked up over one piece of chocolate, especially since it was something she received from the teacher for answering one question in class, an easy one at that.

That occurrence made Baekhyun think that she had feelings for him. After all, it wasn’t every day that you get someone’s first kiss, you know?

It was a tradition that the generations before them had done, with each exchange bringing the two individuals closer, so what was Baekhyun supposed to do when Ah Reum suddenly came up to him and gave him the piece of chocolate without a second to hesitate? Be happy? Jump up in the air? Run around the whole school in triumph for accomplishing the toughest challenge ever? No. Even before that, the wicked thought that the girl was in love with him came to his mind.

Before that incident, Baekhyun’s crush for her was as deep as the amount of water one can fill in a bathtub. To explain it in simpler terms, his feelings for her weren’t enough to drown him completely. After it, though, his crush had turned into love, which ended up pulverizing his heart in the end.

As awkward as it was for Ah Reum, for Baekhyun, it was like a lovely reunion with the girl of his dreams that sadly broke his heart. It took everything inside of him to calm himself down and let her knew that he had matured and that he was no longer the clown that often caused havoc at their school.

Actually, he just wanted to show her that he was still available and still quite desperately in love with her. When he saw her sitting across from where he was standing, the first thing he did was turn around and fix his bed hair.

Even though his friends often reminded him of Ah Reum and made her seem as if she was a horrible memory, he never thought of her as such. In his memories, though faint because they got older, she’s still the girl he loved. Though she stomped on his heart and belittled his feelings by not taking notice of them and not taking him seriously, he would continue to love her because she’s worth it. Ah Reum herself taught him that.

She may not remember it, but she taught him one autumn day that even trash, as he described himself, was worth it and will be the greatest treasure to someone someday. Because of her uplifting words, he was able to escape from that abusive household, from his mother that tormented him with hurtful words, that to this day, still pains him, and become someone who can see the beauties in life that he once overlooked.

She saved him from being total trash. This time, he’ll save her.

…

“Do you want me to get you anything?” Baekhyun asked her. “I’m the best when it comes to these arcade games, so say it, and it’s yours,” he practically boasted with his forever inflating ego.

Ah Reum snickered. When did Baekhyun become so proud? She wanted to admit that there was nothing there that she especially took a liking to because she didn’t want to waste his money on something that she can just buy herself and because she doubted his words.

Baekhyun was never good at games.

That itself was the fact that she didn’t want to reveal that she knew because she didn’t want to burst his bubble. She only knew, not because he told her, but because she saw him one unfortunate afternoon when she fell asleep during class, and when she had woken up, Sehun had already left without her. Ah Reum saw him beside the convenience store declaring war on the crane machine that seemed to eat up all of his allowances. He was aiming for one thing at first, and then he gave up halfway through when he realized that he couldn't get it and so he started trying to get the other prizes that were there. She recalled staying there for a great thirty minutes until she grasped that she was late and that her mother would probably get mad at her for not coming home early.

“I guess I’ll take you up on that offer then,” she replied.

Ah Reum grinned. If she were going to get something from Baekhyun, the one who especially at games, then it would have to be something easy to get and cheap.

She looked around, eyes wandering through the arcade looking for the perfect prize. When her eyes landed on a combination of a cat, cow, and butterfly, she poked Baekhyun on the side and led him to the crane machine that had that odd stuffed animal.

He looked skeptical as he scratched his head in confusion. “Are you sure?” he asked. He didn’t really see anything wrong with the stuffed animal, but it wasn’t something that he can just give her. Baekhyun didn’t want Ah Reum to remember him as the boy who gave her nothing but headaches and a lame stuffed animal when he could’ve given her happy memories and a mountain of treasure.

“Yes, Baek. I’m sure,” she bluntly replied.

“Fine then.” And so he begun.

Ah Reum had turned around to look for a chair somewhere, preparing herself for the long battle that was about to occur. She figured that it wouldn’t be a problem if she just sat down for a moment with the excuse of her being there as a distraction.

However, before she could find one, Baekhyun had tossed the stuffed animal to her. On his face was a triumphant smile, while had gone wide in astonishment.

“How did you do that?!” she practically yelled, catching the attention of the other people in the area. Ah Reum was incredibly surprised. It never occurred to her that he would get better at games since he wasted so much of his money on that one crane game and didn’t get, not even one prize from it.

Baekhyun smirked. “I told you, didn’t I? I’m the best.”

That was a lie. It was just his ego speaking for him.

When Ah Reum wasn’t looking, Baekhyun had coincidentally seen a young kid passing by with the same plushie, so he gave the young boy money in exchange for it. It was a bit costly, but if he let Ah Reum see just how bad he was at those types of games, then he would probably regret that day for the rest of his life.

“You’re bad at these games, though,” she explained, still utterly confused. “You’ve never been good at these games.”

Baekhyun frowned in response to her statement. How in the world would she know? “Little Ah Reum, you just never paid attention to me before. Sehun’s the one who’s bad at crane games. I’ve won about thirty from the crane machine that was beside the convenience store.”

That was when Ah Reum knew he was lying. The owner of that machine had purposely made it so that no one could get a