Chapter -2

*Alarm buzzes*

You managed to put one hand out from under the covers to get your phone and turned off the alarm. The lock screen momentarily shocked you, as you hoped all that happened last night was just a crazy dream and the only Daehyun you knew was the one looking at you through your phone screen. But your tear stained pillow said something different. You kept looking at the wallpaper for a while longer. He was smiling so brightly while his arms hung from across your shoulder. He and you both had matching Pokemon t-shirts on which you must have bought from some store a long time ago. It just seemed like a distant memory now as the sinking feeling in you started to grow.

You managed to get up and hit the shower hoping it would wash away this weary feeling as well. The usual routine of breakfast was skipped even though you had time left to spare because today you would rather walk to work than take the bus. After checking all the locks and knobs you turn and leave the apartment complex.

The weather was bright and sunny unlike your mood. This is precisely why you wanted to walk taking in the nature around you. The trees seemed to have grown higher than you remember and the grass much more yellow. Kids yelled and ran around the play area not giving up on their mighty hide-n-seek game even though the only places to hide were behind those trees. The dogs barked louder today it seemed as their owners threw rubber balls for them to fetch. Or maybe you just took notice of them today. Amongst all the chaos though, as much as you tried to avoid it, your eyes trail down to your left hand which held your phone, checking for the message that wasn’t coming.

 But, why were you so worried? He has been your best friend for as long as you can remember. Will he not understand a simple situation that honestly didn’t even happen? Yeah maybe it seemed like you wanted to kiss him at that moment but it was just for a second and it shouldn’t be an issue at all. Giving your hair a good brush with your hand and shrugging off all the unnecessary weight off of your shoulders, you decide to message him instead.

“Hey! Didn’t hear from you in the morning, how is practice going? Didn’t forget your breakfast again did you?”

You typed out the message and after a slight hesitation press sent.

*Message delivered*

You walked into office looking forward to a quiet day with just some paper works to complete. When usual greetings were taken care of you sat yourself down at your desk with a deep sigh. The phone you held was quietly placed in the drawer so as to keep the paranoia of ‘did he reply’ away for the time being.

You set up everything around your desk nicely and plugged in your earphones to keep the noise of everything else away. Focus on work was your motto for the day. So, you put your YouTube playlist on shuffle and get working. A few hours pass without much trouble but things couldn’t go totally smooth for you could they? At least that’s been the case for the past 24 hours. Before you knew it Ed’s “Perfect” began to play and quite instantaneously you took the headphones off as all the memories from last night came gushing in. You felt a pain forming under your chest.

Thud, came the hard slap on your shoulder, shocking you. You broke free from your thoughts and looked back to see your boss’s ugly laugh. Oh how you hated it. He sat himself down on the chair next you barely fitting his huge .

“Oh stop with all these boring ! I have work for you!” He said with enthusiasm failing to meet yours. He continued anyway, “Oh come on you could look a bit more cheerful. I am sending you away from this stupid desk you always complain about!”

Not today, you weren’t complaining.

“Sending me where?” You mumbled.

“You’ll be interviewing one of the biggest new rookie groups in the industry right now!” he informed.

“Interview? New group? ME?”  You looked as puzzled as you sounded.

“Well honestly Mark is on sick leave and you are my next best. Plus, I think you’ll get along great with them.” said your boss.

“What’s there to get along about? It’s just an interview.” You asked

“Well its..going..to..be..a two week..long.. interview..” He muttered under his breath.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY? You mean to say I have to follow them around for two weeks?” You almost didn’t mean to sound as angry as you did.

“Hold on hold on. Don’t worry Areum you will get a lot of extra money and several other facilities” You boss had hit your weak spot.

“You can’t use my need for money to always get me to do things you know” You said half knowing you would do it because you needed to pay bills.

“So hurry up now! The car is waiting for you downstairs!” said your boss pushing you out off the chair.

“What?!? Right now? You’re not going to tell me anything else? WHERE am I going? WHO am I interviewing? Like ALWAYS?” you scoffed at the middle aged man.

“You know the drill. Jackson will be waiting there to fill you in with the details. Now HURRY!” With that your boss left the cubicle.

You collected all THE necessities from your desk and shoved them into your bag. Finally you get your phone from the drawer, checking it in the process.

No reply.

You didn’t show much interest in the new addition to your timeline, even though this would be your first big interview. There was a will to be happy, but not alone. You wanted to tell Daehyun about it. That, you had finally gotten your own personal interview without Mark being the coordinator. This was a big deal for you.

So you took your phone out and called the first and only number that showed on your call logs. But, there was no answer.

He must be busy. With those thoughts you got off the elevator and into the white minivan waiting for you just outside the building.

The driver gave you a polite nod and started on the new journey even you were unaware of.