A soft light shining in woke me up and I struggled to open my eyes.

“Feeling better?”a soothing voice that I recognized anywhere asked.

“Erm,”was all I could manage as I tried to get out of bed.

The pair of eyes that met me made me think of the conversation I had with ahjumma before I fell asleep.

“Haemin, answer me. Can you?”

Her eyes pierced through mine and I felt a chill go down my spine. I tried to open my mouth to answer but decided against it.

“I’m tired,”I mumbled as I used the blanket to cover me.

“You can’t, Haemin. Open your heart just like how you did when you first met that brat. Let him love you again. You’ll be happier than you are now,”she had said before leaving me alone.

“Haemin? Haemin!”

I jumped and turned to look at Hyukjae oppa. His eyes were so huge that I moved back a bit to recover from my shock.

“Did you hear what I said?”he asked with a small frown.

“Sorry, I wasn’t. What did you say?”I raised an eyebrow.

His frown slowly disappeared and he let out a soft chuckle.

“Spacing out, as always. I asked if you’ll like to have dinner now. You’ve been sleeping the whole day,”he explained.

“I did?”I asked, surprised.

“You were too tired,”he smiled.

“I guess I was…,”I agreed.

“Silly girl. Come out for dinner,”he laughed again.

Confused, I followed behind to the dining table where a steaming bowl of tofu stew was waiting for me.

“Where’s the ahjumma?”I asked as I sat down.

“Did you lose your memory while you were sleeping? She doesn’t stay till so late, remember?”he replied with an amused expression.

“Right…,”I looked away, abashed at such a stupid mistake.

I took the spoon from the table and tried a bit of the hot stew that I’ve been dying to warm my stomach with.

“Ah, this is too delicious,”I grinned.

“Thanks,”Hyukjae oppa smiled at me.

“Oh, right. You were the one who made this. No wonder it tasted different from what I remembered,”I looked up from the stew.

“Different in a bad way?”he asked.

“No, of course. You’ve always been a great cook,”I complimented.

He simply smiled at me and somehow it caused my heart to skip a beat. After dinner, he sent me home and it was right outside Soobin’s apartment block that his patience had reached its limit. He had been doing a good job, withholding his concerns for me and it seemed like he could not hold it back any longer. When we were about to bade farewell, Hyukjae oppa grabbed my arm to pull me into his embrace.

“Please take care of yourself. Don’t overwork. If you can’t do it for my sake, at least think of your parents. They will be worried,”he muttered into my ears.

“I will try,”I said as he let go of me.

“Don’t try. Do it. If I ever see you in the same state as today, trust me, I won’t hesitate to bring you back to take care of you personally,”Hyukjae oppa let out a warning.

The door swung open and standing there was Donghae. He glanced at me then at Hyukjae oppa.

“How come you two…,”he asked, looking back and forth.

“Lee Donghae! I need to talk to you,”Hyukjae oppa said without even bothering to answer Donghae’s question.

“What?”Donghae raised an eyebrow.

“Lee Donghae, why are you standing at the front door?”Soobin came running out.

She looks at Donghae, me then at Hyukjae oppa, not knowing what was going on.

“OH! You’re back! Jiyong told me about what happened at the hotel. Are you feeling better?”she pushed Donghae aside to take my hand.

“What happened at the hotel?”Donghae stepped out of the apartment to face me.

“I’ll tell you. Come with me,”Hyukjae oppa interrupted.

Donghae’s eyes shifted from me to Soobin.

“Go,”Soobin mouthed.

“You!”Donghae mouthed in an angry manner.

In response, Soobin glared. Donghae, the gentleman, gave in and turned his back towards us. He didn’t acknowledge Hyukjae oppa and simply walked towards the lift landing. Hyukjae oppa bowed at Soobin, thanking her before looking at me with a longing expression.

“Lee Hyukjae, the lift is here,”Donghae shouted over.

“Take care,”Hyukjae oppa said simply.

The two of them went off and I was left with Soobin.

“What’s going on?”Soobin asked.

“I don’t know! Hyukjae oppa was in a foul mood the whole day but I don’t know about Donghae,”I answered.

“That Donghae is always in a bad mood, anyway,”she shrugged while closing the door.

“Did you fight with him again?”I questioned.

“Well, I…,”Soobin looked away with a guilt-ridden look.

“You did, right. I’ve been meaning to ask you this. But why are you always bullying him? This is so unlike you, Soobin. ”I asked.

“I just wanted to knock some sense into him. He isn’t the guy for you and I want him to realize that,”Soobin explained.

“If what you said is true, he would know sooner or later. There’s no need for you to keep fighting with him,”I crossed my arms.

“But if he continued liking you, he’ll get hurt even more than now. That poor guy don’t deserve any of this,”she shouted.

That caused me to be taken aback. This was my first time seeing Soobin losing her cool with me. She was never so temperamental whenever I talked to her. Not even when Hyukjae oppa was being a to me.

“Why are you getting so agitated? We’re just discussing this matter. Besides, why are you so concerned about whether Donghae gets hurt or not?”I raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean? I’ve always been concerned about everybody,”suddenly, she was looking like a lost deer in the middle of a road with a car coming towards her.

“”Yes, you are but never in such a defensive nor aggressive manner. You always get so agitated when we talk about Donghae,”I walked towards her.

“No. I’m not. I was agitated when Hyukjae oppa wasn’t nice to you,”she tried to lie her way through.

“Who are you kidding? Instead of scolding him like how Hyun-na did, you were brainwashing me, telling me how good he is. But with Donghae, you’re always so mean towards him. Why is that so?”I asked, not getting it.

“I already told you why,”Soobin avoided me by going away to get a cup of water for herself.

“Soobin, tell me truthfully. Do you like Donghae?”I asked.

There was a loud ruckus as she dropped her cup. Soobin hurriedly grabbed a cloth to clean up while I tried hard to stifle my laughter. I went over to pick up the cup. Her eyes were darting around and I could feel her tension.

“Don’t worry. We’ve been buddies for so long. I’ll keep this little secret for you as long as you stop bullying him,”I joked.

I expected her to smile but instead she sighed which made me curious.

“You really think I like bullying him? You would know better than anyone else how much it hurts to be harsh to someone you like. It kills you more,”her grip on her cloth tightened.

“And to see him so upset, it pains you even more,”I completed her sentence.

Soobin finally looked up and I smiled at her for I know I’m not alone anymore. There is someone out there who knows the torture I have to go through. But after getting my senses back, I lost the smile that was hanging there a few seconds ago. Noticing the rapid change in mood, Soobin frowned.

“What’s wrong with you?”she asked.

I shook my head, lips trembling a little. I didn’t know how to tell her about the minor incident between Donghae and I. How that night when I was tipsy, we had kissed. It would hurt Soobin and that was something that I was trying to avoid.

“Spit it out,”she crossed her arms.

“It’s nothing,”I tried to laugh it off.

“Haemin, you better tell me. I am upset enough that you chose not to tell me about you being pregnant and just running away from the city. We did promise that we’ll tell each other EVERYTHING,”she held onto my gaze.

“I said it’s nothing. I’m going to bed,”I turned around.

“Kim Haemin! If you still want this friendship, you better fess up. If I find out what happens from somebody else, I’m going to get really angry with you,”she hissed.

I clenched my fist tight and closed my eyes. Turning around, I open them a little. Soobin let out the breath she was holding and smiled.

“Tell me,”she was almost pleading.

“You’ll get mad at me. Our friendship will be over,”I shook my head.

“Our friendship won’t be over, I promise,”Soobin held out her pinky.

I hooked my pinky with hers warily and took a step back in case she got mad and punched me in the face.

“I…I…Donghae…and…I…We…,”I stuttered.

“Donghae and you what?”she raised an eyebrow.

“He…we…we…kissed,”I stared hard at the floor, unable to look up at my friend.

There was silence and the air was getting stuffy. Slowly, I lifted my head and peeked at Soobin from under my fringe.

“When?”she asked with no trace of emotion on her face.

“The day that I got drunk…I’m so sorry!”I hurriedly explained.

That was when I realised the lump in my throat and I tried hard to swallow it. I tried to use my eyes to tell her how sorry I am and that the kiss was a fault of mine. Soobin came over and raised her hand. Heart thumping, I flinched in defense.

“Are you stupid? Why did you flinch? You think I’m going to hit you? Do you even realize you’re crying?”she asked as she wiped the tears away.

I sniffed, pushing her hand away to wipe it away myself. Soobin stared at me and the left corner of her lips went up, making it seem like she was smirking a little.

“You really think our friendship is going to be over like this? Stop feeling bad about it. You were just carried away that moment,”she chuckled.

“You’re forgiving me?”I asked.

“You’re really stupid. Is this a matter for you to ask for my forgiveness? I’m not his girlfriend, mind you,”she shook her head, laughing.

“Thank you,”I sniffed. 

End of Chapter

DarkAngel