Chapter 6 / Unexpected
Chorong's POV

Who would have thought that after the wedding, I would be sitting with Lee Changsubㅡmy pretend boyfriendㅡon the huge rocks by the Han river with canned beers in our hands.

I opened the first can. "Chaaa~" I said. "Let's have a toast because at least, now you don't have to hope for nothing."

He shrugged and opened his can, tossed it against mine.

I sighed and looked at the skies. It's the most beautiful time of the day when the sun is setting and the skies are orange and faded blue, the clouds are scattered and calm, the surroundings aren't too bright, or too dark but almost everything else from afar is a mysterious silhouette. The time of the day I rarely go out to see and I should see more often.



"If it doesn't make you feel better," I said, swallowing the cold beer down my throat. "I have this ex, tooㅡand I still love him, maybe, but after seeing your ex fiancé's wedding, I want him to get married too because maybe if he did, I could finally let go. I could finally remove him from my life even if he's not in it anymore. You get me, right?"

He took a sip. "You don't just remove a person who's been a big part of you in your life." He said and then he added, "But yeah, you let them go but it doesn't mean you forget about their smile, or the way they talk, or all the things you used to do that they're probably doing now with someone else. You just accept the fact that they're not in your life anymore." His voice cracked a little at the last sentence and we both went quiet.

Maybe he's right. Maybe he's so rightㅡthat it hurts.

So I took a huge sip. "We're miserable." I told him, and surprisingly, he grinned.

"I know." He said.

And from there, we talked about these people that were once ours.

"The first five months into the army, we were constantly texting and calling each other." He said. His hair gets blown by the wind and I couldn't help but stare a little because he looked so calming at that momentㅡlike the sunset. "And then there was this internet problem for about a month but she wrote me letters and I wrote them back and sometimes we talked on the phone. The following months were just hectic, but God knows, I missed her so much."

I think he's a bit drunk already because he's talking so much more than I expected.

I smiled at the thought of writing letters to each other with a long distance relationship. There's just something adorable about it andㅡ"That's sweet." I told him.

"Yeah, right." He said with a bittersweet chuckle as if he was recalling everything in his head. "Damn sweet that I didn't see the following events coming."

I readied my heart for this. The sad part. "So how did she send the breakup message to you?" I asked.

He snorted and shook his hair. That was actually quite adorable too, except that he looked really sad.

"She didn't."

I gasped. "No way!"

"The texts and calls stopped. The letters stopped."

"Abruptly?"

He nodded. "I waited like crazy, you know." He said. I didn't, but right now, he must be thinking I'm a long time friend he's known forever and somehow I liked that. He took a deep breath, even breathing the words as he saidㅡ"A week? A month? Five months? Six? I waited."

I took a sip. I didn't know what to say, but maybe he didn't need me to say anything. Maybe he just needed me to listen.

He went on, "And then I finally received a call."

"Oh," I said in relief even though I've already seen its ending.

"Not from her."

"Oh." I said again. I took another sip.

"From my sister." He said. Bomi. I thought. It felt strange that I actually know this guy's sister. "Our mom passed away."

I looked at him in disbelief. "Oh my God. I'm so sorry, Changsub."

Hell, he's still a stranger to me, alright? But at that moment, I wanted to hold his hand again just so he wouldn't feel so sad.

But I kept my hands on my lap, smoothing down my dress.

"Anyway," he said as if this wasn't a big deal but he took in a sharp breath before that. "I got a reasonable excuse to go home for a while. A special leave. And when I got home, Naeun didn't even know. She didn't even know about my mom. On my last day before going back into the army, I just happened to be grocery shopping with Bomi and while I'm at the veggie sections, I saw her grocery shopping with another guy." He's talking really fast right now. "And when she met my eyes, she was frozen and I wondered if she would deny it even though she was already caught in the act. She was holding hands with the guy, then the guy's hand abandoned hers and slid his arm around her shoulder."

". Gosh. I can't understand her. I'm sorry."

Because I would never have cheated to any guy like that. It was justㅡ.

Changsub doubled sip. "I was so mad at her. I was so angry and I should have confronted her. I should have kicked the hell out of the guy for touching my girlㅡbut right at that moment? It just all sunk in. 'Ah, this is the reason she cut all our communications.' and then I thought about how she would choose that guy over me anyway because if she didn't love him more than she loved me, she wouldn't have left me. So I pretended I don't know her and walked past them before I could humiliate myself even more."

I felt this strange rage inside me. I was angry for him. "I'm sorryㅡ" I told him, "But she was being a . What did she do after?"

"She let me go."

"Crap."

"I know."

"This one hundred more times than my breakup."

"Wow, thanks. That made me feel better." He said sarcastically, his mouth slightly quirking up.

I grinned. "Sorry." And then I said, "But seriously? She didn't deserve you."

He breathed out as if relieved. "So, who's this guy who didn't deserve you? And what's his story?"

I laughed, not because I was happy but because it was ridiculous. "Actually," I said. "I didn't deserve him."

"Nooo," He said. "Don't tell me you cheated? That doesn't look like you."

I smiled. "Thanks, and no."

"Good."

"Let's put it this way, I mean Korean drama way."

He crinkled his nose at this. "I don't watch a lot of that."

I frowned. "Anyways, so he's from a nice family."

"What do you mean?"

"Like, a nice and wealthy family."

"Oh no." He said in realization. I liked how he catches up quickly. Then he added, "Even if I don't watch a lot of dramas, I know this one."

"It's totally cliché."

"Cliché hurts sometimes."

"So my guy, I mean, my ex guy and his family run this huge entertainment company and also a chain of subsidiary companies."

He raised an eyebrow. "Which one?"

I shook my head. "Let's keep that confidential for now." I nudged at his arm. "Hey, if you're wondering how a damsel in distress managed to catch such a big fish, it's because of music and college."

"I didn't say anything!"

I chuckled. "I don't know why I'm even defensive. I guess people just didn't quite believe it when I told them I was dating such a very good catch." I explained, and then, "Anyway, so he cut things off between us very neatly and nicely. He told me he was sorry and his family had set him up for another girl. He said he couldn't bear disappoint his parents. He told me I was still the nicest, loveliest girl he's ever known and been withㅡand you know, Lee Changsub-ssi, girls do melt with those words even when boys say it while the world is falling apart."

He was quiet and when I didn't continue, he finally asked: "And what did you tell him?"

"That it was alright, that he totally deserves someone better than me, that I hope she's a good person."

I didn't expect this but Changsub cursed under his breath before tossing away the empty can of beer back to the plastic and opening a new one. "He's full of . They're full of ."

I grinned.

He grinned.

We're drunk. We're not supposed to be grinning, but it always feels oddly satisfying to curse out exes with someone.

"We're full of ." I said.

"'s full of it." He said.

We made another toast.
And then we were silent. The sun has gone down and we should probably head back, except none of us could drive now and none of us is planning to get up.

My head spinned a little as I pulled my knees towards myself. "I'm sorry about your mom." I said.

To which he just replied, "Yeah."

"My mom got into a bad car accident six months ago." I said. "But she's still in the hospital, in a coma."

My heart tightened inside.

Shock registered on Changsub's face and I wondered what he thinks, because I know how other people think: that my mom is practically dead if not for the oxygen the hospital provides her.

But she isn't dead to me. Hope is the only thing I have right now. I don't know why but it's almost like I'm certain of itㅡthat she would wake up one day and she would be healthy again. I may be hoping a little too much, but I don't want to think otherwise. I just cannot bear it.

Again unexpectedly, Changsub gave me this reassuring smile I've been giving him for the entire day and then he said something I didn't really expect. Maybe I expected another 'I'm sorry.' just like I did to him after hearing about his mother and his ex, but instead, he ruffled my hair and very quietly, he saidㅡ"You must be really strong, Chorong-ssi."

For a moment, I felt like crying because I knew how he means it. He meant I'm strong emotionally for holding onto something so unsure and yet it actually made me feel betterㅡbecause it has been a long time ever since someone told me that.

But instead, I smiled back at him and I took another sip of the uncooling beer.

And when it's gotten really dark except for the lights of the Han river, Changsub called his friend to pick us up.

A tall, younger looking guy who was wearing a black baseball cap and plain white t-shirt and black shorts came for us. "Hyung! Why did you get drunk when you know you're driving? Aishㅡseriously, I had to take the subway!" He complained as soon as he saw Changsub.

"You need to take the subway sometimes." Changsub replied.

The guy looked at me and his mouth formed an O. "Woah, who is this, hyung?"

I almost blushed because he had this mesmerized look on his face. Jeez, he's probably a college student.

"This is Park Chorong," Changsub said and then he added, "She's off-limits, kiddo."

My eyebrows knitted together.

"Chorong-ssi, this is Yook Sungjae, my friend. He's off-limits."

Sungjae chuckled. "What are you talking about?" He asked him and then he looked at me and bowed a little. "It's nice to meet you."

Before I could reply, Changsub spoke again. He's tripping on his own steps. Sungjae held him carefully. "Let's drop her off home first." He said.

"Yeah, sure." said Sungjae and he turned to me again. "Um, can you walk well?"

I almost chuckled. "Yeah, don't worry."

It was quiet in the car. Sungjae the radio earlier and IU's Ending Scene is playing right now. I closed my eyes and get myself absorbed in the lyrics.

As much as you were lonely,
I hope you meet someone,
Who would love you more than you love yourself
I'm sorry that's not me,
It's not easy to give my heart to you

Please don't say those words,
You know it hurts me more
You said that you love me,
So what is this?
You wouldn't know what feeling you've given me

Please be honest with me,
You know I believe everything you say
Like you say, do you think I'll ever be loved by someone like me?

As the song ends and the radio dj's voice comes back, I opened my eyesㅡwhich were filled with tears and I wiped them off my faceㅡSungjae parked a block away from my house.

"Is this your place?" He asked.

Thankfully, he was looking outside.

"Yeah," I replied. "Thank you."

He smiled coyly. "It's nothing."

Surprisingly, Changsub hurried out of the car to open the door for me. "Thanks," I told him. "But you didn't have to."

"Oh, I wanted to." He said.

He's definitely drunk, I thought.

He shut the car door close and then he watched me as I made my way towards my apartment building.

I waved at him with a small smile on my face.

Changsub waved back. "Tell you what," He said, a little too loud for the night's silence.

I stopped walking backwards and waited for him to finish what he was saying.

"I listened a lot to the song you wrote while I was in the army. Straight to the core of my heart." he said with a grin, pointing at his own chest.

And this time, my smile widened. "Good night, Lee Changsub."

He gave me that slight smile and long look before waving again. "Good night, Park Chorong."

As I turned my back on him and I reached the main entrance of the building, I bet neither of us even thought this day would end like this. And I think it's actually better than what we probably both expected.

☆☆☆

A/N: Thank you so much for reading!!