CHAPTER 10

[NIGHT TIME; SAME DAY]

[LOCATION: La Nouvelle Seine restaurant]

SOOJUNG’S POV

No matter how hard I try to understand everything, my heart and mind still can’t take it. Everything feels like a very bad dream… a nightmare where you want to wake up but cannot do so.

The revelation of Jessica Jung’s lies… just thinking about the lie she told Amber about my ‘boyfriend’ and ‘engagement’ makes my stomach churn in disdain.   

My sister… my very own flesh and blood.

I may sound too overreacting but I can’t help it. She practically ruined me and Amber, our relationship and even my life.

Just think about the things that could have happened if she didn’t meddle. The What Ifs are endless.

Our Long Distance Relationship, albeit being a secret, was going smoothly. We have PLANS.   

Short term and Long term PLANS.

We were going to travel the world together after Amber finishes her Ph.D. studies, a year of traveling. Five continents, 15 countries, just the two of us.

I even asked my members’ permission if I can go on a one year break after our successful comeback. They already knew about Amber like how I knew about the guys they are dating. The 3 of us don’t keep any secrets from one another, it’s our lifelong pact not just as members but also friends and sisters.

We even discussed spending our Holidays together, each year that we will be together. In what part of New York we will get our loft type unit (Greenwich Village and Brooklyn are top contenders), how many pets we will adopt (2 dogs and an aquarium with 5 kinds of fishes), in what university I will enroll to finish my degree, where I will get my Interior Design classes, the best place to eat with my closest friends who also live in New York. Everything we can think of that we hope for the future…

Our future…

She was my present and my future. I don’t have anyone else in mind that can take her place in my life.

Only HER.

Nothing can change my heart…

Not even a dating scandal.

“Tsss…” 

I heard a snicker from the person sitting across me, totally bringing me back to my senses. Victoria, my dearest Victoria unnie, was shaking her head while feigning an annoyed look.  

“Okay, that’s the 11th time you sighed today Soojung. Stop that. ” she said in a hiss before taking a sip of her wine. I gave her an apologetic smile and continued on poking the caramelized sugar of my Creme Brulee. 

We are in La Nouvelle Seine, a barge restaurant at the foot of Notre-Dame with an exceptional view of the famous Cathedral. After that intense talk that Amber and I had earlier, the two of us agreed to meet my sister together the moment she comes back from Cannes so we can finally clear everything. 

Of course, I also want to hear the side of my sister and why she did those things. But the level of annoyance I have for her that time was on the roof, I need to vent it out by calling her the moment I found a chance to do so.

What Amber didn’t know is I already phoned Jess when she was taking a shower earlier. My fingers were itching to tap her Contact on the screen!

Yep, I called my ever nosy sister and straight out told her to stop meddling in my life. Jess was screaming like a madwoman over the phone, calling me a fool for believing, in her own words, “That Person”. Hahaha… pathetic.

“Vic, all I did was accuse her of lying to Amber. I don’t even have to ask Jess what she told my girlfriend back then because she already did the honors of exposing herself. God…” I groaned in disdain. I took a spoonful of the yummy sugary dessert and placed it in my mouth, the sweetness somehow relieving the stress I feel. Ugh.

I hate Jess for doing that horrible thing… but I also love her because she is my sister. What should I do?

Thank God Vic unnie has all the patience in the world to listen on my rants tonight. She has always been my shock absorber, always willing to listen and gives me the best advice.

“So what did she say?” she asked.

“She said, ‘I didn’t do anything bad! I did it for your own sake Soojung/She has to know where her proper place is/Look at you! If I didn’t do it you are now just a has-been K-pop idol with a tainted past because of a God awful same- dating scandal! And I hate her for changing you to someone you are not! I hate her so much!’… I almost yelled ‘!’ at my sister…”

“Why didn’t you yell at her?”

“I was going to…” I replied. I really was going to but…

I can’t.

“Because?…”

“.….” I only stared outside and fixed my gaze at the dark waters of the river beneath us.

Because…. yeah Soojung… Because…?

I felt a tap on my forehead that quickly took my attention. Vic!!! not a spoon again! T_T “Let me answer that for you my Little One… because you are scared.”

“Yah Victoria!”

“Don’t worry, it's clean. I used it to scoop the ice from my water.” Aiishshhh!

“It's wet!~” I answered with a pout and took the table napkin from my lap dabbing the cloth on my slightly wet forehead. But I admit, this dinner with her made me release all the pressure and anger I have inside earlier.

“I’m not scared. Just… respectful of elders… like you.”

“Umm!”

“Aww~…” this old woman. Tsk tsk. I stuck out my tongue on her like a kid and reached for the part of my forehead that she hit, once again, with her wet spoon. It's not a hard hit, just playing with me.

I smiled a little, shaking my head and feeling better.

I did not really have any intention of having dinner with her tonight, but Amber told me I should call someone who can accompany me while she’s in her meeting. In her own words:

“Go out tonight and talk to a friend, don’t keep it inside you Soojung. Didn’t you say your friend Victoria is also here in Paris? Go out with her tonight, have dinner, talk to her, pour it out, get drunk, have fun. I’ll find you after my meeting. Clean fun, okay?”

Victoria unnie and I ended up here in this restaurant not minding the time. Always like this, we will forget the time and will end up closing the restaurant.

She snapped her fingers in a very demure way that always fascinates me. “Hey, Hey… look at me.”    

“I am looking at you now…”

“You are looking at me but your mind is elsewhere as always. Your lover will arrive soon but for now, concentrate.” Okay, she’s partly saying the truth.

“Listen to me Soojung, I’m not saying you should forgive your sister. Its a power move she did years ago, she could have done it better but she swayed that low. But you also have to consider the reason why she did those things.”

I nodded and replied. “Even Amber said that too.”

“And?”

“She said maybe Jess was just thinking what is best for me because I am her sister. That based on how Jessica talked to her years ago, she can feel how much my sister worries about me and care for me.”

This is why I don’t know what to do.

“And what else?”

I sighed and reached for the fallen hair on my face tucking it at the back of my right ear. “That she realized it was also her fault this happened to us. If she didn’t listen to Jess back then, if only she trusted me enough… and waited for me to explain… maybe it will be different now.”

Vic was nodding her head while looking at me. She then reached for a gentle pat on my head and smiled. “Sounds like you got a kind-hearted Scientist out there...”

I smiled at her too feeling so happy with her praise. But then I suddenly felt shy. “For real, she really is. I’ve never met anyone like her. Instead of being mad at Jess, do you know what Amber told me?” I rested my chin on my hand and continued. “That I should understand my sister. That we should talk to her, straight things out and leave the past behind. You know why?”

Victoria copied me by resting her chin too on her hand and asked. “Why?”

My cheeks suddenly felt hot remembering what Amber said earlier. I admit, she got me smitten. “Because she will really feel bad about herself if my bond with my sister will end because of our situation.” I took my glass of wine with my free hand and brought it to my lips emptying the contents slowly before I continued. “For Amber, what’s important is now. NOW. The present.”

Victoria unnie took the wine bottle from her left side and poured some of its contents on my glass, then on hers after. She took a sip of her wine urging me to continue with my rant.

“She now knows about the truth… you know… regarding the…” I made an air-quote with my hand holding the wine glass. “ ‘Thing’…”.

“How did she took it?”

“Well… she found it… absurd. And she was mad, not at me, but at the Agency for making me do it. Plus the fact that my brilliant and cunning lovable sister used that chance to manipulate again her feelings. Made her believe I am already engaged to that guy.” I took a deep breath releasing it slowly.

Imagine what Amber felt that day when she saw the news, hearing the words my sister said… it's like my heart is being squeezed.

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