15. Like That Sun
Forget everything, put it all down
Trust me and follow me
Forget everything, put it all down
Throw it all away except for me

Park Sungjin

I wake up earlier than usual for my morning run, after being informed by Jae last night, that he wants to be Jaehee’s running partner today.

“Yanamseyin, Sungjin-ah?” Jae abbreviated. We were at the dining table, drinking a can of beer before retreating for the night. I replied, “Yes Jae, I get what you’re saying. I’ll start my run at an earlier time and out of our usual route so you and Jaehee could spend time together, alone.”

Dowoon snickers, as he took a gulp of his drink. He side-glances at me and catches my inquiring expression. “Your penchant for details will always be amusing to me, hyung.” And he shrugs as he took another swig of his beer.

Jae decided to intervene, saying, “Thanks Sungjin. Just get a few minute head start is all I ask.”

Without my normal route, I try to take the streets I haven’t explored, and somehow ended up near the train station. I catch my breath as I stand near a stoplight, checking my phone for the map to decide what route to take back home. Beside me, I hear a familiar language that I only use when talking to my roommates and my neighbor.

"Why does Jaehee live far away from the city center again?"
"Wonpil said it's because the housing is cheaper here."
"Where is he? Isn't he supposed to pick us up from here?"
"We're even lucky to have gotten this far without getting lost."

And those are two familiar names. I take a look at them and they’re two Koreans, with luggages on them. I cough a bit to get their attention. My eyes meet with the girl whose shoulder length hair have slight curls on them. She realizes that I am Korean, and she gives a tentative smile. I return it with the most friendly grin I have on my arsenal, and greet them. “Hi, I’m Park Sungjin. I overheard your conversation, are you perhaps Lee Jaehee and Kim Wonpil’s friends?” Her eyes widen and nods slowly, and turns to the other girl she’s with, who answers on their behalf. “Lee Jaehee the grad student and Kim Wonpil the tourist?”

“Yeah, Wonpil’s brother, Younghyun, is here as well,” I add.

“Okay, you seem legit, Park Sungjin. I’m Choi Nara, Wonpil’s friend from work and Jaehee’s friend from college.” We shake hands, her kind smile and high energy quite similar to Wonpil’s.

The pretty girl casually tucks a loose strand of hair to her ear, and offers her hand. “You’re a lifesaver Sungjin-ssi. I’m Cho Haejin, Jaehee’s college friend.”

I take her hand and smile at her. Jaehee has beautiful friends, huh. “You’re on your way to Wonpil’s hotel or Jaehee’s apartment?”

Haejin replies, adjusting her backpack. “We’re supposed to have a reservation at a hotel already.” She shows me the details from her phone, our shoulders a bit too close for strangers.

“I can take you there, I’m on my way back anyway,” I tell them. “Also, let me take your backpack, Haejin-ssi. And one or your luggage, Nara-ssi.” I extend both of my hands, and they’re both hesitant. “We will all stand here until you let me help you with your things,” I insist, and I bob my eyebrows up and down for a bit of comic relief. They both exhale a small laugh, and let me help them.

As we walk back into our neighborhood, I was able to talk at length with Haejin, while Nara kept on calling Wonpil on the phone, cussing him under her breath. "Why the hell are you not answering your phone, Kim Wonpil!!! I will kill you once I see your face,” Nara says out loud. 

"Will Wonpil be okay?” I jokingly ask Haejin.

“I bet that one hug from Wonpil and all that anger will dissipate,” she replies with a shrug, followed by a knowing laugh.

“Are they together?” I ask.

Haejin smirks, looking at me. “Do me a favor and please do ask them that later?”

“Aha, is that what’s going on?” There are too many couples here who are not together but should be. “I’m at your service, I’ll nonchalantly inquire them.”

“Nara-ssi,” I turn my head and check if she heard me. She smiles at me and replies, “Yes?” I had to laugh a bit at the instant change of expression. She raises an inquiring eyebrow. I continue, “Wonpil slept over at Jaehee’s last night, he probably overslept. Why don’t you send him a message to meet you at the hotel instead so he won’t be a lost dog trying to look for you later.”

“I kind of want to take revenge and let him be a lost dog, but that will delay our tour today, so I’ll make him pay for another time. I’ll take your advice instead, Sungjin-ssi. Thanks.”

The three of us arrive at the lodging, both girls plopping on the small lobby’s sofa as I help them with checking-in. Haejin is suddenly beside me and says, “I’ll take it from here Sungjin-ssi. Take a seat first?” Before I could answer, I see from my periphery how a wild Kim Wonpil arrives. Gathering everyone’s attention, his shortness of breath indicates that he was running. His hands are on his knees and he says in between lungfuls of air, "thank. goodness. you. made. it. here. safe."

I glimpse at Nara, whose stern expression melts to worry, and hands him the glass of her welcome drink. "Sit down, Piri."

Wonpil gulps the water down and envelopes her into a hug. "I'm sorry Nara, I overslept at Jaehee's. Please don't be too mad at me." 

Nara pats Wonpil's hair and replies, "Make it up to us with a good day tour and free lunch and you're forgiven." He breaks the embrace, a gummy smile brightening his face. "Deal!" he exclaims.

Beside me, Haejin takes a video of the whole thing. She puts down her phone and tuts jokingly, "Told you, right? God, being a third wheel to a not-yet-dating-but-should-be couple ."

Smirking at the familiarity of her dilemma, I should probably take a page from Wonpil and Jae’s books and learn.

“Haejin-ssi,” I call her. When we lock eyes, she raises a brow. I gather courage and a split-second later, I ask her,  "I'm free today, I can be your plus-one and tour guide if you want." 

Her eyebrows knot into a furrow, a playful glint in her eyes as she responds, "If that practical suggestion is your way of asking me out, I have no objections." Haejin smiles at me and I hold her stare, and before I could respond, she turns away to tease Wonpil. "I'm here too, Kim Wonpil. Where's my apology hug?" 

And the kid briefly embraces her, saying, "Haejin-noona, you made it!" Wonpil then very belatedly notices me, “Sungjin-hyung, you helped them? Thank you so much!” He moves in for what seems like an embrace directed at me, so I hold his right shoulder at arm's length and pat his left shoulder. “I bumped into them while on my morning run, it’s okay Wonpil.”

He makes a confused expression at my gesture, and Haejin pseudo-whispers, “Pil, don’t hug strangers.” And she laughs. I remove my hands and look at her, mouthing, “Thanks.” Once again, she laughs.

Haejin then tells them, “Sungjin here offered to be our tour guide, will that be okay?”

I nod. “Let me peek at your itinerary so I can show you around without you guys worrying about the train transfers and such. Also, Haejin thinks that it would be better to have one more to your group so she won’t be a third-wheel to you two.”

A flurry of sentences continued and stopped mid-way ensues:

“We’re not--” Wonpil starts, looking hesitantly at Nara.
“A couple…” Nara finishes the sentence with gritted smile, looking wide-eyed at Haejin.
“Haejin, you’re not a third-wheel, gosh I’m sorry if you felt that way,” Wonpil interjects, looking genuinely worried for Haejin.
Nara sighs, and announces directing a look at me “We’re not a couple, Sungjin-ssi. Wonpil is what you could call an office bestfriend, if you're into labels.”
Wonpil gazes at her, his usual cheery smile hardening as he clenches his jaw.
Nara finally looks at him too, and whispers, “What?” And Wonpil just shakes his head.

The receptionist calls for our attention and guides them to their room. In the elevator, Wonpil asks Nara, “Why weren’t you answering your phone?”

Nara furrows her eyebrows at him, and shows her call history. “You were calling my local number, weren’t you?” An expression of understanding crosses Wonpil’s face, and he scratches his head, an apologetic grin on his face.

Nara sarcastically copies Wonpil’s expression, “It’s a good thing that Sungjin offered help. Anyway, I think Haejin already forgot about you the moment she laid eyes on this kind gentleman. Too smitten, but who could blame her. Are you single, perhaps?" Wonpil nudges her with his elbow. 

I reply, “I am.” Then, I smirk as I look at Haejin beside me, who returns my gaze. I ask, “You’re smitten?” She shrugs and says in response, “Are you?” We’re both smiling at each other, and I return another shrug in reply.

It’s gonna be a great day ahead.

Kang Younghyun

Last night, I confessed to Jaehee while eating ice cream, and though she looked very surprised, she was calm. Given that her response to Jaehyung’s confession was retreating to her shell, I braced myself for the same treatment. Or even worse. It’s the second confession she’s received in the span of four days. I can’t blame her if she’d want to run away. But she didn’t, not that night.

The walk from the convenience store to the train station felt longer than it actually was. Our hands kept on brushing and when she finally stuffed them into her coat's pockets, I commented, "Jaehee-yah, why are you making it hard for me to hold your hand?"

She just rolls her eyes at my remark, and let a few seconds pass before she changing the topic. "Does the hanami and touring you and Wonpil around really doesn't count as payback?"

"You are dodging my hand-holding comment, but I'll forgive you. And to answer your question, it only counts if it's just you and me." Jaehee’s eyebrows met to convey slight annoyance, which was broken by a small laugh. She then replied, “Fine, whatever you say Mr. Kang.”

Sitting in front of Jaehee's apartment door at two in the afternoon the next day, my thoughts scatter away as I hear her voice coming up the stairs. We agreed to meet after lunch to prepare and cook for tomorrow’s hanami. Well, I strongly insisted since I knew that the rival will also be keeping her company today.

And speak of the devil, as I stand up, my eyes meet with Jaehyung’s, and then Jaehee’s. The former clicks his tongue too loudly, while the latter briefly widens her eyes in surprise. “Younghyun, you’re here. Did you eat lunch yet?” she asks.

I try to dispel the budding jealousy, convincing myself that it’s not an emotion that I need today, not for this particular… fight. Taking the grocery bags from her as she unlocks her door, I answer her, “I’ll have to say no to a lunch date this time, Jaehee. I already ate.”

She abruptly turns to me, and takes the bag from my right hand. Feigning annoyance, she responds, “That’s not what I asked.” Her brows unfurrow and I can’t see her facial expression as she gets inside the apartment, but I can almost hear her playful scoff as she murmurs, “Where do you even get the confidence to say that?”

Once inside, Jaehee goes to her room while Jaehyung puts the groceries on the table, some of them into the cabinets and the refrigerator. His sense of domestic familiarity in Jaehee’s home is something that I try to ignore as Jaehee joins us in the kitchen and lays out the ingredients and kitchen tools on the table.

Half an hour later, the three of us are in the kitchen preparing the food for tomorrow. I watch as Jaehee chops vegetables for the kimbap on one side of the table, while Jaehyung beats the eggs in a transparent bowl on the other.

"Younghyun, please cut those kimchi properly and stop being distracted?" Jaehee says as she glances towards my work in the middle. 

"Sorry Jaehee, you just look really stunning right now."

Jaehyung quips, "Right in front my salad, really?

I ignore his remark and instead watch as Jaehee closes her eyes and exhales impatiently. She throws her hands down near the table's edge, an angry smile on her face. "If you two can't be friends, why are you here again? I clearly remember telling the both of you last night, that I can manage the preparations by myself."

I remove the plastic gloves and reach out to push back a strand of her hair. Jaehee looks intently at my hand, and when I finish the gesture, she says, "Younghyun-ssi, you know that I'm holding a knife right now, right?"

I once again resume my kimchi duty, and I reply, "Yes, but I trust that you'll never have the intention of hurting me, right? Not after I revealed my feelings for you last night?"

Jaehee looks up at me wide-eyed, catching my stare. She hangs open in disbelief and then closes it, exhaling in defeat. I wink at her and she just rolls her eyes, shakes her head, and smirks. I barely hear Jaehyung say, “Noted, but I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that."

Shifting her gaze to Jaehyung who has returned to eagerly whisking the eggs, she laughs. "Hey Jae, your arms are gonna fall off already, I think that's enough scrambling?" He replies, “You sure?” She moves beside him and nods. “Yep, that’s fine. Good job, Jae,” she compliments him, patting his head in lighthearted mockery.

“Where’s my compli,--” I start, but was interrupted when the doorbell rings and Jaehee approaches the door to let in a Dowoon, with grocery bags on both of his arms.

"Noona,” he whines, “Sungjin-hyung left me to cook the kimchi stew alone." The young boy pouts and sits on the sofa, and Jaehee has no problem with sitting beside him. She asks, "That's unusual. Where'd he go?"

"He bumped into your other friends this morning and all he said is that he's touring them around." Dowoon shrugs, and then adds, "he didn't even invite me."

A brief smirk crosses Jaehee's face and once it was gone, she comments, "And I was wondering why none of them haven't contacted me yet for help. I was expecting them to get lost in this city, but Sungjin was their tour guide in shining armor, huh." 

It didn't even cross my mind that my brother might have needed help. Too focused on Jaehee, which I’m sure is anexcuse that Wonpil will eat up. Well it might not be needed, considering that he’s as distracted as I am.

Then she asks Dowoon, "You need my help?" He nods, and then after looking to the kitchen, he shakes his head. "Actually, noona, I can do it by myself. I just wanted to be an audience to this," he waves his hand towards the kitchen."

I chide, "Maybe your roommate over here could give you a hand. Take him away, pretty please?"

Dowoon mulls it over and I see Jaehyung give him a reprimanding stare. "Ah Younghyun-hyung," he starts, "I like you but I am loyal to my alliance." He then shoots a finger heart to Jaehyung's direction, and I can't help but laugh.

Jaehee ruffles Dowoon's hair, her fondness for him unmasked as she smiles at him. "Please don't ever change, Dowoon-ah." The kid hugs her, "Ah noona you're gonna make me cry." Jaehee just laughs as he undoes his embrace on her, and then she adds, "If you don't need anybody's help, you're here just to lounge?"

"Actually, how about noona helps me and we leave those two alone?" Dowoon suddenly suggests. "We'll set up a webcam, like a baby monitor you know. And then let's bet on who kills the other first. It'll be fun, Jaehee-noona." He grins, and she laughs in response. Jae reacts, "How about I kill you now, Dowoon-ssi?"

The two bicker for a bit, and I see Jaehee glance at her watch. “Dowoon-ah,” she says, “just tell Sungjin to cook early in the morning tomorrow. We’ll leave late in the morning anyway. For now, take over for me in the kitchen, and prepare the ingredients. I’ll finish them later tonight. I’ll be right back.” Jaehee says all of these fast and with such an authoritative that no one of us dared question her. She then picks up her purse and leaves the apartment.

Jaehee returns half an hour later, with snacks she bought from the convenience store. She announces, “Dowoon, Jae, Younghyun, come here to the living room.” All of us move and she makes us sit on the floor. “Pick a movie to watch and let me work on something,in peace, okay?”

“A job application?” I dared to ask. Jaehee nods, “Yeah, just need to finish it and send it this afternoon. Did you finish all the preparations?” As if being reprimanded by a teacher, the three of us nod. “Thank you, boys,” she says, smiling, and her air of command evaporates. “See you later.” And she heads to her room to leave us alone.

Jaehyung and I let Dowoon pick a movie, and soon, we were all immersed in the Korean noir film, munching on the chips Jaehee bought. The credits roll, and Jaehyung stands up to knock on Jaehee’s bedroom door before entering. There goes that domestic familiarity again.

“Youngyun-hyung,” Dowoon tells me, suddenly serious. “The three of us have been friends for only half a year but we’ve gotten really close, especially those two.” He points his chin towards the bedroom. “Obviously you like Jaehee noona, but I feel like Jae-hyung has some sort of dibs on her. I don’t know what my point is, but I am cheering for Jae, okay? No hard feelings, please? I still like you as a hyung.”

I stand up, cleaning my pants of invisible dirt. “Dowoon-ah, it’s not about who liked her first and whatnot. It’s going to be Jaehee’s decision, no one else’s.” I pat his head, “And yes, no hard feelings.”

As I enter her room, I see Jaehee on the bed, asleep, facing away from Jaehyung. Seated on the edge of it, he has his hand on her shoulders and gently waking her up. “Jaehee-yah, we’ll watch another movie and then let’s have dinner okay?” She hums in response and turns to face him. “One more hour, ‘kay?” she replies. Jae tucks a strand of her lose hair, and puts a blanket over her. When he turns towards the door, he seems surprised to see me standing there, but he confidently walks past me and just pats my shoulder. “One more movie, then,” he says as he closes her door.

An hour later, Jaehee emerges from her room, stretching out her arms. She goes straight to the kitchen and Jaehyung and I stand up almost simultaneously. Dowoon holds our arms on his each side, and pulls us down. “Let noona do the work, it’ll be faster that way,” he whispers. Then he shouts at Jaehee, “Noona, you need help?” She replies, “Please just sit there and finish the film, I’ll just clean the kitchen and make something real quick for our dinner.” And we do as told.


Yoon Dowoon

After the hanami food preparations fiasco last night at Jaehee noona’s, we ate dinner without much incident. The two hyungs seemed to have an unspoken ceasefire, and we talked and joked as we ate, without the flirting.

Which, surprisingly, extended to the hanami. Jaehee noona is in the company of her two sets of friends, with good food and surrounded by Tokyo’s beautiful cherry blossom scenery in Yoyogi Park. 

What is interesting is that we are now a group of two couples, a love triangle, and an eighth wheel. I finally get to see Sungjin-hyung try to impress a girl called Haejin, and take care of her at the same time. Jaehee is seated in between her two friends, Sungjin-hyung’s crush and Nara, who looks like Wonpil’s girl (although this is dispelled very quickly by Nara, for some suspicious reason). Jaehyung-hyung is seated beside Sungjin-hyung, and I am placed between Younghyun-hyung and Jaehyung-hyung.

We’re supposed to tour the visitors after lunch, perhaps the spicy events will commence there. I shall eagerly anticipate them.