Joohyun

Two Years Ago

~

I grinned when I saw Joy walk into the café. Her eyes looked around until they locked with mine. A smile appeared on her face as she walked over to the table that I was at. “Hey,” she said a little awkwardly. I guess she didn’t know how to really greet me. I stood and pulled her into a hug.

“It’s nice to see you again Joy,” I beamed as her arms wrapped around me.

“It’s good to see you again too Joohyun,” she replied softly before we pulled away and took a seat. I took in the sight of her and knew I could get addicted to her quickly. “Why are you staring at me?”

“You’re just beautiful,” I shrugged as her face heated up.

“I’ve never been this nervous on a date before,” she spoke, and a small grin appeared on my face.

“Oh, this is a date?” Her eyes snapped up to mine and I chuckled before she could stumble on her words. “This is a date Joy. I want to get to know you.”

“I want to get to know you too.” She smiled at me and I knew I could get used to that smile.

Present Time

~

“So you survived your first week teaching. How was it?” Yeri sat on the counter as I drunk some tea.

“It was alright. My students are well behaved, and I don’t seem to have issues. Though some students check me out and it’s a bit awkward,” I chuckled.

“Well everyone in school is calling you the new hot teacher. That’s awkward as hell to listen to. I’m just like can you stop talking about my sister for five seconds?” She huffed with a slight pout on her face.

“There is this one girl in my class. She stares at me and blanks out a lot. I don’t completely understand her,” I said slowly. Sooyoung was one confusing human being.

“Is she hot?” Yeri raised a brow while shooting me a knowing look.

“I do not check out my students,” I protested sternly.

“Oh come on Joohyun. I know how you are. You notice attractive people all of the time,” she pointed out. I took a moment and thought about Sooyoung. There’s no denying that she’s attractive but she’s my student.

“I mean she is attractive,” I responded with a shrug.

“How attractive?” She pushed on with the question.

“Why? Aren’t you supposed to be straight?” I challenged her. She frowned at me and huffed.

“I am straight. I have a boyfriend remember?” She reminded me.

“I can’t stand that kid,” I rolled my eyes.

“And you’re not his favorite person in the world either. The day I turn gay will be the day you get laid and we both know that isn’t going to happen,” she joked. I pushed her playfully before continuing with our conversation.

“Sooyoung stares at me and completely blanks out.” I tried to think of a reason why.

“Wait did you say Sooyoung as in Park Sooyoung?” She seemed a little puzzled by the name.

“Yeah that’s her. Do you know her?”

“Her dad is running for president. Everyone at all the schools know her. I heard that she’s kind of a ,” she informed me.

“You shouldn’t believe what everyone says,” I scolded her a bit.

“I know but this is Sooyoung we’re talking about. You barely even know her, and I’ve seen her around the town. She looks down on people as if she is better and above them. Everything she does is in the news anyway,” she shrugged.

“She looks like Joy,” I finally admitted. I knew that was impossible to ignore.

“Everyone looks like Joy. You’ve said this about so many people. I’m starting to think it’s all in your head. You didn’t even meet her anywhere near here. Why would she be in high school anyway?” Yeri brought me back to reality. She wasn’t wrong. I saw Joy in everyone for the first year without her. I should’ve asked for her real name before kicking her out. That would’ve helped me a lot over these last two years.

“I’m just saying she looks like her. She acts nothing like her,” I brushed it off. “I need to go wash my clothes,” I sighed and went upstairs to grab my stuff. I don’t know what it is about Sooyoung, but that girl was driving me crazy.

~

The first week of school was over so that meant that I didn’t have my homeroom class until next month. I was waiting on my last class when the final bell rung, and I was forced to close my door. Sooyoung wasn’t here and I imagined how it would be to go a full ninety minutes without her staring at me. Luck obviously wasn’t on my side because a few minutes later a knock was heard on the door. I opened the door and Sooyoung stood in front of me. “Do you have a pass?” I asked but she shook her head.

“No.”

“Since you’re late, you have to stay after for detention,” I told her. It was a stupid rule around this school. I didn’t understand it and I sure didn’t want to enforce it. Why would I want to spend extra time with the girl who can’t stop staring at me? She nodded and took her seat. I talked for the rest of the class to explain some basics but tomorrow they were going to do a project. The bell rung and everyone left except for Sooyoung. Maybe this time alone with her can help me understand why she constantly stares at me. “Um do you have any homework or something?” I asked her but she slowly shook her head. “Can I be blunt for a minute?” She looked taken aback by my question but nodded anyway.

“Go right ahead.”

“You constantly stare at me and blank out. You told me you were just out of it, but this has been every day. When you first saw me, it looked like you’ve seen a ghost. Mind explaining that?” I questioned her bluntly.

“You sure notice a lot. You just remind me of someone,” she mumbled. I sat on the edge of my desk and eyed her.

“I remind you of someone?”

“Yes,” she stated simply.

“This someone, was she anything like me?” I was curious to who the person was.

“You’re exactly like her,” she muttered to herself. “It’s nothing and I’ll be sure to stop staring Ms. Bae,” she apologized. Something didn’t sound right when she said my last name. Why does it sound so foreign coming from her?

“I don’t exactly get you Sooyoung,” I said slowly.

“There’s not much to get. I’m pretty plain and simple,” she looked down with a slight frown.

“Your father is running for president, right?”

“That’s right,” she nodded.

“You’re pretty well known around school,” I pointed out.

“Well when you’re known as the of the school, it’s easy to get noticed,” she spoke so loosely around me. “My bad, I didn’t mean to curse,” she apologized.

“It’s fine honestly. I’m only teaching here for a year and I really could care less about these rules,” I ignored the apology.

“How was Japan?” She wondered softly.

“How did you know that I used to live in Japan?” I looked at her a little shocked. Her eyes widened as if she didn’t expect the question to come out of my mouth.

“Your pictures,” she pointed at my desk. I looked at the pictures and noticed that most of them were taken in Japan.

“You can recognize that as Japan?” I raised a brow.

“It’s not that hard.”

“Japan was a nice change and I’m going back there after this year,” I confessed. She nodded slowly but continued to stare at me. "There you go again. I'm going to need you to stop staring at me," I informed her with a small smirk. She blushed and looked down.

"I'll be sure to stop,” she murmured with a slight frown.

“You remind me a lot of someone too,” I said and studied her reaction. She froze before her eyes met mine.

“I do?”

“You look similar but that’s about it,” I shrugged.

“I guess I have a common face.”

Sooyoung

I let out a sigh of relief when she let it go. This girl was slow, but she clearly wasn’t as clueless as I thought. I just want her to get to know me as Sooyoung. Maybe she could like this version of me. “Joohyun!” I heard a voice whine. A younger girl walked in the room with a slight pout.

“I told you that I had to stay a little later today,” she reminded her.

“Yeah but all of my friends are gone. All I can do now is wait for you,” she sighed before her eyes met mine. “Hi, I’m Yeri, Joohyun’s sister,” she introduced herself.

“You do realize that I’m called Ms. Bae in school, right?” She told her sister but Yeri brushed it off and took a seat next to me.

“I’m Sooyoung,” I replied although I figured she already knew that. Joohyun would talk about Yeri sometimes so it was nice to finally meet her.

“I think everyone in this country knows who you are,” Yeri chuckled. “I guess you were right Joohyun. She does look like Joy,” Yeri called out to her sister and I froze at the sound of my nickname.

“Yerim!” Joohyun hissed at her.   

“Sorry but it was just an observation. Do you have an older sister?” Yeri asked me curiously.

“Not that I know of,” I shook my head.

“I apologize for my nosey sister,” Joohyun apologized on her behalf. It just scared me that she already was connecting me to Joy.

“It’s fine,” I brushed it off.

“How about you go wait in the car?” Joohyun suggested as she held out her keys.

“Fine but only because I can go to sleep in the backseat,” Yeri agreed as she grabbed the keys and left.

“She’s nice,” I acknowledged.

“She’s nice but definitely asks too many personal questions,” she chuckled.

“So, you’ve talked to your sister about me?” I brought up the subject and she seemed to get embarrassed.

“I told you that you look like someone,” she pointed out.

“Joy,” I said the name slowly and it seemed like her body froze.

“Um yeah her,” she nodded.

“Cute name.”

“Not her real name clearly,” she huffed, and I could hear the slight anger in her words. Damn. So she’s still mad at me. I guess it takes more than two years to get over something like that. “Sorry that came off way too harsh. I guess I’m just not over it,” she apologized, and it made me feel worse. The last thing she needs to do is apologize to me.

“I’m sorry that you’re hurt,” I told her, and she shot me a weak smile before glancing at the clock on the wall.

“Your time’s up. Try not to be late tomorrow Sooyoung,” she warned me with a small grin.

“We’ll see,” I smirked before walking out of the classroom. That girl still had a hold on me, but I clearly still cause her pain. I could only shake my head as I headed to my car. Joohyun deserves far better than me and maybe I should just leave her alone. 

Joohyun

“Just do it. You’ll regret it if you don’t,” Yeri encouraged me but I was still staring at my phone. I wasn’t sure if I was strong enough for this. “I’ll do it for you,” she grabbed my phone and called the number before I could make up my mind.

“Yerim!” I snapped but she just placed the phone next to my ear. 

“Hello?” I could recognize Tiffany’s voice like the back of my hand by now. As much as I couldn’t stand her in the past, Joy really made us start fresh and she doesn’t irritate me as much as she did. I haven’t talked to her since Joy and I broke up.

“Uh hey Tiffany,” I spoke up and it was silent for a minute.

“Joohyun?” She guessed hesitantly.

“Yeah it’s me,” I confirmed.

“It’s been years. What can I possibly do for you?” She got straight down to the point. That was something I liked about her. She was always very blunt and got things done.

“Give me Joy’s new number,” I up my pride and pleaded.

“Why in the world would you want that? Aren’t you still mad at her?” She brought up.

“Yes, but I also think I deserve answers. There are still a lot of questions that I have,” I countered.

“I guess she does owe you that. She’ll kill me but I told her not to lie in the first place. I’ll give it to you,” she gave in easily. That was easier than I thought it would be. We hung up shortly after she gave me her number and now I could only stare.

“Get answers Joohyun. I’m going upstairs to give you some privacy with this conversation. I just want you to be happy again. When you were with her, that was the happiest I’ve seen you since Dad died,” Yeri rubbed my shoulder before leaving me alone with my thoughts. I just wanted to be happy too but that would mean I had to let Joy go. I had to let the anger go and I couldn’t do that without answers. I it up and pressed on her number. It rung for a while before she answered with a groan.

“What?” Her voice sounded muffled and it threw me off for a second.

“Joy?” I asked a little uncertain that this was her number.

“Joohyun?” Her soft voice filled my ears.

“Um yeah it’s me,” I confirmed, and I heard her let out a sigh.

“Wow it’s been years. I’m assuming Tiffany gave you my number?” She questioned and I hummed in response. “She never gives me a heads-up for stuff like this,” she muttered.

“Stuff like this?”

“I would’ve liked at least an hour to prepare my emotions for you,” she replied calmly.

“I just wanted to talk,” I got to the point of why I called in the first place. I should not get wrapped up in a conversation with her like this. “I need to know your real name. It’s going to bother me forever if I don’t,” I demanded.

“Do you really want to know?” She asked hesitantly.

“Yes”

“Well I wasn’t lying when I said people call me Joy or at least they used to call me that. I haven’t heard that name in years. My real name however is Taeyeon,” she confessed. Somehow that didn’t sound natural coming off her tongue. Wouldn’t her name sound normal from her?

“Taeyeon? It doesn’t really fit you,” I said honestly.

“I guess that’s why people called me Joy.” I stayed silent for a while, just taking it all in.

“I want to hate you so bad,” I admitted and mentally cursed when I heard my voice shake. “I want to, but I just can’t. I don’t understand how you have this hold on me.”

“You deserve the right to hate me. No number of apologies could make up for what I did,” she sighed.

“So where are you now?” I was curious on where she was. What has she done since the breakup?

“America,” the word sounded weird from her lips again. Why did everything she say sound forced? Maybe she’s still lying after all these years.

“America? Do you know when you’ll um come back to Korea?” I brought up slowly.

“Probably by the end of the school year.”

“You’re still in school?”

“I’m eighteen but yeah I’m in my last year,” she promised

“Eighteen huh? Are you sure?” 

“I’m done lying about my age. I honestly never realized how much I lied until you. Telling the truth sometimes just seems terrifying,” she assured me.

“It does,” I agreed in a low voice.

“I’m truly sorry for all I’ve done. I really hope you can be happy because no one deserves happiness more than you,” she said.

“Maybe we can meet up when you come back to Korea,” I suggested after a little hesitation.

“You want to see me? I thought you never wanted to see me again?” She seemed thrown off by the idea.

“I wished that were true, but I do want to see you. I want to talk.” I needed to see her face to face so I could finally have the conversation I needed to have with her.

“I’d love to see you, but I don’t think I should even be in your life at all. I don’t deserve that,” she responded.

“You don’t but I want to talk to you. There are just some things that’s better said in person. You owe me that much.”

“Alright I’ll see you at the end of the school year,” Joy finally agreed to my request. I let out a small smile at the thought. I would really see her at the end of the school year. “Well, I’ll let you go. Thanks for calling me. It was nice to hear from you Joohyun,” she broke the silence and I missed how my name sounded coming out of .

“You too Joy,” I replied before hanging up. Calling her Taeyeon just didn’t sound right and she did say people called her Joy, so I’ll stick to it.

“Wasn’t this phone call supposed to help you get over her? You sure don’t seem like you’re over her,” Yeri’s voice broke me out of my thoughts. I glanced over and saw her shooting me a small frown.

“Can we not do this today?”

“Joohyun, she hurt you. You might not have told me a lot about the breakup, but I do know that I’ve never seen you that hurt. I get that you loved her back then and you might still do but keep your guard up,” she warned me.

“I know,” I sighed as I plopped down on the couch. I should be finding ways to get over her, not thinking about what could happen in the future.

“Do you love her?” Yeri sat next to me and seemed curious.

“I did a lot back then. I haven’t really thought about it now. She still gives me the same feeling that she did when we dated. Love has a bad hold on you. Try to fall in love with the right person,” I advised her.

“I think Ariana Grande is the right person,” she grinned, and I could only chuckle at my sister. “I’ve missed you Joohyun,” she sighed and leaned against my shoulder.

“I’ve missed you too Yerim,” I laid my head on top of hers and let out a small smile. I might have come home for a bad circumstance, but I enjoy spending more time with my family. Maybe I could find my happiness this way.

Sorry for waiting so long but I sprained my hand so it’s not easy to write.

Please excuse any mistakes