Summary: ALL of her life, Yujin despised having eye-contact with the people she encounters. Being dragged by her friends to a bar one night, suddenly leads her bumping into someone that would catch her attention. Yujin then finds herself coming back at the bar, hoping to get a glimpse of her again

Word Count: 3913

Hashtag: #JinjooFiesta_BeyondThoseEyes

Beyond Those Eyes

               SOMEWHERE at a counter of a bar in Seoul, Yujin had been fiddling with her glass of Soju, while her eyes were set on a certain someone at the dance floor. Although the lights were blinding and the whole place was a rave, that person’s beauty wasn’t able to escape everyone’s eyes— especially Yujin’s. With all the guys who tried to hit on her, it’s no doubt that she was attractive— no attractive was an understatement, she was ethereal. 

               “Hey.” The girl kept waving her hand in front of Yujin’s eyes, but no response was heard. It seemed like Yujin had seen a ghost. Her eyes unexpectedly opened wide and her jaw looked like it would detach from her face because kept hanging down. “You’re really not going to answer? What a bummer.”

               Seeing the girl’s retreating figure, Yujin snapped back to reality and tried to hold back the girl by grabbing her wrist. “I’m sorry, I didn’t notice that you were there,” she reasoned out.

                “Didn’t notice that I was there? When you had your eyes on me all the time?” the girl retorted, a smirk formed on her lips.

               ‘It’s true, I didn’t notice that you were already in front of me because my mind suddenly stopped working right when you looked my way and started walking towards me,’ Yujin thought— of course she couldn’t tell her that. So she scratched the back of her head instead and smiled shyly. “I’m sorry it bothered you.”

               “Let’s talk about it later. Tell me your name instead,” the girl said, almost like a command.

               “Yujin,” she answered confusingly.

               “Yujin? Just Yujin? No surnames at all?” the girl asked, mocking her.

               “Ahn Yujin, happy now?” she replied, irritated. 

               “I was just kidding, didn’t think you’ll take it seriously. I’m Minjoo by the way. Kim Minjoo,” Minjoo said, trying to suppress her laugh that was caused by Yujin’s genuine reactions to her. She then extended her hand out to Yujin, which Yujin took because she thought Minjoo was offering her a handshake. But the next thing that came out from Minjoo’s mouth surprised her. 

               “Let’s go.” 

               “What!? To where?” she asked, her voice in a high-pitch. She just can’t seem to understand what was going on.

               “Let’s get some ice cream. I know a good place,” Minjoo replied with her brightest smile and at that time, Yujin thought that she was struck by the sunlight in the middle of the night. 

               Before Yujin knew it, she found herself being dragged out of the bar and on to Minjoo’s car that was parked a few blocks away from the building. Yujin stopped on her tracks, while Minjoo got inside to start the engine. She has been looking at the vehicle for some time now, but she just can’t wrap her head on what was happening. 

               “Hey, get inside. Don’t worry, I won’t kidnap you. I promise we will just have some ice cream. Trust me,” Minjoo shouted, her head sticking out of the driver’s window. Yujin stayed quiet, probably contemplating on whether she should follow what Minjoo said or just let this night pass by going home. ‘I won’t lose anything, right? It’ll be okay, right? It’s fine to trust this woman, right? Heck, yeah, I don’t care what will happen anymore. I’ve been wanting to talk to her for days.’ After giving it a thought, she then opened the car’s door and sat at the passenger seat. “I’ve decided to put my trust in you. You better not break it.”

               They then arrived at the ice cream shop—the place was at the end of the road, with it being near a cliff, but that just made it ten times better. Minjoo had parked her car where both of them could observe the city lights. With all the lights coming from the buildings and cars on the road, Yujin couldn’t help but stand in awe; gasps were coming from . She then took a deep breath, closed her eyes, lifted her head, and swayed her arms to the side— wanting to feel the city breeze and savour every the moment.

                “Yujin-ah, let’s go order our ice cream already, I’m hungry,” Minjoo called, breaking Yujin’s moment.

               “Sure, what flavour do you want, Minjoo-ssi?”

               “Minjoo-ssi? You don’t have to be formal, you know?” Minjoo then tiptoed and reached for the top of Yujin’s head and gave her a pat. “Be comfortable.”

               With her cheeks heating up, Yujin tried to distract herself by volunteering to order and pay for their ice cream. But when she was ordering, Minjoo noticed something. Yujin was just looking down all the time, it seemed like she had been avoiding eye-contact with the cashier. Minjoo just convinced herself that it was nothing and kept quiet. 

               With their backs leaning on the car hood, eyes looking at the view, and their mouths savouring the ice cream, Minjoo started throwing some questions to Yujin. “So, why were you looking at me like that for the past week?” 

               Yujin gulped at the question but proceeded to answer her. “Remember when we bumped into each other? I got mesmerized by your beauty.” Although there was more to it, Yujin decided to keep it to herself for the meantime. 

               “I still don’t understand why you didn’t talk to me,” Minjoo replied, pouting.

               “I thought what happened didn’t matter to you so I guessed it’s better to look at you from afar,” she shrugged.  This time Yujin decided to ask Minjoo a question. “Were you always at the bar?”

               “No, it was my first time there when I crashed into you. I just kept coming back because I hoped that I would see you again,” Minjoo answered, looking down with a small smile plastered on her face. Who would’ve thought that she could also feel shy?

               Yujin can’t help but feel giddy about Minjoo’s answer. “Then we’re the same. Why did it take too long for us to talk to each other?” she replied, letting out a small laugh.

               The night went on with them talking about random stuff. Something about that time just seemed magical that they didn’t want to separate from each other. Maybe it was the midnight breeze, or maybe it was the ice cream, but who knows, all they knew is that they loved this feeling. So, it was already past one at midnight when they decided to head home. “Let’s meet again.”

               It has been weeks already since Yujin and Minjoo started going out on various dates. They would usually eat at restaurants and go to parks or sometimes they just chill at each other’s apartment, but Minjoo had noticed that something was off about Yujin every time they go out. It seemed like Yujin was wary of the people around her and she tends to avoid looking right into their eyes. Wanting to know more about Yujin, but worrying if she would cross the line if she asks about it, Minjoo decided to just keep it to herself. She will just wait for Yujin to talk about it. 

               This time was an amusement park date. Minjoo arrived first at the place and quickly walked to the spot that Yujin had told her to wait. She then decided to send Yujin a text, saying that she arrived safely. A smile formed on her face as she messaged Yujin.

                2:40 pm— the time flashed on her screen. “She’s 40 minutes late already,” Minjoo sighed.

               There was still no sign of Yujin— not even a reply to her message. Minjoo’s feet were starting to feel sore. This has never happened before and Minjoo got a bad feeling about it. When she decided to leave the place to go check if Yujin’s still at her apartment , her phone suddenly rang. Yujin was calling. She answered her phone immediately, but a different voice greeted her.

               “Yujin-ah… Where are you? You got me worri—”

               “Minjoo, this is Yena, a friend of hers. I’m with Yujin right now. Her father got caught in an accident, so we’re at the hospital. She’s emotionally unstable right now, having you with her might help. I’ll text you the addre—” Minjoo didn’t even wait for Yena to finish. She dashed to the street with such an incredible speed and hailed a cab. Thank God, there was no traffic and she was able to get there fast.

               A figure of Yujin slouching on the chair with her hands pressed to her face and eventually grabbing her hair from frustration, welcomed Minjoo when she reached the ER room of the hospital. There was also Yena sitting beside Yujin, trying to relax the other. Exhausted and tired from running and travelling, Minjoo started catching for her breath loudly that Yena noticed her. 

               “You must be Kim Minjoo-ssi. I’m Choi Yena, Yujin’s friend and the one who dragged her at the bar that night,” she introduced herself, bowing. She then placed her hands on Yujin’s