“We don’t meet people by accident.

They are meant to cross our path for a reason.”

/8/ I saw you

[ Y E R I N ]

I can barely sleep that night. My mind kept going back to Sojung’s words. She will help me find my parents and all of a sudden... things become possible. Something out of reach becomes possible because I have someone to help me. But then again, after all of this, what will happen? What if I alternate the past? All things are connected and I am scared that I might change some things and start chaos, a leap in the timeline.

Argh! I’m so dumb! Why did I not think of this beforehand? Now I’m stuck here like a dumb duckling with no guidance. I need answers for goodness sake!

“Oh, why are you still awake?” I yelped when Sojung came out of nowhere. 

I sighed a sound of relief and turned my gaze in the mug of hot chocolate in my hands. I have trouble sleeping so I did not force myself to sleep thus just sat in the kitchen and thought of ways on how to finish my goal quickly. It’s almost midnight so I thought Sojung was already sleeping, not that I want to bother her, I just think many things happened today. She deserves a good rest. 

“...can’t sleep.” I mutter, just enough for her to hear. I lift my head and return her gaze, based on her micro facial expressions that I learned to overlook, she looks tired and sleep-deprived like I do. All of a sudden, I felt guilty. She has her problems too and I just added another on her baggage. Yeah, it must be tiring. I should finish my mission right away and find a way to go back to the present time.

“How about you?”

“It’s still early for me.” She said as she poured hot coffee on a black mug that has a yellow star design. I assume she loves black, it suits her.

“Early? It’s midnight already?” I pushed. Maybe I also want to know her better. After all, I barely knew her. She’s a talented artist based on what I already saw, she is also kind and of course, gorgeous, that’s given, but there’s this kind of mysterious aura that she possessed that makes me want to know her.  

“I usually draw at this time. You know, creative juices tend to flow at night.” Sojung gave me a small smile and offered me some snacks. I generously accepted them as she sat in front of me. Wow, so she’s not bad after all. It also seems to me that out of her cold demeanour is a soft kind-hearted giraffe that does love taking care of people. I felt my cheeks blushed. How can’t I? She’s practically perfect!

“How about you?” Sojung asks as she sips from her mug. I blinked, what am I thinking? Am I staring for too long?

"I… I don't know..." I whispered. I can't add up to her worries again. She already gave me food, a place to stay and even promised to help me with my quest. I immediately flashed a smile and asked her, "If you don't mind, can I ask you a question?" 

"You already are," Sowon scoffed.

And she's back. I ignored her cold remarks and stared at her as I placed my chin on the back of my hand, showing her how cute I am. 

"Are you living alone?" I mean, she already told me she's living alone but when I first saw her, she's with someone else. 

"Why'd you ask?" She didn't look up to me, still busy with her drawing. Well, at least she didn't ignore me. 

"I'm just wondering who is the girl you're with the night you saved me… " 

" Ah," She stopped her sketch and looked at me. “You did not remember?” She raises her brow and clicks her tongue. Is she mad at me? 

“Uh...no?” How can I remember if I’m in pain that night? Is the girl important to her? Oh damn. Did I ruin their date or something?

“It was Yuna back there.” Sojung stared at me for a second, looking like waiting for me to react to her seemingly shocking answer. 

Wait. What? Yuna?!

“You mean the pretty lady with Jung Eunbi a while ago?” Shocks. Jung Yerin, calm down. 

“Yeah, seems like you really hurt your head huh.” I look at Sojung with wide eyes. Oh my. I ruined their date! Well, it’s not my fault that I fell at the exact place where they are standing! Who knows Lulu’s experiment is legit?! Definitely not me.

“Is she… your girlfriend?” I took a deep breath, preparing myself for her answer. Wait a minute. Why am I affected? It’s not that I like Sojung! Or do I?

“Maybe? I don’t know. It’s… complicated.” Sojung shrugged her shoulder and took a sip from her mug. Looks like it’s not a big deal for her. 

“Oh,” I exclaimed. I don’t know what’s the trend in dating here. As I remember, our ancestors were conservative about this kind of issue in dating. Are they allowed to date someone in their same gender? Oh. Is that why it’s complicated? 

“...because of you.” She mumbled but enough for me to hear. Sojung looked at me with her infamous poker face. What did she say? Is it because of me? Why me? I just came here the last day and she introduced me to Yuna as her cousin. I stared at Sojung as she scoffed at me and returned to her drawing. 

“Excuse me but why me?” 

“Have you forgotten, Jung Yerin? You fell between us while we’re on our date. It’s our first date for goodness sake and looks like it is also the last.” Sojung mockingly said, not looking at me.

I get it. Yuna is someone special to her and my thoughts are right. They are on a date and I ruined their moment. I bit back a laugh. I shouldn’t do that in front of Sojung, so I cough a bit to hide my chuckles. Well, in my defence, it’s not my fault that I will time travel at that time. I didn’t even know that the watch is effective!

Okay, I admit it. I am a bit guilty. If it’s not for me, maybe they are already in a relationship. Oh my god. I even demanded Sojung’s help that night. It is really my fault.

“I’m sorry Sojung.” I apologised. “Don’t worry. If you want, I will help you talk to Yuna. She will understand for sure.” I’m sincerely sorry, okay? I owe a lot to Sojung. I will explain my side to Yuna if Sojung wants my help. Sojung did not answer but I can see that she’s still listening. What is the deal with this giraffe? I thought she’s upset. Hmph.

“What are you doing, anyway?” I abandoned the topic a while ago and moved closer to her, trying to see what she’s sketching. Maybe she doesn’t want to talk about Yuna more. 

I looked at the piece she’s working on. Oh, she’s so good at this. I must say that Sojung is a talented artist even if I am not fond of arts. Ah, and that’s why she’s confident to ask if she’s going to be a successful artist in the future. Maybe I should check the newspapers when I go back to the present time. 

“I will enter this project to a contest,” Sojung said after a while. 

“Really? Can I see it?” She handed me the stack of papers and stood up from her seat. I followed her movements, looking like she was going to refill her coffee.

I returned my gaze to her work. This is good but why is this so weird? There are monsters, flashes of lightning, hmm let’s see… oh there are characters too. Maybe it’s not finished yet.

“It’s about two people who meet in times of chaos. The setting is from the future, that's why you will find it weird somehow.” Sojung explained with a smile on her face. Looks like she is really enjoying doing this project. “I am fond of technology and I’m also a bookworm so I enjoy this kind of stuff. You know… monsters and weirdness.” She chuckled and took a seat again in front of me. 

“Here, I also made you hot chocolate.” I don’t have a choice but to receive the mug from her. I smiled at her and muttered a small thanks. A shift of mood again. Why is she like this? She returns the smile and flips the pages of her project. 

“I think you’re going to win this contest, Sojung! This is really awesome!” I encourage her. Well, that’s the least I can do for her now and I mean it when I said that. She has the potential. 

“I thought of making the characters robots but as I see you, up until 2014 humans are still governing the earth so I did not push the idea.” She chuckled and proceeded to sketch again. I wrapped my hands on the hot mug and looked at her with smiling eyes. It’s always amusing for me to listen to other people’s passion and Sojung is amusing you know. I continue listening to her stories as I sip my hot chocolate and occasionally give reactions.

“Anyway, how’s the communication going on in the future? You have that… what is it again? Cellphone? At this time we only have letters and telephone, but not everyone has a telephone so it’s hard.”

“You’re right. We have upgraded versions of telephone and almost everyone in our time owns one. You can communicate with someone anytime and anywhere you want. We also have internet and social networking sites. You can talk to your friends there or meet new people.” I explained with hand gestures. Sojung looked amazed by the thought so I chuckled. She’s adorable sometimes.

“Woah. How can that work?” 

“Ah… how can I explain it? There are computers where you can connect to the internet and talk to someone you want. You can even see each other using web cameras!” I’m not good at explaining things. She’s artistic, Sojung could figure that out. She nodded enthusiastically and doodled some things on a blank paper. 

“Right!” I exclaimed. I could give her my email account so when I go back she can still communicate to me. That will work, right?

Sojung beat me with the idea when she exclaimed, “18 years from now, we can talk online! Especially when you feel alone or need someone to talk to. Who knows? Maybe I could be a great help to you in the future! Isn’t that awesome?”

I smiled, “Are you sure you won’t ignore me? You’re already a successful artist at that time.” She laughed at my reply and I can’t help but stare at her amusingly.

“Righ, haha, but don’t worry I don’t easily forget people. Especially someone who begged for my help. I will give you an autograph when we see each other at that time.”

“You arrogant giraffe!”

That night, Sojung and I talked non stop about our future. We laughed and teased each other until Sojung told me she has to go to school early in the morning. That fool. But thanks to her, my fears have calmed down, her presence made me feel safe and secured. No one has ever felt me that way. How I wish I can stay here with her. But the reality has struck me again and made me realize that I do not belong in this time. I shouldn’t attach myself to Sojung that much or more likely I shouldn’t fall for her charms. I cannot stay here. Time is not in my hands and sooner or later, I need to go back in the present time. After we finish my mission, after meeting my parents, I should find a way to go back. If fate allows me, Sojung and I will meet again at other times. That’s right. I should focus on the bright side. Sojung and I won’t be the same but I am sure we will recognize each other when we meet. One thing is for sure, I will not forget her smiles so when we meet at present time, I can call out her name with confidence. Yes, everything will be okay, right? 

-xx-

Hey! What’s up? Long time no see HAHA 

Is someone still here? I finally have the guts to finish this chapter and it’s because of the recent comments and subs this story received. Thank you a lot tho. It motivates me to write again. I appreciate the support wholeheartedly and I hope we can still see each other in the next chapters. Take care, folks! And see you!

Support GFRIEND comeback on November 9!