INCHEON- 14 YEARS AGO

“Eomma, can I go play with our new neighbor?” asked the young Lee Hyukjae.

“Yes. Just be back before dinner, arasseo?”

“Neh!” young Hyukjae ran outside towards their new neighbor. A young girl in pigtails, playing in their lawn, about the same age as him. She looked so carefree dancing with her doll.

“Eomma!” Hyukjae heard the young girl call to her mom.

“Yeh, Hyosookie?”he heard the girl’s mother answer.

“Hyosookie? That’s her name? It’s cute! Just like her!”Hyukjae thought to himself while he was still running towards the girl he now knew as Hyosookie.

“Hyosookie!” he called her.

“Neh!” the girl looked up and saw him.

“Let’s play!” Hyukjae offered.

“Okay! What’s your name?” Hyosookie asked.

“Hyukjae. How old are you, Hyosookie?”

“I’m 6 years old. And you?”

“I’m 7 years old and you can call me ‘Hyukjae oppa’!”

“Arasseoyo, Hyukjae oppa! Let’s call my friend Miyoung,” said Hyosookie as she pointed over the house beside theirs, “then we can start playing!”

They crossed over to Hyosookie’s friend’s lawn and she called her friend, “Miyoung-ah~ Let’s play with Hyukjae oppa!”

“Neh, Hyosookie~ Coming!”called out a sweet small voice from inside the house.

While waiting for her friend Miyoung, Hyosookie told her Hyukjae oppa giddily, “She’s my friend Miyoung and she loves pink! I envy her eye smile and she is pretty!”

“You, too, are pretty!” Hyukjae said.

“Kamsahamnida, Hyukjae oppaaaa~”

Miyoung finally got outside with them and she said, “Let’s play now!”

“Miyoung-ah, this is Hyukjae oppa,” Hyosookie introduced the two to each other.

“Hi, Hyukjae oppa!” Miyoung bowed and said, “I’m Miyoung.” She smiled and indeed, she had this eye smile.

The three of them eventually became friends and playmates for two years—only knowing each other by Hyosookie for the girl named Kim Hyoyeon, Miyoung for Hwang Miyoung and Hyukjae oppa for the boy named Lee Hyukjae.

12 YEARS AGO

It was 11:00PM in Incheon..

“Eomma? Appa? Where are we going?” asked nine-year-old Lee Hyukjae.

“We’re moving to Seoul, Hyukjae-ah,” his mother answered while packing things.

“Waeyo, eomma? How about Hyosookie & Miyoung-ah?”

“Aigoo, Hyukjae. You can make new friends in Seoul.”

The family left in the middle of the night & poor Hyukjae can only cry for not being able to say goodbye to his friends..to Hyosookie.

The next morning..

“Hyosookie, let’s go to Hyukjae oppa’s house! Let’s play Hide-and-Seek!” Miyoung offered.

“Neh, Miyoung-ah~”

Miyoung and young Hyoyeon were disappointed when no one would answer the door for them in their Hyukjae oppa’s house. They asked their parents and were sad when they were told that Hyukjae’s family had moved to Seoul for Hyukjae’s father’s work.

Young Hyoyeon cried.

“Uljimayo, Hyosookie~” Miyougn cooed.

“Wh-Who’s gonna be,” the girl sniffed, “our oppa n-now?” Hyoyeon cried harder.

“We will look for Hyukjae oppa,” said Miyoung as she held back her own tears. “I promise, we will find him.”

“P-Promise?”

“Neh. Promise.”

The two pinky-promised.

Meanwhile in Seoul..

“I don’t like it here!” Hyukjae whined.

 “Go outside & make new friends, Hyukjae-ah,” his mother commanded.

The young boy went outside. “There are no kids here. I miss Incheon! I miss Miyoung-ah..and Hyosookie,” the boy whispered to himself.

“Who’s Hyosookie?” a voice suddenly asked from behind Hyukjae.

He turned around to look and it was a young boy, “Who are you?” Hyukjae asked.

“Annyeonghaseo~ I’m Lee Donghae!” the boy bowed as he introduced himself.

“Lee? I’m a Lee, too! My name is Lee Hyukjae!”

The two became friends & they convinced their parents to always enter the same school. Eventually, Hyukjae told Donghae about his life back in Incheon..about his Hyosookie.

You see, young Hyukjae had a crush on Hyosookie & that’s why he was devastated when they moved to Seoul. He liked to make the young girl laugh because he liked watching her and hearing her giggle. On the other hand, Hyukjae oppa was special to young Hyosookie, too—because he never , he never made her cry, he’d fix her broken toys—and as for Miyoung, Hyukjae oppa was someone who was always there for Hyosookie that’s why she’s fine with him, too.

INCHEON- 11 YEARS AGO

“Aigoo! These kids!” exclaimed Miyoung’s mother as she watched the two young girls cry. They were hugging each other.

“Miyoung-ah~” Hyosookie hugged her friend tight as she cried on her friend’s shoulder.

“H-Hyosookie~ Mi-mianhae,” Miyoung said in between her sobs, “Sorry, but I can’t keep my promise!”

Miyoung and her family are going to live in America for Miyoung’s education, leaving Hyoyeon behind.

Of course, they were able to keep in touch for the first few years, but lost contact when Kim Hyoyeon moved to Seoul shortly after Miyoung left for America.

“I don’t want to leave Incheon, eomma~” young Hyoyeon whined.

“Wae, Hyosookie? It’s nice in Seoul, too!” her mother tried to convince her.

“What if my friends come back and I’m not here?”

“Mianhae, Hyosookie..but I don’t think they’re coming back..”

Young Hyoyeon cried at the thought of never seeing her friends again but what can a young girl do? Besides, her parents told her that moving to Seoul would be good for her education.

SEOUL- 4 YEARS AGO-2^ND YEAR IN HIGH SCHOOL-FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

“Oh my~ I don’t know anybody here,” a pretty girl named Tiffany said to herself (in English). She was walking in the school hallways, looking for her 1^st period classroom, when she saw people swarming outside the school auditorium. “Excuse me,” she asked (in English) as she approached two girls.

“Sorry! No English!” the girls started walking away.

“Yah, I can speak Korean, too,” (in Korean) Tiffany tried to call the two girls’ attention.

The two girls looked at her in awe and Tiffany walked up to them and their shocked expressions. This time, she spoke in Korean, “Mianhaeyo, I got used to speaking in English, but as I said, I speak Korean, too.”

One of the girls apologized, “We’re sorry, too.”

The other girl continued, “We panicked and we’re sorry for that!” The girl laughed at herself.

“Aniyo. Gwenchanhayo. I just wanted to ask,” she pointed at the school auditorium, “what’s happening?”

“You’re obviously new here,” the first girl told Tiffany, “our school’s Dancing Queen Kim Hyoyeon will have a solo performance! It’s a must-watch!” the two girls squealed and started jumping up and down.

“Oh. Okay~ Thanks!” she bowed and headed inside the auditorium. “Dancing Queen? I want to watch!” she thought to herself.

When she was in America, she studied dancing and singing, too. That’s why she was interested in getting to watch her new school’s so-called ‘Dancing Queen.’

Inside the auditorium..

“KIM-HYO-YEON! KIM-HYO-YEON!” the crowd was cheering, especially the boys who are even holding signboards.

Tiffany laughed at the sight of the boys yelling the name—Kim Hyoyeon. She muttered to herself, “She must be a very good dancer.”

At long last, the ‘Dancing Queen’ took her place onstage and all throughout her five-minute solo performance, Tiffany was captivated by her dance moves. Her skills. “She is good,” she whispered to herself.

Tiffany went wild with the rest of the audience when Kim Hyoyeon finished her performance. She was even a part of the standing ovation because she felt drawn to this Kim Hyoyeon. Deep inside, she really really wanted to be friends with this Kim Hyoyeon because she reminds her of her old friend..Hyosookie. She does not know what it is about Kim Hyoyeon that reminded her of Hyosookie but that’s just how she felt. “It’s just that my Hyosookie is shy; in contrary to this Kim Hyoyeon who seemed to be so confident onstage,” she told herself.

--TIFFANY’S FLASHBACK—

 I looked out the window and saw Hyosookie dancing with her favorite doll again.

“Can I play with Hyosookie, eomma? Can I? Can I?” I asked for my mom’s permission.

“Okay, Miyoung, just make sure that you come home immediately when I call you,”

“Yeyy~” I clapped.

“You know I don’t like repeatedly calling you out.”

“Neh, eomma! Annyeong~”

I ran to Hyosookie as fast as I can and I told her, “Let’s dance with our dolls, Hyosookie!”

“Shirheoyo!” Hyosookie pouted.

“Waeyo, Hyosookie?”

“I’m.. I’m.. I’m shy, Miyoung-ah..”

--END OF TIFFANY’S FLASHBACK—

The next day during homeroom..

Tiffany took her seat and sadly, no one wanted to sit beside her because rumors spread that she’s from America and thus, she speaks in English.

“Wae?! I can speak in Korean, too! Why?! Wae?! Wae?!” she quietly muttered to herself as she took her seat.

“Me, too! I speak Korean, too!” said a girl who seated herself beside Tiffany. The girl giggled and said, “Annyeonghaseyo~ I’m Kim Hyoyeon!” The girl offered to shake hands.

Tiffany took it—wide-eyed. “Oh myy~ She really reminds me of Hyosookie!!” she thought. In reality, what came out of her lips were, “Tiffany. I’m Tiffany Hwang. Nice to meet you.”

“Are you new here?” Hyoyeon started a conversation.

“Neh,” she answered.

“I knew it! Are you the one from America?”

Tiffany nodded and said, “Yes, that’s me.”

“I see. So that’s why no one wanted to sit beside you.”

“I guess..”

“We can be friends, though!” Hyoyeon told her.

“Jinjja? We can?” Tiffany brightened up.

“Of course! Just don’t speak in English if you don’t want to see my nose bleed,” Hyoyeon laughed at her own joke.

Tiffany laughed along but stopped when she heard Hyoyeon gasp.

“Miyoung-ah?” Hyoyeon absent-mindedly asked, almost like a whisper. When Kim Hyoyeon saw Tiffany’s eye smile, an image of her old friend Miyoung flashed in her mind.

Tiffany gasped in amazement, too when she heard what Hyoyeon said. “Is this really her? Hyosookie?” she asked herself. Tiffany can’t utter a single word. Kim Hyoyeon just called her in her Korean name.

Hyoyeon came to her senses and apologized, “Sorry. I just remembered an old friend,” Hyoyeon embarrassedly said.

“Then is that you, Hyosookie?” Tiffany asked.

Then, they both knew..

“Yah! Miyoung-ah!” Kim Hyoyeon got up from her seat and so did Tiffany. They hugged each other, shouting their old names, jumping up and down, feeling like little girls once again.

“Hyosookie, it’s you!”

The two were almost crying tears of joy when their homeroom teacher entered the room. She asked Tiffany to introduce herself as a new student would.

Miyoung who was now Tiffany Hwang and Hyosookie whose real name is Kim Hyoyeon could not contain their joy. All throughout the period, they would be squealing occasionally. Laughing by themselves occasionally. Do a high-five occasionally.

After classes, they finally had a chance to catch up on each other’s lives. Aside from their real names, they found out more things about each other. It is in America that Miyoung changed her name to Tiffany. Coincidentally, Tiffany had been studying Performing Arts in America, too. That’s why she’s a bit of a dancer too, but admittedly not as great as her friend.

“This is fate, Hyosookie~” Tiffany giddily said.

“Yah, don’t call me that!”

“Wae?! That’s what everyone calls you back then!”

“Aish! That was back then,” Hyoyeon said in between her teeth.

“Hm. Whatever. As I was saying, this is fate, Hyoyeon!”

“You’re so loud,” Hyoyeon jokingly complained and asked, “What were you saying?”

“This can only be the work of fate! That we meet again! That we both love to dance! We should totally enter the same college,” Tiffany pointed.

Hyoyeon just laughed.

“You do notice that that was my third time saying the same thing, right? Fate, fate, fate..” Tiffany playfully shook her head.

“Yeah! We should be friends forever, you know. Pinky-promise?”

The two pinky-promised and it brought back so many memories.

“Yah, do you remember the last time we pinky-promised?” Tiffany asked.

Hyoyeon nodded and guessed, “Hyukjae oppa?”

“Yes. I wonder how is Hyukjae oppa now..”

“Me too.. I miss having the two of you around..” Hyoyeon said while she started sipping on her favorite—Banana Milk.

“Jinjja? Both of us? Or is it only Hyukjae oppa you miss,” Tiffany teased.

“Mwoh?!” Hyoyeon playfully slapped Tiffany’s arm.

“I don’t know.. I always thought that Hyukjae oppa has a crush on you,” she wiggled her eyebrows.

“Aish! You’re talking nonsense, Miyoung-ah!” she sipped more Banana Milk.

“Maybe I am, maybe I’m not..”

Is the story interesting so far? Hm. The whole chapter is from the past and I think this will go on until Chapter 3. Sorry for that. It’s gravely important, though. Also, I promise that all eight characters will have their appearances in the next chapter. Mark my words :)) Thank you, EARLY SUBSCRIBERS and readers! Tell me how you feel about this fanfic in the comment box, ‘kay? Should I continue it or what?! Keke~ :D Much love, much love. *waves and bows* Komawoyo!

COMMENT REPLIES

@gracelulumangoSJ. oh yes, you predicted it right, sister! ;) kekeke~ :D anyhow, i checked your fanfic and I might read it when I finish my pending subscriptions, arasseoyo? FIGHTING, fellow author! :)