Joon walked slowly towards home, thinking about how things ended up the way they did with Jiyeon.  They went from seeing each other everyday, to not seeing each other for a month, until that night in the club.

He knew Hyuna was part of the reason why he and Jiyeon had drifted. Although Jiyeon had slowly seemed to accept the fact that he had met Hyuna again, as time went on, he could sense that Jiyeon still had her suspicions about Hyuna and didn’t really approve of her.

The saying “women’s intuition” gave him doubts at first, but he knew Jiyeon wasn’t completely off the mark, at disapproving Hyuna. Through his point of view, Hyuna was hot, but she was whinier than he last remembered.

Not to mention that she’d been going out with her girlfriends a lot lately. Which gave him more leeway to go out with his guy friends. But he didn’t like how she never answered her phone on the nights that she was out.

She would always explain that her phone battery had died or that she had borrowed a friend’s phone when she went out.

-

Something was nagging at Joon as he thought more about this, and he became startled when his phone suddenly started ringing. Glancing at the caller ID, he was even more surprised seeing it was Hyuna.

He slid the phone open to answer the call, hearing loud music thumping in the background, and Hyuna’s voice sounding slurred.

“O-oppa. O-oppaaa we needa end things. It was fun at first, but now it’s boring. Byeeeeee” She said laughing in a crazy cackling way, as he could hear a deep voice beside her.

“How about we go somewhere baby?” The mysterious guy asked as Hyuna giggled and hung up the phone with a click.

Joon stood on the sidewalk completely dumbfounded and in shock. He’d heard bad breakup stories before, but this one really seemed to top them all.

Strangely though, he wasn’t feeling upset about it. Just surprised and slightly relieved. He knew that Hyuna was getting worse into her partying habits and he just wasn’t up for that anymore.

Typically, if it had happened two years ago, he would’ve gone to a bar to drink away his sorrows. But now, he had no sorrows. Plus Hyuna vomiting in front of her hydrangea bushes one night, after he accompanied her to the club and brought her home was not a happy memory.

-

He thought about calling up Jiyeon to tell her about the news, but stopped. They weren’t on the best of terms, but he was surprised to see where he had somewhat subconsciously walked to.

Even though it had been a month, even if it had been a year, even if it had been five years, he knew that he would still recognize the familiar cobble stone walkway of Jiyeon’s house, and the garden gnome that stood beside the front door.

Hesitating with himself for a moment, he determinedly walked up to door, and was about to ring the doorbell, when he remembered it was two in the morning. Jiyeon hated being woken up in the middle of the night.

Moreover, he might disrupt the rest of her family. So he walked around the house, and tossed a few jellybeans at her bedroom window, hitting the glass each time with a light thwack.

After pausing, and waiting a few minutes, the window slid open, and Jiyeon looked down with an expressionless face.  Joon tried to look pleadingly and apologetically at her, but she started to push the window closed.

“Jiyeon wait!” Joon called out in his loudest whisper. She stopped the window halfway. “What?” She asked, also whispering loudly back.

“Can you come down? Please?” He called back up to her. Jiyeon sighed and slammed her window closed.

Joon looked up unsure if she grew tired of him, or if she was coming down. He decided to go to the back door and wait,  where they used to talk.

A minute later the back door opened, and Jiyeon took a step outside her expression now a frown. Joon backed up a bit, and sighed.

“Look Jiyeon, I know things have gotten pretty bad lately. And I’m really sorry.” He started off, apologizing. Jiyeon remained silent.

Joon rubbed the back of his head. “I’m tryin’ to say that I miss my bestie.” He explained. Jiyeon pursed her lips for a moment, saying nothing but then burst out in tears, embracing Joon.

“I’m sorry too. I was being really childish about Hyuna, but if she makes you happy I won’t say anything.” She remarked firmly.

Joon embraced her back. “No. You were right about her. And she broke up with me drunkenly over the phone.” He replied back, dryly. Jiyeon pulled away and looked at him in surprise and sympathy.

“Oh oppa, Im sorry.” She said, but he shook his head. “Surprisingly, it doesn’t feel like much of a loss. But I was wondering if I could crash on your couch?” He asked sheepishly.

Jiyeon smiled, shaking her head. “You’re really scared of your appa when you go home late aren’t you?” She asked, and invited him inside.

“Noo. I just like your couch..” He trailed off lamely. Jiyeon laughed, and grabbed a pillow and blanket from the cabinets, and handed it to him to place on the pull out couch in the living room.

“Night oppa.” Jiyeon said shaking her head, as Joon pulled out the couch bed. Joon gave her his goofy grin.

“Night Jiyeoniee.” Joon teased, and Jiyeon scrunched up her face, waving bye to him as she walked into her room, closing it behind her.

________________________________________

Isabel Santos Copyright 2012.

ALl rights reserved.