Let me go home

I’m just too far from where you are

I wanna come home

Aren’t you lonely? Those were the words Jiyong had kept for himself during the weeks he spent with Chaerin. He had to bite his tongue not to roll the question, though. They were far closer thanks to the project, Jiyong had been being a constant visitor to Chaerin’s house at least once every two days, and during that time, not even once had he seen Chaerin interact with someone else other than him.

He couldn’t understand why she had no friend, was it her Queen-ish attitude? Or her cold demeanor? Why hadn’t anybody tried to get close to her? Because he was sure if one did, they would find themselves attracted to her as she was pages of surprises. She looked cold but really she was warm, she looked strong but somehow he knew she was as vulnerable as other girls.

Maybe even more so, remembering how she had nowhere to run to when she was sad.

Not even parents.

When he first visited her house he thought they were working, because there was no way a girl living alone in such huge house. Maybe they were out of town, or out of the country, maybe they were busy, he could accept that. But to find no pictures of them at all in the house? That was definitely weird.

Jiyong never dared himself to ask her question about her parents, he knew there must be a certain issue going on, a sensitive one at that. Maybe she was an orphan of a billionaire, who didn’t think to have a maid is important, but her parents must have had at least a maid to take care of her, right? Why couldn’t he find one? Maybe he watched too many dramas where maids lining up and greet their masters in a house like Chaerin’s. But if you’ve ever visited her house, you’d think the same way too, it was too vacant, empty… and cold.

The only company she had was Seungri and his friends. Seungri was really protective about her, Jiyong had known that since high school, so did his friends, the kings, but they were busy with their own lives most of the time. Especially since they entered college, knowing the true nature of Seungri, he couldn’t stay a day without flirting, which made him very busy.

And made Chaerin even lonelier.

He couldn’t imagine living without his parents and friends. He wasn’t exactly a social butterfly, but he had his own circle of friends he knew would be there for him when he was having a hard time, and for him to share happiness with.

His mother, although weird sometimes, is the cutest mother he could ever have, and a warm-loving one, plus her cooking was extremely good. His father, although not around much as he was working in a multinational company where he must always be available to go abroad anytime, was a wise one when he was around, he wouldn’t gossip like his mother does, but he cared a lot about his son, Jiyong was sure his father knew all about his friends.

And his closest friends were the kings, who were very protective around him too. He had no problem hanging around new friends, he made a good company, he might not be the most famous but he was okay with that.

Chaerin’s world was hollow to him; it was too spacious and empty. Sometimes he felt like he was lost in that world of nothingness, that no matter where he went he could find nothing. It was almost suffocating; he didn’t want Chaerin to stay there alone. So he tried for whatever reason, as much as he could, to accompany her, to provide her something so she won’t find nothing anymore when she looked around, he hoped she would let him enter the nothingness of her world, he hoped she would find him the next time she turned her head.

---

Not being the most famous guy didn’t mean Jiyong had no suitors, in fact he had a lot, but much backed out because of Chaerin’s existence. But then again, there were some who weren’t affected by Chaerin’s authority; Ahn So Hee was one of them, the one who was almost as persistent as Chaerin in making him hers.

So Hee was a student from the dance department, one with confidence almost as much as Chaerin’s and friends a whole lot more than Chaerin’s. She was a nice girl, but also a competitive one. Jiyong didn’t know when she started pursuing him, or why, and he couldn’t care less.

It was one of a typical sunny day, he had just finished cooling himself down in the swimming pool when he saw both girls staring at each other outside the indoor pool, and later moved inside. He didn’t know what they were talking about, of course he had a thought that they were talking about him but it’s not like he could jump over there and asked “Hey girls, talking about me?” So he decided that it was wiser to just leave them.

He wasn’t even reaching the parking lot when Seungri came to him, panting heavily asking him if he saw Chaerin. The horror in Seungri’s face was obvious when he told him he saw her near the pool, and in no time he found himself running with Seungri to the pool.

What he saw later was something he knew would never forget; Chaerin completely dressed head to toe was pushed to the pool, the killer heels she had on was no help, and he could swear when Chaerin looked his way for a few milliseconds, for the very first time since high school had he seen fear apparent on her face. Seungri was running ahead of him, but Jiyong knew he was too late, in a mere second he heard a splashing sound only a few meters from him.

Before him was the sight of Seungri running, with his friends behind him, their faces was angry and almost hateful towards So Hee who looked like she didn’t know what she was doing, she was taken aback herself too, and her friends surrounded her to calm her down and keep her away from the Kings. What he feared the most was the sight of Chaerin flailing in the pool, trying her best not to drown, which was failing slowly.

Everything seemed like it moved in a slow motion, Chaerin drowning, running out of energy, Seungri frantically yelling his lungs out calling for his cousin’s name, TOP jumped into the pool to save her, Youngbae and Daesung crouched down on the pool side, reaching their hands out to help TOP. He saw everything in details, even how the water dripped down TOP’s hair when he was swimming to reach her, how the ray of sunlight fell down on the pool and made a little rainbow when met with the splashing water TOP made.

But then the walls disappeared, So Hee and her friends disappeared, under him were no longer tiles, instead it was a very pretty, soft white sand, he heard sound of waves, and the sun shone brightly, Seungri wasn’t in his casual clothing anymore, Youngbae was suddenly topless, and they were suddenly on a beach. The only thing didn’t change was their fear stricken faces, and Chaerin flailing her hands hopelessly.

“Oppa!” She cried, and Jiyong couldn’t move no matter how hard he tried.

“Jingyo oppa!”

---

Chaerin knew how to swim, at least until few summers ago when she almost drown herself to death in a beach. Beaches, or any water area were scary for her ever since. She must’ve been really stupid when agreeing talking to So Hee in the indoor pool area. But she was too angry to think about anything so she followed anyway.

The words So Hee said to her were hurtful, she should’ve gotten used to it. But she couldn’t today, for she was accused as an orphaned who tried to lure Jiyong, So Hee’s friends were es; she should have known from the start, they were too childish to be college students now that she thought about it.

She’d been spending her days peacefully with Jiyong for the past two weeks; she had forgotten how to snarl, fight, or even to put her cold demeanor. She hated to admit but it was a face that being with Jiyong opened her not only to him but to the society as well.

And now here she was, with Ahn So Hee and friends confronting her with all their might. Apparently she knew about Chaerin and Jiyong being in a group together and she wasn’t happy about it at all. Chaerin knew among all others competitors, So Hee was one of the toughest, one she could really treat as opponent. It was a pity how she turned desperate; Cherin guessed it was her friends.

She couldn’t remember how she ended up by the pool side, and with a little push from So Hee’s friends she couldn’t remember the name of, she fell to the pool. She should’ve swam and saved her own life, but fear overtook her. It was that summer all over again, which started happily as she and her favorite people around her decided to go for a summer vacation.

She was swimming happily, almost too happily and she lost it. She didn’t even realize she went a little too far, and her tired feet cramped, all hell broke loose soon after. The scene flashed before her eyes all over again, and then slowly it was all black.

---

Jiyong wasn’t sure if he was running or walking slowly to approach them, all he knew was the beach disappeared and he once again was in the indoor pool. In front of him was a tear-faced So Hee and her friends trying to calm her down. TOP was trying to give a CPR to Chaerin but she didn’t budge a bit, she was soaked, her face pale, and Jiyong had never felt so afraid before.

He crouched down beside her, unconsciously pushing TOP away and cupped her cold face in his shaking hands. “Chaerin-ah…” he called out, his voice wavering. Instinctively he performed CPR, he didn’t even know how he knew to do it. He kept doing it for some more minutes which felt like decades until he finally heard Chaerin coughing the water.

He stared at her, making sure she was okay. She looked up with her tired eyes and met his stare, smiling a little and weakly putting her cold hands on his cheek, “Jingyo oppa, why are you crying?” she questioned in a low tone.

He cried? He didn’t even realize it.

He couldn’t even answer her when her hands dropped and her eyes closed again, and he found himself frantically calling her, “Hunchae-yah!”

Hunchae?

Let me go home,

I’ve had my run

Baby, I’m done,

I gotta go home

(Michael Buble – Home)

Author’s Little note:

A long chapter, I think? I hope it’s sufficient. I know you all must have thought about this when I hinted about Chaerin and Jiyong spending times together before everything. Now, I think I just made everything clearer. But uh-oh… I still have more dramas at hand, and more mysteries to be revealed. Stay tuned!

I'm so sorry if I have offended any So Hee's fans! I had no idea of who to put, so I looked around and found her. I don't hate her, really! /bows

And of course, thank you so much for the comments and supports. I hope you enjoy the ride!

♥littletea