Happiness in this world, when it comes, comes incidentally. Make it the object of pursuit, and it leads us a wild-goose chase, and is never attained. Follow some other object, and very possibly we may find that we have caught happiness without dreaming of it.
 

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Jieun’s POV

            Most of my boxes and luggage were already brought to my dorm earlier in the morning, and the only reason I wasn’t there yet was because my parents insisted on having me stay for lunch one last time. What kind of a daughter would I be if I declined? So now, here I was sitting in my dining room, munching on some kimbap that I put together myself as we waited for my dad to come home from work. I lived through the past few weeks like a walking, talking, emotionless robot, not bothering to play my guitar when my parents argued, ridding myself of the habit of breaking into song whenever a catchy chorus drifted into my mind, and most of all, there was something about my life now that made me feel empty. When my dad finally came home, there was not much to say. He never got angry when my mom told him that I would be living in the dorms let alone oppose. Things between us seemed different now, like he didn’t care what I did as long as I wasn’t with… him. Ever since that day I found it hard to even say his name in my mind, and I was thankful to my parents for never bringing it up or asking about what happened. The three of us sat awkwardly around the dining table, exchanging odd glances with each other as I listened to the soft chirping of birds fluttering about around our backyard’s fountain.

            “I’m going to head to my room for one last time.” I informed, pushing my chair back from the table and getting up to walk away. They both nodded approvingly and I headed back to my room. When I opened the door, there was an eerie atmosphere about. Looking around, I couldn’t help but feel that I was missing something, but just what I was forgetting never came to me. All my clothes were packed and in the car’s back trunk right now, and my old toys had been donated. Sighing in defeat, I closed my room’s door and skidded down the hallway in my slippers. Whatever it was, it couldn’t have been important or else I wouldn’t have forgotten.

            “Can we go now?” I asked slightly impatiently; my eyes darted towards the clock hung across the living room that read 1:30pm. The head mistress of the school wrote specifically to show up at 2:00pm today to sign in and get settled, so there was no way I was going to be late. Just to add some pressure to my over-relaxed parents, I began slipping on my shoes and grabbing my messenger bag. After a hushed almost huddled conversation between the two in the kitchen, they finally came out and agreed to drive me. Seoul’s Institute of the Arts was at least a one hour drive away from my house so unless we speeded, I could be considered late already.

            “Jieun, is it alright if you go alone with your father?” My mom asked, grabbing a broomstick from the closet and standing by the hallway. We had plenty of time to say our goodbyes, and it wasn’t like I was leaving the country. Nodding, I waved goodbye to my mom one last time before walking outside with my dad. This whole summer I had never been alone with him until now, and I had a strange feeling that this father-daughter alone time was planned. Just like usual, I slipped into the backseat and rolled down the window completely to allow the wind to blow through my hair. The sunshine and wind against my skin was refreshing, and I leaned my head back against the seat to relax. This was going to be one long car ride. My eyes diverted to the reflection of my father in the rearview mirror when he coughed, as if he was going to start a speech.

            “Jieun, are you sure about leaving us?” He finally asked after a long, awkward pause.

            “Yes.” I replied automatically, hoping this was all he wanted to talk about.

            “Your mother and I noticed how weird you’ve been acting lately.” He continued, eyes staying focused on the busy roads of Seoul. I sighed and pulled out my iPod, quickly unraveling my earphones when he interrupted,

            “Jieun, listen to that later. Right now let’s talk.” He ordered in a softer tone than usual. I could tell he was trying extremely hard not to burst in anger, and I respected his efforts so I shoved my iPod carelessly back into my bag and asked,

            “About what?” It was a dumb and senseless question, but I had high hopes for a topic change.

            “Your behavior these past few weeks,” He responded, rolling up my back window so that the roaring wind would not interrupt. I should’ve known better than to wish for a change of topics. We had over thirty minutes left of the car ride; I could only divert the question for so long.

            “Did I do something wrong?” I asked, staring blankly out the window as I traced basic shapes like flowers and smiley faces on my window with my index finger.

            “It’s not that,” He muttered, clearly frustrated with his thoughts, “It just seems as if something happened to cause you to act so…” His last words dragged on as he thought and I felt the need to interrupt, half out of curiosity,

            “So what?”

            “So emotionless,” He nodded to himself after answering, as if he had been searching long and hard for the perfect word. He thought I was acting emotionless? I never expected my parents to notice such small things about me, but I had to agree with him. These past few weeks there was nothing relatively significant that made me even relatively happy.

            “It’s nothing, Appa.” I ensured, still uselessly hoping for him to drop it and just drive quietly.

            “Did something happen between you and…” He began his question and began dragging his last word again. It was a popular habit of his when he needed more time to think, but I knew he wasn’t searching for a word this time. He was mentally debating whether to say his name out loud. My mind was screaming at him to let it go, but unfortunately telepathy wasn’t a skill of mine.

           “… Wooyoung?” He finished off his question with the name that drilled a million holes into my hurting chest. Why of all times did he have to bring it up now? I always believed in the philosophy that time would heal all wounds, but right now, time wasn’t being much of a remedy for the kind of emotional wound I had. I was the one who hurt Wooyoung, and that fact pained me more than if Wooyoung hurt me. That day I had expected him to give me a reason—just a small reason—to think differently about him, to regret ever wanting to be with him, because if had even one small motive to push him aside my heart wouldn’t feel so guilty right now. Wooyoung wasn’t the careless player who hurt girls as a sport like everyone thought; I just had to be the big bad wolf and blow every chance I had at love away. And for what reason? In the heat of the moment, did Wooyoung’s ambitionless lifestyle bother me so much? My thoughts completely consumed me, temporarily forcing me to forget the presence of my dad and that I was sitting in a moving car. I could only think of wanting to turn back time to give myself another chance at being less arrogant.

            “Jieun?” My dad’s voice echoed through my head, forcing me out of my guilt-tripping thoughts.

            “Appa, please stop.” I silently pleaded from the back seat; my shaky voice must have gotten through to him because for the first time in my entire eighteen years of existence, he listened to me.

Jieun’s Mom’s POV

            My back ached slightly as I began sweeping Jieun’s entire room from corner to corner. Beads of sweat slowly dripped down my forehead and were wiped away by my hands, dusty from my cleaning. Why did I have to be a part time house wife? Almost immediately after grabbing the broomstick I had wished I was back in my bakery, surrounded by the scrumptious smells of pastries and the delightful sound of fermenting yeast. In order for my husband to have some alone time with our daughter, I had drove myself into the endless world of house chores, so he better spend that time wisely or he’s going to be the one with a mop in his hands. Just when I thought I was finally done sweeping, I remembered an important section of Jieun’s room that I missed—the area that collects the most dust and junk; under her bed. Groaning loudly knowing that no one would hear, I dragged the broomstick along with me and poked it around under the bed, pulling it back towards me as if I was plowing a field of crops and found something quite interesting.

            “Say you love me, original song by Lee Jieun?” I pondered, grabbing two sheets of paper from the dusty residue and sat on her bed to read them. After I was finished reading the first song’s lyrics, I flipped to the next piece of paper and muttered,

            “Maybe, original song by Lee Jieun,” My fingers traced each line carefully as I read, the words becoming more familiar to me as they trailed on. This was the song Wooyoung and she sang together at their graduation! My heart beamed as I read the lyrics, smiling to myself as I remembered back to the days when these exact words expressed how I had felt in high school. Some verses were highlighted and scribbled, and I assumed it to be a rough draft that Wooyoung and she worked through all throughout the month of June.

            “Ah Jieun, you’ve always been so shy with your feelings,” I smiled to myself, re-reading the bittersweet lyrics and imagining Jieun and Wooyoung on stage together. Wouldn’t that be their heaven? If her emotions inspired her to write songs so touching, why had she begun slipping into a state of depression? She never bothered to leave the house once for the past few weeks, but why? Wooyoung must’ve hurt her somehow. In my sudden rage of assumption, I grabbed the closest cordless phone and dialed a familiar number.

            “Yeoboseyo?” He answered, his voice slightly outdone by the loud chattering in the background.

            “Annyeonghaseyo, this is Jieun’s mom,” I introduced myself quickly, holding the phone against my shoulder with my neck.

            “Annyeonghaseyo, eomeonim,” He replied politely, the background noise becoming quieter. I stood in the middle of Jieun’s room unsure of what to say next; I only felt the sudden need to force some answered out of him; but to what questions?

            “Is there something wrong?” Wooyoung asked confusedly. I snapped out of my deep thought and coughed,

            “Ah yes, I mean, Jieun’s been acting strange lately.” I began, hinting to him the reason for my sudden call.

            “Strange? How so?” He pondered, sounding completely oblivious to Jieun’s recent behavior. Sighing, I decided to fill him in. If her parents can’t make her happy then maybe this boy knew a way.

            “She seems quite depressed lately, and I have no reason as to why. The only person I can think of to cheer her up is you, Wooyoung.” I explained, shoving the broomstick into the closet and watching it fall back and lean against the mop with a soft clank.

            “Choesonghamnida, eomeonim,” Wooyoung apologized, furthering my flustered state. Was his apology a confession that he wronged my daughter in some way? My fists unknowingly clenched tightly.

            “I can’t her up right now; I’m at the airport.” Wooyoung informed. I heard a friend of his demand him to speak quicker in the background and couldn’t help but ask,

            “Airport? Wae?”

            “I’m going to Canada.” He admitted confidently. My mind completely froze. Why would he leave my daughter to go so far away? I was certain they never had a family vacation planned so close to the nearing school year. Ever since graduation I had been quite close with his mom.

            “What about our Jieun?” I asked, confused. There was a long silence from him mixed in with children’s faded laughter before he replied,

            “I’m sure she’ll be okay without me.”

            “You’re just going to give up on her like this? Wooyoung-sshi, she’s never loved anyone until you came along!” I confessed for her, knowing her shy and quiet soul wouldn’t do it. She’s been dragging on for so long, hiding her emotions behind the song lyrics I now held in my hands.

            “Aniyo, she doesn’t love me. She said so herself.” He denied the bluntly obvious fact. On their graduation day I heard everything she said to my husband, but I knew that she had to be lying.

            “Let me read you some lyrics, and then you try to tell me again that she doesn’t love you.” I challenged, taking in a deep breath before reading the lyrics to both songs, skipping the repeating choruses to save time. When I was finished, I felt confident that he would give in a chase my daughter again.

            “I’m quite touched,” He replied after I was finished. I couldn’t help but smile ear to ear. If they ended up together, I would get recognition as their cupid.

            “Ah, mianheyo, I need to go catch my flight!” Wooyoung suddenly burst, his rushed footsteps growing louder. I was flabbergasted! After hearing all this he still intended on going to Canada?!

            “You’re still going to leave?” I almost screamed in frustration. He replied with a calmly,

            “Yes, but this doesn’t mean I’m giving up on Jieun. Until I learn to live as a dreamer, I can’t appear in front of her again. Goodbye eomeonim.” I sat stunned as I allowed the phone to drop onto the floor, making direct contact with the speaker button.

            “Eomeonim? Yeoboseyo?” I heard his voice echo through the floorboards.

            “Wooyoung, let’s go now! Hurry!” A huskier voice rushed him repeatedly as I stayed frozen.

            “I’m coming! Mianheyo, eomeonim!” Wooyoung answered, hanging up right after. What did he mean by becoming a dreamer?

Wooyoung’s POV

            After hanging up, I slid my cell phone back in my jean’s pockets and rushed beside Taecyeon to enter the plane. This was it; in less than a day I’ll be living in Canada. My head was throbbing from spending the past two weeks learning English with Taecyeon as my personal English tutor. This would all be worth it in the end though; I had to be sure of it. We took our seats, mine being a window seat and sat silently beside each other listening to our own respective music players. Beside me, Taecyeon bobbed his head back and forth to a fast beat, but even through my blasted earphones I could hear Jieun’s one of a kind singing voice echo through my mind. The lyrics her mother read to me were repeating in my head. I knew one of the songs like the back of my hand—the duet song, Maybe, but what was the name of the other song again? I sang the chorus of it to myself and remembered the name to be ‘Say You Love Me’ though I heard the lyrics just once. I smiled to myself for not knowing how she felt earlier, and if I had known earlier things would have been different. Lee Jieun, before I can say that I love you, I have to prove to you that I’m not ambitionless. If I couldn’t find a goal in South Korea then maybe I’ll find it in Canada.

            “Where do we go once we get there?” I turned to face Taecyeon, waving a hand in front of his face like he had done to me weeks before to get his attention. He pulled his headphones back around his neck and asked me to repeat. I sighed and repeated my question, earning a confident grin from my friend.

            “Don’t worry about a thing; I have a close friend since childhood that will pick us up.” I nodded and turned back to look out the window, hoping that our flight would be as clear and peaceful as the sky looked right now. Whoever his friend was, he better be damn fluent in Korean.

A/N: Here's a super long update for you all! I'm so sorry the plot is becoming saddening to you all because of the WooU separation but this is still a story and good stories can't have only happy moments 24/7. I saw that after posting the past few chapters a lot of interest in this fanfic was lost, but I just want to say that I wanted my readers to enjoy reading my fanfic because of my writing and not purely for the WooU coupling, though that's a major focus in my fanfic. I don't write to express what a crazy fangirl I am, I write to share my thoughts on certain themes around storylines that I find relevant, and I see writing as a form of art that I want to share. I promise that things will get better between them, but if everything is just happy-go-lucky, then there's just no point in continuing is there? I still have a lot of ideas left, and I don't want to stir my fanfic into a cliche like so many out there in order to please the immediate interest of my readers, but I hope that my readers can be open-minded and still support the chapters in which there are unfortunate events as well. As much as writing is a for fun thing, I still take it quite seriously (with distant hopes of publishing a book one day..lol) so i hope that my writing can be able to draw interest for the plot and style, not just idol pairings (writing to me, means far more than that). Still, I'm thankful to all my readers and commenters and subscribers for all the support thus far, and I hope that the excitement won't die down so soon as I still have much more to share through this fanfic! ^^

--SkyeLin (BTW I didn't edit this chapter yet, Lol.)