Great ambition is the passion of a great character

ミ★~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~★彡

Jieun’s POV

            I sat under a shady tree by the cottage, eying a beautiful heart shaped beach as I wondered why in the world I skipped a week of classes to come here. This was my third day in Jejudo with Kikwang, and though it was meant to be fun, I wasn’t sure just how much fun I was having. Despite the abundant varieties of beverages being sold and offered at every corner here, I settled with a simple can of orange juice with pulp. It reminded me that this kind of luxurious lifestyle wasn’t meant for people like me. Kikwang’s parents came with us on the trip, and I was thankful for that because how awkward would it be if it were just the two of us? His little sister tagged along as well, but with her age she was too glued to her parents to pay any attention to me. I didn’t mind this lack of attention as long as people were having fun.

            “Jieun-ah, so this was where you were hiding!” Kikwang exclaimed, taking a seat beside me under the tree and yanking my can of juice from my hands to take a sip. I eyed him for a second, disappointed, but decided not to make a ruckus over a few sips of juice.

            “Where are you all the time?” He asked, nudging me on the arm playfully as he pointed towards the beach. He never gave me a moment to answer, but by now he probably knew that I took half his questions as rhetorical. I was still the same old quiet Jieun I was back in high school. Trying to change the subject, he eyed me suspiciously and asked,

            “Why weren’t you in musical theatre or dance the day before we left for Jejudo?” I felt bad, wondering if he thought I was avoiding him. Those two were the only classes we had together and I skipped both of them even though he knew very well I was present at school that day. Still, those absences weren’t unexcused.

            “I,” I began, stopping to consider the words that would leave my mouth before continuing, “Decided to switch majors.” I sighed afterwards, watching his cheery smile switch into an immediate disappointed frown.

            “Mwo? Wasn’t it your dream to be an actress?” he questioned attackingly, making me feel even guiltier for hiding it from him.  

            “That was my dream. I guess being in professional acting courses showed me how unfitting of a career it was for me.” I choked, remembering the first showcase we had. I hated myself for my cowardice. That wouldn’t be the only time I had to confront a kiss scene, and clearly, I wasn’t ready for it. Why should I continue pursuing something I would never be fully comfortable with? Sure, kissing is kissing and actors do it all the time like it’s nothing, but in my mind I could never find a reason to justify that two people kissing with no meaning was right. Thinking of it this way, if my career were to be restricted like that I would probably never score a leading female role in anything I acted in. Kikwang stopped for a moment to think and then asked,

            “What’s your new dream?”

            “I want to be a singer or perhaps a music composer.” I explained, taking the last sip of my orange juice and giving him an earnest smile. It would be great if he could understand my mind even though I wasn’t so good at expressing it. On such a beautiful day, it would be a shame to ruin the mood with stuff about school.

            “Want to go down to the beach?” He asked to break the awkward tension building between us. This time I knew he was expecting an answer. Thinking for a moment, I imagined how great it would feel to have hot sand between my toes and cool water splashing at my ankles. Hadn’t I always wanted to experience these things that I saw on T ever since I was young? Nodding at Kikwang, he immediately grabbed my hand and led me down to the beach. At the speed we were going, I had to keep a hand over my sun hat to keep it from flying away. The moment we stepped onto the beach Kikwang pulled his light blue polo off, exposing his bare skin to the sun. Many eyes on the beach fell on him—many excluding me. Keeping my sun hat in check, I slowly left Kikwang’s side to walk along the shoreline, smiling to myself as the cool water tickled my ankles. The sand wasn’t as hot as I imagined it would be, in fact, on this day it felt quite cool and refreshing. This was probably the most effective and peaceful remedy I would ever find for my unrest mind. Squatting down to feel the sand between my fingers, I let out a sigh of relief and closed my ears off from the world. Behind me, I knew several girls were flirting with Kikwang, but rather than being angry that my boyfriend was entertaining girls other than me, I decided to let it go. Today was a good day, and it wasn’t like I minded much about what Kikwang was doing. I thought back to the time my father scolded me about Wooyoung being a player, judging him just based on his looks. I was a skeptic to that stereotype, because I knew that it wasn’t true for many people he described. However, putting Kikwang in the middle of that stereotype seemed to make much more sense to me.

            “Jieun-ah!” Kikwang called me from a few metres away. I raised a hand to wave but I never turned my head to see him. With my two hands I built a small pile of sand, watching it tumble down to join the smoothened surface as the tides came and went. During my third repetition, a tall shadow cast on me and before my reflexes could react fast enough, Kikwang had already pulled my sun hat off my head and dashed into the water.

            “Yah!” I screamed half playfully, following him like perfect bait into the water. I reached over to grab my hat from him but he pulled his hand away and then went deeper in. Forgetting that I was a lousy swimmer, I followed him further until the water reached near my shoulders. Since he was taller, he stood a few feet further in the water with his signature mischievous smile, holding my sun hat just centimeters away from my grasp. Once more I reached for it and finally, he let go. Before I could rejoice in my victory, something hard shoved past me and pushed me forward. My head dipped into the water, my feet losing grip on the slippery wet sand underneath and I fell backwards. Not one second passed before another strong force pushed me forward and something hard hit the side of my head. My arms were flailing in the water, trying to bring my head back to the surface for air. Everything was dark; my eyes refused to open, and with my legs touching the surface I knew I was far too deep for my head to reach the surface at this point.

            “Jieun! Jieun!” I heard a male voice plead my name worriedly. There was no use; I couldn’t respond. Forcing one eye open, I caught a glance of something pink and yellow before I felt my consciousness slipping away.

Kikwang’s POV

            “Jieun! Jieun!” I gasped, trying to pass the crowd of surfers who rampaged into the water at the sight of a large wave.

            “Kajima!” I screamed, trying to get the surfers’ attention. Jieun was somewhere in the water! She couldn’t swim! As seconds passed my anxiety grew uncontrollable. How would I live with this guilt? It was my fault she entered the water! I signaled for a life guard to come and within seconds he was in the water. When the surfers finally passed, he pulled her up to the surface and swam back to shore, laying her on the dry sand. She was unconscious.

            “Jieun! Can you hear me? Jieun!” I knelt beside her, watching the faint up and down movements of her stomach. Thank god she was still breathing. She coughed out some water, but her eyes wouldn’t open.

            “Jieun-ah! I’m so sorry! Oh my god!” I pleaded, completely freaking out. How could this happen? My mind was in a complete mess until Jieun’s eyes opened slightly. She was conscious. She could hear me.

            “Jieun! You’ll be okay; I’m here!” I reassured, grabbing her left hand. Drops of water from my wet hair dripped onto her cheeks and trickled off. Her head turned slightly in my direction; I imagined that her sight was still quite blurry.

            “Kwaenchanah,” She whispered in a slurred voice from the salty water that scorned . Hearing it from her I was certain that she was okay, and that relieved me.

            “… Wooyoung Oppa.” She smiled, closing her eyes again. Did I hear wrong? Did she just say ‘Wooyoung Oppa’? I immediately let go of her hand, letting it drop soundlessly onto the sand. Despite the fact that Jieun was half unconscious at this moment I couldn’t help but feel pissed off. I treated her as my girlfriend all this time, but where did I fit in her heart? What bull was this? My eyes gazed upon Jieun’s small smile. Was she too innocent to just let him go? My hands tightened into a fist, but before I could think of what to do next, my parents came dashing towards us.

            “Omo! Kikwang! What happened?” My mom gasped, quickly signaling for my dad to carry her. My mom wrapped Jieun with a towel to prevent her from catching a cold.

            “It doesn’t matter. She’ll be fine.” I assured, my teeth slightly gritted. So in the end I was the joke, right? I never stood a chance against Wooyoung, but she still had the heart to lead me on. This was pathetic. I was pathetic.

            “Just who is Wooyoung to you?” I muttered hatefully under my breath. Everyone was too far ahead to hear me.

            “Kikwang-ah, I think it’d be best to get her back to Seoul once she gains consciousness. You all had enough fun in the sun.” My dad informed, rushing Jieun back to the cottage as fast as his old legs could carry him. No matter how much I thought, it just didn’t make sense. Someone who abandoned her for his pride couldn’t possibly still hold her heart. I couldn’t give up now.

A/N: Wow I had no idea when I started this fanfic that it would reach or even surpass 30 chapters! Thank you all you readers and commenters for keeping this fanfic so alive ^^! I hope this update was fun for you all to read. The next chapter will signal the return of WooU (The moment you've ALL been waiting for)! and since i'm such a nice author; I'll let you all know that I'm probably not going to update until wednesday (the day of my last exam) :D I hope you all can stay excited until then kekeke!