Woohyun didn’t love the attention. He became popular, not much to his interest, with swooning girls who wooed him anachronistically at school. In weeks Nam Woohyun became the new Edward Cullen.

“Krystal!” he shouted and waved from his table at the Bella Swan in the cafeteria line.

“Hi!” She smiled brilliantly, her scintillating eyes curving into an amiable crescent.
His legs wobbled underneath him. Her mature countenance and phlegmatic gazes had always belied her smiling self. Woohyun would observe her carefree grins and analyze her reverberating laughter and remember Bomi once in a while. They were so similar yet Krystal was so differently enchanting. She had an intangible enchantment.

A timid hand tapped his shoulders. His best friend was timorously waving an awkward ‘hi’.

“I haven’t seen you in a while,” he grinned.

“Hi, I hope you haven’t forgotten my showcase next Friday? You promised to go.”

“Of course I remember.”

Bomi smiled widely, revealing an immaculate set of baby teeth. “Here, the ticket.” Bomi fumbled around the pages of her folder and at last fetched out two showcase tickets, which were fancifully inscribed with elite gold writing. “I brought an extra one,” she said quietly, “in case maybe you’d like to go with Krystal.”

He beamed brightly at the paired tickets. Bomi the unheralded perfect genius, Woohyun admitted.

“Thank you,” he replied sincerely.

“I’d love for you to come,” she insisted, furthering away from him slowly in careful backward steps.

“I will.”

“It’s more important than my birthday.”
“I know.”

“Don’t forget again.”

“I don’t forget things,” Woohyun protested.

“You forgot to come back to us after that one day with Krystal.” Her mildest soft words stung with guilt. He realized he had forgotten to talk to Bomi and Eunji for three weeks. Nonetheless she rolled her eyes with only the most affable yet pensive and crestfallen smile.

“I won’t forget.”

She nodded and whirled around.

“Woohyun!”

Krystal walked around the table.

“It’s my parent’s anniversary party next Friday. Do you want to come?” her elated words sugared his craving ears.

Woohyun briefly glanced back at Bomi’s retreating figure, halted at an obviously audible distance from their conversation. She looked downwards and played with her hair distractedly.

He faced Krystal, whose luminous visage shined with expectations of a star he could never dishearten. Bomi’s candlelight in the distance only blinked and dimmed away. She would understand, wouldn’t she?

“Of course I’ll go.”  

“Great! I’ll tell my parents.”

Krystal patted him genially and skipped away with her light flying hair hanging the scent of her own special smell in the air. When Woohyun turned around, Bomi had already left. And the ghost of the forgotten girl electrified him with contrite shudders.

He wanted to explain himself. So he did.

“It’s okay,” Bomi breathed exasperatedly for the tenth time as she packed her sack hastily, messily piling it with her notes. “It’s an annual celebration for the girl you love most,” she recited his excuse fluently without sparing a glance at him, “And you’re really sorry but you’ve got to go because your love of your life is at stake.”

It sounded stupid. But Woohyun nodded. The alibi sounded pathetic even to his ears.

“It’s fine,” she said and swung her bulky bag over her shoulder and looked at him in exhaustion, “I have to go practice with Gongchan for my first public audition showcase now. Bye.”

He caught the inevitable menace in her saccharine voice. He wasn’t used to it, and he didn’t like it.

“Bomi wait, its not fine.” He chased after her hurried steps out the classroom.

She was with Gongchan in the hallway outside the door, the latter courteously carrying Bomi’s back for her. She turned around at Woohyun and shook her head. “See you,” she muttered and trudged away from him to the exit. Gonchan smiled slightly and followed her out the school.

He watched the two walking shadows. The shorter girl punched the taller guy’s shoulder and bounced him off balance to the side. He attacked her as he threw a winning arm over her neck, the two staggering down the hall convivially.

Woohyun missed her taekwondo.