Hey, readers!!! happy happy happy new years eve!!! Well anyways, I updated to celebrate he new year with you guys, and I hope all of us have a great beginning of 2010!!!

oh, and there's a tiny surprise for all of you at the end of this chappie!! HOPE YOU LIKE IT!!!

here it is!!!

“Okay Seulgi… breathe in… breathe out… breathe in… breathe out…” Seulgi told her reflection as she looked at herself in the restaurant’s bathroom mirror. “It’s just a rehearsal dinner. The worst is yet to come. When the big day comes, then you can freak out!”

She splashed a few droplets of water in her face to make herself sane and took another deep breath. “I can do this! Bae Seulgi, hwaiting!” she said, giving herself a ‘fighting’ gesture.

“Okay, I feel better now,” she said, preparing to leave the restroom.

She went back to her table and sat down next to JaeBeom, who was sitting with Jaejoong, Boa, Donghae and Hyojoo.

All the guests of the Jung/Jeon rehearsal dinner were seated at a very long table. HyeBin, Yunho and their parents were seated at the head of the table, followed by the bridesmaids, relatives, and so on. Seulgi was sitting with the other bridesmaids, Jessica and Dana on one side, and JaeBeom on the other. Across from her were her four friends. Jaejoong was the bestman and Donghae was a groomsman, so imagine the anger of their girlfriends when they learned that Jaejoong and Donghae were supposed to be walking down the aisle with Dana and Jessica respectively. Seulgi was walking down the aisle with JaeBeom.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to propose a toast,” said the best man, Jaejoong standing up, holding a glass of champagne. “To Yunho and Seul- I mean, HyeBin,” he said, grinning sheepishly at his mistake. Nobody noticed this except Seulgi, Boa, Hyojoo, Donghae, Yunho and HyeBin, who had an angry spark in her eyes.

Everyone else cheered for the so-called happy couple and drank their champagne.

Mr. Jeon suddenly cleared his throat and stood up. “I would like to say a little something first,” he announced. “As you know, I am the father of the bride-to-be, who will be renamed Mrs. Jung HyeBin the day after tomorrow and I would like to take this opportunity to say, before I give her away, that…” he looked at HyeBin. “… you will always be my little girl, no matter what happens.”

Everyone aww’d at the happy father’s touching message. HyeBin wiped the tears that formed in her eyes and stood up to give her father a hug.

Seulgi felt a stab in her chest as she saw the touching moment between father and daughter. She wished that her own father was there to say those words to her, she wished she was the one getting married and getting renamed Mrs. Jung Seulgi, she wished to be in HyeBin’s shoes, and most importantly, she wished for Yunho.

Seulgi’s vision suddenly became blurry.

“Are you okay?” JaeBeom asked her, concerned.
Seulgi turned to look at him, confused. Her hand reached up to her cheek and she realized she’d been crying.
“I’m fine,” she sniffed, and wiped the tears away. “The moment’s just so touching! God, I must look like a mess right now.”

JaeBeom, however, wasn’t convinced. But he decided to leave the matter alone. Well, at least for now.

…

It was now a day before the wedding, but instead of the normal, busy pre-wedding preparations, the gang was having their usual classes.

Chemistry ended and some students were getting ready to go to biology class.

But before he stood up to leave, JaeBeom opened his binder, looking for his biology notes. When he didn’t find them, he looked around the class, searching for someone he could borrow notes from. His eyes landed on HyeBin’s desk. Her binder was wide open, but she wasn’t there. No one else was.

JaeBeom stood up and walked to her desk, hoping to find some of her notes. But as soon as he did, his eyes widened as he saw one of the notes he sent his mystery helper.

“What are you doing?” he heard a voice ask from behind. HyeBin had come back to get her binder.

JaeBeom held the note up. “What the hell is this?” he questioned angrily.

HyeBin smirked and folded her arms. “Well, you would’ve found out sooner or later anyway,” she said.

Then, JaeBeom suddenly remembered the fire that almost killed Seulgi. The last note that his mystery helper sent him also popped into his mind.

“You sent that last note when Seulgi got out of the hospital…” JaeBeom said, still thinking hard. “It said: ‘You’re welcome’…”

His eyes suddenly grew wide with the realization. He was now angrier than ever.

“You were the one that sent me the notes!” he said, still getting madder. “You started the fire! YOU HURT SEULGI!!!”

HyeBin rolled her eyes. “Well, it’s about time you caught up, Sherlock,” she said sarcastically. “Plus, thanks to me, we both got what we want now! I have Yunho, and you have Seulgi now! We’re all happy!”

JaeBeom scoffed. “Open your eyes, HyeBin! YOU’RE the only one who’s happy! Yunho’s not happy, Seulgi’s miserable, all their friends are rooting for them, heck even I’m not happy!”

HyeBin shrugged casually. “Well, at least I am, and as far as I’m concerned, that’s all that matters!”

“B*TCH!” JaeBeom spat out with all his anger.

HyeBin’s smirk turned into a scowl. She slowly walk towards him. “Really… well, I know for one thing that this ‘b*tch’s’ parents are your parent’s bosses. And this ‘b*tch’ can get them fired before you can even call this ‘b*tch’ a b*tch again. Got it?”

JaeBeom’s eyes grew wide. She was right. His parents were managers of the Jeon hotel branch in the States. He couldn’t possibly jeopardize his parents’ jobs. But then again, he couldn’t just stand there, watching Seulgi get hurt either.

When she didn’t hear him say anything, she walked closer to him. “I suggest you just go back to your little English-speaking country and not interfere with anything, if you don’t want your parents to get the boot,” she whispered in his ear.

“You can have your wedding without me then,” he said stiffly.

And with that, HyeBin took her binder and left the room.

…

Boa and Hyojoo were angrily complaining about how much Dana and Jessica were flirting with their boyfriends.

“Did you SEE her last night? Her dirty claws were all over Jae!” Boa fumed, crunching up the carton of milk she was drinking.

Hyojoo scoffed. “At least she wasn’t giving Donghae kissy faces and pushing you away whenever you tried to talk to him!!!” she said indignantly, breaking her pencil in half.

“Thos two better stay away from our boyfriends,” Boa hissed as Hyojoo agreed.

“Guys, I don’t wanna be a bridesmaid tomorrow,” Seulgi stated.

Her two friends looked at her. “Yeah, you better not!” they said, still pissed. “We don’t want you to end up like those s!”

Seulgi couldn’t help but crack a little smile on how silly her friends were being. Even if HyeBin’s two minions were walking down the aisle with their boyfriends, it wouldn’t mean that they won’t love them anymore, right?

“I guess I’ll just have to call HyeBin,” she muttered to herself as she flipped her cellphone on and dialled her number.

“Yeoboseyo?” she heard her voice on the other line.
“HyeBin? It’s me, Seulgi. I just called to tell you that I’m sorry, but I can’t be a bridesmaid tomorrow,” she said.
“Really?” HyeBin replied. “I was just about to call you to say that JaeBeom cancelled too, and I couldn’t find anyone else to walk down the aisle with you last minute…”
Seulgi quietly sighed in relief. “Oh thanks! I was afraid you wouldn’t understand!” she said.
“Psh, of course I would! I gotta go now! Take care!”

After they hung up, Seulgi lay down her bed and sighed. At least she wouldn’t be standing right next to HyeBin and Yunho and watch them get married before her very eyes. But it got her thinking. She would still see them walk around school as a married couple.

“I don’t think I can take that,” she thought to herself.

Her phone suddenly rang again and this time, it was Key who called her.

“Hi, noona!” her cousin said fondly.
Seulgi smiled, happy to hear her beloved cousin’s voice. “Key! What’s up? How are you and umma?”
“Oh, me and ahjumma are fine!” he answered. And then he was silent for a while.
“Key?” Seulgi asked worriedly. Her cousin was always very talkative whenever they call each other. “Wae gurae?”

“Uhh…” Key trailed off, not knowing where to start. “You see, noona… uhh…”
“Kim Kibum, just spit it out!” said an impatient Seulgi.
“AhjummalostherjobandnowIdon’thavemoneytopayforschoolsothetwoofushadtomovetotheprovincecuzwecan’tpaythebillssowe’reactuallyinGwangJurightnowandnotSeoul!!!” “Key said in one BIG breath. He had to a lot of air in after he finished.
Seulgi, however, understood the whole thing.

She was just silent, absorbing his words. Key was getting worried due to his cousin’s lack of voice.
“Noona? You there?”

Seulgi snapped back into reality, startled. “Yeah?”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah…” she said, her voice cracking.
“So, what are you gonna do?” he asked. “Ahjumma said that if you wanna come with us, it’s fine, but if you wanna continue studying there, it’s okay too.”

The troubled girl thought for a while. This was it. Maybe getting away from everything was what she really needed. Maybe she wasn’t really cut out for this school from the very beginning. Yes. What she needed was to get away. She needed an escape.

“He-llo! Earth to Seulgi noona! You there?”
Seulgi took a deep breath as she confirmed her answer in her head. There was no turning back this time. “I’ll leave tomorrow. But it might take me a few days if I’m travelling by bus.”

…

“ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!?!” Boa said, as she watched Seulgi pack her things into her suitcase.

“Why do you think I’m packing?” Seulgi replied casually, placing her neatly folded clothes into the suitcase.

“WHAT ABOUT YOUR STUDIES?!?! WHAT ABOUT US?!?! WHAT ABOUT YUNHO?!?!?!” Hyojoo practically screamed.

Seulgi froze for a bit upon hearing his name. It was true. She was leaving him again. But he didn’t care, right? He was getting married anyway. He chose HyeBin and that was it. She didn’t need to hear more.

And then there was JaeBeom. How was she going to tell him?

“Maybe I’ll just break up with him on the way there,” she decided. “It would be easier if I didn’t tell him in person.”

When Seulgi didn’t say anything, Boa and Hyojoo just sighed in defeat. “Are you really sure about this?” they asked.

Seulgi nodded her head. “It won’t be permanent, guys. I’ll just live there for a while and earn enough money to go back to Seoul and get a job here. I’ll be back before you know it.”

Still, the worried looks didn’t leave her friends’ faces. But she decided to just leave it like that.

“I’m doing the right thing,” she told herself silently. “I’m doing the right thing.”

…

“So what?” Yunho said to Donghae and Jaejoong.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN SO WHAT?!?!?!” Jaejoong yelled indignantly. “DIDN’T YOU HEAR ME?!?!?! SEULGI IS LEAVING! AND YOU’RE NOT DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT?!?!”

Yunho scoffed. “So what?” he said again. “I don’t care if she’s leaving. In fact, good riddance!”

Donghae’s eyes opened wide. “WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?!” he exploded. “THE GIRL YOU LOVE IS GOING TO LEAVE TOMORROW AND YOU’RE NOT DOING A SINGLE F*UCKING THING! DO YOU REALLY WANT HER TO LEAVE YOU AGAIN?!?! DID IT FEEL GOOD WHEN SHE WENT TO AMERICA?!?!? DID IT?!?!”

He pulled Yunho forward by his collar and said to his face, “Did it?”

Yunho angrily pushed him away. “SHUT UP!!! I’M MARRYING HYEBIN TOMORROW WITH OR WITHOUT HER LEAVING!!! I DON’T CARE IF SHE LEAVES OR NOT! WHAT’S DONE IS DONE!!!”

Donghae took deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. “You disgust me,” he spat.

Yunho just rolled his eyes.
Donghae, not able to control his anger, gave him a real hard punch on the face.

Yunho, taken by surprise, fell to the ground. But he came to his senses and quickly stood up, punching Donghae in the gut.

Donghae punched him back, and Yunho returned the favor.

That did it.

“STOP IT!” Jaejoong yelled in the background. After a while of succeeding, he managed to pull Donghae away from Yunho.

“YOU’RE GONNA REGRET THIS!!!” he screamed, as Jaejoong pulled him away.

As soon as they were in one of the classrooms, far away from where Yunho was, Jaejoong pushed Donghae to a chair.

“WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!?!?!” he yelled, flailing his arms in the air.

Donghae stayed silent.

“Well?” Jaejoong said, getting impatient.

Donghae grunted.

Jaejoong sighed and sat next to him. “Look, I know you’re pissed at him, but he’s our friend… we still need to respect his decision.”

“True friends don’t let friends do anything stupid,” Donghae spat out.
“I know… but Yunho’s just too stubborn,” Jaejoong said.

Donghae sniffed. “It’s just that… when Hyojoo broke up with me, I just…” he couldn’t go on.

“… and now you don’t want Yunho to feel how you did when you and Hyojoo were broken up?” Jaejoong guessed.

“He’s already been through so much,” Donghae said through gritted teeth and teary eyes.

Jaejoong put an arm around his friend. “I know…”

<3-------------------------------- [The End]
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NOT!!!

Hehe! Surprised? Haha, me too!

I don’t want the fic to end, just yet, so I decided to write part 3!!! Haha and this is REALLY final! Promise!!!

And to apologize for the misunderstanding, here’s a tiny sneak peek of the FINAL CHAPTER of Place Your Bets!