Author's Note~

Hi again :3 Sorry it's been so long since I last updated. This chapter was a little hard for me to write. It's not much; you'll be reading a lot about Yumi's emotional struggles, but yes, as promised, there is more Daehyun in this chapter. ^-^ To be honest, I teared up a little when I was trying to imagine what Yumi was going through.

Hope you enjoy the chapter! ^-^

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Beeeep.

Beeeeeeeep.

Beeeeeeeeeeeep…

My heart thundered in my chest. I could hear it in my ears. My hands were trembling and I could feel a nerve-wracking pain throbbing in my head. What was this muddle of senses that I was feeling? This confusion…

Each time the dial tone sounded it seemed longer than before. It was terrifying.

Yes.

I had finally mustered the courage to call him.

Or, maybe it was him. Who knew it wasn’t some other random guy’s number? Who was I to say that it wasn’t a prank?

But I couldn’t just leave it. By then I had put up with those painful nightmares for weeks and I was visibly deteriorating in almost every aspect. School, health, even my social life was affected. My mother had worried so much. My father had offered to take me to see a doctor. Miyeon had told me that I needed to speak to a counselor. I had realised that I wasn’t just hurting myself, but the people around me as well. And I couldn’t put up with that.

And so there I was, alone in my room, with the pink Post-It crushed in my sweaty palm. Hoping (or maybe not) for the person on the other end of the line to answer my call.

Silence.

A calm female voice told me that the number I was trying to reach was unavailable.

I sighed (in relief?).  I would wait then. Whether I was going to wait for him to (maybe) call me back, or whether I was going to wait for some other time to try again, I didn’t actually know. My mind was a muddle and I didn’t actually know what I wanted just then. I just knew that I couldn’t do this any longer.

I pulled my legs and folded them to sit cross-legged on my bed, dropping my phone in front of me. I released a breath of uncertainty, looking down at the pink slip that sat in my hand, and once more wondered why it was I who was unlucky enough to have been granted this fate. What had I ever done to deserve this confusion?

I blinked tiredly, resting my head on my empty palm as I propped my elbow on my knee. I thought of all the fangirls who I knew would be crazy enough to want to be in my place if they knew the position I was in.  They didn’t know what I was going through. They didn’t know this frustrating confusion that I would so constantly feel. This voice ringing in my head, echoing in my mind doing nothing but reminding me of what Daehyun said when I saw him that day…

What did he mean? Why would I have any reason to uniquely remember him? What’s going on?

I felt a single warm droplet roll down my cheek.

These thoughts that were plaguing my mind were so severely affecting me. My body, my head, my heart…

My phone emitted a soothing melody, soon followed by Jongup’s sweet voice. This beautiful song that so often sang me to sleep…

I flipped it open to see the very number that had so persistently hammered at my head. My heart jumped to drumbeats and I could feel the palms of my hands getting clammy once more. My thumb shakily hovered over the green button, and I bit my lip and pressed down on it without a second thought.

My phone vibrated with a short beep.

The call had ended before I pressed the button. I hadn’t managed to accept it.

You have 1 unheard voice message.

How long would I have to put up with my heart thundering in my ears every time he did something?

I pressed the button and allowed my phone to play the message. It wasn’t talking to him in real-time, after all. No big deal…

“Yumi-yah, it’s Daehyun.”

Why hadn’t people invented pause buttons for voice messages? My heart was racing at his silky smooth voice and it was all because of a single sentence relayed over the phone. The audio was crap and crackles lined his words, but his voice, his voice. I couldn’t hold back a gleeful smile. It really was him. It really was his voice. And he had said my name.

I missed the entire voice message and had to have it replayed.

This time I listened.

“Yumi-yah, it’s Daehyun. I’m so sorry I cancelled the call. I’m also sorry I made it so awkward on the day of the fansign, I really am. I wish that I could make it up to you, but how would that be possible when you’re oceans away? And I’m also sure that you’re really confused about what I said that day… To be honest, I really need to talk to you about this, but I’m uncomfortable doing it over the phone… I couldn’t even gather the courage to speak to you when I called you just now. I wish I could go to you right now, but with our schedules, that really would be near impossible… Yumi… Could you… Come to me instead? Come to Korea, Yumi, please. I really need to see you. Thanks. ...goodbye.”

I dropped my phone on my bed and buried my face in my hands.

Daehyun-ah, you’ve got to be kidding me. You’ve really got to be kidding me.

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Author's Note~

Ahahah, I didn't mention this in the first note because I didn't want you to be distracted from the storyline, but did you guys spot the three B.A.P songs I hid in this chapter? ^-^ Two of them aren't exactly mentioned as songs, but the title names are there. The other one is quite obvious if you know which lines belong to which member in their songs ^-^ Hahah hope you have fun looking. If you can find them, you have my love :D <3