*

Friday night would always be the sweet escape. All the heavenly promises after days of handful stress in works. Hanging out with best friends, catching up with the common stories happened the whole week. Lovers flooded the street, parks, and every corner available for being lovey-dovey. All the best things happened in the weekend.

She walked out of the car and shut the door closed after another success of parking. It had been four years since she got her license, but she still suffered to humiliation of failed parking from time to time in once a while. Blame her clumsiness.

Even though she clearly knew she was late, she was keeping a leisure pace.

Hearing their naggings is good too. She thought, smiling to herself.

As expected, the club was already crowded while it was still seven in the evening. She managed to slip carefully through dozens of people that were dancing in the floor, heading towards the seat on a corner. A hand was waving in the air upon her coming.

“Ya! Han Seungyeon! You’re late.”

She threw herself on the couch simultaneously with her three friends joined nags.

“Whoa, we really are best friends. Even your choice of words has become exactly the same now.” She laughed, reaching a glass of drink in table, sipping it to just spit it out in a second.

“Bleh. What was that?” She asked, wiping before signaling the servers to come over.

“The Daiquiri, with no sugar and lots of lime. Serves you right for taking my drink without my permission.” Gyuri told her with the signature evil smirk coming out while Nicole and Hara cracked into laughter.

The servers came to take her order.

“One Amaretto Colada.” She said, before turning to her friends again. She just realized that someone was missing after taking a close look at them.

“Where’s the maknae?”

“She couldn’t come. That boyfriend of her and his possessiveness drives me crazy sometimes. I don’t even understand how she stands it for three ing years.”

Hara was the one who answered, rolling her eyes impatiently and then went to sip more than half of her champagne cocktail. She earned a slap on the head from Nicole afterward.

“That’s what people called love, you stupid.” She said. “Rather than wondering on how our maknae survives her relationship with that possessive dragon, you better explain to people why did you choose that boyfriend of yours.”

Hara sulked and the other three burst into laugh. Nicole was right. The media and netizens still couldn’t catch on why a famous model like Hara chose a baker like Junhyung to be her boyfriend. She once said in an interview that it was because she liked to eat and he always cooked delicious kind of food for her, as a joke. People accepted it, but still believe that there were still a lot more reasons hidden behind.

“Ah, you guys. Our maknae has Yonghwa. Hara has Junhyung, and Nicole is just starting with Dongwoo, while Seungyeon has always been so lovely with Sunggyu since our college days. I’m so jealous. I want to have a lover too.” Gyuri gushed dreamily.

The girls stopped middle track in their enjoyment before changing a knowing look. Seungyeon exhaled a frustrated breath. Her drink came at the same time and she immediately snatched the glass to inhale it through the straw.

“Park Gyuri, I don’t know that the goddess can be so dumb.”

“I agree with Seungyeonnie. Gyul, let’s stop pretending to be so blind, can you?” Hara joined. Nicole leaned in deeper to her seat.

Gyuri bit her lips.

“You guys aren’t talking about Seungho again, are you?” She asked.

“Who else? We don’t see any other guy that you didn’t chase away except this Yang Seungho.”

“Otherwise you have another guy you hide from us, and we doubt it.”

“We’re killing you if you do something like that.”

A sigh came out from the subject of their conversation. “I think I’ve been telling you guys this for million times. We are merely just really good friends, nothing more or less.” She was half shouting. Her high-pitched voice went battling the blast sound of music behind them.

“And I think we’ve been telling you for more than million times that he never considers you as a friend, Unnie.”

They were about to throw a respond to Gyuri’s statement when a melodic familiar voice intrude. A young girl with long-brown-wavy hair wearing a simple silver dress that reached under her knees had appeared in front of them.

“Maknae-yah!”

“Seohyun-ah!”

“You’re coming!”

“How could?”

The one who got all those questions and remarks only smiled and squeezed herself between Hara and Nicole.

“Oppa has some business around here and he allows me to come. I can’t stay long though; he’ll pick me up anytime soon.” She said, putting her purse on the table and turned to Gyuri again.

“Unnie, really, how could you not see it? Even I can sense it. Seungho oppa definitely has something for you.”

“It’s not like that. You guys see it wrong. We really are just friends.”

For another time in their whole friendship, Gyuri dodged it over and over. They really couldn’t get why she always denied it while they could clearly saw they both had feelings for each other. Even the innocence icon Seohyun was capable of discovering it without them telling. They kept speculating, sometimes behind the goddess, was it because Seungho never stated it verbally? But his attitude and whole body language was like screaming it out.

“Yeah Gyul, friends you say. A friend who would always spend his free time with you instead of chasing girls like how normal guys do. Unless you’re telling me that he is a gay.”

“Goo Hara!” said Gyuri, looking shocked.

“A friend who came begging to me so I would teach him how to cook Italian foods just because you accidentally told him during a movie that you too wanted to taste the pizza and pasta your future lover cooks for you.”

Gyuri let out a whine of “Nicole-ah, please” while the other reacted surprise.

“He did that?” Seohyun’s eyes were opened as big as saucer while hanging in the middle of forming an ‘o’.

“He learned it from you? How could you didn’t tell us?!”

“I’m sorry girls.” Nicole lifted one hand, her signature move, put it in front her face. “They pleaded to keep it secret.”

“Whoa, that’s just adding more proofs to the list. Still, we can’t forget the most important one, girls,” said Seungyeon cheekily, crossing her leg above another. Gyuri sent her a helpless look she ignored.

“The friend who came all the way to Seoul living apart from his parents just to follow her.”

The other three immediately muttered ‘right, that’s one’ to each other. Gyuri closed her eyes, furrowing eyebrows. She seemed to explode anytime soon.

They had been friends for years; they knew almost everything about each other. Nicole and Hara were friends since middle school then they met Seungyeon at first day of high school. At the half of the second grade, Gyuri moved to their school from her previous one in Ulsan because of her father’s work. They became best friends since then all the way to university even though they took different courses. Meanwhile, Seohyun was Gyuri’s hoobae for they took the same course. She grew fond of her and often brought her over when they hang out. In the end, all five of them became a really great companion for each other all the way until this time.

“Ya! You kids! Stop it right away! It really is not like that, I say!” shouted Gyuri, pointing to each of them.

It made them burst into laughter again.

“Ahrasseo, we got it,” said Hara, “let’s just enjoy the rest of this night before this little girl’s crazy boyfriend comes and snatches her away from us.”

Seohyun whined for one second but then continue to laugh with them.

In between the laughter, Seungyeon spun her head fortuitously around the place. It was getting more crowded than the time she first arrived. People seemed to enjoy their environment, throwing all the worries away to the air as they danced crazily on the floor. But out of all the people there, strangely a couple not too far away from her spot caught her attention the most. The girl obviously was having fun as she kept swaying herself following the blast of music, but her boyfriend didn’t appear to be one. She tried to talk to him but then he left the scene, causing the girl to be taken aback. Her facial expression suddenly turned darker.

Seungyeon couldn’t help but remembering her own boyfriend. She was relieved and thankful that Sunggyu had never been treating her in a bad way. They got into fight once in a while, but always managed to solve it well. He had always been such an understanding boyfriend for her; who came down all the way to match her stubborn behavior sometimes.

She was thankful, so much. Moreover, she had her four best friends with her. She turned her head to watch over them again and it brought smile creeping on to her face. Life is indeed beautiful, she thought.

***

When she went back home around ten in the night, she only found Yang Ahjumma; the housekeeper who had been with the family since she was a child; greeting her. She asked for her parents and was told that they were probably in her father’s study room. She walked over there after changing into slippers.

Sounds of people hushing from inside the room reached her as she was bout to knock. It was that kind of voice when you try talk in secret but too emotional to hold it back. Were her parents on a fight?

She thought about leaving but the voices got even louder, it made her worried. Her parents were never a type to yell over each other whenever they had couple fight. Since both father and mother were this affectionate and calm type.

“No, I will never do that! Don’t ever let it cross your mind!”

Her father was now half screaming and she could hear her mother’s sobbing.

“But, Yeobo, we don’t have any other choice. Please. I don’t want to see you-”

“I’ve told you! I will never…” her father stopped middle track, “not with our daughter, never!”

“We can at least try to talk to her. She probably will…”

She couldn’t hear the rest when suddenly there were hands closing her eyes, blindfolding her. She jolted in her place, surprised, shakily asking.

“W-who is this?”

She touched those hands and realized that it was male. But who could be at her house around this time?

“Guess who.” The male voice said. It knocked her.

“S-Seungjin-ah…?” she hesitantly called.

.

.

.

The hands which blindfolding her was getting loose and she turned around to find a really familiar figure she missed standing upon her eyes.

“Noona!” said the taller person, smiling widely ear to ear.

They broke into a tight hug, “Ya! Han Seungjin!” swaying left to right then twirling in their spot.

Seungyeon pulled out from the hug, keeping her hands on her little brother’s shoulders, taking a close look of him. It had been one and half year since they last saw each other.

“You grew so much in this past year.” She said while giving a mess on his hair. He was even taller than her now. Oh well, right, she was not tall to start with. They hugged each other again.

“But, when did you arrive? How could I know nothing about your arrival?”

Her question uttered at the same time as the loud sound of the door being opened. Their parents both stood in the door step looking concerned but hurriedly changed their facial expressions.

“Omma! Appa!” her voice whining high, “how could no one told me that this kid is going back home today?” she whined still inside his brother’s embrace.

Seungjin detached them and gripped her left hand, “this is a surprise, Noona. You shouldn’t whine to Omma and Appa. I asked them so.”

“Ah, really,” said Seungyeon, caressing his head and pulled him into a hug again. Their parents watched them in silence with smiles plastered on their face.

Han Seungjin was her one and only little brother with seven years apart on their age. Upon entering senior high school, their parents sent him to the States so he could get the best education since he would be running their family business in the future. The last time Seungyeon saw him was more than a year ago. After that life was getting busier for them. She had to help in the company while he prepared for his graduation and college entrance.

“Right, Noona, wait here for a while.” He suddenly blurted and left them running upstairs. Seungyeon changed a look with her parents but they appeared to be as clueless as she was. They decided to sit and wait for him in the family room.

When he came back, he brought a brown paper bag with him. “This is a present, Noona.” He said, handing it to her.

“Omma, Appa, and Ahjumma got theirs a while ago.” He added and positioned himself beside her.

Seungyeon took a look at her little brother affectionately, “whoa, you got sense there.” She said teasingly while opening the paper bad. She peeked of what could be inside and found another brown paper package and a box that appeared to be a jewelry box. She fished it out.

It was blue and made of satin with the size of an eye-glasses box. “What this could be?” she asked smiling, circulating her gaze to the parents who sat at the couch across them. Seungjin only brought his chin up, signaling her to open it, while her parents gave nods of approval.

A blink and shining appearance greeted her as soon as she opened it. Inside of the box, there was a white necklace with a flower petal shaped pendulum.

For the nth time that night, she pulled her brother into a hug again.

“Thank you,” she said, squeezing him, “but, what kind of flower shape is this?”

“That’s Delphinium flower, Noona,” he explained, “they said it’s the flower representative for them who was born on July.” He continued, eyes b proudly as if he was just done a heroic act.

“Moreover, Delphinium symbolizes boldness for I hope Noona will always lead your life in that way and be happy all the time.”

He closed his thoughtful details with Seungyeon smiling wide, sincerely. She didn’t know that her brother really had all grown up now.

“Thank you so much, our dongsaeng.” She said in a low tone, heart overflowing with gratefulness.

“Ah, and that one Noona, is a dress. I’m not sure whether it fits you or not though.”

They spent the time chatting with each other, catching up of what they had left out within the passed times. She wore the necklace and their father voiced out of how jealous he was. Seungjin gave back a witty reply that he couldn’t possibly buy the father a flower necklace too, it was for women.

She laughed a lot that night, previously with her best friends and in turn her family. She thought she couldn’t be more grateful than that.

Seungjin started to yawn after one hour passed. He was probably tired from the flight yet it was already near the midnight. The mother told him to go to sleep. He protested saying that he still want to talk more with them.

“You’ll be staying home from now on. So, there’s still a lot of time to do it. You can talk to your sister tomorrow all day to your heart content.” Their mother had said and he obeyed, giving night greetings and headed to his room at the second floor.

She was planning to provide her self the comfort of those tender bed and pillows too when her mother suddenly said in serious tone they wanted to talk to her. She looked at them; her father air face didn’t look really good.

“What’s the matter, Omma?” she said, sensing that there must be something not right in the way.

Her mother glanced worriedly at her father once more.

“Seungyeon-ah, what do you think about getting married?”

*****************************************************************************************************

A/N:

Finally decided to post the first chapter. I thought that I would just do this after I finish my other story, but it will take rather long since I'm still half through the last chapter.

Anyway, thank you so much for subscribing. Please kindly tell me your thoughts on this story, things I should improve and everything.