Chapter 8

When All Is Fair

For more days and nights, the note was always on Maddie’s mind. She never asked Chunji about it, though. The words just wouldn’t come out of , but it wasn’t like she necessarily wanted to mention it anyway. Half of Maddie wanted to know what the note meant and then the other half didn’t want to know it at all in case it hurt her. Either way, though, it was hurting her.

            “Are you okay?” Chunji asked as they were eating dinner.

            “Hmm?” Maddie asked as she lifted her head and looked at him.

            “Are you okay? It seems like something is on your mind, are you sure you’re alright?”

            “I’m fine,” Maddie says giving him a smile. “I’m perfectly content and fine.”

            “Oh…okay,” Chunji said as he eyed Maddie weirdly. He knew that there was something going on with her, but if she wouldn’t say anything, then he didn’t know, but he could see it. Somehow it seemed as though she was starting to get more distanced from him. He hoped it wasn’t because of anything that he had done, he wanted to ask her about it.

            “Um…I’m going to go take a walk,” Maddie announced once dinner was done and they were watching television in the living room.

            “Do you want me to come with you?” Chunji offered.

            “Sure,” Maddie said with a smile. “It’s been a while since we took a nice walk around town.”

            “It has been,” Chunji said with a smile. “Give me a moment.”

            After Chunji changed into more comfortable clothes, he and Maddie began their walk around the neighborhood. While they were walking, Chunji confidently grabbed Maddie’s hand with a smile. Feeling Chunji’s fingers intertwine with hers, Maddie’s face turned a light shade of pink, something that didn’t go unnoticed by Chunji who smiled to himself. Even though they were together for a somewhat long time already and even though they were going to get married, they both still caused one another’s heart to race at simple contact between the two of them.

            “So, how have you been lately? I feel as though I haven’t been able to ask you that a lot lately,” Chunji said as he looked at Maddie with a soft smile.

            “I’ve been good,” Maddie said with a smile. She wanted to ask about the note, but figured that it wouldn’t be a good time. They were together and they were walking in the moonlight, it didn’t seem like the right time to ask him about a note that he had in his pocket with a lipstick stain and a number, even if it was killing her inside. “What about you? Has work been stressing you out lately?”

            “A little,” Chunji said with a chuckle. “But you know, it’s nothing that I can’t handle.”

            “Of course, you’re you.”

            “Thank you,” Chunji said with a sweet smile as he looked at Maddie. “Hey, let’s go to that ice cream shop over there. It’s been a while since we went out on a date.”

            “You’re making this a sudden date?” Maddie asked in surprise.

            “C’mon, let’s go,” Chunji said as he led Maddie into the shop without any questions.

 

“L.Joe, hey,” Myungsoo said going up to L.Joe who was sitting in the booth at the restaurant with Hwayoung. “Hello Hwayoung.”

            “Hello,” Hwayoung said politely greeting Myungsoo. It wasn’t the first time that they had met, but they hadn’t met enough to become more comfortable with one another.

            “Ah, Hwayoung, this is my girlfriend, Jaerin. L.Joe, Jaerin, you both already know each other,” Myungsoo said as the two sat across from Hwayoung and L.Joe.

            “Nice to meet you,” Hwayoung politely said as she observed Jaerin. She didn’t look like that bad of a girl, but she didn’t entirely look like L.Joe’s type either. That just prompted Hwayoung to have more questions that she would have to ask L.Joe later.

            “So, L.Joe, why didn’t you tell me that you and Jaerin were childhood friends?” Myungsoo asked starting the conversation off.

            “What?” L.Joe asked as he choked a little bit on his water. “What are you talking about?”

            “Childhood friends, Jaerin explained everything to me,” Myungsoo continued with a smile. Out of the corner of her eye, Hwayoung looked at L.Joe who gave a quick shrug of his shoulders before turning back to look at Myungsoo. “L.Joe, you don’t have to hide things from me. I don’t mind if you were childhood friends with Jaerin.”

            “Childhood…friends?” L.Joe slowly asked as he looked at Jaerin. “We were childhood friends?”

            “You don’t remember?” Jaerin asked looking at L.Joe in shock. “We would always play together with one another until I moved. I guess you really don’t remember anything.”

            “Sorry,” L.Joe said shrugging his shoulders. “Anyway, so how long are you staying here Jaerin?”

          “I’m leaving in four days,” Jaerin said with a slight pout on her face. “I don’t want to leave Myungsoo again.”

            “It’s alright,” Myungsoo said with a smile. “We’ll see each other again, it’s not like we’re going to be separated for forever.”

            “True, but I like being besides you,” Jaerin said as she grabbed onto Myungsoo’s arm.

            Hwayoung and L.Joe looked at each other at the same time and then back at the couple in front of them. “Um…listen…maybe…we should get going,” L.Joe said as he looked at Hwayoung and motioned towards the door.

            “But you guys were the ones here waiting for us, we couldn’t do that,” Myungsoo said.

            “Listen, it’s no problem, really,” Hwayoung interjected.

            “Yeah, it’s no problem,” L.Joe said as he and Hwayoung got out of the booth. “You two…you guys, have fun together. I mean, after all, Jaerin is only going to be here for four more days and then she’s leaving again. Spend time together, you guys don’t need Hwayoung and I here for anything. I’ll see you in classes, alright Myungsoo?”

            “Um…okay,” Myungsoo said slightly confused by the way that L.Joe was acting, but he could only stare at him as he led Hwayoung out of the restaurant.

            “Thank goodness,” Hwayoung exclaimed as soon as they were out of the restaurant. “Thank you for that. I don’t know how long I could’ve lasted in there with them.”

            “Their couple-ness was starting to get on your nerves?” L.Joe asked with a slight laugh as they were walking along. The both of them didn’t know where they were going, they had just wanted to get out of that restaurant.

            “A little bit, I mean, it’s understandable since they rarely ever see each other, but she just covered up for your past relationship by saying that you guys are simply childhood friends? What’s going to happen to Myungsoo when he finds out the truth?”

            “He’ll never find out the truth,” L.Joe honestly said as he stopped in his path and looked at Hwayoung. “If I have it my way, then Myungsoo is never going to know what happened between Jaerin and me. He’s never going to know, simple as that.”

            “Okay, so let’s say it all works out as planned,” Hwayoung slowly begins. “Then what? The end? I mean, what if one day down the line he finds out that you kept it from him, that you actually remembered the entire time. What is he going to do? Are you just going to say that you forgot to ever say something to him?”

            “Maybe, I don’t know,” L.Joe said shrugging his shoulders and shoving his hands into his pockets as he began walking again, with Hwayoung right on his heels.

            “You know, you’re one strange person, Lee Byunghun,” Hwayoung said with a smile and a light roll of her eyes.

            “I could say the same thing for you,” L.Joe retorted back. “So, where exactly are we going?”

            “Don’t know. Thought you knew.”

            “Well sorry to burst your bubble, but I have no idea either.”

            “Okay, let’s go over there,” Hwayoung said with a giggle as she pulled L.Joe along.

 

 “Hey, where have you been all day?” L.Joe’s mother asked as he walked through the living room doors.

            “Out,” L.Joe simply said as he was about to climb the stairs to his bedroom, but he saw that his mother wanted more of an answer. “I was hanging out with Hwayoung. We were meeting Myungsoo and his girlfriend and then we just kind of…left them there?” L.Joe said with a slight laugh as he remembered the morning. He was also careful as to not say that name Jaerin since he was sure his parents would remember everything that happened in the past.

            “You just abandoned them there?” his mother curiously asked.

            “Not like that,” L.Joe quickly said to clear up any misunderstandings. “You see…they haven’t seen each other for a while since she’s studying abroad, and she only has four days left in Korea, so I just thought that maybe it’d be better if…you know…we let them have to themselves.”

            “Alright, alright,” his mother said with a faint smile. “I wasn’t asking for a whole recap, I was just curious as to why you left them. If you simply said for alone time, I would’ve understood.”

            “Oh,” L.Joe hesitantly said. “Um…well then, I’ll be going up to my room.”

            “Okay, but Byunghun,” his mother said stopping him in his tracks, “you and Hwayoung seem to be getting closer every day. I know you guys were close as children, but now that you’re adults—”

            “Mom!” L.Joe said cutting her off. “Hwayoung and I aren’t like that, we’re friends, okay? I…I don’t think that I want a relationship right now.”

            “Alright, it’s your life after all, goodnight.”

            “Goodnight,” L.Joe said as he began going up the stairs to his bedroom.

 

It was another night when Maddie was alone. She didn’t want to bother L.Joe again so she just decided not to call. It was past midnight already and she was beginning to get tired, but she promised herself that she was going to get an answer out of Chunji once and for all. He had been coming home later and later with each passing day since their date together and with the wedding quickly approaching, she wondered what he could possibly be doing. She wondered if he was cheating on her and she always imagined the worst things possible. Well, she was determined to settle her mind by asking him.

            Right when her eyes were about to close, Maddie noticed faint headlights and the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. Rushing over to the door to greet her soon-to-be husband, Maddie hurriedly opened the door, only to be greeted by the sight of a girl kissing him on the cheek.

            Suddenly, Chunji looked up with wide eyes to see Maddie standing at the door one moment, only to quickly run into the house the next. “Maddie!” Chunji yelled as he got out of the car and ran towards the house. “Just…go home!” he yelled back to the girl before he ran into the house and up the stairs to find Maddie. “Maddie, what are you doing?” he asked as he saw her packing her bags.

            “Leaving, I can’t be here anymore,” Maddie said as she attempted to hold back her tears, she wasn’t going to cry over someone that wasn’t worth crying over.

            “What do you mean?” Chunji asked. “Why can’t you?”

            “You’ve been coming home later and later, you had a note with a lipstick stain and a phone number on it. Did you think that I didn’t notice? You would be a fool to think that I hadn’t noticed something like that.”

            “Maddie, it’s not what you think, though,” Chunji said as he attempted to reach out to her.

            “Not what I think? Isn’t that what they all say?” she asked as she looked at him. “You know, I thought that you weren’t like other guys…but I guess you are. As of right now, I don’t know if I want to get married to you or not.”

 

“Hello?” L.Joe groggily asked as he answered his phone. Whoever just called him was ruining his nice sleep.

            “Byunghun-ah,” the voice on the other line said.

            “Huh?” L.Joe asked as he quickly sat up in bed. The voice on the other line had startled him.  “Is there something wrong? Why are you calling me?”

            “Can you…meet me?” the voice asked.

            “Meet you? Why do you want me to meet you?”

            “I just…I just want to talk, alright?”

            “Fine,” L.Joe said with a sigh. “Where do you want to talk?”

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Who called L.Joe? Will Maddie and Chunji get married? Will Myungsoo ever figure out the truth? Will L.Joe and Hwayoung have a relationship?

 

Here's Chapter 8. Hope you enjoyed :D

 

And if anyone is confused, there is a little bit of time jumping in this chapter, but just to clarify. The first one is after the date night, which is with L.Joe, Hwayoung, Myungsoo, and Jaerin. Their restaurant happens the day after, and then we jump a week later to when it's the night with Maddie and Chunji, and then the night with L.Joe, which is the same night. I guess there's only one major time jump, but I just didn't want you guys to be confused.

 

So, I hope you guys have a good morning, good afternoon, or goodnight. See you later :)

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Comments

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alejandra12 #1
Chapter 15: GO mad die and l.Joe ship both
xchessthebest
#2
Chapter 15: I honestly dislike Chunji now. ._.
Maddie why would you try to take your own life?! :(
xchessthebest
#3
Chapter 13: Oh my God they kissed!!!!!
LA<KRJTKJMFN.
I ship them, hehe.
On another note, I hope Myungsoo can forgive L.Joe. :/
MissCrayon #4
Chapter 13: omg i ship maddie and ljoe ♡ please let jaerin just stick to myungsoo dont fall for ljoe again
nari-anna
#5
Chapter 13: i'm definitely on team ljoe. and jocelyn is so cute! i really hope that jaerin doesn't fall for ljoe again
kworld
#6
Chapter 12: OMG... secret is out! what happens now??
update soon!
MissCrayon #7
Chapter 10: What's going on with Chunji, and Maddie, and L.Joe what. Is Maddie developing feelings for L.Joe omg this doesnt seem right :o
xchessthebest
#8
Chapter 10: Urgh, I'm so confused now. aslkdfm
xchessthebest
#9
Chapter 9: Chunji you jerk. ;_;