Chapter 13 – A Memorable Trip

 

 

“Here we are. Hopefully appa is done checking up on him since I don’t want to bother him during his work,” Min Jung chirped. Seohyun had been dragged by her hand by the cheerful girl for a few minutes from her room to Yonghwa’s. Seohyun was worried to see the boy she loved in a terrible state of health. All along the way she blamed herself for making him leave the hotel and have to save her from the thugs. Min Jung was the only reason that they had survived that ordeal and she would be eternally grateful to her. They knocked on the door and a faint voice from behind it told them it was fine for them to come in.

“Hey there Min Jung what are you doing here? Ugh, Min Jung what did I tell you about moving the patients around the hospital. It’s dangerous to get sick people too excited, don’t you know that by now?” a man in a white lab coat scolded. Min Jung began to pout cutely and latched herself onto the man’s arm forcefully.

“Appa, nothing is going to happen to my new friend. She just got lightheaded back there from shock. She’s not hurt or anything. I’ll take good care of her though, I promise,” Min Jung cutely responded. The man that she called her dad softened his expression and gave the girl a light hug. It was obvious he wasn’t going to win an argument against his daughter so he might as well give in while he could.

“I hope you’re right Min Jung or else you’ll have to take the responsibility,” the doctor scolded once more. He turned his direction to Seohyun to check up on her condition and found nothing particularly wrong with her. “Oh, my apologies for not introducing myself, my name is Lee Min Soo and I am the director of this hospital. I’m glad Min Jung found you two when she did. This person…” Min Jung’s father turned to look at Yonghwa. “I don’t even know how this kid is alive. He must have the strongest will to live that I’ve ever seen in a person.”

“Is he going to be okay?” Seohyun asked in a shaky voice. She remembered Min Jung’s advice about not crying and being weak, but it was too hard for her to not get emotional. She took her first glance at the boy in the bed in front of her. His face seemed to be entirely covered by a bruise. Cuts and scratches adorned the spaces that weren’t covered in bruises. His arm was kept up with a sling and covered in a white, plaster cast. After watching him sleep at his house a few times, she noticed that he dropped his angry expression and wore a more peaceful one while he slept. Yonghwa at that moment seemed to have a distressed look on his face, not his usual serene expression.

“He already survived the critical period. It’ll take him a few weeks to get better, but he will be fine. I’m surprised he took that much abuse though. He has four broken ribs, a fractured forearm, a dislocated shoulder, bruises and cuts all over his body, and a cut on his abdomen. Luckily the cut didn’t hit any vital organs, but he did lose a fair amount of blood from it,” the doctor explained. Suddenly the wounds Yonghwa had seemed even bigger to Seohyun. Tears pooled in her eyes and she used all the strength in her body to keep them there.

“This sure is a stubborn guy isn’t he?” Min Jung joked in hopes to lighten up the atmosphere. She noticed that Seohyun was getting upset from the explanations and she hoped her dad would just leave now. She knew Seohyun would keep blaming herself for the incident and that was something that shouldn’t happen. If anyone was to blame, it was those three thugs from the alley.

“Miss, may I ask you a few questions about his medical history? I need them to provide the lab with more information for future tests,” the doctor asked politely. Seohyun turned her attention from the bedridden person to Min Jung’s father. Luckily, the tears stopped flowing into her eyes and she avoided breaking down.

“Yes, I’ll help with what I can,” Seohyun responded wearily.

“Has he recently been in the hospital? It seemed like he was somewhat weak from recovering from something serious. Also, I noticed that he was pretty much on the verge of being malnourished and exhausted. Does he work too hard back at home or is there a medical reason for that?” the doctor inquired. Seohyun remembered being asked the same questions last time she came to the hospital with Yonghwa. She was disappointed that Yonghwa continued to neglect his health for his work and school, but nothing could be done about it. “Taking all that into account, surviving that is out of the question. He shouldn’t have even been able to take on three guys and win in that condition. He must really have wanted to protect you if he came out of that fight alive.”

“He got out of the hospital almost four weeks ago for Hepatitis A. He was told to eat and sleep more but I don’t think he listened. He works and studies really hard and hardly has time to sleep most days. I suppose that’s where the exhaustion and malnourishment come from,” Seohyun explained. She turned her attention to Yonghwa and flashed him a weak smile. Deep, deep inside her she was happy for having him save her. She supposed that he felt at least a sense of friendship for her because of what happened. Seohyun figured that nobody protects something so fiercely without having a reason for it.

“Thank you for the information. Cheer up Miss, he will pull through. The fight to live is an easier one than the fight he just fought. I’m sure if you’re next to him he will come out stronger from this experience,” the doctor assured. “Min Jung, I’m going to go back to my office. If you need anything just call one of the nurses. Also, if you get this guy to stand up and walk around I’ll ban you from my hospital.”

“Appa… I’m not dumb. I know I can’t get this guy to walk around yet. Don’t worry, I won’t do anything,” Min Jung pouted. “Just leave, we don’t need you.” Min Jung’s father chuckled at her daughter’s antics and walked out of the hospital room quietly.

“I can’t thank you and your father enough for what you’re doing for Yonghwa,” Seohyun began. “Thank you very much, I am forever indebted to you.” Seohyun stood in front of Min Jung and gave her a deep, respectful bow.

“Woah there, don’t do that, it’s embarrassing,” Min Jung nervously responded. It was flattering for her, but she didn’t like those kinds of displays. “It’s nothing to thank us for. The one you should be thanking is that stupid friend of yours for not running away from those guys. He should have dropped his manly pride and just got you outta there. Hmph.. what a pabo…”

“Pabo eh?” a weak voice called from behind them. “Don’t think that because you saved me you have the right to insult me.”

“Yonghwa!” Seohyun cried before rushing to his side. “I’m so glad you’re awake. Thanks for waking back up. If you would have died I don’t… I don’t know how I would live. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen.  I didn’t mean what I said back there with Seung Ri. Please forgive me,” Seohyun rambled rapidly, leaving Min Jung and Yonghwa confused. This time Seohyun couldn’t stop her tears from coming. The tears were from the happiness she felt from seeing Yonghwa wake up from his deep sleep. She felt bad for disobeying Min Jung’s advice of being strong, but she couldn’t help it.

“Kwaenchanha?” Yonghwa asked. Seohyun froze in place and stared at Yonghwa with a surprised expression. “Yo, Seohyun are you there? I asked if you’re okay.” She thought he was going to scold her for being so weak or hate her for insulting him in front of Seung Ri, but that wasn’t the case. The first thing he had done as soon as he woke up was ask if she was alright. He wasn’t even worried that half of his body was broken, all that mattered was that she was alright.

“I’m fi-fine… but that’s not what’s important. What’s important is-” Seohyun began before being interrupted by Yonghwa.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized while looking away from her in shame. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you from those guys. I’m sorry that I ran away like a child from the hotel. If I hadn’t ran away, you wouldn’t have come out to look for me. It’s a relief that you’re safe even if I couldn’t do my job right.” The girls in the room couldn’t believe what they were hearing. Yonghwa was apologizing for not being able to save her even if he was put in bed because of Seohyun herself. Seohyun was more surprised that he was dropping his pride in front of them and admitting that he wasn’t good enough. He didn’t even scold her which was a big surprise.

“Yonghwa…” Seohyun mumbled. “No, don’t be sorry. It was my fault that all of this happened. Don’t apologize for this at all. I’m really happy that you protected me from those guys. It was my fault for being stupid and going in that alley in the first place. We also have to thank Min Jung unnie for saving us. She scared away that last guy just as he was going to kill you.”

“Annyeonghaseyo, I’m Lee Min Jung, nice to meet you,” she greeted politely. Even if Yonghwa was dropping his pride for Seohyun, he was not happy to have been saved by someone else, much less a girl. That same girl was also insulting him while he was a sleep so he wasn’t buying the polite and nice act she was pulling.

“You… don’t think that because you saved me I’m going to be nice to you. I heard you talking bad about me and I don’t think a gangster like you has any right to say anything to me,” Yonghwa growled. Min Jung’s face dropped and went into a more natural looking face. A pair of glares was exchanged between the boy and the girl that had saved them.

“Yonghwa, can’t you be nice to her? She saved us and it doesn’t matter what she is. Her dad also took you into this hospital and took care of you himself. I don’t think you should be scolding her if the she got the director of the hospital to treat you,” Seohyun reproached him. It seemed he was back to his old self from that point on. His usual glare continued to be directed at Min Jung, but she wasn’t letting down. Seohyun noticed that the look Min Jung was giving Yonghwa was the exactly the same as his.

“I don’t have to take this from you. Who was the idiot that got himself and his girlfriend almost killed?” Min Jung angrily yelled. “Last time I checked, I’m not the that got every bone broken in his body and still didn’t do the job right. If you had half a brain cell you would’ve taken Seohyun and just ran. Then again, what can I expect from a blockhead like you. Seohyun knew Yonghwa would not keep quiet after hearing Min Jung’s insults so she turned to keep him from responding.

“Whatever, just leave me alone,” Yonghwa replied in defeat. Seohyun was surprised that he hadn’t responded to her in his usual manner. If it were anyone else, Yonghwa would have continued to argue until he completely crushed them with his words. Min Jung seemed to be immune to his arguments and effectively countered his efforts to continue the fight.

“Don’t get too worked up kid or else you’ll open the wound on your stomach again. I doubt you want to bleed to death but I can have that arranged if you want to,” Min Jung sneered. Seohyun hoped they would stop arguing soon or else something bad could happen. Min Jung and Yonghwa’s attitude seemed to be too similar to stand being in the same room as each other. At least Yonghwa wasn’t arguing back anymore or else a catastrophe would happen.

“Kid? You’re calling me a kid? You’re the one arguing back like a child. If anyone needs to not get worked up it’s you. Get out of here before I stand up and kick you out myself,” Yonghwa responded. It seemed like Seohyun spoke too soon about him not arguing back.

“Hahaha, you’re a laugh. Try to get up and kick me out. What was that? You can’t get up because you’re an idiot and got your kicked? Merong~” she teased childishly while sticking her tongue out. Seohyun had to admit that it was funny to see Yonghwa getting beat by words from a girl like Min Jung. She hoped that one day she could be as strong as Min Jung to keep Yonghwa in check.

“Stupid gangster…” Yonghwa mumbled in response.

“Pabo, pabo, pabo,” Min Jung teased back.

“Um, guys cut it out. Yonghwa leave Min Jung unnie alone. She doesn’t have to hear that from you,” Seohyun reprimanded. “Unnie, I think we should leave Yonghwa alone for now to get some rest. We’re just getting him worked up by being here. Bye Yonghwa. I’ll be here in the hospital so I’ll be back soon. We’re going to the cafeteria to get something.”

“Bye,” he responded dryly in Seohyun direction. He didn’t even bother to direct a farewell at Seohyun’s new friend from how angry he was.

“Well, thanks for saying by to me too,” Min Jung began to argue once more. “Whatever, comon let’s leave this loser here to be all grouchy alone.” The two girls walked out of the room together and headed towards the elevators. If Seohyun was good at switching emotions quickly, Min Jung was a god at it. She had just gone from furious to cheerful in less than a second from exiting the room. She had a small happy skip to her step that made it obvious she was feeling good.

“Wow unnie you can really keep Yonghwa down. I’ve never seen someone keep him from yelling back at them. You guys have such similar personalitites so I guess it’s only natural you know how to counter each other. Well, similar personalities in an argument at least.  You guys are completely different when you’re not arguing. You’re always happy and Yonghwa is always mad,” Seohyun pointed out. Min Jung turned to Seohyun and gave her a disgusted look.

“Ewwwww, don’t ever compare me to that jackass. Ugh, just thinking about him makes me want to punch someone in the face. I’m nothing like him,” Min Jung argued back, making Seohyun giggle. They obviously could not notice each other’s stubbornness in a fight so Seohyun decided to just leave it at that.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“We came as fast as we could,” Hara said, unable to catch a breath of air. Yoona who stood next to her, also had trouble breathing. It looked like they had just run a marathon or something from how exhausted they looked.

“You guys didn’t have to run,” Seohyun laughed. “We’re both fine. Yonghwa is pretty torn up, but the doctor said he would be fine. He’s probably arguing with a nurse or something in his usual manner.” Hara and Yoona were a little surprised at Seohyun’s unusual calmness at the situation. Seohyun tended to overreact at things like these, but she was taking it surprisingly well.

“Seohyun are you alright?” Yoona asked. “You seem a little strange today. Did you really not get hurt from what happened?”

“No I’m fine Yoona. Nothing happened to me at all. I’m just a little happy, that’s all,” Seohyun responded honestly. It was a little strange to be happy in a situation like that, but the two girls supposed there was a good reason for it.

“Why are you happy about Yonghwa being in the hospital? Didn’t he get really hurt? What about the incident with Seung Ri? Did you guys talk about it?” Hara bombared with questions.

“I know it sounds a little weird, but I am happy right now. The first thing he did when he woke up was ask me if I was alright. Yonghwa risked his life to save me. I know that doesn’t mean that he likes me, but he must feel something for me at least. There’s no way he would save me and get so beat up like that if he did it for no reason,” Seohyun concluded. Hara and Yoona knew where this was going and decided to burst Seohyun’s bubble. As much as they hoped Seohyun would get the guy she wanted, they knew it wouldn’t happen.

“Seohyun, you shouldn’t get too excited,” Hara began. “Yonghwa may have saved you, but that doesn’t guarantee that he actually likes you or anything. I hope you’re not getting your hopes up because of this. Anyways, if he got so beat up, how did you guys manage to get here if you fainted?”

“Min Jung unnie saved us. She’s the daughter of the director here. She’s really nice and friendly, I’m sure you guys would love her. She seems to not have a lot of friends because of her situation, but I’ll gladly be her friend. I’m sure she’s a lonely person so that’s why she wanted to be my friend so much,” Seohyun explained.

“Situation?” Yoona asked confusedly.

“I think she’s had family problems since she was a kid. I think her family didn’t approve of her mom or something when her dad got married to her. She also told me her mother left her father for another man and that alienated her dad from everyone else. It’s too bad that such a good person was put in such a terrible positon,” Seohyun lamented. The thought of Min Jung being lonely made her heart hurt a little, but she hoped they could become good friends.

“Why does this sound very familiar? It’s like déjà vu…” Hara pointed out.

“You know Seohyun, this sounds an awful lot like Yonghwa’s story. The unwanted marriage, parents leaving when they were young, the loneliness, it’s all the same. You also commented on how similar in stubbornness those two were. Are you sure they’re not like the Ying and Yang for each other?” Yoona joked. Seohyun never really thought of it, but now that she did, they did seem very similar. However, Min Jung was nice to her, while Yonghwa was a jerk.

“You better watch out Seohyun…” Hara warned her friend. “If Min Jung is going to be around Yonghwa a lot, I’m sure something will develop between those two. They share the same painful past so they should understand each other very well. Also, although you said they’re alike at times, you said they were opposites in terms of attitude. Opposites attract you know. Hopefully since we will only be here a little longer that doesn’t happen, but you should watch for it anyways.”

Seohyun hadn’t really paid attention to that either. All she had been worried about since she arrived at the hospital was blaming herself for the trouble Yonghwa had gone through. Yoona and Hara did have a good point, but it was kind of outrageous in her mind. Although they might share a lot in common, Yonghwa was too much of a grouch to pay any attention to Min Jung. Then again, Min Jung had beaten him in an argument, something which Seohyun thought was impossible. She secretly cursed Yoona and Hara for putting so many doubts in her head. Min Jung was a nice person and she didn’t deserve any hate from her at all.

“Yonghwa has to stay here for at least two weeks before he can be transferred to a hospital in Seoul,” Seohyun explained. “I’m thinking about staying here for those two weeks to take care of him. It’s the least in can do in the situation.” Thinking about how she would be here to watch over Yonghwa relieved some of the threat Min Jung posed to her. Although she hated herself for feeling jealous of Min Jung, it was a possibility she had to watch for.

“Well then, let’s go visit that grouch to at least show him that we care,” Hara suggested. The girls walked from the front lobby towards the elevators quietly. It was unfortunate that their vacation had turned into something like this. The teachers of course were not happy that Seohyun and Yonghwa had gotten themselves into such a mess, but since they signed all the papers, it wasn’t their problem anymore. Seohyun supposed her parents were still somewhere overseas so she doubted they would find out.

“That wasn’t so hard was it?” they heard Min Jung’s voice through the door. Upon walking in they found Min Jung feeding a spoonful of soup into Yonghwa’s mouth. Yonghwa didn’t look very happy to be fed, but Min Jung was too much for him to handle. “Seohyun, this guy won’t ever back down will he? At least I got him to finally let me feed him.” Hara and Yoona eyed each other worriedly. When Seohyun had tried to feed him back when he was in the hospital for Hepatitis A, he didn’t even let her come 2 meters near him with a spoon. Why he was letting Min Jung feed him was beyond them.

“Oh, hi Min Jung,” Seohyun greeted halfheartedly. Seohyun felt terrible for feeling negative things towards Min Jung, but she couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. She could tell Min Jung would eventually break Yonghwa’s shell open and get closer to him. She seemed like the kind of person who could do that. “These are my two friends Hara and Yoona that I told you about.” Yoona and Hara each greeted the new girl politely and added a small bow. They were judging Min Jung in their heads as well but it was inevitable. Of course they would defend their friend’s feelings with all they could.

“It’s nice to meet you guys, Seohyun speaks really well of you. Do you guys want anything to eat? I’m heading down to the cafeteria really fast to get a cup of coffee. Make yourselves at home, well as much as you can in a hospital,” Min Jung giggled. “I’m sorry to run away just as I met you guys, but it’s not because I don’t like you.” The bubbly girl ran out of the room quickly and left Hara and Yoona speechless. She sure was something else.

“How are you feeling Yonghwa?” Seohyun asked the still angry looking young man.

“Like I just entered the gates of hell,” Yonghwa responded acidly. “Ugh, that Min Jung is more annoying than you were at the beginning. She just won’t back the hell off no matter how much I tell her to. She fed me… she fed me! Do you know how badly I wanted to spit that hot soup all over her when she did that?” The girls in the room all broke out into laugher at his response. Seohyun felt slightly relieved that Yonghwa didn’t seem like Min Jung very much. Though, it also made her feel bad for feeling happy. She cursed her feelings for not listening to her.

“Taecyeon said he wanted to come visit you, but I think he just wanted to come flirt with the nurses,” Yoona joked. “Are you going to be alright?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. As long as I don’t end up opening my wound from strangling that little thing I’ll be alright,” Yonghwa replied. Yoona was surprised that Yonghwa responded in such a large sentence. Yonghwa was never particularly mean to her, but he never answered a question in more than two to three words. “How are the teachers taking it?”

“Shi seonsaeng pretty much had a heart attack, but she’s not going to do anything about it. Since we all signed some papers saying the school wasn’t responsible for us, they’re not allow to yell at us for it,” Hara responded. “So I heard you played the big hero. How does it feel to save someone as cute as our little Seohyun?”

“Hara!” Seohyun cried out. “Don’t you guys have to walk back to the hotel and get home before it gets too dark out? It’s already 8:00pm and you might get jumped by thugs too. Comon, I’ll walk you out. I’ll be back in a bit Yonghwa.” Seohyun pushed the girls that were embarrassing her out of the door and was about to head out herself before being stopped by Yonghwa’s voice.

“Seohyun, go home with them. I appreciate you wanting to stay here, but you’re just going to tire yourself out. I know that even if you go home, you’re still going to worry anyways. Regardless, I think you’ll be better off going home,” Yonghwa explained. Seohyun wanted to argue back, but he probably would end up winning and getting worked up for no reason.

“Alright, I know you won’t back off until I leave anyways.” She turned to leave but stopped herself from pulling the door open and began to speak. “You know, I owe you my life from what you did. I’m sorry I put us in that situation and I’m sorry I acted like such a weakling there. Yonghwa, I consider you my friend and I care for you a lot so… um… hehe I forgot where I was going with this,” she lied nervously. She was so close to confessing her feelings she had no other choice but to lie. “Just, um, take care of yourself while I’m not watching. Try not to argue too much with Min Jung unnie. Bye.”

“Later,” he grunted. “Don’t walk through alleys on your way home. Then again Hara and Yoona would beat the crap out of anyone that came their way. Seems like we are destined to be in the hospital at least once a month,” he joked. It wasn’t until after he said it that he realized his statement implied Seohyun was the cause of his problems. “Look, you don’t have to thank me for what I did. I did it because it was the right thing to do and because… I felt like I needed to. Be careful on your way home.” Seohyun smiled at the awkward tone Yonghwa was using with her at that moment. It sounded pretty weird hearing that kind of talk from him and even he probably didn’t know why he said it.

“I will, thanks,” she responded before leaving. When she opened the door Hara and Yoona stepped away from it nonchalantly. They had probably listened into the whole conversation and they would probably talk to her about it the whole way home.

“Aw, where are you guys going?” a disappointed voice asked. “You just got here and you’re leaving already? Seohyun ah weren’t you going to stay here and watch Yonghwa?”

“Sorry we have to leave so fast Min Jung-shi, but we have to go back to the hotel or else the teachers will get mad at us. Yonghwa just kicked Seohyun out so we’re going to drag her back home,” Yoona politely responded. “It was nice meeting you and hopefully we get to see you around sometime.”

“Alright, I was hoping that we could all be friends, but I guess it can’t be helped. Seohyun, you’ll be visiting tomorrow morning right?” Min Jung asked hopefully. Seohyun nodded in response, eliciting a squeal from Min Jung. “Yay! Alright, have a safe trip home guys. I’ll see you in the morning Seohyun. I’ll make sure that guy does what he has to in order to get better. Annyeong~.” The overly cheerful girl kept walking forward and entered the room where Yonghwa was residing. Right of the bat they heard yelling and arguing and rolled their eyes.

“You know Min Jung is really nice. I feel kind of bad judging her so early,” Yoona admitted. Her two friends agreed with a nod and began their trek back to the hotel. “It doesn’t seem like he really likes her all that much though. Seohyun are you going to be alright?”

“You know Yoona, I can’t really have a say in this. Min Jung can like Yonghwa if she wants to. I can’t stop her from doing that. Yonghwa is also free to like her if he wanted to. I can’t hate Min Jung because she is such a good person and doesn’t deserve it,” Seohyun weakly responded. “I will admit, she does seem like a threat, but it’s her business if she wants to be around Yonghwa or not.” Hara and Yoona were surprised at Seohyun’s choice of words. They didn’t like the fact that there was someone around that made Seohyun act like this, but they also couldn’t hate Min Jung.

“This is all assuming she does like him or will like him which is just stupid of us to think about. We know nothing about her and what she likes so we are making assumptions too early,” Hara, the voice of reason of the group pointed out. “Let’s just forget about all of this and go home. I don’t want Shi seonsaeng to go crazy because we’re getting home late.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Just as Yonghwa had predicted, Seohyun hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep. She was too busy trying to shake away random thoughts out of her head. At least by going home she appeased the teachers’ desire to constantly watch everything the students did. Shi seonsaeng wasn’t really worried about Yonghwa all that much. Any interest she did have in his situation was surely faked. Since she hadn’t gotten much sleep anyways, she decided to head to the hospital early.

Seohyun opened the door slowly, making sure that Yonghwa didn’t wake up. When she finally entered the room, she regretted it. On the bed was Yonghwa, just as Seohyun had left him the night before. Next to his bed there was a stool in which Min Jung sat in. Her upper body and head rested in close proximity to Yonghwa’s bed and she looked a little uncomfortable. That wasn’t what had Seohyun so surprised. Her hand was firmly holding onto Yonghwa’s hand, just like Seohyun had done a few weeks back when he had a nightmare. Seohyun realized it wouldn’t be right of her to wake up the pair, so she decided to walk back out.

“Oh, Seohyun, you’re here?” Min Jung sleepily called out. “Oh crap! Why am I holding his hand?!” Seohyun stopped her walk to the door and nodded in response. “Seohyun you’re good friends with him right? Does he always have nightmares or is that just bad luck of mine. I came in in the middle of the night and he was sweating and mumbling random things. He kept calling for his parents and someone else whose name I don’t remember.” Seohyun’s turned her attention to the sleeping boy. He probably was having the same nightmare that he had when she stayed at his house.

“Did he say something about being cold or alone?” Seohyun asked without peeling her eyes off of Yonghwa.

“Yeah, that was it. I couldn’t get him to stop moving around so I held his hand and it seemed to stop. I felt something was strange about him, like I already knew him,” Min Jung explained gently. “I’ve had dreams like that too. I’m in a small dark room and it’s really cold inside. I call for my mom and dad but nobody comes to help. It was like someone took my nightmare and put it inside him.” Seohyun turned her worried look towards her new friend. Min Jung was already getting closer to Yonghwa and Seohyun could tell. Yonghwa would probably continue to hate her, but that wouldn’t stop Min Jung from trying to get closer.

“You know, it’s probably a good idea to leave the room when you’re talking about me,” Yonghwa complained. “Also, did you know it’s rude to wake up a sleeping person? Well, if you didn’t you know now.” Seohyun smiled at Yonghwa’s behavior. Even though he was almost broken in half and doctors kept throwing pills and food at him, he was still the same old Yonghwa. “Oh, I forgot to tell you something last night.”

“Me?” Seohyun asked while pointing to herself. “What was it?”

“You win,” he answered in few words.

“I won what?” Seohyun asked, clueless as to what he was talking about.

“You won the bet. Remember you said that this was going to be a memorable trip? Well I know I sure as hell am not going to forget taking on three guys and almost dying. I’d say this counts as a memorable trip don’t you think so?” Yonghwa asked half-jokingly. “It that i won’t be getting my money back from this huh?” Yonghwa almost broke into laughter but realized how out of character that would be. The pain in his ribs also probably played a role in that.

“That doesn’t count!” Seohyun complained. “I didn’t want it to turn out like that. I wanted it to be memorable for other reasons. I wanted you to remember it because of all the fun you had with us. I don’t want it to be a painful memory.”

“Do you really think you could have made it memorable that way? You’re lucky this happened or else you would have lost that bet. And don’t worry, it won’t be a painful memory.”

“Eh? Why not?” Seohyun asked confusedly. How could it not be a painful memory? He was on the verge of dying and having his entire body beaten into dust. There was nothing else that he could feel other than pain when he remembered it.

“You know, I don’t really know that myself. I just know it won’t be. Maybe it’s because I know that you’ll be forever in my debt and nothing you ever do will get you out of it,” he teased. Seohyun pouted when she heard his excuse. She was hoping for something else, something that would assure her that something could work out between them, but then again it was Yonghwa she was talking to. She should have known better than to get her hopes up.

“You’re an …” Min Jung added in from the sidelines. “How could you act like that when she’s feeling so down about it?” Yonghwa glared at her, but tried to keep his calm. It was too early in the morning to start dealing with an annoyance like her.

“You, stay out of this. I don’t even know why you’re here. I owe you a favor, but that doesn’t mean I have to deal with you every second of my life. Anyways, Seohyun stop beating yourself up about it,” Yonghwa ordered. “It wasn’t your fault that all of this happened. At least we will always remember this right? Ugh, I can’t believe I lost that bet to you.” Yonghwa was strangely trying to get her to forget all about it. She secretly thanked him for attempting to cheer her up. Seohyun knew from that moment on that Yonghwa cared for her, even if it was very little. She had won her bet, in a weird way, but she had won it nonetheless.

 

 

Author’s note: So as I finished writing this I realized that people could start hating Min Jung. I really hope that as time goes by, people don’t start to hate her. She’s genuinely a good person and even if she were to like Yonghwa, she will be cool still. Unlike Uee, she’s not a total . Anyways, this chapter didn’t go as I had envisioned it but whatever, it’s done. I dunno if I want to update tomorrow or not. Depends on how I’m feeling lol. I have to plan a few more things since I just realized that I’m going away from what I originally planned. Peace out girl scouts!

 

p.s. I’m thoroughly enjoying reading all of you guys’ comments. This past update I actually had to split my response comments into three separate comments since the website wouldn’t let me put so many words into just one. Thank you all who comment. I hope I can keep you all interested in this.