Chapter 37 – Starlight Tears

 

 

Only one day remained until the couple everyone now worshipped would be separated. Graduation was already starting to become a memory in everyone’s hearts that nobody would forget. It seemed like just yesterday they had been naïve first year students, just entering their high school years. Now those naïve freshmen had become the proud high school graduates that exited the auditorium with diplomas in their hands. Although it was nothing more than just a piece of paper, that paper gave them the freedom they had wanted for ages. People that once begged the gods in the heavens to hurry up and bring them graduation were now begging the same gods to turn back the clock. High school had been hell for everyone, but nobody was willing to give it away. Sadly, they would never go back to those times and they all looked forward to the future with their head held high.

“Thanks guys, but we’ll pass on the party for tonight,” Seohyun politely rejected. “I would love to spend our last moments as a group together, but we would rather spend the night alone. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. I wish you guys could be here, but I guess it would be better for you to have alone time. Stay strong guys,” Yoona cheered. “We will get to see you tomorrow though right?”

“Yeah, Min Jung and I will be at the airport at around 8:00pm. If you guys want to say goodbye be there a little before that,” Yonghwa responded quietly. Even though it was a night to party, get drunk, and celebrate, it didn’t seem like it. The atmosphere that surrounded the group of friends made it seem as if someone had just died. Even Taecyeon wasn’t his usual goofy self. Normally he would be making some sort of erted joke or doing a random dance to get a bunch of quick laughs, but not today.

“Guys, cheer up. Go out and have fun tonight, you all deserve it. We will be fine,” Seohyun assured them. Both she and Yonghwa felt horrible for spoiling the night.  If Min Jung, the giant ball of energy, wasn’t acting up, there was definitely something wrong with the situation. “Don’t make us feel worse than we already do. I know it’s sad, but you have to let loose tonight. If you don’t, I’ll hunt you all down tomorrow.”

“Seohyun, are you sure you don’t want to hang out with us tonight?” Min Jung inquired. “I’ve never even gotten to see you drunk yet. I’ve heard its hilarious.” Instead of laughing like she was supposed to, her voice became shaky and began to crack. Everyone in the crowd also began to feel that urge to just break down and cry. Although Yonghwa and Seohyun weren’t going to break up forever or anything, it was still a very emotional even for all of them.

“Min Jung, please don’t cry. I’ve already made you cry enough,” Yonghwa pointed out. “You have to smile alright? I don’t want to see that crybaby face of yours tonight. I still have to deal with you for four years remember?”

“Shut up…” Min Jung commanded in a whiney voice. “Ugh, I hate you guys. I told myself I wouldn’t ever cry after what happened before, yet here I am doing it. Just leave already. You’re not doing us any favors by staying here.”

“Arasso, we’ll get going. I’ll see you guys all tomorrow. And remember, cheer up. You only graduate from high school once,” Yonghwa joked. “Comon, let’s go.” Yonghwa turned away from his newly formed group of friends and pulled Seohyun away. He never thought he would see the day where he actually feared what would happen once he turned his back on them. Before meeting them he would always tell himself that there was no such thing as people worth looking back at. He assumed he would never have the urge to turn back and take one last look at anyone. Now he was trying his hardest to keep walking and not look over his shoulder at the people that had welcomed him into the circle.

“Are you alright?” Seohyun asked warmly. “Yonghwa…?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he sniffled. “Let’s just keep walking alright?” A quick look at his watch indicated that it was just a little past 2:00pm. In just a little over 24 hours he would be leaving the land that had gave him the life he had now. “What do you want to do tonight?”

“I don’t really know. I never thought about something like this. I would rather not waste such an important night, but have no idea,” Seohyun admitted. “Do you have anything you want to do?”

“I… I don’t know either. I don’t even have the head to think about that right now. Should we just wander around for a while and see if we find something?” Although it sounded like a pretty dumb idea, they had nothing better to do. Yonghwa stared at the ground, only looking up to flash Seohyun a fake smile when he noticed her staring at him.

After almost thirty minutes of wandering, they made their way into a shopping area. It was the same shopping area that Yonghwa had wandered into on White Day. Yonghwa hadn’t even bothered to pay attention to his surroundings as he sadly shuffled his way through the streets with Seohyun by his side. “Oh look,” Seohyun exclaimed. “Want to get one?”  Finally the dejected boy looked up and saw a glass case full of cheap rings. He almost laughed at the cheap metal trinkets at the front of a dollar store, but he didn’t have the energy for it.

“You want to buy a cheap ring like this?” he mocked.

“Yeah, why not? It doesn’t matter how much it costs, just how much it means to you,” Seohyun reasoned. “Comon, let’s go look at them.” Yonghwa cheered up a little upon hearing Seohyun act like a small child in a toy store with money to spend. Carefully she removed the glass from the case and pulled out two rings that were similar to each other. “Here, put this one on. They will be our couple rings.”

“Tch, 2,000 won couple rings? You sure are a strange girl Seohyun. Let’s go pay for them.”

“No, let’s find a bunch of other stuff too. We should get a few things here and there since we never really bothered to do so before.” Not only did Yonghwa find it troublesome to look around for frivolous things, but he also considered it a waste of time. It sort of reminded him of how he felt about her when they first met. Eventually the couple made their way out of the store carrying couple rings, couple cups, and couple socks. As soon as they made their way out of the store, Yonghwa resumed his gloomy behavior.

“Let’s go home and drop this stuff off okay?” he miserably suggested. Seohyun nodded and followed his lead once more as they walked through the busy streets. All along the way Seohyun tried her hardest to get Yonghwa into a conversation, but failed every time. After her futile attempts to get him to cheer up all failed, anger began to manifest itself inside her. “Let’s just stay here at home,” Yonghwa spoke up once they dropped their stuff off.

“Yonghwa, comon, let’s go do something. We can’t just waste our time here doing nothing,” Seohyun decided. “Please, just get up.” Her frustration grew by the minute as her suggestions kept being ignored by the man sitting on the couch in front of her.

“Alright, let’s go,” he finally agreed. Yonghwa stood up from his couch and slowly resumed his unenthusiastic shuffle out of the house. Seohyun grabbed a hold of his hand encouragingly, but to no avail. Soon enough they were in front of the swing that had started off their relationship. It was there that Yonghwa had gave up his old attitude and opened up to her on his birthday. Seohyun owed a lot to that swing, but she wasn’t in the mood to be there at that moment.

“Yonghwa, I’m serious…” Seohyun angrily trailed off. “Please, stop being like this and let’s go do something. It’s almost 4:00pm and we haven’t done anything yet. Get up from that swing.” Yonghwa shook his head like a rebellious child and gripped the swing chains even harder. His grip loosened once a delicate hand struck his face with all the force it could.

“Ow,” Yonghwa responded unresponsively. “Is there a reason you slapped me?” Another slap made its way onto his face, only this time it was much harder. “Keep them coming Seohyun, I have all day.” Slap three, then slap four found their way onto his cheeks. After Seohyun lost count of how much she slapped him, she gave up and began to cry.

“GET UP! Stop feeling sorry for yourself. I didn’t fall in love with someone like you. What happened to the proud and courageous person that gave the speech during graduation a few hours back!? Tell me where that Jung Yonghwa went!” Seohyun ordered loudly. “Is this who you really are Yonghwa? Are you really this weak of a person?”

“Seohyun, listen…”

“NO! I won’t listen! Yonghwa, wake up! This isn’t who you really are. I don’t want to fight on our last day together, but you’re making this so hard. Please, just wake up already,” she cried hysterically. Seohyun’s legs gave out, forcing her to kneel in the wood chips that covered the ground beneath the swing set. Even though the wood was digging into her knees, she had no energy to stand up anymore.

“I’m sorry,” Yonghwa apologized before jumping off the swing and running to her side. “Seohyun, forgive me for being an idiot right now but I don’t know what else to do." He brought the weeping girl into a tight hug and patted her back reassuringly. “Stop crying alright? I think I have an idea of what to do now.”

“Look, I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have slapped you so hard. Does it hurt?” she asked while wiping her tears away.

“Nah, I needed that to wake up. I have to go talk to Jin Man for a few minutes. Do you think you can wait here while I run there and back?” Yonghwa asked his girl. Although she thought it was a pretty strange request, she nodded quietly and let him have his way. “Great, I’ll be right back. Just trust me on this.”

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Yonghwa, my man!” Jin Man exclaimed happily. “I thought I wasn’t going to get to see you for a few years. Thanks for making your way out here. Although, I assume that’s not all you’re here for.” Yonghwa took a cup and poured himself a glass of water while Jin Man greeted him. “Easy there, you don’t want to throw up on your girlfriend or anything.”

“Jin Man…” Yonghwa began while out of breath. “I need you to lend me the truck for today. I think I’m going to take her out to that place we went to on our first date. I think that would be the best for tonight.” Jin Man laughed loudly at Yonghwa’s suggestion, leaving Yonghwa confused as to why he did so.

“Ha, you’re a riot Yonghwa. You clearly know nothing about women. It’s too soon for you guys to go there just yet. I knew you would pull something like this so I prepared something for you already,” Jin Man admitted. “I know you don’t like help, but you can’t pull off something like this alone.”

“What do you mean?”

“Here,” Yonghwa’s boss said while tossing the keys to him. “Take the truck out to the destination on the GPS. If you leave now you’ll make it in time for the surprise. Make sure you speed as much as you can. Although I don’t want you to get hurt, you’re a little short on time.”

“Jin Man, what are you talking about?” Yonghwa asked confusedly. “I don’t understand anything.”

“Yonghwa, you’re a smart guy, I know you’ll know what to do. Just take her to that spot and have a good time alright? I don’t mean it in a erted way, but I sincerely wish you luck. You’re like a little brother to me and you know that. I’m going to miss having a kid that I can call up any time of the day to come work for me,” Jin Man joked. In reality, he was only playing around so much to mask the shakiness in his voice. “You better take care of yourself in Japan alright?”

“Jin Man, I’m not dying or anything, calm down,” Yonghwa assured playfully. “I’ll be back in a while.”

“Yeah, I know,” he responded with watery eyes. “Just don’t get into trouble alright? Whenever you come visit Korea you better come visit me. Even if you become some bigshot college graduate you have to remember the guy who cut you your big break.”

“Don’t worry I’ll be back. Like I said, I’m not dying. Jin Man hyu-hyung…”

“Eh? Hyung!? Do you know how many years I’ve been waiting for you to call me hyung? Why would you say it now when you’re about to leave. You little brat… You’re saying it now because you know you won’t have to say it later. Come here.” Jin Man ran over to the kid that had been his only family for the past 10 years. “You know we’re both in the same boat right? My parents died a while back and I never had any siblings. You’ve been the closest thing to a brother I’ve had, and now I’m going to lose you too. Enough of this though. Go on and meet your girl, I’m sure she’s waiting.”

“Be ready to give me some free food when I’m back in Korea hyung. I gotta go now, but I’ll talk to you later. I’ll be sure to pass along some messages with Seohyun to you.”

“Arasso. Go on, get going. You shouldn’t keep her waiting long.” The almost thirty-year-old man wiped the salty liquid off his face and gave his ‘dongsaeng’ a manly hug. “Get a move on.”

“Alright, thanks for everything hyung. I’ll bring the truck back before I go.” With those last words, Yonghwa would be leaving one of the few people he truly cared for in the world. It had been hard for him to finally call him ‘hyung,’ but it had been even harder for him to say goodbye to him. Making his way to the truck, Yonghwa looked back and saw his older brother waving out through the window. After a quick wave back of his own, he hopped into the truck and headed out to meet Seohyun.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Are we back at the spot we first went to Yonghwa?” Seohyun questioned. It had been a little under 3 hours on the road and she couldn’t really tell where they were. All she could make out of her surroundings was that they were out in the country somewhere. Since she never really left Seoul, she had no idea where they were.

“No, I don’t really know where we are myself. I’m just following what Jin Man hyung told us to go by,” Yonghwa confessed. Seohyun found it strange he was calling Jin Man ‘hyung,’ but she refrained from asking. Yonghwa didn’t look to happy when he came back from the café and she didn’t want to put him in a worse mood. “It looks like we’re here though.” Yonghwa parked the large truck in an open space in front of what he supposed he was looking for.

“Woah, a mountain cabin,” Seohyun happily chirped. The excited girl took in a deep breath and enjoyed the crisp mountain air. “It feels so good up here doesn’t it?” Yonghwa stared at the smiling girl and felt a little guilty for acting so gloomy. As much as he wanted to just sit in a corner and cry for the rest of the day, he had to smile for her sake. It wasn’t fair to bring her down with him.

“Yeah, it’s really great,” he replied with a strained smile. “Wanna head inside and check out the cabin?”

“Go ahead and look in there. I’ll check out what’s around here in the back,” Seohyun responded.

“Aish, Jin Man,” Yonghwa chuckled. “You would do something like this…” Yonghwa took a look around the small cabin and noticed how cheesily it was set up. Scented candles were spread throughout the room amongst bunches of red and pink roses. If anyone came in and saw this, they would say there was a couple on a honeymoon living there. A fireplace in the back was full of wood, indicating it was ready to have a roaring fire in it. The small bed in the corner of the room would ensure that he and Seohyun spent a very close night together. The room basically was screaming for them to do ‘naughty’ things at night. He would have to give Jin Man an earful whenever he saw him again.

“Hey, Jin Man left us a note here,” Seohyun said to the young man heading out of the cabin. “It says there’s a pair of horses tied to a tree a few meters along the trail. I haven’t ridden a horse in so long. Comon, let’s go.” The eager girl pulled Yonghwa towards the place indicated on the note that was left behind. Sure enough, a couple of horses were munching on the grass near their resting place.

“This is so cheesy and cliché though…” Yonghwa complained. “Don’t you think?”

“Yonghwa, you have nothing better to do,” Seohyun reminded. “Get your on that horse and let’s follow this trail somewhere.” Yonghwa was not really in the mood to deal with a temperamental girl in that situation so he listened quietly. With a swift hop, Yonghwa was already on his horse and moving forward. When he didn’t hear a second set of clip-clop noises, he turned back to see Seohyun struggling to get on her horse.

“Need help?” he teased while riding around her victoriously.

“No! I don’t need your help,” she replied angrily. Yonghwa let out another laugh and leapt off his horse to help her. He took a hand and placed it on her as she gave one last hop to get on. “YAH!! What the hell are you doing!?”

“What do you mean? I was helping you get on your freakin horse,” Yonghwa growled in annoyance. “This is the thanks I get for helping you? Fine, I won’t do it anymore.”

“No, not that…” she shyly responded. “I… uh… your hand… Keep it to yourself.” Before Yonghwa could see her reddened face she rode off along the trail.

“My hand?” Yonghwa asked himself. After staring at his hand for a few more seconds, he realized he had just held her behind for a little bit. “Seohyun! Wait up!” He wanted to slap himself for touching such an intimate place. Though, it kind of annoyed him that she was being so awkward about it when he hadn’t even touched her with that intention. “Aish, Seohyun you’re such an idiot.”

“Wow… where does Jin Man find these places?” Seohyun asked herself when she halted to a stop. The fast paced riding behind her indicated that her boyfriend was already catching up to her after her embarrassing outburst.

“Don’t go off all alone like that… what the hell is this place?” Yonghwa asked surprised. As soon as the trail ended, a small wooden pier began with a white speedboat tied onto it. The pier stuck out into a large lake, completely different from the one they had seen with the waterfall. Surrounding the huge mass of water were many flowering trees, each with flowers in a different shade of red or pink. The water along the shores was covered in the floating pink petals that were being shed. It wasn’t too special of a lake to be honest, but the way the mountains enclosed it made it seem private and mysterious.

“Did you know about this place?” Seohyun asked Yonghwa who was just as surprised as she was. “You guys sure have some luck finding camping places.”

“I had no idea this place existed,” Yonghwa responded in an astounded voice. The mountains in the background began to glow a beautiful shade of orange as the sun began to set. Yonghwa assumed that Jin Man was referring to the sunset when he said to make it there in time. The sun began to slowly go down between two mountains that had a slight separation between them. As the orb that created the day made its way through the space between the mountains, it allowed its dimming light to touch the surface of the water.

“Comon, let’s go sit on the pier.” Seohyun hopped off her horse and quickly tied it onto a tree nearby. Yonghwa did the same and made his way to the end of the pier where the still excited girl sat. “I wonder if the water is cold.” Seohyun took off her sneakers and socks to stick her feet into the lake water. She quickly retracted her feet once they hit the icy liquid, but she kept trying to endure the cold feeling.

“That looks kind of cold. We are in the mountains after all. You’ll get sick if you keep your feet in there too long,” Yonghwa scolded. As the girl didn’t seem to be listening to him, he decided to follow her lead. Soon enough, his feet were desperately trying to keep themselves in the lake water.

“Can you believe it?”

“Can I believe what?”

“Yonghwa, I can’t believe you’re going to be gone for four years,” Seohyun began. “How long is it that we started dating? We started dating almost two months ago and we already have to be separated.” Seohyun swished her feet around in the water in order to avoid eye contact with him. She didn’t really want to bring up anything about the goodbye, but it was all that was going through her mind the whole day.

“I don’t even believe that we are even dating myself. I never once thought that I would ever come to a place like this with a girl. It feels so good to have you next to me at a time like this. I really love coming to these kinds of places, but it was always an empty feeling. I would come and stare off into space as I thought about how much I hated this world,” Yonghwa admitted. “Now it’s the exact opposite. I can’t stop thinking about how much I want to stay here with you.”

“Do we really have to do this? Can we not just stay here and live forever together?” Seohyun pleaded stupidly. She finally raised her gaze to meet his once he took her hand in his. “I may have so many friends and family… but I still feel so lonely. Only when I’m with you do I feel that there’s actually someone next to me. I love Yoona and Hara, but it’s not the same.”

Yonghwa sighed and broke the eye contact between them. The sun had disappeared a few minutes back and the sky began to darken. He hoped the darkness could come sooner so he wouldn’t have to see her pained face so clearly. “Stop thinking about that alright? I’ll tell you the same thing I told Jin Man: I’m not dying.”

“Pabo, who says you’re dying?” Seohyun replied in annoyance. “Don’t say stuff like that.”

“I’ll be back eventually. We will still be able to talk and see each other. That’s what the internet is for. We just have to be happy we are privileged enough to go to universities like the ones we got into. Not everyone has this opportunity,” Yonghwa explained. “We can’t take this for granted.”

“I’m not trying to, but I can’t help it. I’m acting like an obsessed girl who can’t live without a man by her side, but it’s all true. I always told myself I would never act like this over a man, but it’s too hard not to.” The familiar sting of tears in her eyes made its way around again. Seohyun hated herself for crying so much, but she couldn’t stop.

“I hate myself, you know,” Yonghwa stated out of nowhere. “I hate myself because I’ve made you cry so many times. Every time I see you cry, I want to as well. I tell myself that I won’t ever let you cry again, but it always ends up happening. I’m sorry, Seohyun. I’m so sorry.”

“Nah, let’s just forget about this. Want to take a ride in the boat? Maybe it’ll take our mind off of things,” Seohyun suggested. Yonghwa took a handful of cold water to splash on his face before nodding in agreement. He was on the verge of tears as well but he had to hold them in. If he was unhappy, then Seohyun would get worse. The sad pair jumped into the boat and began to drive it around the large lake. After a few laps around, Yonghwa decided it would be better to ride into the middle of the water and just float there.

“Hey are you cold?” Yonghwa asked the slightly shivering girl. “If you are, come here.” He motioned for her to come into his arms, which Seohyun took gladly. Yonghwa and Seohyun laid down on the boat’s long seats and stared into the night sky. Last time they had been to a place like that they had done a bit of stargazing as well. This time, however, there was a million times more stars in the sky than before. The sky almost looked white from the massive amounts of light the little dots created.

“Wow, there are a lot more stars around here,” Seohyun stated, breaking the comfortable silence. “It’s probably because of the altitude.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Yonghwa answered absent-mindedly. “Sorry, I’m not so talkative today.” Seohyun brought herself closer to him as he spoke and shook her head silently. “I know today should be a much more special day, but I’m ruining it.”

“Nah, it’s fine. Want to play a little game?”

“What kind of game?”

“Remember that truth or dare game we played with Yoona and Hara once? Well, we could do that,” Seohyun offered. “Hmm, we can’t really do dares while we lay out here on the lake. I guess it will have to be only truths. We can just ask each other questions we are curious about. You have to be completely honest though.”

“Yeah, I’ll play,” Yonghwa agreed. “You go first.”

“Why do you like me? Don’t think too hard, just answer it.”

“You need me to answer that question?” To be honest, Yonghwa didn’t really know what to tell her. He never thought he would be asked that, so he didn’t have an answer. “Well, you’re smart, beautiful, nice, a good person, caring, um…”

“The same can be said about Yoona and Hara but you don’t like them do you?” Seohyun reasoned. “Comon, there’s got to be something more important than those qualities.”

Yonghwa had to admit she had a point, but he had nothing else to say. “Well, I like how you make me work for you. You’re not an easy girl and I’m kind of actually glad that you are kind of controlling. I actually like it when you order me around.” Yonghwa’s face began to feel hot, but he was lucky it was too dark for anyone to see him blush. “Uh, I don’t really know what else to say hehe…”

“You like me nagging you all the time?”

“Yeah, I guess I love you being such a drag all the time. Without you my life would be a lot less troublesome. At least you give me a reason to say my catchphrase all the time,” he joked. While Seohyun didn’t really approve of his answer, she was sure he wasn’t going to say anymore. “Here’s one for you: If you had to improve one quality about me, what would it be?”

“Nothing,” she answered quickly. “I would never change anything about you. I fell in love with you the way you are and I wouldn’t trade it away. Um, what part about me do you find the most attractive?”

“Yah! What kind of question is that?!” Yonghwa asked embarrassedly. “Ask something else.”

“Just answer it. We always play around like that, but we never talk about this stuff. Please…” she begged cutely.

“Um *cough* I guess your face?” he spoke, making it sound more like a question than a statement. He didn’t need light to notice that the girl lying practically on top of him was glaring.

“Tell me the truth. There’s no way you’re that pure and naïve. I’ve seen how you look at me.”

“Eh!? When have I ever looked at you in a dirty way? Well…”

“Ha! I knew it. Comon spill the beans,” she ordered.

“I can’t really say a specific thing. I think you have a pretty nice body though. I’m sorry I kind of insulted you all those months back about it. I’m also sorry that I’ve been dirty enough to look at you like that,” Yonghwa apologized like a five-year-old being scolded. “Uh.. have you ever thought of… that stuff?”

“You mean, like doing it? Uh, why are you asking a question like that?”  Seohyun asked. “I guess since we agreed to answer them I will. I’ve imagined it a few times,” she admitted. “I know it seems a little erted of me to think so but, I have. What about you?” Seohyun began to fidget with her hands due to the awkwardness of the situation. Unfortunately for him, her hands also were running across his chest while they were discussing things of a ual nature.

“Um, Seohyun, you think you can stop doing that with your hand?”

“Oh, right hehe sorry,” she quickly apologized. “So have you?”

“Um, yeah a lot of times. I think I’ve been hanging out with Taecyeon too much,” Yonghwa joked in order to make his erted thoughts seem a lot less worse. “You know, it’s kind of hard to control myself whenever I see you in some of the stuff you wear at home. Remember that time Min Jung caught us? If she hadn’t come in right then and there, I don’t know what I would have done. I hope you’re not scared of me now that I told you this.”

“Not at all. Do you think, we could… never mind,” Seohyun stopped midsentence. “Let’s just do something else alright? I think the moon is-” Before Seohyun had enough time to change the subject Yonghwa brought her into one of the most passionate kisses he had ever given her. If she considered kisses from before breathtaking, she didn’t even know how to explain what was going on now. Yonghwa’s tongue ran against her lips, asking her for permission to enter . Although they had kissed like that before, it had never been so powerful. Slowly, she opened a little further and allowed him to explore it. She tried to push away and gasp for air, but the hand on the back of her head wouldn’t let her move away.

“I ing love you,” Yonghwa stated after he broke away from the kiss. “I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do without you when I go to Japan. There are so many things I want to say right now. I want to confess that I love you, I want to beg you to stop me, I want to tell you that I will stay with you and never let you go. Ugh, I don’t even know what to say. Seohyun, why do you do this to me? I can’t even explain just how crazy I go because of you.”

“How about you don’t say anything and just do that again?” she asked boldy. “Yonghwa, I love you too. I hate saying that because everyone these days says it so lightly. I don’t just love you. I adore you, I admire you, I respect you, I want you. There’s so much I want to say, but I don’t think words will be able to explain it all.” Had they been their normal selves, they would both shyly apologize for acting in such a bold manner. However, they were too high strung at the moment to be self-conscious.

Before Yonghwa could make a decision to savor her lips some more, he noticed a flashing light in the sky. “Oh damn, look.” Seohyun focused her attention on the sky and noticed an array of lights passing by. “Jin Man, you’re daebak…”

“He knew there would be a meteor shower tonight? We definitely owe him for this one,” Seohyun joked. The beautiful blue and white streaks colored the night sky, lighting it up more than the starts that sat in the sky all night long. The dancing of the lights reflected off of the surface of the water, creating a beautiful scene in the middle of the large pool of water they were floating in.“Did you make a million wishes?” Seohyun asked playfully. “I heard when you make a wish on a shooting star it will come true. Since we just saw a couple hundred, that means a couple hundred wishes.”

“I was going to, but I stopped myself. There’s nothing in this world I want.”

“You’re not going to wish that we last forever?” Seohyun questioned in annoyance.

“Nah, I don’t need to wish for that. No magic in this world needs to tell me that I will last forever with you,” he began. “I know 100% for a fact that I will last forever with you. I don’t need a shooting star to tell me that.”

“Cheesy bastard…” Seohyun insulted mockingly. “I still don’t see why you were a cold jerk all this time. You’re a total softie inside.”

“Don’t tell anyone though. It’s a secret. Anyways, don’t you think we should go home? It’s already midnight and we should get some sleep if we want to spend all day together tomorrow,” Yonghwa suggested. Seohyun got up from the seat and allowed him to drive them back to the pier they had gotten the boat from. ”Here, let me help you up.”

“Nah, I’m fine, just go get the horses ready,” Seohyun rejected. “I’ll be fine on my own.” As soon as Yonghwa turned around to untie the horses, he heard a loud squeal and a splash follow. “How did I know that would happen..?” Without caring how cold the water would be, Yonghwa dove into the water head first. In a matter of seconds, he and Seohyun were back on land, shivering from the frigid water soaking their clothes.

“Aish, my bad,” Seohyun apologized. “I kind of made a bad step. Let’s go and see if we can warm up in the cabin. Ow!”

“What’s wrong?”

“I think I twisted my ankle a bit while slipping. I’ll be fine though.”

“None of that.” Yonghwa brought his horse over to Seohyun and pushed her onto it. “You’re riding with me. I’ll come back for your horse later.” Seohyun nodded weakly and allowed Yonghwa to get onto the horse with her. Even though both of them were freezing from the water, Yonghwa couldn’t help but feel hot when he felt Seohyun’s wet body press against his back. Just like when he carried her home from the party, her soft s were rubbing against his back, driving him crazy.

“Thanks.” Yonghwa focused on the road and ignored her appreciation in order to avoid thinking about her body in strange ways. They had been too close to doing something on the boat and he couldn’t risk thinking erted thoughts. After a short ride on the trial, the cabin came into sight. Seohyun giggled when she noticed all the candles and flowers in the room when they stepped inside. “Jin Man really went all out didn’t he?”

“Yeah, it’s kind of strange how much he tried for us,” Yonghwa laughed back as he lit the fireplace. “Do you want me to light the candles too?”

“Um, no not really. Is there anything we can change in to? I’m not really feeling too good about these wet clothes.” After looking around and only noticing a blanket on the bed, there didn’t seem to be any way out of their wet clothing. “Turn around, I’m going to take off my clothes and wrap myself in the blanket. Don’t you dare peek.”

“Okay,” Yonghwa agreed shyly. He heard the sound of her peeling the soaked cloth off of her body, causing the heat he felt to get even stronger.

“Okay you can look now.” Yonghwa looked over to see the small pile of discarded clothes she had created. Once his eyes saw the clothing that covered her forbidden places, he instantly felt like dying.

“YAH! Did you take everything off?!”

“Yeah… if I kept anything on I would get the blanket wet. Just stay by the fire and you’ll dry off eventually.” Yonghwa had no intentions of looking at her so he just sat quietly by the fire in order to warm up. If he turned around at all, he feared he would do something he would regret doing. However, after ten minutes of him standing by the flames, he didn’t seem to be warming up. His body began to shiver, showing just how cold he was. “Yonghwa, are you cold?”

“Nah, I’m-I’m fine,” he stuttered. “I’ll be good if I sit here.”

“Um… do you want to share the blanket?” she asked hesitantly. “You’ll have to take off your clothes though.”

“I can’t Seohyun. It’s not right for us to be under the same blanket. Just sit there and warm up. I’ll be fine.” Seohyun wasn’t going to let him be stubborn and get sick so she crawled towards him in order to get him to listen. “Yah, what are you doing?”

“I’m taking off your clothes,” she pointed out. “It’s really obvious. If you get sick it will be my fault. Just take them off. It’s not like we won’t ever see each other anyways. It was bound to happen sooner or later. Stop being such a baby and just do it.” Reluctantly, Yonghwa created a pile of discarded clothes of his own and hid under the warm blanket. Even though they were sharing the blanket, Yonghwa refused to be near her. “Yonghwa, get closer. We’ll get warmer if we stick together.”

“No, I can’t do that. Seohyun, do you realize what’s happening right now? We’re in the same room, , and sharing a blanket. We can’t be doing this, it’s not right,” Yonghwa stated. “I think I’m just going to put on my clothes and sit by the fire.” Yonghwa began to inch forward and make a grab for his clothes, but a warm hand stopped him.

“Don’t act like that. Just come here. We can’t lie to ourselves like this. We both said we always think of a situation like this and it’s perfect. Do you really not want to be like this with me?” Seohyun asked in a tone that almost sounded disappointed. The flustered girl shyly stood up and walked over to the bed in the corner. Although he could see all the skin on her body, she didn’t mind. “Come onto the bed, I think it would be warmer.”

“Seohyun… no… stop this.”

“Just come on. Nothing will happen if we don’t want it to. It’s cold so hurry up and bring the blanket over.” Yonghwa tried his hardest to deny her requests, but his legs didn’t listen. Soon enough he found himself walking over to the exposed girl and placed the blanket over her. Seohyun moved as close to the wall as she could and made space for the equally exposed young man in front of her. Once he was on the bed, she allowed herself to come into contact with him.

“Hyun…” he whispered through ragged breaths. More and more of her skin came into contact with his, dispelling every cold ache in his body. Almost every nerve he had set off a chain reaction of both pleasure and discomfort. The feeling was completely new to him, but for some reason it felt right. Now more than ever did he doubt the willpower and self-control he thought he had. “I don’t think I will be able to sleep tonight.”

“You know… I don’t think I will be able to sleep either,” Seohyun playfully responded.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The time Yonghwa and his friends dreaded had finally arrived. The flight to Japan would be leaving in a little over half an hour, taking him on the path to his future. Amongst the busy crowd of travelers, Yonghwa saw the small group waiting for him and Min Jung to arrive. “Hey guys, thanks for coming. I really appreciate you seeing me off.”

“No problem Yonghwa, we are more than happy to. It would be terrible of us not to come and see you for the last time,” Yoona replied. “To tell you the truth, we’re all kinda here to see Min Jung, not you.” Everyone present began to laugh at Yoona’s small joke, but was stopped by Taecyeon’s observation.

“Yo, where’s Seohyun? She should be the main one here.”

“She said she would arrive here later,” Yonghwa answered sadly. In truth he knew she was planning to not even bother coming. The whole time they spent back at home after their stay at the cabin, Seohyun had ignored him. She barely even agreed to come when he asked her. “She will be here though, I’m sure of it.” Deep down he really wanted her to come, but he figured it would be too painful for her.

“I’ll be right back guys. I’m going to the bathroom really quick,” Yoona lied. Once she made her way far enough from the group, she began to dial Seohyun’s number. “YAH! Seo Joohyun! Just where the hell are you right now? Why aren’t you here cheering Yonghwa on? You do realize you won’t get to see him for a while right?”

“Yoona, leave me alone. I can’t bear to see Yonghwa leave. It’s too painful,” Seohyun reasoned. “I’ll be with you guys in spirit. Just hang up alright?”

“Is this who you really were Seohyun? Is your love only looking out from behind a pillar? Do you still have the right to say that you love him? If you don’t have the courage to stop him from leaving, you should at least come to see him off. If you don’t come, you can forget about being my friend.” With those angry threats, Yoona closed her phone and headed towards the people currently saying goodbye.

“Who would have ever thought I would be saying here goodbye to you,” Uee joked. “This is a little awkward, so I’ll try to make it quick. I want to ask you to stay here but I know I don’t have the right. If it weren’t for you, I would probably be in a horrible place like Seung Ri. I owe you so much that I know I never will be able to repay you. If things were a little different, I would really like for you to be in love with me again. If I had a man half as good as you by my side, I would be able to say my child had a good father.”

“Wow… hard to argue with that,” Yonghwa bashfully replied. Even the girls that once hated Uee had to admit that was one hell of a goodbye. “You were in my heart for quite some time Uee. I’m glad I never allowed myself to hate you. You’re a good person that was just misunderstood. Take care of your kid alright? Don’t forget about taking care of yourself too.”

“Thanks, I will.” Uee boldly moved towards him and gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek. “Come back from Japan as a man that I will admire even more alright?”

“Yo, stop hogging my bro alright?” Taecyeon interrupted. “This is it huh? I’m not very good at goodbyes, so I’ll just keep it short. I’m going to miss you man. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have even passed some of the classes we had together. Be sure to come back and have a few drinks with me. I’ll let you buy the next time around. I never had any guy friends that I was really close to, so you were the first. Take care of yourself in Japan. If you meet some Japanese girl and ditch our Seohyun, I’ll make sure to go over and kick your .”

“Thanks, I’ll be sure to keep that all in mind. You’re really my only male friend and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ll be sure to stay true to Seohyun. If I hear that you left Yoona and made her cry I won’t hesitate to hurt you either,” Yonghwa joked. A quick man hug was exchanged between the two of them, leaving Taecyeon with watery eyes. It was a miracle to see such a happy and carefree person cry, so they could tell Taecyeon was really upset.

“I’ll be sure to keep him in check,” Yoona cut in. “I remember when you first showed up at our lunch table and caused us trouble. Thanks for making Seohyun happy for us. If it weren’t for you, I would still have to try to talk her out of dating Seung Ri. It kind of that I didn’t really get too close to you and I regret it. When you come back from Japan I’ll be sure to hang out with you more. Although I didn’t get to know you, I am a little sad that you’re leaving. Just come back in one piece so Seohyun has something to get her through the day.”

“Thanks Yoona, I appreciate it. I never really got close to you either, but I’ll try to when I come back. I know you have helped Seohyun through a lot and I appreciate it. I’ll entrust her to you when I’m gone. I want to stay here and protect her myself, but I can’t. If you can do me that favor, I’ll be in your debt forever.”

“Let’s get this over with. You guys should get lost before my sister shows up,” Hara ordered. “Jiyoung found out you were leaving and she said she was coming. Anyways, Grouchy Man, it’s been a while since we last talked. Although I never approved of you dating Seohyun, I wouldn’t have it any other way now. I’m sorry I tried to talk you out of it back then, but I was just looking out for her. I’m glad she found someone like you to take care of her. I remember when you were so rude to me when we first met all those months back, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Thanks for being such a jerk.”

“Strange way to say goodbye,” Yonghwa joked. “But I’ll take it. I always hated your weird ability to read people’s feelings all the time. To be honest I was afraid that you would figure me out. You kind of did towards the end though, so I guess I’m not as good a hiding my feelings as I thought. You’ll be a good director of your family’s psychology hospital. Just try not to hang out with too many crazy people. Your little sister is crazy enough.”

“Oppa! I’m glad we found you,” the trio of young girls squeaked. Out of nowhere, they all tackled him into a hug. Much to their surprise, he didn’t reject their hug. While he wasn’t hugging back, it was still better than his rejection. “Were you going to leave without saying bye?” Jiyoung asked.

“This jerk was probably going to leave without us saying bye,” Krystal scoffed. Sulli being the quiet one of their group just stayed back and nodded silently.

“You guys have to grow up well alright? I know I treated you all bad, but I’m sorry. It was kind of cool having my own cheerleading squad. Jiyoung, you fall for people too easily. Although I was never as bad as Seung Ri, you should have stayed away from me. I can’t blame you for liking someone though. Just promise me you’ll be careful of boys in the future. I won’t always be there to kick to protect you. Krystal, you have a really big mouth. You might want to fix that. Sulli, I never really met you, but I bet you’re a wonderful girl. I’m only being nice to you this one time, so don’t get used to it. I hope you’re all mature when I come back.”

“Oppa…” Jiyoung mumbled. “We promise you we will be full grown women when you come back. I’ll be able to make even Seohyun unnie feel jealous. She better watch out for me when I try to steal you.” While Yonghwa said his goodbyes to everyone, Min Jung did the same. Min Jung had also become an important part in everyone’s life and they hated to see her go.

“Well, guys I think we’re off,” Yonghwa stated sadly. “I’ll be back in four years, I promise. When I come back we will all need to hang out. I’ll be sure to keep in contact with all of you. I’ll see you around.” Yonghwa took one last look at everyone and made his way towards the gate. Just as Min Jung had done when they left Japan, he hoped Seohyun would arrive late. As he had learned to not expect anything, he tried to keep from getting his hopes up. Just before it was his turn in line, a sweet voice reached his ears.

“Leaving without saying bye?” Seohyun asked sarcastically. “Get over here Yonghwa. Did you forget that you really liked for me to nag you? Well, you’re getting what you wished for.”

“Seohyun! You came!” Yonghwa yelled excitedly. Everyone present almost died of a heart attack at hearing Yonghwa like that. Never had they once thought they would hear Yonghwa sound excited. It was almost scary to see him act like that.

“I’m sorry I’m late. I kinda wanted to make it one of those cliché movie scenes you know?” she teased. “Even though we’ve gone through this a thousand times, we can’t not say goodbye right? So, this is the end huh?”

“It’s not the end for us. Don’t ever say that we will end. There are so many things I want to say to you right now. I wish I could stay, but we both know this is for the best. Don’t go and leave me for some rich college guy alright?”

“Pabo, you really like me nagging you don’t you?” Seohyun mocked. “I won’t be leaving you for anyone. Not after everything that’s happened between us. Don’t make me regret last night alright.”

“Yah! Don’t talk about that. Nobody can ever know what happened at that cabin.”

“What if I already told Yoona and Hara?”

“Then you’ll face the consequences.” Somehow Seohyun didn’t really fear the consequences that Yonghwa spoke of. Just as she predicted, Yonghwa pulled her into a kiss similar to the one from the night before. The people in the line cheered and whooped as they saw the two locking lips passionately. “I am going to miss doing that so much. I’ll miss that more than I’ll miss your nagging.”

“Yonghwa, you’re going to come back right? You know, I realized something over the past few days. I’m not really worthy of being your girlfriend. You’re such a great person, yet I’m almost nothing. I’m so weak and useless, but I’ll change that. All this time we were in school, I just stood behind you and watched you get farther from me. I thought I was standing right beside you, but in reality, you were so far ahead of me,” Seohyun explained. “While you kept on walking forward, I was content with watching your back. When you come back, I’ll be someone worth your time. As long as you promise me you’ll come back, I promise I will be someone you can be proud of.”

“Seohyun, there’s no need for that. I’m already proud of you,” Yonghwa reassured.

“Please, promise me that. This is something I need to be sure of. I can’t blindly follow you for the rest of my life. That’s not love, that’s just infatuation. If I want to be someone of worth to you, I have to become stronger. I promise you I will wait for you even if you take 20 years to come back as long as you promise me you’ll return to me one day.”

“I promise you, Seo Joohyun, that I will come back and make you my wife. As long as you wait for me, I’ll do the same. I think the plane is about to leave and I left Min Jung all alone. I’ll be sure to tell her you said bye.” Yonghwa turned away to head back into the line, leaving the teary eyed girl to watch his back once more. Next time she saw him, she vowed she would be someone that could keep up with his pace of life.

“Yonghwa! Saranghae!” she yelled before he got too far ahead.

“Seohyun… I love you too. You know, more than anything, I consider you my friend. In the past, the word friend was a meaningless thing that people called each other. Nothing more, nothing less. Same goes for the word love. However, after meeting you, you made me realize that the meaning of the word is what’s important. If it weren’t for you I wouldn’t even be where I am today. I don’t regret anything I’ve done with you at all. I’ll see you again, I swear it!”

With those last words, the man known as Jung Yonghwa took the first step on the one way street named destiny. Although it was painful to see him leave, Seohyun was also happy for him. Now she would have to keep her promise and be strong, both to Yonghwa and Min Jung. “Min Jung, take care of him for me alright?” Seohyun requested to the girl she hadn’t even said bye to. “Although you can’t hear me while you’re on that plane, I know you will do that for me. Goodbye Yonghwa and Min Jung, I’ll see you guys later.”

 

 

Author’s Note: So 7000-8000 words my . More like 9200 baby! Hell yeah, longest chapter ever. 15 and a half pages is just ridiculous. I woud like to apologize for the ty job I did on that graduation chapter. It was boring as hell after I read it, but that was because I wasn’t feeling like writing yesterday. I’m also running late here because it took me soooooooooooooo long to get started. I could have written this quick if I was in the mood, but I’m not. The goodbyes came out alright, but the YongSeo time and nobody can tell me otherwise. Yay for out of character Yonghwa!! Since I’m pretty burnt out from writing and I was burnt out already, I won’t be updating tomorrow. I’ll update on Friday though so don’t worry. I hope I can make the “season two” of this fanfic just as good as it has been. Later all. Sorry I can’t update tomorrow, but I just can’t do it anymore haha. Also, I didn't really proofread this since it's so long, so sorry for mistakes.

p.s. You guys don't know how hard I tried to keep my erted thoughts from reaching this chapter. I was soooooooo close to making that cabin scene a rated scene. In the end I know I had to be correct and not do that. Man, it was so perfect and I was itching to just put in some ytime, but I couldn't. Just thought I had to put that out there. Btw, you can interpret their 'cabintime' any way you want. I didn't specifically say they did or didn't do anything ual, so it's up to your imagination.