Chapter 18

The "i" Word

Junsu pulled Seung Yeon along through the crowd. “C’mon Seung Yeon! You’ve got to say it!”

“NO!” She pressed her feet against the floor.

He continued to tug her along. “Seung Yeon, please!” He pouted at her with that innocent childish look of his. “Please, Seung Yeon! I’ll treat you to an ice cream cone!” He smiled happily.

Her heart melted. Yes, this was something along the lines of love. “Aww... fine, I succumb. But I’m not saying anymore than needed. Deal?”

“Deal.”



And that was how she approached Jaejoong after the party guests had disbanded. “Jaejoong hyung!” Junsu poked his friend playfully. Jaejoong turned around. “Seung Yeon has something to say to you.”

“Oh?” His eyebrow arched.

“Sorry,” she mumbled. “There, I said it. Goodbye now.”

“And?” Junsu asked.

“I shouldn’t have acted the way I did.” She smiled and then glared at Jaejoong. “But I did, so too bad.” She began walking away.

“WAIT!” Junsu chased after her and grabbed her arm. “Seung Yeon? I was just wondering...” He twiddled his fingers. “Hehe... Shrek 3 is out in theaters... wanna go watch it with me?”

Her heart skipped a beat. Her cheeks turned a crimson red. “Yes,” she whispered shyly.



Jaejoong, who was watching the little scene from afar, was amused. Was this a date? Oh, their dear little Junsu was finally growing up! And to think he was flying solo away from home, falling in love with a girl from his temporary school. How would he break it to her that he had to leave? Poor girl, he shook his head in pity. As much as he despised her, he truly did commiserate her. And on top of that, her best friend would be leaving soon too.

He rubbed his arm and winced. Hm... a random bruise?


Younha sighed sadly. She had come for nothing. Yoochun hadn’t showed up nor had Tae Hee’s other lover. Why did Tae Hee have all the good luck?

“Hey, um, Tae Hee’s friend?”

She raised her head and butterflies fluttered about in her stomach.

“Yoo...Yoochun oppa? Aren’t you a bit late?” Her eyes were glazed with happiness.

“Er... yeah. Hi. You’re Tae Hee’s friend, right?”

She nodded enthusiastically.

“Would you mind telling me who that guy she’s talking to is?”

Her aura dimmed. “Oh...”




Lee Teuk chuckled. “Wow, just a few years away from here and look at all that drama! We could totally get SBS or MBC to document all this. It’s a natural Korean drama.”

“Yeah...” Tae Hee sighed as she dipped her feet into the pool’s water---just like in her dream nightmare.

An awkward silence.

“So that means...” he began.

“Oppa...” she said simultaneously.

“You first,” he offered.

“No, you go ahead.”

“Ok.” He took a deep breath. “So that means, all your dreams of becoming a neurologist have gone to dust?”

How did she know they were going to talk about that? “I don’t know... I mean, yeah, KPC’s CEO sounds really grand, but it doesn’t interest me. But since this is a family business and Jaejoong doesn’t want it... I guess I’m supposed to inherit it?”


“It just doesn’t make any sense.” He scratched his head. “How come Jaejoong gets to pursue that stupid dream of his, and you’re stuck with something you don’t want?”

“I...don’t know...” she pondered slowly. Hm, she had never thought of that before.

He studied her as he stood up from the poolside. “I guess I can’t trust anybody.”

Tae Hee raised her head. “Huh?”

“I mean, of all people, I thought you’d be the last person to change... but I guess you’re the first.” He looked away. “well, I guess I’ll be going now.”

Tae Hee elevated herself. “Hey, but you just got here!” she shouted after Lee Teuk.

He turned around. “I only came back to Korea to find a girl I missed a lot. I thought I found her, but I guess not. She’s gone forever. So what’s the point of me coming back here? It’ll be pointless.”

Was that a confession?


“But she’s not gone!”

She knew she was wrong.

“Oh, she’s gone. She’s gone. The Tae Hee I knew would fight for what she wanted. The Tae Hee I knew would’ve followed her dream.” He was right. Two years ago, she would’ve screwed the CEO position and gone to med school. Two years ago, she would’ve screwed the word . Two years ago... she would’ve chased after him and told him to stay. Tears welled up in her eyes. Had she changed that quickly? In the span of less than one month, she had changed.


“The Tae Hee I knew...made me a promise. And the Tae Hee I met forgot.”


He studied her confused face with disappointment. “And you obviously don’t remember it. I can’t believe you forgot.”

Tae Hee thought hard. Why didn’t anything ring a bell? “I’m sorry. I...don’t remember...” Tears streamed down her cheek.


Yoochun grabbed Lee Teuk’s shirt collar.

“EH?” she said aloud. Since when did Yoochun arrive?

Lee Teuk choked. “Who are you?”

“Yoochun. Park Yoochun. And I’m going to kick your .”

“WTHCK. LET GO OF ME! I don’t even know you!”

“But you made Tae Hee cry. That’s all it takes for me to hurt you.” He raised his fist, ready to pummel him.

“STOP IT, YOOCHUN! STOP!” she cried out.

He turned to her. “He made you cry. Don’t you want to get revenge?”

“No,” she said quietly. “He’s right.” She shuffled her feet. “C’mon, Lee Teuk oppa, let’s go.” She motioned for her friend’s hand, and they both left Yoochun standing beside the pool dumbfounded.

He pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number. “Jiwoon?”

“Yoochun hyung? What are you calling for, huh? Going to rub it in my face that you saw Tae Hee in a bikini?”

He rolled his eyes. “No, Jiwoon. She wasn’t even wearing it. I was disappointed too, but I called because... we have another competitor, Lee Teuk, some new kid---and this one seems to know her, too.” He flipped the phone close.

Demolition Lee Teuk would be in action soon. He grinned evilly.


*****

“That was so fun! Wanna go watch it again?” Junsu shouted, bouncing up and down.

Seung Yeon laughed. Oh dear, he was on a sugar high. She blamed the chocolate. “But we’ve already watched it ten times!” Actually, they’d only watched it seven times, but that was already past her limit. After the third viewing, she’d already memorized most of the lines.

He pouted. “Okay, fine. Let’s go to the candy shop then!”

“More chocolate?”

“YEP!” He suddenly bent over and held his stomach.

“Junsu oppa? Are you okay?” She felt his forehead. “Hmm... no fever, what hurts?”

“Stomach,” he groaned.

She giggled. “That’s what you get for eating so much junk.”

“That’s mean.”

“Well, it’s the truth, oppa. C’mon, let’s go find a restroom.”

She stretched out her hand and he took it. Seung Yeon blushed. Their first date and they were already holding hands. Junsu smirked at her.

“Ok, girlfriend.”

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Comments

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jenjeneee #1
LOVE THIIIIIIIS! THANKS FOR POSTING IT! now i'm off to read the sequellll :)
honyou
#2
super amazing
special23
#3
lots of LOVE for this story!!!!!!! <3 <3 <3
Emerald_Lee #4
wow i cant beleive i missed this fic finally finised and moving onto the sequel yay
mtrueninja
#5
Amazing story!!! Great job!
y0xALMiGHTY #6
OMO. SEQUEL ! SEQUEL ! haha xD<br />
anyways, that was an awesome story! <br />
you did an incredible j0o0b ^^
sodamninlovewithu
#7
post the sequel pleeeaaase!
sodamninlovewithu
#8
kyaaaa! at last!<br />
an update! TT^TT<br />
it's just so sad <br />
that the story <br />
ends now... ;[[<br />
but two thumbs for that!