Chapter 8

Seulki rolled on her bed with a huge smile on her face. The moment replayed on her mind again and again. She couldn’t help it. Zelo was making her feel this way. Her heart was beating fast, when listening to B.A.P songs she always waited for Zelo’s rap, and seeing his face on billboards or posters, she couldn’t help but blush.

She her computer and continued typing her story.

Her door opened and her mother entered.

“Seulki-ah..” she said.

Zelo returned home with his mind still comprehending what had happened. Himchan called him to eat but he declined and directly went to bed. Himchan didn’t stop him. He knew exactly what happened. Well, they all knew. They were keeping an eye on the maknae while he was out getting Seulki. They were curious. They actually didn’t expect the kiss would happen but they were proud. Their maknae was all grown up.

“Junhong-ah!” Daehyun called out as he headlocked the giant maknae. “You rascal, you actually planted a kiss on her.”

Zelo forcefully escaped his hold and looked at his hyung with a look of shock upon his face. “Yah hyung! You saw?”

“Of course we saw.” Daehyun grinned.

Youngjae smacked him across the head for being talkative and shot him a glare. “Junhong,” he patted the maknae’s shoulder. “We are very honored to see, your first love fluorishing.” Daehyun rubbed his head and shot back a glare at his other member. “Yah! Why the hell did you hit me?” Daehyun complained.

“Because you’re too loud you idiot!” he said.

Yongguk approached them with a solemn expression on his face. He nodded and smiled like a father proud of his son. “I’m proud of you Junhong-ah but..” His face turned serious. “You will be busy. We have a tour coming up. Do you really think you’ll be able to keep this up? You’ll be busy from now on as our popularity grows. I’m not pressuring you. Just giving you the head’s up.” He ruffled the maknae’s hair and went to his room.

Zelo pondered on what his hyung said. It was true. He placed his dreams first. His dreams were what he worked hard for. He couldn’t give up on it but Seulki. He was starting to realize something and feel something for her. How the heck was he going to give up on that?

“Junhong-ah,” Jongup called. Zelo turned to his hyung. “Let’s go buy ice cream neh?”

“Do you want to tell me what’s on your mind?” Jongup asked as they ate their ice creams in the mini mart by their dorm. Zelo stayed silent for a while. What did he want to say exactly? This was never part of his plan. He wanted to experience this only after his career, not in the middle of it. “What should I do hyung?” he asked.

“Truthfully, I don’t know. It’s probably something you have to figure out yourself but you’re still young. You worked hard for this and something like this only happens once in a lifetime.”

“But what if you can’t let go of any of the two?” Zelo asked.

“You can’t be greedy Junhongie, the world probably doesn’t work that way. Some day it will just go and kick you in the .” Jongup smiled solemnly.

His hyung, Jongup, was really easy to talk to among all his hyungs. It was weird how he was a man of few words but can speak very wisely when it came to troubling situations. His hyung was really kind-hearted. He was right though, he had to pick one. They say love only comes once in a lifetime. Truthfully, he wasn’t even sure if the feelings he had for Seulki were even considered love. Oh, how he hated not knowing these things. He grabbed the cellphone from his pocket and gripped it. He wondered if what he was doing was the right thing to do. He felt it was unfair but it had to be done.

Seulki stared blankly at her passport and enrollment form. Her mother told her she was going to study in New York since her father decided to open a business there and it was best if she also studied at a high-performance school there. Her mother told her she could continue writing if she wanted to but only to the extent that it would not affect her studies. She didn’t know what to do. Her heart droppen upon seeing Zelo’s face, flashin on her screen’s wallpaper. She slid her hand on the monitor, touching his face on the screen. Was she heart broken? No, she couldn’t be. She can’t.

This was the reason why she should never have taken this seriously. Her stupid heart was playing with her. This was karma for all the deeds she had done. She smiled ironically and lay on her bed. She hugged her pillow tightly and tried to figure out why tears were falling from her eyes.

The hardest thing you ever do is let go of your dream. Zelo walked around Seoul with his mind preoccupied. His hyung told him he probably needed some fresh air and so he should just wander around and try to give some thought on what he wanted to. He passed by his old dance studio, where he used to practice as a kid. His dreams and aspirations droping in every ounce of sweat he produced from practicing hard. Six whole years he had been waiting for his dream. A small version of him played in his mind. The nights and days he would cry due to hardships, the days where he thought of his mom, who was suffering because she was far away from her better half. It was hard when he thought about it. All her sacrifices….

He continued walking and passed by a young couple, smiling and laughing at each other. They complimented each other, sometimes even stealing pecks. It was weirdd how he looked at them and imagined if it was going to be like that with Seulki. Was it? He always thought she wasn’t the serious type but would she try to change for him? That sounded sort of selfish on her part if he asked her that but maybe he wanted to be sure? He really was confused. The decision he made was hard to do but he thought it was for the best.