I ended up following Kikwang’s advice and decided to go to dinner with my family and Joon’s family. It wasn’t really my favourite option, but I guess enduring would make me a little stronger. After Kikwang dropped me off at my house, I quickly ran upstairs in hope of avoiding my mother. For as long as I could, I wanted to postpone the discussion on my confession I made earlier on wanting to kill myself.

“Whew, that was close,” I panted, leaning against my bedroom door.

“Welcome back.”

“HOLY CRAP!” I shrieked as I saw my mom already sitting on my bed. I guess my plan wasn’t thought through very well. “M-Mom, h-how are you...”

“Don’t bother with small talk,” she sighed.

“Mom...if this is about what I said earlier...” I muttered.

“I know you don’t want to go on this dinner, but-”

“Oh, I’m going to the dinner, so you don’t have to worry about that,” I replied. “I thought you wanted to talk about-”

“You’re going? That’s great!” she chirped. “That’s all I wanted to hear. I just need you to give this idea a chance.”

Something seemed strange. Did she completely forget about what I had said earlier? Usually when someone says they want to kill their self, it’s not an easy topic to forget. I know I wanted to postpone the conversation with her, but I was getting suspicious. Did she not care?

“Wait, I thought you wanted to talk about-”

“Try to pick out something semi-formal, okay?” she interrupted. “And look classy – we want to make sure Joon’s parents don’t regret their decision.”

“But, mom, I’m trying to say that-”

“You can even borrow my heels if you want, because I know you usually just buy sneakers or high tops.”

“Mom, let me talk!” I snapped. “I know you remember.”

“Remember what?” she repeated.

“I know you remember what I said earlier...” I began. “...about me planning on killing myself.”

“...T-That doesn’t ring a bell,” he stuttered while uttering a nervous chuckle. “Besides, that’s a silly thing to talk about. I know you wouldn’t kill yourself. You know better than that.”

“Mom, you don’t understand, I-”

“You’re not going to kill yourself, Hyosung!” she snapped. “I know you’re not! Stop making things up!”

“But Mom...”

“Hyosung...” she muttered. “Get dressed. We’re leaving in an hour.” And with that, she got up and closed the door on her way out of my room.

I knew it. My mom was in denial. She couldn’t accept the fact that her only daughter – as rude and unmotivated as she is – is going to kill herself.

It made me wonder if Kikwang was going to have the same reaction. I admit, it wasn’t the smoothest way to let my mom know, but news is news, and she probably would have reacted the same either way – and Kikwang probably would too.

“What am I doing...” I muttered to myself as I went through my closet to find an outfit to wear to dinner. I figured a simple bubble dress would be okay, so I slipped into an old blue one from a few years ago and finished getting ready. I didn’t want to seem too appealing, but I didn’t want to be rude either and go to dinner looking like a total slob.

“Hyosung, we’re leaving!” my dad called. I put on the final touch of bubble-gum lip gloss and ran downstairs.

“Dad, did Mom tell you about anything I said earlier today?” I asked as I slipped into the silver stilettos my mom lent me.

“No, why?” he asked.

“Oh, um, no reason,” I replied. So my mom decided to keep it a secret. I guess she was too embarrassed to tell my father or something, and I wouldn’t blame her. My dad is a pretty understanding person, but I doubt he would be able to accept the secret my mom is hiding.

“Alright, well we better get going,” he said with a smile. I nodded and followed him out the door. As expected, my mom was already waiting in the car with a stern look on her face – it was obvious that she didn’t want to talk to me at the moment. I didn’t bother trying to bring up the topic again during the ride to the restaurant because I knew my mom would blow up.

When we arrived at the restaurant, Joon’s parents were already sitting at their table while Joon was sitting by himself about five tables away from them.

“Well, you two kids have fun, alright?” my dad said, before sending me off.

“Okay Hyosung, remember, you’re doing this for Kikwang,” I whispered to myself. Taking a big breath, I walked over to the table where Joon was waiting with a menu.

“Hi Hyosung!” he smiled, standing from his seat. “Wow...you look great...r-really great...”

“Thanks, this dress is so old, I’m surprised I haven’t outgrown it yet,” I replied, looking at a couple of wrinkles in the dress.

“I think you look beautiful,” he complimented as he escorted me onto my chair – not that I asked or anything. I mean, I don’t mind when people are courteous, but I don’t think a chair is that heavy.

“So, can you believe what our parents are doing?” I sighed.

“I think it’s kind of nice,” he smiled. What? Did he just say that this whole set-up was nice? If I had taken a sip of my water, I probably would have spit it out when he said that.

“How is this nice?” I snorted.

“Well they’re just trying to get our families closer to each other, and the fact that my parents are helping me make more girl friends is pretty nice,” he explained.

“Wait...what exactly did they tell you?” I asked, raising a brow. “Did the words money or marriage or Jiyeon come up at all?”

“No, why would they talk about that?” he chuckled. So Joon had no clue as to what was really going on. This was unbelievable.

“Joon, you need to know something else about this whole thing...”

“Sorry to interrupt, but Hyosung, I need to talk to you for a second,” my mom said frantically, rushing over to our table.

“Mom, I was just about to tell Joon something important,” I replied, glaring at her.

“It’s fine, Hyosung,” Joon said, smiling at me. “Go ahead and talk to your mom. I don’t mind.” Before I could utter another word, my mom took my arm and dragged me to the ladies’ room.

“What the hell is going on, mom?!” I hissed. “Does Joon have no idea about you being bribed?”

“No he doesn’t, and that’s why I need to talk to you,” she replied sternly. “You can’t tell anyone about this, okay?”

“Why can’t I?”

“It’s part of the deal your father and I made with Joon’s parents,” she replied. “Joon can’t be forced into a relationship or marriage, so his parents want him to make the decision on his own.”

“So what you’re saying is...I have no say in the decision, and if Joon falls in love with me, I can’t reject him?” I asked.

“Basically,” she nodded. “That way his heart won’t be broken.”

“BUT MINE WILL!” I shrieked. “I already love someone else!”

“That’s preposterous,” she chuckled. “You can’t love someone that quick.”

“Well I do...” I said. “I love Kikwang.”

“What do you think this is, Hyosung?” she scoffed. “Do you think this is all a fairytale? Do you think you can just fall in love that quickly? Even Romeo and Juliet didn’t truly love each other! It was all based on looks, and nothing more! You know nothing about Kikwang.”

“I know more about him than I do about Joon.”

“That’s going to change,” she replied.

“What if Joon never falls in love with me, huh? What am I supposed to do?!” I yelled. “I don’t care if I have to embarrass myself in front of him multiple times or come off as cruel and cold – I’m not going to be with him.”

“We don’t have a choice, Hyosung.”

“We? WE?! You think you’re the one suffering through this?!” I yelled. “I’m the one being coerced into this! Do you hate me mom? Is that it? Do you want me to die early? Because I would have done it in about a year and a half, but at this rate, I have no problem doing it by next week.”

“Hyosung, you’re not going to kill yourself!”

I just stared at her and smirked. “Oh that’s right, you’re in denial. You can’t stand the fact that you’re only child is a complete mess. Well believe it. I’m – going – to – kill – myself.”

“Hyosung, please...”

“I’m leaving,” I replied. “Don’t expect me to come home by nightfall.” I stormed out of the restroom and headed out of the restaurant in searched for the closest bar.

“These are killer heels,” I grunted as I trudged over the hot pavement.

“Hyosung!” I knew that voice anywhere.

“Go away, Joon,” I sighed, trying to pick up my pace. As I wobbled over trying to remove my heels, I fell after my hopeless attempt.

“Are you okay?” Joon asked, running over to my aid.

“I’m fine. Just go back and have dinner with everyone else,” I groaned, holding on to what was now my throbbing ankle – that was the last time I would ever wear heels.

“I kind of thought we had a date,” he replied, kneeling next to me.

“Please don’t call it a date,” I snapped.

“Um, okay,” he muttered. Joon reached over to touch my ankle, and I couldn’t help but to wince in pain.

“Agh...”

“Sorry,” he replied. “Where were you running off to anyways?”

“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “I was trying to find the closest bar.”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to binge on another White Lightning again,” he sighed.

“I’d binge on a whole bunch of White Lightnings to get out of this whole thing,” I frowned.

“Did I do something wrong? We didn’t even get to start the da- er, I mean um...sorry, I don’t know what to call it,” he replied.

“No, it’s nothing you did, believe me,” I assured him.

“Then what’s wrong?” he asked. As much as I wanted to tell him, there was just something that was holding me back – it was like I felt guilty or something, even though my parents were mostly the ones at fault. And I guess telling Joon about what his parents did would create a huge uproar, and I might not be able to stay friends with Joon.

“I’m not able to tell you,” I muttered. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, I just want to make sure you’ll be okay,” he said, smiling at me.

“I will be, but I just really need to get to a bar right now,” I replied. “I’ll be careful, I promise.”

“You promise you won’t buy anything strong this time?” he asked. “I don’t want to hold you back – I just need to know you’ll be safe.”

I smiled and pecked his cheek. “I’ll be fine. Tell your parents I’m sorry, but something urgent came up, okay?”

“Can I at least help you get there? That swollen ankle looks pretty bad,” he said, pointing at the red tomato that was supposed to be my ankle. Joon lent out his hand and gave me a worried look.

“...Alright,” I nodded, grabbing a hold of his hand.

It didn’t take us too long to get to the nearest bar, as it was only two blocks away. When we arrived, I suddenly got a bad vibe as we entered the bar. It looked pretty run-down and the people looked more stingy and erted than usual. I tightened my grip on Joon’s arm.

“Hey, are you okay?” Joon whispered, wrapping his arm around me. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, it’s just a little more intimidating than I expected,” I replied.

“I can stay if you want,” he said.

“Can you?” I asked.

“Yeah, saving your is my specialty, remember?” he chuckled, recalling our last trip to the bar.

“Hah, you’re cute,” I said sarcastically. I followed closely behind Joon as we went further inside the bar and headed towards the bartender. As we took a seat on the stools, I could feel a creepy aura around me as if people were watching us – and they were.

“Alright, what can I get you two?” the bartender asked.

“Do you have anything really light?” I asked.

“Water,” he replied bluntly. “Listen kid, I got a lot of other customers who would pay a lot of money for some of the stronger drinks, so just pick something.”

“YAH! YOU-”

“She’ll take a daiquiri,” Joon interrupted, placing his hand over my mouth.

“Coming up,” the bartender nodded.

“You just love getting your saved, don’t you?” Joon chuckled, removing his hand from my mouth.

“Sorry, I’m just really not in the mood today,” I sighed.

“Are you ever?”

“No, not really,” I chuckled. “Things haven’t really been going my way lately.”

“That’s life,” Joon grunted. “It’s not always fair, and you just have to deal with it.”

“Here’s your daiquiri...I added less alcohol just for you,” the bartender chuckled, sliding the drink over to me. I just glared at him as he walked away.

“I always assumed you would be the carefree type of person...I mean, everything seemed to be going so well for you when we first met,” I replied, taking a sip of my drink.

“I’m rich, Hyosung. That’s all I have going for me,” he said.

“You have a girlfriend,” I added.

“I know, but I don’t even think I’m feeling it anymore,” he muttered.

“And by ‘it’ you mean...”

“I don’t think I love her, Hyosung,” he sighed. “I don’t think I’ve ever loved her...”

“I’m not complaining or anything – I mean, she isn’t exactly my favourite person in the world – but what happened?” I asked. As much as I wanted a better girl for Joon, I didn’t want to risk anything – Joon’s parents might see it as a huge opportunity to encourage his relationship with me.

“I don’t know...” he replied. “After what you’ve said-”

“Oh no, please don’t break up with her because of what I said,” I frowned. “I never intended on breaking you two up.”

“I know you didn’t,” he smiled. “You’ve just help me opened my eyes. And I really think there’s a perfect girl for me out there.”

“I’m happy for you, just, think about what you really want before you do anything, okay?” I replied.

“Don’t worry, I’m not as carefree as I used to be,” he chuckled. “And you’ve helped me realize that. I really owe you one.”

“In that case, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, anything,” he replied.

“Let’s say you were being forced into something, and you just needed to go away for a bit...” I began. “What do you think of the idea of running away or staying at a friend’s house for a while?”

“You’re planning on running away from home?” he gasped. “Is something going on between you and your parents, because I can get my parents to pay for a councillor or-”

“No, there’s no need for that,” I assured him. “In fact, I don’t really feel comfortable asking your parents to get involved.”

“Then, what is it?” he asked.

“Nothing, don’t worry about it,” I replied. “It’s just...I need you to do something for me, okay?”

“Sure...”

“Could you take me to Kikwang’s house?” I blurted out.

“I don’t know if he’d-”

“Please.”

“Okay,” he sighed. “Let’s go.”

We left the bar and started walking – well, I was limping – towards Kikwang’s house. It turned out that he lived in the same area as the grungy bar we just went to. In fact, the whole neighbourhood seemed pretty sketchy – a lot of the houses were just shacks, and those that would be considered decent in the area weren’t all that homey. It pretty much looked like a ghetto.

“Well, we’re here,” Joon said. “I have to head home now. Will you be okay by yourself?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” I replied. “Thanks.”

When Joon was out of sight, I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Within a few seconds, the door of the tiny house creaked open, and Kikwang was at the door with his eyes widened.

“H-Hyosung?”

“Kikwang...Can I sleep here tonight?”

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yay, a KiSung chapter is coming up :D on a side note, did anyone see the articles on allkpop? Hyosung's sel-ca article was right above Kikwang's article where he said his ideal type had a nice (gummy) smile ;) 

Well, I'm off to go boil in the hot sun o.e" It shouldn't be this hot in Canada LOL

- Liana