Chapter 11

Eunji’s POV

I stepped out of the cabinet and picked up my ID. I didn’t notice that I was holding my breath in for a very long time. I exhaled and leaned against the cabinet. I didn’t know what to believe in anymore.

The next few days, Daehyun did his best to help me. He wasn’t being forceful or anything. He took his time with me. He gave me the space I wanted which was what I needed. Girls would still try to ask him to keep them company but he politely declined.

Teacher GaIn stopped asking for his company as well and spent more time with Teacher Jaejoong. Raina sunbae told me Daehyun was every girl’s ideal boyfriend. He made them feel special when they needed to. He knew what to say to them, but now here he was. Trying his best for just one girl. What was he doing?

I kept telling him I had no ounce of feelings for him. He told me he would bring it back but what was he trying to bring back when it was still here all this time?

Daehyun’s POV

You'll never realize that you like someone until they slap you in the face. Ok, I’m just kidding. I couldn’t think of a better introduction. They say love comes at unexpected times to unexpected people. Truthfully, I never meant to like Eunji. It just happened. I don’t know why I’m changing for her. She never asked me to. Is it really like that when you really like someone? You change even though they don’t ask you to?

She was simply different from all those girls I’ve been with. How would I describe her? She doesn’t ask me to tell her she’s special and she doesn’t need me to to tell her she’s beautiful. There was something endearing about her.

When I entered the classroom for the first time, girls started staring at me. I didn’t know how to react to it at first. I’ve dealt with girls before but too much of them started approaching me. It was sort of awkward at first but at the same time, I kind of got used to it. I made some guy friends and hung around them as well. It was my first day and people suffocated me with their welcomes. I'm probably being ungrateful but there are just some things you have to limit.

I went to one of the music rooms.

I heard someone singing.

She had bangs and cute eyes. Her soft but powerful soprano resonated the room. She sang in front of an empty classroom. I wondered if she was crazy at first. Why was she singing in front of chairs?

It was weird how she didn’t notice me. She was too focused on her singing she never bothered to pay attention to her surroundings. For some reason, I thought it was amazing.

When she finished, she looked startled and jerked back. “New student.” She said.

I laughed. “Don’t adress me as that. Jung Daehyun.”

“Oh.” She bowed. “Jung Eunji. I’m also from Busan.” She said.

“My Busan buddy.” I smiled. “I’ll call you my Busan buddy then. We should go home together if we have the chance.”

She laughed. “Pabo.”

She then walked towards one of the chairs in front and took out a huge lunch box. “Want to eat with me? I brought too much and I don’t think I can eat too much.”

“Sure!” I gladly agreed.

She wasn’t suffocating or complicated. She was just plain and simple Eunji. She never asked anything of me. All she did was stand beside me.

“Yah, what happened to your face?” she asked with worry. “Aigoo…”

I laughed apathetically. “A boyfriend punched me for spending time with his girlfriend.”

“Aish,” she held my hand and dragged me to the nearest convenient store and bought the coolest drink to press it on my bruise.

“What were you doing anyways?” she scolded.

“Mending a broken relationship.” I answered.

She exhaled with her face looking sour. She looked like she was thinking of ways to nag about me and stuff but she didn’t. She looked like she was holding everything in.

“Well, in the end they did kiss and made up so yeah, it was win-win for everyone right?” I added.

Her expression softened.

“You did well, Daehyunnie.” She smiled and ruffled my hair.

There was also one time Youngjae had a slight crush on her. When I think about it now, it probably bothered me a little that’s why I always told him he had no chance with her.

“Hey Daehyun, Eunji looks kinda cute. Don’t you think?” I slapped him with a manhwa and shrugged.

“Yah! What was that for?” he complained.

“She’s not interested in you.” I told him bluntly.

“Are you some kind of jealous boyfriend or something?” he told me.

“Maybe” I teasingly smiled.

“Aish, you have tons of girls flocking all over you. Why can’t you give up on just one?” he hissed.

“No, she’s offlimits so don’t you dare hit on her.” I taunted.

Youngjae just rolled his eyes and gave up on the idea.

Maybe I didn’t want to give her up during that time because she was the only girl that made me breathe. She didn't make me listen. Our conversations were never one-sided. She listened to my excuses and weaknesses. Something I was always uncomfortable sharing to with other girls. I always believed that if I showed them I had weaknesses, they would think I was just another burden. I was glad she was around to be that girl. The beautiful paper where I can write my troubles and doubts in. The one who accepted these and never turned away.

Eunji’s POV

I wondered when everything started. These feelings I had for him. When did my heart start to beat faster whenever he was around? Oh right, I remember now.

“Hey Eunji” he called out.

“Yes?” I responded.

“Let’s go to Busan.”

“You’re crazy.” I told him.

We were at the usual convenient store where we always hung out. He blabbered about being home sick while we sipped our cold iced tea and had a bite of cheeseburger. He sometimes ate like a kid when he was with me. His ketchup-smudged-face smiled at me. I wiped it off with a tissue and he continued to talk about his plan to go to Busan.

“Look, I’m screwed if I go with you ok?” I told him.

“Just tell them you’re at a friend’s house. I’ll do the same.Just for the weekend. Please.” He pleaded.

In the end I agreed.

I waited for him at the bus station while carrying my back pack. I actually told them I was going to a friend’s house to stay for the weekend to which they unexpectedly agreed. They thought it was good for me to experience these things with friends. I didn’t get to mention it was a guy friend though. My bad.

The bus door was about to close when Daehyun finally arrived. He came panting in exhaustion. “Sorry, I had to persuade Haebyeol to let me go.”

I nodded. “Of course, I understand.” And we both went in.

It took us hours to arrive in Busan. We ended up leaning on each other and sleeping during the whole trip. It wasn’t awkward though. I never thought of it as anything sweet or romantic like what you see in dramas. We were just friends.

We arrived at an old house just by the beach. An ahjumma welcomed us with a smile on her face and hugged Daehyun. “Daehyun-ah, its been a while.” She said.

“Hey ahjumma” he hugged back.

When they pulled away from the embrace, she turned to me with a smile still evident on her face. “Is this your girlfriend?” she asked.

“No,” I shook my head. “I’m Jung Eunji. Daehyun’s classmate. Nice to meet you.” I bowed politely.

“I see….well let’s go in. I prepared some watermelon.” She invited us in her home and offered us a seat on her living room. Her house looked old but had some modern furnishings to it as well. I spotted pictures of baby Daehyun and his brothers. He wore glasses back then. He has really changed a lot since then.

“Yah, you’re staring at my pictures.” He said.

“Its all over the room.” I told him.

“You’ll be staying here for the weekend right?” Ahjumma asked as she brought in some snacks and drinks. “by the way, my name is Jung Haeun. I’m his distant relative. I watched over him as a child.”

“Thank you for having us.” I bowed again.

“Its my pleasure but I only have two rooms here so both of you have to share a room.” She informed.

“What?” we said in unison.

“Is it too uncomfortable?”

“Uhhh… no no, it's alright.” We both said.

I think we thought the same thing about not troubling Haeun ahjumma with our accomodations. It was after all impromptu and we didn’t give her any warning.

After settling our things, we decided to take a walk by the beach. He wore a sleeveless shirt and khaki pants . His tan skin totally fit the atmosphere of the place. The wind kissed our skin as we looked at the sunset. It was really beautiful. The orange sun slowly descending as the day ended.

I dipped my feet on the water and felt the hot rush of its temparature tickling my skin. “Wow, I wish I can stay here longer.” I said.

“We can elope and live here for the rest of our lives.” He said.

I splashed him water hoping to wash away the ridiculous thoughts he had on his head.

“Yah!” he countered with a big splash which soaked my whole body.

“MAH!” We began fighting and ended up soaking each other. It was fun playing with him like this. We acted like kids never wanting our fun to end.

Supper was very delicious. The meat Haeun ahjumma cooked was fantastic and kept me wanting for more. I don’t know how many servings I had, I just wanted to eat some more. She was delighted at my appetite and commented that I was going to make a great wife some day. How was eating so much going to make me the perfect wife? I didn’t comment on it since I was afraid I might offend her.

Daehyun volunteered to do dishes and left me and Haeun ahjumma alone to talk.

“You’re the first girl whom Daehyun introduced me.” She told me.

I thought it sounded ridiculous since Daehyun had so many girls in his life. How was I any special? “What about Haebyeol?” I asked in curiousity.

“Oh Haebyeol? He’s only mentioned her but I’ve never met her before, truthfully speaking.” She then moved closer and shielded from Daehyun’s sight. “Did you know, when he was a kid, he told me that if he ever introduced a girl to me, it would be the one whom he was going to marry someday.”

A blush crept my cheeks.

Huh? Uhhh…I grew speechless. She laughed when she saw me turning red. I denied the thought saying I was just his friend and that Daehyun had many girls to choose from in school.

“Daehyun is the type of guy who knows how to take care of girls but when it all comes down to it, who will take care of him?” Haeun ahjumma said. “I have a feeling you would watch over him.”

I tried to change the topic instead because thinking about this made me question my feelings for him. I didn’t want to feel that way about him. I was afraid that it might change the relationship we had right now. After our little chat, I decided to help Daehyun with the dishes. He was done washing them so I ended up just wiping them instead.

After our chores were done, we sat on the roof of the house and stared at the starry sky. It was sort of nice being away from the city for once. There were no glaring lights and tall buildings. Just the sky and nature surrounding us.

“I miss this.” I told him. “I came to Seoul when I was thirteen so I sort of forgot what it was like, seeing this.”

“Yeah…”

“What did you tell your parents as an excuse?” I asked him.

“I was at Youngjae’s house.” He replied.

I laughed. “You always use Youngjae as an excuse. The poor guy.”

“You do not know the pain I have to go through whenever Youngjae uses me as an excuse.” His face looked scared at the thought of it. “His parents are scary. REALLY SCARY. He’s lucky mine aren’t as persuasive and taunting.”

I laughed even more. “You guys should just go get married.”

“Ew no. Having his parents as in-laws would be like having Hitler and Stalin as commanders of your life. I refuse.”

My chuckle grew louder. Having a casual conversation like this was normal for us but for some reason, this time it felt different to me. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

I then sat up and had the sudden urge to sing. It came out naturally like it always did. The feeling of the summer sea breeze caressing your whole body as it helped resonate the sound of your song. Daehyun then joined in on the melody. It was a wonderful duet in the night. The song of our summer, the song I treasured for the rest of my life.

Since we couldn’t share beds, he ended up sleeping on the floor with a futton and a comforter. We talked all night until we felt drowsy and sleep whispered. He was the first one to give in though. He slept soundly like a little kid. I looked at his peaceful-looking face as he hugged his pillow to sleep. I unconsciously pressed my lips on his forehead and once again lay peacefully on my bed without realizing what I actually did.

The next day, we went home. We promised Haeun ahjumma that we come back some other time and probably stay longer. During our ride home, when Daehyun leaned on my shoulder, I suddenly felt my heart beat pacing faster. It was then I realized that something stirred inside me now and it left me to wonder if I really was someone special to him.

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I didn't feel like ending it yet ok? Don't judge me xD joke. I don't know. I just wanted to make flash backs before I end this. I didn't want any what if..so yeah..Thank you for reading again. ; u ;