Chapter 37

Dinner was as lively as ever. As always, Hyunji and I descended from our room together, but amidst the chatters and the people, she was once again swept away –and I had very strong suspicion that it was Yixing who did the sweeping.

I saw her once again when we were all seated, fifty or so students in one long line of tables stretching from one end of the restaurant to the other. Habitually, I peered around. I was surprised that I had yet to see Joonmyun or Jongin, for it was usually one of them who sought me. I figured that it might have something to do with the argument I witnessed at the game room and decided to let the matter rest; after all, I might spark some unwanted fire if I were to meddle with the matter carelessly.

Instead, I sat with Chanyeol and Tao, and as luck would have it, Yixing and Hyunji happened to occupy the seats not too far away from me. I tried to keep an eye on them, but the people between us and the general ruckus often associated with the senior class prevented me from picking anything out of the ordinary.

“Here,” Chanyeol said, handing me a tall glass filled with red liquid. I reckoned that it was strawberry juice.

I tore my gaze away from Yixing and Hyunji and raised my brows at him. “What’s this for?”

Chanyeol smiled his usually wide, toothy smile. “It’s meant to be an apology.”

I raised my brows at him, accepted it, and began sniffing it for any anomalies.

“Hey! That hurts. How can you have such little trust on me?” he said, clutching his heart and pretending to be upset.

“With all the scheming you always do, I’m not really surprised that she doesn’t,” Tao, who had heard everything between us, said.

Chanyeol tried to smack him lightly on the back of the head. Tao swiped his hand away before it even made contact with his hair.

“Well, I mean it this time,” Chanyeol declared, turning to me. “So, am I forgiven?”

An idea slowly formed in my head and I slowly smiled. Setting the glass down, I crossed my arms across my chest and smirked at him. “Only if you do me one favour.”

“Aeri, too tight!”

I looked up and smiled apologetically at him. As gently as possible, I loosened the bowtie around his neck, lightly tugging at the collar so that it wouldn’t cling on so uncomfortably to his skin. Done, I began arranging his collar so that it fell neatly above it.

“So, you still didn’t explain why I need to put this on,” Chanyeol said, peering down at me. “Not that I have any problems with this particular position though.” He grinned flirtatiously at me.

Rolling my eyes, I gave him a good smack on the arm before I stepped back, admiring the result of the fifteen minutes I had spent trying to make him look like a presentable waiter. Although it was a spur of the moment plan, I had to admit that everything fell into place quite well. It was easy enough to procure the hotel waiters’ uniform from the staff closet. Given that Chanyeol was already wearing a white dress shirt and a pair of black jeans for tonight’s dinner, I was spared from the risk of drawing suspicion to myself when I escaped with only a few selected articles of clothing instead of a complete uniform.

I doubted the bowtie would be missed, given the haphazard condition I found it in when I was riffling through the drawers. The vest might be sought for though, so I was planning on finishing this contrivance and returning it as quickly as possible.

“Look out the window and tell me what you see,” I said as I tugged on the vest, trying to arrange it on his too broad shoulders so that it looked presentable.

The place I had retreated to with Chanyeol in order to make my arrangements was at the lounging area at the hotel lobby, whose glass windows commanded an excellent view of the pool and the porch of the hotel cafe. Thankfully, nobody stopped to ask us much questions as to what we were doing.

Chanyeol squinted. “Water. Lots and lots of water. Wait,” I felt his muscles jerk as he leaned forwards. “Two people had just stepped out.”

Smiling, I glanced back, just long enough for me to identify the two figures. Then, I walked over to one of the couches and picked up the paper bag I had brought with me to dinner.

“Is that Yixing and... Hyunji?” Chanyeol asked, palms glued to the glass.

“Yup,” I confirmed cheerfully, extracting from behind the pillows a silver tray that I also (miraculously) managed to procure during my escapades the staff closet. “This is where you come in.”

Chanyeol stared at the tray, disbelief written clearly on his features as his gaze shifted to me. I took a minute to relish the fact that I had succeeded in astonishing an accomplished class clown with veritable reputation.

“Wait a minute,” he said, realisation dawning into him. “You want me to –”

I shoved the tray into one of his hands before he could finish. Positioning it just so, I then withdrew from the paper bag the bouquet I had bought this afternoon and set it gently on the tray.

Chanyeol’s lips spread into a wide smile before laughter took over. Clutching his side, he laughed and laughed, so much that tears began to trail down his cheeks.

“Yah!” I chided him, snatching away the tray and flowers before they met an unfortunate ending on the floor.

“So all this is just an elaborate plan of you trying to play matchmaker?” he asked once he recovered, though only marginally.

“Yes. Now shut up you giant and stand straight,” I said with annoyance, jabbing him on the ribs. I glanced out the window, growing restless when I saw that Yixing and Hyunji had stopped walking and were standing by the water. I knew Yixing was just minutes away from confessing.

“Now you sound like Yixing,” he said as he straightened up, wide grin still plastered on his face.

“You’re not backing out, Park Chanyeol,” I said warningly as I averted my gaze away and glared at him. “I’ve gone too far to have you walk out on me.”

“Oh, don’t worry.” He took the tray from me, eyes twinkling. “I’m enjoying this way too much to back out.”

And with that, with the dignity and poise of a well-trained butler, he strolled out of the lobby, ignoring the confused stares he was getting from the other guests as he pushed open the glass doors leading to the pool, shooting me a quick wink before he plunged into the darkness of the night.

To say that Yixing was surprised when Chanyeol suddenly popped up in front of him with a tray of flowers would be an understatement. Chanyeol’s appearance had shocked him enough to almost make him lose his balance and fall into the pool, but he managed to compose himself to look as dignified as possible before his future girlfriend. I could see that Chanyeol was desperately trying to suppress his laughter; his shoulders were shaking when he said something to Yixing –which I was sure was a cheesy line he came up with sometime within the span of his journey from the door to the pool.

Hyunji, however, was giggling softly to herself, but even from afar, I could see from that she was touched by the turn of events that (she thought) was an arrangement made by Yixing. Chanyeol nudged Yixing. Slowly, he picked up the bouquet, a gesture which Chanyeol took as a sign for him to make his retreat. Yixing gazed at his back for a while before turning to Hyunji. Slowly, he presented the flowers to her, his lips moving in what appeared to be a quiet confession.

I turned away to let them have their privacy, a smile gracing my lips as I walked away.

Thank you.

That simple text greeted me when I gazed at my phone screen that night. It was short and curt, but it carried such a deep meaning that I would never have doubted was what Yixing wanted to convey. After all, Yixing was a guy who expressed his feelings with small gestures instead of words; I wasn’t surprised that he chose this route to thank me instead of a grateful phone call in the middle of the night.

I beamed to myself. Six years –both in high school and middle school. Six years and I finally succeeded in my mission; six years and my best friends finally have their happy ending with each other.

“I still can’t believe it, Aeri,” Hyunji told me, three days after we got back from the trip.

We were both sitting below the large tree, whose leaves rained upon us after every whoosh of the passing breeze. Though shady, sunlight still filtered through the cracks, gold lining seeping through the green. Morning classes had just ended; lunchtime had just begun. It was the first day that I managed to procure some alone time with her; after everything that had happened at the trip, she and Yixing had practically been joined by the hip.

“He’s been in love with me since middle school. It’s just so...” she let herself trail off into a sigh, staring at the space behind me with glistening eyes.

“Unbelievable?” I offered, spooning some rice into my mouth. I had been listening to Hyunji ramble off about Yixing for hours now, yet I couldn’t bring myself to stop her. After all, I had hoped for this moment as much as Yixing did.

“Not Zhang Yixing,” she finished, offering me a small smile that looked faintly apologetic. “I must be boring you to tears, huh?”

“Not now,” I said, setting down my spoon and gazing at her enquiringly. “Why do you think that?”

Hyunji cocked her head, toying with the keychain of my bag. “You know how he is. I never thought that falling in love was even something he considered, much less would do.”

“He did eventually.” I shrugged. “Falling for someone is involuntary, unforeseeable. I’m sure Yixing didn’t expect that it would happen to him as much as you.”

“Must have killed him,” she said with a sigh, “falling for someone as stupid as me.”

I gave her a look. “You’re not stupid, Lee Hyunji. Oblivious, yes, but it by no way links to your intellectual capacity.” I paused for a while to think. “Actually I take that back. ‘Little’ is putting too mildly. Painfully oblivious would be the more correct term.”

She rolled her eyes and chucked the fry on her plate at me. “As if you’ve never been guilty of such a crime. How’s your love life getting on?”

“I never had one to begin with,” I stated with a roll of my eyes.

“Really?” Hyunji asked with a raise of her brows. “What do you call the tall hot boy who asked you out on a date?”

“Let’s not bring Jongin into this. We’re talking about you, right now. What are you going to do about Jonghyun?”

Hyunji winced, and set down her spoon, her appetite lost. Upon receiving the news that his love interest had chosen his rival over him, Jonghyun had been uncharacteristically quiet for these past few days. He spoke only when spoken to, became a ghost of who he was when we first met him. He had taken to avoiding eye contact these days, training his eyes on his desk or on the screen of his phone whenever we had a free period. He especially refused to look at Hyunji, much less have contact with her. I knew it hurt Hyunji; although she may not consider Jonghyun as a love interest, she still had grown an attachment to him as a friend, and I knew that it was this bond that she hoped to retain even though their relationship could never be the same.

“Go talk to him,” I encouraged her.

“I don’t know,” she said with a sigh. “He’s become so detached these days that I doubt he could even hear what we’re saying sometimes. He’s slowly becoming an outcast.”

“It’s his way of coping,” I told her gently. “I know you may not realise this at first, but he really likes you, even from the very beginning. The nice thing you should do now is face him and put him down gently; don’t let the rumours do it for you.”

“You’re right.” She offered me a small smile. “How do you know so much about this?”

“I’m just telling you to do what I think would be the right thing. I just saw him crossing the courtyard just now. I think now would be the right time.”

Hyunji hesitated, but then locked gazes with me and nodded. Pushing her tray away, she stood up and picked up her bag, citing her gratitude towards me once again before she walked away to complete the final mission that would put an end to her book.

I leaned back in my seat and secretly withdrew the letter that I had secured from my locker this morning, sealed and unread. Setting it on the stone tabletop, I began to gently work the flap open. The envelope this time was gold, but plain and simple as how all his letters were. I pulled out the letter after I managed to detach the flap, unfolding it so that I could read its contents. My eyes grew wide as my eyes ran down the page.

Dear You,

Please don’t be mad at me, I beg of you.

I finally found out who you are.

Signed,