chapter ten; 

                  doyoon's POV

» I somewhat regretted coming today. But if I didn't, I don’t know when I would have been able to again. Since she had invited me before, it seemed like the perfect opportunity. However, now that I was here, I was second guessing myself. Lisa might not have connected the dots, but I wasn't so sure that her family wouldn't either.

"…looks exactly like the other Doyoon," Jamie was saying,  standing at the sink as she washed her glass before placing it in the dish dryer. Great. Just what I needed.

"Really?" Mrs. Kwang stood at the fridge, putting in the cartons of milk and other groceries her dad had brought while the water boiled by the stove.

"Hi everyone," Lisa calls, hopping off the last step. I follow after, meekly bowing at the parents and her sisters, avoiding the vacant stares.

"You must be Doyoon," Mrs. Kwang said, smiling brightly.

"Not the Doyoon," Mr. Kwang states, eyeing my carefully. I avoided his eyes, scared that if I looked at him for too long, he'd figure me out.

"No," Lisa bluntly replies and walks into the kitchen, scanning the tables. "He came for dinner."

"Thank you for letting me stay for the evening," I said, bowing meekly again.

"Actually, I didn't know Lisa invited another friend but the more the merrier, right?" Mrs. Kwang laughs as I awkwardly shift on my feet, nodding.

"What's for dinner?" Lisa asks, ignoring our conversation as she peeks into the pots and pans and to my luck, changing the subject.

"I'm making stir fly noodles. how does that sound?" Her mom asked, grinning at the two of us.

"It sounds better than great, Ms. Kwang," I replied, nodding. I look over to Lisa's little sister who is staring me down, her eyebrows furrowing. "Hi there, who are you?"

Her face doesn't shift. "Sabrina."

"How old are you, Sabrina?" I asked, knowing that out of everyone Sabrina was my best shot at staying as Seventeen's Doyoon - not the Doyoon they knew. The last time I saw her she was barely eight.

"Eleven."

She sure was a chatter. "I wouldn't try to talk to her, she's a brat," Lisa calls from the kitchen as she washes her hands, wiping them on a cloth.

"I wouldn't try talking to her, she's a brat," Sabrina mocked, sliding off the chair and running upstairs.

Lisa gave me a knowing look as if to say, "told you so." Soon, Jamie followed too, heading upstairs while saying something about a exam a few days from now and to call her when dinner was ready.

The doorbell suddenly rings and all eyes face me. Lisa's cutting some red peppers, her mom is cooking the chicken whereas her dad sat on the couch, flipping through the news papers. "Doyoon, could you be a dear and get that?" Ms. Kwang suggests and I nod, running to the door as it rings again.

"Lisa, I came a little early because I always like to help your mom cook but - " Bella stares at me, blinking. She holds a large container that's covered with tin foil and frowns when she realises I'm not her friend. "Doyoon?"

"Hi Bella," I reply nervously. "Are you here for dinner?"

"Ne, I am..." She frowns, giving me a look as she squints her eyes. "Better question: are you?"

A cough escapes past my mouth. I've never met Bella before but for some reason she made me nervous. I nodded. "Yes."

She nods slowly, still making a suspicious look. "Well are you going to let me in?"

"Right." Another cough from yours truly.

"Are you sick?" She asked. "Maybe you should go home."

I shake my head. "No, no, it's okay. I'm fine."

Another look before she bounces in, grinning. "Hi Ms. and Mr. Kwang! I brought some salad for the dinner."

"Oh, that's great, Bella! You can place it over there," Ms. Kwang instructs and I mentally slap myself. I came without any offerings! How stupid was I? Apparently really stupid. I follow after her, entering the living room again. I leaned over the counter as Lisa chopped the peppers carefully, making sure they looked right. She glanced up at me and smiled and I returned the gesture.

I missed her. I missed her a lot.

Nothing's really changed in her house. There were different pictures on the walls and Lisa's room was different as well, the dolls were replaced with albums and the pink walls wee replaced with a sky blue. Jamie looks the same too, only a bit more mature. Same goes to Sabrina. Her parents looked more tired, however, but still smiling.

My mind wanders to the photo album. She still kept the photos of us together! I was glad. But couldn't she see it? Her best friend was right in front of her. Maybe she had forgotten about me, as I requested. But why wasn't I feeling happy when she had done what I told her to?

The doorbell rings again and this time Bella prances to open it. "Get in, twerp," she shouts and I already know it's Jordan.

"Evening, Ms. Kwang. Hello, Mr. Kwang," Jordan greets, bowing slightly as he set a white box on the table. "I brought some cheese cake for dessert."

"You're too sweet, Jordan," Ms. Kwang said, making me cringe. I swore at myself again for not being able to bring anything. How could I have been so forgetful? I guess the excitement got the better of me. "Dinner will be ready in hour," her mom calls. "Lisa, did you show Doyoon around the house yet?"

Lisa shook her head. "I'll do that now." She wipes her hands on a cloth before grinning at me. "Shall we?"

Jordan and Bella tag along as Lisa and I climb back upstairs. We walk past her room and head for the room at the end of the hallway. Lisa knocks before opening it to Lisa having her head buried in a textbook. Her walls are painted lavender with awards won hung on the wall.

"Jamie."

At the mention of her name, Jamie looked up. "Lisa, what are you doing?"

Lisa shrugged. "Showing Doyoon around."

"Swell. Welcome to my room, Doyoon. Now goodbye, you four pests." Jamie gets up and closes the door in front of us. "I have a exam," she repeats behind the closed door.

"She's nice," I said, giving her a look and Lisa shrugs, a smile on her face.

"You only have to see her tonight. I'm with her for the rest of my life," Lisa pointed out, raising her eyebrows.

"I heard that!"

We all laugh as Lisa makes her way to another door, this time, not bothering to knock. The room is painted pink and several stuffed animals were lined against the bed, on top of the dresser and across the window sill. "Hey, don't you know how to knock?!" Sabrina yelps, standing up from the ground where a doll house was set up and several Barbie's were out.

"Ah, sorry, Sabrina." She pauses. "Ironic, your name is the same name as a witch."

"GET OUT," Sabrina yells, stomping her feet. "THIS IS A NO TEENAGER ZONE. YOU'RE ALL TEENAGERS AND IN MY ROOM."

Lisa wags a finger at her younger sister. "Ah, ah, ah. Don't disrespect your elders. We have guests over."

Sabrina huffs. "They're not even guests anymore, they come over like every day." She glances over to me. "Except him. He's new. Is he added to your trio now?"

Lisa shrugs, looking my way. "Maaaaaybe. Probably." She shrugs again, facing Sabrina before glancing around the room. "It's been a while since I've been in here." She lays back on the bed, Jordan following, as Bella sits down and pokes at the doll house. I stand still at the door frame, unsure of where to go.

"UNNIE, GET OUT."

"What did I say about disrespect?" Lisa called out, crawling and holding out a stuffed animal. "Hey, is this mine?"

"NO," she shouted, snatching it back. I walked over to the window and picked up a white unicorn with a rainbow mane and rainbow tail. The horn shone in the afternoon light as I the fur. I remember this. I had given it to her for her fifth birthday. "DON'T TOUCH THAT," she yelled again, grabbing the unicorn from me .

I frowned, startled. "It's a pretty unicorn."

"Is it?" She asked, looking at it. "Unnie's old friend gave it to me."

I smiled. I glanced up at Lisa who wore a annoyed expression. My smiled disappeared instantly. "Dare I ask?" It was like Lisa was unimpressed by the memories.

"Don't." She got up from the bed and walked over to Sabrina's book shelf and picked up a stuffed monkey. "This is mine too, isn't it?"

"STOP IT, YOU'RE MESSING UP MY ROOM." I picked up another stuffed animal, only to have it grabbed out of my hands again. "STOP IT. GET OUT, YOU'RE ALL SO ANNOYING." She dropped the stuffed animals on her bed before pushing us all out, slamming the door behind us.

It's quiet at first but then Jordan laughs. "Congratulations, hyung, you're officially one of us."

One of them. I smiled. I liked that.

"DINNER'S READY."

Sabrina opens the door slowly and slams the door shut once she's out, running downstairs. Moments later, Jamie is out her room too, yawning as she slowly walks past us. "Aish, I could barely study with all the noise you guys were making." She glances back and rolls her eyes. "You guys better hurry if you want any dinner. I'm starving."

We all looked at one another and ran downstairs, laughing by the time we reached the last step. The table is already set, the plates are filled with noodles. I my lips, missing Ms. Kwang's cooking. It's been a while since I ate home cooked food period. Sabrina sat next to her father as Ms. Kwang finished setting up the plates, glancing up at us as we made our way towards them.

However, halfway there, Lisa stops, slapping her forehead. "I totally forgot. Bells, do you want to see those heels I got last week?" Lisa asks.

Bella's eyes light up. "Oh, yeah!"

"I might as well show you now or I'll forget later on." Lisa gestures for Bella to follow her while Sabrina slides off her seat. "Don't wait up, we'll be real quick."

"Wait, I want to see too!" Sabrina shouts and the three run upstairs, leaving me alone with Jordan and the parents. It's quiet and awkward - maybe not for Jordan because he slides into a seat and rubs his hands together, ready to dig in. I follow, hoping I looked more confident than I felt.

"Jordan," Mr. Kwang calls, not looking at him but at the plates in front of him instead. "I heard some interesting news about you."

Jordan frowns. "What is it, Mr. Kwang?"

"I hear that..." He pauses, finally looking up, "...you're going to confess to my daughter."

Confess? Jordan? To Lisa? Jordan grins, bobbing his head up and down. "It's true, sir. I'm mad crazy about your daughter. I hope it's okay."

Ms. Kwang laughs, not looking up from her stir fry plate. "Jordan, we've known you for so long. You're like family. I find it so cute you have a crush on Lisa."

"We know you well enough to treat our little Lisa with kindness and out of love," Mr. Kwang adds, smiling warmly.

Jordan grins but I start to feel grim, a feeling I couldn't point out. Jordan had a crush on Lisa? My Lisa? Why couldn't I see it before? However, Jordan liking Lisa was the least of my problems. Having Lisa feel the same way was much worse.

"Doyoon?"

I snap out of my thoughts and face Jordan and Lisa's father who stares at me, his eyebrows furrowed. I had a feeling I wasn't making a great first (technically it wasn't the first meeting but he seemed to think so) impression. "Yes, Mr. Kwang?"

"I asked if you had a girlfriend."

"Oh, no, not yet." I shake my head. "Still waiting for the right girl." I glanced at a family photo of theirs and my eyes landed on Lisa. Had I already found the right girl, years ago?

Mr. Kwang nods knowingly as the four girls upstairs ran down. "Love takes time."

It sure did. It took my exactly 15 years for me to realise I was possibly in love with Lisa Kwang, my childhood friend.

 AUTHOR'S NOTES 
dudes and dudettes so sorry for the short break idk if you heard but there was a flooding in toronto and that is where i live sO i am going to try and update more often to make up for it!!!! thank you so much for your love and support!!! :o)

in other news

[cackles at the plot twist i threw you guys]