Aerin’s POV

Kikwang’s face was painted with utter surprise after he processed Yoseob’s words.  He must’ve been thinking the same thing I was – how could Yoseob make him choose one between two?  His teeth clenched tightly before grabbing a hold of Yoona’s hand.

“I’m sorry Yoseob, but Yoona needs me.”  Kikwang’s voice was barely above a whisper, and he didn’t even look up to meet Yoseob’s hurtful eyes.  Just before he turned away to walk from us, he said, “You guys will be fine without me.”

“I can’t believe Kikwang chose Yoona over BEAST!”  When we made it back to his house, Yoseob’s fist slammed his coffee table.  To be honest, I was scared that his strength would have shattered the table, but I guess he was trying to not let his anger blind him into having to buy a new table.

“Well it would’ve been hard to choose either one.  BEAST – best friends that you’ve had forever.  Yoona – girl you’re totally heads over heels for.”  I explained Kikwang’s feelings to Yoseob, as I told him to sit down on the couch so I could bandage his wound.  “Picture yourself in his position.  Who would you choose?”

“Definitely–” his assurance disappeared as he paused to think about his decision.  He then slumped is body, finally understanding how Kikwang felt when he told him to make a choice.

“You get it now, don’t you?”  I peeled open a small bandage and placed it gently on the scratch on his jaw – where he had been hit by Taecyeon.  “It’s just like choosing either me or your friends.”

“I know I shouldn’t have told Kikwang to do that, but I can’t let all of BEAST’s hard work go to waste!”

“Do you think that Kikwang wants to stay in the talent show any more than you want BEAST to?  He’s part of BEAST too.  He’s been working hard too.”  I saw the determined yet regretful look in Yoseob’s eyes.  “But we have to respect his decision.”

“I guess…”  The boy trailed off, turning his head slightly away from me.

I placed my hand in his, assuring him that everything would be alright.  My action made him look back at me with a glad smile.  Suddenly, I heard the rattling of keys and the door unlocked.  In came a man and a woman, who I assumed were Yoseob’s parents – though I’ve never seen them before.  The woman seemed surprised to me, while the man didn’t look very happy.

“Annyeonghaseyo,” I stood up and bowed politely at the couple.  I wanted to make a good first impression of course.

“Annyeonghaseyo.  I’m Yoseob’s eomma.”  The woman replied with a warm inviting smile, mirroring a close resemblance of Yoseob’s smile.  Now I knew where Yoseob got that from.

“Son, you didn’t tell us that we’ll have a visitor.”  The man finally spoke, but with a cold tone.

Judging by calling Yoseob ‘Son’, he must be Yoseob’s father, yet the father and son looked nothing alike.  At least Yoseob’s mom had similar facial features and a warm personality like Yoseob, whereas the Dad was rigid and scary-looking – and I don’t mean his “almost” greeting.

There was a short but uncomfortable silence.  Since Yoseob didn’t answer to the man, his mom spoke.  “Why don’t I go in the kitchen and make some snacks?”  She dropped her purse just by the staircase.

“Thank you.”  Bowing to her again while she flashed another bright smile at us and then stepped into the kitchen.

“Are you not going to introduce me to your little friend?”  Yoseob’s dad spoke again, only this time narrowing his eyes down at me, sending a shiver down my spine.

“Daehyun, this is my girlfriend Aerin.”  Yoseob’s uncaring tone surprised me, especially when he didn’t call the man as his father.  “Aerin, this is Daehyun.”

“Annyeonghaseyo!  Nice to meet you.”  I bowed at him and smiled my friendly smile, but he didn’t return it.  His face was still as stiff as a rock.

“Your girlfriend?  Just how long have you known this girl?”  Daehyun made his way over to us, but standing on the other side of the coffee table.  His attitude scared me a little, sounding controlling and powerful, but mostly mean.  “You’re too young to have a girlfriend!”

“I’m 18!  I don’t need you to boss me around!”  Unlike his normal calming tone, Yoseob fired up his volume.

“Yoseob-ah, don’t talk to your abeoji like that.”  Mrs. Yang walked out with a platter of cut-up fruits.  “Apologize.”  Even though it was a demand, the lightness in her voice did not disappear.

“He is not my abeoji!  Aerin is my girlfriend, and I don’t care whether he likes it or not.”  His hand reached for mine, and just when we were about to head out of the door, Yoseob paused and said quietly with his back against them, “I’m sorry, Eomma.  I didn’t mean to disobey you.”

Before either of the adults had a chance to speak, we hurried out, slamming the door behind us.  For a while, we walked in silence out the neighbourhood.  Our hands were still laced together, and I could feel the tension in his body.  I snuck a peek at him, and a hurtful expression was painted on his face – even more painful than what Kikwang had done earlier.   Not long after, we came to our usual ice cream parlour.  We ate here all the time, whether it was winter or summer.  This was also where Yoseob got my bracelet back.

“What do you want to eat?  I’ll go order for you.”  I asked Yoseob, who was sitting down at a booth, looking out the window.

“It doesn’t matter.”  He didn’t turn around to face me, but I could understand that he wasn’t really in the mood to eat right now.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?”  I sat down across from him, totally forgetting about the ice cream.  Not that I was hungry anyway.

A soft sigh escaped his lips as he turned his head back towards my direction, but still did not return my gaze.  “Daehyun’s not my real dad.”