"The Recognition"

Surprise! Like a Bomb

"Surprise! Miss me?"

"Woobin-ah!"

"Yah! Song Woobin. When did you arrive?" Junpyo asked after he recovered from minutes shock.

Woobin had been to France for 3 weeks and they had just talked last night. Never in his mind would that he see him at the moment. When he, himself told them that he'll be home soon and not now. His voice sounded like a broken cord which earns him a chuckle from Jiho and a burst of laughter from Woobin.

"Hey Junpyo did you just hit puberty at your age?" And another burst of laughter erupted.

"Yah! You two stop with your childishness! Grow up!" Junpyo retorted. All these years it had been always like this for them. Teasing, hitting, laughing and hurting at same time. How refreshing it was to be with you friends again after a long month of stress and work. How they wish for this day to be like the days they had before, before that four years.

"Woobin-ah, Jandi and Gaeul will be here in a moment. Better prepare to surprise them."

"Nah. You know me. Always." By then Woobin proceeded to the left wing of the lounge to get his paraphernalia. Junpyo and Jiho then continued their game of pool right after they gave Woobin hugs and pats or more like strangle and hitting.

…

He hadn’t been this nervous before. The word nervous was an understatement of what he currently felt. Here he is now facing the door of their lounge which he had never touched or seen for four years.

Rehearsing his explanation was his task all through his flight. But the idea of telling it perfectly to his friends had never come to him. The words and statements he practiced had vanished through thin air the moment he stood in front of that door. It's haunting him down that it made him shiver and weak on his knees.

"Make it or break it. Here it is Yi Jeong-ah" He consoled himself before he open the door he gave off a long and deep sigh.

"Oh... there here alrea..." Junpyo suddenly stop his words and held his breath at the moment he saw the person who emerged from the door.

"SO YI JEONG!"

It was Jiho who said out loud. His name was said in a weird manner but he didn't care. He had imagine them being shock at his presence and thus his imagination had been given justice. He turned his head towards the footsteps heard from the left wing of the lounge.

"Surpr..." Woobin stood frozen on his track and shell-shock was on his face. "Yi Jeong-ah" it sounded more like a whisper to him and to everybody as well.

Yi Jeong appearing from where they don't know had always in everybody's mind. However, he being there at the moment seemed to be too wrong. His appearance did not coincide with the day, the time and the place. Woobin had always thought that he would be able to see him first before everyone else. He had thought that he would be able to settle all the things with him before letting him in into everybody's life again. Woobin knew that the rest of the gang needed more time to finally absorb his presence especially Gaeul, also Jandi and maybe him.

His sudden appearance in front of everybody made all the memories from that four years rushing through Woobin's very eyes. He had prepared himself for this in a long time but it seemed too hard for him to digest their current predicament.

The four of them remained frozen at their feet. And Yi Jeong had thought that the floor was more interesting to stare rather than the shocked faces of his friends. Then suddenly.

"Yah! Jandi-ah. Will you wait for me?"

That voice. He swiftly turned around to face the opening door. There she was trailing behind Jandi who's walking with her back facing them. She was facing Gaeul and was giggling with her.

The moment she emerge from the door and became visible in his sight made his own biological clock to stop on its own. She was really there in front of him not the hallucination he always had. She's real. Moving and giggling right in front of his eyes. She's too close to his reach but there he was, still rooted on his place.

Gaeul's voice pulled Woobin into his reverie. His eyes had widened to the realization that she would be seeing Yi Jeong again. Would she be fine after this? Or rather ask, if he would he be fine after this? That he didn't know.

…

She turned her back to greet everybody but the sight right in front of her all the air she got and shut it all up to . It was like a whirl of wind blowing all the four years of bitter memories straight into her. And also. Maybe to everybody.

was too dry for her to be able to speak. She wanted to shout all her might until her lungs would burst right in front of Yi Jeong's face. She wanted to spin kick him when she saw how he looked at her beloved friend. *How dare you look at her that way after what you did?* She wanted to yell at him so much but there she was still rooted on the ground, speechless.

Gaeul approached towards everybody who seemed to be too engrossed to a man standing a few meters in front of her. It was a little hard for her to identify the man due to distance and her weak vision.

…

He looked at her straight in the eyes as she moved closer and closer to him. He saw her bowed to whom he was not sure. Then she broke into a smile. A smile he had missed for years. The way her lips curved upwards together with her eyes glowing with peace. Yi Jeong watched her every expression. The way she walked towards his direction. How she slightly lowered her head when she bowed and the way she smiled to him. He felt like he was complete at the moment, all his concerns about his current predicament had burst like bubbles. Not until she shifted her gaze from him towards the person at his back. Her eyes widen in surprise then she opened .

"Oppa!"

Yi Jeong saw her pass through his side. And it felt like she was just a dream turning into nightmare.

"Oppa. You're here? Is it really you?" He heard her ask.

"Hmmm"

Yi Jeong whipped his head and turned towards their direction. He followed Gaeul's gaze which landed to his own best friend. He was all so confused about the situation. He wanted to ask tons of questions but he didn't know when to start or did he still have the right to ask.

*Oppa? Did she just pass through me and then call Woobin Oppa?* he mentally asks himself.

All the while Jandi, Jiho and Junpyo had been looking at them without any word to say. Yi Jeong shifted his eyes to them but nobody reacted.

…

Gaeul furrow her brows together as she looked at him. She's beginning to worry because Woobin had been staring at her blankly for a while. "Oppa? You're here? Is it really you?" She saw him blink his eyes and broke into a slight smile.

"Hmm" he replied nodding his head.

"It's really me Princess. Surprise?" There at last he was able to speak after he had swallowed that lump blocking his voice.

She gives him her reassuring smile and nod after his question. "Oh... By the way i brought you something... here." He handed her a small box and went to address Jandi after. "And also to our lovely queen Jandi. I'm sorry i wasn't able to be here on your birthday. Hope this would be enough peace offering." Then he handed her a tiny box which she accepted with a faltered smile.

Trust it to Woobin to lighten the oh-so-suffocating ambiance of the lounge. He always did it nicely but almost failing at the moment.

"Gaeul-ah, will you and Jandi be at my room now. We actually need to talk about something important. We'll just be there in a moment. "

It was Jiho's turn to speak. All the while he had been studying Yi Jeong's reactions towards the situation but what he saw was all confusion and unresolved questions. He swore he had seen him flinch and clinch his hands while Gaeul and Woobin were exchanging conversation.

Gaeul wanted to ask something, she wanted to ask everybody about how different the atmosphere inside the lounge was. It's confusing her but then Jiho had requested her and Jandi to leave.

"Hmm Sunbae."

Jiho heard her answer, he then turn towards Jandi who's about to retort to his request when Junpyo interjected.

"Jandi-ah. Please." It was the only thing that Junpyo could say to his girlfriend. And with that Jandi walked pass Yi Jeong and dragged Gaeul out the receiving area.

…

"So? Where in the world were you hiding?" He heard Jiho asked him right after the girls were out.

"Morocco, Germany and Sweden. I did not hide, Jiho."

Woobin snorted. "Nice places to spend a four years vacation then?" It was an open question for everybody.

"So Yi Jeong. Did you suddenly grow tired of your escaped that you decided to come and surprise us?"

"I did not have a ‘four years of vacation’ neither Woobin-ah and I'm not here nor to surprise you, Junpyo."

"So what in world are you here for? Huh? Making fun of us? WHAT?" Woobin was walking on thin ice already. He's having a lot of trouble controlling himself with the stupid-short answers from Yi Jeong.

"I know I have a lot of explaining to do. But… Ga...Gaeul-yang. Why is she...? Is she...okay?" Yi Jeong had noticed how Gaeul seemed oblivious of his presence, wherein she was supposed to be with the guys scolding and getting angry with him. She should at least act like Jandi had. At least in his head it would be comforting to see her angry at him than her being oblivious of his presence. He couldn't help to ask.

He noticed his friend shifted their positions. Jupyo tightened his grip on the pool stick. Jiho slid his left hand to grip the edge of the pool table firmly. And he saw Woobin tightened his jaws. Was it because of his mentioning of Gaeul's name that made them react that way? He became more and more confused.

"Oh...” He heard Woobin said with evident irritation. "She's fine. She's perfectly fine!"

Yi Jeong had never heard Woobin speak to him that way. He knew he's at fault. Partly. But he just couldn't help himself to get peeve on him. *Why so over protected of her, suddenly? And call her princess instead of her name?* The way he spoke to him sounded so sarcastic that it made him flinch.

"Woobin. You don't have to sound like that when you talk to me at least. I said... I had my reasons and those were valid. So please tell me. What's wrong with...?”

"Gaeul? I said she's perfectly fine, didn't I? And for your oh-so-valid reasons? I'm sorry I'm not in the mood to listen to it at the moment. "

He saw Woobin pressed his eyes tightly and gave out a deep sigh.

*He must be so pissed. How am i going to fix this? He's not even interested to listen. All the while it's him that I am more confident to listen to my reasons and understand my case. But damn, his is all peeved up just me mentioning Gaeul's name.*

Woobin shifted his gait. He walked towards Yi Jeong's direction and said "I'm out of here."

"Woobin-ah" He called. He was in the state of panic. His other two friends were just there staring at them. Junpyo was looking at Woobin and Jiho was psyching him. He knew them too well; Jiho was observing and was trying to formulate something on his brain. He would never speak unless he figured things out. Junpyo was just standing there waiting for something to erupt and then he would intervene. And Woobin, his best bud was so pissed of him. He knew that he was walking through thin ice now and he chose to flee for comfort.

No matter how in rage Woobin was towards Yi Jeong, he needed to know his reasons and he needed to let him know what had happen because he was getting the idea that Yi Jeong had no clue with what his sudden departure before had resulted. At the moment all he wanted to do was to clear his mind first before facing the problem again.

"Woobin-ah" He heard Yi Jeong calling him. He turned around and faced him.

"Just give me some time, Yi Jeong-ah. I'll be the one to see you." With that he vanished pass the door.

"Yi Jeong-ha. Let him be, he needs it." He turned his head towards Junpyo and nodded.

Silence was the dead ringer for another minute.

"You haven't realized it yet, don't you? How much trouble your departure had caused everybody, especially Gaeul. "

Yi Jeong swallowed hard.

"In those four years we’ve been in a lot of trouble, and that's because of you. We've been searching for your whereabouts but up until now we never have clues. Gaeul must have been a good person all her life that she never had suffered too much from your absence but US, it's too much. Especially Woobin. I know you are and all confuse at the moment. But once you do something stupid again.” Junpyo gritted his teeth and tighten his jaw. “If that would make Jandi at peace and make Gaeul safe... I would never think twice to keep her away from you. " Junpyo revealed.

He wasn't able to process the message right away. All he saw was the dark stare Junpyo gave him as he pass through him and went out of the door.