Chapter Ten: 

                     Our Destiny

Aeri POV

It's been three months, exactly, since that horrendous day when my Jangmi went missing and we all went ballistics searching for her. I'm so thankful  that Chanyeol oppa's team found her and we were able to save her on time before any harm came to her. I will never forget that day...nor the kiss Jangmi and Yixing shared after all the chaos. No better ending could there be to such tragedy. When we told the twins about it they, of course, squealed and made everyone in the cafeteria stare at our table. Sehun and Luhan had joined us.

To tell you the truth, I don't know how they could cope with such "loud" girlfriends. But then again, the twins had their charm and that's probably what got these two's attention. You could see how head over heels they were for the twins. Never in my life would I imagine them responding to their feelings but life's like that: Unexpected. Minseok finally took a day off and went with Sanghee to our ramen shop. In fact, everyone was here! The twins were here with their boyfriends, Chanyeol and Haseon unnie were here. And of course, our boys; Jangmi's Yixing and my Joonmyun. Sigh. My Joonmyun...I love the way that sounds…

"Riri-ah, this is delicious!" Joonmyun smiled at me as he ate his bowl of spicy ramen. He has taken a liking to the nicknames that Jangmi and I use for each other. Now he calls me 'Riri' while Yixing calls Jangmi "Mimi". But don't worry, we also had nicknames for them but, we only used them when we really wanted something from them. They would melt every time Jangmi called Yixing "Xingie" and I would call Joonmyun "Joonie". It was not the names, but the way we would say it that would drive them to insanity. It was fun watching them turn bright red while mumbling an "okay" and doing what we told them to. It was a pretty fun sight to watch.

"I agree! This is delightful! You really are something, noona!" Luhan beamed at me.

"Aw, thanks guys!"

Today, the ramen shop was opened only for us. Our boss was on a trip with his wife and kids and the chef took the day off, but I don't know why Jangmi had the keys and told me that we were all gathering here, and that I should make some ramen since it would be the first time that Minseok and Sanghee came to eat here. "If I'd known the ramen from here was this good, I would've come a long time ago!" Minseok agreed.  "Ditto!" Sanghee grinned at me. "Really? Thank you, you don't know how happy you guys make me when saying that!" I smiled at all of them.

"Well, of course! My future wife is a master chef! I bet all of you are envious that she is taken!" Joonmyun came to me and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him as he kissed the side of my head and grinned at them. Wait, what? Future wife?! "Um, excuse me? But I happen to be dating the best friend of that chef! And I know that she has learned from her a few tricks from her, here and there." Yixing said while kissing Jangmi's cheek, making her blush. Aw, she's such a cutie pie! Still acting so shy after three months of dating. "Well, we are dating that chef's best friend's best friends! And they also have their way around the kitchen..." Sehun argued.

"Aw, Hunnie! You're a sweetheart!" Haeyeon gave him a chaste kiss.

"Yeah! My Minyeon can make the best fried kimchi rice I've ever tasted!" Luhan nodded.

"Oh, you!" Minyeon giggled and hugged him, making him blush.

"Well, I got nothing to envy you ladies, seeing as I'm the chef back at home." Chanyeol said matter-of-fact.

"And I'm his plate...if you know what I mean..." Haseon winked at us.

"Ewwwwwww!!! Noona!" Joonmyun and Yixing groaned.

"I know, I know. 'Noona, don't say such erted things'. I know!"  she waved her hand at them.

"You have to forgive noona, she spent her college days in America and I guess she took their...tendencies..." Joonmyun murmured as Yixing nodded in agreement.

"I really don't mind, honestly!" I smiled at him.

"Neither do I." Chanyeol grinned.

"And you better not!" Haseon hit him in the arm playfully.

"So much romance, it's making me sick..." Minseok gagged. Sanghee agreed.

"Aw, you two! Stop being that way...wait until you both fall in love with someone you really like!" Chanyeol encouraged them. Both Minseok and Sanghee looked at each other then quickly turned away, blushing madly.

"Hey! Where did my Mimi go?" Yixing looked around like a lost puppy.

Suddenly I heard a soft. "Happy birthday to you~ Happy birthday to you~ Happy birthday, my dear unnie~ Happy birthday to you!~" Jangmi came from the storage room, holding a strawberry shortcake. I was at a loss. To be sincere with you, I had totally forgotten it was my birthday today! Everybody sang along once again, this time louder and I had tears welling up in my eyes. So, they all knew about it. Now I understand why Jangmi has the key. Now I understand why suddenly everyone's free from work.

"Come on unnie, blow the candles!" Jangmi said excited. And so I did, but not before making a wish. "Yay! Aw, I wish Kichan was here..." Haseon pouted.

"Where is he?" Sanghee asked.

"School."

"Oh, Right!"

"What did you wish for?" Joonmyun asked as he held me by the hips.

"It's a secret!~" I sang.

"Hm. Okay! Hope it's not a handsome and rich boyfriend, since you already have one."

I had to laugh at that.

"Happy birthday, Riri-ah. I love you..." he leaned to give me a sweet and longing kiss. I closed my eyes as I kissed him back.

"Yah! Get a room, you two!" Minseok joked.

"Not just yet, oppa."

"Sanghee-ah, not you too?!"

"What?!"

"Stop spending time with Haseon noona."

We pulled away and laughed. Joonmyun turned to me and poked my nose. "I'll give you your birthday present later..." he smiled as I nodded smiling back.

"Ooh, ."

"Noona!~"

"Okay, okay! I'll be quiet..."

"Anyways, let's eat cake!" Jangmi exclaimed.

"Yay!" the twins cheered in unison.

---

I'm not sure why, even though I tend to be a heavy sleeper...this morning I felt like I needed to be held awake. And apparently it was fate that was telling me so, 'cause as soon as I was getting once again swallowed up by Morpheus, the phone at our home rang. I popped my eyes open and slowly stood up, walking out of my room and into the tiny living room. I took the phone and answered it.

"Hello...? Oh, Hyejin-ah! How have you been? I haven't heard from you in so long..." suddenly all sleepiness goes away. "You're what?!"

---

"Thank you for coming here to say goodbye." Hyejin smiled kindly at Jangmi and me.

"It was the least we could do..." I smiled back at her as Jangmi nodded.

"Unnie...do you really have to go?" Jangmi whined.

"Mimi-ah..." she goes to her and takes her hand in hers. "Since I finished my studies and I am really eager to start working as a professor, having this opportunity of teaching an elementary school in Busan; it's really a chance of a lifetime. But don't worry! I'll come visit..."

"You promise?"

"I promise." Hyejin gently pulled Jangmi into a big bear hug. Jangmi squeezed her back. Then, Hyejin pulled away, she turned to me. "Remember to call me once you get there, okay?" I requested.

She nodded. I saw tears forming at the corner of her eyes. I pulled her to me and hugged her very tight. She gripped the back of my shirt and sniffed. We pulled away and looked at each other with tears in our eyes. "Please, take care of yourself."

"Same to you two, take care!" she took her luggage and turned to get in the shuttle. Jangmi came to me and held my hand as I squeezed it gently. She was sobbing quietly by my side. Jangmi, she really hates saying goodbye. People leaving...that are important to us. We lived it everyday with our friends back at the orphanage whenever they got adopted. We never saw nor heard from them again. That's why saying goodbye to us...makes us so upset.

She turned her head and smiled at us, tears also in her eyes. We smiled back and waved goodbye at her, then...she got in the shuttle. We saw her sit in one of the rows, by the window. She continued staring and waving at us. We did the same. The shuttle's engine came to life and just like that, Lee Hyejin was leaving us...just like our other childhood friends…

"Waiiiit!"

We both turned around to see a very exhausted Kim Jongdae. He was sweating and breathing very heavily. He looked like he had ran a marathon. "W-Where is she?" he asked out of breath.

"She...She just left." I pointed at the shuttle that was already far away from us.

"No...I won't let her go...not this time..." I heard him say before he sprinted into full speed toward the shuttle.

"Jongdae! Wait! Are you mad?!" I yelled back at him. "Kim Jongdae!" I had no choice but to run after him and Jangmi also had no choice but to also run.

I don't know how, but we were almost reaching Jongdae...and Jongdae was almost reaching the shuttle. People passing by on the sidewalk stared at us and cars were honking at us. It was crazy. Until, a miracle. The next light the shuttle took was yellow...then turned red and the shuttle came to a halt. We sighed in relief as we finally were able to reach it. Jongdae quickly hit the side of the shuttle to catch Hyejin's attention.

And she did looked up. As soon as she saw Jongdae, her eyes wanted to come out of their sockets. She watched in panic how he made the driver open the door for him, entered the shuttle, took her suitcase and took her by the arm. He pulled her and made her follow him out of the shuttle.

"What?! Yah! Kim Jongdae! What are you doing?! Let me go! Yah! YAH!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. Everyone at the bus and on the sidewalk stared confused. The shuttle had stop in front of the Central Park, we saw Jongdae taking her there and we followed.

"Yah...I told you to let go of me! Kim Jongdae!" she continued trying to free her arm from Jongdae's grip but, he really had a firm grip on it. We reached the center of the park. This part of the park was famous for its gigantic fountain that it had and a lot of couples came to make wishes and such. Today, it was no exception. It was madly crowded.

"YAH! KIM JONGDAE! LET.GO.OF.ME!" Hyejin finally was able to free herself from his tight hold. But she also received a few stares. She looked at Jongdae angrily. "Yah...what do you think you're do--"

"Marry me."

"What?" her face suddenly changed and I swear I could see a faint blush on her cheeks.

"Did he just said...what I think he said?" Jangmi, who was by my side, whispered to me. I looked at her, also incredulous. "I believe he did."

"Marry me, Lee Hyejin. Be my bride." his face was very serious. I swear in all the years that I knew Kim Jongdae, I've never seen him be this serious.

Hyejin tried to get herself out of the shocked state and closed her eyes. When she opened them, I could see the Hyejin that was looking at him early, very angry. "Yah, Kim Jongdae...do you think this is funny? Haven't you had enough fun?"

"I am not joking. I am being serious."

"Right! And then what? Are you gonna keep cheating on me while I stay at home cleaning and cooking for you?!"

Jongdae stood silent, staring at her. "That won't happen again...it won't happen ever again. I promise. I was wrong..."

I heard Hyejin laugh. "That's what you said the first time, and the second time...and the third time, and so on and so on! What makes it today any different from the others?!"

Suddenly I see Jongdae smile at her. The next thing I know, he is standing on the fountain, trying not to fall.

"Yah. What are you doing? Get down!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please?!" he said loud enough for the people around us to hear it and some of them even stopped, curious at what this guy had to say or was about to do.

"You see this girl right here?" he pointed at Hyejin. "This girl...is the one I love."

Hyejin stopped trying to make him get down from the fountain and looked at him.

Now he has my full attention.

"When I met Hyejin I thought...an angel fell from the sky and landed on me. That's how we met. She was on a rush because she was late for class and she was looking at her watch as she a corner and I was turning that corner at the same time on the opposite side...then, we bumped on each other. She fell on top of me. That's why I thought 'Wow...a fallen angel...' It has been four years since that day. Four years. And I still remember that day as clear as I see you all standing here...as clear as I see her now."

"We started dating and everything was a bliss...it was like the movies...until one day I thought 'What if she gets tired of me?'. A friend of mine once told me back in high school, 'Women get easily bored. You sometimes need to give it a little push and keep them entertained and interested in you'. And so, I thought of a plan that would make our relationship be more "entertaining". So, I started hanging out with girls. And every now and then, she would find out or catch me. She would get so mad and yell at me and I don't know why...it made me think 'Yeah...she still loves me.' 'Yeah, she still cares about me.' At first, it was kind of fun, watching her bickering around and yelling. But it was also scary, mind you."

I heard a few people laugh.

"But, there was something I didn't realized...the longer I kept this up...the longer I did this, the farther I was making her be from me. She was getting hurt over and over. And I, I even got so caught up in that silly game...so caught up...that I forgot our own third anniversary..." Jongdae lowered his gaze to look at Hyejin who had all her face stained in tears. "I'm so sorry..."

Hyejin broke into full sobbing.

"So, people...all I want you to know is how dumb one can get when it comes to loving someone. You think you're doing the correct way...but in the end, you find out how oh so wrong you were...I don't think I will do these kind of games anymore...neither will I trust those ex best friends from high school who probably don't even know what love is."

I saw people nodded their heads in agreement.

"So...I want you all to be my witnesses of the next thing that I'm about to do..." he got off of the fountain and stood right in front of Hyejin. "I'm sorry for hurting you so many times, I'm sorry for making you think that I was really cheating on you when I really wasn't, they were just friends trying to help me get you all jealous, I'm sorry for thinking that watching you bickering and yelling at me meant that you loved me when all the proof I needed was there all along...I'm so sorry and I promise you I will never ever do it again."

He took her hand and knelt down. I heard a few of the people gasped and some even squealed. "I promise you that as long as I live, I will love only you and I will take good care of you...so, will you do me the honors? Lee Hyejin, please be my wife?" he took out a red velvety box from his pocket and opened it to show Hyejin a lovely diamond ring. Now the people were cheering and I even heard someone yelling 'Say yes!' But all I was focused was on Hyejin sobbing madly. Poor thing could hardly even speak. She had one hand on , trying to stop herself from sobbing too loud but it was  no use.

Then, I saw her look at Jongdae with a smile on her face and she slowly nodded her head. Everyone cheered for them as Jongdae smiled back at her, put the ring on her finger and pulled her in his arms, lifting her up and spinning her around. When he stopped, he had her face between his hands, his thumbs rubbing her rosy cheeks. "I love you, Hyejin." I heard him say. "I love you too, Jongdae." she replied. And just like that, he leaned and gave her the most romantic kiss I've ever seen. I thought I was living in a movie. Me and Jangmi smiled to ourselves. We were both happy for Hyejin and relieved to know the truth about Jongdae's cheating obsession...if you can say that.

Hyejin saw us and quickly went to us. I hugged her and smiled in her hair. "Congratulations!"

"Thank you..." she sniffed and pulled away from the hug to now come into the extended arms of Jangmi.

"Congratulations, Hyejin unnie! I am just glad you won't have to go!"

"Me too."

I turned and see Jongdae next to me smiling. I smiled back at him.

Well, thank God for those days where I get to have very light sleep. If it wasn't for that, I probably would've missed this! And I wouldn't forgive myself if I did.

---

A month after Jongdae’s sweet proposal. Hyejin and Jongdae were now stronger than ever. Sometimes they would go by the ramen shop and some other times they would go to the university just to spend some time with us. The difference from before was that they couldn't stop looking at each other. I was more than happy for them.

Today we were at the cafeteria chatting like always. Our table grew in size, now that Sehun and Luhan sat with us. Of course they wouldn’t leave their girlfriends alone. The twins were being themselves as always, I thought they would, by now, be less louder but…having boyfriends’ got them livelier than ever. Guess that’s the “power of love” like they used to say all the time.

They always have a new story to tell...you know? This time it was the latest date with the boys.

“So, we were waiting for them to pick us up and we were so nervous. They said it was a surprise, so that made it even more nerve-wrecking.” said Minyeon.

“They finally arrived and they looked so…” continued Haeyeon. Both girls looked at the boys and they blushed while flashing them a smile.

“Yeah, we get it.” Jangmi laughed. “They looked dreamy, what else?” she urged them.

“Well…they came to us and they blindfolded us. I got excited all of the sudden. No one had ever done that before…” she stopped suddenly. “...wait…duh! I’ve never had a boyfriend!” she started giggling and everyone joined in a laugh.

“Don’t worry Minyeon-ah, now you got me.” Luhan whispered to her, but loudly enough for us to hear. She blushed furiously.

“Haeyeon, continue while your sister composes herself.” I said still laughing a bit.

“Right away unnie.” she giggled. “So, we got in the car and they drove for like fifteen or twenty minutes? I don’t know. I really wasn't paying attention.” we laughed.

“I’m okay.” Minyeon took a deep breath “Yeah, well, when we finally stopped I was so nervous. They opened the doors and took our hands. They slowly took both our blindfolds…” both girls looked at our anticipating faces and then to each other.

“There was a banner that said ‘Happy 4th month anniversary!’” both said in unison. Jangmi and me started laughing and looked at the boys as they were both blushing monsters. I don’t think they are used to the way the girls express themselves yet. But, they always manage to get their payback.

“You know Haeyeon-ah, I still have a surprise for you as celebration.” Sehun winked at her.

“Same here Minyeon-ah, how about you come with me after class?” Luhan put his arm on her shoulder.

Like I said...payback. Both girls couldn’t blush more than what they did and looked at each other with a look Jangmi and I know very well...they were dying inside. We laughed at them and the boys joined with us. The twins…

“Oppaaaaa~~!” they said at the same time. “Why you tease us like that?!” they pouted cutely. The burst of laughs coming from our table made some of the students turn our way.

--

We continued on when I get a call...

“Hello?!” I answered. “Haseon unnie, you okay?...wait…slow down a bit!...okay, just wait for us. We’ll be there soon.” I hung up a bit confused but in a hurry.

“What’s wrong unnie? Is Haseon unnie alright?” Jangmi asked me.

“I don’t know...she said there was a major emergency and that we had to go to her house now.” I started thinking. “We need a car.”

“I can take you, noona.” Luhan offered.

“You’re the best. Let’s go!” we all got up and in less than five minutes, we were already on our way.

--

Twenty five minutes later we arrived to the house. Haseon unnie was waiting for us outside. I could see her worried face. Something must be wrong if she called us all the way here. We got out and went to greet her.

“Oh, I’m so glad you’re here!” she hugged everyone. “Come in!” we followed.

Inside were Chanyeol oppa, Minseok oppa and Sanghee. I could see worry in their faces also. What the hell happened?

“Could somebody tell me what’s wrong?! You all seem so worried. It’s making me crazy!” Jangmi read my mind before I could say anything.

“Please, sit down.” Haseon unnie urged us.

We did as we were told and looked at her with more concern than ever.

“You see girls…mother found out about your relationship with my brothers.” she sighed. “She is not happy, she is against it. She started yelling at them...insulting you and who knows what else. They got mad at her and said they weren’t going to leave you girls.” she paused, letting us digest what she had told us.

“Then…” she continued. “she said she was gonna do everything in her power to make them do so. She made them pack their bags. They are leaving today to the United States to study.” Both Jangmi and I gasped at the thought of them leaving. We finally were able to be open about our emotions and now this?

“We need to do something fast. I don’t want my little brothers to go, even less, leaving you behind. Ugh! Mother!” everyone started thinking and giving possible ideas of what to do when…

“Got it!” Haseon unnie said loudly. Everyone looked at her in anticipation. “Let’s kidnap them!”

“Honey, did you forget about the bodyguards? And your mother is gonna be there too with God knows who else. We never know with her!” Chanyeol oppa said. He had a point…I sighed out of frustration.

“Right...I forgot about that.” Haseon unnie said. We started thinking again...silence invaded the house. I could see a look of hopelessness in Jangmi. She looks so happy when she’s with Yixing and the thought of him leaving must break her heart...and...my Joonmyun...I really don’t want to think about my life without him.

“I GOT IT!” Minseok oppa startled everyone. We looked at him eager to know. “Listen up...”

And the more he told of his plans, the more we thought it was a little bit crazy. Crazy. But we were more than positive it could work.

---

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