So Min

“You forgot about our date.”

I spun around in shock as shots of boiling water scalded my hand that could not be retreated in time.

 “Oh geesh! OUCH!” I squirmed in pain. “Geun Suk! You frightened me.”

Geun Suk quickly grabbed the hand that was burning in redness, and guided it under cold, running water.

“I’m sorry. I was anxious to find out what happened and why you didn’t turn up for our date,” he apologized. “I didn’t notice you were holding onto the pot of hot water.”

He held up my hand and dried it carefully with tissue paper as he examined for probably severe burn. “Still painful?”

Touched by his attentiveness, I shook my head though it really still hurt badly. 

“I waited for four hours outside the auditorium. I called you but your phone was off for the whole weekend. I called your home and your mom said that you went out with someone. I was really worried. I thought something had happened to you…Who were you with? Why didn’t you call me at all?”

After his long ranting in one breath, it then came upon me what he was referring to. We were supposed to watch a concert together and celebrate his birthday after with a sumptuous dinner. He had queued for the concert tickets for four long hours and spent a bit of time planning for that dinner.

Suddenly, guilt me as I realized how upset and angry he could be after all the effort he had put into making me happy on his birthday. How could I be so selfish to completely forget about our date?

“I’m sorry, Geun Suk. I had no good excuse for forgetting our date. Let me make it up to you.” I looked at him with remorse evident in my eyes.

Geun Suk

Her puppy eyes whisked away any anguish or anger that had pent up over the weekend. Immediately, for whatever reasons that had caused her to not turn up yesterday, or for whatever wrong she had done as a matter of fact, I knew I would forgive her.

I sighed in resignation to my own weakness of forgiving her too easily. I stepped closer to her and pulled her into a hug. Her hair smelled so refreshing as if it had been kissed by morning dew, and this fragrance further calm my nerves.

“I’m sorry that I had been harsh.” Brushing her hair from the top to its ends, I tried to think of something nice to say so that she would not be troubled by my tantrums.

“Why not….we chill out at the Memory Bar tonight? There’s a new band playing there tonight.”

She raised her head from my shoulder and quipped demurely, “Sounds sweet.”

“Ehem..” A voice suddenly boomed across the pantry.

So Min gave me a hard and sudden push as she turned around to face the water cooler.  That second, a prickly sensation crept into the nooks in my chest. I closed my eyes tightly to avoid the hurt from escaping within.

The push she gave…was she still unable to accept me wholeheartedly after all these months…..?

Why would she be so fearful of making our relationship known?

Averting my attention to the man who just entered the room, I smiled at the 'intruder', as if nothing had troubled my fragile heart.

So Min

“Good morning. Am I interrupting?”

My heart beat unusuallt fast when I heard his voice. There was no mistake that the voice belonged to Hyun Joong.

I knew I should not have given such a hard push, but the fear of letting Hyun Joong know that Geun Suk and I were dating was overwhelming.

“Good morning, Hyun Joong. We are good.”

I stared at Geun Suk and visually begged him as he stepped closer while outreaching his hand to me, ‘Please don’t say that we are dating.”

As if deliberately opposing my plea, Geun Suk claimed my shoulder and pulled me close to him.

“We are planning to go to Memory Bar tonight. Would you like to join us?”

As if my imagination was playing tricks on me, I thought I saw the glow in Hyun Joong’s eyes swiftly faded away.

I could not bear to look at Hyun Joong’s face. My eyes darted to the ground as my heart went down with it.

I had given my word to be with Geun Suk. Yet, I had not forgotten my feelings for Hyun Joong.  

What is wrong with me? How could such indecent feelings be mine?

I am trapped…

Hyun Joong

A date? Does it mean So Min is going out with Geun Suk?

Why did I feel upset? Nothing really happened between So Min and I anyway.

“That sounds…” I tried to compose myself to say something to mask my feelings.

“….like we could join you too tonight!”

Hyori intertwined her fingers with mine as she gracefully intercepted our conversation from nowhere. She gave me her most innocent smile that sent a shiver down my spine as it did not feel at all natural. Behind that look, I could sense anger burning. I could not blame her as who would not be angry if her calls had been repeatedly rejected over the weekend.

“Don’t you think a double date sounds great, Hyun Joong?”

Flashing a sheepish smile, I nodded reluctantly although a double date felt like the most awkward thing to me now. As my troubled mind was unable to function any further, disagreement would be the last thing I would want to evoke at this moment.

Right, Hyori is my girlfriend.

There is nothing between So Min and I.

There is no need to feel anything towards what’s going on between her and Geun Suk.

Except happiness...

Shouldn’t I?

But why did I felt like leaping off a cliff?

Hyori

I saw her.

She was walking towards the cafeteria, presumably for lunch.

I hated this confrontation. I did not want to do it, given a choice.

But what happened over the weekend had left me with no choice.  It had been a frantic search for Hyun Joong. If my intuition was right, he had purposely switched off his phone to avoid me.   

But I had eyes, in the form of Lee’s spy, who reported that Hyun Joong was with So Min for the two days he went missing.

I had my fears of losing everything I had set up in Hyun Joong’s life. For all I had built were lies. I feared that these lies would be exposed and my pact with Lee would come to an end.

I was certain that I was near to the finishing line with Hyun Joong totally taken in by my deceit. However, a creak started to appear in my confidence when So Min appeared at Hyun Joong’s door. It became worse with Hyun Joong being drawn to her , even to the extent of spending a night at her home.

I must act fast.

There was no way to stop Hyun Joong from seeing So Min. It would only create more doubts in our relationship.

That was why the only way to strike was through So Min.

I need to discourage her from cheering Hyun Joong on. I need to break her in order to destroy her resolution of seeing Hyun Joong.

Even though I hated to stoop so low to hurt my best friend, I had no other choices.

I quickened my pace to catch up with So Min. When she was within an arm’s length, I grabbed her hand and dragged her into the nearest stair lobby. She was too shocked to pull away in time.

Locking the door of the lobby behind me, I turned to face So Min’s puzzled face.

“We need to talk.”

*************************************************************************************************************************

Bowwow

My sincerest apologies for not updating over such a long time. I started on some medication and it had caused me to be more lethargic. It was hard not to feel tired after work and household chores, so I have been retiring to bed early. So, the time left to write anything was really scarce.

But I still want to continue with this story till the end. So, I seek your understanding for the long wait.

Also thanks to everyone who has commented and new subscribers for both River of No Return and Home is where the Heart is. I really hope to write to everyone of you to personally thank you, but i'm really sorry that time and lately my health does not grant me this stamina to stay up long and late to do this.

Appreciate all your support and hope you will continue to derive pleasure from reading River of Not Return