Chapter Twenty Two: For the Last Time

Seokjin feels so powerful tonight. Especially when two of the most beautiful and intimidating girls of their school are beside him as his companions for the ball. Their heels clacked against the ground, and slowly, slowly, slowly, the whole crowd of people inside the auditorium is already staring at the three of them walking in. They can hear murmurs and snaps of cameras along with the uproar of hoots from Seokjin’s classmates. The moment they settle on the table they’re assigned to, Mi Ja slouches back to her usual posture and Soojung does as well.

“That was suffocating!” Mi Ja sighs, not caring that there are still eyes glued on her. Soojung grabs the glass of water and finishes it in one gulp. Seokjin whispers to the two of them, worried about their – but mostly his – reputation, “Hey guys, there are still cameras around. Can’t you wait until you’re out of their watch?”

“Who cares?” Soojung smirks, “Oh right! Our famous façade master Seokjin does!”

“Shut up, Elsa,”

“Sorry, Sven,” Mi Ja laughs.

“And you, Olaf, shut up,” Seokjin breaks out into laughter the moment he finished saying that. Mi Ja glares at the two of them when both Soojung and Seokjin laughs out loudly together. Mi Ja crosses her arms and sighs, looking away from the two of them and focusing her eyes on the entrance, where people are crowding around to watch the other students enter.

Mi Ja sees a group of familiar faces. There are five of them, one girl and four other boys. The girl’s arms are s around one boy’s. The girl, as Mi Ja can remember, is Jia and the boy she’s with is Minseok – the boy she’s also dating. There’s another boy walking beside them, one with a small face and tall stature. Luhan. That’s Luhan. Mi Ja had a tiny crush on him when they were younger, but he was a bit of a bully so Mi Ja ended up disliking him. Standing a bit more forward than the three was the face Mi Ja has seen smile and frown and laugh and troubled for how many times. It’s Junmyeon.

His hair is combed backwards, as neatly as it always has been. His eyebrows seemed more defined and darker now that Mi Ja stares at him more. He looks a lot healthier than he ever was. The area under his eyes aren’t as dark as they were weeks earlier. At the present, Junmyeon looks like nothing but a prince. Maybe a king.

Junmyeon settles as the prince when Mi Ja sees the next familiar person behind the four tall figures walking in front.

Taehyung.

He’s walking slowly, a bit slower than the rest, which is probably why he’s already a lot behind them. His hands are inside his pocket and he’s wearing a black suit over a simple white shirt. His usual right black earring seems like silver and dazzling now. His hair, although a bit messy, looks like it’s combed backwards. But he looks handsome. He looks as perfect as he was when he left Mi Ja that day.

Junmyeon nods at Mi Ja when their eyes meet, and Luhan waves childishly. Minseok and Jia both scowls at Luhan before smiling at Mi Ja. Before Taehyung can even greet, Mi Ja turns around and diverts her attention towards Soojung and Seokjin. She laughs, “Ah, did you see Junmyeon’s university friends?”

“Yeah,” Soojung puts up an ‘okay’ sign and chuckles, “There’s a hottie with them, too.”

Seokjin looks at her, astounded, “I can’t believe you just said ‘hottie’! Which one of them?! This is a miracle.” Soojung widens her eyes at Seokjin, sending chills to his spine. She then clears and asks Mi Ja a question that’s not a taboo but has been obviously forgotten.

“So,” Soojung begins, “Why does it seem like you and Junmyeon aren’t as awkward as you two should be?”

“Because he’s mature,” Mi Ja smiles, “That, or he’s just being the usual nonchalant him who doesn’t really care about anything.” Seokjin chuckles and so does Soojung, and that ends the last conversation they had before the opening program began. The microphone screeches, making Soojung cringe. The obvious displease in her face makes Seokjin and Mi Ja laugh.

The program goes on and on with the talking, and after few hours, Mi Ja’s table gets served with food. She checks the time, only to find out that it’s only been two hours. She groans before indulging herself with the food, although she doesn’t really have any appetite right now. Mi Ja and Soojung starts bickering over which is better, tea or coffee. Seokjin doesn’t even want to slip between their argument to stop them, simply because seeing the fire igniting between their glares is enough to predict what might happen to him once he joins in.

Until they are finished eating, Soojung’s still endlessly justifying that tea is better than coffee. Mi Ja stands up and ignores her. She walks towards the restroom, just to be greeted by a familiar face coming out of the door opposite to the women’s.

She smiles at him, “Looking good, Junmyeon.”

He smirks proudly and says, “I know. You, too.”

“All thanks to Soojung’s magic powers,” she admits before snorting. He laughs at her and they lean on the wall, side by side. When the laughter drained off, the serious talk – which they both knew was bound to arise in one of their conversations tonight – happened. Junmyeon begins talking, while still guarding his words to avoid saying the wrong things, and Mi Ja continues fiddling the hem of her dress.

“So…” he sighs, “I’ve already heard his side of the story. Are you planning to tell me yours?”

“You’re going to listen?” Mi Ja laughs, “No matter how wrong I might be?”

“Of course,”

Mi Ja clears and begins talking. She narrates from the very beginning of that time. Starting from the day when Soojung and Seokjin and Mi Ja had that talk about Taehyung and her, to when Mi Ja heard a familiar chortle from the living room of her own house, to when Taehyung told her that he loved her, too, and finally closing the story with the ending she can clearly remember that day. There’s one thing she didn’t tell Junmyeon though – it’s that she’s been crying herself to sleep since that day. She feels like her feelings were trampled over and were played with and were underappreciated and were taken advantage of. She feels so devastated, thinking how Taehyung only said he loves her because he didn’t want to lose a precious friend. She feels so worthless.

But Junmyeon… Oh, Junmyeon. He always had the right words to make her feel otherwise.

“You are the bravest and the most beautiful warrior I’ve ever known,” he smiles gently. That same smile he flashes when Mi Ja’s obviously down. That same smile he knows will somewhat cheer her up whenever she’s upset because of Taehyung.

“That’s not being brave,” she laughs, “It’s just being afraid of getting rejected in the future. Anyways, being separated from him is to be expected. I just skipped the possible dramas ahead because I’m sure it’s supposed to happen. Especially because I’m going to pursue Medicine after high school.”

“Wow, how ambitious,” Junmyeon laughs, and then asks, “Are you going to put an ending to us, too?”

“What? Why?” she asks, clueless.

“Because according to Taehyung, you told him that you can’t continue being friends with him because there are different unnecessary feelings coinciding with the platonic ones that’s supposed to be there,” Junmyeon says, without hiding the slight fear and sadness in his voice.

“No,” Mi Ja says without hesitations, “Because unlike Taehyung, I don’t take your feelings lightly. I don’t fall in love with you just because you’re in love with me. No, Junmyeon, it’s not like that. We’re not in a ing drama. You’re not supposed to feel the same with that person just because that person told you she feels that way. So, no, Junmyeon, I’m not putting a hiatus on ours.”

“But aren’t you just making me hope for nothing if you continue to treat me differently from Taehyung?” he chuckles.

“No, you’re better than that,” Mi Ja breathes in deeply. Silence. Junmyeon stares back at her, and she lowers her gaze until she’s no longer showing her face to him. She breaks the silence, “In fact, Junmyeon, before entering university next year, besides high school… something has to end, as well.”

“And that’s probably what I feel for you,” Junmyeon smiles.

“Yeah,” she smiles, “Junmyeon, you deserve someone better than me. I have done nothing else but hurt you. And you deserve better than that. To be honest, if I can just manipulate my feelings, I would have chosen you over everything else, Junmyeon. You’re perfect, you know that? You’re the most perfect guy I’ve ever known and when I knew of your feelings, I felt like I was the luckiest girl. I wasn’t just friends with the famous Kim Junmyeon who catches every girl’s attention – he even loved me more than I could imagine. But I can’t do anything else but this, Junmyeon. I can only hurt you for now. I’m sorry, and thank you. So much. For everything – really.”

Mi Ja looks up to him, watching her face get reflected by Junmyeon’s watery eyes. And he can only fake a smile at her, and watch his face get blurred out by her teary eyes.

She’s so beautiful. How can someone so perfect call Junmyeon perfect? Junmyeon was selfish. Junmyeon was a martyr at times. Junmyeon was heartless. Junmyeon was hopeless. Junmyeon was desperate. Junmyeon was weak. Junmyeon was afraid of a lot of things. Junmyeon smokes. How was someone like him deemed perfect by someone so perfect?

But she wasn’t perfect, too, at least that’s what she seems like to herself. She was selfish, too. And she can be a martyr at times, as well. She can be heartless too – especially to Junmyeon. She, sometimes, was desperate too. She, above all things, was a coward who runs away from things she knows she’ll get defeated by. How can someone as perfect Junmyeon define Mi Ja perfect?

Junmyeon closes his eyes and laughs, “Finally.”

She guiltily looks down to her feet before she hears another sigh escape Junmyeon’s lips, “It’s finally happening, huh?”

“Thank you, Junmyeon.” She embraces him, grabbing the back of his suit so tight. Junmyeon hugs her back and rests his chin on her shoulder.

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