Chapter Twenty Five: Finale

Four years since the bet, one year since the last tryst. Mi Ja feels like she’s almost over Taehyung as her thoughts have already stopped revolving around him like they’d done for the past years. During Seokjin’s 22nd birthday, Soojung and Mi Ja surprised her in her own apartment and Seokjin doesn’t even question how they got ahold of her keys. Soojung says she’d rather keep it secret, but Mi Ja’s still bothered how. To brush away this topic, Soojung opens another one and diverts the attention to another person.

“So, Mi Ja, how was Operation Moft?” Soojung asks, folding her arms and lying on the floor on her stomach. Seokjin opens another bottle of white wine and pours three glasses. He distributes it to Mi Ja and Soojung and settles on the comfiest seat in his living room before asking, “What Operation Moft? That’s the lousiest name I’ve ever heard.”

“Soojung named it Moft herself,” Mi Ja laughs, “Anyways, it actually means Move On From Taehyung.”

“Ah,” Seokjin sips from his glass, “As I’ve thought, it really is lousy. I mean, what can we expect from our Swamp Princess?”

“Stop nicknaming me already,” Soojung tosses a cherry she plucked from Seokjin’s cake towards the birthday celebrant. She then pretends that nothing happened and continues asking Mi Ja, “So, really, what’s the situation? Are you finally free from the shackles of his embrace?” Seokjin stares at her with disgust.

Mi Ja says, “I might be a few efforts away from finally getting over him.”

“Might? Ah, you’re uncertain. Why would you say so, anyways?” Seokjin asks, removing the cherry from his clothes because Soojung might have been a sharp shooter and shot it directly inside Seokjin’s freshly-ironed clothes. Mi Ja hums for a second or two, and then replies, “Because I don’t think about him that much anymore. All I can think about are exams.”

Seokjin and Soojung are hushed by Mi Ja’s response. Silence. Silence. Silence. And then suddenly, the two of them break out into loud and boisterous laughter. Soojung’s on the verge of crying and Seokjin’s patting her back, “I can’t believe you mistake being pressured from the exams and priorities as finally getting over Taehyung!” And Mi Ja’s belief shattered that very moment while the two others are just ridiculing how adorably annoying and dense Mi Ja is at her age.

When she gets home after Seokjin’s birthday celebration, Mi Ja tries calling. She wants to ask him about certain topics, because she’s sure that Junmyeon wouldn’t laugh at her and answer her seriously – well maybe he’d laugh a bit but he won’t actually make fun of her. But Mi Ja stops herself before she can even press the dial button as she remembers how busy and how tired Junmyeon is nowadays.

Junmyeon's already an engineer, and is quite well-known in the showbiz world for his good looks and intellect. Lately, all he has done was complain to Mi Ja about how pressured he is and how tiring his every day now that his popularity is spread nationwide. He brags, well, to Mi Ja about how he’s been getting invitations and scouting letters from talent agencies, wanting him to sign up because it’s not too late to bloom into a wonderful flower – Junmyeon and Mi Ja laugh at this, and then they felt bad afterwards because of the obvious desperation hinted in the letter. All in all, knowing Junmyeon’s troubles, Mi Ja tries her very best to resist calling him and venting out to him just like how he does to her. Maybe she needs to learn how to be independent from Junmyeon or from anybody else right now.

But, somebody just wouldn’t want to leave her alone and carry the burden alone.

After letting out a long exhausted sigh, Mi Ja rests the lower half of her body on the couch and her stomach on the armrest and her upper body hanging and almost touching the floor. Suddenly, Mi Ja hears her phone ringing and vibrating dramatically on her glass coffee table. She quickly stands up and lousily greets, “Hello, Ryu Mi Ja is speaking.”

“Hello, Ryu Mi Hyun is speaking!” the other voice cheerily says back.

Mi Ja’s lips stretched out into a wide grin, “Mom!”

“Sweetheart!” her mother sniffs, “You sound so grown up now. What happened to you?”

“It’s stress, mom. That’s what happened to me. I’m dead.” Mi Ja groans, making her way towards the kitchen. Mi Ja’s mom then begins talking about her own sister, how she’s been enjoying her stay in California because of her sister and her nephew. Mi Ja has already finished up a whole liter of water and yet she still feels exhausted. She tries her best to hide away her weariness and avoids talking to her mom groggily – like how she does to everybody else when she’s in a bad mood.

“You know, Junmyeon’s popularity is starting to spread out here like a disease! Some of my friends’ children are even dreaming of going becoming an architect to, well, be of help to him. It’s crazy!” her mom begins talking about Junmyeon suddenly, and then the topic shifts to Luhan’s wedding. Mi Ja doesn’t even want to ask how her mother has acquired these information – but she guesses Taehyung might be keeping her up to date. Ah. Taehyung.

The moment the name appears in her mind, everything suddenly dissipates and only an image of his face is highlighted. The moment only his face is left in the spotlight, waves start crashing into the shores and flowers begin blooming and withering and blooming again inside Mi Ja’s heart. Her insides start getting welled up in shivers, just by merely thinking about Taehyung. Ah… she really hasn’t moved on a single bit, huh?

“Hey, Mi Ja…” her mother suddenly calls out. The static was still there, still muffling away the noise of the surroundings, and yet it seems like Mi Ja’s talking face to face with her mother at the present. Mi Ja closes her eyes and leans on the backrest of the chair, humming and asking what the matter was. Her mother stutters at first but after a short while of debating with herself, she finally says, “I’ve been thinking lately that you might not be eating well there, or that thoughts of…well, bad things are running inside your mind. And it worries me. And sometimes, I leave a message on your voice mail and I only get a short text message from you. Are you doing well there?”

Somewhat, Mi Ja knows where this is heading to.

Mi Ja chuckles and says, “I’m doing fine, mom. I have Junmyeon, Soojung and Seokjin visiting me from time to time. And I have friends in school. And besides, I’m already an adult, mom. It’s time for me to experience what I should be experiencing at this age. I still have a lot to learn, and I’d rather learn them on my own.”

“Yes, sweetie, I get your point there. However,” her mother hesitates, sighing, “Do you want to continue your studies here? Where I’m sure you won’t be left alone inside your apartment. I won’t spoil you, alright, so you can get the sense of responsibility for yourself. But I need to be reassured, sweetie, that you won’t endanger your own life while your mother’s goofing around in America. It’s okay to show weakness to me, Mi Ja.”

She was too tired to argue and too speechless to think about anything to justify herself. Mi Ja breathes in and holds it in for a few seconds before huffing out a sigh. Mi Ja gives in and says, “Thanks mom, but I’ll think about it. Give me until next year to decide. I’ll go to work now. Call you later.” Without hearing her mother’s reply, Mi Ja hangs up and sighs for the nth time today. Mi Ja turns towards the window, where she can always gaze at the peaceful scenery of trees with blossoming flowers and birds flocking around gracefully.

For the last time, mom, let me be selfish because of Taehyung. I want to know who won the bet. If he even remembers it.

God, mom, I wish I lose.

Mi Ja can vaguely remember the Christmas days she spent with people she wanted to spend the holiday with. One Christmas she spent with her co-members in the astronomy club, one snotty guy suggested to play The King’s Game while eyeing Mi Ja mischievously. Turns out that the snotty guy actually put mark on one stick and the moment he became king and Mi Ja got the marked stick, which took quite a long time, he took this chance to make Mi Ja kiss him on the cheek. Mi Ja acted cool and did it hastily while struggling not to puke. That was just a percent of the total bad memories Mi Ja wants to suppress deep inside her soul – somewhere in her dark side.

Once again, Christmas is approaching in lightning speed and so are Mi Ja’s exams. Mi Ja, being the supportive friend that she is, actually challenged Seokjin. While they were in Seokjin’s room once, the topic of where they should spend their Christmas together was brought up by no other than him. He proposed that it should be held in Mi Ja’s, but Mi Ja shrieks out a loud disagreeing response. And their argument went on and on, until Mi Ja blurted out something along the lines: “Whoever gets the lower score in the exams this coming hell week will hold the Christmas party…ish.”

“Fine by me,” Seokjin smirked, “Just so you know, Mi Ja, I spoke in our high school graduation as a second best, and I’m also in the top 50 best students in the country. Ah, I’m not bragging or anything, though.” But he was. They all knew he was. Soojung sniggers from the sidelines and watches Seokjin together with Mi Ja. He seemed to have forgotten that Mi Ja was the first in their school, and that she’s actually in the Top 15 best students in their country.

Soojung told Mi Ja to clean her apartment beforehand, because somehow, Soojung was certain that they’re going to spend it in Mi Ja’s house even if Mi Ja’s actually going to win over him. Mi Ja asked why, and Soojung just hummed a tone of disbelief. She clearly states to Mi Ja, that made Mi Ja understood quickly, “This is Seokjin we’re talking about, Mi Ja. Remember that.”

“Ah.”

She wasn’t wrong in believing Soojung’s words. The moment Seokjin’s exams ended – a week earlier than Mi Ja’s – he immediately phones her and announces that the teacher says he actually got perfect score and that Mi Ja’s absolutely losing so she should prepare her place this early. Mi Ja goes along with the flow, knowing that the test results won’t be out until a week or two.

Few hours after finishing their exams, Mi Ja runs towards her apartment to add the final touchups to the decorations and starts cooking what Soojung listed down on her own menu she entitled: What to cook for Master Soojung. Mi Ja found it irritating at first, but she learns how to ignore it anyways. On the middle of cooking, somebody knocks on her door and enters even without hearing her response. Mi Ja yells from the kitchen while clutching to the spatula on her right and the frying pan on her left, “Who’s there?! Why did you go inside of my house?!”

The shuffling of feet stops for a while, and the next thing she hears is a familiar, annoying laughter. Mi Ja stares at the entrance to the kitchen and sees someone laughing out so loudly on the ground while restraining himself from rolling around the floor. She sends a glare at the visitor and taunts, “Damn you, Junmyeon.”

Junmyeon covers his mouth, but the red in his cheeks still say that he still hasn’t gotten over Mi Ja’s usual idiocy. She stares at him angrily and hands him, not minding the distance, a wooden spoon, “Cook the sauce, you bastard. Make yourself useful. Damn you.”

“I will,” he still couldn’t finish off his laughter, and he’s starting to sweat because of trying so hard to stifle it. Mi Ja throws her slipper towards him and he skillfully dodges it. She throws another one, and J