CHANCE #FOUR
“Can we go on a date even when I can’t keep my promise?”

“Hae!!!”

Siwon shouts, asking Donghae to pass the ball to him.

Donghae just opened his eyes and he simply can’t believe this. He is holding the basketball. He has traveled back to the past. He is in the basketball match now.

“It’s for real…” He thinks to himself then he passes the ball to Siwon.

He then searches for Yoona and she is there with Sooyoung, cheering for the team.

It’s the last quarter of the match. The score is 64-64. It’s a tie and it’s just 1 minute left before it ends.

As Donghae runs towards the opponent team side, a flashback hits his mind.

…

Donghae and Yoona were walking together. They were heading home. They were the last students that came out from the school building. There was a heavy rain before. As always, ever since she started her highschool life, Yoona always forgot her umbrella while Donghae kindly gave his umbrella to his classmate. That way, the two waited for the rain to stop.

“Yoona-yah…”

“Eh?”

“Should we win on tomorrow’s final match…”

Donghae paused.

“Should we win…” He repeated while Yoona was waiting. “Would you like to go to watch a movie with me… I mean… hmmm…” Donghae is nervous. “Mmphhh… just the two of us… yeah…” Donghae stopped himself from walking. He was the one waiting for Yoona’s response right now.

Yoona was several steps in front of Donghae when she finally turned around and faced him. She was smiling.

“What if we lose then? Will you still want to go to watch movie with me?” Yoona questions him.

“Then I’ll promise you that I won’t lose. We won’t lose. There is no way we will lose tomorrow. I promise you.” Donghae answers.

“So that means… you are asking me to go on a date Haechi?” Haechi is Donghae’s nickname. It was created by Yoona long time ago. Only Yoona called him by that name.

Yoona bluntly asked and that caught Donghae off guard.

“Ahh… errr… mmphhh…” Donghae was too nervous to admit and he even avoided Yoona’s eyes while keeping his breathing steady.

“Well… sort of… keke.” He finally said it.

“Why only the two of us then? Shouldn’t we ask Kyunnie, Siwon, and Soo like usual if we want to celebrate?” Yoona asked another question that really annoyed Donghae.

“Don’t you figure it out, Yoona-yah?” Donghae asked himself. “I just wanted you and me this time.” He talked to himself.

“The reason is…” Donghae took a deep breath. “We don’t spend much time together like we used to do lately. So yeah, that’s why and besides, I have something to tell you.” There he mentioned his real purpose.

“What? Can’t you just say it now?” Yoona raised both of her eyebrows.

“Aigooo… this girl… is she acting too innocent right now?” Donghae asks himself again. He avoided Yoona’s gaze again. Donghae knew he was in a real trouble now. He couldn’t reply. He kept facing the ground, thinking about how he should respond this time.

When it was already like forever, Yoona gave up though, in a happy way.

“Haechi, let’s go on a date together then.”

Hearing that, Donghae automatically lifted his head to face Yoona.

“Neh…” Donghae replied shortly and then smiled before continuing walking home again.

…

“HAE!!!”

Siwon shouts again for Donghae, asking the latter to pass the ball to him. Donghae reads the sign very well as he passes the ball to Siwon and Siwon perfectly executes the plan as he scores 2 points. It’s about 40 seconds left when the opponent team is starting to make a counter attack.

Siwon tries to block one of his opponent team members but he fails. The ball is smoothly passed. The other opponent team member doesn’t waste his chance as he scores a 3 points shot.

It’s 67-66 for the opponent team.

It’s about 15 seconds left.

Yoona gets nervous. Sooyoung is biting her lips. Kyuhyun is anxious as well. It’s now their most precious chance. The ball is with Siwon now. It is 10 seconds left when Siwon passes the ball to Donghae. Right after receiving the ball, Donghae remembers how he failed at this very same moment. So now, Donghae tries his best to make the successful buzzer beat.

“I can’t fail this time.”

He tells himself.

“I should win.”

“I should score now with this second chance…” He is really determined.

It is only 3 seconds left when Donghae finally makes a 2 points shot. The time feels so slow when the ball is flying in the air. Everyone is waiting. Yoona, Sooyoung, and Kyuhyun can only hope the ball gets into the basket. Siwon and Donghae hopes for the same thing to happen.

“Please…” Donghae mumbles as he knows that he bets his confession on this chance now.

But the ball doesn’t get into the basket.

“YEAHHHHHH!!!”

“YESSSSS!!! YESSSS!!! WOOHOOOOOOO!!!”

“WOOOOOOOOO!!! YEAHHH!!!”

The winning scream is definetly not coming from Donghae’s team and the supporters. He completely fails again.

…

“You…” She answers.

“You are the cause of my death, Yoona-sshi.” She repeats.

Yoona is surprised but she finds herself trying to defend.

“What? Me? Listen… I have never killed you… I told you before that I don’t even know you. How can I kill you? I mean, how is it possible for me?”

“Then let me start my story by introducing myself so that you can understand the lesson about our bond.”

The tanned girl walks to the glass wall side. She stands against the beautiful view of Seoul. Yoona is behind her.

“My name is Kwon Yuri. You can call me Yuri if you want. I come from a very traditional, strict, and education-oriented family. Well… both of my parents are lecturers in KAIST.”

Yoona can only nod. She is actually getting impatient. She wants to know why this Kwon Yuri says she is the cause of her death.

“Like usual traditional Korean family, I was educated to talk in a very formal style, even to those who are younger than me. I should know how to cook Korean food. I should know how to sing Arirang in a proper way. I should learn all the traditional dances and instruments.”

Yuri pauses for a moment.

“It was tiring and frustrating for me you know. As I grew up older and become a teen, I felt like I’m isolated from the world. In one side, you can tell that my parents were worried about me… that I would be in trouble if they gave me too much freedom.”

“…”

“But from my perspective, it became a little too cruel that I couldn’t even befriend with my classmates. They choose everything for me. They even set me up on a blind date with an unknown guy.”

Yoona is starting to sympathize with Yuri’s life.

“And one day, I decided to run away from my house. I just can’t stand it anymore Yoona-sshi. They suddenly told me that I would be getting married to the great man that they thought would be a perfect husband. You see… they are so traditional.”

Yuri and Yoona don’t even move from where they stand before. Yuri keeps telling her story.

“So I ran. I wanted to look for my freedom. I wanted to look for things that I had been missing in my life, Yoona-sshi.”

She sounds like pleading right now as she is facing Yoona.

“And thanks God I found it.” Said Yuri.

“I was in the Incheon International Airport that day. I was planning to really get as far as I can be from my parents. I was planning to go to Japan that day to start a new life. I had been saving all my money before so I had enough at that time. Well, actually, it seems like they don’t care about it anymore. They felt like they never had a daughter like me because I was very rebellious. To be honest, I didn’t really care as well. I mean, I already had enough with all their treatments. I just wanted to run but someone canceled my plan.”

“Someone?” Yoona unconsciously mumbles.

“Neh… I met her at the airport. We met there.”

Yoona can see how Yuri’s eyes show some happiness.

“She was a Korean living in the USA and she came for a holiday. Somehow, we collided into each other. She was looking for a help that time. She never came to Korea before so she needed some guidance. I decided to help her and I forgot about my own flight. It was quite a long story so I’ll just say you the main point. I don’t know and why but simply say… I then fell in love with her.”

It shocks Yoona and Yuri notices that.

“Yoona-sshi… love is love… it just happened that I feel in love with a girl. I know that it is hard in our country but she responded my feelings and we started our forbidden relationship.”

“…”

“For a traditional Korean family like my parents, when they figured it out, they were really angry and furious. You see… everyone is struggling in this world and so am I. The worst thing was my parents even hunted us. They wanted to separate us because it was a shame for them. It supposed to be a holiday for her but we spent that time playing hide and seek with my parents instead.”

Yuri then starts walking around. Yoona follows her from behind.

“We were eventualy tired. We were exhausted and that was when I decided to give in. We gave up Yoona-sshi. I returned to my parents’ house.”

“Eh? You just left her like that?” Yoona wants to know more.

“Of course not. We were secretly seeing each other.” Yuri answers.

“In the period when we were trying to escape from my parents, we accidentally met her friend. The truth was, this guy supposed to pick her in the airport but when he arrived there, she was already gone. Well… she was already with me to be exact. This Korean-American girl lied actually when she said to me that she needed help after we collided at the airport. She had a friend in Korea and she initially would spend her holiday with him since they were close friends.”

“…”

“She admitted that she actually fell in love with me right after she saw me and thus she lied so she could be with me. It was crazy neh? It sounds so complicated but when it comes to love, you should prepare yourself to expect the unexpected things Yoona-sshi.”

Yoona keeps following Yuri’s steps. She doesn’t have any idea as to where this conversation will lead her to the fact that she is the cause of Yuri’s death.

“With the help of that friend of hers, we were still secretly dating. And one day… we planned to meet here, in the Seoul Tower.”

Yuri stops walking and she stands against the glass wall once again.

“I was late. She already waited here… in this room but I never came.”

Yoona can feel the sadness.

“W-why you didn’t come?” Yoona asks.

“I died on my way Yoona-sshi.” Yuri says and Yoona doesn’t realize that her tears have come out. Hearing that is enough to make her cry, assuming that she is the cause.

“So… do you understand now? This place is my heaven. It may be meaningless for you but this place is very meaningful to me. It is my heaven. You are in my heaven. This is not yours.”

…

The sport hall is not as noisy as before.

Only the basketball team from Yoona’s school is there. Everyone looks sad. Everyone is in the one side of the court except the captain. The captain, aka Donghae, is on the other side of the court. He is sitting alone, looking at the floor. He is in front of the opponent team’s basket.

Yoona notices that lonely boy so she walks towards him.

“Haechi…”

Yoona calls from his back.

Donghae knows who is coming so he stands up. He remembers this scene very much. Yoona will say something that will break his heart. It is right before the team takes the photo together. He turns his body. They are facing each other.

“Aigooo… what are you doing here? Join with the team Hae-ah. You are the captain after all.” Yoona speaks first.

Donghae doesn’t remember this line. “Doesn’t she say a heartbreaking line to me?” Donghae thinks to himself.

“Yah… come on…” Yoona walks closer and even grabs Donghae’s hand to pull him with her but Donghae doesn’t let himself. He is still confused.

“Yoona-yah…”

That call from Donghae stops Yoona. She releases her hand from his hand. They are still facing each other. They are just closer this time.

“I’m sorry.” Said Donghae.

“I’m really sorry for losing and for not keeping my promise to you.” He continues and he indeed feels really guilty. He can’t think of any other words. He is just really guilty. He was the one making the promise that their team will win but he was the one causing the team to lose.

“So… have you given up just like that?” Yoona means another thing here actually. She talks about the other promise. It’s not about winning or not. It’s about the date for sure but Donghae can’t sense it.

Donghae is speechless, unable to come up with something.

“But you always do this though… keke.” Yoona smiles with a sad expression actually. She smiles bitterly.

“Haechi-ah… you always can’t keep your promise to me so actually I have expected this to happen. It’s always hard for me to believe in your promise.” Yoona continues and this is it. This is the heartbreaking line that Donghae remembers. To Yoona, he is always an incapable person. There are too many examples where he can’t keep his promises to Yoona and Yoona is 100% correct.

“Why you should promise if you always fail to fulfill it?!” Yoona can’t hold her tears. Not that she is crying badly. It’s just some little drops but it’s more than enough to slice Donghae’s heart into pieces.

They are staring at each other’s eyes.

“Well… it doesn’t matter to me though. You are Lee Donghae for a reason and things like this make you Donghae… kekeke. Now let’s go, we should take a picture together with the team.”

Yoona then turns around and Donghae remembers again that he just lets her go. He is speechless that time but he doesn’t want to be the same Donghae this time.

With the second chance he is given, Donghae doesn’t want the same thing to happen. He comes here for a reason. He comes here to change this. He should say something at least.

“Yoona…” Donghae finally shouts.

Yoona wipes her tears before turning around to face Donghae again.

“Say it Lee Donghae!” Donghae orders himself.

“Would you… would you give me another chance?”

There he says it.

“I won’t give up easily… so please… give me another chance…”

“Neh…” Yoona smiles and simply answers him.

“And about the date… can we still go to watch a movie together?”

And this stuns Yoona. She never thinks that Donghae will say this to her even though she hopes that Donghae will. For her, she is actually annoyed with Donghae’s request the day before. She hates it when Donghae bet their date on the match. Date is a date and match is a match for Yoona.

“Why should Donghae think that winning is everything? Why should they date only when they win?”

This is what bothers Yoona’s mind since the previous day.

“Yah… answer me…” Donghae is really nervous actually.

“I think I don’t have another option but to say… yes we can, kekeke.” And Yoona smiles and Donghae as well.

“YAH!!! HOW LONG WILL YOU TWO BE THERE!!!” Sooyoung shouts from the other side and Yoona and Donghae quickly join the team.

They are lining up to take a photo.

“Ten seconds everyone…” Kyuhyun informs when he is setting the self-timer. After that, he joins the line and when the picture is taken with the “click” sound and the light, Donghae feels his body is being pulled again by the light. He feels like being swallowed by the light. Everything happens so fast. He is turning around here and there and everything becomes black again.

…

Story always has many perspectives.

Like this one.

In a very peaceful Sunday, it was spring that time. Yoona was in a hurry. She was late for her date with Nichkhun. She was coming out from a mall. She just had a lunch with Sooyoung, Donghae, Siwon, and Kyuhyun. She was looking for a cab now to hit another mall where she’ll meet Nichkhun. In front of the main gate of the mall, there was an empty cab and she decided to take it. She was running when another girl suddenly appeared in front of the taxi.

“Excuse me…” Yoona said when she arrived and the tanned girl was about to enter the cab.

“Neh?” The tanned girl replied.

“Can I take this taxi? I was in a hurry. I know it’s very selfish but…” Yoona couldn’t continue. She just wished that the tanned girl would understand.

The tanned girl looked hesitant. She was already late as well. She would have a date with her girlfriend as well.

However, knowing that her girlfriend would be understanding, the tanned girl decided to help Yoona.

“Well… ok then.”

“Really? Thank you so much. Really… thank you.”

“Neh, it’s ok. I can take the next one.” The tanned girl replied and with that Yoona took the cab and went to the place where Nichkhun was already waiting. Yoona said numerous “thank you” before leaving and the tanned girl only smile.

Now, from the other perspective, a tanned girl was on her way to the Seoul Tower. She would have a secret date with her lover. She took a cab in front of a mall. She just bought a present for her lover, a pink and cute teddy bear. Suddenly, before closing the cab door, a girl who looked like in a hurry, stopped her. The very pretty girl asked her to let her took the taxi. This tanned girl didn’t have the heart to disappoint this pretty girl so she let her took the taxi.

After that, the tanned girl waited for another taxi. The next taxi came. She entered the cab and then she moved from the mall towards the Seoul Tower.

On her way, she called her girlfriend.

“I’m sorry I’m late.”

“Neh… it’s ok. Just be safe.” The girl on the other line replied.

“Neh… arasso… by the way, I bought you a present.”

“Really? Aigooo… you make me impatient to meet you, keke. Tell me what is it?”

“It’s a surprise.” The tanned girl replied again and this is the last sentence of her life before the cab she was in got in an accident. There was a big truck suddenly passed in front of the cab. The taxi driver pressed the brake really hard and the wheel was slipped. The street was wet. There was a rain before. But the taxi only fully stopped after hitting the big truck. The driver and the passenger died at the moment.

“Neh…?! What is that? YAHHHH!!! YAHHHHHH?!!!” The girl who was waiting in the Seoul Tower screamed but there was no reply. The long “beep” sound was what she heard next.

Story has many perspectives.

Like this one.

The other one ended up with Yoona and Nichkhun had a perfect date. The other one ended up in a hospital room, the room for the dead bodies. The staffs were checking and finally they found the identity of the tanned girl.

Her name is Kwon Yuri.

…

“Now… do you understand why you were the cause of my death?”

Yuri asks Yoona after telling her the stories that ties the two of them.

“Ahhhh…” Yoona speaks in a very low tone. She is crying even more now.

…

Donghae opens his eyes again.

He is already in Yoona’s hospital room. Nichkhun is there, he is moving already. Sooyoung is still eating. Siwon is beside her. Kyuhyun and Seohyun are outside, looking for some drinks.

Everything is normal again.

“Am I just dreaming?” He talks to himself.

He is opening the photo album. He is seeing the photo one by one and one photo suddenly shocks him.

“It changes…”

He almost shouts. The others are shocked as well.

“Yah… Lee Donghae!!!” Sooyoung protests.

“What’s wrong Hae?” Nichkhun asks.

Siwon only gives a question mark expression.

“Aniyooo… sorry… I’m ok.” Donghae cooly replies. He rubs his eyes to prove that his eyes don’t deceive him. The photo has changed.

The photo of their basketball team after the match has really changed and Yoona doesn’t look sad right now. She is smiling happily. He tries to remember whether they go on a date or not but it seems like he can't remember about the date.

“Did I correct my mistake that time?”

Donghae asks himself and suddenly the room turns darker again and everyone freezes. Jessica appears out of nowhere.

“I think so.” Jessica answers Donghae’s self-question.

“You indeed have changed something Donghae-sshi. But it seems like it isn’t enough to change things at the present time. Only the photo that has changed after all. She is still not yours.” Jessica continues.

“Is that so?” Donghae sounds weak.

“But you still have a lot of chances.”

“Really?” Donghae asks Jessica.

“Yes you do… the problem is, will you use the chance properly Donghae-sshi?”

Donghae ponders about it. Can he really use the chance properly? He doesn’t know the answer as well.

“I don’t know Jessica-sshi. I’ll just try my best. By the way, did we really go on a date?”

"Neh, you did."

"Did I confess to her that time?"

"Unfortunately no, you didn't Donghae-sshi. It was just a friendly date. Therefore I remind you to use your chance wisely next time."

"Ahhh... I see." Donghae replies.

“I’ll pray for you then. See you again.”

With that being said, Jessica disappears and the room comes back to normal state. Everyone is having their own activities and Donghae is opening another page.

After several photos, his eyes finally catch another intriguing photo.

“What’s with this photo?”

He says to himself before asking the help from Siwon and Sooyoung.

“Siwon-ah, Sooyoungie, do you know the reasons why Yoona looked sad in this photo?” Donghae offers the photo album and points the photo he is talking about. Nichkhun is actually curious but he decides to be silent.

Siwon and Sooyoung observe the photo carefully but they look clueless as well.

“I wonder why Hae… I can’t recall this as well. Sorry.” Sooyoung gives up.

“Same here. Sorry bro.” Siwon adds his statement.

“Neh, thank you.” Donghae takes back the photo album. He is still thinking about it. He wanted to change that face of Yoona again. He hates it so much but he can’t remember what happened that time.

“What I did wrong that time?!”

~TODAY IS A SPECIAL DAY FOR YOONA~

It was her birthday.

It was her 10th birthday.

The party was almost over. Her other friends and families are one by one going home now.

Donghae didn’t show up yet.

“Neh… I’ll bring you the biggest present ever… I promise you.”

That’s what Donghae promised to Yoona a week before. But today, He didn’t even show up. Where was he? Why he didn’t come? Yoona wanted to know.

Yoona didn’t look very happy indeed in the party. She just plainly smiled.

It wasn’t the first time Donghae didn’t keep his promise. But today, it was her birthday and it was so annoying for Yoona that Donghae didn’t even come.

Only when it almost reached 12.00 pm, in the midnight, together with his grandmother, Donghae came to Yoona’s house. They came with a cab. The cab was waiting outside. Yoona’s parents were very welcome as they knew Yoona was waiting for Donghae all the time.

But Donghae didn’t bring the biggest present he had promised to Yoona. He only brought a cake.

“Yoona-yah… happy birthday…”

Little Donghae said.

Even though she was still pissed off, Yoona smiled and then blew the candles over the cake.

“Thank you Hae…” And suddenly Yoona threw the cake onto Donghae’s face.

“Kekekekekeke… kekekekeke…” Yoona laughed only to get revenged by Donghae.

“Treat you well Yoona-yah… keke…”

Donghae’s grandmother and Yoona’s parents couldn’t do anything. They just let the kids played together.

“You look like the cartoon character Hae… kekeke… you look like Haechi… hahahaha…”

And Haechi became Donghae’s nickname that time and only Yoona called him by that name.

Donghae was ready to go home now.

“Bye Yoona-yah. See you at school. Good night uncle, auntie.”

Donghae bowed together with his lovable grandmother.

Yoona and her parents replied the bows.

“Neh… see you Haechi and from now on… I hope you can keep your promise to me…”

“Arasso…” Donghae bitterly smiled while replying.

He was sad because he couldn’t keep his promise to Yoona. They left with the taxi finally with Yoona being clueless about what happened to Donghae before today.

There was a reason why Donghae couldn’t keep his promise.

His parents came today. He knew they would come so he ran from his house. Well, his parents came not to take Donghae with them and Donghae knew that. They just did what they called “regular inspection”. So Donghae avoided them. He came back when they had gone. He hated them. He didn’t want to see them. Frankly, he didn’t even know how they look like in real life. He only saw them in pictures. He didn’t really know them. Thus, he decided to completely forget about them. He thanked his grandmother for protecting him.

To him, his one and only family was his grandmother.

**********

A/N
Sorry for the very slow update... Thank you everyone. Hope you like this messy chapter ;p