Ha-Neul's POV:
"Hello, this is Kim Ha-Neul speaking."
"Hello Ha-Neul, can you come with me?"
"Jae-Hwa?" I asked to ensure that I'm not dreaming.
I heard him sigh, "Yeah, it's me."
"Hey, you all right?"
He asked coldly, "Can you just come with me?." In his voice, I can feel sadness.
"Please..."
"Okay, I'm on my way..." I said and ended the call.
"Hee-Kyung, I'm going somewhere. I don't know how long but, I'll make sure to text you my whereabouts," I smiled at him and went to my room to get dressed. After that, I started the car immediately and went to the park where Jae-Hwa told me to meet him. A few minutes later, I arrived and saw Jae-Hwa in a black hoodie and sweatpants. "Is something wrong?" I sat on the bench beside him. "I wanna go out but, Jinho said that he couldn't go out with me since he's busy. So you're coming with me," He suddenly held my hand and pulled me towards his car. I sat on the shotgun and didn't complain since I think he's going through a very rough situation and needs company.
"Where are we going?" I asked as I tried to pull the seat belt's metal latch. "You'll figure it out when we're already there," he said, getting ready to drive the steering wheel while I, on the other hand, is struggling to pull the seatbelt. "Is this glued to the car?" I thought to myself. "Here, let me,"
He successfully pulled out the metal latch, and on his way to buckling it, our gazes met. I can feel my heartbeat racing from nervousness. Yes, nervousness.
I cleared my throat that made him proceed to buckle my seat belt. The whole ride felt awkward as hell; neither one of us started to open a topic. Finally, after a few minutes of silence, it was broken by me gasping in excitement when I saw where's our destination. "OMG! Why didn't you tell me that we're going to the Amusement Park!" I said in excitement as I hurriedly went out of the car.
We bought our entrance tickets and explored the whole Amusement Park. "Which ride would you like to try first?" he asked. "You invited me here, so you chose first," I smiled and looked around the different rides. Finally, he decided that we should ride the Merry-Go-Round first. For the first time, I finally saw him genuinely being happy. He might be cold outside, but this time, I saw his soft side. We rode the Merry-Go-Round separately to take pictures of each other. In each up and downs of the wax horse, he laughed in excitement like a kid who just got his candy.
"Smile!" I said as I took a shot of him. He finally went off the ride and went to me. "Let me see," I showed him the photographs, and he was satisfied with it. "You should go there too. I will also take some pictures of you," Jae-Hwa pushed me towards the gate. I did what he said, and I admit, he can be a very great photographer. I look good in every shot that he took. After that, we got some ice cream and decided what ride we should try next. "So, what's the next ride that you'd like to try?" I thought and, of course, became considerate in choosing because of my condition.
The day went terrific. We tried the canal boats, dunk tanks, bump cars, ate some pretzels, and many more. It's nearly 6:22 in the afternoon, so we decided to go for one last ride. As we entered the cart, the Ferris Wheel slowly started to move. The beautiful sunset made the moment even more memorable. Jae-Hwa tapped my arm and told me to smile at the camera. He took a picture of us in the cart with the sunset behind us. It was lovely of him to capture the moment of our first hang-out together.
I thanked him as he accompanied me to the park where my car is parked.
"Hey, thanks for today," I told him as we're going towards my car. "Yea, no worries," he again smiled. "You know what, I think you should wear that smiled more often. It suits you," I smiled back. "Ha-Neul Uhm-,"
"Hee-Kyung?" He looked behind him in confusion. I called Hee-Kyung once more, and this time he noticed me. Hee-Kyung and his 'friend' went towards us and asked us what we were doing in the park at this time are. "What are you doing here?" I asked. "Oh, I'm with my friend," he pointed to his friend right beside him. "Hi, I'm Ha-Neul!" I bowed with a bright smile. She bowed back and introduced herself. "Hello, I'm Park Hyun-Ae!" "How about you? What are you doing here?" Hee asked. I pointed at Jae-Hwa, and he introduced himself. "Hi, I'm Jung Jae-Hwa, Ha-Neul's friend," "Oh, so you're Jae-Hwa that Ha-Neul's talking about?" Hee-Kyung grinned. I gave him a death glare as I already knew what he's up."You're talking about me?" Jae-Hwa said in shock and pointed at himself. I shook my head and denied everything that Hee-Kyung told him. "Goodbye, see you on Monday!" I shoved him inside of his car to avoid Hee-Kyung from giving him false information again. I once again glared at Hee-Kyung after Jung-Hwa left. "YAHHH!! I'm going to kill you once we got home," I whispered as I passed beside him.
"My 10 months love" I woke up to the sound of my alarm playing one of my favourite songs. I decided to be productive today, so I immediately turned it off and got ready for school. I took a hot bath and wore my uniform. "Ugh, this skirt is so short," I complained as I looked at myself in the mirror.
While eating, I heard a car horn beeping from outside. "Ms Ha-Neul, someone's finding you," the maid said; that got me confused. I didn't remember telling Sunoo to drive me to school today, and he's my only classmate who knows where I live. "Can you please invite him? Thank you," I said and continued with my meal. Mom suddenly asked me, "Do you have an idea about your visitor Ha-Neul?" "Nope," A few moments later, I heard Hee-Kyung saying, "Yo! What's up!" I looked back and saw none other than...
"Jae-Hwa?" I heard my mother ask. "Auntie Hae-Jin?" my mother went to him and gave her a big embrace. Uhm, I don't understand. What's happening? I thought to myself. "Mom, you two know each other?" I asked. "Yes, dear, your father and his father are friends. Haven't you met him before we moved to the states?" "I don't remember," "Uhm, auntie. Can I bring your daughter to school now?" he asked. Wait, what? "Bye, mom," I kissed my mother's cheek and went with Jae-Hwa but wait, how did he know my address? We finally arrived at the school. As we enter the gate, Jae-Hwa's fangirls started to surround the car like zombies in a zombie apocalypse. Well, I didn't know that he was THIS popular! "Hey, I opened an Instagram account," he casually said as he parked the car. "Really? I thought you want to keep your life private?" I asked as I took my seatbelt off. "I don't know? Just for a change, I guess?" he chuckled. "Well, that's good. I'm proud of your character development, my friend," I tapped his back and chuckled. "How do we get out?" I said and looked at his fangirls through the tinted window. "Just walk?" he said. "Are you nuts? Your fangirls are crazy, and I bet that once I get out of this car, I won't make it alive." I sighed when he said, "Walk, I'll handle it. Trust me." "1. 2. 3. RUN!" Jae-Hwa grabbed my hand as soon as we got out of his car. I looked back and saw his fangirls chasing us like dogs who didn't eat for months.
We finally got into our classroom, and people stared at us as we walked in. Then, I noticed that his hand was still holding mine, so I quickly pulled my hand back and sat in my seat. "Ha-Neul, have you seen this?" Sunwoo asked, showing the picture that Jae-Hwa took in the Amusement Park. "Oh yea, that's when Jae-Hwa and I went to the Amusement Park and-" "Yah! Jae-Hwa, you went out with my Bestie?" Sunwoo asked with widening eyes. Is he okay? "Don't be so OA. I'm a human too. I need to go out," Sunwoo lightly scoffed and said, "What a dumb excuse,"
The whole day was chaos. Everyone in the school was talking about the picture that Jae-Hwa uploaded on Instagram. Like, can't they respect what a person post on social media? This issue is giving me a headache.
I went to the building's rooftop to find some peace. It's windy up here, so it fits the mood of the orange sun. I took my phone and earphones to listened to Some by Bol4. This song gives me a happy vibe, and I like the meaning of the lyrics. It's about giving your full attention to the person you love.
"Hey," I opened my eyes and saw a girl in front of me. I smiled and greeted, "Hello," "So, is this also your rest place," she was referring to the rooftop. "It's my first time here. I'm a new student here," I smiled as she sat beside me on the bench. I faced her and introduced myself, "I'm Kim Ha-Neul, by the way,"
"Min Yoona,"
She looked at her wristwatch and was shocked by the time, "Oh my God! I need to go to my next class, see you soon, Ha-Neul!" she hurriedly ran towards the rooftop exit.
The day has finally ended, Sunwoo invited me, Jinho, and Jae-Hwa to hang out at the cafe to relax and get to know each other more. While walking, I can't help but smile at the girl that I met earlier. She looks like an angel in disguise. Sunwoo dogged my arm lightly, "Bestie, what are you thinking? You seemed to be happy," "Oh, it's nothing. I just remembered the girl that I met earlier at the rooftop," I replied. "What's her name?" Jinho suddenly asked.
"Min Yoona,"
The three of them abruptly stopped their tracks. "M-min Yoona?" Sunwoo stuttered with eyes open wide. "Yes...is there any problem with that?" Jinho clung his arm onto mine and said, "Nothing, We just didn't like her name," he smiled widely and skipped with me towards the cafe.
Jae-Hwa's POV:
"Bro, she's back," Jinho stated as he leaned against the glass barrier of my balcony. "And?" I asked coldly and took a sip of my grape juice. "Oh, come on, Jae-Hwa, I know you still care," the jerk teased. "Past is past, and it never comes back," "Past my ass, just admit that you're now in love with somebody else. To be specific, you're in love with Ha-Neul," he smirked. "You've been asking me that for days. So what's the catch," I raised one of my eyebrows. "Nothing," he shook his head and chuckled.
The next day I went to Ha-Neul's house to pick her up for school. The maids said that her friend already fetched her, so there's no need. So it must've been Sunoo who drove her to school. As expected, Another day. Another chaos. I parked my car and saw Ha-Neul getting out of a vehicle. So it wasn't Sunoo who picked her up. It was
My phone suddenly rang, and it was Jinho calling me,
"Hello,"
"Dude, Yoona's with Ha-Neul," he alarmingly said.
"Yeah, I know. I just saw Ha-Neul here at the parking space," I continued to trail my sight towards Ha-Neul.
"Hey, I'll end the call. Bye," I placed my phone in my pocket and got out of the car.
"Ha-Neul!" I blocked their way and took Ha-Neul's hand from Yoona. "Hey, I would like you to meet-" I didn't let her finish her sentence. "We're going to be late. Let's go," I pulled her away from Yoona and went to our classroom. I can't let Ha-Neul meet that psycho again.
"Jae-Hwa, it's still early," she complained as we arrived at the classroom. "At least we're not going to be late," she rolled her eyes with annoyance, "Really? Now, you're the one who cares about being early. As far as I can remember, you were that arrogant student who's always late." she sat down. "People change," I stated and sat on my seat.
Sunwoo's POV:
"Hi, Sunoo," I heard an annoying voice call behind me. When I said that voice is annoying, I mean it. "What do you want," I replied without glancing at her. "Don't you miss me? I was away for years. I can't believe that you already forgot about me," she clung her arm onto my arm. "Stay away from me," I sternly said and pulled my arm away from her. "Don't you dare stay close to my friends and me. Or else you'll get double of what you deserve." I glared at her and went to my classroom.
I can't believe her. She has the Audacity to come back after what she's done to us. I will never forgive her.
"Hey, Bestie. Are you okay?" Ha-Neul reached out to me as soon as I entered the room. "Yes, I'm okay," I gave her a big smile to assure her that everything is fine. "By the way, when's the party?" I asked, diverting the topic. "Oh, it will be this Friday. I'll just give y'all the invitations tomorrow,"
It is now lunchtime, and I went to the soccer fields to relieve my stress. Kicking the ball made me reminisce when Jae-Hwa, Jinho, and I were still close with each other. We would often run to the fields and go to the park after school. I was a jerk for ruining that friendship just because of a girl. I hated myself for that, and my life became a tunnel of darkness. I know it's not evident because of how I act but, deep inside me, I was hurting. I miss those times, but now that I have them back along with Ha-Neul, I will never be that fool jerk again. I'm happy to say that...
I already found my light, and those are my friends.
"Bestie!!" My thoughts were interrupted by Ha-Neul calling me. I went to her and saw that she was carrying two cones of vanilla ice cream. "Here you go," she said and handed me one cone. "Thanks," I replied and proceeded to eat.
"I'm done. Let's go?" Ha-Neul nodded and stood up. "Bestie, have you ever been in love before?" she asked and intertwined her arm to mine. "Why did you ask?" she sighed. "I don't know. I'm just curious. I forgot how it feels to be in love," she bitterly smiled. "Why? Did something happened?" "Well...I'm forbidden to feel immense love. You see, when I was 8 years old, I got into a car accident with Hee-Kyung, and because of that, I had Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy or more known as broken heart syndrome. I healed pretty quickly, but I really need to avoid stressful situations that can trigger it. So that's why I can't be involved in any relationships," she finished. "Wow, I didn't know that you went through that. I really should take of you," she giggled and lightly punched my arm. "Well, it is really stressful but, when you feel being in love, you also feel a rush of different emotions. So I think for your condition, it's worth it to love someone when you're already sure that he's truly the one." she smiled at me and I smiled back, everything was going great when suddenly...
"Ha-Neul!" she removed her arm from mine and went to the girl who called her. "Minha?! Is that you?" she ran towards the girl and hugged her. "Oh my gosh! I missed you!" Minha replied. "It's been years since we've last met. I didn't know you study here." Ha-Neul said. "By the way, Minha, this is Park Sunwoo, and he's my Bestie. Sunwoo, this is Jang Minha. She's my childhood friend." "Ha-Neul, I already know Sunwoo." Minha chuckled. "Wait, how?" she asked back with furrowed eyebrows. "Ha-Neul, I know that you transferred here last week, and you're at the same class with Sunwoo. I can't approach you because did you realized that all of your friends are so damn popular? I will be burrowed alive before I even approach you," Minha laughed.
Another person was added to the squad. Minha. I realized that Minha was also a bubbly girl like Ha-Neul, and she is still in 11th grade. The day ended, and we all decided to celebrate and welcome Minha to the squad by going to a hot pot place near the school.
"Hello, I'm Jang Minha." Minha introduced herself before she took a bite. "I'm Jinho," "I'm Sunwoo," "Jae-Hwa's the name," "Ha-Neul, I still can't believe that you're friends with them," Minha said in excitement and disbelief. "Chill, it's just me," Jinho arrogantly said. "So, how did you two became friends, by the way?" I asked. "Oh, we became friends when our parents meet up. Actually, there are three of us. Me, Ha-Neul, and..." "and?"
"I forgot the name of the other guy that we're friends with before," she said and continued with her meal. "Yea, me too...but, I remember that I used to call him Mosh," Ha-Neul's smile went up to her ears. I suppose that it's her first love?
The 5 of us bid goodbye to each other. Ha-Neul asked me if I could drive her home since Hee-Kyung was busy. I opened the car's door for her and started going. As the vehicle moved, my thoughts suddenly became curious about something. "Ha-Neul, do you still receive roses and letters in your locker?" I asked. "Oh, about that. I haven't checked my locker today. Maybe tomorrow?" she giggled. "I'm sleepy," she yawned and drifted off to sleep. The mysterious guy plays in my mind almost every day. I'm worried about Ha-Neul because this might bring her to an unpleasant situation.
"Bestie, wake up," I shook her body lightly to wake her up. But, unfortunately, she's in a deep sleep, so I chose to carry her instead. "Is she heavy?" Hee-Kyung Hyung asked as he saw me entering the mansion with his sister in my arms. "No, not that much," I smiled and asked where Ha-Neul's room. Hee-Kyung Hyung showed me the way. I thanked him when he opened the door for me.
To be honest, Ha-Neul's room is pretty simple for a rich heir like her. The room's interior was full of pastel and light colors, making the whole space relaxing and stress-free. While wandering my eyes around, I saw that she has some of our pictures that we took hanged on the wall. What got my jaw hanging down is, she has a photo of a girl and a boy framed on her bedside table, the boy was smiling, and the girl was grumpy. According to my observation, the little girl was Ha-Neul. "It's her first love," Hee-Kyung Hyung said out of nowhere. He must've known that I was curious about the little boy. "Wanna go to the rooftop? I can tell you more things about Ha-Neul," he said as he glanced over to his sister's sleeping figure. "Sure,"
Hyung and I sat on the folding chairs and talked about Ha-Neul's childhood. "So, What happened in your guy's childhood?" I asked. "Well, I wasn't that close to Ha-Neul before because I envy her." he chuckled. "Mom and Dad would always give her attention because she's the youngest. But, I became closer to her when we got caught in a car accident with our past driver," I looked at Hyung, and I can see the sadness in his dark orbs. "It was a rainy day, and we were running late for school while driving; the breaks suddenly didn't work, and we were caught in an accident with another car. I had surgery that time, but as for Ha-Neul, it was worse than I thought. She suffered from Amnesia and Takutsubo Cardiomyopathy-" "Wait, hold up, she also had amnesia? She didn't open that up to me. All I knew was she had Cardiomyopathy. Maybe that's why she can't remember some from her childhood, am I right?" Hyung nodded and continued. "Yep, and that's also the reason why I got closer to her. After that incident, I wanted to be a perfect brother for her. I wanted to be that brother who always got her back," he smiled as he looked up at the red-orange sky. "Promise me that you will take care of her while I'm not around. Not as a friend. But as a brother," I nodded and promised. "I will, you don't have to tell me that Hyung, I will protect her no matter what,"
Ha-Neul's POV:
I woke up in my room and wondered how I got in here when I slept in Sunwoo's car. I just shrugged my thoughts and took a quick shower since it's already nighttime. After taking a shower, I went to the rooftop to check on my brother but to my surprise...
"Oh, Hey Ha-Neul! The view's nice up here!" Jinho waved and shouted as I opened the door. "What are you guys doing here?" I asked. "I told Sunwoo to invited some of your friends here." I smiled and joined them at the table. Sunwoo pulled me a chair and gave me some juice. "Thanks," "Let's play something," Sunwoo said, "Sure, what game?" I asked. "Truth or Dare!" "That's a great idea!" Hee-Kyung agreed. "Okay, I'm in," Jae-Hwa arrogantly remarked. The tip of the bottle pointed a Hee-Kyung as its end pointed at me, "Truth or Dare?" I asked. "Truth," "Okay, so...what do you think of Sunhee," I smirked and looked at Sunwoo, who was shocked at my question. "Well, Sunhee is nice and cute. That's all," I rolled my eyes at his short answer. He really knows how to play this game. A few spins have passed, and it's finally my turn. "Ha-Neul, are you attracted to someone at the moment?" Jinho asked. Attracted? "Well, no. My heart belongs to someone else, and I will wait for him to back no matter how long it takes,"
"It's getting late now. Y'all can sleep here if you want. You can sleep in my room. I have 3 extra beds there," Hee-Kyung insisted. "How about our clo-" "I have extra clothes, and you can use my old uniforms for tomorrow. I graduated in Hanlim, so there's nothing to worry about," "I don't have any problems with that," Jinho shrugged his shoulders and went with Hee-Kyung. After we all got settled, we greeted each other a goodnight and called it a day.
I woke up hearing the loud rain pouring outside. I looked at my phone and saw that I'm SO DAMN LATE FOR SCHOOL! I immediately dressed up and hurried out of my room. "Hey, where are you going?" Sunwoo asked as he saw me hurriedly running down the staircase. "We have classes!" the four of them laughed at me, leaving me dumbfounded. "Chill, classes are suspended today. The teachers had a nationwide conference and decided to suspend the classes for today," Jae-Hwa explained with his classic cold tone. I crossed my arms and complained, "Why didn't you inform me about this?"
"Uhh...because we don't want to disturb your sleep, you're highness," Hee shoved me into my room. "Sis, go change. We're going somewhere with your friends," "Really? Where?" "To the mall, hurry up," hearing those words brought heat into my system; excitement started to rush through my whole body. Finishing my outfit, I heard footsteps coming towards my door. "Let's go; Hee-Kyung Hyung is waiting downstairs with the others," Jae-Hwa casually said as he opened the door while doing something with his phone. "Oh yea, I'm nearly done. I just can't find where's my beret," I looked around my cabinet, scattering through the pile of clothes. "Here's-" he stopped his speech after he saw the framed picture on my bedside table, "Who's this?" he asked, picking the photo frame. "It's my childhood friend and me. He's the one that I'm referring to at the resto last day," I took my beret from him, and we finally left the room. On our way down, noises started to echo throughout the whole area. A familiar voice encouraged me to run faster, and suddenly...
To be continued...