19th☀

Sarang

After we had fun at the beach, Mijoo acted a little... weirdly. She didn't tell me exactly what was going on, but I knew she would tell me sooner or later. That was for sure. 

We all headed back to the pension shortly after to freshen ourselves up and get changed into more comfortable clothing. Once we did, I rested on my bed, composing a new e-mail for Dad. I had a lot to share with him, excluding all the moments I've had with Hansol. That would be kept a secret. 

"Had a lovely date with Hansol today at the beach, Sarang?" Mijoo teased as she entered the room, coming out from the bathroom. She took a seat on her bed and lied down. 

"What?" My cheeks started changing colour. Sometimes it can betray me whenever I didn't want to be obvious. 

Mijoo saw them and grinned. "Aw, look at you. Should I expect a wedding by the beach? Seems romantic, no?"

"No?" I answered back, unsure. Let's not think that far into the future, Sarang. That was obviously too far into the future. 

"I'll leave it to you, then."

Thank you. 

"Oh, by the way," Mijoo said, catching my attention again. I looked at her. "We're going to the market in a few. Seungkwan's dad is taking us and we'll be looking at a few other stores."

I looked at the wall clock hanging nearby. It was only five in the afternoon. "Oh, sure. What about dinner then?"

"Uncle will bring us to a restaurant nearby. It's owned by his good friend so we'll probably get discounts?" Mijoo suggested, shrugging before she picked up her dirty clothes and threw it into the hamper. "Let's wait downstairs."

I stood up from my bed after sending the e-mail to Dad and nodded. "Okay, I'm ready. Let's go. Are the others also following?"

"We're eating dinner outside, Sarang. Of course they will be," Mijoo told me, like it was obvious. 

"Oh." I couldn't help but feel embarrassed. If someone noticed the redness of my cheeks, I can finally tell them it isn't because of a certain boy making me feel this way, but because I was embarrassed currently. 

Downstairs was empty. Mijoo and I were the only souls wandering around aimlessly to find something good to do. Since there wasn't anything, we just sat down in the living room, talking to each other. 

Mijoo had her legs crossed on the couch located in front of the TV—like the usual. She whispered, "I'm thinking of doing it."

I looked at her. "Do what?"

"You know," she said, "the mini concert thing. Yejun oppa seems to agree too."

"He agreed?" I couldn't help but grin in response. For both response. I was happy she was thinking of finally singing in front of an audience, and also because Yejun was going to be there right by her side when it happens. 

"Yeah," Mijoo answered, scrunching her nose. "I'm honestly nervous for it. You know how I am. I'm scared and shy."

"It'll be okay, Mijoo. Yejun oppa will be there to help you," I assured her, holding her by her hands. 

The front door suddenly opened and the empty place was no more. "Ayo ladies!"

"Seungkwan," Mijoo muttered. Her back was facing the front door, but it seemed like she didn't even need to glance at the door to know who it was. 

Seungkwan's eyes landed on us and he smiled, walking towards us. "Hello girls! Are you two ready to go out?"

I smiled back. "Yes, we are. Just waiting for the time we actually do."

"How about my grumpy cousin? Is she ready?" Seungkwan teased, trying to search for Mijoo's face. 

"Why are you being so noisy at this moment, huh?" she asked him, trying to give him a smack on the head but Seungkwan quickly moved back. "Hey! That was not fair."

Seungkwan stuck his tongue out. "What wasn't? You're just too slow to catch me, Kwon Mijoo."

Mijoo rolled her eyes in return. "Whatever comes to your mind. What time are we going out? I'm getting bored waiting around."

"Soon, soon..." Seungkwan replied. He glanced at the direction of the stairs and asked, "Where are the others? Are they still not coming down?"

"I don't know," Mijoo answered. "Should I call them? Or should you, since you're a guy? I don't want to barge in on an awkward moment."

"What exactly do you have in mind when you think of 'awkward moment'?" Seungkwan asked teasingly. "Something... dirty?"

Mijoo threw a small pillow at his face. "No! What is wrong with you, Boo Seungkwan? Gosh!"

Seungkwan ended up laughing heartily, clutching his stomach when he did. "You should have seen your face, Mijoo! It was priceless!" 

I couldn't help but admire their closeness. Now if only I was this close to my cousins. 

Mijoo rolled his eyes at him. "Whatever, Seungkwan. How's Younghui unnie doing at grandma's place, by the way?"

"Noona? She's doing fine. She's hanging out with her friends a lot," Seungkwan replied after laughing heartily. 

"That's great to hear," Mijoo replied, leaning back comfortably. 

Meanwhile, I was busy thinking. Usually, people who often had a past together and decided it'd be best to break it off, wouldn't they be fine together? Or maybe I was just being delusional. I mean, look at Mijoo and Hwiyoung. They weren't fine. They broke it off and even agreed to be strangers. 

Maybe it was for their own good. Their love was like a drug to them—the bad type. If they fall for each other too much, they'd only get each other hurt. So it would be best for them to end things. 

"I'll go and call the guys. You guys head into the mini van. It's parked outside," Seungkwan told us before he disappeared to the stairs of the pension. 

"You heard him, Sarang. Let's get going," Mijoo said, standing up from the couch. She did a few stretches before we walked out of the building to find the same mini van from before. 

With every moment spent with Hansol, I found myself reminiscing in every small memory I shared with him. Take the van for example. I still remember our shoulders touching since we didn't have that much space. 

Mijoo entered the mini van first and I took a seat next to her, like I'm supposed to. I'm sure Hansol would be fine sitting with someone else. After all, they boys shared a room. I'm sure they would have bonded and became friends by now. 

"Even though it's been a few days, I still feel excited being here with you guys," Mijoo said with a smile, slightly jumping in her seat. She couldn't stop smiling that it became contagious. 

I ended smiling just as well. "Me too. Every moment on this trip, I just can't help but feel excited."

"It's just so weird to have all of you here," Mijoo confessed, looking out the window on my right. "They're here."

I also looked out of the window, noticing that the boys had simple but eye-catching fashion. Now, if only the boys at my school were like this. Now that I thought about it, it's so weird to see Hansol out of his school uniform. Every time we meet, we're usually in our school uniform. Seeing a change in outfit was always refreshing, especially when it was Hansol. 

The door opened and the guys hopped inside the mini van, exchanging a few hellos with us. Wonwoo was the one who ended up sitting next to us. The squad was ready. 

Seungkwan entered the mini van with his dad short after, and we drove off to explore the wonders of Jeju. 

The car was never quiet when Mijoo and Seungkwan were together. Seungkwan was the loud speaker of the entire mini van, and Mijoo was the noisy person who tried to shut him up, only to make the mini van even noisier. 

Before we know it, we arrived at a cafe. There weren't that many, which was why the trip took longer than expected. Unlike Seoul where cafes were just everywhere, Jeju took forty minutes to get to the nearest cafe. It was probably because we stayed nearer to a beach than Jeju City. 

Seungkwan's dad parked the car and we all got off. Some did stretching because they felt really stiff from sitting in the mini van for too long. Mainly Mijoo, and she seemed to be the only one enjoying a stretch. 

"Is there Wi-Fi here?" Wonwoo asked, slipping out his phone from his pocket. He looked like he was ready to hear the password and type away. 

"It's an internet cafe, Wonwoo. What kind of internet cafe wouldn't have Wi-Fi?" Mijoo told him, giving him a sweet smile. That was before she ended up smacking the back of his head. "Geez, use your common sense, Jeon Wonwoo."

Wonwoo put a hand on the back of his head, frowning at Mijoo. "Maybe it's because of you I don't have common sense nor logic anymore. You keep hitting the back of my head and that is probably doing something to my brain."

"Don't put the blame on me." Mijoo held her hands up in surrender. "I'm not as strong as you, Jeon Wonwoo. You know my hits aren't very effective."

"You must have studied the nervous system very well. It doesn't matter whether or not you hit it hard, you just have to hit the exact spot," Wonwoo was saying as we all moved inside the cafe. 

The scent of coffee entered my nose and I slightly cringed. Coffee wasn't exactly my thing, but I would drink it sometimes. Still wasn't a fan of it, though. Other than the scent of coffee, I could hear K-pop music being blasted in the cafe, only to realize that there were around five TVs hanging around the cafe and they were playing K-pop music videos. 

"I'll go order for us. What do you guys want?" asked Seungkwan. 

"Thank goodness you're the one ordering. I'm not very courageous to order for everyone," Mijoo said, nervously smiling. 

"Of course," Seungkwan said in response. Turning to the group, he told us, "She's a very shy person, isn't she? Yet she's very loud around people she knows. My cousin is a very weird person."

"Grit your teeth before I punch your jaw, Boo Seungkwan," Mijoo warned, holding up a clenched fist. 

"If you break my jaw, you will have to be the one who will order," Seungkwan said, grinning at her. 

Mijoo rolled her eyes in response. "I hate you so much, dear cousin. Do you know that? Are you aware of it?"

Seungkwan smiled knowingly. "I know that you love me. That counts too, right? Okay, everyone. Orders. Anything you guys want?"

"Red velvet latte!" I said, noticing a new drink they were advertising near the counter. That looked promising enough for me to try it. 

"Ice americano," Wonwoo, Yejun and Hansol said at the exact same time, surprising themselves. 

"Ice blended chocolate," Mijoo ordered. "I'm going to go find us a seat. Feel free to follow me if you want to sit down. Or, if you want to explore, go ahead." 

I didn't know about the others, but I followed after Mijoo and headed to a spacious seat with plugs below our seats and everything. Once we sat down, I whispered to her, "Did you know Yejun oppa kept glancing at you?"

"He did?" Mijoo scratched her nose before taking her phone out. "I didn't notice. I don't really need to know, Sarang."

"Oh, come on. Admit it, it's sweet that his eyes only concentrate on you," I teased, nudging her slightly.

"I don't know. It kind of makes me uncomfortable?" Mijoo said in response. 

"Uncomfortable? What?" I was actually surprised to hear this from her. If a handsome boy had his eyes only on you, would you feel uncomfortable? I didn't think so. 

"Just me and my feelings. You know how complicated I am," she said with a smile. 

"You? Complicated with feelings? I don't think so," I said in response, shaking my head.

"Since the guys are warming up to the mini basketball game over there, I can talk to you about this," Mijoo said, placing her phone down on the table. This felt serious, of the sort.

"I wonder how complicated it could be that you want to talk about it in secret, once again," I said, lightly teasing. 

She smiled before she said, "Usually, when I like someone, I always find some way to torture myself. By telling myself—giving myself reasons—why he doesn't like me back. I remind myself of my flaws that it becomes useless for me to keep up the crush."

I lightly gasp. "So you basically destroy your own happiness?"

"Yes," she answered, "without intending to. It just comes naturally. It's mostly why I can never have a real crush, I'm guessing? Remember the Hwiyoung incident?"

"Is there something else I missed? Because I'm starting to think I missed a lot of things from that story," I jested, indirectly hinting her to tell me all the things she has never opened up about the incident back then. 

She bitterly smiled before she continued, "I liked him so much I wanted him to be my boyfriend. Right when I was just about to confess, Soonyoung ruined everything for me. I won't go in detail because I'm uncomfortable with it, but basically, at the end of the day, I didn't regret much of what happened. I was actually happy it turned out that way. Why? Because I was scared of making him my boyfriend."

"What? But you liked him so much," I said, crinkling my forehead. 

"Exactly. I liked him so much I was scared. I liked him so much but I didn't want to get involved with him. When I heard that he liked me from one of my friends—though I chose not to believe him because he was the type who jokes around—I felt like... like I didn't like him back as much anymore. It's complicated," Mijoo said, sighing a little. 

"So what you're saying is..."

"I'm saying I don't know whether I'll find myself in another love story. I only knew of my complicated feelings after dwindling a lot in them. So it would be very hard for me to fall in love with someone, knowing all the work I would go through," she explained. 

It was starting to sound like she had enough of love, when she hasn't even had one boyfriend yet. She must have been through things that hurt her more than the normal person. 

I put a hand on her shoulder, lightly patting her. "I'm not forcing you into anything, Mijoo. I would never do that to you."

"I know. And I'm not trying to make you feel guilty about anything. I just wanted to talk about this," Mijoo said in return. Noticing that the boys were coming back, she quickly shook her head at me. "We can stop now. Seungkwan's coming back with our drinks too."

Seungkwan came back to our table with all our drinks and his own. The others that came by shortly after got their drinks and finally sat down. I took my own respective drink just as well and quietly drank, my eyes fixed on the TV hanging nearby to watch the shows being played on it. 

Hansol was back to sitting down next to me once again, making me feel nervous. The way he made his way to sit next to me—even though it clearly looked like Wonwoo was about to take a seat next to me—made my heart flutter. Or, no. It wasn't just fluttering. It was pounding. Beating. Having a hard time trying to go back to normal. 

Since Wonwoo noticed the way Hansol clearly made his way to the seat next to me and occupied it in a blink of an eye, he decided to sit next to Mijoo instead. I had two different theories and I wasn't sure which one I should believe. 

The one where he purposely sat next to me just so Wonwoo wouldn't have any other choice but to sit next to Mijoo. 

Or the one where he sat next to me because he li— I can't even say the word, or my cheeks will show a very obvious colour again. 

"Enjoying your drink?" Hansol decided to start up a conversation, his smile brightening the whole cafe, once again.

I nodded happily with a smile in return. "Yes! It's just the best. Red velvet always taste so good."

"Glad you like yours." Hansol drank up, overlooking my shoulder before he grabbed my hand—and making me flinch by the sudden contact—and pulled me closer to him. At first, I thought he wanted to be obvious about something I wasn't too sure of. But, sadly, that wasn't it. He discreetly pointed behind me, where Mijoo and Wonwoo sat. They were having their moment. "Sorry for suddenly touching you."

Don't be sorry. Please just do it more. I can't believe you're the one who just held me. Gosh, I'm being weird again. "No, it's okay. It's for them." I grinned, looking at the two once again. "Don't they make a lovely couple?"

"So lovely it makes Yejun hyung look so lonely," Hansol said softly. 

"Oh, before I forget, how is it going with you the guys? Have you befriended them yet?" I asked, turning my attention back to Hansol. His eyes seem to be sparkling today again. 

"At first, it was really awkward but after a while, we warmed up to each other and finally became close," he answered. Scratching his nose, he decided to ask, "So, what about you? You share a room with Mijoo, right?"

"Yup," I answered. "I've practically been friends with Mijoo since forever, although it hasn't been that long. I just feel like I've known her for so long. It's the same as always."

Then a voice interjected in all the conversations that were happening, "Oh, guys! Dad called me. He said it's time for dinner and that we're going to a nearby seafood restaurant."

"Wait, don't tell me it's..." 

Seungkwan grinned back at his cousin. "You know it!"

The rest were dumbfounded. Only Seungkwan and Mijoo knew what they were talking about. 

"Is halmeoni still doing great? I never got to hear from her," Mijoo asked as we all left the cafe and entered the mini van parked outside. 

"She's the same as always. I bet she'll be pleased to see you," Seungkwan sincerely said. That was before he added, "She'll have the laugh of her life! She can finally see how beastly you have turned."

We all sat back in our seats from before, which gave Mijoo the access to smack the back of Seungkwan's head easily. "I think she'll be laughing at you instead, Seung-butt."

"Seung-butt?" Seungkwan exclaimed back, turning his entire body around to face all of us in the back. "Seung-butt? Seung-butt?! Are you kimbap kidding me? You're calling me Seung-butt? My name is too beautiful for something like that, Kwon Mijoo!"

Mijoo ended up smacking the back of his head again. This has become a routine. "Shh! You're being super noisy, if you haven't noticed. Be quiet or I'll buy duct tape just to shut you up."

"Dad, Mijoo is so mean to me!" Seungkwan whined, turning to his father. 

"It's because you're so noisy, Seungkwan," his dad calmly said in return. 

Wow, how can Seungkwan be the son of a man who seemed so calm about everything? It was so weird. Does he do yoga? I heard it helps find your inner peace, whatever that exactly meant. 

Seungkwan stared at his dad with disbelief before he started sulking in his seat. 

"Finally, some peace and quiet," Mijoo said, settling back in her seat and closing her eyes. 

Staring at my best friend, I couldn't help but notice a charm of hers. At least, it was something I wished I could posses. She was so comfortable around her guy friends and was so outgoing. If I imagined her as a colour, it couldn't possibly be just one. 

I wonder when will someone tell me all the things I tell Mijoo in my mind. There is one person I would like to hear from, although, I doubted he would ever tell me anything. After all, he doesn't even know of my feelings. And if he did, I would be embarrassed. Too embarrassed to face him, at that. 

At the end of the day, whether or not he knew my feelings, he was still my favourite person.

We ate dinner at this seafood restaurant nearby—twenty-five minutes in reality—and enjoyed every second spent there. There was this very nice halmeoni who was friends with Seungkwan, his dad and Mijoo. From the looks of it, they all share a great connection. 

It couldn't be Mijoo's halmeoni. I've met her halmeoni before so obviously, it wasn't Mijoo's halmeoni. But she was nice. She gave us a few dishes for free because she was close with Mijoo and her family. 

Nice. 

Shortly after a great meal, we headed back into the mini van and before we drove back to the pension, we made sure to stop at a nearby supermarket. Thirty-five more minutes of the drive and we would be back in the pension. But, as of now, we were shopping for necessary items we all need. 

Mr. Boo shopped for ingredients, probably for his wife to use to cook us food. The rest of us wandered around, looking for things we might need. Everyone but Mijoo. She fell asleep on the way here. 

I could easily see her from inside the supermarket. It wasn't as big as the ones back in Seoul. It was just a one-storey supermarket. The parking lot was just outside it, so we could walk back to the mini van whenever we wanted. 

Mr. Boo seemed to be taking quite some time buying ingredients, which gave everyone time to shop around. I ended up buying a packet of chewing gum for fun. 

"Chewing gum?" Hansol asked, standing next to the cash register. 

"Yeah," I answered, taking the receipt and change. Looking up at him, I asked, "Aren't you going to buy anything?"

"Nah, I've got everything I need. Just walking around to stretch my legs," he said, following me to the ice cream cooler. 

"How about a bottle of water? You'll never know if you'll get thirty on the way back. Or snacks?" I suggested, looking into the cooler. Even though I wasn't going  to buy ice cream, I still wanted to look at it. 

Hansol looked at me before laughing. "I'll be sleeping the entire time back, I don't think any of those would be necessary, Sarang. And we just had a good, hearty meal. I would be too full to eat anything."

"I mean, you'll never know," I said in response. "Hey, look. There's an ice cream with Siwon's face on it."

Hansol walked closer to check it out too. "Where?"

I pulled it out of the cooler. "Here. Check it out."

"Wow, that's cool. If Taeyeon was on this, I would have bought it in a heartbeat," Hansol said, taking the ice cream from my hands. 

"Really? Is she, like, your idol crush?" I asked slowly. I just wanted to know what exactly was his ideal type. 

"I guess you can say that?" Hansol lightly laughed. 

"Really? Then is she your ideal type?"

Hansol paused. "Not... really?"

"What's your ideal type?" I hope I wasn't being too obvious. 

"I don't really have an ideal type. Even if I did, I don't think we end up dating our ideal type, right?"

We don't? Well, I guess that's true. In some way. I didn't know very well because when I ended up dating Sang Hyuk, I didn't think he was my ideal type. I was just attracted to him for no apparent reason. Bleh. 

"How about you? Have an ideal type?" It was Hansol's turn to ask me. 

Thinking about it, I replied, "I just want someone who can treat me right."

"Simple. I like it."

I smiled back at him and as I stared into his eyes, I felt the world come into my reach, with everything turning right. 

Mijoo

Mijoo's head slightly swayed around before it ended up hitting the window, waking her up slightly. She looked around, blinking her eyes before everything became clearer. She saw that the mini van was dark and that it was parked in front of a supermarket. 

The door of the mini van opened and Wonwoo was the person who peeked inside the mini van, smiling. 

"Did you wake up?" Wonwoo asked, entering the car. In his hand, a bottle of Cola. Yejun entered with the same item shortly after. 

"Ye...ah," Mijoo answered back, blinking a few more times before she looked around. Wonwoo sat beside her with Yejun sitting behind. "Where are we?"

"We're at a supermarket. Seungkwan's dad wanted to get ingredients," Wonwoo answered, still smiling at her. 

Yejun was in the back, already drifting away to dreamland so Mijoo couldn't talk to him. 

"I'm still sleepy. Wake me up when we're back," Mijoo said, fixing her position before she leaned against the window with her arms crossed. 

"Okay," Wonwoo answered.

Mijoo tried to fall back asleep but something sticky on her lips seemed to bother her. When she licked her lips, she noticed that there was a distinctive taste to them. It was then she realized it was the taste of Cola. 

She licked her lips more before she opened her eyes. She had confirmed that it was indeed the taste of Cola, and it now explained why her lips felt so tingly in her sleep. But to find out the culprit would mean asking and there were two possible people in the mini van right now—Seo Yejun and Jeon Wonwoo. 

~Author's Notes~ 

Oooh~ I wonder who did it ;) 

Thank you for 3.3K views! :) Thank you for reading, too :) See you in the next update *^^*