Almost Lover

Chapter 10 - The New Tenant

The New Tenant

Sitting in front of Wonhee's old computer monitor and cradling my face with my palms, I stared at the blinking cursor and the name next to it in the Google search box. I had just typed the name Han JiMin again, for the fifth time.

Having my feelings for Jaewoong somewhat rekindled last night, I had the sudden urge to Google Han JiMin, his ideal girl, out of curiosity.

Finally, I pressed the Enter key, albeit with hesitation, still afraid that the screen would be swarmed with pictures of a seductive, voluptuous woman bestowed with assets I could only have through cosmetic surgery.

After what seemed like an eternity, the computer screen was filled with information and pictures of the actress.

Han JiMin was really pretty, the girl-next-door type of beauty. She didn't look anything like me, though, except maybe for the nose. And she had dimples. Dammit, she has dimples. According to her Wikipedia and Dramawiki profile, she was a lot older than Jaewoong. I wondered if he was into older women. I wonder if his fiancee is a cougar.

I shrugged and said, "Whatever," telling myself that nothing about Han JiMin mattered. What I was feeling for Jaewoong was a little crush, and I knew it would go away if I did not give in to it.

But still, a tiny part of me wished I looked like her.

While nibbling on some banana chips, I decided to log on to my Facebook; it had been a while since I checked it. But before I could type in my password, I noticed Wonhee slowly moving down the stairs, looking like a combination of Edward Scissorhands (her hair was all over the place) and a character from The Walking Dead (she had a drained, lifeless look on her face). The pristine white bathrobe she was wearing didn't help tone down her freaky appearance.

I was kind of hoping before that Wonhee would run down those stairs all enthusiastic about her date last night. But that wasn't the case.

Either of two things must have happened last night: she met up with a guy who was a girl's worst nightmare or she stayed up all night reading a fanfic with a tragic ending. Actually, both things could have happened – she probably came home from a bad date and then just drowned herself in the world of Soompi fanfix to make herself feel better.

Wonhee loved reading as much as she loved writing. Whenever she was not working at her job at the local special-ed school or writing a story, she would read internet novels or fanfictions. She had been reading fanfics on the internet ever since I could remember, and sometimes she would fall in love with the characters so much she'd talk about them as if they were real. Scary but sadly true.

I remember one time, back in Japan, Mazuki and I had found Wonhee sulking in her bedroom, refusing to go to the mall or anywhere with us. At first, we didn't know what was wrong, but she was an absolute mess, surrounded with snot-filled tissues, crying uncontrollably.

"SHIN JUNGWONNNNNNN!!!" Wonhee howled. She was in a fetal position, clutching her left chest, appearing as though she was in a lot of emotional pain.

Mazuki and I looked at each other, wondering who on earth was Shin Jungwon and why was Wonhee bawling over him.

"Uh... Wonhee-chan, who is Shin Jungwon? A boyfriend that we don't know about? Your new crush?" Mazuki asked, pushing her thick glasses higher up on the bridge of her nose.

Wonhee shook her head. "He was the love of my life... but.. he... he.... DIIIIIIIIEEEEEDDDDDD!," she lamented. "OH MY GOD! Jungwon dieeeeeeeeed!!! JAX, I'm never going to forgive you for thiiiiiiis!!!"

Mazuki and I looked at each other again, even more perplexed upon hearing another unfamiliar name.

"Who's Jax?" I asked.