Start Again

Chapter Twenty-One

Audrey

Dun-dun-da-da-dun-dun-da-da-da-dun-dun-da-da-dun. The shrill noise of Hye Ri's phone echoed through the room until it rang out. Immediately after it stopped, her phone started ringing again.

Hye Ri sat on her bed across from me. Her phone sat on our dining table. We both knew who was calling. Rather than picking it up, she stared at me, letting her gaze and the phone annoy me.

After the fifth time it rang, I chucked my shirt on the ground and spun around to face her. "Just pick it up already."

"What shall I say?"

"Tell him to go be happy."

"He's happy with you."

I scoffed. "I don't mean anything to him, Hye Ri."

"That's a lie."

"Okay. Fine. I'm a good friend. But I've already let him in my heart. I can't walk past him at uni every day and handle seeing him with another girl. I can't do it. I can't just be his friend."

"You don't have to be."

"Hye Ri, he wasn't going to confess to me."

"How do you know? You didn't give him a chance."

"I saw him Hye Ri. He was sitting across from a beautiful woman and she had his hand on hers. So either he only likes her and lied to you, or he aims to two-time me."

"Where did you see this?"

"On the way back at that café you invited me to."

"Oh that makes sense... What if it's a misunderstanding?"

"How could I be misunderstanding?"

"Because you know him. I kind of know him. He's a nice guy. Besides, it's obvious he cares about you and doesn't want to lose you. Would he do that if you were just a friend?"

"People always appear nice at first and then the truth comes out when they have you locked in their web, afraid to leave because you love them so much. Then you find out you never mattered. You were just a target. You were a goal to prove to them that they could get someone."

"Park Joon Soo?"

"Yes."

"The very Park Joon Soo who has never liked anyone before you?"

"That's probably his pickup line."

"It's a different culture here, Audrey. I get men where you come from are all awful, but there are nice guys here."

"How can you sit there and say that when your own ex-boyfriend cheated on you? How can you shrug it off and hope that the next guy is the one? How can you keep trusting?"

"Because we're all different. We've all got different pasts and beliefs. Not every person is the same. Just because one... two... or even three people betrayed your trust, doesn't mean they all will. If you close your heart now, you will find it more difficult to open as time goes on."

I sat down on the bed and stared at her.

Dun-dun-da-da-dun-dun-da-da-da-dun-dun-da-da-dun.

"But... that's what he did. And my friends knew and they hid it. And my mother did it. What if everyone around you just lies?"

"That place you came from is just one small pinpoint in the world. We have the whole population of Hoju just in Seoul. I promise you, whevever you go you will meet people with different attitudes to life. Every country is different based on their values. See it this way, Hanguk has a long history of looking down on those who cheat. Only until last year adultery had been a crime here. You could go to jail for laying with another person. There aren't consequences where you come from. Here, there have been. Here, most people are close with their families who grew up knowing you have to be faithful. They don't just lose a lover. They lose their family. They would be frowned upon by everyone."