liar | p. sunghoon

epilogue pt. 01

June 1, 2020

"Okay, bye Jun Hwan-ssi, I'll see you for dinner," Chaerim called, waving her hand, walking out of the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club.

"Okay, see you later," the tall boy with thick wavy hair responded sweetly.

It had been almost two years since Chaerim last visited Korea, let alone see Sunghoon and her mom. Going to the ice rink every day, in which the queen of figure skating, Kim Yuna skated on and getting a glimpse of other athletes, felt like a dream. Sometimes, she even got to see the famous Japanese 2-time gold Olympic figure skater, Hanyu Yuzuru on the ice.

However, the first few weeks were incredibly grueling from the jetlag and new training schedule. Chaerim could barely speak English (reading and writing was easier, but she only knew the basics of speaking) and got homesick frequently. Living in a small studio apartment felt so cramped and lonely. For the first few months, Chaerim remembered crying herself to sleep and falling into a serious state of depression. She missed her mom, her home, but most of all, she missed Sunghoon.

Luckily, she was able to meet someone who changed her life and got through her hardships: Cha Jun Hwan, another Korean figure skater. He was only a year older than her and she spent most of her time in Toronto with him. Chaerim and Jun Hwan became friends quickly and he became an older brother figure to her. He invited her to his house for home-cooked dinners with his mom almost every day and always made sure she was doing okay. It was as if she was an additional member of the Cha family.

When she first arrived at the skating club, Chaerim introduced herself with broken English though she was trying her best. Her first impression of him was probably not the best because she clearly remembered him laughing unintentionally at her English. But later learned that he really didn't mean to and was willing to help her. And when she wasn't on the ice, she was learning English and Jun Hwan helped her a lot.

**

While lying on the couch of her apartment, the 17-year-old scrolled through her SNS when suddenly, one post caught her eye.

New Contestant for CJ ENM and Big Hit Entertainment's survival show announced: Park Sunghoon. Stay tuned for more contestants and I-Land airing on June 26 at 11 pm KST.

"S-Sunghoon," she gasped with her mouth hanging open.

Chaerim suddenly felt a strong pain in her heart. She had completely forgotten how much she missed him and it had been so long, almost too long since she last saw his face. She hadn't seen him in ages and almost forgot what he looked like. When she first came to Canada, Chaerim and Sunghoon used to chat and text each other daily, but once competition season rolled around the corner, they stopped talking. It got to the point where it seemed as they forgot each other's existence and moved on.

And so, every Friday, Chaerim made sure to watch I-Land and did her best to support Sunghoon. She voted as much as she could and empathized with him as he tried his best on the show. Chaerim also saw some familiar faces: Heeseung and Jay. Hoping they debuted as well, she cast her votes to the three of them.

When the fans were asked to write a letter to the I-Land contestants, she made sure she wrote one to Sunghoon. In fact, Chaerim wrote as much as she could so he could see that she was supporting him even from overseas.

Her heart fluttered when she heard him sing for the first time and was highly impressed by his dancing skills. He worked so hard and she could barely recognize the person he'd become though Chaerim was extremely proud of him.

On September 18, all the members of the new k-pop group, Enhypen, created from I-Land were announced. After every member was called one by one, Chaerim felt her heartbeat faster and faster. The suspense was killing her and announcing the new members was taking way too long. Once the 5th member was announced, Chaerim felt her heart sink as there were only 2 spots left.

"Please let Sunghoon be selected. Please, he deserves this so much," she begged the TV, clutching her hands.

The 6th member of Enhypen is... Park Sunghoon.

Chaerim's eyes lit up as she felt warm tears form in her eyes.

"Sunghoon, you did it. You really did it. I'm so proud of you."

**

A few weeks later...

Once the boys received their phones, they began calling their family and friends.

While on the show, Sunghoon occasionally read the letter Chaerim wrote him 2 years ago on his birthday. When he received the giant book of fan letters, he felt a spark of joy to see hers. Never in a million years had he thought Chaerim was actually watching the program.

Reading Chaerim's letters again, she felt his phone buzz and saw that an overseas caller was calling him. He hesitantly picked up the phone and answered.

"Hello?" he greeted cautiously.

"S-Sunghoonie," the soft angelic voice answered.

"Chaeri, Chaeri-ah! Is that really you?" he gasped.

"Yeah, it's me," she responded warmly, "Sunghoon, I can't explain how much I missed you. And I'm so so so so proud of you. I'm so proud that you continued to pursue your dream and look, you're an idol now."

"Chaerim," he croaked, feeling his eyes water up, "I missed you like crazy. I wish we talked more! And I can't believe you were watching me. I'm so happy. I really am. How have you been? I saw you perform at the Grand Prix Final of 2019. Congratulations! And I think it's been almost a year or two since we talked to each other."

"It's been way too long since we last saw each other. Things have been going alright. I've been a little stressed because of practice and not being able to land my quads, but otherwise, I'm doing great. I've made some friends and hah, Sunghoon, I'm fluent in English and Japanese now."

"That's crazy! But no need to brag, you know I'm already jealous that you were always better in English than me," he pouted childishly.

"You'll learn soon," she giggled, "Maybe Jake can teach you some English and Ni-Ki can teach you Japanese."

"Yeah I know right," he exclaimed, "It's crazy that they can speak Korean so well."

"Speaking of Jake... it seems that I have some competition now," Chaerim teased, "It appears you like Jake more than me now."

"Eyyy~ you know that's not true," he chuckled.

"Sunghoon, get ready, we're heading to the office soon."

"I'm sure you have to get going. I just heard someone say something," Chaerim said.

"Yeah, but let me say one thing before I go," he exclaimed, "Once this pandemic ends, I'm going to go to Canada and see you. And I want to see you skate in real life."

"And I'm going to come to Korea and see you and your group perform," she responded softly, "I'll make sure to get some tickets for your world tour."

"Thanks," he said sweetly, "And Chaeri?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."