"There are so many things to do here, so why this?" I whined as we stood outside a bike rental shop awaiting our turn. Haknyeon was the one who suggested cycling along the Han river and we blindly agreed, but that dude wasn't even here now so we had no reason to go forward with the plan. But Donghyuck was lazy to think of other options.
"Unless you have any better ideas, don't complain," he shut me off as he wrote down our names on the bicycle booking list, before sliding over a few dollar notes and we headed to the back to collect our bikes.
"Lee Donghyuck?" A voice sounded from behind us as both of us whipped around to its perky tone. Two other guys were standing on the other side of a set of bikes, waving back at us before approaching excitedly.
"Woah, long time no see!" The taller one said, his large eyes curling into crescents as he extended a fist to Donghyuck, who returned it while still dumbfounded. "Yeah, what brings you here?"
The guy's radiant smile remained as he explained, "It's our summer break too, but how is it possible that we meet at this exact place and time?" His comment made me recoil due to cheesiness, but somehow it formed a slight smile on Donghyuck's face, something I've never seen before. Are they friends?
Just then, the guy seemed to realise my uncomfortableness as he nodded his head towards me and asked, "By the way, who's this?"
"Oh, right," Donghyuck finally took notice of me again as he replied, "This is Sung Yoojin. Both of us are here to attend a Taekwondo tournament." I smiled awkwardly as the same guy introduced both of them. "I'm Na Jaemin, and this is Lee Jeno. Nice to meet you!"
He glanced over to his friend before leaning closer to me and whispered, "By the way, are both of you a thing?"
"Are you crazy?" Donghyuck punched his arm hard before I even processed his question, causing the latter to chuckle in response. "I'm joking, but for real, are you?"
"Don't worry, we're not," I blurted out, feeling regretful that those were my first words upon meeting them. Jaemin responded with a smile as he heaved out a disappointed sigh, "Aw man, I thought I could congratulate my old friend. But I guess this is a start."
Donghyuck brushed past us as the owner of the rental shop came out with a set of keys. "We met after 5 years and this is the first thing you say to me?" His friend shrugged dismissively as we headed over to the owner unlocking a set of bikes. "Then we should catch up while we have the chance, how about we join the both of you?"
I looked at Donghyuck because ultimately, he had the final say, and I didn't want to be stuck with just him for the entire day, even if it meant hanging out with his friends. He didn't even take a second to contemplate before answering, "Sure, why not."
"Yes!" Jaemin hopped over to him, putting him in a headlock as he swung around, causing the both of them to break out in a mini wrestle. Dang, I've never seen him being so enthusiastic about hanging out with others before, these friends definitely shared a different relationship compared to his club members. I wonder how they met.
"Yoojin, right?" Jaemin called and I snapped out of my thoughts, strolling over to him holding a yellow bicycle. "Here's yours, you can ride, right?"
"I'm a little rusty, but I'm sure I didn't forget how," I admitted, scanning the bike before getting on unstable with his support. I heard Donghyuck snigger at the back as I shot him a glare. "I'm not rescuing you if you fall into the river." Gosh, I can never have a break.
"You didn't change one bit, Lee Donghyuck," his cheerful friend joked playfully, cycling ahead before swivelling on his back wheel to face us, causing me to let out a silent scoff. Damn, his friends are showoffs too. "But I'm glad you didn't. Come on, let's get moving."
One by one, we left the shop on our bikes, forming a row as we started on the long trail towards the other end. The weather was on our side today, with fluffy clouds filling the sky to block out the afternoon sun, but not too much that threaten storms. I was the last to take off, pedalling furiously to catch up with the three who were speeding ahead. I forgot when was the last time I cycled, but it was long enough that my calves felt stiff against the pedals and my bottom seated uncomfortably on the tiny seat.
Nonetheless, the view of the Han river made up for it as I gaped in awe at the lustrous scenery reflecting off the water surface. My feet finally found the perfect pace to pedal with, allowing me to admire the landscape with a relaxed mind. This wasn't the first time I've been to the Han river, but it felt like I've never had the chance to enjoy its view to the fullest. Maybe it was the nostalgia, but I finally managed to do so today.
Ring! The sound of a bicycle bell rang as I turned my head to Jaemin slowing down beside me. "How is it? Relaxing?"
Taken aback by the sudden conversation, I only managed out a short reply. "Yeah, it is." I thought my initial answer would drive him away, but he wasn't done yet.
"I love coming here when I'm free, it helps clear my mind," he started smoothly, "But my bike's being repaired, so I had no choice but to rent this rusty one. My butt is hurting real bad now." Somehow, his comment made me giggle, and I guess he saw that as an opportunity to continue our conversation. "But the air is nice so it takes my mind off the pain."
He let go of the handles to throw his hands up in the air, his bike swerving side to side unsteadily. My eyes grew wide from shock.
"What are you doing? What if you lose control and fall?" I exclaimed with worry and Jaemin immediately placed his hands back on the handles, smiling with confidence.
"Don't worry, I'm an expert biker. Do you want to see some tricks?" He lifted the front wheel of his bike with ease, before crashing it back to the ground a second later with a sheepish grin across his face. "Maybe not with this bike."
"Stop doing that, what if you get hurt? I'm not first-aid certified, you know?" I nagged, starting to get annoyed at his boastful, daredevil character that I don't want to be responsible for.
"You two seem to get along well," Donghyuck commented, cutting into our conversation without looking back. "I guess Seoul people have a special connection."
As if hit by a sudden realisation, Jaemin piped up, "Wait, you're from Seoul too?"
"Well, yeah," I replied reluctantly, not failing to curse at the person who revealed it with my eyes. At least, his friend didn't seem to know me from anywhere.
"Then what were you doing in Jeju?" He continued, and for a second I wondered how he knew I was staying there before remembering that it was Donghyuck's hometown too. "Summer break," I replied, to which the guy in front of me scoffed out loud.
"Nonsense, she's only there to escape from reality," he stated, and if I wasn't afraid of falling off, I would've rammed his bike from behind. Instead, I could only retort back. "If you don't have anything better to say, don't say it." Gosh, can't he let me enjoy a moment for once?
"Good for you, at least you have a place to escape to," Jaemin continued as if ignoring my previous outburst, "Meanwhile I'm stuck in this city until I graduate, but even after I do I'd probably be working here as well."
His words made me churn with guilt again, but I can't exactly explain my real reason to some stranger as well. "I'm sure you'd have some opportunity to explore the rest of South Korea soon," I assured him as he let out a sigh. "You're right, there should be."
He turned his head and grinned at me. "You're so understanding, you'd be a perfect match for Lee Donghyuck."
My face fell immediately as he said that. Was this the direction he was steering our conversation in? If so, that was some sneaky shit.
"Stop bringing that up, it's uncomfortable," Donghyuck snapped, glancing back momentarily, "There's no possibility of that happening, so drop it."
"Why? I totally see it happening," Jaemin chimed, and I was starting to retrieve everything good I thought about this person. He was fine to talk with, but looks like the type to dive too deep into others' personal issues.
"I'll throw you into the river if I could, I know you still can't swim."
"Fine, fine, I'll stop," his friend quivered, sending me an apologetic grin to signal a sorry before we fell back into silence. But honestly, it was much better.
The remaining journey was rather peaceful, besides the occasional conversations started by Jaemin which mostly lasted for less than a minute due to my short answers. I could hear Donghyuck and Jeno chatting in front, which made me feel bad for putting a barrier between us, but I couldn't help it.
Before we knew it, we had reached the end of the trail, feeling as though we've only started 10 minutes ago when in reality, it had been over an hour. No wonder my bottom was numb.
"Let's take a break," Jeno suggested as we slowed down beside a food truck, hopping off and dragging his bike to the nearest lamppost. We followed suit before settling down at a round table.
"Gosh, I still can't believe we met you here," Jaemin gasped, punching Donghyuck's shoulder lightly. "The last time we met was in middle school, right?" The latter smirked in response, "Yeah, how time flies."
Feeling myself about to be left out of yet another conversation, I jumped in without thinking. "The three of you went to the same school?" Luckily, Jaemin didn't hesitate to reply, "Yeah, we were extremely close. People knew us as the three musketeers."
Jeno nudged his friend's arm as his friend's exaggeration. "No one called us that except you," he teased before turning to me, "There was once where I was assigned to an exchange student and Jaemin begged to tag along to our outings, pulling Hyuckie along too."
"It was because he was from China, I wanted to befriend him so badly," Jaemin rebutted, "I still can't believe his Korean was better than mine. Haechan got along with him so well though."
Hold on, Haechan?
"We had things in common," Donghyuck replied just then, and I started piecing the puzzle pieces together, but I still needed the confirmation.
"Who's Haechan?" I asked cautiously as the three of them turned to me, with Jeno letting out a quick chuckle. "Ah, it's what we used to call Donghyuck since he was always as bright as the sun, basically the mood maker among us."
I stifled a laugh as he said that, because the Donghyuck I know was definitely the opposite. "I see, he must've been fun to hang out with," I managed out sarcastically, glancing at him only to see him roll his eyes. But that made me wonder; how did someone known for being lively suddenly become so indifferent?
"We could've gone to high school together, but you suddenly had to move back to Jeju Island," Jaemin continued, but his statement only attracted over a cloud of silence. Donghyuck nodded, only responding with a few words, "Sorry, I had my reasons."
Our conversation suddenly stopped there like there was a random roadblock on the highway, but Jeno managed to change lanes to another topic immediately.
"By the way, are you studying in Seoul?" He directed it to me, catching me off guard as I scrambled to answer. "Yeah, at Mooyung University." The last part slipped out habitually, but it was too late to take it back.
"Really? I study there too!" He exclaimed excitedly, flooding me with follow-up questions, "What year are you in? And which programme are you under?"
"Um, Sports Science. Next semester would be the start of my second year," I revealed carefully, his constant excitement giving me an uneasy feeling. "You?"
"I'm in Food Science and Technology, maybe we could bump into each other when school reopens." He was now grinning from ear to ear, but I felt more reluctant than happy to have found someone studying in the same school as me.
"Our faculties are on opposite ends of the campus, it would be very unlikely," I popped his bubble as politely as possible, but he blew it back up as quickly as I did. "Who knows? We might have some electives together."
"I guess, but we can only hope that our courses clash," I replied with fake optimism because I knew it would be impossible for us to choose the same electives since our interests seem to differ just by our programme names.
"Damn, the weather changed so quickly," Jeno cut in all of a sudden, causing us to turn our attention to the gloomy clouds in the sky. It was blinding with sun rays for the past few days, but I guess the sky has its mood swings too.
"I guess this is our cue to leave." Donghyuck stood up abruptly and headed over to our backs, prompting us to follow.
We left the area swiftly and cycled back in total silence, which made me feel like I was the cause of this atmosphere. It was like I was intruding in their unplanned gathering, and I guess his friends didn't want to leave me out, but maybe their conversation would've been a lot lighter without me.
Not only that, Jaemin and Jeno seem like nice people to hang with, so I felt bad for avoiding their attempts to converse with me just so that I don't reveal much about my past. Gosh, I should learn how to put it all behind me; it's already inhibiting too much of my present.
I glanced at the three of them, accidentally making eye contact with Jeno who was beside me. We exchanged smiles before I turned my head back to the front in thought. The only other thing on my mind besides regret was his words about how Hae- Donghyuck was the mood maker of their trio. It just didn't make sense; even with Haknyeon, he seemed to have distanced himself from others, or maybe he just saw himself on a different level like what he did to me. Gosh, him and his ego.
And then there was him moving to Jeju. From how I saw it, it wasn't for a good reason considering how the three of them reacted, but it seemed Jeno and Jaemin weren't let in on it either. Oh, how my head hurts just connecting the dots, I shouldn't waste my brain cells for this.
The journey back seemed to have ended quicker than when we were heading there as we reached the rental shop in no time. Donghyuck headed to collect the deposit he made earlier while the three of us remained outside, but that gave us enough time to have another conversation.
"How's Donghyuck doing in Jeju?" Jaemin raised the first question, "He looked a little different from how I remembered him, but I didn't want to ask a cliche question."
I debated whether to answer honestly or not, before settling on a reply. "Well, I only knew him this summer, but he seems to be doing fine. He's very passionate about Taekwondo, so maybe he's just stressed about our competition."
"That's good," Jaemin heaved, "I'm glad he's in good hands." He nudged my arm with a creepy look on his face, to which I returned it with a scowl. "If I do see you around campus, be sure to guard your head," I threatened, causing him to flinch a little.
"By the way, when is your competition?" Jeno asked another, and I didn't hesitate to reply, "In two days, wanna come?" Again, that last part came out habitually, but this time, I felt excited instead of regretful. Jaemin, in particular, was elated at the invitation.
"Of course! We'd love to see our two friends compete," He accepted immediately, making a huge fuss just as Donghyuck came back, earning a disturbed look from him.
"What are you so pumped up about?" He questioned as we started walking the path down to the bus stop. Jaemin revealed with much excitement, "We're going to watch your match, Yoojin invited us."
"Really?" He raised his eyebrows at me, causing my stomach to perform a somersault out of fright. "You don't know anything about Taekwondo, yet you want to watch it?"
"We're going to support you, not analyse you," Jeno joked, "This is the first of your competitions we'll go to and you're chasing us away?"
Donghyuck sniggered, "Of course not. You can finally watch me trash some people."
At the same time, a bus pulled up at the bus stop a few feet from us, sending his two friends in a state of panic before sprinting towards it. "See you then!" Was the last thing they shouted as we waved at the departing bus. Just as we were about to go into another wave of silence, Donghyuck started again.
"I guess you've finally relaxed seeing how you blended well with us," he stated as I replied with a shrug. "I'm more comfortable in my hometown." And that was a fact. The cycling did help get my mind off things for once, and although it felt forced, the conversation between his friends played a part too.
"So you're not worried about the tournament anymore?" He asked again as we sat down at the bus stop. I glanced at him quickly, curling my fingers against my thighs.
"Are you kidding? I'm could die from anxiety."
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aaaaand we're back with another long chapter! hope yall like the little nomin feature in there for a little lighter story hehe