Min Tae Gu's cheeks are hurt after pretending to smile this whole afternoon. From the arrival of the first guess until his father makes the speech, he is required to stand beside his father; smile plastering his handsome face, no slouching, and no talking except the necessary 'Welcome to our house'.
This luncheon is held to celebrate the successful execution of the annual event and his father invites the most influential people in the town. Which includes many of his classmates' parents. A fact that he is really thankful for.
His bearing gets a little better when the familiar faces of his friends show up; Seo Joon Hee, Hong Dae Young, Go Woo Young, even Ha Chae Yoon and her best friend, Baek Jang Mi.
"You look dapper, Min Tae Gu." Jang Mi winks at him. Tae Gu smirks at Jang Mi's comment. He long knows that her ex-girlfriend's best friend has the hot for him. But Tae Gu knows better than to meddle in girl's friendship. The equal of Bros before Hoes and all that.
"How's that college guy from the festival, Jang Mi?" He asks innocently. Or at least he pretends to be. Jang Mi glares at him.
"How did you know about that?"
"The question is... how could I forget about that? You dumped Chae Yoon to my lap."
The smirk returns to her face. "Didn't you like it?"
Tae Gu rolls his eyes at her. "No. We broke up."
Jang Mi looks at him coyly. "So... you're single, now."
"Run along, Jang Mi-ah."
"Ugh, fine. You're always like that."
"What did I say the first time you made a pass at me?"
Jang Mi pouts remembering it. "I am forever a very dear friend of yours."
Tae Gu grins, "You will be forever a very dear friend of mine."
Jang Mi sneers and leaves at Tae Gu's booming laugh, leaving the young boy alone again in his spot.
He scans his surrounding and sighs. His day is evidently better with many of his friends here but that doesn't stop him from wishing someone is here.
Although he should've expected her answer in the first place.
***
"So, I was wrong." Jin Woo looks at his best friend on the sideline. They are at the basketball court doing their Saturday afternoon routine. Jin Ah looks up briefly from the book she is reading.
"About?"
"You and my brother."
"What about us?" Jin Ah asks nonchalantly. Her best friend has taken a lot of interest to her relationship with Min Tae Gu lately.
"I would've thought he invites you to his house. I hear The Mayor holds something this afternoon."
"What about you?" Jin Ah smirks knowing what his answer will be.
Jin Woo snorts. "I won't be there even if he invites me."
"You're so predictable. Did he invite anyone on the team?"
Jin Woo nods. "I don't think he invited them per se, I think it's just a given that their parents are friends. He apologized to me, though. Which was weird."
"Min Tae Gu is weird." Jin Ah mumbles but smiling. Jin Woo stops dribbling the ball and turns his way to Jin Ah.
"Weird in a bad way? In a good way?" He scrunches his nose. He can't continue being oblivious to their relationship when they all but showing it to him.
"Good?" she answers it doubtfully. What does he expect her to answer?
"Are you sure or you're asking me? Because I think you know what I think about him."
"Oh, fine. He is kind to me. And funny. And kind. And smart. And kind. And –" Jin Ah is all smile now, her eyes are far away remembering the boy who starts to fill her thoughts day and night now.
"Don't say he's kind again, I get it." Jin Woo grumbles which makes Jin Ah laughs.
"Okay, we connect. He really opens up with me. And he's handsome. And –"
"Oh, stop it, Yoon Jin Ah. I'm going to vomit." Jin Ah doubles up with laughter at her friend nauseous expression.
"You're asking, Jin Woo-ya."
"So, you admit it now?"
"Okay, I know it firsthand how dramatic you were about being left in the dark when I first tutored Min Tae Gu," Jin Ah glances to Jin Woo just in time to see the rolls of his eyes.
"Yeah, I thought, there couldn't be anything worse than you tutoring him, turns out..." Jin Ah ignores the playful jab and continues with her original script.
"So, in the interest of full friendship disclosure... wait, are you sure you're not gonna hate me if I admit whatever it is you want me to admit?"
Jin Woo sighs then goes to the sideline to sit beside his closest friend. "Stop being dramatic, I won't hate you. And I don't see how it will change anything if I say I'm not okay with it."
Jin Ah puts her book down and keeps her eyes to the concrete court. "I know. I can't help it. It just... happens."
"You like him." Jin Woo looks at her when he says this. He wants to see her face when she finally owns that feeling to herself.
"I do. I like Min Tae Gu." Jin Ah says it shyly. This is the first time she ever likes a boy so much she says it to Jin Woo.
She can feel her best friend observes her from his seat. Jin Ah slowly turns her head towards him and finds him smiling softly. And that makes her even more embarrassed she closes her face with her hands.
Jin Woo laughs gently. "Congratulation, Yoon Jin Ah. You are definitely a grown up now."
Jin Ah lowers down her hands and snorts loudly. "Please. I have no idea what I'm doing."
"For the record, I still don't like it, you and him. Like — ew," he scrunches his nose in mock disgust. "But, I understand. You can't help it anymore than I can with Chae Yoon."
"I'm sorry, Jin Woo-ya."
"Yeah, yeah, I just hope you know what you get yourself into."
"I'm not getting myself into anything. I'm thinking... about... maybe... getting into something but I'm not sure. I don't know."
"That's the beauty of it, isn't it? We're so clueless, so focused on ourselves, it's... staggering to find ourselves in this position."
"Totally."
"Do me a favor, will you?"
"Be careful?"
Jin Woo nods and ruffles Jin Ah's hair. "I'm here, for whatever you need."
"Thank you, Jin Woo-ya. And about today... he invited me."
"But you say no?"
"Of course, I say no. It's like coming into the lion's den. Besides — there's you."
Jin Woo smiles at her, "You're being a good friend. But you don't have to. If you want to go, go."
"I'll be so out of place, I think. I don't know anyone, there."
"My brother is there, and if he's... what? Kind, you say? He'll make sure you are exactly at the right place." Jin Ah looks at him funny.
"Who are you? Why do you suddenly change your tone about him?"
"Can't you see I'm shuddering? Shit, I won't do that anymore. I just want to give him the benefit of the doubt." Jin Woo shakes his head as Jin Ah chuckles.
"He apologized to you, you vouched for him, am I in some kind of twilight? You act like you're brothers." She teases him as his phone rings. Jin Woo looks at his phone, his forehead creases seeing the message there.
"I will deny that if that ever gets out. You know what, I think I have just the perfect reason for you to go there." Jin Woo shows the message to Jin Ah.
𝗝𝗶𝗻 𝗪𝗼𝗼-𝘆𝗮, 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗝𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗵? 𝗜 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗼𝗿'𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲.
𝗘𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗮
***
As afternoon goes deeper, the sighs that come out from Tae Gu's mouth are piling up and that catches his mother's attention.
"It's boring, isn't it?" His mother asks conspiratorially. Tae Gu exhales and nods.
"It is. I want to go chat with my friends, but I can see Abeoji's glare even from here."
Tae Gu's mother laughs softly, "Can I ask you to do something for me, then? Maybe you can find your friends while doing this."
"Sure. As long as you're not playing matchmaker and parading me in front of your friends."
His mother laughs loudly now making his father turns and looks at them questioningly. His mother waves to his husband and shakes her head.
"It was one time, Tae Gu-ya. How long will you hold the grudge against me? And you two lasts two years."
Yeah, so his mother introduced him to Chae Yoon his freshman year of high school. He knew her, of course, but never interacted before. And well, now, it's in the past.
"What do you need me to do?" He chooses wisely not to comment further and gets back to her request. His mother fidgets in her place looking nervous.
"So, I... did something. Because I'm curious. And I can't go check it myself." Tae Gu's forehead creases and he glances to his mother.
"What did you do, Eomeoni?"
"I order some refreshment from Yoo Ae Ra's cafe. But... through Chae Yoon Eomma."
The son turns to his mother in disbelief. "You what?"
"Almost everyone says that her pastries are good, and her coffee, too. But, you know, with our circumstances, I can never go there, can't I? So I order them for today through a friend."
Tae Gu chuckles. "I always think growing up, there will be no more high school drama, I guess I'm wrong. You both are like Jin Woo and I."
"Jin Woo? Yoo Jin Woo?"
He nods. "I burned so many bridges with him with my... let's just say not so nice gestures just to keep my distance from him. He was silent all this time, until this year."
"What did he do? Are you okay?"
"Oh, relax, Eomeoni. I'm okay. And Jin Woo is... cool. He's not different than me, I guess."
"Oh. You are friends."
Tae Gu snorts at his mother's observation. "I won't say we're friends. Yet. As I told you, I've burned many bridges with him. But someone said... we're brothers, we should be an ally. Not a nemesis. So, I'm trying." He smiles as his thought goes to Jin Ah.
"That someone is right. Maybe I should've pushed you harder to get to know him. But even if many more years have passed, I can't seem to forget my shock upon seeing them returns. I can't imagine her feeling and how courageous Yoo Ae Ra is."
"So get to know her. Jin Woo and I are not there yet, so I can't tell you how she's like."
"I'll think about it. Did your father know that you are getting closer to your brother? Is he your Hyung then?"
"Pffft. Stop, Eomeoni. Never, will you hear me calling Jin Woo 'Hyung'. And Abeoji doesn't know. I don't think he'll like it."
"Don't mind him. I personally grateful that you and Jin Woo are getting to know each other. Whatever it is that makes you decide to do it, I'm glad."
"It's a who." Tae Gu mumbles.
"What?"
"Nothing, Eomeoni. So, the order?"
"Oh, yes. It will be here soon, someone will deliver it to the back entrance. You think it'll be Jin Woo's mother?"
"I don't think so? Maybe Jin Woo? Or maybe they use delivery service? Anyway, I'll direct it to the kitchen?"
"Yes. Please let me know. If it's here." Tae Gu nods and leaves to wait in the back entrance of the house. He passes by Jang Mi again who runs like crazy.
"Bathroom, I need to go to the bathroom, Min Tae Gu."
"The bathroom is on the other side of the house, go to my room, upstairs the first door on the right. Don't touch anything."
He feels the need to warn Jang Mi as the most precious thing for him is in there in his room. He put the Jin Ah's wisdom tin box on his study desk and the desk is on the opposite side of the bathroom. He won't want Jang Mi to ruffle through it and ruin it.
"Thank you." Jang Mi runs towards the stair while Tae Gu goes outside. As he waits for the delivery, he wonders what Jin Ah is doing right now.
He checks on her SNS but nothing. She also doesn't reply his message from two hours ago.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗬𝗼𝗼𝗻 𝗝𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗵?
Usually she will reply in a matter of seconds. The only time she won't answer his message is if she is with Jin Woo. Tae Gu checks his watch and sighs. They are definitely on that basketball court.
He is walking back inside the house to find his friends when Jin Ah's voice calls him.
Jin Ah? He turns around to see the pretty girl occupying his mind on the fence, a big bag on both of her hands.
Tae Gu runs to her taking the bag from her swiftly.
"Hey." His heart suddenly pounds so hard upon seeing her, so pretty with her hair loose on her shoulder.
Jin Ah raises her hand shyly as her greeting.
"I thought —" He asks Jin Ah to open the door and leads her to their kitchen.
"Jin Woo Eomma needs some help."
His smile dies down and his pout comes out. "Here I thought you are here for me."
She tries to hide her smile but doesn't succeed in it. "Well, that, too."
Tae Gu stops dead in his track and grins. "I knew it!"
Jin Ah rolls her eyes and continues following him in to find the kitchen in this big house. "Wow. Your house is... big."
"It's The Mayor's." He answers in a way that shows his lack of enthusiasm. So, she forgets he doesn't like things to be associated with his father, she needs to distract him.
"So, do you know who ordered these refreshment? I think it's weird that someone ordering for The Mayor from Ahjumma's cafe."
Tae Gu glances at her. "Don't tell Jin Woo or his mother, but it's my mother."
"You're kidding." Jin Ah is totally perplexed.
"I'm not. My reaction is exactly like yours when she told me." He puts the bags on the kitchen counter and turns to Jin Ah.
"Oh, I forget, I should've said something to you."
"What?"
"Welcome to our house." He puts on his fake smile and makes Jin Ah laughs. He knows she'll recognize it right away.
"You're scary when you smile like that. Try not to grin too wide."
"I'm not even grinning. I'm grimacing." Her laughs is getting louder and he loves every second of it.
"Stop being funny." Tae Gu stops grinning and back to his normal smile.
"That's better." Jin Ah comments lightly and Tae Gu blushes to Jin Ah amusement.
Tae Gu clears his throat, "I need to find my mother, she wants to meet whoever delivering the order, wait here?"
***
This house is massive, it is understandable if Jin Ah is slightly overwhelmed. From the moment the taxi driver dropped her, she was already lost seeking over the back entrance. She was glad she met a familiar face after going around in circle.
"Yoon Jin Ah?" Jin Ah turned to see Ha Chae Yoon sitting at an outdoor table near the swing.
"Oh, thank God. At least, someone I know!"
Chae Yoon looked at her amusingly and smiled. "Are you looking for Tae Gu?"
She was silent. Hmm, that was... a little hard to answer. Chae Yoon was his — "Umm... no?"
The girl laughed. "Did you answer that because of me? Because I'm Tae Gu's ex girlfriend?"
Jin Ah smiled sheepishly. "Kind of?"
Both of them then laughed simultaneously before Jin Ah told her the truth.
"Actually, Jin Woo asked me — okay, not Jin Woo, his mother asked me to make a delivery for... hmm, wait, anyway, the delivery remarks said to bring this to the back entrance, do you know where is it?"
Chae Yoon pointed to the door on the far side of the garden and Jin Ah nodded. "Thank you, Ha Chae Yoon."
"Yoon Jin Ah, can I say something?"
Jin Ah cocked her head questioningly. "About you and Tae Gu."
She froze on the spot at Chae Yoon's words and failed to meet the other girl's eyes.
"So, umm... speaking from experience, Tae Gu is... well, he's charming when he wants to be. But, sometimes, he's..."
"A jerk? A bully? Annoying? Likes to do whatever he wants to do?" Jin Ah continued her sentence when she saw Chae Yoon struggled to find the right words.
"You know him."
"He's kinda — he doesn't care about a good image in front of me, I think. I mean... I hated him for the way he treated Jin Woo. He just... let me draw my own conclusion about him."
"Okay, okay. Good. So, you know what you're getting into."
Jin Ah sighed. "I wish everyone would stop saying that. What are you doing here, Ha Chae Yoon? Are you afraid that something is going on between us?"
Chae Yoon looked at her straight. "No. I couldn't care less about you two. Never mind. I shouldn't have talked in the first place." Then she left Jin Ah alone.
Jin Ah stood watching her back retreated back inside the house and shrugged, thinking about how weird the conversation was. She walked to the back entrance and saw Tae Gu almost getting inside the house.
Now, where is he again? Jin Ah looks around and walks to the direction where he left minutes ago. She feels awkward looking around the kitchen.
"Well, well, who is this?" A female's voice greets her playfully. But she can hear the drips of sarcasm there.
Jin Ah turns and sees the most popular girl in school Baek Jang Mi in front of her. Thankfully, at the same time, Tae Gu is back in the kitchen sans his mother.
"Yoon Jin Ah, my mother said sorry, and thank you. But she's in the middle of something. Jang Mi, what are you doing here?" He asks his ex's best friend.
"Yoon Jin Ah? As in Jin Ah's wisdom?" That freezes both Tae Gu and Jin Ah.
"Jang Mi —" Tae Gu knows Jang Mi sees the tin box. He just hopes Jin Ah doesn't take the wrong conclusion.
"Oh, you two look so cute, together! And Oh, God. The tin box is so pretty."
Jin Ah pales upon hearing Jang Mi's words, her eyes feel hot like they will be raining tears anytime soon. She looks at Min Tae Gu and glares.
How dare he does this to her? He has every chances in the world to tell her he doesn't want the box, and yet... for him to tell his friends and now they're mocking her?
"I really love your message, though. It's so cute, isn't it, Tae Gu-ya? The one that says... Hwaiting, Min Tae Gu! Aw..."
"Yoon Jin Ah, I didn't —"
"Stay away from me, Min Tae Gu."
That's all she can say as she runs out of the house. Her heart sinks as she hears Jang Mi's laughter.
It hurts. It hurts so bad she keeps wiping her tears away as she continues to run to the nearest bus stop. Her phone rings over and over again and she knows it's coming from Tae Gu. She stops running and reaches for her phone.
And shut it down.
***
Just like boys his age, Jin Woo spends his Saturday playing game. Whatever game, he has tried it. Many of the online gamers look up to him for advice and he's proud of it.
This Saturday night, it's a little different. At the SOS text Jin Ah sent him an hour ago, Jin Woo immediately drops everything to find her. Too bad Jin Ah didn't specify where she was in the text.
Jin Woo tried her home only to be met with confusion by her mother. "Isn't she with you, Jin Woo-ya?"
He tried basketball court and Halmoni's Foodtruck, but Halmoni said she didn't see Jin Ah. So, there's only one place left.
Jin Woo steps into his mother's cafe which is already closed for the day. "Jin Ah? Are you here?"
"I'm here." Jin Ah answers sobbing. Physically Jin Woo can't see her but he can hear her muffled sound of cry in otherwise silent cafe. He circles the cashier counter and finds his best friend sitting on the floor.
Arms drape on her knees, head tucks on it, Jin Ah is crying her heart out.
"Is this wall taken?" Jin Woo looks at her and asks.
Jin Ah shakes her head and without words Jin Woo sits next to her.
Upon feeling Jin Woo's arrival, Jin Ah looks up and sobs even harder. She then leans her head to Jin Woo's shoulder and continues releasing all her pent up feelings.
"I must be stupid to have this feeling. I should've known." She finally says between her sobs.
"What happened?" He asks softly.
"I should've heeded your warning. Or Chae Yoon. Maybe he is just toying with me. All this time, I thought he was... the guy I told you about. The kind and funny and smart. That guy. But he just proved me wrong. I deserve a big fat 'I told you so'."
"Well, I'm out of stock. So you won't get it from me."
"This smart girl is really stupid and clueless, Jin Woo-ya."
"Oh, Jin Ah. Come here." Jin Ah slips into his embrace and Jin Woo strokes her arms lightly until her sobs ebb away. Jin Ah releases him and leans back.
"You are not stupid, Yoon Jin Ah."
"You think?"
"Positive. Forget about this, okay?"
"Yeah, thank you. I don't know if I can ever forget the humiliation. But, I'll try. So —"
"So?"
"Welcome back, I guess?"
"To where?"
"Normal? Jin Woo and Jin Ah against the world?"
"Hmm, I like that. Let them have their world." Jin Woo ruffles Jin Ah's hair before he stands up. Jin Ah shakes her head.
"Go. I can close up the cafe myself. I want to be alone. Thank you for coming here, Yoo Jin Woo."
Jin Woo nods then gets up to leave Jin Ah to herself once again. "Anytime."
Jin Ah stays at the cafe to clean up as she often does. She wants to turn on her phone but knowing what will be waiting for her, she stops herself.
She is drying up one last coffee mug when someone knocks the door to the cafe. Jin Ah looks up to find Min Tae Gu waves at her from outside. They look at each other silently. For how many minutes, they don't know. Or don't care.
Jin Ah walks slowly to the door, and Tae Gu's face lights up at this. Maintaining their connection, the girl stops in front of the door, and lets down the curtain.
Effectively breaking them apart.