(YEORYEONG APARTMENT)
-AFTERNOON-
As I scrolled through my phone while waiting for Yeoryeong, I stole a quick glance at Dan-I, who looked anxious.
"Are you okay, Dan-Ah?" I inquired, and she replied with a sweatdrop and added, "Well...I don't know if I can attend school safely..."
"Why, what happened?" I asked with concern, seeing that she was wearing a red hoodie while I had a pink sweater and turtle-neck underneath.
"Do you remember the guy on the beach? Guess he's attending the same school," she explained.
"Oh, you mean the guy who made you weep?" I clarified.
"It's not that I wept because of him, I just cried because of his name," she added
"Haha, I see. I see. But don't worry, here, we're all here," I assured her, making her feel more secure.
"Yeah, I thought so," Dan-I said with a sigh, but then Yeoryeong opened the door and greeted us with a cheerful smile.
"Haera, Dan-I, my mother said we should go eat Chinese food for dinner to celebrate our first day of high school!"
"That sounds good" Dan-I mumble
Yeoryeong nodded and added excitedly.
"My brother will be done with school at 6 PM, so we can leave then,"
"Well, in that case, should we stop by your brother's school on the way to the Chinese restaurant?" I suggested, and both Dan-I and Yeoryeong nod in agreement.
As we walked toward Yeodan's school, we heard Yeoryeong explain, "My brother said that the late-night study sessions begin at his school tomorrow."
"That sounds terrible," Dan-I and I agreed with a unanimous "Ugh..."
As were walking We spotted many students gathered outside of the school, conversing and chatting.
"Is there a celebrity coming?" I inquired, observing the large crowd of students. Dan responded, "I guess so. There are so many students here-" She was interrupted when a group of students raised a banner "YEODAN FOREVER" and applauded, yelling,
"YEODAN, CONGRATULATIONS FOR BECOMING A SOPHOMORE! +"
More students began shouting their comments, filling the air with their enthusiastic voices.
"I baked a cake for you yeodan to celebrate!" one student shouted, fangirling excitedly.
Another student added "YEODAN, TWO YEARS UNTIL YOU BECOME LEGALLY AN ADULT, SO IT'S NOT MUCH LONGER UNTIL WE CAN GET MARRIED!"
A bunch of students were gathered and cheering, and the overall situation left me quite stunned and speechless.
Yeoryeong expressed her shock and surprise as she said "My brother... Is a player? Are all of these people his girlfriend?" that made both me and Dan-I equally shocked.
It might be natural for a bunch of girls to cheer Yeodan because of his handsome appearance, but obviously, he was single.
I chimed in to help clear things up and said, "You know well and good that Yeodan is single!"
Dan-I nodded to me, affirming her response.
"Yeoryeong expressed her confusion and asked "Then why are all of those people acting like that?"
Dan-I offered a possible explanation, responding, "Perhaps, because yeodan is handsome, so they're eager to date him." she said with sweatdrop
"Kyahh yeodan!!" The group of students began crowding around Yeodan as he walked through the hallway while using his phone. I couldn't get a clear view of him due to the large number of students surrounding him.
"Hey," Yeodan suddenly appeared right in front of us with a smile on his face that caught Yeoryeong off-guard, and then his friends spoke up.
""Wow, you're Ban Yeodan's sister? You're so pretty. Do you know who we are? We've literally been searching for Ban Yeodan's face for four years now." One of his friends spoke excitedly as his other friend added, "I almost fainted."
I just chuckled to they're reactions as I caught a glimpse of Ban Yeodan taking something from his bag, and I saw that it was a chocolate milk.
I panicked as I watched Ban Yeodon taking the chocolate milk from his bag in front of these students. My palms were sweating profusely, and I immediately grasped his hand and pushed the chocolate milk back into his bag.
I don't want me and Dan-I to be the center of attention due to your mistake, Yeodan...
As I finally push it inside i smiled and whispered
"Let's go now yeodan-oppa..." I whispered I want to leave here right now!!!
///
CHINESE RESTAURANT
We arrived at a Chinese restaurant, and Dan-I's father announced, "Congratulations to our little girls for starting high school! This one's on me today, so eat up, alright?"
We both thanked him as we tucked into the food, and Dan-I's mother, who looked pleased, added, "Gosh, you all sure do have healthy appetites."
""It's been a long time since Haera ate so much. I guess she likes Chinese food," Mom said, and the conversation between her and Yeoryeong and Dan-I mothers intensified.
Time passed as we finished eating as were fully satisfied to the food
"Wow, it's so delicious," agreed Yeoryeong, and I nodded
Dan-I suddenly stood up from his seat and announced, "Guys, I'm gonna go to the bathroom real quick."
Both me and Yeoryeong nodded. As Dan-I's father left to grab a beer, I wondered whether he and our father's was going to drink, but soon, he left the restaurant to bought more alcohol.
"Haera, I'll go find Dan-I..." Yeoryeong told me, and I nodded but then A sudden, loud shout disturbed me as I heard Yeoryeong shouting outside the room.
"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO WAS FLIRTING WITH DANI!" She shouted with so much force that I could almost hear her words from here, in this room.
A lot of drama was unraveling before my eyes. Perhaps this would be a fascinating time indeed.
///
"Well Well your my daughter future father in law nice to meet you have a drink on me" Dan-I father said Ruda's father, who was extremely handsome and looked similar to a movie star, was friendly and cordial as he accepted a drink from Dan-I's father.
But then father smiled, saying "Oh, long time no see Ian!" as they exchanged friendly hugs.
"It's been a while. I didn't know you were now living in Korea," Ian responded to my father's remark, and he smiled and nodded.
"Where's Jennie, your wife? Aren't you with her today?" Mom asked with curiosity, and Ian explained,
"She's quite busy." Ian nodded along with his response.
'Wow so my parents have a connection to ruda' s parents... ' I thought
The four fathers began to get along well as they drank, and they all seemed quite friendly to one another. My father, who's working as the Chief Executive Officer of the Kang Company, often travels for work. They're all discussing about my dad's life...
As they continue to indulge in their drinks, our mothers and Yeoryeong and Dan-I's parents stand up together from their seats.
"Were going head out now don't drink too much everyone" Yeoryeong mom said
Yeoryeong's mother spoke up and advised, "Okay, everyone, let's exit now. Be careful not to drink too much."
Dan-I's mother also added, "What about you, Yeodan? You have to start late night studying tomorrow, so you should go home and to your bed early."
Yeodan replied, "I can catch it... I'll stay here for a bit longer..."
My mother nodded and suddenly asked us: "What about you girls? Do you want to stay out with your dads a bit longer?"
"I guess I'm going to stay here... I mean our father might get too drunk...." I replied.
Yeoryeong and Dan-I said the same thing, "Me too!!" However, it seemed like Ruda was still staring at Dan-I. There appeared to be a battle for her attention between him and Yeo-Ryeong .
As our mothers departed, I quietly ate my noodles once again.
Suddenly, Yeodan gave me the chocolate milk that he had bought, and I took it and smiled, saying "Thank you, oppa. However, you shouldn't always buy chocolate milk, as it might explode inside your bag."
I said as i opened it and drink it with straw
"I don't mind. I like you enough to always carry a chocolate milk in my bag," he said softly, and I stared at him,
"Your so kind oppa thankyou!" I smiled
I was pleased with it when he treated me like a real sister. He treated me with kindness and consideration, which made me feel very special and appreciated. Perhaps, having a brother like him would be nice
"Oppa, don't you want to take a sip?" I said enthusiastically, and I moved the chocolate milk bottle toward him.
He seemed hesitant, but slowly he leaned towards the bottle and took a sip.
I wondered if he liked the chocolate milk I'd offered him, and I panicked slightly when he stayed quiet afterward. I sweated a little and thought to myself, 'Oh no, did I force the milk on him too much? I guess he didn't like it..' i thought
As I quickly snatched a random glass of water from the table and held it in front of him, "Here oppa, have some water."
After a while, he began to drink, and his face suddenly fell.
"Haera, the water... I think it's alcohol..."
"Alcohol???" 'Yeah, it's probably the alcohol that my father had been drinking.'
Damn it I must take take responsibility for my actions!
Because Yeodan will have late night studying it might get mess because of me!
"Oppa, did you drink much of the cup I gave you?" I asked, hoping that the damage wasn't that severe.
"Not much," he calmly said.
I checked the cup to see that around half of the content remained. It seemed like the damage had been minimal, which was good news.
I felt very apologetic for causing this situation, so I added quickly, "I'm sorry that I made you drink half of the alcohol."
"It's okay, it was just an accident," he responded.
I know but I still had to be responsible for my actions.
"Okay... Let's head out now. You have late-night studying tomorrow. I'll get you home. You might experience a little tipsy."
"Alright," he nodded, As I looked over to Yeoryeong and Dan-I, who were still chatting amicably.
"Yeoryeong, we're going to go home now. I accidentally made him drink the alcohol." I whispered discreetly to Yeoryeong and Dan-I, and they both understood and said goodbye to us.
"Okay, you should go home now, Haera, and get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow," Yeoryeong suggested.
Afterward, Dan-I added, "Goodbye. Take care."
Once we step outside, the weather suddenly became rather breezy, and it felt nice but itslook dark.
"Yeodan oppa, can you walk properly?" I inquired nervously, to which he promptly nodded and gave me a slight smile.
The realization suddenly hit me that this handsome and kind Yeodan oppa would be the love interest of Dan-I.
I couldn't contain my excitement for this part of the novel as I imagined how Dan-I and Yeodan's interaction would play out.
Yeodan's character is portrayed as kind, quiet, gentle, and caring, which makes him attractive to many fans, including myself. However, his personality is described as being slightly insecure and indecisive, often changing his tastes if the person he likes doesn't accept certain characteristics about him.
And...
Chunyoung is indeed quite a pitiful character, as he didn't confess his feelings for Dan-I soon enough but continued to waver. If he had admitted his feelings earlier on, they may have ended up together.
However, Eun Jiho and Dan-I ended up together instead, likely due to various reasons.
As a reader, I have fallen in love first with Chunyoung while reading the novel.
But readers all have different opinions on who should end up with the leading female character in the end. In the end, though, the author's decision is the one that matters the most.
The author should have made Yeoryeong and Dan-I's ending into a Friendship rather than Eun Jiho and Dan-I's Romance....
As we continued our conversation, Yeodan suddenly inquired, "Are you okay, Haera?" And I responded with a smile, "I'm fine!"
However, his words caught me off guard, as he responded by saying, "You changed since you entered middle school."
I stopped walking momentarily, gazing at him with confusion "How much Did I change?" I asked
"When you were young, you had a cold personality and didn't smile. I thought that you were just forced to be friends with Dan-I and Yeoryeong because of our parents byt still i thought you like my younger sister, but everything changed when you entered middle school. You started to hang out with them more, became more friendly, and even began to smile."
"However, I like the Haera standing in front of me right now," he continued, which made my heart flutter a bit
"I like this warm and bright Haera," he finished, his eyes meeting mine as I smiled I appreciated his words...
"I will continue to be like this," I declared cheerfully, and he smiled and chuckled at my words. As we began to walk once more,
'I will continue to be like this, until the end of the story.'
To Be Continued