"VIRALES MADCHEN"
(VIRAL GIRL)
———
"No way! No way! No way!!"Sana was hysterical after they pin point all the rumors about the viral girl.
"Yes way! And look at that beautiful face! That is obviously Sooyoung she's just wearing make up that's why we were fooled but that's our girl. Oh my gosh I can't believe our Sooyoung is finally coming out of her shell."Lisa stated as the two of them were at the park.
"Well yeah I'd love to see her crawling out of that shell, but I have never thought that it would be like this. Like oh my gosh to the ninth time."Sana said while scrolling on her phone.
"Just let it process Sana, let's ask her directly when they come back."Lisa suggested.
"No. I can't wait any longer I need her to explain now, and gosh! She even rejected joining our dance performance for the School's feast and knowing that she won a live dancing competition with another group just makes me speechless. She needs to explain like every detail!"Sana said while dialing Sooyoung's number.
"She's abroad you know, it costs a lot on international calls."Lisa pointed out.
"Duh, I'm calling her on Messenger. The bitch is online."Sana was on high spirits after the rumors spread.
Meanwhile in Germany, the students in Bae Joohyun's art class have a free day on their last day before they are scheduled to fly back to South Korea tomorrow.
"Hey Sungjae, won't you come with us? We're going to buy souvenirs."Mark said when he entered Sungjae's room.
"Where's Jackson?"He asked.
"At the lobby with the boys, so are you coming or what?"Mark asked again.
"Where's Sooyoung ?"Sungjae asked.
"I don't know, maybe sleeping or went out or something. Why are you asking me? That girl is really weird and mysterious she can be anywhere."Mark stated.
Sungjae tried to think of a place that she might have gone.
"You go ahead with the others I'll just catch up later, I'll go invite Sooyoung so we can go buy stuff together."Sungjae said making Mark nod.
"Okay, just give me a message."then he left.
....
"Where's Sungjae?"Peniel said his one of their classmates, he's Sungjae's roommate in the hotel.
"He's gonna catch up, he's going to get Sooyoung too."Mark answered.
"Oh really? What's up with Yook and that weird chic? I've never seen him with any girl besides those three you guys are hanging out, and he's specifically close with weirdo."Peniel exclaimed which Mark was feeling really uncomfortable as he keeps on calling her weirdo.
"Yeah Sooyoung may seem strange but don't call her weirdo. She's still a girl."Mark stated which Peniel was taken aback.
"Oh sorry man, didn't mean to make fun of her."Peniel quickly apologized.
"That's okay, just call her by her name just don't call her pet names. And she's Sungjae's girl."Mark exclaimed like it wasn't a big deal.
"Woah?! For real? Their dating.?"he asked.
"Dating? Yeah like that would ever happen, Sooyoung hates him and what I mean by his girl I meant was that she's the chic he's got eyes on."Mark explained making Peniel nod in understanding.
The two of them walked towards the group of boys they would be hanging with.
Dooyoung , Sehun and Jackson were waiting for them.
"So what did we miss?"Peniel asked as they went inside the first boutique.
"You mean what we all missed, back in Seoul our school has been invaded by media people thanks to 3 of our schoolmates."Dooyoung started off.
"Eh? Why would our school be swarmed with media?"Mark asked confused. "And what about our schoolmates? Was there an accident?"he added.
"Nope, more like an instant celebrity hunt. A Live dance competition was broadcasted a few weeks ago and the winning girl group called TwiceLovelyRedGirl. Do you guys remember Yuju the tall girl from Class-D? and the class representative of Class-C Sujeong? Their one of those four."Sehun shared.
"What?!! Lemme see the photo I wanna see it."Mark snatched the phone and started reading the article while the other boys continue their conversation.
"Hey Mark remember Sana's cousin who throw a birthday party for her dog?"Jackson asked making Mark nod.
"Yeah why?"
"She's in the photo as well, I messaged Sana to ask her about it and she confirmed that she's her cousin."Jackson shared.
"Woah! You met one of the group's members?! Daebak! Does she have a boyfriend?"Peniel asked making Jackson glare at him.
"Stay faithful you idiot, Sejeong's here."Jackson reminded him while pointing towards a nearby ice cream shop, Sejeong was with a group of girls having a good time.
"Jeez, that was a joke don't take it seriously."Peniel quickly denied but everyone was kind of curious for Mark's sudden silence.
"Hey you okay Mark?"Dooyoung asked as they stare at him while holding the phone in his hands with his eyes widen in surprise.
"Are you that star struck on how gorgeous those girls are? Coz we were too, we never thought Yuju would look that good. She's always in her plain choir uniform everyday so we couldn't notice her appeal."Sehun shared.
"Yuju and the other two aren't the ones who surprised me."Mark mumbled as Dooyoung snatch his phone back.
"That makes the two of us, what actually makes me curious is this girl. She's just perfect, too bad no information about her yet. Only that she also goes to our school, but if we had a classmate who looks like that we could have noticed but it seems like she's on the other year level or department."Dooyoung exclaimed.
Jackson was about to say something when he felt someone grip on his arm.
"I think we need to find Sungjae."Mark told him and didn't even let him react as he dragged him out of the boutique completely surprising the three other boys.
"What just happened?"Sehun asked.
"I don't know."Dooyoung responded.
"Maybe Mark needs to visit the toilet."was all Peniel could say.
———
"What is this all about Mark? We were supposed to be hanging out with the guys. Why did you suddenly drag me off?"Jackson asked a bit annoyed as the two of them were walking back to the hotel.
"I can't believe you couldn't see it for yourself."Mark exclaimed confusing him.
"See what?"He asked.
"The viral girl picture, why couldn't you recognize who she was?"Mark asked.
"Her? Of course I wouldn't recognize her since I don't know anyone who looks like that."Jackson pointed out making Mark roll his eyes.
"Gosh! You are so blind. Look at the picture one more time and tell me who's the first person that pops into your mind when you see her."Mark told him.
"I've seen that a lot of times and like I said I don't know her, why do you sound like you know her. Have you met her? What school?"Jackson asked.
Mark was about to spoil him everything when he caught the sight of Sooyoung suddenly coming out of the hotel entrance and took a cab.
"Sooyoung!"Mark yelled but he was too late for she already left and in just a few minutes Sungjae suddenly came out.
"Yo Yook!"Jackson quickly catch his attention.
"What took you so long?"Mark asked.
"Sorry, I was about to catch up with Sooyoung but she suddenly received a call from her friend Momo or something and then she dashed off. I tried to ran after her but she's gone."Sungjae explained.
"Well we just saw her taking a cab and went somewhere. Maybe she went home to see her parent's or something, we are leaving tomorrow morning so that must be it."Jackson exclaimed but Mark and Sungjae disagreed.
"I think I know why she suddenly dashed off."Mark spoke up surprising the two.
"You do?"Jackson asked surprised while Sungjae could only look at him.
"More likely I'll show you."he said as he showed Sungjae the picture of the viral girl making Jackson confused again.
"That picture again? What's with you and that viral girl? Do you like her or something? Or did you date that girl that's why you keep on mentioning her since back at the shop?"Jackson blabbered since he couldn't catch what Mark was trying to say but Sungjae on the other hand only remained silent as he was surprised to see the picture.
"You recognize her too right? It's not just me?"Mark asked him which Jackson was clueless.
"Wait? Sungjae knows her too? Yah! Can any of you tell me who she is? I'm really confused at the same time really curious why the sudden viral girl interest mode you two are."Jackson pointed out but the two could only ignore him.
"Where did you get this picture?"Sungjae asked as his aura turned a bit gray alarming the two.
"From Sehun and the others I think they got it from the school's news update, they say that she's from our school and the article has been viral for over a week now."Mark exclaimed.
"Hey can any of you tell me anything? I kind of feel left out here."Jackson still kept on talking.
"A week? Did her identity got leaked?"Sungjae asked.
"Not as of now, but she's the only person without any back story so it's a really high possibility that a lot of people are trying to figure out who she is. I'm even guessing Sana and Lisa also found out about this."Mark stated.
"This is bad. I need to go see her."Sungjae exclaimed as he started to call for a cab.
"Are you insane? You don't even know where she could have gone and besides you don't know how to speak German you'll get lost."Mark exclaimed.
"It's okay, I think I know where she might have gone."Sungjae informed as he successfully took a cab and left. Leaving a confused looking Jackson and a worried Mark.
"Okay I don't know what's going on here, but I could tell it's something serious and I'm supposed to know it but it seems like my brain isn't functioning well today. So what's the deal? You need to tell me in details or I'm going to beat the crap out of you."Jackson annoyingly stated making Mark sighed at his friend's cluelessness.
"The viral girl is Park Sooyoung."just with that sentence Jackson literally shut down at his very very late realization.
———
After hearing from Momo about her sudden fame Sooyoung dashed out of the hotel and took a cab.
"Wohin?" (Where to?) the cab driver asked.
"Zum Friedhof." (to the cemetery.) she responded.
"This is bad this is bad. How the hell did they find out about us?"Sooyoung was mumbling to herself as she was nervously tapping her feet.
"This wasn't part of the plan. What if they find me out? Or more likely Sana and Lisa probably have known by now, what will I say? S**t."Sooyoung was getting even more anxious.
"This image. I've worked hard to achieve this image and it will all crumble down just because of my carelessness. Ugh this is so stupid."she said frustratingly.
Suddenly her phone beeped as she received a text.
"Where are you?"
It was from Sungjae.
"Does he know?"she asked herself.
*beep*
"I know."
O___O
"He's really weird, how the heck can he answer my question? When he can't even see me? Did he put some voice recording on me or something?"she mumbled again.
The taxi has finally stopped at the cemetery entrance, Sooyoung quickly paid for the fare and hopped off.
"I'll deal with this later, I need to talk to her."she said as she walked inside.
She reached a specific grave stone with fresh flowers being placed.
"Guess your friends came to visit."Sooyoung said as she bowed in front of her sister's grave. "Hi unnie, it's been a while."she greeted with a faint smile. She starts to sat on the ground while facing the grave. "Sorry if it took me this long to see you, things got messed up when you left."she started off while looking away preventing herself from crying. "And guess what? It got even more messed up because of my carelessness."she added.
The cool wind only responded her which she smiled thinking that it was her sister trying to cheer her up.
"Can I just be with you?"Sooyoung suddenly asked with pure longing and sadness in her voice.
"Ever since you left, everything's changed. People thought it was all my idea to change but no, I had no choice but to leave and change everything."she kept on sharing everything. Suzy was the only person Sooyoung would open up her problems with and even if she's no longer here, her sister would always be her crying shoulder.
"I missed Mom and Dad, but it seems like they don't miss me at all."Sooyoung confessed as a single tear feel off her eye.
"Mom left the house a month after your death, Dad became even more workaholic to pay off all the debts and me? I left because I couldn't bare to see them look at me like I was some kind of painful memory. Mom and Dad slowly noticed my similarities with you and they started crying their hearts out when they see me and kept calling your name. I tried to explain to them that you were gone but they wouldn't listen and even snapped."Sooyoung almost choked on her own saliva due to her tears.
"Mom said something she shouldn't have, and it was the reason why I'm like this. And Dad was shocked as they started to drift away, eventually they divorced and I was left alone."Sooyoung kept on saying while continuing to sob in tears.
"I'm all alone. Dad barely sends money to support me since he already has a new family, while Mom?..."she cut off her words as she remembers a memory. "She doesn't remember me anymore, she had an accident when she left the house. She has amnesia which is also the reason why Dad was more eager to leave her, she's staying at Aunt Solji in Jeju Island now."she added. "I miss you. I really do, and I can't take it anymore I want to end this now."
.....
Back in Seoul Alice was about to pick up Rosè from the Day Care when she received a message from Sungjae.
"Sorry for suddenly texting you, but I really need your help. Sooyoung suddenly dashed out of the hotel and didn't say where she went, something happened and I wanted to know if you know any place here in Germany that she might have gone. Like her Parent's home address or her former friends, anything."
She was shocked with his message.
"Something happened?"she asked worryingly as she quickly replied back.
"What happened to Sooyoung? Is everything alright? Can you please tell me so I can understand."
Alice waited for his reply. But she was confused why he suddenly sent her a link to an entertainment article.
"What's this article about?" She asked.
"In that article Sooyoung is involved and can you please tell me where she might have gone? She was in a hurry and looked like she was out."
Hurry? Don't tell me she's having those attacks again? Omo! This is bad.
"The Cemetery!! Quickly go to the Cemetery and look for a grave stone with the name Park Suzy, it's most likely near the exit gate you'll eventually see her when you get there. Hurry please, you need to go see her before she does something wrong."
Alice was in panic as Sungjae didn't respond. Clicking the article Alice was once again surprised.
"She's singing and dancing....again?"then a tear feel off her eyes.
Quickly she dialed Joohyun's number.
"Yoboseyo?"
"It's happening again, she went off. Sungjae just messaged me and Sooyoung dashed out, can you please help him."she told her.
"Eh? What? Calm down. Now tell me everything."Joohyun states which made Alice calm a little bit before she explained everything. After finding out what happened she quickly ended the call and tried to search for her uncle's(Sooyoung's Dad) number.
It took a few rings before someone actually answered.
"Hello?"
"Uhm Hello, can I speak to Park Jiho please? This is Alice his niece."Alice responded in English.
"Oh? He's in the shower, I'll just inform him to call you back."
"Okay, please make sure to inform him that it's about Joy."Alice states as the one on the other line nod as the call ended.
"I wonder if Sungjae has able to find Sooyoung?"she asked herself in worry.
———
Meanwhile when Sungjae arrived at the cemetery he quickly approached the care taker and asked about Sooyoung.
"Excuse me, do you speak English?"he asked the care taker. An elder lady nod her head and indicated that she can understand English.
"Have you seen a girl with short black hair coming here? Like about an hour ago?"he was really thankful that she knew the international language. "Her name is Park Sooyoung and she's visiting a grave with the name Park Suzy."he added. When the elder lady heard the name Suzy she smiled.
"By Sooyoung you mean Joy?"the lady said confusing Sungjae.
Joy? Who's Joy?
He asked himself.
"I saw her arriving while crying so I thought she really just missed her sister, she's over that place behind that tall statue. It's been a year since the last time I saw her visit so I kind of didn't recognize her."the lady shared which Sungjae quickly thanked as he ran as fast as he could at where Sooyoung was.
The moment she passed by the statue it felt like his heart was about to burst as he witnessed Sooyoung passed out on the ground with tears in her eyes.
"SOOYOUNG!"he cried out as he approached her and held her in his arms.
"Hey wake up! Sooyoung! S**t."he exclaimed as he tried to look for help.
"Help! Can someone call 911?!"
But to no avail no one was in the area besides him and Sooyoung.
"Sh*t sh*t sh*t. Wake up Buttercup!"he was panicking as he felt Sooyoung getting cold. Due to what's happening Sungjae wasn't able to notice that he was standing on Suzy's grave.
"Somebody help! Please!" He was sounding really desperate. Then he glanced back at Sooyoung and quickly lift her up.
"I'll take you to the hospital myself. Jeez."he exclaimed while carrying her bridal style. Then glanced back at Suzy'a grave.
"I'm sorry if I had to meet you in this kind of situation but I'll visit again in a more normal way and with your sister too, but I have to get her some help first."he said like he was actually talking to someone.
Sungjae walked back towards the entrance carrying Sooyoung which startled the old lady.
"Oh my gosh, what happened?"the elder asked.
"I saw her passed out, can you help me by calling a cab please?"he told her . The elder woman nodded and quickly ran to call a taxi.
Sungjae stood by the entrance still carrying Sooyoung in his arms while waiting for the taxi. He was growing impatient before he suddenly heard someone talk.
"Eheem."an older man in his early 50's approached him.
"Can I help you?"he asked him.
"It seems like you're the one who is in need of my help."the man responded making Sungjae Stare at him suspiciously.
"No thanks, I can manage."he decline the offer and ignored him.
"Where are my manners, the names John Park."he introduced himself.
"Nice to meet you."was all Sungjae could say as the man could only smile.
"I'm Korean, Park Jiho is my name. I'm Joy's Father."he exclaimed trying to point out something which only confused Sungjae.
"Joy? Who's Joy?"he asked confused.
"The girl you are carrying, I'm her Father. That's Joy my daughter."the man said which shocked Sungjae as he later realized the resemblance.
No sh*t!
———to be continued.