Jisoo’s POV
It was around lunch time when Jennie, Lisa, and I received a strange text from an unknown number asking us to meet at the cafe in front of our office. We decided to ignore the message, thinking that it was only spam. The three of us were already heading to the restaurant where we usually ate our lunch. But when we read the second message, we all ran to the cafe right away.
YOU would never dare starve me! I swear to God!
“It’s Chaeyoung!” We all squealed in unison as we ran to the cafe like it was a life or death situation.
“Unnie! Mom and Dad had to go somewhere today. And Alice-unnie sneaked out of the house. Can you come to my house today?” Chaeyoung said after I answered her call.
“I’m so sorry Chaeng but I’m grounded for a whole week, remember? I’m not allowed to go out and play.”
“But Unnie!” She whined. “Jennie-unnie and Lisa couldn’t come to my house either. They said they had other things to do.”
“Oh! Is that so? Then maybe we can play some other time.”
“I already get that. My problem is . . . I’m really hungry right now. And in my ten years of existence here on Earth, the only thing I learned to cook is ramyun. But we ran out of noodles. Unnie, you must help me!”
I was certain that Chaeyoung was already crying by this time. So I tried to calm her down but my Mom called me from downstairs, sounding like she needed me for something urgent. I groaned in annoyance.
This better not be my twin brother’s doing or I’ll definitely kill him this time.
I put the telephone down on my lap as I shouted, “Yes Mom, I’m coming!” Then I went back to Chaeyoung and told her what was happening. I didn’t bother wait for her to answer before I dropped the call. I already knew she’d be upset but I can’t risk being grounded for another week.
I was furious when I reached downstairs and saw the mess my brother made. He was trying to create a domino effect using legos and random things inside the house. I was not sure and didn’t even care if it was successful at all. All I cared for was the mess he made and the way Mom was scolding both of us for it.
I glared at him and he flinched as he scooted a bit farther from me on the couch.
But the next day at school, I realized that I should have done more than glaring at my brother the whole time while we were cleaning up his mess. Because I was busy with cleaning up, I forgot Chaeyoung entirely.
During lunch, Chaeyoung refused to sit with Jennie, Lisa, and I at our usual table so the three of us went to her table at the corner with our heads down. Then we explained ourselves one after the other.
“Chae, even if I was able to come to your house yesterday, nothing would have changed. You knew I couldn’t cook either.” Lisa blurted while doing exaggerated facial expressions.
“You’re right.” Chaeyoung answered softly before Lisa happily sat down beside her.
“Hubby . . . like I said, I was busy the whole day yesterday. Mom and I went to visit my grandmother. And you know how clingy my grandmother can be. She almost never let me off her sight like I was still 5 years old.” Jennie calmly told Chaeyoung.
Chaeyoung nodded at Jennie with a timid smile on her face. Then Jennie put her lunch down across Chaeyoung’s seat and ran to Chaeyoung to give her a brief hug before she went back to her own seat.
Now the three of them were looking at me with hawk eyes, making me sweat. I put my own lunch tray down, beside Jennie’s, and met Chaeyoung’s gaze.
“Chaeng, you already knew what happened.” I started to explain.
“Nope. You put the phone down before I can answer and you never called me back.”
Jennie and Lisa gasped at Chaeyoung’s reply.
I grabbed a few strands of my hair in frustration and told them everything.
“So you see it’s my stupid brother’s fault that I totally forgot Chaeyoung. If he didn’t distract me, I would have attended to Chaeyoung and instructed her how to cook something by herself.”
“Fine!” Chaeyoung relented.
Then I sat down on my seat and gave her a piece of my kimbap as an apology gift. And Chaeyoung rewarded me with a grateful grin in return.
Since that day, the three of us made sure that Chaeyoung won’t ever go hungry whenever we’re together. That was exactly why we risked our prim-and-proper looks as we ran to the cafe to see her. And we were happy to see her, smirking at us, at the far corner of the cafe.
When we stood in front of her, Chaeyoung quickly got up from her seat and handed each of us our favorite drinks. We all drank from thirst as she went to each of us to wipe off the sweat running down our faces.
“So . . .” She started to say with a wide smile glued on her face.
We did not let her finish and put our drinks down as we grabbed each other for a group hug. Then we walked back to the restaurant that we were heading to before Chaeyoung intercepted us.
We were halfway through our lunch when Chaeyoung revealed the truth about what happened to her yesterday.
“So I met Jungkook.” She tried to sound casual as she said it but we were all aware of how she might be feeling.
Chaeyoung already told the three of us everything about Jungkook a few days before she flew to Australia seven years ago. She told us that leaving Korea was already difficult for her, much more leaving Jungkook the way she did.
Now she was telling us everything that happened between her and Jungkook last night.
“Wait! The two of you are neighbors?!” Lisa exclaimed dramatically while standing up her seat with her hand over her mouth.
“Um, yeah?! I just told you.” Chaeyoung answered despondently.
“Unnie.” Jennie turned to me. “You weren’t aware of this?”
"No." I said, trying not to sound defensive. "When Chaeyoung promised us that she’ll actually try to move on from Jungkook, I stopped asking my brother about him. So when I suggested that place, I swear I didn’t know that Jungkook was also living in that apartment building.”
“Don’t worry Jisoo-unnie, I believe you.” Chaeyoung interjected and I choked on my own saliva from guilt.
I responded with an awkward smile before I excused myself to go to the bathroom. I went to the direction of the bathroom but I missed a turn and went straight outside. I dialed my brother's phone number, impatiently tapping my foot on the floor while waiting for him to pick up.
I shrieked when he answered from the other line, "Kim Taehyung!"
When Chaeyoung left without telling Jungkook, she thought that she was making the right decision back then. But I thought otherwise. And I knew that it might be a mistake in my part to get involved in their lives. So I promised myself that this will be the first and last time I would do something like this.
I planned everything with Taehyung. When he learned that Chaeyoung was coming back to Korea and that she was asking my help to look for an apartment, he told me to insist on the same one where Jungkook was currently residing. He said he was certain that Jungkook was still hung up on Chaeyoung. And I, myself, was curious if Chaeyong fulfilled her promise to move on from Jungkook. So Taehyung and I tried to play cupid, hoping for a fruitful outcome out of this. In any case, we had a plan B if things wouldn’t work out for the two of them.
Taehyung’s POV
I was inside my office, reading a subordinate’s monthly report, when I heard the successive ringing of my phone’s message notification. I quickly dropped the report I was reading and picked my phone up in curiosity at the seemingly pressing matter at hand. I opened the group chat with the guys. Then I almost fell on my seat when I read the message from Jungkook.
He was telling us that he met Chaeyoung last night and that they turned out to be neighbors, living beside each other’s apartment. He was freaking out but he was beyond ecstatic at the turn of events.
You should be thanking me buddy!
I was about to reply to the group chat when my phone rang.
Why is she calling? Could this be about Chaeyoung?
“To what do I owe the pleasure of . . .” I started before my sister broke my poor eardrums.
“Kim Taehyung!” She yelled.
“What?!” I yelled back.
“Their apartments are beside each other. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Oops! Did I not mention it? I swear I thought I told you that the unit Chaeyoung chose was the one beside Jungkook’s. It’s my bad my dear sister. I totally forgot.”
“Did you forget? Or is it that you weren’t planning to tell me at all?”
I cleared my throat before answering. “It doesn’t matter anyway. Chaeyoung chose the unit herself. The only thing we did was lead her to Jungkook’s apartment building and block the many other options she truly had in choosing an apartment. Besides, it’s not as if you’ll tell her the truth if you knew it beforehand. Somehow, it was still destiny that brought them together.”
“Well . . .” She softly answered.
I was sure how hard my sister was trying to come up with a solid rebuttal. But she miserably failed. I could not help laughing at her.
“Stop that! It’s just . . . it would have been better if I was able to control the shock and panicked look on my face.” She explained.
“Then it was perfect!” I praised her. “You call that ‘natural acting.’ You did well, Kim Jisoo.”
“Don’t mock me Tae. I’m serious here.”
“I am too. I know that this is just the beginning but Jungkook already seem very excited. He just said that he will consider this as his and Chaeyoung’s second chance. He promised not to waste it. He was even begging for our help.”
“He said that?” Jisoo asked disbelievingly.
“He did. He’s currently monopolizing our group chat.” I grumbled.
“Is that a good thing?”
“Totally! Jungkook rarely replies in our group chat so what he is doing now is definitely unusual for him.”
“Then everything should be fine, right?”
“Yes! Let us hope for the best for the both of them.”
“Alright. Now before I go, have you already taken your lunch?”
“Yes, noona.” I playfully answered.
“Stop calling me that! I was only ahead of you for a few minutes.”
I laughed. Then we bid each other goodbye.
After that, I replied to the group chat and congratulated Jungkook.
When Jungkook first talked about the Park Chaeyoung that he was helplessly in love with, I didn’t mind it that much until he showed us pictures of her.
“That's her?!” I exclaimed.
“Yeah. Why?” Jungkook responded with a questioning look at me.
“I know her.” I said while still looking at the pictures of Chaeyoung on Jungkook’s phone.
“You do?” He said, grabbing my sleeve so I would face him. “How?”
“She’s one of my sister’s best friends.”
“What is your sister’s name?”
“Kim Jisoo.”
“Oh! So you do know her.” He answered in realization.
“You know my sister?” I asked.
“We’ve met a few times through Chaeyoung.”
“Wow! It’s such a small world.” I commented while patting Jungkook’s shoulder.
“But do you know where she is? Or what happened to her? I couldn’t convince Jisoo neither her two other best friends to tell me about Chaeyoung.”
If the three of them refused to tell Jungkook about Chaeyoung then something must be going on. I better check with Jisoo first before I revealed anything more.
“I, uh . . . I don’t know.” I answered, hoping Jungkook would buy my lie. “Chaeyoung and I haven’t really gotten that close so I don’t know much about her. Do you want me to ask my sister about Chaeyoung?”
“Uh . . . it’s fine hyung. Don’t bother. Thanks, anyway.” He answered forlornly with his head bowed down in disappointment.
Jungkook, I hope this is enough to make up for lying to you before.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
So it wasn't a coincidence at all! 😁🙊
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