<OST: Sleepless Night - Crush ft. Punch>
"There you go."
"Oh-" Jieun smiled as the familiar smell of Byulyi's cooking filled her nostrils. "Thank you, unnie."
"Soup is the best when you don't have a good appetite," Byulyi said with a smile as she took her seat opposite Jieun at the dining table. "Soybean soup with rice has always been your favourite, hasn't it?"
Jieun nodded as she hesitantly picked up a spoon and took a small sip of her soup. "Ah..."
"How is it?"
"Just as I remembered it-" Jieun managed a smile. "It's delicious, unnie."
"That's nice to hear." Byulyi heaved a sigh of relief as she herself finally dug in as well. "Eat it up while listening to me carefully, Jieun-ah."
Jieun didn't know what exactly to expect.
"Earlier that guy came by."
"Who...?"
Byulyi hesitated for a while before muttering his name unclearly. "Im-eokin."
"What...? I didn't hear you properly."
Byulyi clucked her tongue agitatedly. "Im-eokjin."
"Huh?"
"Kim Seokjin-" A very annoyed Byulyi finally blurted out. "Kim Seokjin, okay? He was the one who came earlier to pass me those things... and he wanted to talk to you."
"Oh...?" Jieun put down her chopsticks briefly as she looked around. "Seokjin-oppa did...? Where is he, then?"
"He left," Byulyi said coldly. "I told him you were resting, so he asked me to pass you a message."
"Oh...?" Jieun raised her eyebrows. "So what is it?"
"He needs you to go down to the company to settle some documents, regarding your resignation."
The atmosphere in the room changed at once. Jieun pursed her lips together, letting Byulyi's words sink in.
"Wow, he really is fast," Jieun said with a sigh. "He really wants me out of his life as fast as he can."
Byulyi didn't know how exactly to respond.
"Help me tell Seokjin-oppa I'll drop by sometime this week, as soon as I can-" Jieun said as he picked up her chopsticks once more, forcing herself to eat. "And... not to worry, I'll leave as quietly as possible. It's my fault after all."
"That's good thinking, Jieun-ah..." It was Byulyi's turn to set down her chopsticks. "But I think... you'll need to tell him yourself."
"Why...?"
Byulyi was acting highly abnormal, but she shrugged it off like it was nothing. "Just... just do it by yourself. It's better if it comes from you, instead of me."
Jieun narrowed her eyes as she leaned in. "Unnie... did something happen...?"
"Huh...? Nah-" Byulyi jabbed her chopsticks into her bowl of rice multiple times. "Nothing happened."
And that just made Jieun even more suspicious.
"You're acting weird," Jieun said with a frown, folding her arms across her chest. "Something did happen between you two, am I right? You being in a bad mood, him moving out before I even moved back in... did you two get into a fight?"
Byulyi glanced up at Jieun briefly, meeting her eyes for a few seconds. But then she looked away just as quickly, taking a few long sips of her soup.
"I already said... it's nothing-" Byulyi busied herself with eating. "Drop the subject and eat your dinner."
But Jieun refused to drop it.
"Ah!" Jieun's eyes lit up. "You mentioned something about heartbreak earlier... Wait, don't tell me- Don't tell me he-"
Byulyi froze as she looked up from her bowl at Jieun. "What...?"
Jieun gasped. "Don't tell me...?"
"What?"
"You-" Jieun covered her mouth dramatically. "He..."
Byulyi was no longer breathing at this point.
"He..." Jieun's eyes were wide open. "He ruined your date with Sandeul-ssi, didn't he?"
-•-•-
Byulyi let out a small snort as she sat at her computer later that night, after Jieun had finally gone to bed.
"He ruined your date with Sandeul-ssi, didn't he?"
How innocent Jieun was to truly think that was the case. And how Byulyi wished that what she had said was genuinely the case. Wouldn't it have been nice, if that was what she was feeling upset about, right now? But in reality, things were so much more complicated.
Byulyi sighed as she went online, feeling a little guilty about writing this novel now that everything between Jungkook and Jieun had fallen to pieces. Her novel was inspired by their story after all, and after meeting Seokjin, she had intended to make it into a story inspired by Jieun's journey as a makeup artist, but now Seokjin was gone... and so was Jungkook and Jieun's budding romance... what was left for her to write? She couldn't write anything. And even if she could, it didn't feel right. Byulyi was at a lost of what to do.
She let out a deep sigh as she opened her email inbox for the first time in a long time. The most recent email caught her attention almost immediately.
- - -
From: jenjen@naver.kr
To: tothemoonandback@naver.kr
Subject: 'My Brightest Star' Partnership
Good evening, Moon author-nim.
I hope this email finds you well.
Hi, my name is Jen. I'm writing to you today to talk to you about one of your stories - 'My Brightest Star'. I have been keeping up with your novels for quite a long time now, and I really love them so much - especially MBS! The storyline really captures my attention and I really resonate a lot with the characters in the story. It is my favourite story of yours thus far - a whole masterpiece, in my opinion.
This brings me to the main point as to why I am writing to you today. But before that, I have to introduce a friend of mine - Min Yoongi. Now - Min Yoongi is no ordinary human. He is a talented young director who has hopes of starting his own YouTube channel and filming a short webdrama as his debut film. That's where your story comes in. We both have set our eyes on that story of yours, and were wondering if you've had any intentions to make that online novel into a drama? If you've thought of it, or like the sound of it, we'd really appreciate it if you could consider giving us an opportunity to work with you.
We'd be extremely happy if you could take some time out of your busy schedule to meet us to go over the details - of course, if you are willing. Do contact me at 9257 xxxx if you have any questions.
Thank you!
Yours sincerely,
Jen
- - -
"What on earth is this..." Byulyi mumbled to herself as she scrutinised the email over and over again. "A business opportunity...? Making my story into a drama? Daebak..."
Byulyi sat there for a while, staring at the email, unable to believe her eyes. She had received emails before regarding her stories, but they had mostly been about asking her to sell her rights to her stories, or other requests she wasn't too keen about. But this time was different - adapting her books into drama form was something Byulyi had thought about for a long time now... and the timing was a real godsend. She was at a complete loss of what to do about her current novel, so if she could spend her time script-writing for the drama instead...
Byulyi whipped out her phone right away, an excited smile on her face.
- - -
Ya! Guess what? I-|
- - -
Byulyi stopped typing mid-sentence.
There she went again.
Why was he always the first person she thought of whenever she had any news - whether good or bad...? She wanted to share her joy with someone so badly... but now Jieun was asleep and as for Seokjin, well... they were no longer on good terms. All Byulyi could do was be happy on her own. And that didn't feel good at all.
Byulyi sighed as she deleted her drafted message and lay down on the couch for a while, staring blankly at the ceiling and sighing loudly.
-•-•-
"Why are you coming in?"
"Huh...?" Jennie stopped at Yoongi's door abruptly, folding her arms across her chest. "Where else am I supposed to go?"
"If people didn't know, they'd think this is your house-" Yoongi folded his arms, blocking Jennie from entering his home. He gestured politely to the door on his right. "Your apartment is over there, Jennie Kim-ssi. It's getting late, have a good night."
Jennie pouted. "Is that how you treat someone who just treated you to dinner and thought up the best business plan for you...?"
"That's highly unrelated..." Yoongi narrowed his eyes. "I'm clearly grateful for your help, but being thankful is one thing... letting you come into my home at 9pm on a weekday night is another..."
"Why, it's not like I haven't been inside before-" Jennie tried her best to push her way in, but was brutally stopped by Yoongi, who effortlessly dragged her back outside by the back of her blouse. Jennie threw a fit as she glared at Yoongi. "Ya!"
"I've been thinking about it... and I think this won't do-" Yoongi said, after staring at Jennie for a while. "I know you've been at my house late at night quite a few times now... but I think you should refrain from doing so from now on."
Jennie furrowed her eyebrows, looking slightly bewildered. "Suddenly...?"
Yoongi ruffled the hair on the back of his head. "You're dating that guy after all, so we should still maintain our boundaries."
"But you know we're not actually dating-" Jennie objected. "And besides, you know the person I like is-"
"That's besides the point." Yoongi pursed his lips, trying to maintain his patient demeanour, when he himself knew precisely the reason why he was doing this. "What I'm saying is... I know we may be good friends, but at the end of the day, I'm still a guy and you're still a girl, so we should refrain from being together alone so late at night."
"What are you even saying, oppa?" Jennie scoffed, clearly not taking Yoongi seriously. "What's wrong with that? I've been to Jimin-oppa's house late at night many times as well and we've never had a problem about that-"
Yoongi's eyes widened a little. "You what...?"
"Huh?" Jennie frowned. "You know him, Jimin-oppa, my manager... I've even slept over at his house before! Oh, and that punk JK too, he never seemed to mind at all as well-"
Yoongi inhaled sharply. "Ya."
"What?"
"Don't do that from now on," Yoongi said firmly, while trying his best to maintain that nonchalant attitude of his. "It's not... appropriate."
Jennie was bewildered yet again. "Why? I think it's fine."
"People are watching."
"People aren't watching, come on-" Jennie laughed. "People have lost interest in me these days."
Yoongi pursed his lips tightly. "Just... don't."
"Why...?" Jennie furrowed her eyebrows as she peeked into the house. "Is there anything you're hiding at home?"
"No, there isn't."
"Then what is it...?" Jennie frowned. "What's the reason why we can't hang out at your home late at night."
"Well, that's because-" Yoongi scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Because..."
Ding!
Jennie reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, as if she was already expecting it since a long time ago. She closed her eyes as she held up the screen and unlocked it. Then she finally opened her eyes one by one to read the message.
"Ahhhhhh!" Jennie let out the loudest, most excited squeal Yoongi had ever heard in his entire life as she jumped up and down like a kid in a candy store. "Oppa! We did it! We got it!"
Yoongi raised his eyebrows, clearly surprised and intrigued. "What is it?"
"The drama! The novel! Ahhhh!" Jennie waved the phone in Yoongi's face. "I can't believe this, we-"
Before Yoongi could get a closer look of the message, he felt Jennie's arms sling around his neck and pull him into a warm, tight hug.
Yoongi instantly froze up.
-•-•-
"Finally, I can hold your hand for as long as I want."
Chungha glanced up at Hoseok, who smiled down at her brightly. Chungha couldn't help but smile back as she muttered, "You sound like we've been separated for months, even years."
The couple walked down the street to Chungha's apartment after a long day at work and a quick dinner date after.
"I mean... if you think about it-" Hoseok sighed as they finally stopped in front of Chungha's apartment and he turned to face her. "That's really how long it took for us to reconcile. I regret wasting so much time."
"That's for me to regret, isn't it?" Chungha chuckled bitterly. "It was so hard for me to let go of the past. And now that we're back together... the happiness I feel from this very moment together with you makes the bad memories of the past feel so insignificant. I wished I had never left you, oppa. I wish we had been together, throughout these few years. How nice it would have been, huh?"
"It sure would have been nice-" Hoseok said as he pulled Chungha closer to him and wrapped his arms tightly around her tiny frame, resting his chin gently on top of her head. "But if you ask me, I like it this way too. I feel like, the time apart was necessary for us to grow as individuals... and fix certain flaws we used to have - for my case, and also for yours, in other possibly less obvious ways."
Chungha stood in Hoseok's embrace for a while, before finally pulling away.
"Okay, that's enough for tonight-" Chungha said with a small smile as she tidied Hoseok's bangs a little. "See you at work tomorrow, oppa."
"Come on..." Hoseok whined, pleading as he tugged gently at Chungha's hands. "That was barely 10 seconds... Let's just stay here for a while longer..."
"I would..." Chungha pouted. "But with Jieun-ssi's situation right now... I need to focus. I'm gonna do all I can to fix this, oppa."
"Let's think together," Hoseok said with a small smile, directing Chungha into her apartment. "Just for a short while... I'll stay until we think of an idea."
"Actually-" Chungha halted in her footsteps, turning around to face Hoseok once more. "Actually, I do have a plan in mind."
"You do...?"
"Yeah, but it may not be the best-" Chungha frowned. "I thought of going to talk to him-"
"Woah, you're right, it definitely ain't the best-" Hoseok shivered. "I think you might have forgotten, but that guy hates my guts."
"What's a way we can solve this, then?" Chungha sighed as she took a seat on the bench outside her house. "I feel so bad for Jieun-ssi... She has been out of contact for the past few days too... I wanna go visit her, yet I think she probably needs time to herself... I want to talk to Jungkook-ssi for her... but I'm afraid we might mess it up even more..."
"In that case..." Hoseok took a seat next to Chungha, his eyebrows now furrowed in deep thought as well. "If we can't talk to either of them, all we need is to let them have an opportunity to talk it out, am I right?"
"I'm sure they've had their chance, it probably didn't work out..." Chungha groaned. "What's a second chance gonna do?"
"Sincerity is what touches the heart," Hoseok said confidently. "If we're able to give them another chance to talk it out, it may not necessarily make him forgive her... but it's at least a step in that direction, don't you think?"
Chungha eyed Hoseok suspiciously. "Jung Hoseok, what are you planning this time...?"
Hoseok got up at once. "I gotta go and think this out more carefully. Tomorrow, I'll let you and bujang know about my plan first thing in the morning."
Then Hoseok hurried off, leaving Chungha all alone on her front porch. Chungha let out a small scoff as she got up from the bench and watching Hoseok's silhouette disappear round the corner.
"Who was the one asking me to stay a little longer?"