Chapter 19 - Goodbye, my friend

Glossary:

Futon: A futon is traditional Japanese bedding consisting of padded mattresses and quilts pliable enough to be folded and stored away during the day.

Chapter 19 - Goodbye, my friend

"What are you doing here?" Jonghyun and I said in unison. "Why? Aren't I welcomed? It's been a long time, Soo Min" the guest said and hugged me. I hugged him back but the hug didn't last long because Jonghyun separated us.

"Who is this?" Hana asked me. "Hana, this is Key, Jonghyun's band mate," I said and Key and Kyungsoo bro-fisted each other.

"Didn't I tell Key to wait for us? This guy always walks way too fast" we heard. We turned around to see that Onew had come too and behind him were the other two members. "Guys, what are you doing here?" Hyorin asked. "We just thought that we could have a friendly meeting and stay here with you guys," Minho said as they entered the living room. "At 23 o'clock?" Sulli asked.

"Hey, it's not like you live here, you are a guest too," Taemin remarked and Sulli just glared at him. "Why don't we all sleep in the living room? I mean, the living room is huge" Oliver asked. "Why not," Kyungsoo said and we all prepared our futon beds.

(That's how a futon looks like)

After that, we all eleven sat on our beds and dimmed the light. "Once upon a time, there was a prince" Onew started. "No way in hell I am listening to this story again!" Jonghyun said. "Why what's wrong with this story?" Hyorin asked. "It's about a prince who gets addicted to eating chicken," Taemin said and Hana laughed.

"I'll tell a story. It's a horror story" Key said. "There was once a girl named Soo Min" Everybody looked at me and I was wondering what the story was about. "Hey, don't use the name of my girlfriend as a character who will probably be eaten up by a ghost" Jonghyun voiced out loud and Key chuckled. "I wish I had someone to protect too"

"Anyway, once there was a girl named Hana and she had birthday" Key started to tell the story with another name.

And so Key's illogical horror story started.

After half an hour the story had almost reached its ending. "What happened then?" Sulli asked in a scared tone. "Then Hana was waiting at the bus station. It was already past midnight and you could only hear the low sounds of the grasshoppers." Key said and Hana wrapped her blanket around herself. "And then...." Key said. "And then?" I asked.

"Somebody tapped on her shoulder"

Suddenly Hana felt somebody tapping on her shoulder. She slowly turned around, while holding a breath, and came across Minho was wearing a scary movie mask.

Hana screamed like a five-year-old and all of the boys broke into laughter. "Yah! That was mean" Hyorin said and hugged the scared Hana. "One day I'll take revenge. One day" Hana whispered and I laughed. "Here some midnight snacks" Kyungsoo said as he placed a tray in front our circle. We all garbed a mini-sandwich and looked at Key, to give us an idea of what we could do now.

"Let's play truth or dare," he said. "No, this game is too boring," Hyorin said. Minho whispered something in Hyorin's ear and suddenly, she wanted to play, making me suspicious. "I think something is wrong" Jonghyun whispered in my ear and I agreed.

Some minutes later, the first round had started. "Soo Min, truth or dare?" Oliver asked me. "Truth," I said. "Can I ask the question?" Minho asked and Oliver granted.

"How did Jonghyun ask you out?" Jonghyun's eyes widened and I bit my lip. "So this is not a game, you guys just want to filter information!" I claimed and everybody looked at me curiously.

"Alright, it's bed time," Jonghyun said and both of us quickly laid down on our futons and pretended to sleep. "Hey, don't pretend to sleep. You can't fall asleep as soon as you lay down." Onew said and we still kept our eyes closed. "These two won't tell us anything. Let's sleep now" Taemin said and minutes later we all were laying on our futons.

Soon, I fell asleep for real and the next day had arrived. I was the first to wake up so I decided to wake everybody up. "Get up," I said to everybody but they didn't seem to flinch. After five minutes, I gave up and went to the bathroom.

There, I took a bucket and filled it with chilled cold water. "This is my last warning, wake up, or else..." I said and nobody stood up. That's when I poured the water on everyone.

"What the hell! Soo Min!" Key said while looking at me shocked. By now, everybody had woken up because of the water. "That' unfair!" Onew said and dried his face. "What do you mean by that?" I asked innocently and everybody looked at Jonghyun, who was sitting on the sofa, drinking coffee and not looking sprayed by water at all.

"Why wasn't water thrown at him? He also didn't wake up yet you kept on shaking him and telling him to wake up instead of pouring water on him" Oliver stated and Jonghyun and I smiled. "This couple makes me sick," Taemin said and went to the bathroom to wash up.

After breakfast, our guest decided to leave. Hana, Oliver, Kyungsoo, Jonghyun and I were standing in front of the doorway and waving our goodbye to Onew, Key, Minho, Taemin and Sulli. "Jonghyun, why are you waving goodbye to us? Don't forget that you are coming along" Onew said. "No way," he said yet Onew managed to drag Jonghyun away with him.

That afternoon, I went to visit Sawako with Hana. I was wondering how she was doing and I didn't know if I should tell her about Jonghyun and me, after all, she was rejected by him. Hana and I stood in front of her door and rang the bell.

Some minutes later, somebody opened the door. It was Sawako and she was looking terrible. Her hair was everywhere, her eyes looked sleepy, she didn't look she was in a good mood at all and she was still in her sleeping clothes. "Sawako?" I asked shocked.

"You just woke me up," she said and invited us in. We went to her room and I was not surprised to see that her room looked like her condition: terrible. "This is my friend Hana, she is staying here for a week," I said and she nodded. "Nice to meet you," she said and both of them started to have small talks. I was glad that Sawako was actually doing well till now.

"So why are you looking like that?" I asked and she scratched her head. That is not very Sawako like, she always seemed to be the elegant type. "Well, when we went diving, an incident happened there. After that, I deiced to start anew, with new thoughts, new feelings, and a break. So here I am, watching dramas till 5 o'clock in the morning and going to sleep till evening" she said.

"I am sorry but, I know which incident you are talking about. I heard you when I was passing the corridor" I said referring to her saying her confession to Jonghyun. "That's so embarrassing," she said and laughed, while Hana looked at us with a confused expression. "Actually, I think that getting rejected is part of life. You learn and look back, thinking that it was a happy memory back then." She said. "I don't know what happened but I think that one day you will find your true love. Everybody will." Hana said and I couldn't help but chuckle. "You said that to me too, back in America,"

"No, I don't think it will happen. I think, I have lost hope in true love" Sawako said. "I used to think like that too before I came to Korea," I said. "You'll see. One day, you will meet this special someone" Hana said and with this sentence, we said goodbye to each other.

That night, I was sitting in the living room, waiting for Eun hee. She was supposed to be back today and I wanted to warm up her food before I go to sleep. I was sitting in the dining room, a small light glowing and my eyes seemed like they could fall off. "Soo Min? What are you doing here?" I heard and looked up to see Eun hee. "Just waiting for my sister to arrive. Let me warm up the food. How was the ski course?" I asked.

"It was really good, I took lots of pictures. You know, you didn't have to stay awake till this late. I don't want to be a bother" she said and I placed the food on the table. "You and a bother? I never thought about that." I said and continued. "You know, we don't want you to be like that" I started while Eun hee was silently listening while eating. "You are a part of this family and we always support you, no matter what. Who said that only blood-related people can form a real family? We prove the opposite"

"After all, without Eun hee there is no family and there is no Eun hee without this family."

After that, I started walking back to my room. "Wait, Soo Min" Eun hee said and I turned around. "Why don't we all go to a trip with the whole family? It's been a long time since we went all together" she said and nodded while smiling. I turned around and walked up the stairs to my room.

I was so glad that Eun hee is trying to trust us more. I've got to tell this Jonghyun, he will be proud of me for solving this problem on my own. With a satisfying feeling, I laid on my bed and fell asleep.

And so, Hana and Oliver's vacation in Korea ended. "It's such a shame that I only got to meet your sister briefly," Hana said and sighed. Right now, we were standing at the airport. "It's not a big deal." I said and hugged her. "I hope you enjoyed it here. Oliver, I hope you have a great life" I said and said my final goodbye to both of them. "We will surely see each other again," she said and then they left.

I walked back home and the house felt empty. "It was a fun time," I said and ate my lunch. But this emptiness was soon gone because hell had started the next day. Yes, you guessed it correct, it is School.

"Class, I will assign you to do a project in groups of two"

End of Chapter 19

I heard that Jonghyun has dyed his hair in cherry blossom colour. I can't wait to see it ... Sadly there aren't any pictures yet. 😀 Who is ready to get a heart attack after seeing his new look?