Temptation : Prologue - Chapter 2

Chapter 1

"Agh! JinHwan, wait for me!" Chae called after her best friend. She and JinHwan have known each other ever since elementary school. They were really close.

"I'm waiting." he said, stamping his foot impatiently. "We're gonna be late for school if you don't get movin!" he tried to hold in a laugh as Chae tried to grab all her books. She had a lot, since she was trying to take all advanced courses.

"Do you need some help?" JinHwan grinned.

"Anie, I got it." Chae almost dropped a book, but JinHwan caught it for her. He sighed as he grabbed half of her stack and loaded them into the car.

"Now we ARE gonna be late." he whined, pulling out of the driveway.

"Mi an hae yo, oppa." Chae said quietly.

"Agh, what are you apologizing for?" JinHwan smirked. "You know I don't like school anyways."

*~*~*

Both JinHwan and Chae were starting their senior year in high school. Chae was busy getting her college applications ready while JinHwan was busy slacking off. He and some friends were trying to form a hip hop band, yet they were getting off to a rocky start.

"Man, we are so good, Chae." JinHwan told her in their science class. "You gotta hear us sing sometime."

"Ne, that would be cool. I'll be your biggest fan!"

"Ya, even though you don't like hip hop..." JinHwan smirked.

"Hey, if you guys are good, then I'll like it." Chae teased.

"Whatever."

"Class, this is a new student. Her name is Rebekka Thomason. She's a foreign exchange student from the U.S. Please help her around, and show her the true Korean culture..." blah blah blah. The science teacher rambled on and on.

Chae looked at the new girl. Rebekka had long blonde hair and flashy green eyes. She looked like a really big snob...

"Hey, JinHwan. I bet she's wondering what she's doing here with a bunch of woo's." Chae joked, nudging him. JinHwan didn't reply, but stared at the girl. He had a dreamy look on his face.

"JinHwan oppa?!?" Chae exclaimed with exasperation.

"What?" he asked still looking at Rebekka.

"Don't stare. It's not like she's an animal or something." Chae scolded.

"Mi an hae... I was just wondering what she would be like in bed." JinHwan gave Chae a sheepish smile. She looked back at him, disgusted, and pushed him playfully out of his seat.

"I was joking." When Chae didn't answer him, he gave her a sad puppy-dog face. "Chae..." he whined. He pretended to cry.

"I forgive you oppa." Chae laughed.

"YAY!" JinHwan exclaimed, a little too loudly.

"Are you THAT happy about having quizzes every week?" the teacher asked with slight amusement. The whole class stared at JinHwan.

"Um, anie." JinHwan sat back down, trying to play it off. Chae saw Rebekka look at JinHwan and got a little jealous. Rebekka seemed to have a glint of interest in her eyes... but Chae just brushed it off and began taking notes.

*~*~*

When Chae got home that day, she decided to try to get some of her homework done. As soon as she started though, the phone rang.

"Yo boh seh yo?"

"Chae, this is JinHwan." a very quiet, sad voice answered. Chae instantly knew something was up.

"Oppa, what's wrong?" she asked, worried.

"Something... horrible. My mom..." his voice trailed off. Chae could hear him breaking down in the background.

"Are you at the hospital?" She heard a grunt at the other end and took it as a yes. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

Chae hung up quickly and rushed to the hospital. JinHwan's mother had been having heart problems ever since her husband died. Chae always thought that her oppa's mom might've been suffering from a broken heart, but never said anything about it.

Chae slowly walked up to JinHwan in the waiting room. He was sitting there slumped over, running his hands through his hair. Chae nervously sat down next to him and waited for him to speak. When he looked up at her, his eyes were filled with tears. Chae quickly grabbed his hand and held it in hers.

"The doctors say that she only has one month left." JinHwan sofly said, breaking the silence. Tears began to flow from his eyes, and he tried to wipe them away with embarrassment.

Chae hugged him tighly. "It's okay for you to cry oppa. Just let it out." JinHwan sat there and quietly cried on her shoulder, saying nothing, while Chae tried to keep her own tears from falling.

Chapter 2

The next week was really long. JinHwan stayed home from school for a few days and spent all his time either in the hospital with his mother or in his room writing lyrics to songs. Chae tried her best to cheer him up, but it was no use. She was lucky JinHwan was even talking to her, since he talked to no one else.

Chae was walking to one of her classes wondering what JinHwan was doing just then, when she ran into someone.

"Mi an hae." she muttered.

"Oh, annyoung." a smiling face looked back at her. It was Rebekka. "It's okay. I wasn't watching where I was going either."

"Oh." Chae tried to hold in a laugh when she heard how bad Rebekka's Korean was.

"So where is your friend?" Rebekka asked, looking for JinHwan.

"He's, uh, sick." Chae hastily replied. JinHwan told her to tell anyone that asked about him that he was sick.

"Oh, that's too bad." Rebekka frowned.

"Ne, well, I guess I'll see you later."

"Oh? I thought we had the next class together..." Rebekka pulled her folded schedule out of a notebook. "You're going to Korean literature, ne?"

"Oh, yeah. I guess we can walk together if you want to." Chae and Rebekka walked to their class and sat down next to each other. Then Chae remembered something. "Oh, by the way, my name is Chae."

"I'm Rebekka." she grinned. "But, I guess you already knew that, ne?"

"Ne." Chae instantly liked her. She realized later on the Rebekka wasn't as much of a snob as she thought...

*~*~*

The two girls decided to go to the mall after school so Chae could show Rebekka around.

"Do you mind if I stop at the hospital first?" Chae asked.

"Anie, go ahead." Rebekka smiled as she waited in the car.

Chae walked up to the fifth floor, wondering if JinHwan would be there. She went into his mother's room and didn't see anyone.

"Annyoung-haseyo." Chae bowed with respect when she saw his mother. She looked pretty healthy and was sitting up in the bed.

"Annyoung Chae. How have you been?"

"I'm doing okay I guess. I just have a lot of schoolwork lately." Chae tried to create polite conversation. She didn't really know what to say to a person who only had a month left to live...

"Well, JinHwan's at home right now. Go on and see him if you like."

"Okay, I will." Chae started up to leave, but Jinhwan's mother stopped her.

"Um, Chae. Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure."

"Well, I just want someone to be there for JinHwan when I'm gone. I know that you two are best friends, and I would feel better if I knew that you would take care of him." there were tears in her eyes.

"I will. Of course I will." Chae hugged her tightly, and both cried a little.

"Well, you better get going." JinHwan's mother said with a smile.

"Ne, but I'll come back tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay."

Chae left with a heavy heart. She felt so bad for both JinHwan and his mother. Chae promised herself she would do anything in her power to help her oppa through this.

*~*~*

Chae and Rebekka had a great time driving around the city. Chae showed Rebekka the best places to hang out, eat, and have fun. They stayed out really late, but it didn't matter because it was a Friday night. Chae dropped Rebekka off at around 1 A.M., and the two girls decided to go out again sometime in the future. They had gotten to be pretty good friends.

Chae drove by JinHwan's house on her way home and decided to stop by. She was sure he'd still be awake because his lights were on. Chae walked up to the front door and knocked, but no one answered. She tried the door and it opened. She decided to just go in and check on JinHwan.

"JinHwannie oppa? Are you here?" Chae walked into the living room. She gasped at what she saw. There was paper strewn about the floor, and it looked like a storm had blown through the house.

"Oh, oppa. Writing lyrics again, eh?" Chae quietly laughed to herself when she saw JinHwan. He was asleep at his desk with a pen still poised in his hand. He was really peaceful-looking, and Chae didn't want to disturb him. She lightly kissed him on the forehead, and then she began cleaning up the mess.

Chae was almost finished when JinHwan woke up.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he asked groggily.

"I'm trying to get this place to look decent." Chae replied, dragging the trash can over towards a large pile of papers.

"Oh." JinHwan watched he for awhile, then began to help her. They worked in silence for a little until JinHwan spoke.

"Hey, Chae."

"What?"

"Mom died a few hours ago." he silently replied. Chae lt out a small gasp and looked up at him. There were no tears or anything. JinHwan was so sad that he was beyond tears.

"Aigo..." she said with shock. Chae hastily wiped a few tears from her eyes. She tried to pick up a few more papers, but couldn't see because of the tears clouding her eyes. "I just saw her this afternoon, and she looked fine. I thought she still had a month."

"I thought so too. But, I guess she wanted to go sooner." JinHwan's fury was building. "Damn!" he exploded with anger. "Why does everyone I care about have to die?! I bet fate is doing this on purpose!" he began to rave.

Chae looked at him with amazement, but didn't say anything. She had never seen him that angry before.

"Mom, why did you have to go? I know why, she gave up. My own mother gave up, and I always thought she was the strong one." JinHwan burst into sobs. "Goddamnit! I hate my life!"

"Oppa, it'll be okay." Chae said quietly.

"No it won't!" He sat on the floor sobbing. "Shit, I never knew I could feel so bad." Chae sat down next to him and hugged him gently. She was at a loss for words. She couldn't say that she knew how he felt, because she didn't. She couldn't wipe away his tears and say everything was okay, because it wasn't. Chae began to cry with frustration because she couldn't do anything. She was completely powerless.

"Oppa, there's nothing I can say." she cried.

"Then don't say anything." he replied, looking deep into her eyes. He was still shaking violently with his sobs. "Sarang hae yo Chae." he hugged her tightly.

"Sarang hae." Chae replied. "Oppa, I want you to know that I'll always be here for you... whenever you need me." They both cried together, and fell asleep in each other's arms.

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