Untitled : Chapters 7-9
Chapter Seven
I turned lazily over to my side as I felt someone shaking me this Saturday morning.
¡°Stop¡¦¡± I whined.
¡°Stop? Jihyun wake up!¡±
My ears started to ring as I gingerly opened one eye and saw Jaeduc standing in front of me.
¡°What are you doing in my room?¡±
¡°I would have still been asleep if your lover boy Sunghoon didn¡¯t call and wake me up this morning. It¡¯s not even 9 ¡®o¡¯clock yet and he¡¯s already on the phone.¡±
¡°Aigo¡¦ please speak to him Jaeduc, give me 5 minutes to get myself together.¡±
I think the reason that Sunghoon and I¡¯s relationship lasted so long was the fact that we shared the same best friend. When Sunghoon and I were both in college, we meet Kim Jaeduc. He was a bright funny character who was easy to love. As a matter of fact, it was Jaeduc who connected me and Sunghoon. After the three of us graduated from college, Jaeduc and I decided to become roommates, and that explains how I dealt with him so early this morning.
Jaeduc waited outside of my room with the phone, I took it form him and retuned back inside of my room.
¡°Good morning Sunghoon.¡±
¡°Good morning to you Jihyun. Happy anniversary dear, I love you.¡±
¡°I love you too.¡±
¡°Well I don¡¯t want to bother you anymore until tonight. I know you need you rest so you can look beautiful for me. Pick you up at 8 ok?¡±
The conversation quickly ended after that. But I couldn¡¯t go back to sleep. I got up to look inside of my closet for an outfit to wear tonight. There was this one dress that I had found. It was a white sleeveless dress with a medium v-neck cut. It looked classy enough to wear for tonight but not too over dressed. Before I decided to wear it for sure, I wanted a second opinion.
¡°Jaeducie! You need to come in here.¡±
Jaeduc stormed through my doors with one slipper on and the other one off. His hair was sticking way up and he looked like he had just rolled out of bed.
¡°You and Sunghoon don¡¯t want me to get any rest. It¡¯s not fair Jihyun I need sleep too!¡±
¡°If you didn¡¯t spend all night clubbing and looking for girls Jaeduc, then you would have the energy to wake up early this morning.¡±
Jaeduc plopped down on my bed, consequently pushing me off.
¡°Go ahead and talk Jihyun I¡¯m listening.¡±
¡°What do you think about this dress?¡±
I moved over to Jaeduc so he could feel the material and look at the dress. He just squinted his eyes a little and put his head back down on my pillow.
¡°It¡¯s cool, if my girl friend wore it¡¦ I would think she looked hot.¡±
¡°Hot? I don¡¯t want to look sleazy you know. I want Sunghoon to think I¡¯m sexy yet classy.¡±
¡°Classy smassy¡¦ he doesn¡¯t care what you wear. He thinks you look good in anything Jihyun, probably even a potato sack¡¦ But since you have me up this early, we need to discuss this Korea trip. You know we leave this Monday. I hope you have everything all packed up, because I¡¯m ready to enjoy this vacation!¡±
I had completely forgot that Jaeduc and I were going to Korea this fall. Originally the three of us were planning to go, but Sunghoon couldn¡¯t get any time off from work. So Jaeduc and I were still planning on going and having some fun.
¡°Yea I remember, my things are already packed Jaeduc. I just wished Sunghoon could have made it somehow.¡±
For the rest of the morning and afternoon, Jaeduc and I just spent the day talking about whatever crossed our minds. But around 5 or so, I started to get ready for tonight with Sunghoon. When I was finally done, I was wearing the dress and I put my hair up in a tossed style.
¡°I must admit Jihyun, you look extra beautiful.¡±
Just as Jaeduc finished complimenting me, the doorbell rang. I walked over to answer the door and it was Sunghoon. For a moment I had to step back and relish in the appearance of my boyfriend. Sunghoon¡¯s hair was perfectly gelled back into a sophisticated sort of style. And he had on a black suit to coordinate perfectly with my white dress.
Sunghoon out stretched his arm motioning for me to follow him as we walked outside.
¡°Don¡¯t do anything I wouldn¡¯t do you two!¡± Jaeduc yelled.
¡°You look so gorgeous Jihyun.¡±
¡°Your not so bad yourself. What do you have planned for tonight?¡±
¡°You¡¯ll see.¡±
Sunghoon drove us down into the city of LA. We finally stopped and entered this posh little French restaurant. We took our seats as we waited to be served.
¡°This place is beautiful. Sunghoon, where did you find it?¡±
¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, something very important is going to happen to the both of us very soon.¡±
The waiter finally came over to our table with a small silver tray that he set down on the table. On top of the tray was a little black box that Sunghoon casually picked up.
¡°Jihyun¡¦¡±
Sunghoon got up out of his seat and walked over to me. He took my left hand and held it firmly into his. Everything came clear to me. He was planning to propose to me. My head started to hurt and I felt my heart pounding within my chest.
¡°Jihyun look at me honey. All my life I¡¯ve waited for somebody like you. And now that I¡¯ve found you I never want to let you go. Please Jihyun¡¦ please¡¦ will you marry me?¡±
Chapter Eight
¡°¡¦please Jihyun¡¦ please¡¦ will you marry me?¡±
I swallowed hard and looked away from Sunghoon. By now my eyes were starting to tear and I tried to pull them back in. How could I accept his proposal when I thought about another man everyday? Sunghoon deserved a woman who would be fully dedicated to him, not someone as undecided as me.
¡°I- I can¡¯t¡¦¡±
Sunghoon limply let go of my hand and his soft eyes pleaded with mine. He got up off his knees and cleared his throat. Sunghoon then took his previous seat that was across from me.
¡°Can you tell me why? Or is there even an reason?¡±
¡°Sunghoon I love you but I¡¯m scared. I want to be sure of this. I didn¡¯t mean to say no so directly. I really want some time to think this through Sunghoon. Please give me some time.¡±
I could tell that he was about to burst into tears. But Sunghoon remained strong and even had the strength to smile at me.
¡°If time is what you need honey then I¡¯ll give you time. How about you give me your answer when you come back from Korea ok?¡±
I nodded my head in agreement as the waiter returned to take our orders.
The rest of the night pretty much dragged on. We both tried to keep it fun and interesting, but I had killed the mood. By 11 I was back home and Sunghoon was on his way over to his house. When I came back home, Jaeduc was sitting on the sofa watching TV.
¡°Jihyun? Oh hey¡¦ I thought I would be alone tonight. Why are you back so early?¡±
I dropped down into the sofa next to Jaeduc and leaned my head on his shoulder.
¡°Sunghoon asked me to marry him, and I didn¡¯t give him an answer. I told him I would tell him my decision when I returned from Korea.¡±
¡°Hmm I knew he was going to propose to you. But I didn¡¯t tell you anything about it because I was sure that you were going to say yes.¡±
¡°You knew all along Jaeduc? Why didn¡¯t you warn me?¡±
¡°What¡¯s the real reason you couldn¡¯t answer him Jihyun¡¦ be straight with me.¡±
Jaeduc pushed me gently off of him and faced me. He was my best friend; it would make sense for me to tell him about the entire Jiwon situation.
¡°Ok Jaeduc you cannot tell anyone what I¡¯m about to tell you right now. Four years ago I was in love with this boy named Eun Jiwon. We were together for a year and I loved him with all my heart and soul. My parents disapproved of the relationship we had, they thought I was too good for him and they banned me from seeing him. But Jiwon and I still continued to see each other, we were in love. One day I ran away with him, I spent a whole night away from home with him. But eventually we were caught and my parents blew up. They sent me to live in America with my aunt just to be separated from Jiwon. I thought I was over him Jaeduc¡¦ but lately Jiwon is the only thing that¡¯s been on my mind. And I couldn¡¯t say yes to Sunghoon because of this¡¦¡±
I closed my eyes because it hurt me so much to tell the tragic story of Jiwon and I¡¯s love. But it felt good to finally get it off of my chest. Jaeduc reached out to me and hugged me.
¡°Jihyun it¡¯s going to be ok¡¦ it¡¯s healthy for you to still be in love with him. You just need to realize that what you two had is way in the past, you need to get over this and enjoy the love that Sunghoon gives you now.¡±
¡°I know Jaeduc¡±, I said through my tears. ¡°It¡¯s just so hard to forget someone you love¡¦¡±
After Jaeduc and I spoke for another half hour or so, he tucked me into bed. I needed to rest and prepare myself for the vacation that I so desperately needed.
Chapter Nine
¡°Well we¡¯re here at the airport you guys. Let¡¯s go.¡±
Sunghoon stopped the car as he and Jaeduc went around to the back to get our luggage. Since Saturday, Sunghoon and I haven¡¯t spoken or seen each other. This was actually the first time that I was seeing him.
¡°Jihyun are you coming out? We¡¯re almost late for the flight.¡±
¡°Oh yea... Jaeduc I¡¯m coming.¡±
I walked over to Sunghoon who passed me a small bag. Jaeduc started walking towards the airport lounge. He turned around and saw Sunghoon and I still standing behind.
¡°I¡¯ll you leave you two to finish up, but please hurry you guys!¡± Jaeduc yelled.
Sunghoon put his arms around my shoulders and looked at me.
¡°Please don¡¯t forget what I said Jihyun. I¡¯m not pressuring you, you have an entire week to think about my proposal.¡±
My head dropped, I couldn¡¯t bear to look into his eyes.
¡°I know Sunghoon, I¡¯m sorry I have to go...¡±
But before I could finish my sentence, Sunghoon was kissing me deeply as if he was never going to see me again.
¡°I love you¡¦¡± he whispered.
Sunghoon then got back inside of his car as I watched him drive away.
My head started to pound as I followed Jaeduc. He was already at the check-in counter when I went inside.
¡°How did it go Jihyun?¡±
¡°Fine just fine¡¦¡±
We started to walk towards the boarding gate.
¡°Jihyun come on, please what¡¯s up?¡±
I burst into tears right in front of him.
¡°I said nothing is wrong! Please don¡¯t force me to talk about this.¡±
Jaeduc hugged me as we took our seat on the plane. It was a long ride from California to Korea. I wished that I wouldn¡¯t see Jiwon. Because if I did, I wouldn¡¯t be able to go back to Sunghoon ever.
I looked over at Jaeduc in the seat next to me. After that, I fell asleep shortly.
The next time I awoke, the plane had landed in Korea already. It was very late at night and the sky blazed with so many stars.
¡°For a minute, I thought you were dead¡¦ I was trying to wake you up since we landed here Jihyun.¡±
¡°Is our taxi here?¡±
¡°Yea come on.¡±
Jaeduc and I got our luggage from the airport terminal and waited outside for a taxi. When a cab finally arrived, we crammed into the car along with all our suitcases.
¡°I can¡¯t wait to get to the hotel so we can go to sleep Jaeduc.¡±
The driver of the taxi took a long time to get us to the hotel. But when we finally arrived, Jaeduc and I hurried to the front desk to get the keys to our room. They had placed up on the seventh floor. We raced to our hotel room and fell back onto the beds.
¡°Jihyun¡¦¡±
¡°Yea Jaeduc?¡±
¡°I am so sleepy, I cannot even believe it.¡±
Jaeduc turned his back to me and he quickly drifted off to sleep. I had a harder time getting to sleep however. Since I slept the entire way over here, I was far from falling asleep anytime soon. To kill some time, I decided to call Sunghoon and tell him that I was in.
His phone rang for quite some time, and just as I was about to hang up the phone, he answered. When Sunghoon did answer he sounded like he was half-asleep.
¡°Sunghoon¡¦ you didn¡¯t even wait up for my call?¡±
¡°Oh Jihyun, I knew you were ok. I was so tired, I¡¯m sorry.¡±
So many thoughts rushed through my head. I wasn¡¯t even gone for a day and it¡¯s like he forgot everything that we had. Every time Sunghoon went on a business trip, even if it was in the same city, I would wait by the phone till he called to see if he was ok. To top it off not only did Sunghoon not wait, he fell asleep as well.
¡°Well I don¡¯t want to bother your beauty rest. Go back to sleep, I¡¯ll catch you another time ok.¡±
¡°Jihyun wait-¡°
But I had already put the telephone down. I sighed and slouched down deep inside of my bed. This was going to be a long trip¡¦
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Chapters 4-6
Chapters 10-12
