Consequences of a Best Friend (Chapter 20)
Title: Consequences of a Best Friend
Genre: Friendship, Romance
Summary: Kyuhyun and Seohyun have been best friends ever since they were kids. They treat each other like brother and sister. But Kyuhyun thinks otherwise because of his growing attraction to her. He wanted to let her know how he feels, but there are those who get in the way: Seohyun's crush on Jung Yonghwa, the school band's lead vocalist, and his own insecurities.
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CHAPTER TWENTY
Kyuhyun and Donghae made their way back to the girls after reserving a table with a good view of the stage. Donghae made sure that Yoona would have a good time while seeing them play, much to Kyuhyun's dismay. On their way back, he noticed that his dongsaeng is strangely quiet. He then proceeded to tease him again. "Hmmm... That Shinhye girl is cute. Don't you think so, Kyu? Good job in finding someone new." He winked.
Kyuhyun raised his eyebrows. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"First, there's cure and innocent Hye Rim-ssi. I thought you two would work out in the end but then again, your old feelings sufficed more, so that means she's not in your dating list anymore." Donghae sang, obviously enjoying Kyuhyun's discomfort as he observed the younger's reaction. Kyuhyun just smacked his hyung on the arm. "I never had a dating list. I'm not a playboy like you, hyung."
Donghae looked at him. "Ya, who said I'm a playboy? Yes, I dated some girls before, but I took them all seriously. I'm a stick-to-one guy." He said defensively. Kyuhyun just chuckled, slowing his pace. "Oh really? What do you call the time when you dated a girl for only a week? And you said that you stick to one. Wait until Yoona founds out about this." He stuck his tongue out.
"Please, she already knows that. She almost killed me, warning not to play with any girl's heart again." Donghae sighed while scratching his head. Kyuhyun just tried to suppress his laughter. "I would love to see her torture you." He smirked.
"So you really like seeing me suffer huh? Thanks for being a great friend, dongsaeng." Donghae said, his voice tainted with sarcasm. "So do you even have plans on making a move on someone, maybe, Shinhye?"
Kyuhyun avoided his hyung's gaze as he walked past him. "Don't pair me with every girl you see me with, hyung. I don't have plans on pursuing someone. I've had enough guilt to last a lifetime."
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Shinhye was still busy talking to Yoona and Seohyun. She was a bit surprised because of the warm welcome. She reminded herself to thank Kyuhyun later for letting her meet his friends. "So, you're going to stay here for long?"
She nodded. "Yes. I'm planning to finish school here before I go back home."
"Wait, so where do you live?" Seohyun asked.
Before Shinhye could answer, a male voice spoke. "She migrated to America a few years ago. After that, she never really kept in touch." She was startled as she turned around, seeing Jonghyun with a goofy grin on his face. "Jonghyun. Oh my gosh." Shinhye felt tears well up on the corner of her eyes as she hugged him tightly.
"W-Wait, Shinhye. Don't choke me." Jonghyun said playfully. She let go of him and wiped her tears. "Sorry about that. I'm just really glad to see you again." Shinhye smiled. Yoona and Seohyun were left bewildered as they watched the unexpected reunion. "Um, I didn't know you had a girlfriend, Jonghyun-ssi." Yoona said with awe.
"We're just friends, Yoona-ssi. We've known each other since we were ten." Jonghyun denied. Shinhye nodded. "He's like a brother to me, like the rest of CN.Blue. Jonghyun, I never thought you would be actually debuting."
Before he could answer, Yoona spoke. "So you know the other members since you were young? Wow, you guys must be really tight." Shinhye agreed. "Yes, we are."
Just then, Kyuhyun and Donghae arrived. Seohyun noticed her best friend's annoyed expression. It seems Donghae did a good job messing with him. She giggled at the thought. "Kyuhyun, are you okay? You look scary with that frown on your face."
"Don't even go there, Seohyun. You don't wanna know what he's been telling me along the way." He uttered, rolling his eyes at Donghae who was looking very pleased. Yoona held his hand and intertwined their fingers together. "About time you two got here. We were getting a bit tired standing there."
Kyuhyun frowned even more. "Remind me never accompany hyung again, or else I might just lose it." He crossed his arms as he walked. Donghae just snickered to himself. "Looks like I hit a nerve there. Anyway, it was fun." Yoona just giggled as they started walking with Seohyun trailing just behind them.
Just as Shinhye was about to follow them, Jonghyun grabbed her wrist. "Shinhye, would you like to come with me? I'm sure the others would be glad to see you again." He suggested. Shinhye gave him a pleading expression. "Please, Jonghyun, I don't think it's good for him to see me now. I might just distract him. I don't think he already forgiven me."
"For what purpose did you send that text message? You said you want to settle things between you two. Isn't that why you came back? To fix things with hyung?" He asked. Shinhye lowered her head. "I don't think it will be good for him now. You have a concert to do. I'll find time to talk to him. Maybe, we could start over."
Jonghyun stared at her, dazed. "Shinhye, do you expect that you two could start over? Didn't you know? Yonghwa hyung has moved on. He already has a girlfriend."
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Jonghyun went backstage after his brief conversation with Shinhye after receiving a call from Jungshin. Being the youngest, he was the most impatient of the four. Jungshin stood there tapping his guitar, ready to give his hyung an earful. "Ya, did you know that we were frantic making preparations while you were outside mingling with who-knows-who?"
"I'm sorry. I just went out to meet a friend." He reasoned. Minhyuk suddenly had a mischievous look on his face. "Jungshin, didn't you know that Jonghyun hyung here possibly met with his girlfriend we don't know?" He began spinning a drumstick with his fingers, sporting a goofy grin on his face. Jonghyun sighed and whispered to the both of them. "I went to meet Shinhye. She's here."
Both of their eyes widened. "What?! Why didn't you tell us?!" They both yelled in unison, making Jonghyun's ears hurt. "Ya, I really missed Shinhye noona. You should have told us earlier." Junghin complained.
"You can meet up with her later. Right now, we have other things to worry about, like preparing. Plus, we don't want Yonghwa hyung getting all distracted while performing. We don't want that, do we?" Jonghyun stated. "You two, of all people, know that."
"What are you talking about? Another prank to pull on someone?" Yonghwa's voice echoed, surprising the three of them. "Um, we were just talking about, errr, lunch. Yeah! R-Right Minhyuk?"Jungshin said nervously, elbowing Minhyuk. "R-Right. We were thinking about getting some ddukbokki later. Uh, uh, I have to check on my drums. Bye!" Minhyuk was gone in a flash, as well as Jungshin. Yonghwa just raised an eyebrow. "That was weird. What's with those two?"
Jonghyun, taking the situation as calmly as possible, just shrugged. "I have no idea."
Yonghwa just let that slip, talking his guitar. "Let's go. It's about time." Then he left.
Jonghyun stayed rooted in his spot, thinking. Hyung, what will you do when you see her again? Will you still harbor such ill feelings towards her?
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Seohyun went to get some fresh air. She knew she couldn't meet Yonghwa for now because they're about to perform. Just as she was about to step out of the door, she suddenly bumped into somebody. Her head was lowered so she couldn't see who the person was. She heard her apologize profusely. "I'm really sorry. I-I didn't mean to."
She immediately recognized the voice. She looked at the person and it turned out to be Hye Rim. Seohyun quickly tore away her gaze from her, remembering what happened between her and Kyuhyun. Hye Rim eyed her curiously. "Um, Seohyun-ssi, is there something wrong?"
"Um..." Seohyun fidgeted for a while before speaking again. "I know you confessed to Kyuhyun some time ago. Well, um, I just want to say that I'm happy for the both of you." Her words seemingly became stuck in her throat, feeling very uncomfortable saying them. Hye Rim just blinked. "Um, how do I say this? Seohyun-ssi, we never really started going out."
Seohyun's eyes widened as saucers at what she heard. Hye Rim continued. "I did tell him that I liked him, but he turned me down. But he quickly explained things to me."
"Really? Well, um, how did you feel? Did it hurt?" She couldn't help but ask. Hye Rim just nodded. "It did in the beginning. I was crying my heart out and I felt upset. But after talking to unnie, I figured it was worth it. I don't have any regrets at all. At least I told him how I feel. I'm really thankful that he's been completely honest with me. He didn't pity me at all. I feel really grateful to meet someone like him. You're lucky to have a best friend like him, Seohyun-ssi. He's a very genuine person. He's always true to his words, and I know that the girl for him will be really lucky too. I feel fortunate to be friends with someone like Kyuhyun-ssi." A smile lingered on her lips as she said those words. Seohyun fell silent, overwhelmed with the words she heard. Hye Rim broke the silence. "Um, I have to go now. Sunye unnie is waiting for me. See you around, Seohyun-ssi." Then she entered the cafe.
Seohyun was rendered speechless. She knew Kyuhyun was a great guy, but she didn't know he'd be that... sincere. She never knew this side of him. She thought that even though they've been friends for years, it seems that she still doesn't know him that well. Seohyun unknowingly held the dog tag she's been wearing around her neck as she felt her heart beat inside her chest. Her lips curved upward into a smile. It was nice to know that side of Kyuhyun. He was a friend she never had.
But inside her mind, it seemed that "friend" wasn't the right word to describe Kyuhyun to her. Best friend? Yes, he's been always her best friend for as long as she can remember. He was always by her side. Brother? Yes. Being an only child, she silently yearned for a brother figure. Kyuhyun fitted in that role perfectly. Maybe, just maybe, somewhere inside her, Kyuhyun is more than a brother to her.
More than a brother? As soon as Seohyun thought of it, she felt her heart tug inside her chest, a sensation she wasn't very familiar with. She immediately reddened at the thought.
They were interrupted when she heard her phone ring. It was Yonghwa.
"Seohyun, where are you? We're about to perform. I don't see you with Donghae-ssi and the others. He said in the other line with a worried tone in his voice. Seohyun sighed and reassured him. "I'm outside, oppa. I just wanted some air. I'll be back there in a minute."
A short pause lingered until he spoke. "Okay. You know how much I wanted to see me perform. I love you."
"Y-Yeah. I love you too." She stammered then she hung up. She didn't know why those words didn't seem right. It felt like she said that half-heartedly. She didn't want to think it that way. Instead, she assured herself that she's just not used to say those words yet. Well, that was enough to calm her swirl of thoughts for now.
Seohyun, stop thinking too much. She reprimanded herself, before going back to the cafe.
~TO BE CONTINUED~
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Author's Note:
First of all, I'm superdupermega sorry for the long long wait. College has been hectic for me, and I have to review most of the time. (Screw my three math subjects plus physics. T_T -readies pitchfork-)
Well, this is the longest chapter I've written so far. So yeah, this kinda makes up for the four months of waiting. My original draft wasn't this long, enough to surprise me. I guess I was just inspired because I recently read "The Rescue" by Nicholas Sparks. Haha, and it led me to write this looong chapter. I was supposed to update this during Christmas break but my drafts suddenly disappeared. I already wrote chapters 20 to 22, but then, my drafts disappeared so I have to rewrite them again. T.T
Thank you all for those who supported this fic. I love silent readers but I sure wish you could voice out your thoughts to me. It would be very much appreciated.
For those reading this in Asianfanfics, I'll try my best to catch up. Please tell me what you think of this chapter! It would be greatly appreciated. Maybe, it may inspire me to rewrite the drafts I lost. Hopefully, it won't take me another couple of months before updating again. :)
See y'all next chapter!