[2PM+IU | 008.] if i could fly with you
if i could fly with you
wooyoung/iu (lee jieun); chansung; junho
pg-13
3163 words
[in sum]: jieun and wooyoung become best friends after an interesting first meeting. the more they get to know each other, they more they realize that they can help one another. (lame summary)
note: inspired by dream high. so if you imagine iu in her pilsook get-up and wooyoung as...half 'jason' and half himself, it'll help. haha.
prompt:
the best part of me is hidden.
if i could fly with you
first, there's the night air. it hits him right in the face, bitingly cold and just as dry. then there's a change of gears, the slamming of brakes, the squeal of tires. wooyoung falls to the ground.
he's pretty sure he's heard a car door opening, but he can't see. the headlights blind him.
"dazed" he thinks. "or maybe i have a concussion."
"oh. my. god."
it's a female voice. husky. "i'd love to hear her sing" wooyoung thinks. then, "concussed. definitely concussed."
§
all the way to the hospital, wooyoung falls in and out of consciousness. there's a soft pillow under his head though so he doesn't complain. the only thing is that someone keeps dripping water on his forehead. and that doesn't sit well with him.
"what is this some kind of water torture?" wooyoung thinks to himself.
he later finds out: he rode to the hospital in her car, his head cradled in her lap. the water drops? that had been the blood coming off his head injury.
oh and the girl that had nearly run wooyoung over? her name was lee jieun and she was a 180 pound, seventeen year old with a bottomless wallet.
"you don't have to worry about the hospital bills" jieun tells wooyoung. "just." and here she bites her lip. "please don't tell my dad about this."
the girl winces through her thick black glasses.
"he'll kill me if he knew i took his new bmw out for a spin...without his permission."
wooyoung is sitting upright, but kind of speechless. kind of.
"the bill is over a thousand dollars."
"yeah..."
"and you paid in full by yourself?"
"yeah...is there something wrong?"
wooyoung can only exhale loudly.
§
"are you sure you're okay?" asks jieun.
but wooyoung knows that the only reason jieun is following him home is so that she can make sure wooyoung won't go to the police or something. (she had offered to drive him home from the hospital. but wooyoung doesn't think he can trust her behind the wheel for a while.)
"look, you paid for my bills so i'm not going to rat you out or anything okay?"
wooyoung stops walking to look jieun in the eye.
"okay?"
jieun looks down, sucking on her green and blue lollipop. "okay" she whispers. "but..."
"yeah?"
"it was fun you know?"
"huh?"
"hanging out with you at the hospital. i...don't hang out with friends much."
§
they end up playing starcraft in the basement of wooyoung's parents' house, sharing a tub of kettle corn. after three hours, wooyoung's parents aren't home yet, so wooyoung asks, "wanna watch a show?"
as soon as jieun nods, wooyoung turns the television on.
"ohhh secret garden's on!" they both shout at the same time. they look at each other and, though no one says it aloud, they both think, "best friends forever".
§
it takes a week for jieun to find out that both of wooyoung's parents work, that they're not dirt poor but that wooyoung's family is barely making ends meet. it takes two weeks for her to find out that wooyoung is an amazing dancer. he takes her to his dance studio once. but the following week, wooyoung's father finds out about it.
"do you think i slave all day at work for you to spend my money on dance lessons?!" his father yells in front of the whole class.
wooyoung never goes there again. and though jieun wants to yell back, telling wooyoung's father that it was wooyoung's money made from part-time jobs and tutoring classmates, wooyoung catches jieun's eye and shakes his head.
"not your battle to fight" wooyoung's saying. and jieun doesn't quite know what to say to that.
§
"maybe i should transfer" jieun mumbles through a mouthful of fruit loops.
"are you kidding?" asks wooyoung, biting his lip to do an especially hard combo.
they're playing street fighter at jieun's house. jieun's winning.
"damn" wooyoung says, just as his player is k.o.-ed. "i would kill to go to your school. they have the most awesome dance team."
"but" says jieun putting down her controller. "it would be cool to go to school with you."
wooyoung smiles, grabbing more fruit loops to munch on. "yeah, it would" he says. "i could introduce you to junho and chansung. it'd be really great."
they both end up in silence, crunching on little fruity o's and fantasizing. later, their lips end up sticking together from the dryness. and the roofs of their mouths are scratched from too much cereal popping. they each chug a bottle of orange juice to quench their thirst and have a contest while they're at it. jieun wins, finishing 2 seconds before wooyoung does.
§
"so how'd you two meet again?" asks junho.
wooyoung smiles. he'd offered to introduce jieun to junho and chansung during the weekend and this was their epic introduction.
"our meeting was like lightning and thunder" wooyoung says dramatically.
jieun smiles sheepishly.
"i ran him over with my dad's car."
chansung's jaw drops and wooyoung quickly adds, "almost. but not quite."
junho stares at jieun for a good minute before he shrugs.
"ah well, at least wooyoung's still in one piece."
as if satisfied with junho's reasoning, chansung closes his mouth and nods slowly. jieun giggles. it's the most fun she's had this week.
they file into a diner that wooyoung and his friends frequent. chansung orders a whole bunch of food that jieun kind of drools over. junho orders some chili cheese fries with a side order of beans, which earns him some teasing about stinking up the bus later on. wooyoung orders a caesar salad with grilled chicken.
"i'm trying to cut back" wooyoung explains. "i need to be toned and lighter to do certain acrobatics."
jieun nods, says she hasn't decided yet. but when the waitress comes over, she gets the same thing as wooyoung. she figures that since wooyoung and her like the same things, she'll like caesar with chicken too.
they both rate it as, "eh" and laugh too hard over chansung's alphabet burp, so hard that they forget about dessert.
§
"it's a dance competition" explains wooyoung excitedly.
they're hanging at jieun's house again. her parents are always off on business trips so it's kind of nice.
"for once" jieun thinks.
"junho, chansung and i are entering as a team."
"acrobatics?" asks jieun. there's half worry and half excitement. she knows wooyoung and his friends have worked hard, practiced hard, but she also knows they've taken risk and injury to get where they are now.
"yep. it's going to be great. the winning team gets a 1200 bucks and a chance to perform on television."
wooyoung's eyes are shining. jieun thinks that she's never been this giddy and excited for someone before. and she has never seen something so beautiful as the hope in wooyoung's thrilled smile.
§
there's a fitness test during p.e. it's jieun's most dreaded day of the year. but this year, she doesn't notice. because today, wooyoung will be performing at the dance competition. she's agreed to help wooyoung get ready beforehand. they've agreed to meet at wooyoung's house, five thirty don't be late jieun-ah.
jieun glances at the clock.
"why is time going especially slow today?" jieun thinks forlornly.
but then, her name is called.
"lee jieun, please step onto the scale."
she does and there's this kind of strangled gasp that comes from the teacher. jieun looks up.
"jieun-ah, you've..."
"huh?"
"you've lost so much weight. nearly thirty five pounds..."
even jieun gets surprised. her hands rise to her face and she can feel her jawline. bone. she smiles. because maybe this is a good omen for wooyoung too.
§
it's definitely five thirty p.m. jieun's checked her watch. twice.
but no matter how hard she knocks on wooyoung's front door, there's no reply. jieun frowns. maybe she's gotten it wrong. maybe they were supposed to meet somewhere else? she tries calling wooyoung's cell. he doesn't pick up.
she stamps her feet. it's cold out.
"should i wait a bit longer?" she wonders.
the competition starts at seven. she glares at her watch again. why was time going by so fast now?
twenty minutes into jieun's wait, there's a creak followed by the second story window opening. she looks up. she can hear shouting. things are breaking inside the house. things that sound like vases, glass, tiles...
and then wooyoung suddenly appears at the window sill. there's a bruise on his left cheekbone. there's a bloody cut on the corner of his lip.
"watch out" he says, eyes ablaze. then he jumps.
jieun doesn't know she's screaming until wooyoung lands and runs over toward her.
"shhh" he says with a grimace. he clamps a hand over jieun's mouth.
"it's cold, clammy" jieun thinks. "and he's barefoot."
the yelling from within gets louder. jieun's eyes refuse to tear away from the window sill. and several seconds later, a familiar face appears at the window.
wooyoung's father. livid.
"come on" wooyoung shouts, tugging at jieun's arm. "let's run."
§
they arrive early to the competition. wooyoung's feet are frozen, cut-up. and his face is bloody and bruised.
"you can't compete like this" jieun pleads.
but wooyoung looks at jieun with a hard expression.
"you can't stop me" he says. "just watch me."
and afterwards, jieun will guess that she must have looked so worried and anxious then because wooyoung tries to smile for her.
"don't worry" wooyoung tells her, hand stroking jieun's frizzy hair. "this isn't the first time. and it won't be the last."
she doesn't know what wooyoung's referring to. his father? his dancing? still, jieun decides to trust wooyoung. so, when junho and chansung arrive, jieun leaves it up to them and goes to her seat in the audience.
§
one. a second one. then three.
three mistakes.
"not bad" thinks jieun. "not bad for a boy who's been beaten by his father."
her heart clenches every time it happens. and if jieun hadn't known better, she would have thought that the anxiety she feels for her best friend is something akin to love, a crush.
"but that's silly" jieun thinks to herself. "silly..."
§
there's sweat forming on her hands when the emcee comes up with a small envelope.
"let's see who's gotten the most votes!"
the crowd shouts various things, various crew names.
"let's see who's gonna take home the prize!!"
the crowd screams.
"and let's see who's gonna win!!!"
the crowd goes wild as does jieun. her hands fist of their own accord and she keeps jumping up from her seat.
"first place goes to..."
jieun can feel her heartbeat in her throat. she feels the mucus rising and she swallows it down.
"please be wooyoung, please be wooyoung..."
"three pee em!!!" the emcee screams.
jieun's eyes go wide. it's them. it's the name jieun had jokingly made for them. wooyoung, chansung, junho. the three of them. hence, three p.m.
they start to run out onto the stage again. junho, chansung, then. wooyoung.
jieun jumps up. drops her hands that had been folded toward her chest. her feet move on their own and she's pressed against the security guards near the foot of the stage.
there are tears in junho's eyes. chansung's crying already. and wooyoung.
wooyoung looks so happy and beautiful that jieun thinks she could cry.
she does.
"you did it" jieun whispers. "i knew you could."
§
the split the prize money three ways. 400 bucks each. the producers of the show call them backstage again to go over the details of the television spot.
"the shooting is in seoul, korea. plane tickets are paid for."
correction: 400 bucks to blow in seoul.
"first class?" asks chansung.
the producer gives him a withering laugh.
"economy" the producer replies. "but everything is paid for. be grateful. hotel, food, and transportation to and from places you need to be."
"cool" says junho, licking his lips.
"when do we leave?" asks wooyoung.
"any time you want. but, a week from now. the shooting starts a week from now."
wooyoung can't wait.
§
jieun helps wooyoung pack. wooyoung's grown up in the states so he's never been to korea before. jieun has. plenty of times.
"it starts getting chilly this time of year. so make sure to bring lots of jackets and scarves."
"okay."
jieun fingers the zipper on wooyoung's luggage case.
"should i go to the airport with you?"
"of course! as my best friend, you need to send me off properly."
"you're only going to be gone for three weeks."
"still!"
jieun hands wooyoung a blue and white striped shirt.
"take this too. you look good in this one."
"thanks."
"hey wooyoung?"
"yeah?"
wooyoung's busy rummaging through his closet, distracted. his parents aren't home yet, but they will be soon. wooyoung has to finish packing before they get home. he has yet to tell his mother and he doesn't plan on telling his father.
"should i go with you?"
"where?"
"korea?"
wooyoung stills, then turns to the bed where jieun's sitting.
"hey. is this because you'll miss me?"
"maybe?"
"or is this you showing off your money again?" wooyoung jokes.
"yah!" jieun screams, voice catching at the end. "i just. i just. i don't know. i feel so nervous."
wooyoung sits down, curls his fingers around jieun's wrist.
"hey" he says. and when jieun doesn't look up, he repeats himself, "hey. i'll be back before you know it. and i'll be fine. don't you trust me?"
"i do" says jieun through tears. she can't stop hiccuping. "i do."
they finish packing quietly. wooyoung's mother comes home first and jieun stays in wooyoung's room while wooyoung talks with his mother in the kitchen. there are quiet tones, then louder, frantic ones. but it all ends with wooyoung's mother sobbing into wooyoung's shoulder.
"my baby" she cries. "my baby boy."
§
"try to get taeyang's autograph okay?" says jieun for the fifth time.
"i don't even know if i'll meet him."
"but he's going to be a guest on the television show you're going on!"
"i probably won't even get within five meters of him" complains wooyoung, shouldering his carry-on backpack.
it's d-day. the mission is to leave the house for the airport without getting caught by wooyoung's father. they've both missed school for this. but hey, they're almost through the door.
"i'm saying try. hard. okay?"
"okay" wooyoung says with a sigh and a small smirk.
jieun smiles brightly then, as if all her worries had been about taeyang, the famous korean singer.
they're at the shoe cabinet when the front door bursts open. and it's like deja-vu to jieun. except this time, she's not looking up to the second story window. this time, wooyoung's father is right in front of her. livid.
"i got a call" wooyoung's father growls, grabbing wooyoung by the collar. "from your school. they say you missed class today."
his father glances at the luggage case. his eyes narrow and he glares at jieun.
"where do you two think you're going?"
§
the flight is in two hours. jieun had been sent home after an angry call to her house by wooyoung's father.
when jieun gets home, her housekeeper asks what the matter is, does she miss her parents again? jieun shakes her head, tears splattering every which way. she can't talk. her throat's closed up and her heart feels like it's contracting too hard to function properly. even if she wanted to speak, she couldn't. so she races upstairs, tunnels into her blankets and holds her cellphone to her chest.
"please call. please say you're okay. please say you got on that plane."
§
it's been two days. the television recording starts tomorrow. jieun clutches at her phone the whole day.
at the end of the day, she gets three texts. two from junho, one from chansung.
"is wooyoung on his way?" - chansung
"where the heck is wooyoung?" - junho
"nothing bad happened...right?" - junho
her fingers shake badly when she replies to the last one.
§
there has never really been a point in jieun's life when she wanted to take a stand. really take a stand. against something she thought was wrong, skewed, or stupid.
even with all the teasing about her weight, she had never felt the need to stand up for herself. nor had she taken the initiative to lose the weight.
she recalls the time wooyoung's father had barged into the dance studio to humiliate wooyoung in front of everyone. she starts to hate herself for not saying anything then.
it's past midnight when she gets the idea. why hadn't she thought of it before? she figures she'll get scolded by wooyoung. a lot. but what the hell?
she sneaks into her father's study. gets her father's keys. pockets some gravel from her garden. then drives away.
she ends up at wooyoung's house. the second story window has been replaced. as if nothing had happened. jieun scoffs.
she parks next to the mailbox, in the shade of the tree next to wooyoung's house. stepping out, she tiptoes along the sidewalk.
she takes a deep breath, takes two steps backward, then reaches into her pocket. there's one sharp piece of rock between her fingers. she cranes her arm back. then.
tap
she reaches for another.
tap
another.
tap
one more.
tap
she arches her arm for one last throw with her last piece of rock when the window slides open an inch.
"jieun?"
it's a whisper. but there's no one else on the street and it echos loud and clear.
"come down!"
"jieun. what? i'm on house arrest." wooyoung moans pitifully. "i'm missing the television spot."
"no you're not" says jieun firmly. "now come down or else i'm climbing this tree."
it's all going according to jieun's plan. she starts the car while wooyoung gets his stuff. jieun catches wooyoung's backpack in a large blanket. and then wooyoung comes jumping down into the mulch. a soft landing that's never been so nerve-wreckingly loud in jieun's ears.
wooyoung quickly gets into the car. the car door slams too loudly in jieun's opinion. jieun's foot steps heavy on the gas in her haste. the car jerks forward. jieun wonders if this is how the getaway driver feels during bank heists.
"i can't believe i'm doing this" wooyoung says when they're clear of wooyoung's neighborhood.
"i know. i can't believe i snuck you out of your house either."
"no. i mean, i can't believe i'm in the passenger's seat of a car you're driving."
jieun gives wooyoung a look. a glare, really. wooyoung laughs, loud and magnificent.
jieun laughs too. and while jieun flies down the highway, wooyoung grasps jieun's hand in his.
"do you trust me?" asks jieun.
"i do" says wooyoung, not missing a beat.
wooyoung squeezes jieun's hand once, then twice. "and thank you, jieun-ah. thank you."
---
honesty box
wooyoung/iu (lee jieun); chansung; junho
pg-13
3163 words
[in sum]: jieun and wooyoung become best friends after an interesting first meeting. the more they get to know each other, they more they realize that they can help one another. (lame summary)
note: inspired by dream high. so if you imagine iu in her pilsook get-up and wooyoung as...half 'jason' and half himself, it'll help. haha.
prompt:
the best part of me is hidden.
if i could fly with you
first, there's the night air. it hits him right in the face, bitingly cold and just as dry. then there's a change of gears, the slamming of brakes, the squeal of tires. wooyoung falls to the ground.
he's pretty sure he's heard a car door opening, but he can't see. the headlights blind him.
"dazed" he thinks. "or maybe i have a concussion."
"oh. my. god."
it's a female voice. husky. "i'd love to hear her sing" wooyoung thinks. then, "concussed. definitely concussed."
§
all the way to the hospital, wooyoung falls in and out of consciousness. there's a soft pillow under his head though so he doesn't complain. the only thing is that someone keeps dripping water on his forehead. and that doesn't sit well with him.
"what is this some kind of water torture?" wooyoung thinks to himself.
he later finds out: he rode to the hospital in her car, his head cradled in her lap. the water drops? that had been the blood coming off his head injury.
oh and the girl that had nearly run wooyoung over? her name was lee jieun and she was a 180 pound, seventeen year old with a bottomless wallet.
"you don't have to worry about the hospital bills" jieun tells wooyoung. "just." and here she bites her lip. "please don't tell my dad about this."
the girl winces through her thick black glasses.
"he'll kill me if he knew i took his new bmw out for a spin...without his permission."
wooyoung is sitting upright, but kind of speechless. kind of.
"the bill is over a thousand dollars."
"yeah..."
"and you paid in full by yourself?"
"yeah...is there something wrong?"
wooyoung can only exhale loudly.
§
"are you sure you're okay?" asks jieun.
but wooyoung knows that the only reason jieun is following him home is so that she can make sure wooyoung won't go to the police or something. (she had offered to drive him home from the hospital. but wooyoung doesn't think he can trust her behind the wheel for a while.)
"look, you paid for my bills so i'm not going to rat you out or anything okay?"
wooyoung stops walking to look jieun in the eye.
"okay?"
jieun looks down, sucking on her green and blue lollipop. "okay" she whispers. "but..."
"yeah?"
"it was fun you know?"
"huh?"
"hanging out with you at the hospital. i...don't hang out with friends much."
§
they end up playing starcraft in the basement of wooyoung's parents' house, sharing a tub of kettle corn. after three hours, wooyoung's parents aren't home yet, so wooyoung asks, "wanna watch a show?"
as soon as jieun nods, wooyoung turns the television on.
"ohhh secret garden's on!" they both shout at the same time. they look at each other and, though no one says it aloud, they both think, "best friends forever".
§
it takes a week for jieun to find out that both of wooyoung's parents work, that they're not dirt poor but that wooyoung's family is barely making ends meet. it takes two weeks for her to find out that wooyoung is an amazing dancer. he takes her to his dance studio once. but the following week, wooyoung's father finds out about it.
"do you think i slave all day at work for you to spend my money on dance lessons?!" his father yells in front of the whole class.
wooyoung never goes there again. and though jieun wants to yell back, telling wooyoung's father that it was wooyoung's money made from part-time jobs and tutoring classmates, wooyoung catches jieun's eye and shakes his head.
"not your battle to fight" wooyoung's saying. and jieun doesn't quite know what to say to that.
§
"maybe i should transfer" jieun mumbles through a mouthful of fruit loops.
"are you kidding?" asks wooyoung, biting his lip to do an especially hard combo.
they're playing street fighter at jieun's house. jieun's winning.
"damn" wooyoung says, just as his player is k.o.-ed. "i would kill to go to your school. they have the most awesome dance team."
"but" says jieun putting down her controller. "it would be cool to go to school with you."
wooyoung smiles, grabbing more fruit loops to munch on. "yeah, it would" he says. "i could introduce you to junho and chansung. it'd be really great."
they both end up in silence, crunching on little fruity o's and fantasizing. later, their lips end up sticking together from the dryness. and the roofs of their mouths are scratched from too much cereal popping. they each chug a bottle of orange juice to quench their thirst and have a contest while they're at it. jieun wins, finishing 2 seconds before wooyoung does.
§
"so how'd you two meet again?" asks junho.
wooyoung smiles. he'd offered to introduce jieun to junho and chansung during the weekend and this was their epic introduction.
"our meeting was like lightning and thunder" wooyoung says dramatically.
jieun smiles sheepishly.
"i ran him over with my dad's car."
chansung's jaw drops and wooyoung quickly adds, "almost. but not quite."
junho stares at jieun for a good minute before he shrugs.
"ah well, at least wooyoung's still in one piece."
as if satisfied with junho's reasoning, chansung closes his mouth and nods slowly. jieun giggles. it's the most fun she's had this week.
they file into a diner that wooyoung and his friends frequent. chansung orders a whole bunch of food that jieun kind of drools over. junho orders some chili cheese fries with a side order of beans, which earns him some teasing about stinking up the bus later on. wooyoung orders a caesar salad with grilled chicken.
"i'm trying to cut back" wooyoung explains. "i need to be toned and lighter to do certain acrobatics."
jieun nods, says she hasn't decided yet. but when the waitress comes over, she gets the same thing as wooyoung. she figures that since wooyoung and her like the same things, she'll like caesar with chicken too.
they both rate it as, "eh" and laugh too hard over chansung's alphabet burp, so hard that they forget about dessert.
§
"it's a dance competition" explains wooyoung excitedly.
they're hanging at jieun's house again. her parents are always off on business trips so it's kind of nice.
"for once" jieun thinks.
"junho, chansung and i are entering as a team."
"acrobatics?" asks jieun. there's half worry and half excitement. she knows wooyoung and his friends have worked hard, practiced hard, but she also knows they've taken risk and injury to get where they are now.
"yep. it's going to be great. the winning team gets a 1200 bucks and a chance to perform on television."
wooyoung's eyes are shining. jieun thinks that she's never been this giddy and excited for someone before. and she has never seen something so beautiful as the hope in wooyoung's thrilled smile.
§
there's a fitness test during p.e. it's jieun's most dreaded day of the year. but this year, she doesn't notice. because today, wooyoung will be performing at the dance competition. she's agreed to help wooyoung get ready beforehand. they've agreed to meet at wooyoung's house, five thirty don't be late jieun-ah.
jieun glances at the clock.
"why is time going especially slow today?" jieun thinks forlornly.
but then, her name is called.
"lee jieun, please step onto the scale."
she does and there's this kind of strangled gasp that comes from the teacher. jieun looks up.
"jieun-ah, you've..."
"huh?"
"you've lost so much weight. nearly thirty five pounds..."
even jieun gets surprised. her hands rise to her face and she can feel her jawline. bone. she smiles. because maybe this is a good omen for wooyoung too.
§
it's definitely five thirty p.m. jieun's checked her watch. twice.
but no matter how hard she knocks on wooyoung's front door, there's no reply. jieun frowns. maybe she's gotten it wrong. maybe they were supposed to meet somewhere else? she tries calling wooyoung's cell. he doesn't pick up.
she stamps her feet. it's cold out.
"should i wait a bit longer?" she wonders.
the competition starts at seven. she glares at her watch again. why was time going by so fast now?
twenty minutes into jieun's wait, there's a creak followed by the second story window opening. she looks up. she can hear shouting. things are breaking inside the house. things that sound like vases, glass, tiles...
and then wooyoung suddenly appears at the window sill. there's a bruise on his left cheekbone. there's a bloody cut on the corner of his lip.
"watch out" he says, eyes ablaze. then he jumps.
jieun doesn't know she's screaming until wooyoung lands and runs over toward her.
"shhh" he says with a grimace. he clamps a hand over jieun's mouth.
"it's cold, clammy" jieun thinks. "and he's barefoot."
the yelling from within gets louder. jieun's eyes refuse to tear away from the window sill. and several seconds later, a familiar face appears at the window.
wooyoung's father. livid.
"come on" wooyoung shouts, tugging at jieun's arm. "let's run."
§
they arrive early to the competition. wooyoung's feet are frozen, cut-up. and his face is bloody and bruised.
"you can't compete like this" jieun pleads.
but wooyoung looks at jieun with a hard expression.
"you can't stop me" he says. "just watch me."
and afterwards, jieun will guess that she must have looked so worried and anxious then because wooyoung tries to smile for her.
"don't worry" wooyoung tells her, hand stroking jieun's frizzy hair. "this isn't the first time. and it won't be the last."
she doesn't know what wooyoung's referring to. his father? his dancing? still, jieun decides to trust wooyoung. so, when junho and chansung arrive, jieun leaves it up to them and goes to her seat in the audience.
§
one. a second one. then three.
three mistakes.
"not bad" thinks jieun. "not bad for a boy who's been beaten by his father."
her heart clenches every time it happens. and if jieun hadn't known better, she would have thought that the anxiety she feels for her best friend is something akin to love, a crush.
"but that's silly" jieun thinks to herself. "silly..."
§
there's sweat forming on her hands when the emcee comes up with a small envelope.
"let's see who's gotten the most votes!"
the crowd shouts various things, various crew names.
"let's see who's gonna take home the prize!!"
the crowd screams.
"and let's see who's gonna win!!!"
the crowd goes wild as does jieun. her hands fist of their own accord and she keeps jumping up from her seat.
"first place goes to..."
jieun can feel her heartbeat in her throat. she feels the mucus rising and she swallows it down.
"please be wooyoung, please be wooyoung..."
"three pee em!!!" the emcee screams.
jieun's eyes go wide. it's them. it's the name jieun had jokingly made for them. wooyoung, chansung, junho. the three of them. hence, three p.m.
they start to run out onto the stage again. junho, chansung, then. wooyoung.
jieun jumps up. drops her hands that had been folded toward her chest. her feet move on their own and she's pressed against the security guards near the foot of the stage.
there are tears in junho's eyes. chansung's crying already. and wooyoung.
wooyoung looks so happy and beautiful that jieun thinks she could cry.
she does.
"you did it" jieun whispers. "i knew you could."
§
the split the prize money three ways. 400 bucks each. the producers of the show call them backstage again to go over the details of the television spot.
"the shooting is in seoul, korea. plane tickets are paid for."
correction: 400 bucks to blow in seoul.
"first class?" asks chansung.
the producer gives him a withering laugh.
"economy" the producer replies. "but everything is paid for. be grateful. hotel, food, and transportation to and from places you need to be."
"cool" says junho, licking his lips.
"when do we leave?" asks wooyoung.
"any time you want. but, a week from now. the shooting starts a week from now."
wooyoung can't wait.
§
jieun helps wooyoung pack. wooyoung's grown up in the states so he's never been to korea before. jieun has. plenty of times.
"it starts getting chilly this time of year. so make sure to bring lots of jackets and scarves."
"okay."
jieun fingers the zipper on wooyoung's luggage case.
"should i go to the airport with you?"
"of course! as my best friend, you need to send me off properly."
"you're only going to be gone for three weeks."
"still!"
jieun hands wooyoung a blue and white striped shirt.
"take this too. you look good in this one."
"thanks."
"hey wooyoung?"
"yeah?"
wooyoung's busy rummaging through his closet, distracted. his parents aren't home yet, but they will be soon. wooyoung has to finish packing before they get home. he has yet to tell his mother and he doesn't plan on telling his father.
"should i go with you?"
"where?"
"korea?"
wooyoung stills, then turns to the bed where jieun's sitting.
"hey. is this because you'll miss me?"
"maybe?"
"or is this you showing off your money again?" wooyoung jokes.
"yah!" jieun screams, voice catching at the end. "i just. i just. i don't know. i feel so nervous."
wooyoung sits down, curls his fingers around jieun's wrist.
"hey" he says. and when jieun doesn't look up, he repeats himself, "hey. i'll be back before you know it. and i'll be fine. don't you trust me?"
"i do" says jieun through tears. she can't stop hiccuping. "i do."
they finish packing quietly. wooyoung's mother comes home first and jieun stays in wooyoung's room while wooyoung talks with his mother in the kitchen. there are quiet tones, then louder, frantic ones. but it all ends with wooyoung's mother sobbing into wooyoung's shoulder.
"my baby" she cries. "my baby boy."
§
"try to get taeyang's autograph okay?" says jieun for the fifth time.
"i don't even know if i'll meet him."
"but he's going to be a guest on the television show you're going on!"
"i probably won't even get within five meters of him" complains wooyoung, shouldering his carry-on backpack.
it's d-day. the mission is to leave the house for the airport without getting caught by wooyoung's father. they've both missed school for this. but hey, they're almost through the door.
"i'm saying try. hard. okay?"
"okay" wooyoung says with a sigh and a small smirk.
jieun smiles brightly then, as if all her worries had been about taeyang, the famous korean singer.
they're at the shoe cabinet when the front door bursts open. and it's like deja-vu to jieun. except this time, she's not looking up to the second story window. this time, wooyoung's father is right in front of her. livid.
"i got a call" wooyoung's father growls, grabbing wooyoung by the collar. "from your school. they say you missed class today."
his father glances at the luggage case. his eyes narrow and he glares at jieun.
"where do you two think you're going?"
§
the flight is in two hours. jieun had been sent home after an angry call to her house by wooyoung's father.
when jieun gets home, her housekeeper asks what the matter is, does she miss her parents again? jieun shakes her head, tears splattering every which way. she can't talk. her throat's closed up and her heart feels like it's contracting too hard to function properly. even if she wanted to speak, she couldn't. so she races upstairs, tunnels into her blankets and holds her cellphone to her chest.
"please call. please say you're okay. please say you got on that plane."
§
it's been two days. the television recording starts tomorrow. jieun clutches at her phone the whole day.
at the end of the day, she gets three texts. two from junho, one from chansung.
"is wooyoung on his way?" - chansung
"where the heck is wooyoung?" - junho
"nothing bad happened...right?" - junho
her fingers shake badly when she replies to the last one.
§
there has never really been a point in jieun's life when she wanted to take a stand. really take a stand. against something she thought was wrong, skewed, or stupid.
even with all the teasing about her weight, she had never felt the need to stand up for herself. nor had she taken the initiative to lose the weight.
she recalls the time wooyoung's father had barged into the dance studio to humiliate wooyoung in front of everyone. she starts to hate herself for not saying anything then.
it's past midnight when she gets the idea. why hadn't she thought of it before? she figures she'll get scolded by wooyoung. a lot. but what the hell?
she sneaks into her father's study. gets her father's keys. pockets some gravel from her garden. then drives away.
she ends up at wooyoung's house. the second story window has been replaced. as if nothing had happened. jieun scoffs.
she parks next to the mailbox, in the shade of the tree next to wooyoung's house. stepping out, she tiptoes along the sidewalk.
she takes a deep breath, takes two steps backward, then reaches into her pocket. there's one sharp piece of rock between her fingers. she cranes her arm back. then.
tap
she reaches for another.
tap
another.
tap
one more.
tap
she arches her arm for one last throw with her last piece of rock when the window slides open an inch.
"jieun?"
it's a whisper. but there's no one else on the street and it echos loud and clear.
"come down!"
"jieun. what? i'm on house arrest." wooyoung moans pitifully. "i'm missing the television spot."
"no you're not" says jieun firmly. "now come down or else i'm climbing this tree."
it's all going according to jieun's plan. she starts the car while wooyoung gets his stuff. jieun catches wooyoung's backpack in a large blanket. and then wooyoung comes jumping down into the mulch. a soft landing that's never been so nerve-wreckingly loud in jieun's ears.
wooyoung quickly gets into the car. the car door slams too loudly in jieun's opinion. jieun's foot steps heavy on the gas in her haste. the car jerks forward. jieun wonders if this is how the getaway driver feels during bank heists.
"i can't believe i'm doing this" wooyoung says when they're clear of wooyoung's neighborhood.
"i know. i can't believe i snuck you out of your house either."
"no. i mean, i can't believe i'm in the passenger's seat of a car you're driving."
jieun gives wooyoung a look. a glare, really. wooyoung laughs, loud and magnificent.
jieun laughs too. and while jieun flies down the highway, wooyoung grasps jieun's hand in his.
"do you trust me?" asks jieun.
"i do" says wooyoung, not missing a beat.
wooyoung squeezes jieun's hand once, then twice. "and thank you, jieun-ah. thank you."
---
honesty box