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Youngwoo was bored. She was sitting courtside watching her roommates playing a basketball game, and she had no interest in this at all.
When they invited her to the game, she agreed even if this is not how she wanted to spend her Saturday afternoon. She only agreed because she wanted to bond with her roommates. She loved bonding with her roommates, they were her family now and she truly dearly loved them. It surprised her how much she cared for them since they have only known each other for 8 months, but she did.
The problem is she found basketball so boring. She switched between watching them and looking down at her phone. She was reading the latest journal article from a marine biologist about the mating patterns of Indo-Pacific dolphins. It was very fascinating and she was filing all the information away to tell Junho tomorrow during their breakfast-whale time.
Speaking of Junho, he was working up a sweat. He looked very good if she had to admit. All 3 were very handsome and good looking but Junho was on another level. Living with him provided such a nice view and this one of him sweaty and glaring at his opponents was one of her personal favorites. It made her feel things if she was honest. The only thing that can tear her eyes away from him is her Indo-Pacific dolphins.
“Yo Youngwoo!” She looked up from her phone at Minwoo.
“We boring you?”
“Yes.” She replied bluntly.
Minwoo looked offended while Junho and Myeongseok burst out laughing. She smiles because she made them laugh, although she has no idea how, she didn’t say anything particularly funny.
“Do you want to try Youngwoo?” Myeongseok offers
“Hmmm, I don’t know.” She wrings her hands together unsure.
He walked over to her holding the ball, offering it to her with a warm smile.
“Come on, it’ll be fun.”
She looked over at Junho who nodded reassuringly. She took the ball in her hands, a little grossed out by how dirty it was making her hands.
“I don’t know what I’m doing.” She informed them.
“Just dribble it, bounce it up and down.” He acted out the motion with his hands, so Youngwoo would be able to follow. She mimicked the motion with the ball, bouncing it up and down with her hands.
She started laughing, she was actually doing it! She was bouncing the ball!
“Not bad Youngwoo.” He heard Minwoo’s slightly impressed voice. She was never the most physically inclined person, she was quite clumsy so she was really proud of herself. She decided she wanted to try one of the passes she saw Junho do earlier, so without warning, she launched the ball straight at Myeongseok.
Smack! It hits him straight in the face.
“Ugh!” Myeongseok cups his nose, blood seeping through his fingers.
“Shit” Minwoo runs to Myeongseok to see the damage.
“Ow! ow! ow!”
“Hold the fuck still! Let me see.” He starts to inspect his face.
Youngwoo is horrified. She hurt her friend, even if it was by accident. Junho is by her side in an instant rubbing her arms trying to calm her down.
“He’s going to be ok, Youngwoo.”
“Yup I'm pretty sure it’s broken. We should probably get you to a hospital.” Minwoo announces.
Youngwoo whimpers, “I’m sorry Myeongseok-ssi”
“It’s ok, Youngwoo” Myeongseok muffles through his mouth. “I know you didn’t mean it, accidents happen. Ow!”
“Ya the more you talk, the more it’ll hurt. I’m going to go get the car so we can go.” He runs off to pull the car around.
Junho starts to help steer Myeongseok toward where Minwoo is pulled up. She climbs to the front seat, while Junho attends to Myeongseok in the back. She can’t help but whimper every single time she sees her friend in pain. Basketball was no good for Woo Youngwoo.
“Let’s go to the nearest hospital,” Junho tells Minwoo.
“Aish, I don’t need a hospital! Let’s just go back home so we can put ice on it and I’ll be ok.”
All of them groan at what Myeongseok is suggesting. They know he hates hospitals, especially after his battle with stomach cancer, but he needed to go.
“No, we are going to the hospital and that’s that.” Junho was firm, putting on the dad role now that Myeongseok couldn’t do it.
“You know Junho, the hospital we’re going to is the one Eunji works in.” Minwoo points out.
The car gets quiet like a bomb has just gone off.
“Eunji?” Youngwoo breaks the silence. “You mean the ex-girlfriend that tore your heart in two and turned you into a pathetic shell? That Eunji?”
Junho looks down, looking embarrassed by Youngwoo’s words. “Yes thank you Youngwoo, it is that Eunji.”
She doesn’t get why he’s embarrassed. All she said was the truth according to the stories they have told her. She never met her, but Eunji dated Junho for 5 years before breaking up with him 6 months before Youngwoo moved in. According to them, he was in love with her and they even lived together briefly but once they broke up, Junho was so broken-hearted his mother had to fly in from Jeju to console him. She didn’t know much, but she knew she could never like someone that broke Junho’s heart that way. He was too kind to deserve that heartache.
“What are you going to do when you see her?” Minwoo asks.
“Nothing, we broke up over a year ago and we’re both adults so it should be fine.” He grits his teeth in response.
“I mean you're going to show up single and pathetic. Haven’t really dated anyone since the breakup, isn’t that kinda embarrassing?”
“It is not!” He protests. Youngwoo also doesn’t see how it could be embarrassing. What was wrong with being single? She was single and she didn’t feel embarrassed.
“Why is it embarrassing?” Youngwoo voices out her curiosity.
“You see my dear Youngwoo when someone breaks up with you in the way Eunji did to Junho, you want to show that you won the breakup. You were better off without them and what better way than showing off how you moved on to someone else? You don’t want to look like you are not over them.”
Youngwoo feels like she gets it a little. Junho doesn’t want to look pathetic in front of his ex. He wants to appear like he’s moved on. He has moved on from what she can tell, but I guess he needs to show it.
“It’s not embarrassing!” Junho protests again.
“It kinda is.” Myeongseok snickers “Ow” He cups his nose tighter.
Junho smugly looks at him, “You should just keep your mouth shut.”
“You should tell her you have a girlfriend.”
Junho rolls his eyes at Minwoo’s suggestion. “I’m not going to do that.”
“No, think about it! Tell her you have a girlfriend, better yet what if your girlfriend shows up at the hospital so you can rub it in her face.”
Now Youngwoo is confused again. Lee Junho-ssi doesn’t have a girlfriend?
“Idiot, I don’t have a girlfriend to show up at the hospital.”
Myeongseok and Minwoo make eye contact through the mirror seemingly having a conversation.
“You don’t, but what if you got someone to pretend to be?” At Myeongseok’s suggestion, all three men turn to stare at Youngwoo.
“What?” She asks. “I’m missing something, aren’t I? Why are you all staring at me?”
“Youngwoo, how would you feel about pretending to be Junho’s girlfriend at the hospital ?” Minwoo grins at her.
“Me.” She points to herself. “You want me to pretend to be Lee Junho-ssi’s girlfriend.”
Junho is looking at her silently, not saying anything. Minwoo is smiling like crazy and Myeongseok looks in pain.
“It’s not a terrible idea.” Myeongseok points out. “C'mon Junho, you know how you are with Eunji, this may help you defeat the wicked witch of the west.”
Junho is silent for a bit. “You’re right” He sighs in defeat. He turns to Youngwoo with the soft voice he seems to have when he speaks with her. “Please Youngwoo, will you pretend to be my girlfriend? I wouldn’t be asking if I wasn’t desperate.”
“Hmmm I'm not sure.” She begins to wring her hands together. She’s never been a girlfriend, she doesn’t know how to pretend to be one. This is just a disaster waiting to happen.
Myeongseok jumps in, “I hate to do this Youngwoo, but you broke my nose. You owe me one, and thus you have to pretend to be Junho’s girlfriend. ” He puts pressure on his nose, “Ow fuck ok I’m going to stop talking now.”
Youngwoo’s jaw drops, she can’t believe what her mentor/friend is telling her.
“Don’t guilt her.” Junho scolds him. He turns to her again, “Don’t listen to him, there is no pressure to do it. I want you to be comfortable ok.”
Youngwoo nodded, feeling slightly better. Junho always knew how to ease her nerves.
“Youngwoo, listen, it's not hard at all. All you have to do is pretend to be his girlfriend and keep him out of trouble with Eunji ok.” Minwoo explains. “And maybe don’t be yourself when you meet her.” That earned him a punch on the shoulder from Junho causing Youngwoo to jump in her seat.
“Don’t tell her that.” He growls.
“Don’t listen to him, Youngwoo.” He softens his voice just for her. “You can be your wonderful self.”
“My wonderful self,” She repeats. She hums to herself, considering this. It didn’t sound that bad. Yes, she wasn’t his girlfriend nor had she ever been a girlfriend, but Junho really needed this. He was so kind to her and looked after her after she moved in, it was the least she could do. Friendship was doing things for each other, that’s what her friendship with Suyeon and Geurami taught her.
“Ok Lee Junho-ssi, I’ll pretend to be your girlfriend.”
He grinned at her, he had a very beautiful smile.
“Thank you Youngwoo, I owe you one.”
“Ok, does that mean you’ll go to the screening for that new documentary on the unethical practices of Sea World ?”
“He was going to go regardless.” She hears Minwoo mumble.
“Of course, I’ll go.”
Youngwoo nods satisfied with her plans for next month. Now all she had to do was convince the others to tag along.
“Ow! Ow!”
“Hold still!” Junho yelled.
Myeongseok groans, this was going to be a long day.
***
The doctor finished examining Myeongseok and just like they all suspected, it was broken.
“I’m really sorry Myeongseok-ssi” She bowed respectfully.
“It’s ok Youngwoo, just focus on the task today.”
“The task” She repeats, pretending to be Junho’s girlfriend. They hadn’t spotted Eunji yet, but they had heard her name from other nurses so they knew she was working today.
“When you see her, be mean to her.” Minwoo chimes in.
“Minwoo,” Junho sighs
“Mispronounce her name, it’ll be hilarious.”
“Minwoo stop” Junho protests. He turns to Youngwoo and asks, “Do you want to go get something to eat at the cafeteria?”
They make their way to the cafeteria and thankfully they serve gimbap.
“We can determine the age of blue whales based on their ear wax. About every six months a new layer of ear wax forms inside a whale’s ear canal. It serves to protect the ear canal and helps carry noise into the ear canal. The build-up of the ear wax can be measured to estimate their age.” She notices that Junho doesn’t seem to be interested in what she is saying. He keeps checking over his shoulder like someone is going to jump out.
“Are you bored by my whale talk Lee Junho-ssi?” She asks honestly. She knows she bores people with it as much as they try to listen. She wouldn’t be surprised if Junho was sick of it already. She found a pain start to settle in her heart, which was strange because it was just Junho, why would it matter?
“No! Of course not, I love it when you talk to me about whales.” She smiles at her. She feels relieved, she would hate if Junho hated listening to her whale talk.
“It’s just” He sighs, dropping his head down. “Eunji is somewhere here and I’m nervous.”
“Because you still like her ?” She guesses.
“No, I'm over her. It’s been over a year, but it still hurts to see her. The ending of our relationship was not good.”
She hums in understanding. She didn’t know the full details of the actual breakup but it’s alluded it was really bad. She’s never been through a breakup before, but from the stories, she’s heard it was hard on Junho.
“Maybe we should call each other a term of endearment, so it’s believable.” He suggests.
“Ah! Yes, that seems like a good idea.” She pauses trying to come up with a good one she’s seen in dramas. “Ok, jagiya ”
His eyes widen at that and she sees a slight blush appear on his cheeks. She assumes he’s just embarrassed that’s all.
He notices Junho jump from his chair and begins to shrink into himself.
“Oh god, that’s her.”
Youngwoo follows his line of sight and sees a very pretty woman walk in. She has long beautiful hair and a small face with sweet-looking eyes. She was tall, seemingly only slightly shorter than Junho, with nice curves. Youngwoo looked at her and then looked at Junho, visually they matched. The thought made her uneasy for some reason.
It seems Eunji spots Junho and her mouth forms an O as she recognizes him. She turns to her colleagues and begins to make her way over to their table.
“Oh god, she’s making her way here. Fuck ”
Youngwoo begins to woah woah him, hoping that will calm him down. If she was honest, she needed to be woah woahed herself, Junho was making her nervous.
Eunji stops in front of the table with a warm smile.
“Junho hi. I didn’t know you were here today.”
Junho unrolls himself and turns to smile at her.
“Hello Eunji, it’s nice to see you.”
“Are you visiting anyone?”
“Oh no, Myeongseok broke his nose so we rushed him here.” He informed her.
“Oh god.” She looks genuinely concerned.
“It’s ok even though I hit Myeongseok-ssi in the face with a basketball, he seemed to understand that it was a mistake. He’ll make a quick recovery.” Youngwoo chimes in. It appears Eunji hadn’t registered her presence yet. That annoyed Youngwoo for some reason. She was used to people ignoring her presence but coming from Eunji, it made her upset.
Eunji turns to her in surprise, taking her in. Youngwoo wants to shrink away, the nerves returning. Well, here it goes .
“Jagiya, are you going to introduce me to your friend?” She sees Eunji’s eyes widen at the term of endearment. Her eyes begin to bounce between Youngwoo and Junho.
Junho coughs, “Um yes, Eunji this is Woo Youngwoo, Youngwoo this is Lee Eunji.”
“Hello, I’m Woo Younwoo, whether it's read straight or flipped, kayak, deed, rotator, noon, racecar, Woo Youngwoo.”
“Uhhh ….. yes I see,” She stammers. She reaches out to shake her hand “I’m Lee Eunji”
Youngwoo doesn’t like this, touching hands makes her very uncomfortable. She just shakes with the tips of her fingers, which she can manage. She remembers Minwoo’s advice. Mispronounce her name it’ll be hilarious.
“Oh, I’m sorry Eunchae?” She acts clueless. Geurami would be proud.
“Ah no-“
“Eunbi?”
“No-“
“Eunhee?”
“It’s Eunji, jagiya” Junho interjects with an awkward chuckle. Junho’s face appears pinched like when her dad is caught doing something embarrassing.
“Oh, it’s a very pretty name.” Youngwoo offers. She sees Eunji take a big gulp before continuing to watch both of them.
“Are you two dating?” The tone doesn’t indicate anything unpleasant, but the way her eyes are examining Youngwoo is a bit unnerving. She is taking her in head to toe, and if Youngwoo had to guess it looked like she was examining her.
“Yes,” Junho grins widely, “We’ve just started dating.” He looks at Youngwoo in a way she can’t always pinpoint, but her friends would call fondness. Yes, he looked fond. He was really playing the part well.
“Yes, we just started dating so we are engaging in a lot of sexual intercourse.” She informs Eunji. Youngwoo reaches over and starts petting his arm. That’s what boyfriends and girlfriends did right? They touched and talked about the sex they had.
Eunji looks stunned, good. She seems speechless, so it appears she believed the lie that Youngwoo told her.
“Um-” Eunji stutters, “...I have to go now. It was so nice meeting you.” She smiles slightly at her, looking a bit uncomfortable.
“It was nice to meet you too, Eunbin.” She was having a bit of fun with the names. It felt a bit like a game.
“It’s Eunji” She reminds her looking slightly irritated. She turns to look at Junho, just staring at him for a second. Youngwoo can’t fully register the emotion on her face, but if she had to guess maybe it was regret. It matched the face she made when she was unable to go to the observatory to look at the dolphin constellation, but the boy from across the street did. She felt smugness course through her body over Eunji’s reaction.
“I’ll see you around Junho.” She smiles at him before going back to her colleagues.
Junho lets out a giant breath he was holding in. He cupped his hands over his mouth and began to giggle. Youngwoo couldn’t help but giggle in response.
“I think she was jealous, oh my god she was jealous.” He couldn’t stop giggling, it was very cute.
He turns to Youngwoo giving her the biggest smile he could give. “You did so good Youngwoo.”
Youngwoo felt proud of herself for being able to lie successfully and help Junho. She felt like her heart could burst with happiness. Her thoughts are interrupted by her phone ringing, it’s Minwoo.
“Minwoo-ssi?” She answers the phone.
“Youngwoo, you and Junho need to come back right now.” He sounded not right. He sounded scared.
“Minwoo-ssi is everything alright?” At that question concern flashes on Junho’s face.
“I’ll explain when you are here, just please come now.” He hangs up before she can ask more questions.
“Is everything ok?” Junho asks concerned.
“Hmmm I’m not sure, but he sounded scared.” Junho’s eyes widen in fear. “He said we need to go there now.”
They quickly disposed of their trash and made their way back to the bed Myeongseok was staying in. They both were aware of Myeongseok’s past medical problems and were just hoping everything was ok.
When they got there, the doctor was placing his hands on Myeongseok’s stomach. At the sight, Youngwoo felt herself go a bit numb, this did not look good.
“What’s wrong?” Junho demanded.
The doctor looks at both of them sighing, “I noticed an abnormality in your friend’s stomach. Looking at his medical records it seems that he has a history of stomach cancer. I don’t want to worry you, but based on that we need to get his stomach examined to ensure cancer hasn’t returned. “
Youngwoo whimpers at the information. She doesn’t want anything bad to happen to her friend/mentor. It seems Myeongseok hears her distress and tries to soothe her.
“Youngwoo-ya I’m going to be ok, there is no need to worry.”
She knows he’s only saying that to make her feel better, to make them all feel better. She looks around at both Junho and Minwoo and they both look very concerned.
Her friend and her family needs to be ok. He just has to be.
***
They have been quiet since yesterday when they got the news. The doctor had thankfully been able to do the examination the next day just in case the cancer was back so they could treat him immediately. It seems everyone is on eggshells, even Youngwoo, who would have subjected them all to whale facts in the car fell silent.
Myeongseok kept trying to reassure them that everything will be ok, that he was sure it wasn’t back because he had no pain. It didn’t matter, all three of them would be worried until they got the all-clear from the doctor.
The examination would take only an hour and they’d get the results back in a week. It would be the tensest week of their lives. Youngwoo called her father in tears over what was happening. He offered for her to stay back home to ease her anxiety but she refused. She needed to be close to her friend at this time.
They had all decided to join Myeongseok, they were there to support him at the hospital. Junho had decided to go get some water, so it was just her and Minwoo waiting in the lobby while Myeongseok got sent to the back for examination.
After some time of just waiting and waiting, Myeongseok finally came out of the room.
“How did it go?” Minwoo asks
“Fine I guess, I have another final examination that they’re prepping the room for so they let me come out here for a break.”
“It will be ok Myeongseok-ssi, Korea is one of the best countries in the world to treat stomach cancer,” Yongwoo assured him.
“Yes thank you Youngwoo.” It seems Myeongseok notices that they’re missing one member of their little group. “Where is Junho?”
“He said he was going to get some water, but it has been a while since he’s been gone.”
Youngwoo frowns at the realization, where could he possibly be? She doubts getting water takes this long.
“Ah, that’s why he was taking so long.” She turns to where Minwoo was staring and there he was talking to Eunji. They’re just talking to each other, engrossed in the conversation. At one point Eunji lets out a giggle, twirling her hair with one finger, and going to rub Junho’s arm with her other hand. Youngwoo doesn’t know how to describe this emotion she’s feeling, but she feels like she wants to go over there and grab Junho so Eunji could stop staring at him. She wants to have Junho to herself, she isn’t sure what this emotion is.
“Oh, this is bad.” Myeongseok chimes in staring at the pair.
“Shouldn’t you be focusing on your examination instead of Lee Junho-ssi’s love life?” She would think his mind would be preoccupied.
“I really don’t like thinking about me possibly having cancer again. I need a distraction.”
The three continue to stare at the pair conversing. It is clear that Eunji is flirting with Junho. After years of watching her two friends pursue men she’s picked up on the signs. She’s stunned by the display, Eunji knew Junho had a girlfriend, she couldn’t believe she was so shameless.
“Youngwoo I thought you took care of her?!” Minwoo exclaims.
“I did!” She protests, “I even talked about our sexual intercourse!” She really doesn’t understand where she went wrong. Even Junho praised her.
“It’s just Eunji being Eunji, Minwoo. You know how she is.” Myeonseok sighs then turns to Youngwoo to explain, “You see Eunji is the jealous type. She hated the idea of Junho being with anyone else. If a girl so much as looked at him, she would throw a fit. I genuinely believe that’s why she didn’t break up with him sooner because she couldn’t stand the idea of him being with someone else. I’m not shocked she decided to start flirting with him now that she knows he has a girlfriend.”
“This is so so bad.” Minwoo groans rubbing his face.
“Why is it so bad?” Youngwoo asks. She doesn’t understand, from what she can see Eunji is flirting with him but he doesn’t seem to be reciprocating it.
“Because Eunji is toxic, their whole relationship was. She will continue to flirt with him to try to win him over and then dump him when she gets bored. We never told you, but you know how she broke up with him? Over a phone call. They dated for 5 years and they were living together for the last 2 months of their relationship, and she broke up with him over the phone. She had his stuff all packed up and kicked him out of their shared apartment.” Minwoo’s eyes are filled with anger.
“She really was heartless with him in the end even though he cared for her.”
When they put it that way, Youngwoo gets it. Maybe the phone call itself wasn’t terrible to her, but that’s because she didn’t fully understand dating etiquette. The idea of discarding him after 5 years did seem cruel to her. How could anyone treat Junho in that matter? He was the kindest person in the world, he didn’t deserve to be treated like whales treat food that isn’t krill.
“We need to do something, she can’t keep getting away with this.” Minwoo huffs. Youngwoo agrees, as Lee Junho’s friend and pretend girlfriend she can’t stand by and let this woman continue to treat him in such a manner.
She’s still Junho’s girlfriend, after all, she needed to save her man. She gets up and makes her way over to the pair, as she approaches she sees Eunji reach out to touch Junho’s chest. That really angers her, the only other time she can compare it to is when her father revealed who her mother was. She clears her throat alerting Eunji of her presence. Eunji’s eyes widen when she notices Youngwoo.
“What are you doing Eunji-ssi? Are you really flirting with my boyfriend?” She curls her arms around Junho’s, so Eunji knows he’s hers. She stares at the area between her eyes. It’s the place she looks at when she wants people to think she’s making make eye contact with them.
“No, I’m not-”
“It seems like you were. I get it, he is very handsome and kind, but he’s moved on from you. If you took two seconds to examine his facial expressions you’d see he is not interested.” She turns to Junho, “Isn’t that right jagiya?”
“Yes.” He responds staring at her in awe
“No really I wasn’t flirting with him, I swear! I have a boyfriend.” She looks nervous, but despite that Youngwoo believes her.
“What?!” Junho exclaims turning to face Eunji. “You had a boyfriend this entire time and you were-”
“I didn’t say anything at first because you are going through stuff, and I didn’t want you to feel worse. But hey it worked out because you have Youngwoo and it seems like you are happy.” She laughs nervously.
Junho's face hardens, “You really haven’t changed much have you Eunji?”
“I think I’ll just go.” She says quietly
“I think you should.” He replies voice laced with anger. Eunji takes off leaving a saddened Junho behind.
“Junho-ssi?”
“Can we not talk about it Youngwoo? Please?” He looks at her pleading.
She nods in agreement. As she turns to leave he grabs her arm stopping her.
“Thank you Youngwoo, for that just now.”
Youngwoo nods in acknowledgment. “Of course, I’m your girlfriend.” Her heart flutters at that. “I can't let any girl flirt with you.”
His cheeks are dusted pink but he smiles at her, his eyes crinkling.
They make their way back to Myeongseok and Minwoo in silence. After that, no one says much of anything. Myeongseok gets called back in for his final examination and the remaining three just sit there in silence long forgetting what just transpired and once again worrying for their friend. Youngwoo takes glances at Junho to ensure he’s ok. She sees sadness in his eyes, and she doesn’t think it all has to do with Myeongseok.
***
“Here you go Jung, bottoms up!”
She watches Geurami and Myeongseok take a shot of soju together. They were currently at the bar Geurami worked at getting drunk. Well she wasn’t, Youngwoo didn’t drink but everyone else was either drunk or slowly getting there.
Myeongseok had been on edge all week over his results, so he decided he wanted to take his mind off of it. That’s how they found themselves at the bar with Suyeon tagging along. Everyone seemed to have needed the drinks after the heavy week.
Minwoo was playing the piano in the bar making a song up dedicated to Myeongseok. At one point Suyeon, Geurami, and Myeongseok decided to join him in the song he came up with. All three were slurring their words as they sang. The only person who didn’t seem to join in was Junho. He was seated all by himself at a table in a corner, drinking a tall glass of beer.
Youngwoo’s heart ached to watch him. It was obvious to her that the run-in with Eunji plus worrying about their friend was a lot for him. She doesn’t blame him, it would be a lot for her too. She makes her way over to him, she doesn’t know what comfort she can provide, she’s not very good at it, but she wants to make him feel better.
Once she sits down across from him, he stares at her, eyes roaming her face.
“Youngwoo-yah”
“Yes, Junho-ssi?”
“When I die I don’t want you to have no one to talk about whales with.” This catches Youngwoo by surprise. When he dies? He’s not the one who might have cancer. She looks over his face and sees it’s flushed red, and his eyes aren’t focusing on anything, he is clearly very drunk.
“When I die….” He continues slurring out his words “...visit my grave Youngwoo-ya, visit and tell me all about your whales.”
She feels warmth spread through her. Even though she doesn’t like to think of a world where Junho isn’t around, she can’t help but smile at him still wanting to hear her whale talk even after he’s gone. Even once he’s gone, he’s taking care of her.
“Thank you Junho-ssi, but I don’t like thinking of you dead.” She really doesn’t, just the thought fills her with intense pain.
“Better me than you, I can’t live in a world where you don’t exist Youngwoo. It would destroy me.” He takes another sip of his beer at his confession. Youngwoo doesn’t know how to respond to that other than she feels the same. A world without Lee Junho is inconceivable. It’s a world with no sun, or worse, a world without whales.
“Oi!” She hears Geurami shout at them which causes her to cover her ears. “If you two could stop staring into each other's eyes fondly!” She hears snickers. “Myeongseok is taking us on an adventure!”
“An adventure?” Youngwoo's curiosity peaked. Junho stands offering her his arm, she has a feeling it’s because he is drunk and can’t walk properly by himself but she’ll appreciate the gesture. Arm and arm they follow the group through the streets until they hit the edge of the Han River.
“Why are we here Myeongseok-ssi?”
“When I first got diagnosed with cancer I sat right here looking out into the river. I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, but it feels like I need to be here again.” He explains. Ah, so it was a sentimental thing.
Everyone sits just staring out at the river. Myeongseok and Geurami are sat next to each other and so are Suyeon and Minwoo, each having their own little conversations amongst themselves. Suyeon looks annoyed by what Minwoo is telling her but physically she’s scooting closer to her. She shakes her head, she’ll never understand those two.
She sat next to Junho watching him. He still looks sad and she has this urge to make him feel better.
“I’m sorry about what happened with Eunji, Lee Junho-ssi. She had a boyfriend and was flirting with you, that is very rude.”
“Ah don’t worry about that Youngwoo, it is what it is.” He sighs.
“Are you upset because you still like her and she led you to believe you could start up a relationship again?”
“What?” He whips his head to look at her. “No! I don’t like Eunji at all. I was honest when I said I was over her. It’s just…..” He sighs “….It’s sad to see someone I cared a lot about turn into someone I despise. Have you ever experienced that?”
“Aniyo.” She honestly never has. Up until she moved in she had 2 friends and they’re still best friends to this day.
“Good, I hope it stays that way for you. It truly sucks.” He laughs without humor.
“It truly sucks.” She repeats.
“Thank you for helping me, Youngwoo. You’re the best.”
“Anytime Junho-ssi.” She truly meant it.
“I mean it, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, to all of us. I like you a lot, I’m really glad you're around.” He’s looking at her, and Youngwoo’s heart begins to beat wildly. She’s speechless, she doesn’t even know what to say. She can feel herself blushing.
It doesn’t seem like he’s done because he keeps on rambling. He’s drunk so he’s still slurring his words a bit.
“I like all the stuff people think is weird like your whale talk. I like when you talk to me about whales. I look forward to every breakfast we have together. When you get so excited about a particular whale fact, I think you look like a flower.”
She just stares at him, mouth open.
“Thank you.” Her heart is still beating because of his words. He thinks I look like a flower . She smiles that he thinks of her as something so lovely. Her heart is beating so fast and her cheeks feel very warm. She feels like he says she is, a flower. Is she really that beautiful in his eyes?
“I’m not gonna remember any of this tomorrow, am I?”
“Probably not.” She admits, her heart sinking at the thought. She doesn’t know if he’ll be this honest again.
He leans his head down on her shoulder, arms wrapping around her midriff. Unlike when her friends try to hug her like this, she feels so much fondness at having Junho cling to her.
“We should go home.” She whispers
“Ani. Let’s stay here and sleep.” He begins closing his eyes. She’s about to tell him, no but she notices that the rest have taken to laying down themselves. There is no way she can wrangle 5 drunk people back to the apartment so she admits defeat.
“Ok, I don’t think I’ll get much sleep, but let’s sleep.” She says as she begins laying down on the grass. Junho doesn’t let go of her once, cuddling into her, face burying into her shoulder. She lets a little giggle, he’s so cute.
“Goodnight Youngwoo.” He mumbles into her shoulder
“Good night Lee Junho-ssi” She whispers before closing her eyes and letting sleep take over.
***
Youngwoo was right, she got almost no sleep. She doesn’t recommend sleeping on the grass in front of the Han River unless one wants a sore back. The only reason she didn’t freeze to death was that Junho held onto her the entire night. He didn’t budge, not even once.
When they awoke he untangled himself from her while she pretended to sleep, too afraid of what he might say about their position. He woke everyone up, informing them they had overslept and they had 30 minutes to get to the hospital for Myeongseok’s results.
Everyone piled into taxis and rode to the hospital. They were all going to be there for Myeongseok regardless of the outcome.
She can feel her anxiety rising the longer she waits. Junho seems to notice and tries to calm her down by asking about various species of dolphins and whales.
It appears he didn’t remember what he told her last night since he is behaving as if nothing happened. She isn’t sure if she should bring it up. It wasn’t like it was a love confession. He just said things he liked about her.
After 10 more minutes, Myeongseok enters the lobby with the widest grin she’s ever seen on him.
“It was a false alarm! No cancer.” He announces.
Youngwoo feels so much relief flood her body. She can’t even help herself. She walks over to give Myeongseok the biggest hug. It’s a quick one but she feels like she should hug him.
“I’m really glad you’re ok Myeongseok-ssi.”
He thanked her before getting a hug from everyone else.
“C'mon gang let’s celebrate!” proclaims Geurami.
“Yes let’s go, breakfast is on me,” Myeongseok tells the group.
They decide to go to a restaurant nearby that sells the best noodles and gimbap for Youngwoo.
Youngwoo and Junho naturally fall behind the rest, walking together in silence.
She feels like this may be the best time to bring up their conversation, but before she can Junho turns to her and asks, “Hey Youngwoo, I didn’t say anything weird or embarrassing last night when I was drunk did I?”
She stops in her tracks. This is it, this is when she asks what he meant by his talk yesterday.
“It’s just uh-“ He scratches his neck. “We’ll you’ve seen me drunk before, I say really dumb and stupid stuff.” He chuckles.
He had a point, she’s seen him drunk a number of times and drunk Junho was something. He always said weird things like the one time he told her about his weird uncle who believed a troll was living under his house.
Maybe he would consider the conversation they had as one? She decides maybe all he wants is reassurance at that moment that he didn’t embarrass himself.
“No.” She shakes her head. “You didn’t say anything dumb.”
It doesn’t feel like a lie to her. She hopes, really hopes, that he wouldn’t consider the things he said to her as dumb.
“Ok good.” He smiles at her fondly.
“Oh! You have a leaf.” He points to her hair. She tries to feel around for it to take it off, but it seems she’s unsuccessful.
“Here let me.” He mumbles before getting very close to her. She holds her breath at the close proximity. They’ve already cuddled, but this feels more intense, this is different, he’s sober and fully awake.
Even though they spent the night on the floor in front of the Han River, Junho still smells like Junho. It’s a scent that brings her comfort.
He successfully plucks it out, stepping away from her. She lets out the breath she was holding.
“Hmmm let’s catch up to the others.” She says before walking quickly away. She can hear him laughing behind her. She reaches Geurami who slings her arms around Youngwoo before Youngwoo moves out of her hold. It’s been a wild week, she’s just glad all her friends are ok.
She never does get a chance to ask Junho about the night before. That moment in front of the Han River where he admitted he liked having her around, and that she looked like a flower was one she cherishes. She doesn’t even know what yesterday meant but she knows she’ll keep it in her heart forever.