With her phone in one hand and a straw in the other, Ari was stirring the tea as she replied to all the birthday messages that had been flooding in since the morning. She thanked the server who set down the coffee she had ordered for who was going to meet her here but it seemed the girl was running late.
She had been keeping an eye out every time the bell by the door rung and after countless strangers, Harin had finally arrived.
"Sorry, there was so much traffic," she smiled apologetically as she set her bag down, not forgetting to hand Ari her present. "I was going to get the tickets sooner but all her events have been overseas so far so it's good she's finally coming to Korea."
Inside the envelope she had handed to Ari was two tickets to a book signing event by Ari's favourite author. Although the event was only a month away, Ari knew tickets had been sold out for a while so Harin must have been holding onto them, looking for a right time to give them to her. She smiled, "thank you, I think I'll really enjoy it. Do you want to go with me?"
"I would but I'm flying out right after the reunion."
"Oh right, I forgot about that..." Ari murmured. It had only been a few years since middle school graduation but it seemed their old classmates had wanted to get together again. Not even able to remember when she had agreed to it, Ari had let it completely slip her mind.
"You are going to go, right?"
"Of course, it'll be nice to see what everyone's been up to."
Harin gave a blank smile, taking a sip from the drink to swallow the dread. For people like Ari, although they wouldn't necessarily enjoy such an event, they would at least be comfortable attending it. Actually, it's the sort of thing even Younghee wouldn't mind.
But I have to see her again...
Harin sighed to herself, knowing she had to go no matter how much she would hate it. Seeing Minju was one thing but there were some people she needed to make sure, knew she was doing well.
Ari blew on the still steaming tea, taking small sips every now and then as if trying to buy time. "By the way... do you know where Younghee's been?"
"No, why?"
"She hasn't been replying to my messages lately.. and she wasn't at her house either."
Harin almost wanted to laugh at what Ari had said because it was such typical behaviour from the person in question but came to a bittersweet realisation she didn't know where Younghee had gone this time either. From someone who knew everything about her to someone who knew even less than the person she kept the most from, she couldn't help feeling a little hurt.
Hm? But I wonder if that girl knows.
"I don't know but—"
The sound of small delicate porcelains being placed on their table interrupted the conversation and for a moment, it almost looked like Harin had given Ari a sharp look.
Huh?
"Here's your New York style cheesecake and, oh, Harin."
It was only for a split second so Ari thought she might've been mistaken but she felt a drop in her stomach as Harin smiled at the shop-owner, addressing her casually.
"Hi, Unnie."
"I haven't seen you in a while."
"Haha yeah sorry, I haven't had the time to visit lately. How are the boys doing?"
How does Harin know?
Did Younghee…
No way, she didn't even tell me… She didn't even say anything about it at the sports festival.
…
Am I so insignificant you couldn't be bothered to tell me at all?
"Oh, this is my friend Ari." Harin said as her and the older woman exchanged a look.
"Ah, nice to meet you," the shop-owner said, grabbing Ari's hand as her smile faded a bit before a look, as if saying 'thank you' flashed across her face.
-
Whilst the population in Seoul was under a blanket of cool air and thin layers of snow, one girl that had wrapped up her family holiday in the Swiss was reapplying her sunscreen, now lying in a lounge chair in the comfort of a hotel room her sister paid for.
The last time she had so much free time was after her college exams and because she had wasted so much of that before, Nari now knew how to spend her holidays properly. Under the blazing sun, she could see the shimmer in the pool through her sunglasses as the sound of R&B music blasted from the speaker.
Her quiet afternoon was disrupted by a sudden wave of notifications. The first ping went ignored as Nari let the music resume but a few more interruptions later, she got up and grabbed the phone lying on her bed.
At first, she thought maybe it was one of her siblings or god forbid a parent but it turned out to be an old classmate from sixth form. Before Nari could even unlock her phone, a call already came through.
"Hello?"
"Nari, hey.. did you see what I sent you?"
"I was just going to check it."
"Oh before you do that… I should've just told you instead."
"What is it?"
"Well the thing is, I saw Younghee."
Nari couldn't tell whether the gulp she heard was from the other line or herself.
"She was with a girl and they went into a hotel together."
Nari chuckled, "big deal, so?"
"No but like they didn't look like friends, they were really intimate and..."
"Alright, thanks for letting me know."
"No problem, friends look out for—"
Hanging up before she could finish her sentence, Nari quickly put her phone on do not disturb mode before going back to the pool.
Look out when this is the first time we've spoken since results?
Please, as if you're telling me for my sake.
"Ugh, why did she have to call me?" Nari groaned. "Disrupting my vacation gosh. As if I'd want to think about that stuff right now..."
As much as she wanted to go back to relaxing mode, her brain would not let her. Pulling herself back up, Nari grabbed her towel and slid the glass door shut behind her before reaching for her phone again.
Going through her contacts, she debated if she should message some old friends but ultimately clicked the call button for someone she trusted more.
"Hello? Why are you calling me, didn't you say you were going to go phone free and enjoy your vacation?"
Holding the phone slightly further from her ears as the sound of slot machines filled the background, Nari sighed. "I was going to but someone had to ruin it, and I have a question."
"How much? Alright, tell him I'll put 10 more on it.." Minju mumbled from the other line, "sorry, go ahead, what is it?"
"Say hypothetically, if someone who you've known had a whole 180, what would you do?"
"That depends, is that someone a friend and if so, are they someone who I think is worth fighting for to, I suppose, get our friendship back?"
"Hmm... what if you used to think it was worth it but now you're not so sure?"
"Well what changed? Did they do something that made you think it's all pointless?"
"Not exactly, it's more like finding out something you didn't know before." Nari took a deep breath in then chuckled, "sorry this was so random. I'll let you get back to gambling, don't lose too much money."
"I have been on a streak!" Minju replied excitedly, "and it's fine, I told you you can always come to me if you want to talk about anything. I'm glad you did and you're taking time to figure things out before seeing her again."
Nari nodded. "Mm. Thank you."
-
Slipping her arm out of the holds of the girl besides her, Younghee lit a cigarette and reached for her phone. There was still time before the day ended, well, at least where she was. It was already the next morning in Seoul.
I should at least call.
Her phone had been confiscated by her brother the moment their plane landed and Younghee was handed another one that had so many programmes installed, it was basically unusable but at least it could make calls.
The footsteps coming down the hall matched as she entered each digit and stopped when she pressed the call button. After a few rings, the robotic voice telling her that the number could not be reached filled the otherwise silent room.
It was then the door to the room opened without a warning. Seeing Youngjun's never changing poker face, she threw the phone across the room, barely missing him.
"Give me my phone back."
He shook his head firmly, tossing the phone that somehow did not have a single crack on the screen onto the bed. "I told you you'll get it back if you come to the meeting. It's time the board meets its future executive."
"And I told you I'll never work for you or him."
Youngjun chuckled dryly before noticing the sleeping body next to Younghee. Forgetting to control his facial expressions, she noticed the look of disapproval immediately.
"What's with that look?"
"Nothing. I just thought you decided to settle down."
She scoffed. "Right, what would you know?"
"You need to put your attention elsewhere. Don't waste your time on pointless things."
"You can only say that because you drown yourself in work. You never wanted to do this either."
Youngjun smiled sarcastically as he reached for something in his pocket. "Get dressed, your flight's in a few hours."
Actually being handed her phone back, she raised a brow out of suspicion. "What?"
"Don't you have a reunion to get to? I'll tell Father something came up so go home."