Time was nearing the end of Ari's exchange semester and after almost three months there, she was starting to get used to the British weather, she had even started to avoid using umbrellas whenever it rained because of the wind that often came along with it. So as much as she was excited to go back home, a part of her wished her time here would last a bit longer.
For her last official day left in the country, Ari decided to accompany a friend to her sister's drama performance. It was between that or a house party with their other friends but it took her no hesitation to make the decision because they had been closers than everyone else.
The school was a little over an hour's drive away and just outside the capital. As soon as they had gotten out of the city, a regular thought occurred in Ari's mind again.
Everywhere looks the same.
The car stopped by the side of the road and the school was no different than that of any other secondaries she had seen around London, so the fact it was a private school really wasn't at all obvious to her, at least not until they walked around. The school was bigger than it looked from the outside and surprisingly busy despite it being a weekend.
On the way to the theatre hall, they passed a corridor filled with graduation pictures on the wall from at least the past 30 years, each that had a stand displaying sports trophies won from that year too. It started from secondary and as they approached the end, there were a few noticeably smaller frames of the school's sixth form graduates and alumni, one of which had the same surname as Younghee.
Ari took out her phone as she laughed to herself, preparing to take a picture to send to Younghee but the more she stared, the more she felt like the two somehow looked alike.
Seo Youngjun.. even their names are similar.
Is that?
"Okay, my sister said they're finishing rehearsal soon. Do you want to go in early? Ari?"
Ari had been silently staring at one of the pictures for a while and although she didn't say anything, it was obvious she was facing some sort of internal conflict.
So this is where you were for two years.
…
How come I knew nothing about how you were doing?
"Ari?"
Hearing the slightest of impatience in her friend's voice, she quickly snapped out of her thoughts and smiled. "Sorry, let's go."
Walking past the picture however, someone else caught her eye and for a split second, Ari thought she recognised the girl.
Why does she look so familiar?
In the corner of the frame, stood in front of most her peers was a girl was pin straight blonde hair. Though she was wearing the same uniform as everyone else, the small glare on the necklace that dangled in front of her jumper and the smile on her face inevitably made her stand out, attracting wanted and unwanted attention.
-
At around 4am that morning, Nari had gotten a very odd text from Doyoung, requesting her help for studying. Not only were they in different majors but Doyoung always hung out with the twins whose grades were similar to Nari's, if not higher. So if he wanted a tutor, one of them would have made more sense than her.
But she knew he had his reasons, and although she kind of regretted her decision to meet up when she stepped into the freezing cold that morning, Nari still met up with him.
She wrapped her hands around the fresh cup of coffee, finally warming up enough to talk. "Why are you so interested in law all of a sudden? It hasn't really got anything to do with your major."
"Do you remember that class I took for you when you were sick? …It changed my life."
"Yeah right, public law is so boring."
"Yeah that's true, I wasn't paying attention half the time."
"So what's your real reason?"
Doyoung pressed his lips together and stirred his drink in silence as Nari sat with her arms crossed. Finally, he sat up and leaned in closer, speaking in an unnecessarily quieter voice in the busy café. "Well it's just, don't people like the studious type more these days?"
"That depends, does the person you like prefer smart people?"
"Probably, since.." He paused then blinked a few times with an expression on his face as if his brain was struggling to process what he just heard. "Wait what? What do you mean the person I like?"
"Oh am I wrong? Sorry I just assumed that's what you were hinting at. Anyway, you said you wanted to start with property law right?"
-
On the night of the fashion show, Younghee and Mina made a deal for them to date until the end of the term in exchange for anything Younghee wanted from the show. The reason being was only because Mina wanted a date for the department's winter party and she didn't want to just pop up with someone random.
She also happened to have quite a number of friends so getting the word out that they were dating weeks before the event meant people would be expecting to see them together that night.
However, a night where Mina planned to be in the spotlight was stolen from someone that people weren't even sure was going to show up. It was such a hot topic that from the moment they stepped out of the car plus as they walked into the venue, it was all they heard about.
"If it wasn't for Cho Jaeyoung, there's no way I would've came to this. You know it's only for people that already have connections anyway."
"There's no way, is he actually here?"
"I heard he's close friends with someone in our department."
"Today is going to be the day I finally see him in person!"
Mina rolled her eyes, downing the glass of champagne in her hand immediately. "I knew he had fans but isn't this too extreme?"
"Not only that, did you hear that girl from the law department's here too?"
"Who?"
"Oh you mean Seo Younghee?"
"No way.. why is she here?"
"Apparently she's going out with Park Mina. I heard they went to middle school together."
"Her and Mina?"
"No, Cho Jaeyoung."
A smile appeared on her face, likely for the wrong reason so Younghee raised a brow. "Why are you so happy all of a sudden?"
"Well, I'm not being completely overshadowed thanks to you, so," she smiled.
Younghee chuckled. No one was talking about her yet somehow the small attention from being associated with what they were talking about made her so happy it was like she'd forgotten how annoyed she was just a few minutes prior.
After a speech by the head of the department and some guests, everyone resumed their earlier conversations before a loud crash was heard. The entire room went silent as people looked towards the noise. The pieces of glass shattered on the marble floor was surrounded by red wine and stood by it were two people that had just been arguing before they became the centre of everyone's attention. Noticing the stares from the crowd, one of them quickly dragged the other away from the mess, his face impossible to read unlike the guy that followed after him.
As they walked by, Younghee felt herself holding back a smile from the one-sided reunion.
Idiot still acts like that.
The rest of the night went by quickly and as the time turned midnight, people began heading out. Originally, Younghee was going to go back home right after but decided to follow Mina back to her hotel as she had brought what she wanted.
Mina paused the game on her phone as the bathroom door opened. With the wet towel on her shoulder to catch the water from her hair, it made Mina realise that this was the first time she'd seen Younghee so off guard since they've met. In a way, she was starting to get why so many people wanted to see that side of her since it was like getting special treatment.
"What?"
Mina chuckled. "Nothing, hurry up and dry your hair then come… What are you doing?"
In the few seconds she looked away, Younghee had already gotten dressed and was checking her phone. "I'm going."
"Already? You're really going to leave me here by myself?" Mina suddenly gasped, "what if something bad happens when I'm alone?"
"Don't you have friends staying here? You'll be fine."
"Well what would they think if I woke up without a date tomorrow?"
"That's not my business. You're the one who said we'd break up after the event."
"Fine but would it hurt for you to be a little more flexible. I said by the end of the day, no?"
"It's past midnight, I'm going."
"Ah—"
Mina groaned as the door closed behind her, turning her attention back to her phone only to toss it aside as she'd been disconnected from her game.
A car was already waiting for Younghee by the time she got down. Seeing the familiar plate, she got in without a word though it was clear she was unhappy.
The drive back to her house went smooth and quickly and despite hoping they'd get into an accident at every turn, they never did. The car eventually came to a stop as it approached a heavily guarded gate and a heavy sigh escaped from Younghee's mouth. At the end of the long driveway awaited the place she spent most of her life in, and that also happened to be the one place she never wanted to return to. Over a decade in that house and yet she could not recall a single pleasant memory.
Younghee got out of the car and took a deep breath.
It's just for a few days.
She nodded at the guards that greeted her by the door and was prepared to walk right to her room but as soon as she passed the living room, she paused. Younghee didn't move, she didn't turn her head, and she didn't say anything. Not out of fear, only because she saw someone in the corner of her eyes that just irked her. The figure in the dark who thought he was better than everyone else in the world wasn't her Father, just someone who resembled him a lot. It was her older brother.
"You're home late. I thought your classes finished yesterday."
"It's none of your business."
"Are you still going to be so immature?"
It had been years since they last saw each other and although their last conversation remained fresh in her mind, at some point in time, Younghee had probably decided to forgive him. What he just said however, only reminded her of the kind of person that he was and suddenly all the sympathy she ever had disappeared. Younghee turned to face him and spoke in a steady voice. "Ah, a new title, so now I'm the immature one? I wonder what's next."
"..." Youngjun set his phone down and rubbed his temples. "Sit down."
"Why would I listen to you?"
"The daughter of X group, you still remember that favour, right?"
Younghee narrowed her eyes.
"I won't say anything but Father will find out one way or another." He tossed the folder sat on the coffee table to her. "I told you there's only so much I can cover up. Go pay her a visit and clean up your own mess."