Sooji entered the bar and restaurant that Sejoo sent the address. It's fancier than the one he used to own. He asked the waitress about the table under Seejo's name, and she guides Sooji to one of the VIP room. When she entered the room, Seejo was already there. He stands up to greet her. But instead of hugging, they just stand there looking at each other for a few minutes.
Sejoo still looks the same. Literally, nothing was changed. Except for his style. He didn't wear a catchy colorful pair of clothes again. Instead, he just wears white striped Shirt, tucked in haphazardly in his pants. And black jeans. And when he smiled, it looks much brighter. That was not the smile of the boy who gets beaten every day. That's the smile of the boy who enjoys his life being happy.
While Sooji, still as beautiful as ever. Her hair little bit shorter. She's not a cold girl who was mad at the world anymore. She just a girl who break too much and when she tried to put her pieces back, it's never quite all right. And she blames herself. She might fool the world with her smile, but Sejoo knew well it was the same smile of the broken-hearted girl he knew 6 years ago.
So Sejoo comes to her and hugs her tight. "Sorry..."
"You should say hello when you met your old friend...not a sorry...", Sooji smiles whispering to him.
"Sorry it took me so long...", Sejoo sighs.
They broke their hugs. "Yeah...6 years feels so painfully long without you and...", she stopped her sentences. The name she promised herself she would never mention again in front of the world. "...and your stupid jokes...", she laughs.
Sejoo smiled bitterly because he knew that it was not what she was going to say. And it broke his heart again. But not because he still loves her. Oh, he still loves her. He loves Sooji more than just a friend. More than his own family. But not for a lover. It broke his heart that she didn't move on. And she was still broken inside.
"So how do you do...what are you doing for this past six years huh?", Sooji asked him.
"I entered the military as soon as I left...", Sooji was looking at him in shock.
"Seriously??"
"You don't believe it? Want to see my abs??"
"Yaaa...stop it...", Sooji chuckled. "So what are you doing now?"
"I am doing this...", Sejoo pointed around.
"This is yours??"
"Yup...I am cool right?"
"I am proud of you Seejo ah...", she smiled this time it was bright and sincere.
"How about you? You just come back from New York right?"
"Yes...About three months ago...I finished my study in Juilliard a year ago...I joined an orchestra there..till one day a producer offered to make a debut as a cellist in Korea...I couldn't say no...it's great opportunity...I can come back home...and be with my mom..."
"I am glad you take that chance..."
"I am glad too...where did you get my new number?"
"Your mom...She's a famous doctor, it's easy to find her...You should see her face when I come to her hospital without any bruises in my face...", Seejo chuckled.
"She must be surprised...", Sooji can imagine how her mom reacted. She's so get used too Sejoo bruised face whenever they met. "So, no more bruised face then?"
"Nope...my face is smooth as a baby...", he's grinning. "How about you?", his expression change into concern.
"You've just asked about that a minute ago...", Sooji rolled her eyes.
"Oh come on...you know what I mean...are you really...really okay?"
"I'll manage..."
"That's not really reassuring..."
"But that's the best I can do...", she smiles again. But her eyes tell another story.
"So you're still not happy then..."
"I am happy...I have my moms....I blamed her before for what she did to Dad...but now I know how much she loves me...how much she sacrificed herself just to make me happy...she just didn't realize that the things that make me happy was being with her..."
Sejoo smiled. He believed her for that part. Her moms looked happy when he met her. But Sejoo knew that there's still a lot of things that she didn't tell him. Maybe she needed time. Sejoo promised himself to help his best friend find her own happiness.
They talked a lot. Every random little thing. Six years was a long time for missing your best friend.
"Oh my God...it almost midnight...", Sooji didn't realize how long she's been talking with Sejoo. "I should get back....tomorrow I have early morning practice...", Sooji was getting ready to leave.
"Did you bring your car?"
"Ani...I'll drive a cab..."
"Why?"
"My license expired..haven't extended it yet...", she lied. She couldn't tell him that she didn't believe herself behind the steering wheel again. After that parking lot accident where she tried to hit Shihyun and Taehee. That day she realized how evil she was.
"Then let me drive you home..."
"It's okay I can get back by myself..."
"Yaa!! It's weird you know..."
"What?"
"Not having you ordered me around...", Sejoo sulked.
Sooji laughed. "Okay then...ya Sejoo ah! Drive me home will you?!", she said between her laugh.
"With my pleasure queen Sooji...."
Sooji smiled. For a second she feels like nothing change. She feels like it was still years ago when she has three of them.
===============
"Yoboseyo..."
"When will you go home, huh? Will you leave your old man here alone?"
"Tomorrow dad...I'll be back tomorrow...."
"So you ready to take off the company??"
"Ani!! I still need a lot to learn..."
"Okay son....I am glad you're back..."
"Me too Dad..."
"Oh...about that place, I have taken care of it when you were gone...you can go there whenever you want.."
"Thanks Dad..."
Shihyun hangs up the phone. That place is not his apartment or Taehee apartment. That place was their nest. Sooji, Shihyun, Taehee. When he found out that Sejoo wants to sell that place, he begged his Dad to buy it under someone else name. He knows he was the one who ruined that place in the first place. Who leave that nest and run to Taehee. He just wished someday he could rebuild that nest for the three of them again. Fixing his mistakes. But for now, even after six years it still seems so impossible.
He finished his business degree last month. Yes, it took him too long. Because at first he wanted to take art major, but after a lot of thinking he realized, his Dad needs someone to continue their company. He wants to make him proud. And for drawing, he still can do that as a hobby between his free time. Because he doubts he could be professional if all he could draw was a girl with a cello.
============
"Sooji ah...", Sooji is putting her cello in the case when someone called her name. She turns around and finds smiling Minwoo peeking from her studio entrance.
"Oppa?", she smiles back. Minwoo is a singer. A very popular singer and actor. They met when she participated in one of his concerts. They're both graduated from Julliard.
"Wanna have dinner together?", he offered.
Sooji was checking up her watch. 10 pm. "Isn't it too late for a dinner?"
"How about almost midnight snack?"
Sooji rolled her eyes. "Okay fine...you pay!"
"With pleasure...", he smiled full of victory.
Sooji gets out of the studio bringing her heavy cello. "Come here...let me...", he takes her cello and helps her carry that heavy instrument. For a moment her heart stopped. She scolded herself. Why every little thing always reminds her of someone who was gone. Can her heart take a little break from thinking about him?
"Thank you..."
It's snowing outside. "What do you want to eat?"
"Anything but dimsum..", she said without even thinking.
"Why? Did you hate dim sum that much?", he raised his eyes curious.
"You could say that...", she didn't need to explain that it was her old habit that she wants to forget. Because after both Shi Hyun and Sejoo left, she realized that it's not the snow that makes the dim sum taste better. It's the laugh of the three of them that make a snow day feels warmer and the dim sum taste so much better. But then they were gone and the stupid dim sum just like a reminder how lonely she is now.
"How about chicken and beer?"
"That's sound good...", cold beer always seems like a good idea.
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Ps : Minwoo, you know him don't you?😅 I'll probably just erase Taehee from the story...because I hate her...sorry not sorry...So should Shihyun meet Sooji for the next chapter?
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