Rivalries (1/1)

Despite his whines and complaints, Kyuhyun found himself sitting in the theater lounge together with Seohyun waiting for the movie to start. He unenthusiastically read the pamphlets given to them by the attendant on the counter. “It’s the same old story. Do you know that fairy tale movies are only for hopeless romantics?” Kyuhyun said to Seohyun. One thing this type of movie gives is a false hope. They always sugar-coat love.”    “Well, I guess I am one of those hopeless romantics,” Seohyun replied. “And why are you telling me this? If you are still trying to convince me not to watch this movie, I’m gonna tell you it won’t work.” Seohyun looked at her watch. “It’s about to start now. Aren’t you going inside?” she asked standing up. “No. I am going to wait for you here,” Kyuhyun said crossing his legs and picking up the popcorn bag from the round table. “Suit yourself.” Seohyun then followed the group of people entering the theater. More than thirty minutes have passed and Kyuhyun was starting to get bored. He already finished one bag of popcorn and only a few was left on the second bag that he bought. “Should I go in?” he asked himself as he put popcorn to his mouth. “Or not?” He shoved another one. “I go in?” Another popcorn went to his mouth. He waited until the last popcorn to be able to make a decision. “I go in.” There went the last popcorn to his mouth.-------------------- Kyuhyun stepped inside the theater. The silver widescreen showed the scene where the male lead Kyle was showing the female lead the rose garden that he prepared at the rooftop. With only the light from the screen and some floor lights guiding him, he searched for Seohyun. Then two levels below, he spotted Seohyun sitting next to a guy and she was talking to him. Kyuhyun walked silently towards them. “Aww, that’s so sweet,” Seohyun said referring to the scene currently flashing on the screen. “Do you like roses?” the guy asked. “Love them,” Seohyun replied, caught in the trance watching the romantic scene. It was so obvious to Kyuhyun that the guy was attempting to flirt with Seohyun. From the way he looked at her, Kyuhyun could sense that he had interest on Seohyun. On the other hand, Seohyun had all her attention on the movie, absolutely unaware that somebody was enjoying looking at her face more than watching the movie. Then, the guy slowly stretched his arm and put it around Seohyun’s shoulders. “Ehem!” Kyuhyun coughed loudly to get their attention. The guy pulled back his arm and put them back to his side. Kyuhyun felt a little satisfaction when saw the guy’s annoyed expression on his sudden appearance. Seohyun looked behind and saw Kyuhyun standing there. Kyuhyun stepped to their row and took the vacant seat next to Seohyun, thus, sandwiching Seohyun in between the two guys. “Mind introducing me to your dear friend here?” Kyuhyun asked. “Jung Yonghwa, he’s a music student too and my classmate. He just happened to be here,” Seohyun told Kyuhyun. “Yonghwa,” Seohyun turned to the other guy. “This is Kyuhyun, my –“ “Your boyfriend?” Yonghwa asked. “Ani-aniyo” Seohyun waved her hand, a gesture denying Yonghwa’s speculations. “He is my boss. He is here to treat me for a job well done. Right?” she nudged Kyuhyun to agree to her. “Yes,” he plainly said. “Nice to meet you, Yonghwa.” Kyuhyun offered his hand for a handshake. “Me too.” Yonghwa replied giving Kyuhyun a handshake. They gripped each other’s hand tightly as if crushing the other and in that moment, an intense staring contest also took place.--------------------- Yuri was back at their apartment, sulking in the living room. The room was dark, only the light from the TV screen was visible. She chucked her bag on the floor and slumped herself at the couch with a bag of chips on her hand (it’s good that Seohyun was not there yet or else she would reprimand her about eating chips). She sat at the couch in an Indian seat way switching channels on the TV. Come at our new resort and enjoy the crystal clear water of our b- Switch channel With its brand new liquid crystal display, this new gadget –  Argh… Krystal again. Switch channel This necklace has tiny crystals embedded- Why is everyone mentioning her name? Yuri switched off the TV and threw the remote which landed with a thud on the carpeted floor. Flashback “Krystal.” The girl let go of Yesung and walked to the front to face him. “Sica’s sister, remember?” “Sica?” Yesung still looked clueless. His eyebrows met in the midline trying to dig out the name from his memory bank. “Jung Jessica, your classmate in college.” “Ah” He finally remembered. “You are that little girl before. You’ve grown much and still as charming as always.” A tinge of pink appeared on Krystal’s cheeks and she was obviously giggling. Her hands went to touch her cheeks and pouted cutely. “Oppa, you are such a sweet-talker.” She hit Yesung playfully on his arm. Yuri felt a little out of place as Krystal started talking about things that only she and Yesung could relate. Yesung introduced her to Krystal but after that, Krystal ignored her like she was just one of the trees at the park. A human tree, that is. But the worst was she did not even have a bite of the bento that she prepared. Instead, a stranger was the one enjoying the food with Yesung. Yuri could not take it anymore so she walked out and took a ride home. End of flashback “You finally found your Krystal, huh?” She picked up her bag and pulled her wallet. She opened it and there was a picture of the two of them in middle school uniforms, both goofing at the camera. Out of the blue, a tiny drop of tear fell on the picture. “From the looks of it, she could be your ideal girly, pretty and feminine. No matter how I tried to change the way I dress,  you can still see the gangster Yul inside me.” “Gosh, I am so stupid for crying over you, jerk!” She wiped her eyes brimming with tears with the back of her hand and went to her room, with a heavy heart.---------------------- By the time the movie finished, the sun was already replaced by the illuminating moon. The three of them were standing outside the CineCity. The soft rustling sound from the leaves of the trees could be heard. The cold wind blew towards them and for Seohyun who was only wearing a short sleeved spring dress that fell two inches beneath her knee, it was quite chilly. “Are you cold?” Kyuhyun and Yonghwa took off their coats and placed them on Seohyun’s shoulders. “Thank you but I have my own jacket. She pushed the two coats away from her and returned it to the two. She took out a jacket from her bag and wrapped it around herself. “Seohyun, do you want me to drop you home?” Yonghwa asked. Kyuhyun looked away and rolled his eyes. “There he goes again,” Kyuhyun thought.  He put his arms around Seohyun’s shoulders. “Sorry but she’s with me. I am the one who invited her so I’ll be the one to ensure that she won’t end up sleeping in other else’s place.” From the corner of his eyes, he could see the glare dagger that Seohyun was throwing to him. “Shouldn’t you be going home now? Don’t worry, Seohyun is safer with me.” Kyuhyun said with his usual sarcastic smile. Yonghwa’s face twitched in irritation. “Goodbye,” Kyuhyun added shooing Yonghwa with his hand. “I guess I’ll see you in class then,” Yonghwa said. Before walking away, he gave Seohyun a smile and to Kyuhyun, another glare of dislike. When Yonghwa was out of sight, Seohyun shoved Kyuhyun’s hand away from her shoulder and glowered at him. “Why did you say that to him? You are so harsh and do you really need to mention the “sleeping in other place” thing? It’s embarrassing.” “Come on, it’s just a statement. It’s not like he will probe to it,” Kyuhyun explained as he followed Seohyun who was walking away from him. “Why are you embarrassed? Don’t tell me you like him. He does not look trustworthy to me.” Seohyun stopped on her tracks and faced him with a stern face. “Stop being so judgmental because you don’t know him.” “Why are you defending him? You like him, don’t you?!” Kyuhyun retorted, emotions raging inside him. “You don’t have to like a person to defend him. And so what if I like him? Why do you care? Are you my boyfriend?” The last word made an impact on Kyuhyun. Seohyun was right. He was not her boyfriend. He should not act like this. He did not have the right to be like this. “I have to go already. Don’t worry about me. I can go home by myself.” Seohyun said coldly and walked away before Kyuhyun could stop her and rode the first bus that passed by the road. End of Chapter