Chapter 4 (1/1)

By the time Jiyong met up with Chaerin he was in a bad mood and wanted to go home. Especially since he’d seen Dara and Thunder leaving a few minutes earlier. Chaerin wanted to go dancing with their other friends though so Jiyong reluctantly agreed. But the whole time he was there his mind kept thinking about Dara and the distance that had formed in their relationship.The next week was Christmas break. Dara went shopping with her sister for gifts. While shopping she thought of Jiyong and wondered if she should get him a present. The two had always exchanged gifts in the previous years but now that he had Chaerin maybe they wouldn’t be doing that this year. Then recalling Jiyong’s complaint from the ball she decided to get him a gift anyway, if only for old times sake. She searched and searched to find something that he might want and finally settled upon a watch. That night as she wrapped his gift she also wrote out his card. After much thought she wrote,“I know it’s corny, but I hope you remember all the good times we’ve had growing up when you use this gift. I wish you all the best in your future, Ji. No matter what we’ll always be friends. ~D.”She stared at her message for a long time before sighing and closing the envelope. This was the first time she felt as if she were giving him a grown up gift. Maybe it was the message she’d written. It hinted at her sadness and she hesitated on whether she should toss the card and write a different, happier message. But in the end she decided to stick with the original. It reflected how she really felt about the changes they were going through. And even if Ji didn’t want to admit it, they were going through changes. They were growing up and discovering who they were as individuals. For Dara she’d discovered that her feelings for Ji went beyond friendship while his feelings for her were limited to the bonds of their friendship. It was a painful discovery but one she felt she could overcome given enough time.Dara left her gifts for Ji and Bom for her sister to deliver while she went upstairs to pack her bag. She was traveling to Busan to visit her grandmother for the remainder of the Christmas break. Normally her grandmother came to Seoul to spend the holidays but she had injured her ankle the previous week and travel was uncomfortable for her. Her parents considered going down to Busan but they couldn’t get the time off of work. Thunder had basketball practice and Durami had a solo at their church’s choir for Christmas Eve. Grandma had told them it would be alright, she had friends that she could spend Christmas day with. However Dara volunteered to go down to spend the break with her grandmother. She didn’t have anything planned and she enjoyed spending time with grandmother. It also meant that she could get away from home (and Ji) for a while. Her parents readily agreed and now she was leaving that evening to visit her grandmother.  She would come back the day after New Year’s eve and school was scheduled to start the next day.**Jiyong was surprised to see Durami at his door. He was more surprised when she held out the gift bag toward him and said it was from Dara. “Where’s Dara?” he asked, wondering why Durami was delivering the gift. Usually he and Dara exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve.“She asked me to drop it off since she won’t be here for Christmas.”“What?!” Jiyong looked at Durami in surprise. “Where is she going?”“She left for my grandmother’s place two days ago. Didn’t she tell you?” Durami asked. Jiyong shook his head.“How long will she be gone for?”“The whole break,” Durami informed him. “She’ll come back the day before school starts.”Jiyong took the present from Durami and thanked her as she turned and left. He closed the door and walked back to the living room where he sat down. In the bag was a gift-wrapped box and a card. He couldn’t believe Dara left without saying a word to him. His phone rang and he checked the caller ID and saw that it was Chaerin.“Hey babe, let’s go to the mall,” Chaerin said. She was excited to go shopping and spend time with Jiyong.Jiyong wanted to say no but he felt bad for Chaerin. He hasn’t been paying too much attention to her over the past week. Suppressing a sigh he agreed and set up a time to meet with his girlfriend. They spent several hours that afternoon going through stores and picking out presents for their friends and family members. They locked their shopping up in Jiyong’s car and then returned back into the mall to grab food for dinner before heading off to a movie.By the time Jiyong got home it was after 10pm. He put his shopping in his bedroom before heading off to shower and change for bed. As he was lying in bed he received a text from Chaerin thanking him for their day together. He texted a smiley face back to her and then put his phone away and turned to lie down in his bed.His thoughts drifted toward Dara. And he began to feel mad again.Jiyong reached over for his phone and quickly typed in a message to send to Dara.“Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving?”He waited several minutes but no reply came back. Jiyong let out a frustrated sigh and turned over on his bed and shut his eyes.In Busan, Dara read his text again and wordlessly turned off her phone. “Is everything alright?” her grandmother asked. Dara sat beside her and wrapped her arms around her grandmother’s shoulders.“Grandma, love sucks.”The old lady chuckled, knowing now why her granddaughter seemed so forlorn. She patted Dara’s hand and tried to comfort her. “You have a boyfriend?” she asked.“No.” Dara pouted. “But he has a girlfriend.”“Ah…”Dara turned to sit with her knees drawn up and her head rested atop her knees. “I’m trying to be grown up about this and I’m trying to be happy for him. But it’s not easy. Sometimes I really hate him.”Her grandmother was silent for a few minutes. Then she asked in a quiet voice, “Is this someone, Jiyong?” Dara nodded. Her grandmother knew Jiyong was her best friend from forever.“My poor baby,” her grandmother said, rubbing Dara’s back. “You’re right. Love sucks.”This caused the corners of Dara’s mouth to turn upwards, and after a little while she began to giggle and then laugh out loud. “Grandma, you’re funny!”The old lady laughed too. “I not the one who said that. It was you! You said ‘love sucks’. I just agreed.”The two laughed together some more before Dara got up to get their bedding and they settled down for the night.The next morning Dara was helping her grandmother make food for some friends when her phone rang. It was Jiyong. Dara walked out into the living room to take the call.“Deh?” she answered. There was a pause on the other side, and then she heard his voice.“I’m really mad at you,” Ji said.Dara sighed and sat down on the couch. “Why?” she asked, her voice quiet.“I thought we were best friends,” he said. She could picture his face, the way his mouth would form into a frown when he was upset, and it made her heart ache.“We’ll always be good friends, Ji. That won’t ever change.”“Good friends? What happened to best friends?”She leaned back and made a face. “You’re such a dummy at times,” she told him. “Is it right for me to be your best friend when you have a girlfriend?”“What does Chaerin have to do with this?” he asked her. “She knows that you and I are best friends already.”Dara sighed. She felt a headache coming on. “Ji, if I had a boyfriend and his best friend was a girl, I wouldn’t be comfortable with that. No girl ever is. Unless that girl was a lesbo – which I’m not,” she added in a sarcastic tone.“Chaerin’s not like that,” he defended, and it made Dara want to scream at him. “She’s cool with you and me being close. It’s you who’s not good with it.”She pressed her lips together, biting back her words. Then after a moment she sighed again and said, “You know what? You’re right. I’m not good with this. And the way I feel right now I don’t even want to be a good friend, maybe not even a friend with you anymore Kwon, Jiyong. So just leave me alone and have a good life.” She hung up the phone afterwards, feeling torn between wanting to scream and wanting to cry. In the end she went to her room and lay on the futon and cried.Why did she have to love him so much? And why couldn’t he see how much it hurt her to be around him when he was with someone else. He really was such a dense, stupid, idiotic, boy!**Jiyong didn’t contact Dara for the next few days. Her words kept playing back at him and he didn’t know what to make of them. It just seemed the more he tried to talk to her the worst things got. In the end he thought it best if he gave her some space. Christmas eve came and went with no call or text from Dara. This was the day they always exchanged gifts, he was hoping she would call him but she didn’t. At midnight he sent her a simple text, “Merry Christmas, Dee”. She didn’t respond.He brought out the present she’d bought him and unwrapped it. It was a watch and he smiled as he tried it on. Next he opened her card and read what she’d written. Jiyong felt his heart contract. Why did he feel like she was saying goodbye to him. Did she really want to end their friendship? Frustrated he turned on to his side and tried to sleep.