NOTHING LIKE YOU

"Young Jae, how long have you been here waiting for me?"

Dongyul ran faster and stood in front of his best friend, Jung Young Jae. Standing so close to him makes him look small for his best friend is 6 feet and 4 inches tall and he is just 5'8. Judging by that look in his friend's face, Dongyul can tell Young Jae is already tired of waiting. Still not late for the basketball game Young Jae needs to attend, both of them stepped out of their meeting place with Dongyul voluntarily helping his friend in carrying his essentials for the game.

"What took you so long?"

And now, he finally vented out the exact reason why he is pissed off. It is confirmed that Young Jae is already waiting there for a long time that he already find it boring to stay for more than a minute. Dongyul is scared of his friend but he knows he needs to be honest. That's what makes a friendship genuine right? Honesty.

"It's with the school paper. I told you I have a meeting at 2:30 right?"

"But it's 4:00 already. Is it because you're going to elect a new EIC?"

"A lot of intense things happened Young Jae. As usual, your childhood sweetheart dared to bully someone again, questioning that person's credibility to be our new EIC."

"Chung Ae made a scene again?"

"Exactly. Right after the voting is done, she stood up and protested. And who wouldn't listen to her, with all of the shares her family has in this school right?"

"I guess I was wrong in trusting she can still change."

For once or twice Young Jae found that woman, Yoon Chung Ae attractive, maybe because she is the only girl who managed to be with him all these years. Most people call them young lovers or childhood sweethearts, especially because of this woman's sweet character in front of him. With Young Jae saying he trusted her to change, he meant that. All these years of having her near him as a friend, Young Jae already knows how vicious and cruel this woman is.

She can kick a student out of their campus. She can easily turn people's lives upside down, wreck someone's home, even do more than that. She doesn't want any other girl get close to him as well; she can be really possessive of the things she loves. Chung Ae lives in prestige and honor, making her the most famous student in their campus, or maybe even outside their city.

Dongyul can see the sadness in Young Jae's eyes the moment he uttered those words. The only way Young Jae can give back the love this woman is offering him is for her to change or at least stop hurting others to have all of the things she desires. With her being around Young Jae almost all the time, Young Jae is already tired of this set up. He wanted to give her a chance but is also scared in committing to a person as cruel as Chung Ae. Most of the time, Young Jae thinks he is selfish and Dongyul is the only one assuring him that he isn't; that he is just making sure that his first relationship will not fall on a tragedy.

"Who is the supposed to be EIC?"

Dongyul fastened his pace to maintain his distance with Young Jae. He has been walking slowly after seeing an abrupt change in his best friend's expression a while ago. He is lost in wanting to comfort him only to know that Young Jae is already over the subject.

"There's this woman, a year younger than the three of us but is also graduating this year. She sets an exemplary record in her schooling years; Choi Heiran is the name."

"Choi Heiran?"

Young Jae wondered why this name is very familiar to him, as if he already heard this name a couple of times before. He would like to ask Dongyul about her, but he never asked anyone about a girl before so it may be awkward to ask about that Heiran now. Dongyul seemed to witness how a puzzled look registered Young Jae's face, and with that he assumed he is wanting to know something about the woman. Choi Heiran, maybe everyone often neglect her existence and the role she is playing to keep the school paper pushing through. You will never see her wanting to stand out in a crowd; she is just a simple student and is so passionate about writing.

"Choi Heiran, that woman is actually the author of the most awaited series on our school paper."

"The series I read a lot?"

"Exactly."

"What's wrong about her being the EIC? I mean she's the very reason why the school papers push through. Not even a single soul in this school can deny she is deserving for the spot."

"I know. With her writing about her insights about life, I never expected someone would actually question her credibility. But everyone of us has our loopholes."

"And what is her loophole?"

"Chung Ae questioned her ability to connect with the public which is essential for a news writer. And that Heiran was never given a chance to interview or work on a news that requires communication with other students. I mean, she works alone for the series."

"That's not the issue. We know Chung Ae, she wants the spot."

"Basically. And Heiran is actually a scholar of Chung Ae's father. So here's the deal between the two of them, which is actually tough. Heiran was given a project, which is to interview and write a feature story about an athlete who is very hard to deal with. If she can get through the interview, she'll be our EIC and she won't lose her scholarship."

"Very hard to deal with? Is it me?"

Dongyul nodded in response. Young Jae was left there hanging for a minute. Chung Ae knows a lot of those students who attempted to interview Young Jae failed. Young Jae always reasoned out, "In a team of five or even greater, all of them contributes to the game. No one should stand out over the other. That's why it is called a team in the first place.". And with that reason, all of the basketball news were so generalized and plain. No one covered and dug deep to his personal stuff and his vision in his craft.

With that, everyone can tell Chung Ae wants to put up a pressure against Heiran. A cruel woman indeed. And with Heiran deciding to hide her identity with a pen name on her series, Young Jae assumed she doesn't want to get recognise as well. Chung Ae is clever enough with her also wanting to take Heiran's scholarship if she never showed up in front of Young Jae to interview him.

"Why are you telling me this?"

Dongyul looked back at Young Jae who is still standing behind him. There it is again, the puzzled look in his face which shows he is so confused about all these things.

"Accommodate Heiran. In that way, you can keep someone's passion and also make someone live."