The Beach Trip (Part 3)

"Wow! Jun, April and Mu Yeol the food was delicious!" Chan Woo said as he sunk himself in the couch.

"I am so full. I can't eat anymore now." Dae Won sat beside him.

"Mu Yeol, the soup you made was so good that it reminded me of Mrs. Mija…She used to make it when I was younger…" Ray complimented.

"Yeah, that's why." April also remembered. "That's why I felt the taste was very familiar…"

"Jun," So Hee said. "Was April really helping you? Or did she make your work even harder?"

"I just did whatever he and Mu Yeol was telling me…" April said.

"And it was great. She did everything as instructed and very neatly." Mu Yeol added.

"But still, she is not good at it, you know?" So Hee said.

"I think, who didn't even offer the help, has no reason to say anything to the one who's at least trying." Jun's sharp words made So Hee shut her mouth.

"You know what, Jun..." Dae Won said. "If you were a girl I would have married you by now."

"But do you really think, if I was a girl I would marry someone like you!" Jun said looking at Dae Won from head to toe. "You have too much confidence, man!"

And on that everyone burst into laughter.

"But seriously though…" Ye Rin started talking. "Don't think that Jun is less popular as a guy. He's always been a heartthrob."

"Yeah, totally." Everyone agreed right away.

"We already have a victim within us." She added and looked around.

"What? Seriously?" Chan Woo sat straight getting excited.

"Oh guys…Not this…" Jun tried to laugh it out.

But now everyone wanted to know about it.

"Within us?" Hana asked.

"Yeah Hana, within us five girls, one was totally crazy for him." Ye Rin said as she looked at Mia who was sitting before her.

As soon as their eyes met, Mia unknowingly looked away.

"Oh come on! Now, tell us already." With So Hee's frustrated tone Ye Rin finally spoke up.

"Our cute little friend…" She took a pause and looked around, "April!"

"WHAT?" The one who said it out loud the most was So Hee.

"Is that true, April?" Ray looked at his sister who was sitting beside him, looking down hiding her completely red face.

She slightly looked up to see everyone's expressions which were obviously surprised.

"…Yeah." She said within her breath and nodded.

"Woahhh!!!" Chan Woo and Dae Won howled at the same time, which made her look down again.

"Do you mean he is the guy she used to like in high school?" Hana asked.

"Yes. He is the one she proposed to on the Valentine's Day in the first year." Ye Rin answered.

"I cannot believe this." So Hee said. "April, I am your best friend and you never ever told me you liked THIS GUY!" She looked over at Jun.

Jun raised his eyebrows as if asking, 'What is wrong with me?'

"And do you know, what bigger shock is?" So Hee continued, "That you told Ye Rin about this."

April quickly looked up, "Oh no no. I didn't tell anyone about this. I swear."

"Yeah, So Hee." Ye Rin also came forward. "She didn't tell me anything."

"But then, how did you get to know about this?" Dae Won asked.

"Well…Did you guys forget that I had sources in the school…" Ye Rin asked looking at her school-mates. Then she looked at Dae Won, Chan Woo and Mu Yeol who had no idea what she was talking about, "In school days, I had a lot of ways to get the information. I won't brag but I knew almost everything about what was happening with everyone."

The guys exchanged glances being confused.

"Don't think too much guys. She has always been like this." Hana said.

"Wait wait wait…" So Hee got up as she remembered something, "Does that mean, he is the guy who rejected you?"

On that question dead silence was spread in the room.

April took a deep breath and spoke up, "Yes. I proposed to him and he rejected me."

"What the hell!" So Hee got up in frustration and walked over to him, "How dare you reject her? She is the kind of the girl, you wouldn't ever find after searching for years. And you said 'No' to her?"

Jun looked up at her, "Umm…"

"Tell me why you rejected her? How can you do that to her? The reason better be a good one. A really really good one." She looked right into his eyes.

"Heh?" He pushed himself back on the couch.

"Yeah. You heard me. Now, tell me the reason. Tell me your story." She kept asking.

The tension in the room has suddenly risen. No one was talking anything; they all were just staring at him.

April, who was sitting across him, remembered the day. That Valentine's day, the reason he had rejected her.

"Umm…Well..." As soon as Jun started to speak up, April got up from her seat,

"It's not his fault!" She said as her fists were clenched tight and eyes were closed shut.

Everyone turned back their heads to her.

She opened her eyes, "He just…He just didn't want to make me suffer later…"

"What do you mean?" So Hee asked.

"….That day…He told me that he was going to Seoul as he had passed his auditions. And we all know that he really did in that very summer. He just knew that as he'd move to the city, we won't be able to keep up."

Mia looked towards Jun, whose face was darkened for some reason as if he was thinking about something deep.

"So when he told me this, I also realized that this thing has no future and no point to begin with." April looked at So Hee before saying the next words, "He is a very nice guy. And he cared for me, that'd why he rejected me. I really don't think it was wrong."

Now everyone looked back at Jun.

"And that't it. That's the story." April sat back down.

The silence came back to the room. No one knew what to say anything any further.

Finally, So Hee turned back to Jun, "I'm sorry…" She said with a low voice and went back to her seat.

Ray looked at April and then at Jun, both the times, with proud filled in his eyes.

'Oh Juna…' He was thinking, 'What did I do to deserve you? I am just so lucky to be a friend of you...I promise to myself, I'd always be there for you and I'd try my best not to lose you again in my life…'

"Enough with April's story…" Ye Rin spoke up, "So Hee, why don't you tell the others, your story?"

"Heh?"

"Don't give me that look. Almost the whole school knew about you being crazy for that guy over there…" She said pointing towards Ray.

"Wait a minute, so we have one more pair over here?" Mu Yeol asked.

"Heck, yeah!" Ye Rin said getting excited as she looked at So Hee teasingly. "Tell the boys, So Hee…"

"What's there to tell?" So Hee folded her hands and pushed herself back on the couch. "Guys," She looked over at the guys. "It was high school and I just happened to have a minor crush on him. That's it."

"That's it?" Hana asked.

"A minor crush? Really???" Ye Rin raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah. Then what? Everyone has a high-school crush, isn't that right guys?" So Hee asked.

"Yeah right. I also had a crush on a girl in my class." Chan Woo said. "She was my lab partner."

"And for me," Dae Won said, "I had a crush on…."And he took a pause to count the number in his head. "….Umm….Adding my music teacher….the number goes over….ten!"

"Ten???" Everyone looked at him shocked.

"Yeah…I mean we are just talking about a crush, right? We can have more than one crushes. That's the fun of it. It's not serious, it's just we admiring that person. That's it."

"Taking the last thing you said in account…" So Hee spoke, "I also had a simple crush on him and that's not a big deal…."

The girls exchanged glances at each other, trying to control the laugh.

"Maybe you are right…" Ye Rin nodded to herself.

"Yeah, maybe we imagined someone else crying over the thing that she had got rejected by him…" April said and then tried to keep her lips tight not to let out a laugh.

"Haha…Very Funny!" So Hee said sarcastically. "Say whatever you want to say, but it won't change the fact that it was just a high-school crush. And I'm a grown up now, with a very much grown up boyfriend!"

"Wait! What?"

"Yes! That's right girls. I've got a boyfriend back in Paris. And he is way far better than the guys I have ever met. He is tall, handsome and he even—"

"Blah blah blah." Ye Rin made a funny face and started moving her hand like a puppet. "I am So Hee and I've got a boyfriend. Blah Blah Blah!!!" She tried to imitate her voice.

"Hahahaha!!!!!" On that everyone burst out into laughter.

The laughter echoing through the whole place, they spent the whole afternoon talking about the school days.

~

The sun had set, the night sky was filled with stars and under it everyone was sitting around the camp-fire.

Jun and Chan woo had guitars in their hands.

Mu Yeol was singing the song as everyone else were swaying with it, enjoying this.

"…..Please take me with you

Yeah, to the place you live. Please take me with you.

Ohhh I'll follow you even at the end of the world

Please don't escape from my vision

Don't disappear even when the morning comes

Wooo Whooo whoo. (Oh yeah yeah)

Woo whoo whoo (Oh yeah yeah)

Wooo…."

And with that the song came to an end.

Everyone started clapping happily.

"Wooohooo!!" April and Mia cheered out loud.

"Thank you guys!" Mu Yeol said shyly.

"You guys are awesome!" Ray said. "Seriously, Mu Yeol. Such a beautiful voice."

He smiled wide at him. "Thank you."

"Now I want to listen to Jun's voice!" April said.

"Yeah me too!" Ray agreed. "I don't remember listening to him and this is the best time for it. Come on Jun, show us what you've got."

Jun looked around for approval and his eyes stopped at Mia.

She seemed to be lost in her thoughts.

Ray, who was sitting beside her, looked at her. He took his hand and gently placed on hers which was kept close to her.

Startled, she looked at him and he asked her what was wrong, with his eyes.

She just shook her head and forced a smile at him.

Then she looked up at Jun, who seemed to have seen everything, quickly looked to the other side.

Then placing the guitar on his lap properly, his fingers started running on it.

Getting what song he is playing, Chan Woo started playing his guitar along with him.

He closed his eyes,

"Woah ohhh

Oh Sometimes the truth

Oh it hurts more than the lies

Oh we're scared of getting hurt

So we turn away and we run

Even though I know it's dangerous

So bitter

I have no confidence if I can handle it

If I can have you by my side

By doing this

I will keep lying

I tell her, sweet lies, sweet lies, sweet lies

The sweetest lie in the world baby (Woo hoo)

I tell her, sweet lies, sweet lies, sweet lies

If this is what you want, I'll give it all to you…"

Then Dae Won continued the song with the rap,

"I keep trying to push you away

Had to tell you that I lied to you

I already told you, I'm a sharp blade

If you want me you might get cut deep

You pretend not to hear my warnings

Let me tell you what's on my mind

Sorry I can't be that guy."

And then Jun again started singing,

"I tell her sweet lies, sweet lies, sweet lies…."

Everyone else was enjoying the song except for Mia.

Her face was shadowed by darkness, her hands were rubbing each other continuously; showing that she was thinking over something again and again and it was making her upset.

~