2016 (1/1)

A feeling of nostalgia filled her body as she stared at the school where some of her best memories had been made.SOPA; School of Performing Arts, the school known for producing some of the best idols in this day and age. She could still remember how nervous she was entering through those iron cladded gates. How intimidating the thought of beginning a new school had been and how she had regretted transferring. Now as she gazed at the brick building, she laughed at her childishness. SOPA had been nothing but a blessing for her and thinking back on her time there, she wouldn’t had wanted it any other way. She had met and befriended Apink’s Hayoung and Gfriend’s Yerin here. Had made friends who helped her through her years here and to this day was still in contact with them. Yes SOPA had definitely been a good idea. Nothing but fond memories.She sighed, “yep nothing but fond memories.”There were so many memories, yet her mind always drifted to back to him and she hated it. Thinking back, they barely spent time together with his busy schedule and all, but somehow her moments with him outweighed any of the other memories she had. She was supposed to hate him, hate him for being a jerk to her. Hate him because he was the one who ruined their relationship yet she didn’t have the heart to hate him. Even after a year she still found herself longing for him. Found herself looking up pictures from their graduation just so she could see herself beside him.  “Stop,” she placed her hands on the sides of her head as she shook her head, she wasn’t supposed to be thinking about him anymore.“It’s been a year already Sooyoung-ah, he ended it already,” she told herself. There had to be a way to wash away her feelings. She thought being on ‘We Got Married,” would surely help with her feelings and though Sungjae was indeed charming, he was pale in comparison to Junhong.Placing her hands on the gate as defeat, she gasped when it moved. The gate was always locked after hours.“I wonder,” the idea was too tempting and with a light push she had opened the gate just enough to slide though.The halls were dark and empty, but the there was enough light outside for Sooyoung to see and for the most part, feel safe. She figured she still had at least a good hour before she would have to worry about the super natural, if they were indeed real. As for now, nothing could stop her from walking down memory lane. The mere fact that she was inside the building where she had spent so many years in, sent her into a dream like state. Each room she passed sparked a memory and she couldn’t help but feel a way of emotions. She wondered about the classmates she was no longer in contact with. Wondered if they were already on the path they were destined to be on. Did the innocent Hyunsoo succeed in his pursuit for the sweet Eundong’s love? What about the loud Taegwang, did he finally convince his dad to let him study abroad? Her classmates always went out of their way to make her feel welcome. Even after her debut, she was always just Sooyoung to them, the same as Junhong had always just been Junhong to them.A smile spread on her face as she passed the music room where Junhong had helped her with her parts in “Happiness.”“They’re really making you rap?” Junhong had been surprised when Sooyoung had asked him for help. He never pictured her as a rapper. “Hmm,” she replied. She was surprised as well, but what was she to do, say no? She was debuting, that was enough for her. “But your voice,” he trailed off and she waited for him to continue, “it’s too sweet for rap.” “Yah, are you saying I can’t rap?” “What? No. Well, I don’t know. Can you? I just meant I like your singing voice and it’s a shame they won’t get to hear it.” Sooyoung blushed, he liked her singing voice. “Rap something, I want to hear it.” He commanded, but she shook her head, “I don’t want too.” “Yah, you were the one who asked for help. How am I supposed to help you if I don’t even know how you rap?” She passed the gymnasium and remembered the time Junhong had looked so cool playing basketball.  “Man, Junhong’s really good at basketball isn’t he?” Miyoung nudge Sooyoung as they sat in the bleacher watching some of the boys play. Sooyoung could only nod, her eyes focused on Junhong who had the ball in his hands. She watched as he dribbled passed the defense of the other team and she clasped her hands together, “please make it in,” she prayed. The ball swooshed through the net and a loud cheer was heard. “Yah, Sooyoung, not so loud!” Miyoung shouted as she pulled a flustered Sooyoung back down, “Jeez I’m never taking you to another one of Junhong’s game anymore. You’re way too loud.” Sooyoung wanted to disappeared, had she really been cheering so loudly? Looking back on the court, she made eye contact with Junhong who smiled brightly at her before continuing the game. The game ended with Junhong’s team wining and Miyoung excusing herself to go to the girl’s bathroom, leaving Sooyoung by herself. She saw Junhong make his way towards her and she couldn’t help but stare. “Where’s Miyoung?” He asked, sitting down beside her which prompted her out of her daze. “Restroom,” she replied, rubbing her knees still embarrassed about her behavior throughout the game. “Uh, good game!” She complimented. “Thanks, but I can’t take all the credit for it,” he said nonchalantly as he played with his hands.  “Why?”“Because I couldn’t have done it without the help of a certain little cheerleader.” Sooyoung gulped, so he had heard her. Turning the corner she came upon a flight of stairs and continued her journey upwards. Her last stop was her homeroom. The place where everything had started, where she had first laid eyes on the tall, lanky, blonde boy. Nearing the door she took a deep breathe, perhaps this would where it would end as well.   She was surprised at how easy the door moved and even more surprised when she saw someone sitting in the middle of the room.“Junhong,” she breathed.♥It felt weird being in his old school, weird how the seat he had claimed for three years no longer felt like his yet at the same time, he never felt more at home. He couldn’t explain the feeling, but at that moment it was enough to calm his nerves. The nightmare had shaken him, woke him up in the dead of the night to the sound of his racing heart. It was that dream again, the dream that had somehow foreshadowed the events that had taken place a year ago. He couldn’t make sense of it. Red Velvet were no longer a four membered group and the lawsuit with TS entertainment had been settled, so why did it come back? It couldn’t be another warning could it? He had already ended things, well the little they had anyway, with the girl so why was this dream haunting him again? His thoughts were interrupted with the sound of the door.  Shit. He wasn’t supposed to be here.“Junhong.” He heard the intruded whisper and his heart stopped. He could recognized that voice anywhere. Even after a year, his name still sounded so sweet when coming from her lips. He had expected her to turn around and leave the moment she saw him. He didn’t expect to hear her footsteps, the squeaking of a chair being pulled from under its desk, and definitely did not expect to the soft sound of her sitting down. An air of awkwardness invaded the once serene classroom. Neither one of them made the notion to speak first, nor spare the other a quick glance and for a while there was nothing but silence.He dare not look back at her, though he desperately wanted too. It bought him back to the first day he had saw her, how curious he was to get a good look at her, but couldn’t because he was afraid he’ll be caught checking out the transfer girl. The transfer girl. He sighed, she should’ve been nothing more than the pretty transfer girl, yet she had become so much more than that and even now as they sat in silence, after a year of not speaking to each other, she still meant so much to him. “Subaenim,” his head shot back at her, her eyes glued to the black board hanging in the front of the room. Subaenim? Did she really just call him that? It was a respectful term, the truth, because he was indeed her sunbae, but hearing her mutter the term in the privacy of just them, it hurt him. He knew very well what she meant by using it.  “Subaenim,” she repeated, and he wanted to tell her “Junhong.” Tell her it was the Junhong she had knew sitting here with her and not the sunbae who ignored her whenever their respective groups ran into each other.“Thank you,” she continued.  He arched his eyebrows?“I just wanted to say thank you.” The sound of the squeaking chair was heard again and from the corner of his eyes, he watched moved across the room only to stop at the door, “for everything,” and with a blink of the eye, she was gone.The room was silent again, save for a strange sound coming from inside of him. He was crying. Her “thank you” had penetrated straight to his heart. It tore at his heart because her “thank you” was no ordinary thank you, it was her way of saying goodbye. Their last meeting came to an abrupt halt when she ran away from him. No goodbyes were said, no declaration of forgetting each other, but now, she walked away from him, she had taken the first step in permanently removing him from her life.“Go after her, you idiot,” a voice inside of him said and for the first time since she had stepped into his life, he casted away his idol image and did what his heart desired.“Sooyoung. Park Sooyoung,” he shouted after her down the hall. Which way did she go? Did she reach the exit yet? How much time did he waste? Was he too late?He rushed to the stair case and spotted her sitting at the bottom, her head buried in her hands. He wasn’t too late, he could still fix things between them. With renew hope in his heart he leaped down the remaining stairs to where she was, only he shouldn’t have because he missed the last step and went crashing down.“Junhong!” He heard her shout and soon she was kneeling in front of him.“Say my name again,” he commanded, the pain throughout his body was the last thing in his mind.“What?”“My name, say it again Sooyoung,” he pleaded.“Jun-, we need to get you to the hospital. You could’ve broken something,” why wouldn’t she say his name?When he didn’t move, he heard her sigh, “What’s the matter with you sun-““-It’s Junhong,” he corrected her, staring into her eyes, “I’m Junhong.”She broke away from his gaze and shook her head, “you’re the one who suggested we pretend like we didn’t know each other. I’m just doing what you wanted.” She was frustrated, he could tell. Frustrated, because she never knew what he was thinking. One moment he told her she was the best thing that ever happened to him and the next, he tells her to forget it. Now, a year after telling her to act like they didn’t know each other, a year of referring to him as “Sunbae,” he suddenly wanted her to call him “Junhong.” Well, he was in for a rude awakening, because she wasn’t the same Sooyoung anymore. “I can’t just go around saying your name like that. I’ve changed, you’ve changed.”Junhong had eyes, he didn’t need her to tell him that she had changed. The whole world saw her grow from the little child that she was into the beautiful, young women she was now. Her maturity could be seen in the way she carried herself, but despite all the changes, she was still the Sooyoung he had known and loved. Loved? No, he was still in love with her. That’s right, he was still in love with her.“I love you,” he blurted, not caring that they were both idols. At moment he was only Choi Junhong, a boy who loved the girl in front of him more than anything in the world. It had only taken him an entire year to finally accept it, but it was love.I love you. How many times had she fantasize about him saying those three words to her? It was only something she thought she only ever hear him say in her dreams. Hearing those words, she should’ve been the happiest girl alive, but why did she feel like crying.“How can you say you love me?” Her voice harsh and cold.“You hurt me Junhong. You told me to act like we didn’t know each other. You meant so much to me and you just-. I thought I meant something to you too, but you wanted us to act like strangers. You don’t know how many times I wanted to call out to you. You said you’ll always be here if I needed anyone to talk too? Where were you the last year? So many things happened, but you weren’t there for me.” His heart broke, seeing her cry so effortlessly, as if she had cried many nights because of him before, but did she think she was the only that was hurting? He was hurt too. Did she know how hard it was for him to tell her that day?  When she finally had the courage to talk to him, he had been so happy and all of the worries about her not liking him faded away with her nervous “hello,” and to throw it all away in a single moment felt like a cruel trick.“What’s worse is that, you couldn’t even confide to me about your lawsuit. I didn’t need to know the details, but I wanted to at least be there if you needed me,” and he no longer heard the anger in her voice. “I couldn’t comfort you in your times of need. Couldn’t congratulate you when you guys came back. You did so much for me before I debuted and I couldn’t do anything for you.”Pulling her into his chest, he patted her head the way he used too whenever she cried and laughed, “I’m sorry Sooyoung. I didn’t mean to make you feel like that way.” It was never his intention to make her feel bad.“You only just debuted. You were supposed to be happy, after all the hard work you put in, you deserved all the happiness in the world and I couldn’t possibly burden you with our lawsuit. Distancing myself away from you was the only way I knew how to keep you happy.” He never imagine it had done the opposite. Shaking his head, he laughed, “look at us Sooyoung, why are we doing this to ourselves?” It was clear they both still cared deeply about each other.Her crying had ceased, “I tried so hard to forget about you,” she continued but he stopped her.“Don’t try anymore Sooyoung. You don’t need to forget me anymore,” he held her closer to his chest. He was never going to let her go again. He felt her nodding her head violently against his chest, the weight in her chest finally lifting after having to hold everything in for the past year. For a while they stayed together, holding on to each other as if they were making up for the lost time.  “What now?” She asked, and underneath those red, puffy eyes, he could see the uncertainties and fear for the future ahead of them. What now? Even he didn’t know, but he did know that as long as she was by his side, he was ready to take on whatever the future threw at them. Sooyoung took one last look at the building standing tall and proud under the moonlit sky.“What are you thinking?” Her attention turned to the boy standing beside her.“About the time before I debuted.”“Your pre-debut days?” She nodded.“Why? You want to go back?” He asked, intertwining his fingers with hers.“No,” she shook her head and smiled up at him. For the longest time she had wanted to go back to her pre-debut days because they were filled with him, but as she glanced down at their intertwine hands she couldn’t help but smile at the thought of today and their many days to come. So, no agnst. Sorry for those who wanted agnst, but I just couldn't do it, those two makes me emo enough in real life, so I definitely couldn't bring myself to give them an agnsty ending, and since I write about them primarily because they give me no "real" moments. Well, I think I'm finished with this story and it's actually kind of hard saying goodbye. When I started this story, I thought I was alone in shipping them but I was presently surprised at how many of you also ship them. I want to thank each and everyone of you who stuck through with this story and apologize if I fell short as an author. My love for Joylo will remain strong (unless one of starts publically dating, thankfully I think we have a few years before that happens) and I hope you guys will continue to support them as well, separately, along with the respective groups, and as a couple!  I also want to thank all of you for your comments, I don't always answer them, but I sure do love reading them and I know you guys probably hear every other author say this, but it really does make us want to write when there are comments. Thanks again! Support Joylo 2016 and forever!Oh and in case anyone is confused, this chapter takes place sometime around now. Lol, I pretty much skipped the whole of 2015 after their graduation, because this story is call Pre-debut and technically after August 3, the story should have ended.