Over The Seas [Kim Sunwoo The Boyz]

Chapter Fifty-Nine

I turn around and see Sunwoo standing over me. I quickly wipe my tears away.
"Yeah, I'm okay."
He starts patting down his puffy jacket, pulls out a napkin from his pocket, and hands it to me. I use it to wipe the rest of my tears.
"I just got a bunch of sand in my eyes." I said in hopes of making this situation less embarrassing.
"It's nice to see you again, Riyae." Sunwoo says endearingly.
I was taken aback by his sudden greeting, but I know I need to play this cool.
"It's nice to see you too."

I offer him to sit down next to me. He begins our conversation by mentioning our recent meeting.
"I didn't expect that to be the way I'd see you again after all these years." He joked.
"Me neither." I let out a gentle laughter. "I'm still sorry about that."
"Oh, it's okay. No damage done."

It was weird talking to him again after so long. Being in the moment I don't have many thoughts– I just don't want to ruin this. I didn't think we'd hit it off as easily as we are now.
We continued casually talking about life and filling each other in on things we've missed. I tell him about work, school, and my family. Sunwoo tells me about his career, accomplishments, and the members.

"Wow, you must be even busier with your huge popularity gain." I comment, not realizing what I was really saying. Now that I'm thinking about it, he's definitely busier than he was back then...
He rubs the back of his neck, clearly flustered. "A lot can happen in four years."
"Actually," He takes a pause. "Our company lifted our dating ban a while ago."
I was slightly shocked that he even mentioned this. I wasn't sure how to react or what he even meant by it.
"Really? Th-thats great for you guys."
"Yeah." He chuckled. "There's also this thing that the company created where we meet people in the industry. It helps make it easier to start seeing people and putting ourselves out there."
"Have you participated in it?" I ask. He seemed hesitant to respond.
"Not yet."

It didn't take me long to think about this one. Sunwoo is clearly doing better without me in his life. And if I really think about it, I'm doing better without him, too. If for some reason our feelings are reciprocated, would it even work? He has a chance to meet someone in the same career field as his where it would be ten times easier. I couldn't possibly hold Sunwoo back from that.

"I think you should."
"You do?" He asked, taken aback by my comment.
"Of course. There's no harm in just meeting other people. And if it happens to lead to a relationship, even better."
"When you say it like that, it sounds easy."
He says he'd think more about it later. Still, I couldn't tell what his thoughts were. I certainly hope he hasn't forgotten about our past but maybe he's just moved on, like I did. Right, there's no way this could have been something out of a tv soap drama.

After a while, I heard my phone ringing and saw that Yeojin was calling me. I excuse myself from the conversation and answer. I was greeted with incomprehensible words making it hard to make of what Yeojin was saying. Either way, I knew I needed to head back to the hotel.

"It was great catching up with you." Sunwoo says as we both stand up.
"Likewise, even though I didn't except it to be at a beach in Busan." I tried brightening the mood to make this less uncomfortable.
"I guess we're just both full of surprises."
I say goodbye and walk back to the hotel.

The members were having their second concert later today. I didn't expect it to be any different than yesterday so I was pretty calm about it.
The concert starts off well with the same energy as the day before. Fans screaming together as the members danced. I stand next to Yeojin as she takes the photos for today. I take mental notes of what she does.
I watch the members preform and from time to time, I pay closer attention to Sunwoo. I think back to my thoughts after our conversation.

I don't have feelings for Sunwoo anymore. The past should remain in the past and I should focus on my future, whatever that may be. Now I have to figure out these feelings for Jonghoon, whatever they are.

"Riyae, are you okay?" I hear Yeojin ask.
"Hmm? Yeah, why?"
"Your face is getting red."
I feel my cheeks with the backs of my hand and feel warmth.
"Are you having an allergic reaction to something?" She asks with concern.
"No, I think it's just hot in here." I play it off, knowing the real cause of my blushing.

The concert has finally ended so I help around as fellow staff clear stuff out. It's sad to think that I probably won't see the members anymore after this. Though I am happy that I won't have to worry about Sunwoo anymore. I can finally go to work with less anxiety.
Once we finish, Yeojin and I head out for dinner with a few of her work friends. We celebrate the last day of "work-cation" as they call it.

I lie in bed staring at the ceiling of the hotel room. My mind immediately goes to Jonghoon. I smile when I think of him more and more. I decide to look back through the years from when Jonghoon and I first met, looking for any moments that I could have started developing any sort of feelings.

I didn't start paying attention to him until I graduated from school. We spent a lot of time together alone because of Areum and Sewoon, though now that I think about it I think Jonghoon just used it as an excuse. I never minded hanging out with him, despite the 3 year age difference. I always felt comfortable around him; I didn't have to pretend with him. That always made me happy.
I know that I didn't think of him romantically when I was waiting for Sunwoo those first years in college. I remember how when there would be days I would feel hopeless, Jonghoon helped me feel better even though he didn't know why I felt the way I did. When I stopped waiting for Sunwoo and finally got out of my slump, he was so happy for me.

Looking back, there were times when my heart would feel like bursting, my face would be burning up, my palms would be sweaty anytime I'd see or be near Jonghoon. I would care what he thought of me and hope to see him wherever I'd go.
I constantly ignored them and thought nothing of it, maybe because I didn't expect it. Same when I would notice his flirtatious behavior in the recent year. I think it's about time I stopped ignoring it.

. . .

Home at last, I arrive back in Seoul. Thankfully, I didn't have any classes today but I still went to campus to check up on the group to see how they handled it without me, but also to see Jonghoon.
I surprised them while they ate lunch in the cafeteria. Areum was the happiest to see me but I'm sure it was mainly due to the gifts. Jonghoon smiled when he saw me and I think my heart popped out of my chest.
They asked me about my trip so I told them all about it.

"I still smell scents of the sea from you." Sewoon jokes making Areum laugh. I heard Jonghoon slightly laugh beside me.
"I guess you won't get your souvenir." I tease. I take out their gifts from my bag and hand it to them. I got Areum a water bottle since she's a health freak and has been needing a new one. I got Sewoon a fancy pen to do his business stuff with.
"Did you not get Jonghoon anything?" Areum asks.
Having planned this situation out, I turn to him and say,
"Oh, I forgot it back at the apartment. I promise I'll give it to you later today."
"It's alright. Just call me whenever you have time." He kindly replies.

Everyone had a class to go to so I took the rest of the afternoon to work on extra stuff. I did have to go to the company building later today but it was going to be short since we did so much over the weekend already, but I'm sure it's because everyone would much rather stay home and rest.

The whole time, I think about my confession to Jonghoon. I go over what I already planned to say and make sure I remember so I don't ruin this big moment.
I look at the clock which pointed at 6:53PM, only a few minutes away from leaving. I quickly finish what I'm doing, grab my jacket, and say goodnight to my coworkers. Unable to wait any longer, I call Jonghoon as soon I stepped out into the street. He answers.
"Hey, are you available right now?" I eagerly ask.
"Of course. Why? What's up?"
"Can you meet me at Namsan Tower in thirty minutes?"

I sat on a bench facing out towards the city— I sit waiting for Jonghoon to arrive in the cold October weather. Not long after, I hear running footsteps behind me. I see Jonghoon, hands on his knees while panting. He walked over to me and sat down.
I let him catch his breath before beginning.

Finally, I grabbed a box out of my bad and handed it to him. "It's your souvenir from Busan."
He chuckled. "Wow, I thought you were going to give it to me tomorrow or something."
He opened the box and revealed his gift.
"A bracelet?"