The Storm and the Sea (A MiChaeng Fanfic)

Chapter 24: Chaeyoung

As the sun sets off to the other side of the world, scattered remnants of the clouds stay hovering above the sea.

***

"Can we step out for a bit?" Somi mouths over Jihyo's belting of Toni Braxton's "Unbreak My Heart."

I take one gulp of the mojito and step of out the room, muffling the music immediately.

"What's wrong?"

Somi scratches her ears. "It was kinda loud in there."

Since it's Somi's last night here in Seoul, Jihyo asked us to join the team for a noraebang. The team's one man short right now, since Carl took some of his leaves for their honeymoon in Thailand.

"Come on, let's go outside," I suggest, knowing that a mixture of muddled singing from the surrounding rooms is worse than actually being inside one.

For an establishment in Itaewon, the exterior hasn't much going on about it-just a passageway where few people head over to the main street, where the bars and restaurants are.

"Ah, that's better," Somi says, closing her eyes as the lamppost highlights her side profile.

We breathe in the cold evening air, which is quickly subdued as smoke wafts into our noses. It's Mina, exhaling smoke as she kills the cigarette.

"Minari," I call out, as she gives a subtle smile. "Why aren't you with them?"

"Eh...I don't really sing," Mina says with a shrug. I realize that, since the wedding night, we haven't really talked. All the time in between this interaction has been devoted to Somi.

Is it selfish if I do this?

"Well, since you're out here, you wanna join us for-"

"-No thanks." Mina's tone is dry, despite the smile she gives. "Just, uhm, enjoy with Somi-ssi," she adds before going inside.

***

Somi and I end up sitting on a curb nearby, with tteokbokki and my bottle of beer, as we watch people pass by.

"She's pretty, you know," she states.

"Who?" I look at the crowd, searching for a real stunner.

"Mina." She then turns to look at me. "It's like she doesn't know it but, at the same time, she doesn't have to try. Y'know what I mean?"

I hum loudly in agreement, with fishcake in my mouth. "She is, isn't she? You should see her when she doesn't have makeup! It's like she..." my voice trails off as my eyes meet my girlfriend's. "Uh, of course not as...pretty...as you," I stammer, quickly taking a sip off my bottle.

Somi chuckles, raising her bottle to mine. Clink. Crisis averted, thank God. How could I be so insensitive?

I wish dates were like this one, where you could just kick back, relax, and sit on the curb...talk about whatever nonsense. Being unemployed students back then, Somi and I aren't strangers to this activity.

"Chaeyoung-ah, can I ask you something?"

"Anything, jagiya," I mutter, leaning against her shoulder.

"Have you ever thought of cheating on me?"

The question catches me off-guard. It suddenly feels like leaning into a blank space-like my whole being would fall over to the side if I hadn't planted my hand against the pavement.

"I saw you, at the wedding...dancing with Mina. I thought about it a lot-maybe this is what I deserve for being a bad girlfriend to you," she continues.

Yes, Somi. But it wasn't intentional. "What?! Of course I'd never do that! Girls do that a lot," I protest. Despite the volume of the people on the street, the air feels like snow's about to fall anytime soon.

"Well, yeah, but the way you guys danced-it's like there's something deeper going on."

Sure. And I'm just thankful you showed up that night. I had a feeling that, if you didn't, I would've slept with her. "You're just reading too much into it. We were just tipsy and dancing," I assert and rub her back.

Somi rests her arms on her knees, looking at the crowd in front, expressionless. Waiting for any more bombs she might drop, I lick my teeth with my mouth shut.

"I mean, I'd get it: she's attractive as fuck, we're half a world away, and hardly talking for the past few months-"

Why does it sound like you're giving me your sincere blessing? "Jagiya, do you want me to do that?! After all we've been through...you want me to cheat on you?"

***

"Glad to have you back," Jihyo exclaims as she's booting up her desktop.

"Carl isn't coming until Wednesday, right?"

"Yeah, so if anything comes on his plate, you'll fill in for him, got it?"

I nod, flooding our think table with an assortment of snacks that can only be found in Canada. It creates a ruckus that the whole team turns around. "Somi gave this before she left, and there's no way I'd finish all of these."

Jihyo and Dahyun quickly scramble towards the desk, like they've been deprived of anything to eat for weeks. Mina, on the other hand, swivels her chair back to face her monitor.

"Don't you want any?" I ask her.

Mina glances at the table and purses her lips, giving my treats a second look. "Nah, I'm good. Thanks, anyway."

That's weird, she told me she wanted to try the Lay's Ketchup chips ever since I told her that such a thing exists in Toronto. I save one bag just in case she'd look for some later.

As if easing me in again, the day passes with nothing much to work on, save for two company Facebook posts.

Jihyo left early, probably to meet up with that groomsman again, and Dahyun, well, zipped once the clock striked six.

"Minari, want to...go home...together?"

She leans back, showing more of her screen and a deck she's been working on the whole day and shakes her head. "Sorry," she murmurs.

Maybe I'm just used to coming home from the office with her, I don't know, so I try again. "How about I wait for you? Then we can have dinner together!"

Mina doesn't even look at me. "This'll take a while. You should go ahead; people have been saying that a storm's coming tonight."

Oh shoot, that's right! Lucky for Mina, she doesn't have to worry about that as she always carries a huge umbrella every time she goes out-something that the team always made fun of about her.

"Okay. Take care," I say, before hurriedly packing my stuff and leaving our area.

As soon as I step out of the entrance, my phone buzzes. It's Carl, messaging our Canadian art school clique, asking us to like his "artstagram." The same message also pops up on our Creatives Group Chat. Eh, I'll do it once I get on the bus.

Taking my first step down the stairs, the rain falls with much intensity that it's impossible not to look like something that washed out from the Han River. Maybe I should just go back in.

A stupid thing our company implements is that, once you badge out for the night, you can't go back in until the timer sets back to 7:00 a.m. Exempted from this silly rule are the CEO and managers, obviously. The reasoning behind it is that someone might go back at night to steal company data or whatever. A little too paranoid if you ask me.

And I doubt waiting for the rain to peter out is a valid excuse, since the stairs are covered. I guess now's a good time as any to catch up on some sitcoms.

Minutes later, a soft voice utters, hardly noticeable against the rain: "Maybe now you get why I always bring an umbrella." Just like that, the white light from the ceiling diffuses into a bluish hue.