This is the fourth story in the Undone series.
This is Jung Hoseok's time to shine.
He is taking control of a new project at Stellar Design, and he has decided it's time to take control of his love life as well. He is weary of being alone, and he...
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Graduation day came and Izzy's mom frowned at the inexpensive white dress she wore under her gown. Izzy told her the lace dress had been ruined at the banquet. It was an absolute truth as far as she was concerned.
Izabelle took one last look around the apartment. Her things had already been loaded, neatly sorted into “home" , “ storage" and “New York.”
Olivia, in typical Oliva fashion, still had clothes in the washer.
The ceremony dragged forever, but finally they were done. She stood and waited for Hobi and Livi to find her to say goodbye.
They found a spot in the quad among all the other students and families and stood staring, unsure what to say.
Finally, catching her dad's signal to hurry, Izzy drew a deep breath and pasted a fake smile.
“ I will miss you,” she said. She had to look away from the sheen in Hobi's eyes.
Hobi stepped forward and drew her into his arms “ I am so sorry Izzy. I would never hurt you. Please believe me,” he kissed her forehead and she allowed herself to lean into him for just a while.
This was all so pointless. She missed him. She missed her friend.
“ What will I do without you?” he whispered.
She wiped tears of her own and stepped away.
“ I have news,” she said. “ I got the internship. I'll see you in the fall.”
His joy was unmistakable. “ Really?? Really Izzy??” he released her from his arms when David came up behind her.
Olivia saw a chance to make an announcement of her own.
“Then it’s settled. They said the internships were based on merit, but were all taken. But my mom has a lead on a social media position! We'll all be together then!” she danced around Hobi putting her arms around him.
“ New York?" David asked, grabbing Izzy and twirling her around when she said “ yes."
Izzy did not miss the concern on Hobi's face when he realized David had no idea about her future or the plans she had made. That seemed something your boyfriend should know.
“Your parents are waiting,” David said, dragging her away before she had a chance to say anything else.
She looked back one more time to see Hobi standing still in a sea of motion, watching her leave with another man. Then Olivia pulled him away and he was lost in the crowd.
As Izzy left campus for the last time she texted the group chat to say she would be working with her grandmother this summer and cell coverage was spotty, she would contact them when she got to the city. Then she turned off notifications for the chat and drove away, hoping to find clarity in the next chapter of her life.
Drifting from memory to the present, in the darkened hotel room Isabelle surrendered to exhaustion as she remembered the long ride back to her parent's house that night a lifetime ago.
Everything was fuzzy after that, she had never really been able to fully understand what happened in the year and handful of months that followed.
While Isabelle sifted through the memories that had led to this night, Hobi poured them out to Jimin.
The two men had bickered back and forth about which bar to haunt once they dropped Isabelle off at her hotel. Jimin could tell immediately that Hobi needed much more than liquor as he slipped back into the car.
His always collected friend was obviously out of sorts this night. Hobi checked his phone repeatedly and tried to sneak a look behind him as the car pulled away. His leg jigged in a frustrating rhythm as he tried to settle back into his seat.
Jimin had never seen Hobi this distracted. His usual laser focus was obviously with the beautiful girl he had just left behind.
After failing to agree on a direction, totally due to Hobi's lack of focus, Jimin gave directions to the driver and gently put his hand on Hobi's knee to still the nervous jitter.
Hobi nodded at him and took the rest of the short ride to sort thru his emotions.
Once inside the small bar, a bottle of his favorite wine between them, Jimin poured each of them a glass and simply asked, “ Who is she?”
And Hobi looked at him and began to talk. Into the night he shared his memories with Jimin, the emotions flooding as he did. The wine between them sat forgotten as Hobi tried to explain what had happened. He began with the truth.
“Izabelle, she was my best friend. The best thing that ever happened to me. And I lost her before we really ever had a chance to start,” he said, encouraged by Jimin's nod. Jimin was a man who knew about losing your first love.
Hobi explained how they had met in college and became fast friends. Jimin winced at the memory of Tae, SongDae and him as they loved and fought and found their way through those hard years.
Hobi shared all the ways they had been close and the bond that still simmered between them.
Jimin watched his friend’s face darken as he told him about the weekend at the lake with Olivia. Jimin could see the mistake in the making, surprised that his level headed friend had stumbled into a relationship with the wrong girl.
Hobi must have read that in his face as he hung his head.
“ I know. I look back on that time and curse myself for not seeing what was happening. I was sick when I found out weeks later that Izzy did not have a boyfriend back home. Sometimes I still question if Olivia did that intentionally. But Olivia and I become close and Izzy withdrew for a while, but then she seemed to be ok. I…..” he stopped and stared into space, still questioning his decisions.
He explained how they had worked on the project and applied for the internship together, unaware of how clearly his emotions were showing.
Jimin could see it all, could feel the heartache all three of them must have felt, seeing far ahead into the story where his friend was sitting thousands of miles away from both these women, alone and lonely.
Still, he leaned forward to hear the rest of the story.
