The Time We Missed.

Chapter Four

Beep beep. WACK. Groans fill the air that stinks of over brewed tea. Crawling out of my cave of warmth, I suction myself to the wardrobe like a slug. Picking out another thin outfit after not learning my lesson, I once again get myself ready for the day. I often think I'm in an endless cycle of useless days, but life goes on. In worse mood than usual I skip any sources of joy this morning and head straight out the door. My brother scrambles after me.
It's strange. Me and my brother have never considered us allies. We mostly never talked at home. Though this past 2 weeks I've endlessly hung out with him and our friends every day. I've learnt so much about him through his friends that I may never have known. It just goes to show how our dad never brought us up to think of each other as friends but rather enemies. He drilled the ideas of taking over his business and his fortune. As you can tell, I'm taking on that burden so my brother can study what he likes.
I've come to realise how much I enjoy his company and how alike we really were. Both in looks and personality.

We all decided we'd go to the local fair after college so I prayed the day would go by quickly. Yet luck was not on my side. I spent each lecture half asleep and by lunch time I had no energy left. Hana dragged me to the cafeteria and to the table the boys were sat on. I clambered myself into a seat and laid my head down on the table. Hana ran off to get her own lunch. Drowning out all the loud sounds, I closed my eyes. I could just about hear the mumbles on the table, "What's wrong with her?" Beomgyu asks. The chatter on the table doesn't die down but I can just about make out what Soobin says, "She's been like that since the morning" I assume he shrugged it off as me being moody. He was correct. I feel someone place their head on the table which was followed by them moving my hand from my face. As I open my eyes to see who it was, I was greeted by Beomgyu's beautiful eyes staring back at me. He mouths to me 'You okay?'. I was too distracted to reply. His eyes were so beautiful like two massive Maltesers. I' m hungry. I could eat his eyeballs. What was he saying? Am I okay?

"I'm hungry." I finally reply without breaking eye contact. I realised that he was still holding my hand which I didn't mind as my eyes turned to his wrist, I realised his soulmates initials. CM- He retracted his hands before I could see the last letter. His hand returned with a sandwich he brought to my mouth. "Want half of my sandwich?" he offers. Well, I was hungry...So I took a large bite before sitting up. My eyesight going a bit blurry with how quickly I moved my head.

"Oh, look who's finally decided to wake up." Hana jokes to which a few laughs at. I felt my energy come back maybe I was just hungry. I fix the hair that was falling into my face. My cheeks were probably red from resting my head on the table. I pat myself a few times before turning to Beomgyu again. "Can I have another bite?" I plead. He complies as he puts the sandwich in front of my mouth once more. Ah nom nom. "Thank you." I whisper to him. He smiles innocently as if he were a great Samaritan.

It was finally time for the fair that was in town for a while. They'd set up their rides and tents inside an area close to our college, so it wasn't that far to walk. As we journeyed over there as a group, I realised that Hana and Soobin have spent a lot of our time together. I think Soobin has finally taken the initiative to flirt after I kept pushing the two together. I'll make sure to remind the others to leave them alone so they can have a little date alone for once. I wasn't quite sure why I agreed to come along, I don't like rides. I guess ill be spending most of my time alone at those games which are scams.

After we entered, we all decided to meet back here at 6pm, which gave everyone 2 hours to do whatever they like. As instructed Soobin and Hana went off together same as Hyun, Ning and Jun. Seems like Beomgyu ran off before I even noticed too. Great. I guess I'll try and find something to do. I was about to waddle off into the stands of games but to my surprise Beomgyu stuck a bag of candy in my face. "You said you were hungry at lunch, right? I got you these sweets." He said while actioning for me to put my hands out. I grab them and thank him. We wondered off into the tents of games and we try a few. Giggling at how awful we were at them but agreeing they were rigged. We reach the basketball game to which he starts to act big. He rolls up his sleeves and then rubs his hands together. Throwing the balls, he misses one shot after another. At this point I can't keep my laughter together. My stomach is full of sharks and butterflies tearing me up that it hurts. After each try, he shouts out a "HEY!" or a "NO I HAD THAT!!" which makes me curl over in tears. He finally gives up and walks over to me complaining, "I see why people complain about how they rig the games now." He stops to see if I agree but all I can managed to do is laugh. He joins in.
I finally say, "Beomgyu, I'm sorry but aren't the basketball games the easiest ones?" he laughs a bit but not as hard before. Did I offend him by joking about his basketball skills? He knows he's skilled-
As If he knew I was worrying he tells me what was on his mind, "Why do you still call me Beomgyu? You have a nickname for everyone else."

I was a bit startled. I wasn't sure why I didn't have a nickname for him. I could barely remember his name at the start. "Is Bgyu ok?" I propose. He laughs and nods satisfied with the development of our relationship. He wasn't at all what I imagined to be like when I first saw him. He seemed so serious and solemn. Now I've gotten to spend time with him, he's light and jokes around a lot.

"Let's go get more candy!" I say to move us on.

It had gone 6pm and we all collected back at the main entrance. Hana rushed over to me, grabbing me by the shoulders and pushing us away from the group. She whispers into my ear, "I have a boyfriend." I laughed smacking her back hard. She shouts in agony but starts giggling with me. "You sly fox! You got him so quickly." I cackle as we re-join the group. Now you maybe asking whether or not Soobin was her soulmate or not but I never asked since it didn't matter. They like each other. The group stare at us but end up shrugging It off. We were walking at of the fair when I heard someone call my name. "Mari? Choi Mari?!" they shouted. The group turned back to see a tall boy the same age as us. I recognised him. As soon as his stupid face came into focus, I grunted and carried on walking away. "MARI! Wait!" he calls out grabbing onto my arm. I slingshot back now facing him.
"Let go off my arm Joshua. Didn't we agree on being strangers?" I scowled at him. He looked hurt but he still wouldn't let go of my arm. Just before I could rip my arm away, Beomgyu grabbed my arm. He looks Joshua in the eyes before barking, "My girlfriend said let go. So, get your hands off her." He pulls me away from Joshua making sure he didn't hurt my arm. The group walked off with Joshua shouting in the background, "Is that it?! You got a new boyfriend?"

I may have missed a slight chuck of my life out and by slight chunk I mean every part of It I didn't wish to recall. That includes Joshua. My first love. As much as I have chatted on about soulmates and initials it doesn't stop you falling in love with other people. In fact, because finding your soulmate is a 50:50 chance sometimes people give up all together and settle down with someone they decided to love. I thought the same for a long time. Joshua might as well have been my soulmate HJS and CBG are all the same, right?

Yeah no. What a mistake. Joshua was a mistake. Our relationship was so calming, and I truly believed he loved me. Until his soulmate came into his life or should I say who he thought was his soulmate came into his life. He met a girl with the same initials on his wrist and decided I wasn't enough for him, so we broke up. Then he realised she wasn't his soulmate and came running back to me. By then I realised that we weren't meant to be.

I do truly wonder why he's still chasing me when he clearly is interested in his soulmate. Then at the same time, not enough for me to speak to his retched face ever again.

I ranted about Joshua to our group, and we joked about how scummy he was. They all grouped up to lighten my mood. Then they remembered what Beomgyu said. "So, when did Magyu become a thing, hmm?" Jun teases as Ning and Hyun fake make out with each other. Hana fake gasps, smacking her mouth with her hand in exaggerated motions. "This isn't because you're jealous of me and Soobin, right?" she ponders sarcastically. I shake my head holding the bridge of my nose, playing along with their game.