8 Years - ENG VERSION

Chapter 5

JISOO

What if that was a bad idea? What if seeing Haeji would confuse her somehow?

I felt my throat closing up and my heart racing as we entered the school, and it was like when I entered the hospital, as Haein was once again not there with me.

To mislead the press, considering that there were many photographers there and that action was announced in the media three days ago, they thought it was better for me and Haein to stay apart.

I took a deep breath, looking for Haein among the other artists while we were taking pictures, I found him, he was looking for me too. For a few seconds we exchanged a look and with that look a brief nod, I managed to get more confident and took a deep breath.

We entered the school and my steps were getting heavier. The children in the class were in a huge room with a few tables and shelves with toys, coloring pencils and other children's things.

The Principal announced that we had arrived, and the children were excited. Many of them said that they had already seen me on television and that I was prettier in person, but of all the children, I was looking for mine. I didn't find it among the small, euphoric crowd meeting the TV stars.

The teacher said that each of the children would have a partner to talk a little about school, some wanted to stay with me, but I had to gently decline. Haein probably couldn't do the same, as I saw him with a girl next to another actor and another child.

I kept looking until I saw it, next to a window and away from everyone. Her hair was shoulder-length and she had bangs. The school uniform looked perfect, the way she held the green pencil and the way she moved her head, completely focused on her drawing and indifferent about us, had me mesmerized for a few seconds.

I approached without even being aware that my brain commanded my legs to her, maybe it was automatic. She noticed that I was on her side and faced me, giving a shy and restrained smile and I froze in that image, God, how beautiful she is.

"Hey." I said almost choking.

"I've seen you on TV." She says still with the smile contained on her face. "You're prettier than on TV." I held back the tears, that phrase was like the biggest and best compliment I had ever received. "Did your boyfriend come?" She looked around for someone behind me before looking back at me curiously, waiting for an answer.

I was frozen imagining that she was talking about Haein, but the following sentence took me by surprise; "That boy who gave you flowers and a box of chocolates." I exhaled. She was talking about Soohyun and our drama about a cold CEO of a famous magazine and her newest employee, I confess that I was partly disappointed, but at the same time calm. I smiled and crouched down next to her.

"He's just my TV boyfriend." She looked disappointed. "Did you like what you watched?" She nodded excitedly. I didn't know that the kids at that boarding school watched dramas.

"I'd go home just to watch." I smiled again. "I thought you two were off-TV sweethearts." Again the disappointment. I almost laughed, but I'd save it for when I told Haein about it, I bet he'd love it.

"Well, we're not..." I said, disappointing her again. "I hope you're not mad at me." She looked at me and denied.

"I'm not, I got mad when you spilled coffee on his paper on purpose, that was really bad." This time I laughed.

"Yes, it was." Instantly my hands hovered over his straight hair and I wanted to spend the rest of my life stroking his hair. "Did your parents let you watch it? It was too late." She took a deep breath and shook it.