Was It All For Nothing? - By Sarah Jaju

A twist in events (Chapter 23) : Hae-jun and Hae-Ri

Hae-Jun:

 I was cozily wrapped up in my blankets on Sunday morning, but my 8 am alarm had rung for the third time, even after my countless tries of snoozing it. I bolted upright, remembering that tonight was our highly anticipated Masquerade Ball. I had a lot of things to do before that.

I hurriedly showered, and put on a sweater and some baggy jeans. 

"Sam!" I said, in my efforts of waking him up, "Didn't you wanna come with me to get some stuff for Hae-Ri? I need your advice, you know!"

"Huh?" he yawned, then scrunched up his face, which resembled a cow at that moment, "Oh, right! Okay, give me five minutes to freshen up!"

...

We took a took a taxi to the Lotte Department Store, and boy was I surprised when I saw how huge the building was! 

When we reached, I first searched for a flower vendor, because in my experience, flowers mean a lot to women. Like Min-Jae had said, I chose the most fresh bundle of red Roses,  along with some Blue Irises and Blue Morning Glories, too.

Next, I had to buy a black shirt for myself, which didn't take too long. Sam bought himself a very formal black-and-white tuxedo, and a bouquet of daffodils for his girlfriend. Yes, I was severely surprised when he told me that he had asked a women out who was a year elder than us.

What took the majority of time was finding a good pair of boots for Hae-Ri. The thing was, to my complete annoyance, there wasn't a single store that sold knee-high boots. We searched and searched, but couldn't find any suitable pair. Finally, when I had lost all hope, we came across a pair of beige boots that were on display, but they were only ankle-length. Nevertheless, they looked gorgeous, and Sam convinced me to buy them.

...

At 6pm, I went in for my second shower of the day. After coming out, I quickly ironed my new shirt and -not new- pants , and put them on. I slapped some gel into my wet hair, as for some reason, that way, they dried faster.

By 6:45pm, I had packed Hae-Ri's boots, and they lay in the corner of our room. I couldn't give them to her at the ball, so I would ask her to come to the garden park with me, and over there...I would formally confess to her.

I carefully held the bouquet of flowers, and smell-tested them. Sure enough, they were still full of fragrance. I confidently and briskly walked to the Ball room, which was actually on our campus. 

I expected Hae-Ri to be waiting for me, but she wasn't there yet. That's alright, I thought, there aren't many people here anyway, as of now. I noticed that Jessica was standing all alone by one of the poles, which made me wonder why Ho-Jin wasn't here, either.

I convinced myself that she would be here soon, but time flew by as I waited. 20 minutes, then 30, and then an hour. Another hour...

Hae-Ri:

I started to freak out. Omma had never fainted in front of my eyes, before. Ho-Jin and I carried her and delicately placed her on the couch. I splashed water on her eyes, and straightened her legs out. When she came back to her senses, she was frowning, and it pained me to look at her. I realised that she must be feeling so lonely. It was obvious that this was because of all the stress that she had taken upon her shoulders lately, due to the divorce.

She looked ill and weak. Ho-Jin checked her temperature, and she had a fever. Omma tried to fool us into believing that she was completely fine.

"Arre, I'm fine beta! Go to your ball, you can't miss that! I'll be fine, I'll take rest, please go, you're making me feel guilty!" she pleaded. (Arre- way of expressing a certain feeling, beta- my child )

"Omma! What are you saying? We can't just leave you here!" I said, shocked.

"Haan, Omma! We're staying till you get better, whether you like it or not," Ho-Jin agreed. (Yeah)

"Just drop me to Ms.Han's house, she's my closest friend. I'm sure she'll take care of me for a day or two," Omma suggested, clutching her head. 

Ho-Jin and I were hesitant at first, but then we remembered that Ms.Han used to work as a nurse, and so we made the decision of leaving our Omma in her care, after asking her if it was alright.

...

I jumped into the bus, Ho-Jin behind me. We were already 2 hours late; I cursed myself for making Hae-Jun wait for so long.

As soon as we reached, I ran -as if a group of dogs were chasing me- all the way to our room, and took the quickest shower of my life. I wore my outfit; a black, body-hugging short dress, which a pair a black pencil heels. I wore a silver chain and matching earrings. I then scurried of to do my basic make-up, and did my hair. I grabbed my purse, and at full speed, ran to the ball room.

I kept pushing people aside -by that time, everyone had taken off their masks- , searching for him, but couldn't see him anywhere. I kept calling out to him, too. Finally, I caught a glimpse of him, and ran towards him, ready to embrace him, and to apologise. He spun around to face me, and a random girl -Kim Yoo-Ra- clung to his chest, with a bouquet of flowers clasped in her grip, purring evilly. I didn't even like roses anyway.

She smirked at me, and whispered something to Hae-Jun, who squirmed.

I stood there, not knowing what  to do, or how to feel. He had betrayed me, all because he couldn't wait for a couple of hours. Yes, I was wrong for doing that, but that didn't mean that he could patch up with some other woman! I was wrong in trusting him...how could this have happened? How could I have misjudged him so badly?

I held back my hot tears, and started running in the opposite direction.

"Hae-Ri! Its not what it looks like, please wait!" Hae-Jun yelled after me, but isn't that what they all say?

Something in me wanted to cling to him, and cry. But my self-esteem encouraged me to shut him out, as he was the one who had caused me so much pain.

As I was heading back, I bumped into Min-Jae.

"What's wrong? Hae-Ri, gwenchana?" he asked, concerned. (Are you alright?)

"Aniyo! I'm not okay, and I need a shoulder to cry on!" I said, dramatically. (No!)

"How about we dance?" he asked me.

To my surprise, I agreed. As we danced, we were inches apart. He looked at me with affection, and said in a soft voice, "Hae-Ri, it was you. You were the girl who I wanted to ask."

I flinched "Mweo?!", and pulled apart, this night was getting crazier by the second. I said that I needed to leave, and retired to my room. (What?!)