stars | park sunghoon

five

alice cried her eyes out on the balcony. she couldn't even face the stars. she felt the disappointment the stars were pouring on her.

"i messed up, mama," she sobbed.  "i'm a horrible person!"

alice took all the courage in her to look up, only to burst into more tears. she felt her nose get more stuffy and her eyes more puffy.

"i need you, mama," she cried. "i hurt her! why did i do that!"

alice wailed loudly, not caring about her neighbours nor her father sleeping on the couch.

"mama, come back!"

-

chapter 5
the perfect puzzle

-

"ally, this is such a weird situation," jake said in a puzzled tone, holding his now filled up water bottle. "a deal with eunhee?"

alice sighs as she proceeds to fill up hers. "i just thought that... you know... you could help me since you know sunghoon the best!"

jake shook his head in disappointment. "we cannot alter sunghoon's feelings for eunhee. it's impossible."

"what is this vibe, jake?" she groaned. "earlier, it seemed like you believe there's hope for them!"

"yeah, hope for them to have peace... not to date!"

alice sighed. she closed her water bottle and started to walk back to the gym, jake following behind her.

"he just needs to see her good side! maybe then he'll care about her and then like her and then-"

"ok, ally!" jake interrupted. "sunghoon cares about everyone. as much as he doesn't like eunhee, he cares about her health and safety."

"perfect! the first part is done," alice said. "now, i think we just need to set them up on a date. but not just any date... something that... that... makes them feel vulnerable!"

"ally."

"what would that be though... uh... skating maybe? they used to skate together..."

"ally..."

"skating it is!"

"ally, stop it!"

alice stopped in her tracks and faced jake. she sighed. "i'm sorry," she apologized. "i promised eunhee, please understand."

"that's the thing," jake started. "i don't understand?"

alice sighed.

"what happened?" he asked curiously.

alice shrugged her shoulders. "you should ask eunhee."

alice continues walking forward, letting her realizations sink in. how was this deal affecting her so much already? how has alice not made any progress for eunhee? she felt like an idiot.

jake put an arm over alice's shoulders, making her look up at him with a puzzled face.

"i'll try my best to help you, cutie," he said with a smile. "but i don't think i can guarantee any progress. we cannot just change sunghoon's feelings."