Should've Held Onto You (CHA EUNWOO)

25 - Break

"Is it on, is it on, is it on?"

"Sanha! Yes, it's on, shut up!" Minhyuk shouted, though he didn't mean it harmfully.

I sat nearest my laptop, Sumi and Astro sitting beside and behind me. Today was the day Sarah and Jay would meet them. I was a little apprehensive and nervous. When I had told Jay about my past and Astro, he took it really well. Sarah hasn't said much about him, just that he seems to be happier, despite the fact that he hasn't talked to his dad. His brother's still in the hospital, but, as of right now, he's not getting worse. Unfortunately, he's just not getting better either.

"Hi, Miyeong!" I waved as Sarah and Jay showed up on the screen, waving and smiling, but Sarah quickly dropped her smile, gasping. "Miyeong, they're all hot!"

A few of the Astro boys, like JinJin and Dongmin, laughed, understanding her, but the rest just continued to wave, making us laugh.

"How are you, Miyeong?" Jay grinned welcomingly.

After exchanging basic information- what's up, how are you, it's so nice to see you- I began with the introductions. I had to act as a little bit of a translator, as the boys and Sumi knew only basic English. Dongmin was the best at English and could almost completely understand and speak it. JinJin was also pretty good, though his speech lacked. Bin was tied with Sumi, then Minhyuk, then Sanha, and lastly MJ. I have no idea how MJ has been through so many years of English class and still has trouble asking where the bathroom is.

"Alright, well, Astro and Sumi, meet Sarah and Jay!"

"Hellooooo!" MJ screamed loudly.

Sanha made hearts with his hands. "Saranghae, I love you!"

The rest screamed forms of "hello", and Sarah and Jay happily said them back.

"Sarah and Jay," I continued, "This is my oldest friend, Sumi."

Not confident in her English, Sumi told me to tell them she is so glad to meet them, which I, of course, did, and they said the same back.

"Then we have Astro. This is Dongmin and Bin, my friends from before. Then we have Sanha, JinJin, Minhyuk, and MJ."

"So pretty!" MJ pointed at Sarah, who blushed and laughed.

Minhyuk sent them a wide grin, saying, "You can call me Rocky!"

"Excuse them," Dongmin laughed, "They mean to say it's really nice to meet you."

Jay opened his mouth to speak, but Sarah interrupted with another gasp. "Miyeong, he's hot and bilingual?! You lucky bitch!"

I laughed at the boys' shocked impressions, having only picked up on the profanity.

-----

It was my first time over at Sumi's since I got back. Everything was as I remembered it, but her little sister Suyeon was now ten. Although it's only a 2 and a half year difference, 8 to 10 is quite the gap. She remembered me well and greeted me with a welcoming hug, telling me that she missed me. Sumi's parents were very excited to see me, telling me that I should've visited sooner. I apologized and caught up with them.

"Oh, girls!" Sumi's mother walked into the kitchen, where Sumi and I sat at the breakfast bar eating popcorn, watching a movie on her laptop.

Sumi paused the movie, throwing a piece of popcorn in her mouth. "Wae?"

"Specifically Miyeong. Your winter school break is coming up. We're going to the cabins again. Do you want to come?"

"Oh, yeah!" Sumi turned to me excitedly. "It'll be just like before! Snow, warm fires, burnt marshmallows, and a cabin all to ourselves!"

Every year Sumi's family goes to some cabins their grandparents own (since they're kind of rich) out of town. I used to go with them all the time before, and it warms my heart to think of all the good times Sumi and I had there. Because there's actually three cabins, Sumi and I always got our own while her parents shared one, and Suyeon and her friends took another.

"I'd love to!"

"Oh, oh, oh! Eommmmmaa!" Sumi tapped on the island counter aggressively.

Her mother gave her an annoyed look, though she was amused, "Yes?"

"Can we invite Astro too?"

I smiled at the thought of us all getting to spend a winter getaway together. I'd become such good friends with them in such a small amount of time. Sometimes I worry that I'm sort of intruding since they've all known each other for at least two years, but they insist I'm not, and they seem to accept me.

Mrs. Yi frowned. "Isn't there six of them? That's a lot of young men around two young girls.. And your sister!"

Sumi whined, "Eommmma! It's just Astro, you've known two of them my whole life and the other four for years! Plus, you know Suyeon and her friends will stay inside and play with dolls or something."

"Can't we just invite Bin and Dongmin?" Her mother tried to bargain.

However, Sumi wasn't having any of it. "No, Mother. Astro isn't Astro unless there's six."

"Fine," Mrs. Yi have in, "But! You're on dishes duty every day until then."

"Yay!" Sumi threw her arms in the air, making us laugh. Turning to me, Sumi said, "Ok, so we need to be thinking about the Winter Formal too. After break, Winter Formal's only about a week away.. We still need dresses... And dates!"

"Woah, woah, what's this about dates?" Sumi's mom raised an eyebrow, drying a dish she just cleaned.

Rolling my eyes at Sumi, I asked, "Yeah, what is this about dates?"

She rolled her eyes back, saying, "Mom, Miyeong's too chicken to ask Dongmin to the Winter Formal."

"What?!" My cheeks burned as I became increasingly embarrassed, "Andwae! Who ever said anything about Dongmin? Sumi's making up stories again." I wanted to bring up Bin, but I didn't know if she'd ever talked to her mom about him. As embarrassed as I was, I couldn't risk doing it just for some joke, so I went with the safe route. "What about the guy you're planning on asking, Sumi?"

"Yeah, what about this guy, Sumi?" Her mother repeated.

"I'm going to ask 'this guy' very soon!" Sumi announced in a determined voice, making her mother and me raise our eyebrows.

"Really?" I asked.

"Really."

"Really really?"

"Really really."

"Right."

"I am!" She shouted defensively.

"If I may ask," her mother interjected, "who is this boy?"

Sumi and I exchanged looks.

"No one."

"Sumi, come on, I'm your mother," Mrs. Yi tried to persuade.

Sumi rolled her eyes, deciding that she would find out sooner or later. "Moon Bin."

Shrugging her shoulders, her mom replied, "Yeah, I could've guessed that."

"What?! How?!" Sumi exclaimed.

"Mother's Intuition."

Sumi shook her head, exasperated, before laying it down on the counter. I could tell she was blushing but decided not to tease her about it.