How I Wonder What You Are (A Byul Fanfiction)

Chapter 21

"Go in!" "No, you go in!" "You do it, you're the older one!" "Yeah, by a few months-" "Oh my god, just walk through that door and say hi or something, you know you want to!"

"No, I don't want to seem like a stalker," Wheein grumbled in frustration. "we're making a big enough fuss out here already. If we don't want to attract attention then we should run away before unnie notices us!"

Wheein was with Hyejin at the moment, going through their annoying routine of deciding where to have their dinner. On a whim, the two young girls had taken some random bus to a quiet, homely district, and just as Wheein decided they were disrupting the peace too much with their childish bickering, guess who she caught a glimpse of through the door of one small Japanese restaurant: Byulie unnie. It then occured to both girls that they were near Byulie's house.

Now, instead of leaving at her warning, Hyejin pressed Wheein even further: "I know you want her to see you and leave whoever she's sitting with." Wheein finally noticed the man sitting opposite Byulie, almost hidden behind the person in front of him. Wheein thought she recognized the man's handsome side profile, and the stylish dark hair...

Minhyuk!

Wheein remembered everything again - trying to find Byulie at her favorite park, only to see her come out of nowhere with the man, hand in hand and smiling like a fool... The day Byulie had shyly announced her relationship to her members had only been a painful acknowledgement of Wheein's suspicions. The sting of it still felt fresh.

Now, Wheein felt slightly dizzy at the sight of the loving pair inside the restaurant. Even from afar, Wheein could see clearly how Byulie unnie's head rocked back and forth in ecstasy, how she clapped her hands as she always did when she laughed hard, how her nose muscles scrunched up so that they were obviously visible from the side - signs of pure joy at being with her man.

"Hyejin, let's go." The tone of Wheein's voice made it clear that she wasn't in the mood for arguing anymore. With a jolt, Hyejin also realized who the person eating with Byulie unnie was and stared at the couple a while longer before turning away to loop her arm through Wheein's.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, the only sound on the empty street being the soft clicking of their shoes on the tiles. The clicking became rhythmic to Wheein's ears, and almost unconsciously, she began to hum the tune of "I Miss You" along with the beat. Hyejin joined in, her deep voice harmonizing perfectly with Wheein's.

"Days that I shared with you

Are not here anymore..."

A tear slid down Wheein's face, a pearl of emotion escaping her expressionless face. She looked up, hoping the wind would blow it away. Closing her eyes and unlooping her arm from Hyejin's so she could lift her arms up, Wheein felt the gentle caress of the air around her, enveloping her in a breezy embrace. She stayed like that for several moments and Hyejin joined her.

Suddenly -

"Wheein? Hyejin? Is that you?" Both girls jumped and, like startled bunnies, turned around to see Byulie unnie starting down the road towards them, a hand raised in greeting. Wheein felt her face turn hot.

"U-Unnie! Why are you here?" Wheein hastily wiped a hand across her face, already flushing hot from the embarrassment of being "caught". She ran up to Byulie, trying her best to look cheerful and surprised, Hyejin following a little more slowly behind.

As Wheein posed the question, it was Byulie's turn to grow red, rosy pink coloring the apples of her small cheeks. "I'm actually here with Minhyuk oppa," Byulie said shyly. "He should be coming out now... look, there!" Byulie waved her hands in the direction of the restaurant she had eaten in, just as a man - unmistakably Minhyuk - strode out of it.

"Ooooh, so it's a date!" Wheein smiled clapped her hands to tease her unnie, but even in the dim light Byulie could see that the smile did not reach her eyes. Byulie's expression shifted, concern appearing on her face, and had opened her mouth to say something when Minhyuk reached them. By that time, Hyejin had caught up and had exchanged greetings with Byulie as well. Upon seeing Minhyuk, Hyejin's gaze turned harder, and she glanced at Wheein.

"Hello girls, it's been a while since we last met. What a coincidence!" Minhyuk's smooth, clear voice reached Wheein's ears and, for just a second, she thought she understood why Byulie had become so attached to him. But she couldn't bring herself to look at him, and so she fixed her gaze on Minhyuk's shadow on the paved road behind him, mumbling some form of salutations.

Their conversation passed by in a blur to Wheein. Only a few things stood out in stark contrast to the darkness enveloping them - the way Byulie's and Minhyuk's shoulders brushed softly against each other as they talked; the light in Byulie's eyes whenever she mentioned her budding relationship with the man she stood with; the way Minhyuk held himself in Byulie's presence. Wheein felt so... so small and so lonely, cowering in the dark as she beheld the sight in front of her.

And then she felt a hand tugging at her sleeve. "Wheein-ah, I'm hungry!"

Hyejin.

In that instant, she felt 10 years' worth of memories, pressing at her: Hyejin demanding to be friends during middle school; Wheein crying on Hyejin's shoulder for many a night, releasing the stress of preparing for debut; their shared exhilaration, sentiment, wonder at being onstage together, amazed at having come so far...

Together.

10 years had taken a simple friendship, weaved so many emotions and memories into its fabric, that it had become an irreplaceable part of Wheein's life, just as she knew it was a part of Hyejin's. She had come to take Hyejin for granted, like a queen grown accustomed to the sight of so many jewels in her palace. Like an idiot, Wheein had given her jewel up for some other treasure - just as beautiful, but not the same.

Now that her newfound treasure had been taken away from her, Wheein realized just how much her jewel, her brightly shining jewel, meant to her.

And suddenly, Wheein did not feel so alone now. Lifting her gaze to meet Byulie's, she truly smiled.

----------------------

hellllooooooo its me! the author of this crap!
first of all im fully aware that i havent updated in like half a year and id really like to apologize for that my lazy ass and exams have not helped but NOW THAT MY UPDATE IS HERE PLS i hope its actually good
personally i didnt like this chapter myself just cos i think it doesnt make sense but oh well
once again would like to apologize to everyone who bothered to wait this long!!! thank the reader who commented on my last chapter urging my lazy ass to continue writing