Diaries of a Distance

Chapter 27

Friday, 24th September...

I didn't see him on Wednesday.

Or Thursday.

Or this morning.

In fact, no one's seen Park Jae Wook since Tuesday. I rang him but no one answered. Not only is the basketball finals match in one hour at 6pm, but I have something else on my mind too. I need to ask him. It's all Da Ni's and Soo Jin's fault.

[Earlier on]

At lunchtime I craned my neck over to the table and checked to see if he had somehow magically gotten past the door without me knowing. Dong Wook, Ki Tae, Sang Woo and Eun Won were all searching for him too. They acted like I was their big sister, reporting to me whenever they passed by me that Jae Wook was still missing. Even the girls at that table reported to me regularly. Actually, now that I think about it, the whole entire of Seoul High has only one question: where is Park Jae Wook ? Jae Wook was everyone's idol at this school- don't ask me why. He's only hot, rich, smart and cool.

I sighed for the millionth time.

"Why don't you ring his mobile?" Tae Hee suggested.

"Already have. A thousand times but still no one picks up."

"Why don't you ask his parents?" Mi Mi suggested.

"How can I?"

"Silly, ring his home of course!" Soo Jin said as if I didn't already think of it.

"I don't know the number."

Tae Hee, Mi Mi, Da Ni and Soo Jin all dropped their spoons and gapped.

"What?" I asked.

"How long have you been dating?" Da Ni questioned.

I calculated. "15 days." Boy it seems so much longer than that. I feel like I've known Jae Wook forever.

Da Ni lifted her eyebrows but fixed herself. "OK so only fifteen days, that's not too bad... but how long have you known him?"

How long have I known him? I knew him before I even came to this school. Come to think of it, he was one of the first few people I've met since arriving in Seoul!

"Thirty nine days..."

"THIRTY NINE DAYS?!" They all exclaimed simultaneously.

I moved back slightly. "What's wrong?"

"Hello! You've known him for more than a month and the only personal detail you know about him is his mobile number? Where does he live? What's his home phone number?" Soo Jin prompted me.

---

She had me thinking. She's right... he knows where I live and he knows my home phone number, not that I ever let him dial to Sun Dae's parents. I told him my parents don't let me date so he can't ring the home number. There is part truth in that, Dad won't let me date but Mummy does!

But the point is, he's never even so much as tell me his home phone number, let alone tell me where he actually lives or invite me there. Why I am so stupid? I didn't even realise it. Now I have to wait for Park Jae Wook to somehow appear.

It's 5:45pm and the hall was starting to fill up. This time the match is at Seoul High's Sport Stadium. The crowd was split into two sides, one was full with the home crowd and the other with Daegu High students.

I was still craning my neck around searching for a glimpse of Park Jae Wook but he still isn't to be seen. I felt a tap on my left shoulder and turned around.