MINKWANG: Trip to Japan

Chapter 3

     As soon as they arrived at the KIX airport in Osaka, Sungjae bought three SIMs. One for himself, the other two he gave to Peniel and Changsub.

     Peniel who brought his camera along with him started doing vlogs.

     "Sungjae-Oppa!" A fan called out and rushed to Sungjae to have a picture taken with him. "Oppa!" She shrieked and hugged him. Sungjae got awkward since people are starting to look at them.

     Peniel who is doing live streams  for his channel did not notice the commotion since he is standing in front of his youngest brother. But when he noticed from his notification that Seolhyun DMed him, he quickly ended the whole thing.

     "Harry Potter world!" Ilhoon announced, his arms outstretched with excitement.

     "Universal Wonderland!" Peniel pushed him away.  He just likes Snoopy.

     When they reached their hotel, Sungjae immediately charged his mobile phone.  When  he turned it on,  a lot of messages are coming in. As he is about to open the first one, Seolhyun called.

     "Oppa! I'm ending us right now. I'm sorry."

     Seolhyun also ended the call before Sungjae could even speak. He is just too stunned with the sudden turn of events that it took him a while to realize that his girlfriend just broke up with him.

     All he could do for a while is just stare at his phone. In a half-conscious state, he walked out of his hotel room to go to  Changsub and Peniel's shared hotel room.

     When Sungjae entered, Changsub looked over him, "What's up with you?"

     "My girlfriend just broke up with me without giving any valid reason."

     "Eh?" Changsub could not believe what he just heard. "Get over Nana!"

     "Her name is Seolhyun."

     "Seolhyun?" Changsub asked again. He can't be serious,  Nana broke up with him about two months ago.  "Who is this Seolhyun? When did you start seeing her?"

      "Two weeks ago. I met her in a photoshoot last month. She is a smart uniform model."

      Seolhyun? Uniform model?  These sounds familiar. All Changsub could do is give Peniel a meaningful look.

*** Almost two years ago***

     "Oppa!" Seolhyun waived a hand and ran towards... Peniel.

      She gave him a warm hug then a kiss. Peniel turned to look away, glancing at the people around them. Seolhyun did not mind what Peniel just did. She is just glad that they have finally met up and spend some time together.

     "You shaved your head again." she pouted to show her disapproval.

     "I like it this way." he touched his head before holding her hand.

      "Please let your hair grow back. I like running my fingers through your hair." she tried to act cute. "I really miss your hair."

     Peniel tried not to grimace but ended up cringing.  He does not like aegyo. He just want girls to act normally.  "Let's go eat. How about some vanilla ice cream? Or some cake?" he tried changing the topic about his hair.

     "I'm on a diet, Oppa." she said. "You want me to gain weight and look like an elephant?"

     Peniel studied her slim figure. "Actually, you need to gain weight. You're too skinny now." He honestly said to her.

     "So you don't find me pretty now? Because I'm too skinny?" She began to pout again. "Who's is prettier? Amber or me?" she asked all of a sudden.

     "What?" Peniel is caught off-guard.

      "Who is prettier? Amber or me?" she repeated.

      "I cannot believe this." Peniel said from under his breath.

      " Why are you not able to answer me?"

      "It's you i like." He said directly. Trying to give her his assurance.

      "You did not answer my question!"

     "You want me to date Amber then ?" Peniel asked back. He just want Seolhyun to stop talking about Amber. She is always giving him choices. 

      "No!" Seolhyun exclaimed and is about to cry.

     Just then Peniel's mobile phone rang. Seolhyun looked over when  Peniel got his phone from his pocket and saw  that it was Amber calling.

     "Why does she keep on calling you?" she demanded, stomping her foot on the ground angrily.  "If you think about it, it seems like you are spending more time with her than me. Why don't you just admit it? You like Amber. She is more than just a friend to you!"

      Peniel's patience snapped. The past few weeks, she has become so dominating and controlling over him. He could barely spend some time with Jackson  and his other friends.  She fusses so much about his hair. She makes big things over little things and making it all his fault. Extreme moodiness that he could never understand. And this constant jealousy with Amber.

      "Listen, Seolhyun." Peniel turned to face her.  "How many times have we had this conversation? I'm so sick and tired of explaining this to you."  He then turned to look at her straight in the eyes, trying to make her understand. "Haven't you noticed?  All we ever do is argue now. We could never agree on things. It's like we are drifting apart."

     "What are you talking about, Oppa? "She asked.

      "You are a nice girl, Seolhyun but I don't think that we should continue to see each other anymore. It has become so toxic."

      "No!"Seolhyun  held on to Peniel's arm. "I like you. We are now almost two years. You just can't throw that away."

      "If you really like me, you would not give me limitations. Even my Eomma allows me to do anything just as long as I don't hurt anybody. I also have other friends. I want to hang out  with them too. Just like what you do with your other friends. I did not ask you any questions when you do that. We've been seeing each other for almost two years. You should be able to trust me. You should know that Amber is my best friend. I accepted you for who you are and all your shortcomings. Why can't you do the same things for me." Peniel said sadly.