Fairy tale ( What happened to us? )

x x c h a p t e r 1 x x

Chapter 1

"Hanbin, congratulations. iKON, congratulations. I'm so happy for you. I tried to secretly look at you tonight but I looked away as fast as I can when I saw your eyes looking directly at mine. When I saw you on stage holding the trophy you deserve I can't help but smile. I know there's camera around so I tried to conceal my emotions but I can't. I remember the old times, the promise that we had at the practice room. You've finally achieved your dreams, Hanbin and I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud to be your best friend."
- Sunday, 02 Dec 2019, 00:45am

I received a text message from her again today. I want to see her. I want to talk to her. But I know I can't. After reading her message I went to my room and change my sweatshirt and wore sweatpants. I read her message again. 'Kim Jennie, after all this time, what are you doing to me?' I said to myself.

I grab my keys, put a mask, wear a jacket and pull down my hood. I went to the park near our building. It's already 1 am and I'm pretty sure my manager is going to kill me if he finds out that I'm here. But what can I do? I can't sleep. I sit on the bench and I read her message again. I have already memorized every single word. I closed my eyes and remember a memory I have with her.

// flashback training days: before debut //

"Where is he?" I heard her voice and she's looking for me. Bobby and Yunhyeong went out of the practice room because they know a war is about to come.
"Oh wow, Kim Jennie? I can't believe it. You're looking for me?" She turned her face to me and raised her eyebrow. She leaned on the side of the door and crossed her arms. Damn her aura is suffocating. What did I do this time?

"I know, I'm handsome Jen. Thank you. I know, I know. So, you came here because you wanted to admire my beauty. Is that it?" She smiled in disbelief. And continue to walk towards me. She's in front of me now and her arms are still crossed. She pointed her forefinger to my chest and she finally found herself to speak.

"You know Hanbin, you REALLY are a narcissist. I didn't come here to admire your gorilla-like beauty. I came here to ask you on why did you use my lyrics for the monthly evaluation? You knew that I worked hard for it and you to used it? THAT'S UNFAIR." She's mad. I knew it. That's the very reason why I used it. To make her mad and came looking for me. I guess it worked.

"Your lyrics? Oh yeah, We worked on that song TOGETHER. I let you listened to it, you were excited and you wanted to take part in it. You indeed wrote a part of the lyrics and you EVEN give me some advice on how to tweak some sounds to make it more balanced. And here I thought we will record that song together and present it to our boss BUT—." I stopped myself in ranting. I hold her hand that's pointing to my chest and pull it down. I slowly walk and sit in front of the piano. 'Is she finally going to tell me what happened?'

After completing the song and be satisfied with it I thought everything is fine. I was looking forward to record the song with her. But I didn't know what happened because she ignored me for weeks without telling me what's wrong.

"And you know the rest of the story." I continued. She's dumbfounded. She somehow calm and thinking. But I know she's still not finished. I can feel a storm coming.

"I— but still it's unfair that you use my words. My lyrics. You should've revised it. Change it. I know you're competitive. We both are. I know that you're going to do everything you can to debut. But you should've used your own strength to make it to the top. It's totally unfair. It's unfair that you're the top trainee this month because you presented a song that's not fully yours.." She's fuming. She's not screaming but she's putting an emphasis on every word to make sure she's heard. I turned to her and laugh.

"STOP LAUGHING YOU FOOL." She's feeling impatient. She wants to punch me. I can see that through her eyes. She formed her fist but she's still composing herself. It's easy to read her this way. I can see her true emotions when she's mad.

"You said unfair three times Jen. That's funny. Unfair, unfair, unfair. So let's be petty and talk about being unfair. What's truly UNFAIR is what YOU did. You ignored me for weeks without giving me an explanation. I called you, I texted you and every time I try to talk to you, you always find your way to escape. You dislike my presence that much that I can't even see your shadow. So yeah. That's unfair. I thought we were friends."

She bit her lower lip and look down. The storm has weakened. I waited for her to speak again. But she didn't. She stays quiet for a couple of minutes. She looked at me and I looked directly at her eyes. 'Damn those piercing eyes.' She breathes in and breathes out a couple of times and walked towards the door. She walked away without explaining her side again. I wanted to stop her but I feel exhausted. I feel restless this past few weeks thinking about what I did wrong for her to treat me this way. She's my closest girl friend.  Are you going to continue running away from me?

// end of flashback //

I came to my senses and I open my eyes. 'Why was she ignoring me at that time again?' I really couldn't remember the reason and I know she didn't explain her side of the story. All I know is she started hating me from that day onward. She stopped ignoring me though but she acted hostile towards me. It was fun for me to see her acting like that so I always find my way to provoke her. We were bantering every day that the people around us were exhausted in stopping us. It was fun memories that I had with her. It was better than being ignored.  'What happened to us, Jen?' I checked my phone and I read her message once again. I press the I button to change her name from YG-Jennie to mandujen. After editing her name I was about to hit the message button but I made a mistake and click the call button instead. I panicked and accidentally let go of my phone. My heart was beating too fast. 'I'm such an idiot.' I calm myself down and I picked up my phone.

"Hello— Hanbin? Hello? Are you there?"