After hwayoung stormed off, Areum was unable to convince her to come back. She returned to Troys apartment informing the others.
"lets go get her. we cant let her walk around this late at night alone." Boram said.
"you make it sound like we live in a bad neighborhood. she will be fine. she will come back when shes ready. shes probably hiding around the corner." Jiyeon said waving her hand.
"hwayoung is your best friend, youre being awfully cold." areum said to Jiyeon
"well she is saying crazy things that may upset Eunjung, and youre not helping, telling these stories only adding fuel to her fire." jiyeon said approaching areum a tad aggressively. "just when she thought she was out of that phase too!"
"jiyeon, its ok, calm down." Eunjung said stepping in front of her. "ill go get her."
"i didnt mean to offend anyone earlier." areum said bowing her head.
"im sure hwayoung already told you that Jang, was Eunjungs boyfriend. you know the guy who has a memorial dedicated to him at our school." jiyeon said raising her voice sarcastically. "and all that devil man nonsense just stirs all those bad memories of that day back up."
"im sorry." areum apologized.
"well if were going lets go." jiyeon said stomping out the door. Eunjung and jiyeon went to go look for hwayoung.
"ill go with them." boram said, she scurried after them.
"what about you?" troy said to soyeon.
"i think one of us should wait here if she comes back." soyeon suggested.
"well, ill be here, i live here." troy responded."no i mean one of US." she said pointing to herself or areum. "A girl. no offense troy"
"It's my fault she left, ill stay." Areum offered.
Soyeon looked to troy. "well?"
"its up to me?" troy said shocked. "i should be asking you if its ok with you!"
"its your apartment troy. not mine." soyeon told him.
"yea but.." troy scratched his head.
"yes or no troy." qri said pulling herself up from the chair.
"fine whatever stay." troy told her letting out a sigh.
"you 2 can help us look for hwayoung." Qri said to Hank and Pryor. "lets go, start your car."
"oh, right." Pryor said heading out the door.
"we'll help too." sunny said.
"actually, hyomin, why don't you stay here too." Qri said stopping hyomin from leaving.
"wait, why? areum is here." hyomin said in protest.
"yea but, i think you should just be here for her too. just in case." Qri said patting Hyomins shoulder.
"but sunny will feel awkward without me." hyomin whined.
"i can stay here with hyomin then." sunny shrugged.
"it's settled then. lets go." qri said waving them out the door.
"good night Troy." Soyeon said hugging him. Troy hugged her back before she followed Qri outside.
"good night, and dont worry, you'll find her!" troy said to her. Soyeon shut the door, leaving Troy alone with Sunny, Areum and Hyomin. The tension and awkwardness was thick in the air. Troy walked back into the living room. he put his hands on his hips and looked around. there was still some clutter scattered about from the party. "well, i guess i can start cleaning up."
"no no." Sunny said pushing him aside. "we're the guests. you invited us here and had a party for us. we will clean it, right hyomin?" Hyomins expression was a puzzled one."dont just stand there. come on." sunny waved for her to come help.
"i wil help too." areum said joining sunny.
"Troy why dont you try to sleep. we'll stay up and wait for Hwayoung." Sunny suggested.
"No, ill stay up too. its not a problem." Troy helped them pick up the empty cups and cans.
"he doesnt trust us." sunny whispered to areum.
"i heard that." troy told them, looking up with a glare. the 4 of them cleaned Troys apartment diligently as they waited for hwayoung. however as the time passed and it grew later, hwayoung still didnt return. Sunny decided it was best for her to leave. Hyomin of course would go with her, leaving troy and areum to wait for hwayoung. Troy sat outside his front door in the glow of the outside lamp. He waved to sunny and hyomin as they made their exit. Areum stood beside him.
"so, you dont trust me?" areum asked quietly. "is it because of where im from?"
"where youre from? do you mean our supposed neighboring enemy nation?" troy said skeptical of areums claims.
"well, yea." areum replied "why did you say it like that? are you a sympathizer?"
"ive never met someone who knew so much about elementians before. im just surprised they know so much about them i guess." troy explained.
"so, you knew about elementians after all then." areum said to him raising an eyebrow, catching troys slip up.
"of course. you hear a lot of things in the city. like you said. i just was trying to avoid oh i dont know..." troy sighed
"a situation like this?" areum asked holding back laughter.
"yea. you can say that" troy answered seriously. "and you better not laugh. its a delicate subject. especially after all thats happened."
"youre right i shouldnt joke about it." areum said bowing her head.
"so. do you believe that they exist?" troy asked her. he leaned against his door.
"elementians? i dont know. its probably myths and urban legends." areum told him as she looked off down the road. "what about you?"
"pshhh. of course not!" he chuckled.
"but you are so curious about them and how i know about them." areum said turning to him with a smirk.
"its just odd. thats all." troy said waving his hand. "that out here, its such a mystery and where you're from and i guess even where im from, its obviously much more known."
"hmm. i guess so." areum agreed.
"maybe its because its a smaller town and slower paced compared to the city. but a small rumor is a big deal here. add that to all the craziness going on. its easy for everyone, even myself to get caught up in it. Troy explained.
"the city boy isnt immune to the small towns gossip?" areum smiled
"can i ask you something?" troy said, but he was going to ask her regardless.
"yea, what is it?" areum said to him.
"how did you.. know my na.." troy was interrupted by his phone ringing inside. he stopped asking his question. areum glanced at him, then his door. Troy paused, but he ultimately went inside to answer. "sorry, it has to be important if they are calling this late." troy said as he excused himself. he picked up the phone hastily.
"hello?" he asked -"ah soyeon its you... no she hasnt come back yet. - - ok, thanks for letting me know. ill talk to you tomorrow." he hung up.
"did they find her?" areum asked, she was listening by the door.
"nope. and they gave up looking because its so late." troy explained.
"it is getting late." she said looking over at troys clock. "ill just go look for her myself. you should get some rest.
"are you sure?" troy asked her, feeling bad about her leaving this late, but not too bad because he really didnt want her to stay.
"yea, i will find her." she nodded.
"ok if you say so." troy complied. "good luck, ill leave my door unlocked in case she comes back here."
"good idea." she smiled.
"well see you later then." troy waved as areum left. he closed the door gently as she walked out towards the street. Troy didnt hesitate getting right into bed. he was drained from the long night. he felt a little bad for hwayoung and not waiting for her, but at the same time he couldnt help feel like it was her own fault. he did everything he could to make hwayoung try to believe him. make her believe that what he himself had seen, didnt exist... he pushed his guilt aside and made himself fall asleep.The next morning Troy was awoken by a familiar voice.
"troy. troy wake up." it said rather pushy. troy was confused and startled.
"come on troy wake up." it urged him. "im hungry"
"who is that? boram? why do you insist on bothering me when i sleep?" troy said pulling the covers over his head.
"boram? that shorty?" the voice said "WAAAKKE UPPP" they began jumping on troys bed. troy looked from under the blankets to see a way to perky Hwayoung jumping on the foot of his bed. her cheeky smile ran ear to ear and her dark short hair bobbed up and down as she bounced.
"good. youre alive. i can go back to sleep with a peaceful mind." troy said rolling back over.
"you were worried about me?" she asked. she plopped down on her knees beside him. "thats sweet." she whispered.
"i know you arent next to me on my bed right now." troy said feeling hwayoung scooting beside him.
"but im hungry and cold." she whimpered playfully.
"get out of my bed." he groaned."not until you get out." she said playfully. "this isnt funny." he said. "you are crossing all sorts of lines and if soyeon finds out..."
"she wont." she said devilishly.
"ha ha. really. you should be letting your friends know you're ok. they were worried about you." troy said.
"i know. i feel kinda silly about it now." she sighed. she remained lying down next to troy."i was right around the back the whole time."
"you what?" troy asked surprised.
"yep." she simply said. troy pulled the covers off his head again and looked over at Hwayoung seriously."i heard your convo with areum." she said as she looked up at troys ceiling.
"o yea? what convo?" he asked nervously.
"you knew about elementians all this time? why did you lie to me?" she said a bit sad.
"whatever you think you heard me say, you are mistaken." troy said denying it.
"Troy dont lie to me." she said turning to him. "how do you know i wasnt lying to her?" he asked "just agreeing to agree?"
"that doesnt make sense troy, what purpose would that serve? all this time my own friends have looked at me like i was stupid. you could have spoke up for me." she said sounding choked up.
"i think youre over reacting." troy said feeling bad for her. "i mean ok so what ive heard of elementians. its all rumors. saying i heard rumors doesnt prove anything. just like you heard some rumors. theyd all think i was wrong too"
"maybe if more people werent afraid to speak up theyd listen to us." she explained.
"or just thought we were very gullible, believing rumors about devil men." troy tried to convince her. "me believing the same thing you believe doesnt make what you believe ... the truth."
"but thats the thing troy. theres something different about you. something i cant put my finger on but i know it, you know ive known it. this isnt the first time we have sat together talking about it." hwayoung said seriously as she gazed at him.
"yea, whats the deal with that. last time i threw a party you were here when i woke up too." troy said.
"dont change the subject troy."
"well im sorry i just dont know what you want me to say. you want to find this devil man? or the truth? to whatever mystery you think needs to be solved?" troy said sitting up frustrated with hwayoung. "theres something different, mysterious about me? like what? do you think im the devil man? you think im the elementian? is that it? say it!"
"no, troy..." hwayoung said quietly.
"if i was, what would that mean? you think i came here, some magic man to just kill a random school mate? yep cause thats what us elementians do hwayoung. kill for whatever reason. hell, i might as well kill you cause you found out my secret." he said with anger and mounting her. Hwayoung slapped troy as he sat on her.
"i dont think youre the devil man troy!" she shouted.
"so what do you want then?" he said holding his cheek where she had hit him."i dont know! i just know you are hiding something about what happened!" she yelled. "you can deny it all you want but i know! i know the devil man exists! and if i had to guess, id say jang was the devil man.."troy froze as hwayoung made her claims.
"if what areum told us was true then, he could have been. it would explain his behavior up until that time. his frequent absences and all that." she said sadly.
"even if that were possible, it has nothing to do with me." troy said trying to hide his shock.
"it has, everything to do with you troy." she said looking into his eyes.
"this is stupid." he said getting off of her and walking to his bedroom door.
"who is Evan?" hwayoung asked him suddenly. troy stopped in his tracks. he turned his head slightly, but not totally to her.
"excuse me? what did you say?"
"Evan." she said again.
"how do you know that name." his voice was shaky.
"who is it?" she asked. "you said that name in your sleep. is it a friend from back home?"
"its none of your business. thats who it is. and dont say it again." troy walked out of the room.
YOU ARE READING
You're My Target
Fanfiction[t-ara fanfic] original description from when i began writing it on the diadem forum many moons ago: the story revolves around character named Troy who transfers from a city to a small town school. he transfers to be a part of their highly decorate...
