Chapter 5
"Weekend plans"
Ha Na was woken up by her vibrating alarm clock that was placed under her pillow. After turning off her alarm, she yawned and slowly stretched out her body. Even though it was Saturday and she didn't have to work, she couldn't sleep in, because she had made plans to meet up with Jung Hwa before lunch.
But Ha Na didn't mind waking up early, actually she was more of a morning person than she was a night person. She would often fall asleep if she and Jung Hwa hung out and they stayed up till midnight.
The thing Ha Na also loved about waking up early was all the time she had, no need for stressing and running around to make it out the door on time. She enjoying having the time to take a long bath and let her hair dry in the air.
Then, with wet hair and a soft bathrobe wrapped around her body she went downstairs to eat breakfast. No one else was up except her, but she enjoyed this as well. Sitting in the empty kitchen eating cereal while getting mentally ready to go and seize the day.
She looked at her phone, there was still two hours until she had to meet up with Jung Hwa. So Ha Na took all the time she needed to finish her breakfast, whereafter she went upstairs to decide what clothes she should wear. She wanted to dress up but they weren't doing anything fancy. It just felt so nice to put on a pretty dress with pink flowers and small pumps in matching colors, instead of jeans and a t-shirt. She stood there in front of her closet for a while with the jeans in one hand and the pink dress in the other hand, but then felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.
From: Unnie 💕
Are you ready?
Reply to: Unnie💕
Yes, I'll be done in a sec ☺️
Jung Hwa was waiting outside the house, tapping her foot impatiently on the ground until the door finally opened and Ha Na walked outside.
"Why are you so dressed up?" signed Jung Hwa and Ha Na shyly blushed as she replied:
"It just feels nice to dress up."
"You are such a weird girl," was all Jung Hwa signed as she held back her laughter, "shall we get going?"
***
"I will take a strawberry milkshake," said Jung Hwa to the young girl behind the counter, "what do you want?" signed Jung Hwa. The girl watched amazed as Ha Na replied in sign language and Jung Hwa nodded along.
"She will have a banana-chocolate milkshake."
"That is so cool," said the girl as she typed in the order, "It is so nice of you to learn sign language for your friend. How do you sign 'have a nice day'?"
"Like this," said Jung Hwa and showed the girl. The girl then looked at Ha Na and did her best to copy Jung Hwa. Ha Na sent the girl a huge smile and the girl smiled back.
"I will call your name when your order is ready."
Since the weather was nice, the girls decided to enjoy their cold milkshakes outside in the sun. The small ice cream shop was their favorite and they always went their to get a milkshake on warm days, even though it was a bit far away. After sitting for a while without talking to each other, Jung Hwa waved at Ha Na to get her attention.
"Have you heard from that handsome boy yet?" signed Jung Hwa.
"No, and his name is Jimin!" signed Ha Na with an annoyed look on her face.
"What is wrong with handsome boy? He is handsome." Ha Na didn't respond but just sighed and looked down at her half empty milkshake cup. Jung Hwa then waved at her again.
"Are you mad at me?" signed she while looking at Ha Na with her huge puppy eyes, "don't be mad at me," she signed while using all her best facial expressions to look as sad and cute as possible.
"I am not mad at you," signed Ha Na, "I am just a bit sad."
"Is it because Jimin hasn't texted you?" Ha Na nodded. "Maybe he is just busy," Jung Hwa tried to cheer her up.
"Or maybe he just doesn't wanna be friends with me," signed Ha Na.
It became awfully quiet between them and Jung Hwa just sat there with her eyes locked on her sad friend. Not knowing what to do or say, Jung Hwa just finished her milkshake in silence and signed:
"Shall we get going? It will be bad if we are late." Ha Na nodded and quickly finished her milkshake too. They threw out the empty cups and went on their way. As they were walking, Jung Hwa heard her phone ring and she signed for Ha Na to stop walking. Jung Hwa then answered the call.
"Hello," said Jung Hwa.
"Hi Jung Hwa, it is Namjoon."
"Ah hi Namjoon Oppa!"
"Are you with Ha Na?"
"Yes we are on or way."
"That is good. I tried texting Ha Na, but she must not have seen it."
"Probably not. But don't worry, we will be there on time."
"That is good, I will see you soon, bye."
"Bye."
"Who was it?" signed Ha Na.
"Your brother, he wanted to make sure we were on our way. He said he texted you though." Ha Na looked confused but then pulled out her phone and her face immediately turned into complete horror. There were over 10 unread messages from Namjoon asking if she was with Jung Hwa and if they were on their way whereafter he started complaining about her lack of response. She hurried and replied back to him.
Reply to: Joon oppa 💙
Sorry Oppa!!! 😭I didn't see your message. We're on our way now 💙
When Ha Na looked up, Jung Hwa was looking at her with a raised eyebrow and a smirk on her face.
"What?" signed Ha Na.
"You probably had like more than 100 unread messages from your brother."
"No not that many!" signed Ha Na, "let's just go."
"Must be nice to have such a caring older brother. Mine wouldn't care even if I stayed out all night."
"Hakyeon Oppa cares for you more than you think."
"Yes yes... didn't you say we had to get going?" Ha Na laughed a bit and then grabbed Jung Hwa's hand and intertwined her fingers with hers.
"What are you doing?" yelled Jung Hwa, unable to sign with her hand in Ha Na's, but since Ha Na couldn't hear she just kept walking. Jung Hwa rolled her eyes, but then followed along without any objections.
When the girls walked inside the huge building it was already filled with people and Ha Na started feeling a little claustrophobic. She wanted to support Hakyeon everytime he was performing somewhere, but the part about being around so many people, she didn't like. He was the back-up dancer for some boy idol group this time and the fangirls were already going crazy before it had even started. At these times Ha Na was happy she couldn't hear because by the look on Jung Hwa's face, the fangirls were being very loud and very noisy.
As they reached the back stage area they finally saw Namjoon and Hakyeon's heads pop up from the crowd. The benefit of having tall brothers, it was always easy to spot them in a crowd. Namjoon now noticed the girls and he waved at them to make them come over.
"You are here," said Namjoon while signing.
"Yes we are here," replied Jung Hwa, "how are you feeling, Oppa?" she then asked Hakyeon who was all dressed up and with make up on.
"I am feeling great, why would I feel otherwise?" he said and signed for Ha Na.
"You are not nervous?" signed Ha Na.
"I am a good dancer so why should I be nervous. I practiced hard for today." Ha Na giggled and Jung Hwa hit his arm for being so narcissistic.
"Always so confident," said Jung Hwa mockingly.
"Of course," ansered Hakyeon and grabbed Jung Hwa and hugged her against her will. Before she could start complaining, Hakyeon told them to go find their seats so they were ready when the performance began. The three of them did as he said and went to their seat among all the fangirls and fanboys.
"Do you really think he isn't nervous?" signed Ha Na.
"He is a confident guy," replied Namjoon, "but he is opening the show with a solo dance performance before the idol group goes on so I won't believe that he isn't even a tiny bit nervous."
"He isn't," signed Jung Hwa, "he is amazing in that way."
With those words being the last sentence to be signed, the show began. All lights went off and it became pitch black. Ha Na sat on the edge of her seat, waiting for Hakyeon to appear. The stage light then turned on and Hakyeon was standing on stage with several pretty girls around him, none of them moving. The stage light was dimmed down so Ha Na just focused her eyes on Hakyeon waiting for him to start dancing, and then he did. The dance started out very tough with lots of sharp moves, all the dancers doing it synchronically. It was amazing to watch. But then the stage light turned on entirely, the pace slowed down and the theme completely changed. Instead of the rough, sharp dance, it turned into a beautiful and mesmerizing dance. Instead of dancing synchronically, Hakyeon became the center and the girls became more like back-up dancers. Ha Na felt her chest tighten just the way it always did when she watched Hakyeon dance. Every move was so precise and sharp, no mistake allowed, even his facial expression matched his dancing. On stage Hakyeon looked like a king, a king who owned everyone and everything around him, including the floor. On stage Hakyeon didn't dance on the dance floor, he owned the dance floor.
"Woah that was such a great performance!" exclaimed Jung Hwa when everything was over and the three were headed backstage again.
"Yes, and the idol group weren't bad either," signed Namjoon.
"I still think the best part was Hakyeon's performance in the beginning," signed Ha Na. In the same moment Hakyeon appeared before them with casual clothes on and a towel around his neck.
"What did you think?" asked Hakyeon while signing.
"Ha Na just said she thought your performance was the best," signed Namjoon and winked, but he soon regretted as Ha Na slapped his arm.
"Did you really like it?" asked Hakyeon Ha Na.
"Of course I did," answered Ha Na, "you were amazing."
"Are you free to leave now?" asked Namjoon Hakyeon.
"Yes I am all done!"
"Then, should we go eat?"
"YES I AM SO HUNGRY!" said Jung Hwa while signing very enthusiastically. The others just laughed and agreed to get going. Soon the four friends were gathered around a table at a small restaurant enjoying their food in silence. Since it was hard to sign while eating, they had this unspoken rule to stay quiet until everyone was done eating.
"Ma'am," said Namjoon to get the restaurant owner's attention, "can we get two bottles of soju?"
"Are we having soju?" said Jung Hwa.
"Why not?"
"I hate soju," signed Ha Na and stuck out her tongue.
"Then just drink your cola," signed Namjoon and rolled his eyes.
In the end Ha Na took one glass of soju, but she couldn't even keep a straight face while drinking it, and the others couldn't hold back their laughter once they saw her funny expression. After that she refused to drink anymore.
The others, on the other hand, finished off the two bottles in no time and the atmosphere seemed to lighten up greatly. Soon it was Ha Na just rolling her eyes while watching her half drunkenly friends act weird.
"What is wrong with you today?" said Hakyeon and signed to Ha Na.
"She is upset because that hot guy hasn't texted her yet," Jung Hwa blurted out even though Ha Na tried to stop her hands.
"You gave him your number?" signed Namjoon in rage.
"Wait, what are we talking about?" asked Hakyeon.
"Ha Na met a boy," said Jung Hwa between her giggles.
"A boy? When did Ha Na meet a boy?" asked Hakyeon.
"Why did you give him your number?" signed Namjoon.
"Because he is handsome, duh!" said Jung Hwa.
"You have met him too?" Namjoon and Hakyeon said at the same time. Jung Hwa just gave a thumbs up.
"Does mom know you gave him your number?" asked Namjoon.
"Please don't tell her!" pleaded Ha Na.
"Of course I will tell her!"
"But-"
"Do you really think he will be your friend. It will just end up like last time." Ha Na's eyes widened and both Jung Hwa and Hakyeon looked at Namjoon who didn't seem to feel bad about what he said.
"Ouch!" said Namjoon as Jung Hwa hit him on the head.
"Why did you bring up that old story?" whispered Jung Hwa. Namjoon was about to speak up when the sound of a chair moving was heard and Ha Na got up and left the table.
"See, you made her sad!" yelled Jung Hwa and hit Namjoon again.
"Will you stop hitting me already, you were the one who brought up that... that guy!"
"But you made it worse!"
While Jung Hwa and Namjoon were arguing loudly over who made matters worse, Hakyeon also got up from his chair and followed Ha Na outside the restaurant. It was late so the sun had set already and only the street light and the moon was shining down upon them. Hakyeon found Ha Na standing a bit away. When he came closer he noticed the tears that were falling from her cheeks. She wasn't crying loudly or uncontrollably, she just stood there calm and quiet and let the tears fall without worry.
"Are you okay?" signed Hakyeon and Ha Na tried to force a smile, "your brother is a bit drunk, don't take it to the heart."
"Maybe he is right, I shouldn't try to make friends, who would want to be friends with me anyway. I am too much of a burden."
"You are not a burden to me!" signed Hakyeon and moved a bit closer to Ha Na.
"I am," Ha Na replied, "you had to learn sign language because of me."
"No, I didn't have to do anything. I did it because I wanted to. Because I wanted to be friends with you."
"Thanks," said Ha Na and tried to wipe away her tears.
"Come here!" signed Hakyeon and held out his arms. Ha Na moved closer and wrapped her own arms around his body, as he did the same to her. He always gave her a hug when she was sad, it was the fastest and the best way to calm her down. After a little while they let go of each other and Ha Na signed "thanks" once again.
"I am glad you are making new friends, but just promise me you won't forget me," signed Hakyeon.
"I won't," promised Ha Na.
"And you should still be careful around a boy you just met, you can't trust young boys."
"Alright I will," signed Ha Na, "should we go back?"
"Yes let us."
As they returned to the table, Jung Hwa and Namjoon were still arguing like an old married couple and Hakyeon had to pull both their ears to make them stop and listen.
"Both of you apologize to Ha Na," said Hakyeon while still holding their ears, "you are both at fault for making her sad."
"Sorry,"
"Sorry, Ha Na," they said.
"It is okay," signed Ha Na and Hakyeon let go of them.
"I will go pay, then we should leave before it gets too late."
After parting ways outside their houses, Ha Na and Namjoon said their goodnights before heading straight to bed. But even though Ha Na felt tired, once she got in bed she couldn't sleep. She took out her phone and realized it was out of power, so she put it to charge and waited for it to turn on. Once it turned on she decided to check for any new messages and noticed one from an unknown number.
From: - Unknown -
Hey.... It's me, Park Jimin.
I was wondering. Do you wanna meet up sometime?
Hello everyone!
I really hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope you don't mind the slow pace the story has. Please consider leaving a comment down below and letting me know what you think.
Remember to take good care of yourself and stay safe.
Love, Annalise~