Chapter 34

"Reminiscing"

While peddling away on his bike, Taehyun raised his head and felt the fresh summer breeze hit his face and wake him up completely. He lowered his head again, remembering to keep his eyes on the road ahead of him, but he allowed himself to slow down his pace, enjoying the lovely weather he had been blessed with today.

It almost felt unreal that summer was once again here. A whole year had passed by in a flash. So many things had happened and it was hard to comprehend it all. What would this summer bring?

Maybe I can convince Noona to go to the beach with me during summer holidays, thought Taehyun to himself and chuckled. Even thinking about going on summer dates with Yoo Jin felt surreal. 

This summer really was a blessing in a lot of ways, but there was one more thing this summer brought along. Something that called out emotions like anticipation, excitement and sadness. A mixture of all the best conflicting feelings and Taehyun could already feel the butterflies in his stomach as he saw the School before his eyes.

Graduation was near.

***

"So," said Soobin after sitting down with his lunch at the usual table in the Cafeteria, "did anyone else get a reply from the Universities they applied to?"

"I got two replies yesterday," said Beomgyu and took a sip of his juice, "I got accepted to both of them."

"Woah!" said Kai and stared at Beomgyu in awe, "that is, what, 5 universities you have been accepted to so far? Your parents must be proud."

"I guess they are," said Beomgyu and shrugged, "although they wish I got into one of the big three rather than an average universities."

"There is still hope for that, isn't there?" asked Soobin.

"I was rejected by Korea University and Yonsei," said Beomgyu and let out a sigh, "only Seoul National University is left, I can't help but feel it will be a rejection too."

"Don't say that, we believe in you!" said Kai and made a fist while mouthing 'fighting', as did Soobin.

"Hey there, what are we talking about?" asked Yeonjun as he sat down, along with Taehyun who was following right behind him.

"Getting accepted into universities," said Soobin, "did you hear from the Art School, Taehyun?" Taehyun looked up but his eyes had no expression in them and he immediately let out a sigh, resulting in deep silence at the table.

"Don't worry so much," said Yeonjun and padded his friend on the back, "you will hear from them soon, and I am sure you have been accepted."

"I hope so…" said Taehyun and forced out a smile, "I really don't want all of Yoo Jin Noona's effort to go to waste."

"That is your concern?" said Yeonjun and rolled his eyes, "shouldn't you be more worried about obtaining your dream?"

"I guess, but this isn't some lifelong dream of mine, as long as I can be with the people I love, I think I could settle for almost any career path."

"I feel the same way," said Soobin, "my teachers kept pushing me to apply for universities, but I stand by my decision to work at my dad's company. I like this town, and I like the people in it. I don't feel an urge to leave anytime soon."

"I don't understand you two at all," said Yeonjun and shook his head in disbelief.

"Me neither," said Kai, "if I didn't get accepted to the music conservatory, I wouldn't have known what to do." Yeonjun nodded understandingly.

"What about you, Beomgyu?" asked Yeonjun, "will you be sad if you don't get accepted to Seoul National?" Beomgyu looked up and thought for a while, until he shrugged his shoulders.

"Personally, I don't really care," said Beomgyu, "I just want my parents to be proud of me."

"Such a doting son," said Taehyun and chuckled, "I guess we are all very different from each other."

"You are right," said Kai, "and I guess… that means… after graduation… many of us won't see each other again…" It suddenly turned quiet at the table while everyone looked down at their half eaten food, no words leaving their mouth, until suddenly, Soobin spoke up again.

"Well, as I said earlier, I am not going anywhere," said Soobin, "you guys are the ones who are leaving, so if you want to find me, you know where I am."

"You are right," said Beomgyu," and I am sure we will all see each other once in a while, even though it won't be as often as it used to be."

"I guess I will be stuck with this guy, unless he breaks up with my sister for some reason," said Yeonjun in a teasing voice.

"I will never break up with her!" said Taehyun firmly, "you just have to accept the fact that I will become your brother in law one day."

"Seriously… don't say that… you are ruining my appetite," said Yeonjun and the rest of the boys started laughing. 

***

Yoo Jin walked inside the empty and quiet house, whereafter she quickly took off her shoes and dragged her tired body into the living room where she plopped her body down on the sofa.

Well, that went horrible, thought Yoo Jin to herself as she replayed the scene from the job interview she just went to a few hours earlier. Even if she knew it was a long shot, she was still happy to finally get a job interview, the first one in several weeks. On top of that, she had to travel for more than two hours each way, now only to return home with an unsatisfied feeling in her stomach.

She tilted her head backwards and looked at the clock, figuring her mother would be home soon and if it was a good day, her father could also stumble inside the house any minute now. The only one who was more unpredictable than her father these days, was her brother. That boy would sneak inside the house past midnight, and he would still wake up on time the next morning, going to school deliberately and keeping up his grades. 

I hope his graduation comes sooner so he doesn't have to put so much energy into two things, thought Yoo Jin and let out a sigh, looking at the clock again. Time sure seemed to move slower when you were alone and in a bad mood.

While still deep in thoughts, Yoo Jin was pulled back to earth when she heard a loud, aggressive knock on the door and she quickly stood up from the sofa, walking to the hallway. When she opened the door, a young boy ran past her, inside the house until he stood behind her in the hallway, looking into her eyes with great enthusiasm written on his face.

"Taehyun… what are you-" 

"I HAVE NEWS!" yelled out Taehyun, completely interrupting Yoo Jin in her sentence. Yoo Jin just closed the door behind her, looking at the young boy in front of her, waiting for him to continue.

"So, you know how I applied to the Art School," said Taehyun and Yoo Jin nodded.

"Yes."

"And you know how I didn't get any reply from them, even though all my friends heard back from the schools and universities they applied to."

"Yes."

"I was getting really anxious at this point, I was certain I didn't get in, and even though it wasn't my long life dream, I was still looking forward to it in a way, maybe more than I thought I was." Yoo Jin listened to the long rant from Taehyun, still waiting for him to reach some sort of conclusion.

"Today, when I got home from school, my mom was waiting for me in the kitchen," said Taehyun, almost no air left to speak, "with a letter in her hand." Taehyun closed his mouth and looked at Yoo Jin with some sort of anticipation, all the while Yoo Jin still looked at Taehyun with the same empty expression as before, not quite sure she understood everything clearly.

"I GOT IN!" yelled Taehyun finally and Yoo Jin's face quickly lit up in a broad smile.

"Really?" yelled Yoo Jin in return, "congratulations!" Yoo Jin and Taehyun both went in for a hug and stayed in each other's embrace, feeling so happy that they didn't even hear the door open and realize someone was standing next to them, until they heard that person clear their throat.

"Mom," said Yoo Jin and took a step away from Taehyun, "welcome home."

"Thank you," said Jeong-Yeon while she glared at Taehyun.

"Mom, Taehyun just stopped by because he had some good news to share with me," explained Yoo Jin as she felt the atmosphere growing colder by the second.

"Is that so," said Jeong-Yeon, "then let me hear it." Taehyun looked startled by the sudden approach from Jeong-Yeon, but he managed to pull himself together and took a step forward.

"I… I got a reply from the Art School I applied to," said Taehyun, trying to keep his composure, but his happiness and enthusiasm was too much for him to hide, "I got in!" Jeong-Yeon stared into the eyes of what seemed more like an overly excited puppy and she felt her heart drop a little, a faint smile appearing on her face, surprising both of the young people.

"I am very happy on your behalf," said Jeong-Yeon, again with a faint smile on her face, as she walked past them and into the house. Taehyun and Yoo Jin stayed behind in the hallway, not really knowing what to do with themselves, until suddenly, Jeong-Yeon turned around and looked their way again.

"Why don't you stay for dinner." Taehyun and Yoo Jin looked at each other in disbelief, then turned their eyes back to Jeong-Yeon.

"Are you sure?" asked Taehyun, "I don't want to intrude."

"It's okay," said Jeong-Yeon, "it is nice to have an extra person at the dinner table, especially these days where we rarely see Yeonjun."

After agreeing to Jeong-Yeon's offer to stay for dinner, Jeong-Yeon quickly started preparing the food. Yoo Jin tried her best to help out in the kitchen, while Taehyun stood in background, feeling like he would only be in the way if he interfered.

Time passed by and just before the food was done, Se Hyeong returned home and gave his greetings to everyone standing in the kitchen, whereafter he sat down at the dinner table with his news paper.

Watching Se Hyeong relaxing, absorbed in the news from the local community and smelling the food of Jeong-Yeon's home cooking while watching Yoo Jin trying to help, most of the time failing miserably, gave a sort of nostalgic feeling in Taehyun's chest. Just like the old days, the same feeling he had in his own house with his own parents. The feeling of being home.

Suddenly, a lightbulb seemed to switch on in Taehyun's head, a sort of sudden impulse, a silly idea, and Taehyun couldn't help but let out a slight chuckle.

"What are you laughing at?" asked Yoo Jin and turned around. At this point she wasn't even helping anymore.

"Noona," said Taehyun with a certain smirk on his face, "do you want to see a magic trick?"

"What?" said Yoo Jin in a laugh, "do you still know magic tricks?"

"Of course I do," said Taehyun, looking slightly insulted, "and I learned a really good one recently." 

"Is that so," said Yoo Jin, "then why don't you show it to me?"

With great pleasure, Taehyun showed Yoo Jin a card trick he learned a while back, but he never got to show her, in midst of all the things that happened in their life. 

"Ta-dah!" said Taehyun after finishing the trick and Yoo Jin clapped her hands.

"That was great," said Yoo Jin, "I guess you are still a magic boy."

"I guess," said Taehyun, "I don't miss the nickname, though." Yoo Jin laughed, thinking about how much their relationship had changed during this last year.

"Are you two coming?" said Jeong-Yeon, "dinner is ready."

After everyone sat down at the table, they started eating and nobody said anything for the first couple of minutes. Nobody wanted to waste the good food and let it get cold, so they quickly emptied their plate.

"How was your job interview today, Noona?" asked Taehyun, but after seeing the look on her face, he quickly wished he could swallow his words.

"It went bad, I see," said Jeong-Yeon and Yoo Jin looked up with a disappointed look on her face.

"As always," said Yoo Jin and let out a sigh, "at this point I just feel like giving up."

"No, don't say that!" said Taehyun, "I am sure something will turn up."

"The young man is right," said Se Hyeong.

"Didn't you say you had another job interview in a week?" asked Jeong-Yeon.

"I do, but…" Yoo Jin stopped talking, gaining the attention of everyone at the table.

"But?" said Jeong-Yeon, "what possible reason could there be for you to say 'but'?"

"The job is in Busan," said Yoo Jin, already knowing where this would lead.

"And?" said Jeong-Yeon.

"It is just so far away," explained Yoo Jin, "Taehyun's Art School is in Seoul, that is 3 hours away from Busan."

"Yoo Jin," said Jeong-Yeon with a sigh, "you better not be telling me you are willing to give up a job, just because it is far away from the University your boyfriend is going to be attending."

"Your mother is right," said Taehyun, "if there is a chance you can get a job, I don't want you to even think about me. Just go to the interview!" Yoo Jin looked at her boyfriend with saddened eyes.

"But," said Yoo Jin again, only to be interrupted by Taehyun.

"No buts," said Taehyun firmly, "I might love you and I do want to be by your side as much as possible. But I also want what is best for you, and that is for you to get a job. So just go to the job interview."

"Fine," said Yoo Jin and pouted.

"Taehyun," said Jeong-Yeon, "I am starting to like you more and more." Taehyun looked proud as he got praised by his mother in law.

"But yes, Yoo Jin, listen to your boyfriend," continued Jeong-Yeon, "you don't even know what will happen if you go to that job interview. Just give it a try, alright?" Yoo Jin looked at her mother for a second before nodding her head slightly.

"Alright."

Hello everyone!

We are nearing the end and I hope you have enjoyed the story so far. What do you think will happen at the job interview?

Writing this chapter, not only did my characters reminisce about their past, it also made me reminisce about my time in school. It's weird when you leave school and all those people who were a part of your every day life for the last 10 years, suddenly go a separate way from you. I don't have much contact with people from my school days, but I still like to think back on that time as a happy memory. 

Please take good care of yourself and stay safe!

Love, Annalise~