Chapter 46

An hour and a half later...
Ara's POV...
After an hour and a half of having some snacks, drinking, and dancing along with Grace as we attempt to annoy the hell out of Tracy, who literally started a drama after she was chosen as prom queen, I was starting to feel tired and thought that I'll probably be leaving soon. 
"Grace, I'll be going back soon," I say as I watch Grace having her 5th cupcake for tonight. 
"What? Girl, it's only been like an hour and a half," Grace states.
"Yeah, but I'm starting to feel. I already called my dad to pick me up," I say.
Ah, ok, Ara. Get some rest tonight," Grace says as she gives me a hug, in which I hug her back.
"You too, Grace," I say. "Well, I'm gonna go look for Zach now. See you!"
"See you, Ara," Grace says as I walk away from her in search of Zach. At least I'm gonna tell him that I'll be leaving soon.
As I search for Zach in the crowded room, the song changes from an upbeat tune, to a more slow yet romantic music style. At this point, I can see some couples starting to dance slowly together, matching the harmony of the music. For a second it almost feels like I'm at a fancy ball, where everybody's just busy waltzing with one another. Looking at this scene actually gives me a vision of having a good romantic dance. Well, being honest to myself, for a moment I hope that Junghwa is here, and maybe he could share with me one dance.
As I continue my search, I spot Zach standing in the corner, chatting with Matt as I see the two are having a good laugh while enjoying a glass of juice.
"Hey! What's up?" I ask the two boys upon approaching them.
"Just chilling," Matt says. Meanwhile, Zach turns his head to see me. His lips instantly forms a big smile when our eyes meet.
"Good," I say. "Well, I'll be going be home soon. My dad is on the way."
"What? Alexa, you literally just got here," Zach states.
"I've been here for about an hour and a half. I'm starting to feel tired," I say, which is true. I'm not one who enjoys crowded places too much, by that I feel exhausted.
"Well, tell your mom I said happy birthday," Zach says.
I smiled. I am touched by Zach's sweet words, knowing that his concern for my mom was really something that touched my heart well. As we continue to stare at each other, I noticed how perfect he looked tonight. It's not everyday I get to see Zach all dressed up. Well, this is the second time. The first would be when he invited me out for dinner out of surprise.
"Thanks, Zach," I say.
"No problem," Zach says. "By the way, can I ask you for one dance just before you go?"
In a gentle manner, Zach lets out his right hand with his brown eyes not leaving mine. Feeling like I got enchanted by his gaze, I form a small smile on my lips as I give him my hand, signaling that I accept his request of a dance.
"You may," I say with a smile, in which he smiles back and quickly drags me to the dance floor, making my heart skipped a beat.
As we reach the dance floor, Zach and I start to dance slowly along with the music. With the lights of the room starting to change into warmer colors, again our eyes are lost while staring at one another. Under the colorful lights, his brown eyes sparkles while staring into mine. While studying his charming face, I realized how Zach had been such a sweet friend to me all this time. Even through my long drama of feelings towards Junghwa, never did he left me for a second and had always been my shoulder to cry on. Other than that, he had been my all time mood booster whenever I'm feeling down. Realizing this, I figured how I'm definitely gonna miss him after we all graduate.
"Ara, are you ok?" Zach asks as we continue to dance.
"I'm fine," I say. "Just...I thought of something."
"What is it?" Zach asks.
"Thank you for always being there for me, Zach," I say. "You're a good friend."
"Hey, don't mention it. That's what friends are for," Zach says in a chill tone, though his lips forms a smile big enough for me to notice how happy he looked after he heard what I wanted to say.
"Man, I'm gonna miss you after we graduate," I say. "Though I wish you the best with college."
"Thanks," Zach says, his cheeks starting to blush a light shade of pink. 
"I wish you the best as well," Zach states. 
Hearing that, I smile at Zach as we continue to dance to the romantic song playing in the background. Though from his eyes I could tell that he has a lot more he wanted to say, yet for me, it didn't matter about what he didn't want to say through the lips, since his eyes are speaking louder. I guess learning to play the piano with understanding the lyrics from within really helped me a lot. In this moment, I figured that to read the lyrics of one's heart, I only need to understand the meaning from his eyes.
55 minutes later...
At Ara's house...
"Ok, home sweet home," says my dad as he unbuckles his seat-belts. 
I yawn as I unbuckle my seat-belts as well. Right now I just want to jump on my bed and fall into a deep sleep for who knows how long, not wanting to worry too much about tomorrow since all I can think about is sleep.
"Well, but your friend is here. He had been waiting for a while, and I think you should talk to him first," my dad says, making me turn my head to face him and raise my right eyebrow.
"My friend? Who?" I ask in a confused tone.
"Hwang Junghwa. He's waiting for you," my dad says, making my jaws literally drop.
A few minutes later...
At the piano room...
I open the door of the piano room wide. In front of my vision, I see Junghwa sitting in front of the piano, gently playing a soft music which I haven't heard before. To my surprise, he's all dressed up in white long sleeves shirt, complete with a black bow tie, black pants with matching black shoes. His eyes are closed as I study his face which looked like he's really playing the piano with his heart. As if the music he is playing is the melody of his heart.
"Junghwa, what are you doing?" I ask him.
"Waiting for you," Junghwa says. He stops playing the piano, yet his vision remains only on the keys, completely refusing any eye contact with me.
"Right. Shouldn't you be at prom tonight?" I ask him as I cross my arms. Honestly I was kind of upset when I knew he skipped prom just to wait for me. He skipped a one night event for a girl he didn't have interest with? Yeah right.
"And shouldn't you be at home celebrating your mom's birthday?" he asks me, which I thought was quite bold for him to ask me that. Well, he shot me well.
"We had dinner together, yet they told me that I should still attend prom," I say.
"I see," he says, slowly shifting his vision from the piano keys to my eyes.
I sigh. "Why did you skipped prom?"
"I wanted to visit you since I thought you weren't going," he says.
Hearing his answer, I sigh. I couldn't say I was satisfy to hear it, yet I appreciate his honesty if what he said really was true. Though I want to believe that the sweet things he said were true, sometimes I'm just insecure about it. 
I walk up to him and stood beside him. An awkward silence fills the air as the two of us are at lost with words for a moment. 
"My parents still wants me to attend medical school," Junghwa says, finally breaking the awkward silence between us.
"Oh, I see," I say. "But, have you told them about what you really want?"
Junghwa chuckles. "I did. But they said they don't want to fall asleep knowing that their son didn't attend medical school like how they would wanted it to be."
"Man, that sucks," I say. "I'm sorry about that."
"It's ok. Well, it's true that we don't always get what we want," Junghwa says.
"Yeah, you're right," I say. Somehow, his words really felt deep to me. On another sad, it's also a sad reality which we all have to wake up to. Despite the desires, but in life, we can't always get everything we want, and love.
"I really hope you get to pursue your dreams in the future," Junghwa says. 
I smile. "And I hope you'll also be happy with whatever happens."
Hearing that, Junghwa turns his head to face me. He slowly gets up from the chair, standing right in front of me as the two of us get into another intense eye contact. Staring into his brown eyes, I remember how a few months ago, I was so enchanted by every gaze he gave me, that my butterflies would start dancing inside of me for every second we glance at one another. At the time, it was the most magical feeling I ever experienced.
"So, Ara. Can I ask you a question?" Junghwa asks, his vision slowly shifts away from mine, as his face now looks a bit awkward.
"Sure. What is it?" I ask him.
"Have you ever consider to be in a relationship with someone after college?" Junghwa asks.
"For now, I honestly don't know. Because learning about what I really want, I realized that what I desire most in a relationship, isn't the relationship itself," I say.
"Why is that?" Junghwa asks.
"I was in love with the love. I loved that feeling, though it was both the best and worst feeling I ever experienced. Yet, being in love taught me the true meaning of love itself, and that it's not based on a relationship. To love genuinely is to love freely, even though you can't always have that person and be the together," I say.
Hearing my words, I noticed Junghwa's eyes starting to fill with tears, though he struggles hard to hold them back, with his lips pretending to form a chuckle as he looks away. Looking at him almost tearing up, I couldn't help but also feel tears coming out from my eyes. In an attempt to comfort him, I slowly step closer to him. I gently put my arms around him, hugging him tight as I let myself soak into the embrace.
"Maybe one day, I'll be able to understand the lyrics of your heart, just like how you understand the keys of the piano with yours," I say in a low tone.
"You already did," Junghwa says. From his voice, I could tell that he's struggling to sound chill, yet there's a hidden sadness from the tone.
"Perhaps, you can help me create my own little prom," Junghwa adds.
"How?" I ask him in a low tone.
"May I have the permission to dance with you?" he asks. After a while, again he got my heart beating slightly faster. Hearing that, I form a small smile on my lips as a tear slide down from my eyes.
"You may," I say, as I slowly release the hug. He lets out his hand in which I accept, and the two of us begin to dance. Even without any music playing, having the piano by our side was already a nice view.
Though the friendship we had went dramatic for a few months, giving us the taste of a roller-coaster ride in our friendship, yet, looking back now, I am grateful for the feelings I have which shaped me into who I am, giving a lot of experiences which became a big influence in my growth. To love and to let go, was both the most beautiful yet sad feeling I had to learn. Yet, it was also the feeling that opened my eyes, that one thing for sure, was that the love I had for him was real, true, and genuine. Just maybe, if one day I eventually forget about my feelings, I would look back again, and know that what I felt was a beautiful serendipity on its own. 
Jay Hwang Junghwa, I love you. Always have, always will. 
THE END.
 

Book Comment (462)

  • avatar
    Alhyea

    from the cover alone , i know this is good

    01/07

      0
  • avatar
    DaenAntonio

    nice

    12/06

      0
  • avatar
    Casillano Boduy Blenz

    love this🥰

    25/05

      0
  • View All

End

Recommendations for you