章 12: Ten

Oh Areum

"That was Min Yoongi, Yoona's ex-boyfriend..."

"Min Yoongi? Is he the guy that you mentioned the other day? The one you wanted me to stay away from?"

"Yeah, him."

"He was Yoona's ex-boyfriend? What happened between them? Why did they break up?"

"He-" Hoseok let out a deep sigh before continuing.

"He cheated on Yoona."

"Wait what?! That asshole cheated on Yoona and he had the audacity to fucken kis-" I shut my mouth instantly almost exposing myself.

"Yeah. He cheated on her but you know what hurts the most?"

I stare at Hoseok waiting for him to continue.

"Yoongi was also my friend. And because of me, Yoona fell in love with Yoongi. Because of me, Yoona took her own life. It was my fault..."

Hoseok grips his head in pain and lets out a heartfelt cry. I pull the crying boy into an embrace hoping to give him some sort of comfort.

"Oppa, it wasn't your fault. Don't blame yourself."

Once Hoseok Oppa had calmed down, he finally told me Yoona's and Yoongi's story, about all three of their story.

"Yoongi and I met freshmen year of high school. Everyone knew who I was. I was the rich timid nerd of the school and people picked on me a lot cause I was so easily frightened. Yoongi had stepped up for me when I was getting beat up by my usual bully one day. He made sure my bully stopped hurting me. No one had ever stood up for me before. I felt safe with him so I stuck to him like glue ever since.

I admired him for his toughness and bravery, cause I was never like him. I was always scared of practically everything. He was your typical bad boy in high school. He smoked and drank, skipped class, hurt anyone who was too rough with me, but he never pressured me or asked me to do anything I didn't want to do.

One thing about Yoongi was that he was a musical genius. He played the piano really well and the reason why he would skip class was so that he could go to the music room just to play the piano a little longer.

And Yoongi being Yoongi, he got a fake ID so that he could work underage to support his younger sister and himself. The two were pretty much orphans. Their father had cheated on their mom and she ended up killing him out of jealously and rage when she found out. His mother is lock-up for life and ever since that incident, Yoongi and his sister had the title of being a murderer's child.

I saw past those labels that were thrown at Yoongi. I knew he was a good person and he became my most trusted friend. He was a good person despite his actions and choices sometimes. Or at least I thought he was a good person back then.

I was against him working underage. I offered him money cause he was a good friend of mine, but he refused it every time. If I bought presents for him, he would end up selling it and returned the money back to me. So when I found out that all he had to do at his job was play the piano to entertain the guest, I dropped it.

Yoongi was the kind of guy I would never introduce my sister to. He was my friend but I know him. He never took girls seriously. He didn't love any of the girls he ever been with. I knew that and he knew, I knew that. I told him my sister was off-limits and yet he still managed to get Yoona to fall in love with him.

She entered high school and being my little sister, I introduced the two to each other. Yoona had snuck out of the house one time with her friends and ended up at Yoongi's workplace. She saw Yoongi there and knowing that I was Yoongi's friend, she asked Yoongi not to let me know that she had snuck out and went out when she was underage.

And that's where she fell hard for Yoongi and his music. She heard him playing that night and was easily swayed by my friend. She had told us after that night that she joined a night class. But little did we know, she went to see Yoongi at work every night and her night class didn't even exist. Yoongi was the one who taught Yoona how to play the guitar and piano.

When I first found out about them, I was furious at my friend. I was so angry I almost ended our friendship. But I decided to give them a chance. I told Yoongi to never break Yoona's heart or I would personally and physically hurt him.

And for the first time in my life, I thought my sister might have gotten through to his head. He had stopped seeing other girls and all his attention was solely focused on Yoona. That's when I gave them my blessings to date. I was genuinely happy for the two of them. They dated for two years, and when Yoona graduated from high school, she wanted to marry Yoongi. She didn't want to continue school and wanted to have kids and start a family with Yoongi.

My parents weren't too happy about it. They wanted Yoona to continue school and to wait on marriage since she had just finished high school, but Yoona was stubborn. She fought for their love and I even agreed to their marriage since I knew how much she loves him. I thought my friend loved her too and would want the same thing. Yoona and I finally convinced our parents to let them get married.

We went over to Yoongi's place to tell him the news that my parents agreed to the marriage and we found him..."

Hoseok pauses his story to rub his head. I could see that whatever memories that he was remember were hurting him.

"...we found him with another girl in his bed. Yoona broke that day and I witnessed her break down. She cried and cried and cried, but that fucker didn't even seem bothered by it one bit. He said he never wanted to marry Yoona. If he marries Yoona, then that means that he will be stuck with one girl for the rest of his life. He said he didn't want that kind of commitment.

He hurt her so badly that day that when we came back home she broke her guitar and swore to never play music again. She asked to leave for America as soon as possible, even before she was accepted to any university in America. I thought it would be best for her too if she was as far away as possible from Yoongi, from Korea..... but I was so wrong Areum."

Hoseok lets out a cry that pained me so deeply.

"He hurt my sister so severely to the point where she killed herself. She was depressed and I wasn't there to protect her from those haunting nightmares that she had every night. Yoona was so good at hiding her sorrow that no one knew how much she was suffering alone. I wanted to blame Yoongi when I read her diary that she left in America, but I could have prevented it all Areum. If I never let them meet, Yoona would still be alive. If I had to step my foot down in the beginning and never let the two date, Yoona would still be alive. I killed my own sister Areum, and I hate Yoongi so much for making me feel this way. He's a reminder to me that I killed my own sister. I hate him! I fucken hate him so much Areum."

I didn't know when it started, but my eyes had teared up at Hoseok's tragic story. He was sobbing into his hands while I just sat silently next to him. I put a hand on his shoulder to give him any comfort that I could.

"Hoseok Oppa, it's not your fault. It's no one's fault but that asshole's. He wasn't man enough to love your beautiful sister like she should have been loved. And it's unfortunate that your sister couldn't see that she could have met someone a thousand times better than Yoongi, but we can't change what's happened already. I know for a fact that Yoona would never want you to blame yourself. I know I wouldn't when you are the best brother in the world and I'm not even your real sister."

Hoseok let out a small smile at my last sentence before finally sitting up and wiping away his teary eyes.

"I know this is so much to take in and I'm sorry for throwing all this onto you Areum, but please stay away from Min Yoongi. I almost had a heart attack earlier when I saw you with him."

"You don't have to worry about that Hoseok Oppa. There's no reason to meet him. And even if we meet by chance, I know who he is now so I can avoid him."

Hoseok let out a breath of relief as he heard me.

"Thank you Areum."

I smile towards Hoseok playfully teasing him.

"You know what Oppa, you keep breaking our contract's first term. You're still calling me by my real name."

"I think... I think I want to keep doing that."

"H-huh?" I stammered while being flustered at his response. He turns to face me and I noticed that we were a little too close to each other.

"Can I call you Areum when it's just the two of us? It's crazy weird. You may have my sister's face, but I'm starting to see less and less of her in you and just... Oh Areum."

My heart had started to increase when I saw the way Hoseok had started to lean in closer and closer towards me.

Just before our lips could touch, I realized what we were just about to do. I stood up abruptly and told Hoseok that I was going to go take a shower.

"Oh, right. It's been a crazy day today. I'm sure you're tired. I'll order some food for you while you shower and then I'll be leaving. Remember to get up early tomorrow. I'll be here to take you home."

"Thank you Oppa, I'll uhh- I'll go shower now."

I rushed away to the bathroom and closed the door shut. I ran to the sink and splashed some cold water onto my face.

"We almost kissed! Why did we almost kiss?"

'Can I call you Areum when it's just the two of us? It's crazy weird. You may have my sister's face, but I'm starting to see less and less of her in you and just... Oh Areum.'

I blushed hard at his words but hit my own chest.

"No! Bad heart. You cannot like Hoseok. He's not yours. He has a girlfriend. You know how much Hoseok hates Yoongi for cheating and hurting his sister, don't make him hate himself Areum. Keep your head on straight."

I shook all thoughts out of my head before stripping down and took a cold shower to cool myself off.

**********

Jung Hoseok

I watched on as Areum made her way to the bathroom and I was so glad after she left the room. I fell back into the sofa as I crazily messed up my own hair.

I don't know why I almost kissed her.

She's supposed to be my sister! What the hell Jung Hoseok?!

What's wrong with me? I don't know, but I know I like being around her. She's funny, got a really bad temper, and a foul mouth, but then that's what makes her so different from Yoona too.

And then there is Somi who's been my girlfriend since Sophmore in high school. All our memories together weren't always bad. Lately, Somi and I have been arguing more than usual. I spend most of my time with Areum to help train her, so I admit that I haven't been the best boyfriend who takes her out on dates, but why can't she understand when I say that I am busy. If I'm not working then I have to help Areum familiarize herself with my family. I couldn't really tell Somi the truth about Areum, because she will for sure misunderstand and think I'm cheating. That's why I suggested to Areum to not let Somi know for now.

I shook all thoughts out of my head and got up to call room service. I ordered some food for Areum before finally leaving the hotel.

To Be Continued...