☀︎︎𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 SIXTEEN☀︎︎
"Oh my god. Whose the guy?"
Late 2000s
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The month of celebration, December. The month of Christmas and New Years. The time to spend with family and friends, enjoy every meal and festival. New Years, it's a new year of living and another year to celebrate. Lights, music, talking, and food are a huge thing everywhere these days in South Korea. Ji-hye decided to visit Yongin, her hometown where she grew up.

Visiting Yongin was a trip Ji-hye and Joon-ho planned before the holidays. Ji-hye wanted Joon-ho to meet her family and see if her mother would approve of him even though Ji-hye hates her mother with all her guts. But since her and Joon-ho broke up, Ji-hye came all by herself.

This place made her feel alive but her heart ached as she remembered about the times she would spend time with her father while her mother was at work. He would always draw with her, play marbles , tell her stories, try to do her hair, play hopscotch, and just normal father-daughter activities. Ji-hye had just freshly turned thirteen when her father died after battling with Lung Cancer. It was devastating and the downfall of her life. Her mother started to have an alcohol problem, she couldn't handle being all by herself, raising their only daughter.

Mi-cha (the mother) and Mi-cha's mother (Kyung-Mi) decided that it would be best if Ji-hye stayed with her instead of Mi-cha. Kyung-mi would take care of her on the weekdays but on the weekends Ji-hye would spend time with her mother. Ji-hye did enjoy every moment with her mother since she could barely see her. Mi-cha took advantage of their close bond and set Ji-hye with a guy who came from a wealthy family. Mi-cha was so desperate for money that she convinced Ji-hye that her relationship with the older guy wasn't bad, that age was just a number. Ji-hye was fifteen and the guy was nineteen, she was manipulated by the guy and her own mother.

"Sonneyo, are you sure you don't want to tell your mother you're back in town?" Kyung-mi asked, interrupting Ji-hye's thoughts.

"No, Halmeoni. I don't want some face to ruin my holidays."

"Ji-hye, you may hate her but she's still your mother. Yeah she made a cruel mistake but she misses you."

"Yeah."

"You know, she's proud of how far you made it. C'mon, you made it to SNU. The hardest school to get into, and you did all that without her."

"Yeah because I have my Halmeoni, the one who supported me through everything and never gave up on me. You deserve that thanks, not her." Ji-hye went over to where her grandma was, "Thank you." She smiled and hugged her.

"Ah my sweet Ji-hye, what would I do without your kindness?" She hugged her back. "You really should come visit often."

"If I had all the time in the world, I would always love to come." Ji-hye pulled away from the hug. "But I have studies and have to work. I just came from mid-terms and they're a pain in the as- butt." Kyung-mi chuckled

"Well luckily, we're having a feast for you, it was a feast that should've been planned earlier since you got into SNU, but you've been busy."

"Halmeoni, it's a month for family and friends."

"Oh stop, you also deserve to be recognized for your smartness." She pinched Ji-hye's cheek softly before walking to the kitchen. Ji-hye followed behind her.

"Do you need any help? I can help you with a few things. I didn't make plans."

"I told Bon-hwa that you were in town."

"Bon-hwa?"

"Don't you remember your own childhood best friend?"

"Y-yeah, I remember her but I thought she moved to Jeju Island with her husband and kid. Well that's what I heard."

"She's been back for awhile, her and her husband divorced."

"Why did they get divorced? They made a hell of a couple- I mean a really good couple."

"Supposedly he did something to Bon-hwa so they got divorced but she took custody of her son, poor kid, he's only six."

"I did not know that."

"You should visit her, I'm sure she'll be excited to see you. It has been many years since you guys talked."

-

Ji-hye contacted Bon-hwa and they both decided to meet up and chat. Bon-hwa had free time since her son was at home with his grandparents making Christmas decorations, she took advantage of that to talk with Ji-hye. They've been friends since primary school, they were hard to split apart. They would always choose each other as partners and did everything together. Their friendship leaned a bit once Bon-hwa had planned her life, she was married and pregnant, Ji-hye had to move from Yongin to Seoul. But after six years they reunited.

"Who knew it's always the handsome ones that are dickheads." Bon-hwa shook her head and took a sip of her drink. "Even his own mother was disgusted by him cheating on me."

"At this point, men aren't even worth the time." Ji-hye looked at Bon-hwa, she nodded her head in agreement. "You can be so nice to them and give them your all but they still act like fucking dogs, always sniffing for more meat." Bon-hwa laughed

"Damn, who broke your heart?"

"No one, it's just a saying."

"Welp, how about you?Any guys?Breakups?, hookups?"

"Eh, I broke up with my ex, he didn't take the news well."

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you guys break up? How long did you guys even last?"

"We lasted five years. I broke up with I him because of school and work and-." Ji-hye stopped herself. "Yeah." She took a sip of her drink

"Nah, nah. You need to finish that sentence right now, I'm nosey and the rest must sound interesting. I'm listening."

"Maybe because of this one guy I almost kissed." Bon-hwa gasped

"Jae Ji-hye, I've never seen you as a switching guy type, Oh my god. Whose the guy?"

"His name is Sang-woo, he's really a great guy like I don't even think he's real. He's gentle, considerate, and handsome. It's literally the bare minimum but I don't know."

"What type of gentle are we talking about?" Bon-hwa smirked, Ji-hye turned red.

"Bon-hwa! We haven't even held hands."

"Well you guys should hurry up and get together. I don't even know who this Sang-woo is but the way you explained him, he's definitely your type."

AUTHOR- HEY I MISSED YOU GUYS!!!
Who knew writing a chapter with background information can take so long to write😭
But I hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter!
Have a good night/day/afternoon !!! <33