chapter 20 | forgotten someone
Elkie was surprised. When Bang Sumin told her that she knew a good place, she thought it would be like her experience with Mingyu again ㅡ some restaurant in a skyscraper, but the woman brought her to a place looking rundown and everyone else was having soju and the smell of grilled meat made her stomach grumble.
Sumin spoke in Korean to the lady who was wearing a red apron. It seemed like she'd been here many times before. The lady led them to a table located at the corner of the shop.
"This is my go-to for comfort food whenever I'm in China. I mean, I love Chinese food. I just love Korean more." She said, taking off her jacket.
"It's an honor to have dinner with you." Elkie said, smiling awkwardly.
"Oh, stop it. I just wanted to take you out for working hard all day."
Elkie stared at her for a while before taking a deep breath and asking reluctantly, "Why are you being so nice to me?"
The woman chuckled. "Am I?"
She nodded. "Yes! Not that I'm complaining..."
"When Kijun was yelling at you, I was just reminded of my old self."
"Ah, is that so..."
The soju was served. They poured each other's glasses. "Do you have a boyfriend, Elkie-ssi?"
Her eyes widened at the question, suddenly reminded of Yanan. "Omo- excuse me, I forgot to send him a text." She quickly took her phone and found eight missed calls on Messenger and about ten messages.
Sumin chuckled. "Go ahead. Aigoo, young love."
Elkie typed a message to Yanan quickly but when she was just about to finish, her phone's battery died. "Oh crap. I didn't charge." She hissed. "He must have been worried..." She muttered to herself, biting her fingernails.
"Is everything OK?"
She forced a smile. "Yeah, I'm just going to send him a message when I get home." They continued to chat and eat, but it was still bothering her.
"Men like Kim Kijun will make you feel worthless. Stay away from men like him. So, Elkie-ssi, how's your boyfriend?" Sumin asked, a little tipsy.
"Don't worry, he's nothing like Kim Kijun pd-nim. He's been my best friend for years. We just started... dating recently."
"Ah, so it's still the butterflies stage."
Elkie smiled and leaned in shyly. "Actually, I've liked him for a long time." She sighed. "I still can't believe that he feels the same for me sometimes."
"Oh, best friend turned lovers! I looove this! It's the kind of movie I loved producing." Her smiled slowly faded. "It was the kind of love I wanted." She said before drinking again.
"I hope this is not impolite, but are you married?" Elkie asked curiously.
Sumin laughed and then there were tears in her eyes but Elkie wasn't sure whether they were happy or sad tears. "No, I was about to."
"I'm sorry... what happened?" She asked slowly, not sure if it was alright to ask.
The woman smiled at her. "He was my best friend too."
Elkie's heart skipped a beat. Somehow, she had a feeling where it was going and she wanted to know.
"We both loved filming. Met in college. We fit together like lock and key. I thought we could talk about movies for the rest of our lives without getting tired of it." She continued, pouring herself more soju. "But I always felt like I loved him more."
Sumin smiled again. "It was alright even if I loved him more. I was happy enough that he loved me at all."
Elkie couldn't help but think. How much does Yanan loves her? She was almost certain she loves him more.
"But being in that kind of relationship, you eventually want more. So, you ask for more. After all, don't you deserve to be loved the way you do?" The woman continued. "He changed into a workaholic. He loved his job more than he loved me. He learned his way into making me feel worthless each time. There were times when I thought I was only worth something, if I was with him."
Elkie looked down on her drink sadly, just letting the woman let it all out. How much had she been dying to let these feelings out that she's venting them to a stranger?
Bang Sumin smiled and chuckled. "I never imagined I would be the first one to take off the engagement ring and throw it all away."
"I'm sorry."
"I'm not sorry." She said. "I learned it a little too late that sometimes the people you love are the same ones who cut your wings to keep you from flying. I left him. And now I am who I am because of that."
Elkie smiled softly. "You did well."
"Did I? Do you think I'm a better PD than Kim Kijun?"
Her eyes widened. "Well- of course! You appreciate your underlings... and you're more calm at work!"
She chuckled and grabbed her phone, swiped and swiped until she slid it towards Elkie on the table. She looked at a much younger Bang Sumin in a wedding dress with a radiant smile... and next to her was... Kim Kijun?
Elkie let out a gasp, staring at the woman wide-eyed. "Y-You... and him..."
"I initiated this big project to show him what I'm capable of now and he's going to see that."
"B-But he's been calling all the shots! He's the one who picked the staff to go to Korea, too!"
Bang Sumin raised an eyebrow. "And I'm guessing you're not included?"
"No... he hates me."
"You're coming. Is he out of his mind? You're one of the staff who can speak actual Korean."
"Woah. Wait, really?" She asked in astonishment.
Sumin smiled. "You're coming. We're about to show these men what we're capable off." She said and downed another drink before shaking the glass empty above her head.
• •
Elkie woke up with her heart skipping a beat. At first, she had no idea why, maybe it was even just a nightmare. But then she realized that last night, she got so drunk with Bang Sumin she even stumbled on her way home and was knocked out on bed in zero seconds.
And she hadn't charged her phone, and she hadn't texted Yanan!
Elkie jumped out of bed, looking for her bag with a throbbing head. She made her way out of her room, to the living room, to the kitchen where she found her bag in the sink. "Oh geez." She muttered, taking it and charging her phone immediately.
Once it was on one percent, she turned it on and was flooded by call and message notifications from Yanan. Holy shit.
She immediately typed a text.
Hi, sorry sooorry! Just so busy yesterday and so many stuff happened and my phone died. I swear. I'll talk to you in a bit. Just gonna go shower. I'm sorry. I love youuu.
__________
A/N
Hi y'all! Sorry for the short update~
But THIS IS FOR REAL, I'll be updating 3x a week to make up for all the hiatuses this book went through. Thank u so much for reading and for being patient!! 💖😅
YOU ARE READING
Plus One | Yanan Spin-Off ✔️
FanfictionA spin-off from Maybe Tomorrow universe. How is Yanan really doing away from his friends in Korea? Read your way out of Yanan's friendzoned life.
