The Year of Heartbreaks

Square One

"Yah! Jang Wooyoung!" a teenage girl shouted outside the bathroom door and loud knocks soon followed, startling the thirteen years old Wooyoung showering inside. "Come out! I need to use the bathroom!" another shout was heard outside the door.

"Aish! A minute!" he washed the last bits of shampoo he got on his hair and turned off the shower. He wrapped a towel on his lower body and opened the bathroom door, "I was showering! Couldn't you wait?"

"It's past seven, we'll be late if I don't get to shower now!" replied the girl while immediately got inside the bathroom with her own towel.

"Who told you to wake up late? I'm going to school without you if you're not done in 15 minutes," Wooyoung shook his head.

"Arasso, I'll be quick!" she closed the bathroom door and Wooyoung headed to his room to get ready for school. He met his mother while walking past the kitchen.

"Aigoo, what's with the noise since morning?" asked his mother despite being amused at the familiar bickering between the two youngsters.

"I'm not the one making the noise!" defended him.

"Both of you are the same. Now, put on some clothes and have breakfast," said his mother in amusement, "I also prepared some lunch boxes for two of you."

Not even ten minutes later, the girl was done with her shower and put on her uniform she brought with her to the bathroom. Exiting the bathroom, she smelled a delicious taste in the air. She followed it and saw a table full of meal.

"Yummmm, can I eat now, eomeoni?" she instantly pulled out a chair, earning an amused laugh from the older lady in the room.

"Yah, agasshi, dry your hair first," a sarcastic remark came from a boy who just came outside his room with a backpack hung on one of his shoulders, "and what's with 'eomeoni'? It's 'eomma' for you missy, right eomma?" the boy made sure to his mother.

"Yes Throw away the formality, call me mom," Wooyoung's mother said warmly, "You're my daughter now."

"Ah.. yes, eomeon- I mean, eomma.." she said carefully but then smiled at the feeling of the words in her mouth. It gave her warmth and somehow a sense of security.

A ring from her doorbell woke Haneul up from a nostalgic dream. She squinted her eyes trying to open them and gathered herself before walking to the front door of her apartment to open it. She took a glance at her cellphone and saw that it was just six in the morning. Before she even reached the intercom to see who it was, she heard the password was entered and the front door opened. She rolled her eyes. No one she knew would do that except one person.

"Then why did you ring the doorbell? I was asleep!" she groaned in frustration to the man who just entered.

"Exactly. I knew you were sleeping so I rang the doorbell to wake you up," Wooyoung grinned amusedly on the sight in front of him. Haneul was in her favorite blue pajama shorts and oversized white t-shirt, her short black hair messy, and her eyes were half closed.

"Jang Wooyoung!" she shot an angry glare at her bestfriend and sat on the bar stool by the kitchen island, "Aish.. it was such a nice dream.." she mumbled while rubbing her face to completely wake herself up.

Wooyoung put the plastic bags he brought with him on the island and walked further into the kitchen. He opened one of the kitchen cabinets and brought some plates with him. He took out the content of the plastic bags and arrange them on the plates.

"Here, I brought some breakfast," he pushed the full plates to the center part of the island, "What were you dreaming about anyway? Some perverted stuff?" he laughed.

"Ha! Funny," she grabbed a fork and stabbed a chicken breast on the plate then bite it, "It was your mom, it was nice seeing her on my dream. I miss her..," she said with her mouth full.

Haneul felt happy when the image of Wooyoung's mother popped in her mind. Correction, her mother. A smile soon formed on her small lips thinking about her years living with Wooyoung's family. Back then, she thought she had lost everything when her father died not long after her mother's death. She was moving around from one family house to another before Wooyoung's parents, who were close friends with her own, decided to take her in. The Jang family was never a stranger to her as she basically grew up together with Wooyoung since the day they were born only one day apart.

"Ah..I see. Yeah, I miss her too. We should come home soon, it's been a while." Wooyoung agreed.

"I was dreaming about her homecooked breakfast, her rolled eggs, kimchi soup, and japchae. Aah.. I miss all of those." she basked in her memory while continued munching on her chicken breast.

"Yeah, and here we are having store-bought chicken in the early morning," Wooyoung sighed and bite on a chicken thigh.

"I know, right, so depressing. Even more with the fact that these are your leftovers.." Haneul side-glanced him. Busted, the man almost choked on his food then gave her a wide grin.

"Yah! Be thankful that I even brought you food!" he protested but laugh nonetheless.

"I can cook my own breakfast you know, but I always eat your leftovers because of you!" she nagged.

"Arasso, I'll wait for your homecooked breakfast tomorrow then!" he challenged her.

"Challenge accepted!" she smiled and grabbed her second chicken.

"Aigoo, for someone who hates my leftover, you sure do eat a lot," he shook his head and got up from the bar stool to head to the living room. He turned on the TV while sipping on a coffee he bought on his way here then sat on the sofa.

"Anyway, what time we should be at the company?" Haneul asked, finishing on her meal and then brought the dirty dishes to the dishwasher. She grabbed the coffee Wooyoung bought for her and leaned on the kitchen island.

"Ten, we still got a lot of time," Wooyoung flicked through the TV channels and decided on a morning news program.

"What should I bring? Should I bring my portfolio?" she furrowed her eyebrows thinking. She was recruited as a new in-house producer at JYP Entertainment, but she was not a newcomer in this field. Her portfolio contained years of experience both as lyricist and producer in South Korea's entertainment world. She usually worked for television broadcasts and musicals, so she didn't have a clue how it would be like in the idol world.

"Aigoo, you're not going for a job interview. Just bring you, I guess, and your brilliance," Wooyoung smirked, teasing his nervous bestfriend.

"Shut up, I'm serious." she blushed.

"Hey, I'm serious too. JYP is honored to have you now in the team,"

"Well, I'm lucky too, especially with the fact that Park Jin Young himself gave me the offer," she said and sipped her coffee, "Will your friends be there? 2PM I mean, it's funny how I never officially met them," she asked.

"Of course they will. Yeah, I just realized it also, why didn't I ever introduce you to them?" he wondered. Haneul had been his closest friend for years, but why didn't he ever bring her to meet the guys?

"Ah well, it doesn't matter now, I'll meet them today," Haneul walked to the living room and sat beside Wooyoung. She rested her back on the couch and closed her eyes trying to spoil them for a moment continuing the interrupted sleep earlier.

"Sure. Aah.. I never imagined I'll be working together with you," Wooyoung mirrored Haneul's comfortable position and stared at the ceiling, "It will be so much fun, just like the old days," his mind wandered to the memory of their childhood when they always did things together, and even more so when Haneul moved into his house and sort of became his family.

"Yeah, friends forever, eh?" said Haneul absentmindedly as sleep began to take her away.

"Yes, friends forever," replied Wooyoung, smiling at his bestfriend whose breath became slow and steady signaling that she has entered her dream once again.