"Hey, you know? Eunjoo has been gone for awhile now. Do you think she couldn't find Joonhyuk?" noticed Hyewon.
"I'll go out and take a look." said Siyeon.
She got up and walked outside. Just as she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw Joonhyuk and Eunjoo talking. Siyeon watched as Joonhyuk confessed his feelings and kissed Eunjoo. Joonhyuk took a step back, spoke and walked away. Eunjoo looked stunned in surprise, unable to move from her spot. Siyeon hesitated, but her emotions got the best of her.
"What happened between you and Joonhyuk?" demanded Siyeon.
"Nothing." snapped Eunjoo. She tried to walk back inside but Siyeon stood her ground. "Move."
"I don't know what you're trying to do, but I'm not going to let you have both Jungmin and Joonhyuk." accused Siyeon.
"Hey, that's not what I'm doing."
"Back off Joonhyuk then."
Eunjoo felt furious. "No, you listen. You should back off Joonhyuk and stop hurting him." Eunjoo stepped forward and looked straight into Siyeon's eyes. "I don't know who you think you are, but you can't just play with other people's feelings. Joonhyuk really liked you, but you failed to see that until he decided to give up on you."
Eunjoo pushed past Siyeon. As Eunjoo reached for the door, she heard Siyeon's voice. "Then why can't I have another chance to fix my mistake?" Eunjoo paused, but she was unsure of what to say nor did she want to think about it. She went back inside, leaving Siyeon to her own thoughts.
After everyone left, Jungmin walked Eunjoo home. As they walked, Jungmin sensed that there was something bothering Eunjoo. However, he wasn't sure if he should ask her to tell him what was bothering her. Soon, they reached Eunjoo's house.
"Thanks, for walking me home."
"Oh, it's fine. I hope you had a lot of fun today."
"Yeah, I did. Thank you." smiled Eunjoo.
"Well, good night then. Happy birthday again." said Jungmin. He took a small step forward, hoping to kiss her goodnight. However, Eunjoo turned around to open the outside gate and walked inside. Jungmin let out a small sigh and headed home. He felt a little concerned with Eunjoo but couldn't do anything to help. All he could do was hope she was okay.
When Eunjoo entered her room, she went straight to her bed to lie down. As she stared up at the ceiling, she pondered on the recent events that night. The thoughts swirled around in her head, leaving Eunjoo more and more tired. Eunjoo had been waiting for that moment with Joonhyuk for a long time. Yet, she couldn't help but guilty towards Jungmin whom had treated her with nothing but kindness. Frustrated, Eunjoo rolled over and decided to go to sleep. Hopefully, she could figure out what to do the next day.
The following day, Eunjoo saw a flyer on the school bulletin board. There was an upcoming science competition in which the winner would have a chance to have their paper published. Eunjoo knew that it was a good opportunity to increase her chances of being accepted into an university overseas. Excited, she headed to the library to look for reference books. She walked through several aisles of books. Eunjoo found a book that she thought would be helpful and pulled it off the shelf. When she grabbed the book, Eunjoo saw Joonhyuk on the other side of the shelf, reading a book himself. Surprised, she dropped the book in her hand, unintentionally drawing his attention. Joonhyuk closed his book and walked around to talk to Eunjoo.
"Hey."
"Hey." replied Eunjoo, without looking up at him.
"Eunjoo-ah, can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure, what?"
"I wanted to apologize for the other night. It probably was not the best time to tell you, but I still want you to know that my feelings haven't changed."
Eunjoo frowned. "Oppa. How am I supposed to respond to that? What do you want me to say?"
Joonhyuk paused and had no choice but to admit, "I don't know."
"You missed your chance a long time ago. I'm with Jungmin now."
"Then, why can't I get another chance. I made a big mistake and I know it."
Eunjoo didn't have a reply. "I don't know, it just doesn't work that way."
Joonhyuk grabbed her arm as she turned to leave. "I know you still like me. You're only with Jungmin because I haven't been there for you recently, right?"
Eunjoo pulled away from Joonhyuk's grasp. "Oppa, stop. I'm getting tired of this. So please, stop this."
Joonhyuk watched as Eunjoo left. "Great. I messed up again. Just great." he thought.
As Eunjoo walked out the library, she bumped into Jungmin. They collided and fell down. "Hey, is everything okay? You literally just ran into me." said Jungmin, brushing himself off and helping Eunjoo up.
"Yeah, I'm fine thanks." Eunjoo. Before Jungmin could even say another word, Eunjoo ran off. She couldn't face Jungmin, at least not yet. More importantly, she needed to get her thoughts straightened out.
Later that afternoon, Eunjoo was at Blue Sky Cafe with Sunghee and Hyewon. The three of them were sharing an bowl of ice cream and chatting about the night before.
"Last night so much fun." said Sunghee. "Eunjoo, I hope you had a lot of fun on your birthday."
Eunjoo nodded, "I certainly did. Thanks a lot for helping out. You too, Hyewon."
Hyewon waved her off. "It was mostly Jungmin and Joonhyuk who did the planning." She continued, "You should thank the both of them. Eunjoo-ah, you're so lucky you have two guys who care about you a lot."
"Yeah she's right." Sunghee agreed. "I'm curious though. If you had to choose only one of them, who would you pick? Joonhyuk or Jungmin."
"Wow, that's an interesting question." said Hyewon. "You have Jungmin who is handsome, athletic and kind. Then there's Joonhyuk who isn't the most perfect guy, but cares a lot for you and has always been there for you when you need someone."
Sunghee thought aloud, "That's a pretty hard decision. Eunjoo what do you think?"
Eunjoo tried to hide her discomfort and laughed, "You guys are being silly. Hurry up, the rest of the ice cream is melting."
Eunjoo needed to set her feelings straight and choose between Jungmin and Joonhyuk. More importantly, she knew it had to be soon. Eunjoo thought about it for awhile and came to a conclusion. She pulled out her cell phone and texted, "Could you meet me in front of the water fountain in the park tonight? There's something I need to tell you." Eunjoo took a deep breath and reassured herself that her decision was the right choice.
Hours later, Eunjoo stood by the water fountain at Dongsam Park. She felt a little nervous as she waited. Eunjoo turned around when someone tapped her shoulder.
"Hey, you wanted to see me?" Eunjoo turned around to see Jungmin.
"Yes. I'm sorry, but I don't think we can see each other anymore."
