Chapter LXXVII – It’s Easy To Run

The next day Sophie woke up later than usual after staying up all night thinking. Despite sleeping for over eight hours, she still felt tired and her thoughts were an utter mess. She noticed that Iseul wasn’t in the room, unsurprising considering she usually woke up at dawn. Sophie never understood how Arthur and she did it, but then again she never really tried. Though, unlike Iseul, Arthur had changed quite a bit as of late due to spending multiple nights over at Irene’s, her love for sleeping in more often than not kept him in bed longer. Now that the two were a couple, it was bound to get worse.

“I wonder if Oppa would like to join me for a run,” she mumbled to herself while looking out the window.

With noon only two hours away, having breakfast was probably the best way to start the day off, but running became a morning ritual between the two when they were together. However, ever since they arrived at the beach house, they’ve completely neglected their tradition, causing Sophie to miss it.

Sophie thought about going alone if he was still asleep, but her attention was stolen when she heard the loud garage door open. She was surprised, left believing that their plan to go shopping in town together was either going to be later during the day or tomorrow.

Leaving her room to see what was going on, she noticed Yeona’s door open. They haven’t spoken yet and knowing Yeona, she’d wait until Sophie approached first. Her wish to peek inside and say hi hoping that they could talk didn’t go as planned as she overheard Irene and Ari talking within the room.

“We have to try and convince her to stay,” Ari said.

“We did. . .” she let out a sigh. “You stall her and I’ll wake up Sophie.”

“Yeona wan-” Ari said but was interrupted by Sophie suddenly barging into the room.

“What’s going on?” Sophie asked confused, noticing that Yeona’s stuff was gone.

“You’re awake. . .” Irene looked at her with her arms crossed. “Yeona didn’t want us to wake you up, but she’s leaving cuz of what happened.”

“What? Why?” Sophie asked running out of the room before they could even answer.

Worried that Yeona would leave before she managed to catch her, she rushed down the stairs carelessly, crashing into Iseul who was standing by the stairs chatting to Max.

“Slow down!” Iseul yelled out with her hands out, managing to catch Sophie just in time before they both fell over.

“Did she leave yet?”

“No, she’s still here. . .” Iseul let out a sigh of relief.

“I told you we should wake her up,” Max spoke up.

“I wasn’t the one against it. . .” Iseul reminded him, still holding Sophie who tried to push past her so that she could go to the garage, but Iseul held her back. “Hold your horses. . . She ain’t going anywhere just yet.”

Sophie was so focused on stopping Yeona that she didn’t even realize how bad things could have gone had Iseul not reacted on time.

“She’s right. Amelia doesn’t want to drive without having her morning coffee first,” Max explained. “Pretty sure she’s trying to buy us time to figure things out.”

“You’re not lying to me, are you?” Sophie’s gaze darted to Max.

“Why would we lie?” Iseul sighed in disbelief. “Just relax. You could’ve ended up hurt running around like that.”

Finally realizing what had happened, she let out a sigh and averted her gaze.

“Sorry. . . I was just shocked when I heard Irene mention that Yeona was leaving.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Iseul said, letting go of her.

“You’re the only one who can probably stop her,” Max said, placing a hand on Sophie’s shoulder. “She told us what happened. I’m sure she feels guilty and that’s why she asked us not to wake you up.”

“You didn’t have to run. . .” Irene mentioned while walking downstairs, wrapping her hands around Sophie and forcing Max to pull away his hand. “She doesn’t even have a bus ticket yet.”

“Where’s Oppa?”

“Asleep,” Irene said quietly.

“So he doesn’t know huh. . .” Sophie mumbled, looking around the living room for the first time.

Tjay and Don were still soundly asleep. Don was too wasted to wake up after Tjay kept insisting that he chugs another drink, while he himself simply loved to sleep in until noon.

“It’s not my place to say, but we really shouldn’t just let her leave like this,” Irene whispered to Sophie.

Before Sophie could say anything, Yeona reentered the house with Amelia nowhere to be seen. Straight away Yeona averted her gaze, letting out a sigh believing that they woke her up.

Sophie broke away from Irene’s hug and slowly approached.

“How come you’re leaving?” she looked fiercely into Yeona’s eyes.

“Sophie,” Yeona smiled, looking back at her. Her voice was calm and it seemed as if she already made up her mind. “After everything that happened, I don’t think I can stay. Besides, I’m aware that my presence isn’t exactly wanted here.” She gave no room for Sophie to respond as she bowed slightly with her arms pressed together. “I wanted to thank you for our friendship thus far and for everything you’ve done for me. I’m truly sorry about what happened and I wish things were different. I didn’t know if I’d ever get the chance to tell you that, so I’m glad you got to see me before I left.”

“Stop talking like that. . .” Sophie was struggling to come up with words, frustrated by the hastiness of Yeona’s actions. “You don’t have to go.”

“Thanks, but I believe it’s for the best,” she kept smiling, but her eyes told a different story. “Honestly, I hoped to leave before you woke up cuz I knew you’d try and stop me. That’s just how kind you are. . . I should’ve known they were stalling for time to wake you up. . .”

“They didn’t wake me and you’re being ridiculous. . .” Sophie walked up closer, grabbing Yeona’s hands. “Look, I just needed some time. . . I’m not mad at you and I certainly don’t blame you for what happened. You did the best you could and it wasn’t your responsibility. I was just sad. . .”

Amelia walked up behind Yeona, exchanging glances with Irene who stood on the stairs. Even though she wasn’t there at the start of the conversation, she had a pretty good grasp of the situation.

“You should listen to her,” Amelia spoke up, placing her hand on Yeona’s shoulder.

“She’s right. . .” Max intervened as well. “I don’t know how you came up with the idea that you’re unwanted, but I can guarantee that everyone here agrees with Sophie.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Yeona, a girl that would typically burst into tears over such words remained calm and collected.

“I lied and I hurt people. . .” she said, lowering her voice. At no point did she try to sound pathetic or was looking for sympathy. She genuinely felt guilty and wanted to leave, believing to be undeserving of their friendship. “Besides, I-. . .” she stopped herself, letting out a sigh before glancing up at Irene.

She didn’t want to mention it, but she wholeheartedly believed that regardless of what Irene said, she’d much rather Yeona stay away from Arthur.

“Don’t look at me,” Irene said, leaning against the railing. “If you’re looking to use me as an excuse, just don’t. . .”

“Yeona, it’s easy to run,” Sophie said confidently. “If you truly wish to leave because you don’t want to be here then I have no right to stop you. That’s your choice. However. . . If you’re choosing to leave because you believe that you don’t belong here or that someone has something against you, then drop the bullshit and listen to us.”

“All in favor of Yeona staying raise your hand,” Max called for a vote, raising his hand first, not giving Yeona the time to come up with an excuse.

Everyone immediately raised their hand, playing along with Max’s plan.

“You all. . .” Yeona looked down to the ground, showing a clear sign of wavering.

What surprised her the most was the sudden hug Sophie gave her as soon as she began to doubt her decision. Powerless against her embrace, Yeona could only hug her back.

Ari finally walked downstairs with her hand raised, having listened to the whole conversation but hiding as she didn’t want to interrupt.

“You don’t stop being my friend just cuz you mess up,” Sophie whispered, tightening her hug. “Friends fight, say silly things, and talk things out. Running away isn’t how we do things. I’m sorry that I failed to see how much you were holding in, never getting you to open up. . . Just please stop blaming yourself and let’s work things out. Okay?”

Yeona took a deep breath before dragging out a sigh of disbelief.

“Unbelievable,” she whispered, still hugging her back. “It’s silly how often you get your way. . .”

“Does that mean?” Sophie broke away from the hug, staring straight into Yeona’s eyes.

She didn’t have to say anything else for Yeona to see the genuine hopefulness in Sophie’s eyes as she wanted nothing more than for her to stay. There were no words that could justify her leaving at that point.

“Yes. . . If everyone’s fine with it, I’ll stay. . .” she let out another sigh, defeated by Sophie’s tenacity.

“I knew things would work out,” Max said smugly.

“Sure you did. . . Especially when you panicked saying Sophie will be devastated. . .” Iseul called him out on it.

“I did not!”

“You did. . .” Ari backed his sister up, making everyone around laugh.

Amelia looked proudly at Sophie which she acknowledged before going into the kitchen to get her cup of coffee, making everyone question if she was stalling for time or genuinely wanted coffee.

“Max,” Irene looked toward him.

“Already on it,” he said, heading toward the garage to get Yeona’s stuff.

“No, I’ll-”

“Let him,” Irene cut off Yeona who didn’t want to burden Max. “Can’t you see he’s eager to help.”

“Don’t ever do that again. . .” Sophie criticized Yeona, finally letting go of her.

“I won’t. . .” she mumbled.

“You made the right choice,” Irene commented, slowly approaching Yeona. “Had me worried there for a sec.”

“Don’t forget to close the garage!” Amelia yelled out.

“What’s with all the yelling?!” Tjay yelled out, waking up finally with a stuffy nose, barely able to keep his eyes open.

“We’re discussing who I’m gonna kiss,” Iseul joked, still having her dare left over from Nabi.

“Kiss? Who? What?!” Tjay repeated unintelligibly, still unable to even see properly as he got up, nearly tumbling over leftover trash that they left hanging around.

Everyone began laughing again, even Yeona who felt relieved she didn’t have to leave.

* * *

After missing all the fun, Arthur was briefly informed about what happened after joining them about an hour later while everyone gathered to have breakfast together. Iseul and Ari who woke up earlier simply sat at the table without eating anything. Arthur was glad to learn that things worked out, but for the most part, he was simply focused on Sophie’s cheerfulness. Everyone was quite energetic apart from Don who had a hard time keeping his head above the plate, struggling to deal with the massive hangover he had. Iseul being a bit more experienced than the rest with hangovers poured him some sparkly water and gave him a pain reliever since he complained about it a bit too much. She offered him coffee as well since the kick helped out a bit with the grogginess, however, he refused saying he wasn’t a big fan, same as Arthur.

Now that Yeona was there to stay, they discussed their plans. Hyun and Nabi wanted to check out some of the beaches nearby and offered everyone to tag along. Amelia pointed out that she and Irene had to go to town to do some shopping so they had food in the fridge after which Arthur and Sophie decided to join them. Irene mentioned that they should visit Balam, the woman that cleaned the house the day they arrived. Don wasn’t feeling well enough to walk too much so he planned to mostly stay by the house. Hearing that, Iseul used the opportunity to stay behind and watch over him just in case. She explained that she’d be reading on the deck anyway.

While everyone was chatting among themselves, Yeona moved closer to Irene.

“Hey,” she whispered, grabbing Irene’s attention. “I just wanted to ask, but you haven’t told them you’re together yet, right?”

“I’m pretty sure we didn’t,” she said, not sure if Arthur told anyone.

Yeona realized that Irene had no intention of saying anything out of consideration toward Yeona, the morning scene probably made it even harder to mention.

“You should tell them,” Yeona kept whispering. “I bet they’re dying to know.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with that?” Irene asked worriedly. “We’ll be fine telling them later. . .”

“I’m sure. . .” she gently grabbed Irene’s hand under the table. “Thanks for being considerate, but I don’t want to stand between you guys. . .”

“Still. . .”

“Trust me, I’ll be fine,” she sighed, showing Irene a smile. “You could say that I’m just glad that my friendship with Sophie got salvaged. Besides, if I wanna stay friends with you and Art, I have to get used to it somehow.”

“Thanks. . . We’ll try our best not to make you uncomfortable. . .” Irene gave her a nod before looking toward Arthur who sat next to her, noticing that he overheard them. “You wanna do it?”

“Nah, all you. . .” he whispered, hating the idea of them teasing him.

“Hey, guys!” Irene called out to everyone loudly, catching everyone’s attention. “I have an announcement to make. . .” She paused for a second, taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly. “Some of you might’ve already expected this to happen, and some have painfully reminded me over and over how it should’ve happened already,” she glanced toward Sophie, “but I’m happy to say that Arthur and I have officially become a couple.”

While they knew there would be a positive reaction, they didn’t expect everyone to loudly cheer at the table upon hearing the news. Amelia proudly smirked, exchanging glances with Irene. Touched by her announcement, Nabi couldn’t help but lean against her boyfriend. Ari and Sophie smiled at each other, proud to know they were right about the two getting together during the summer break. Iseul was the least impressed person there since she already knew from what Irene told her that they’d end up together.

“Finally!” Tjay yelled out proudly. “Art, you had us worried there.”

“I told you he had no problems. . .” Max pointed out.

“Guys, I don’t think you should be talking about that now,” Don spoke up nervously.

“Oh come on. . . It was a fair assumption!” Tjay defended.

“What are they talking about?” Nabi looked confused to Hyun but he simply shrugged.

“Sure you’d say that Big D. . .” Tjay joked.

“Art?” Irene chuckled, looking to him for answers but he showed visible distaste toward Tjay’s accusations which he immediately recognized to have something to do with his manhood not working properly.

“Don’t listen to them Oppa,” Sophie laughed, unaware of exactly what they talked about. “I’m just glad you two are together.”

“Oi, Tjay. . .” Arthur growled for the first time ever. “Do we need to have a private talk?”

Tjay swallowed nervously, realizing he managed to finally anger Arthur. His teasing had gone much farther in the past, but it seemed that doing it in front of everyone at the table might’ve pushed the wrong buttons.

Irene didn’t need an explanation, nor a valid reason for the cold glare she gave Tjay. It was enough to make him shiver, making him breaking a cold sweat. If he had done something to cause Arthur to react in such a way, than surely it was enough to invoke her wrath as well.

“Please stop looking at me like that. You’re scaring me. . .” Tjay whimpered, unsure of whom to be more afraid of.

On one hand he knew Arthur was stronger than him, but on the other there was Irene who was known to be merciless toward him in the past and if he defended himself he’d have to deal with Arthur anyway. Regardless of the choice, he was screwed.

“I’m a forgiving man. You won’t get a third chance,” Arthur warned him firmly, but was partially joking without letting others know.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Tjay lowered his head.

The table kept snickering at Tjay’s submissive behavior and soon the tension dispersed as everyone was just joking around. However, Tjay was made perfectly aware not to make fun of Arthur’s manhood again or he’d be in serious trouble.

In reality, Arthur wasn’t genuinely mad and simply wished to put a stop to the teasing before it escalated, but for some reason, he was doubtful of Irene’s gaze just being nothing more than her playing along with him.

It was an exciting start to a day and everyone kept having fun by coming up with crazy ideas on what to do. Arthur couldn’t help but smile knowing that their vacation together had only just begun, looking forward to the many adventures that awaited them.

Chapter End.

Thank you for reading.