Juniper

I landed the position for my company, which I was very excited to get. My team leader said I knocked it out the box with my concept project and said that after the current project, I would most definitely be a Team Leader for my project! I was so happy. I told Min Jun and he was excited for me as well. He had been busy with work and dancing with Alex over at the studio. The studio had been gaining attention since Alex got to be the choreographer for the idol group so they actually started uploading their own videos. However other, more personal videos were still being posted of Min Jun online.

Min Jun and I hadn’t been able to see each other like we used to. Things kind of changed since that night at the club when we ran into Caleb and Samantha. I’ve been getting random texts from Caleb wanting to tell me something about Samantha. I hadn’t spoken to him but I’m wanting to know what was going on with her because she just kept popping up. And also the fact that Min Jun told me he cheated on his girlfriend with Samantha! I have been trying to get over that one. I didn’t think that MinJun may have a ‘soft’ spot for her. I must admit, that threw me for a motherfucking loop.

I was happy that it was the weekend and Chanel had made it back to Seoul. It was a bit chilly outside which made it felt like the weather in Chicago around this time. It was Christmas Eve in Seoul and the weather was just like at home, a nice balmy high of 31 degrees Fahrenheit.

“Girl, so have you talked to Min Jun lately?” Chanel asked as she was eating some chips and dip, flicking through the channels on the tv.

“No I haven’t. I miss him, but I’ve been so busy with work. And that thing that happened at the club. I’m trying to put my priorities in order.

“Yeah man, that shit was fucked up. I wish I would have been there.” Chanel said snacking on her chips and dip.

“What the fuck are you eating?” I asked as she was smacking.

“On some good as shit that you ain’t gonna know cuz you gonna try and snack on it too.” She smiled, laughed and returned to flipping a channel. She finally landed on pulling up Hulu to swipe through to the Masked Singer.

My phone goes off and it’s Caleb.

“What is it now?” I answered.

“I’m at your door.” He said. I don’t believe this. Now he wants to just show up. I’m tired of fighting at this point.

“Girl, Caleb at the door.” I yell at Chanel.

“I’ll get the door.” She said getting off the couch to open the door. She sways over to open the door and stared at Caleb.

“Hey Chanel.” Caleb said dryly as he entered the door.

“Hey Stupid.” Chanel replied. “Merry Christmas.” She said. I gotta love her. She keeps it real.

“Merry Christmas Chanel.” Caleb replies. Chanel walks back to the couch and Caleb follows her to the living room. I walked out the room whilst looking at Caleb in my house, checking out my shit.

“Hey Caleb.” I said sitting down in the lounge chair across from Caleb.

“Merry Christmas Juniper.” He said with a smile. He had a gift he was holding. “You still looking good girl. Damn.”

“What the fuck do you want Caleb? Why are you here?” I said being irritated. I’m really tired of seeing him. I crossed a whole, entire body of water to not see this person.

“Ok look. First off, Merry Christmas. Even though we are over here away from family, I thought we could put down the fight and call a truce for at least one night. And I have information that I think might be beneficial to you.” Caleb said, holding out a gift bag for me and Chanel. The guy knows how to play the game well. I said fuck it so quick, I surprised myself; I love gifts. I didn’t give a fuck that it was from Caleb. Seriously though, I deserve so much more from this stupid motherfucking asshole.ao Yes, I will take that fucking gift bag. Chanel knows too and she grabbed hers, I think we both snatched the bags almost at the same time.

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“Merry Christmas.” We said in unison. He laughed and we giggled. I searched through the bag and the guy knows how to shop for a woman, a little too well. It was all Korean brands so I don’t know exactly what some of it was, however they did have some English descriptions; it looked like dude spent some money. The bag included parfums, skin care products, and make up that actually matched our skin tones from Fenty Beauty.

“So what y’all up to?” He said sitting back and relaxing.

“Just relaxing, we ain't trying to go out, it’s cold like back home. Besides, we are good with each other, having our own little Christmas. We can have a good time right here and take a break from the clubs.” I said.

“Yeah well, I’m hitting the clubs after this. So let me tell you this.” He said looking at me. “Tell your boy, he needs to watch his back with this chick. She is out for him and you need to watch your back too. She planned all of this shit, honestly I think she is a little wacko.” He said

“Really? Well your ass don’t help much.” Chanel asked.

“I’m for real. This girl got a screw loose y’all.” He said looking serious. Or it was all a joke, we really didn’t know.

“Why are we supposed to believe you? You hanging out with her.” I asked him.

“I might be crazy about you Juniper, but I know when you don’t want me anymore. I know when to call it quits.” He said, looking sincere.

“How in the fuck did you get mixed up with her anyway?” Chanel asked; I was curious also.

“Yeah, how did you find Min Jun’s ex-girlfriend?” I questioned.

“I got in touch with her through YouTube. She has this channel that is dedicated to Kpop Idols and she posted some of Min Jun with his comeback.” He said.

“Oh really?” I knew that there was a channel that was posting videos. “Do you know her channel?”

“I can find it, but I want to show you this.” He said pulling up a video. “I’m not sure if he told you or not about this. I know you have always wanted to be honest, all cards on the table.”

It was a video of Min Jun dancing with Samantha at the studio. It was for a class, but here they are dancing, close. I hadn’t seen this video and Min Jun never told me that Samantha had come to the studio. Why didn’t he say anything about it to me? Doubt just came in and started taking a nap on the couch in my brain.

“So I want you to tell you to be careful with him. He might be playing you to get back with her. Samantha got something planned and I’m just saying. She’s fucking serious about dude.” Caleb said, sounding concerned.

“Well, I’m fucking serious about dude.” I said, looking at Caleb. He looked at me and it was as if a little piece in him broke. He realized that I had given my heart to another.

“What did she have planned?” Chanel asked as she was going through her bag.

“I don’t know, she won't tell me until I show up at the location. I told you, because she has all of this planned and I think she got something big.”

“I see.” I said pushing back the phone, I didn’t want to see the video anymore.

“I take it that he didn’t tell you about the dance class she had with him, huh?” He asked. I stayed silent, not wanting him to be correct.

“There’s a reason he didn’t say anything. Juniper will find out.” Chanel said having confidence in Min Jun.

“Well I’m just saying, how much do you know about this dude?” He asked.

“Well I thought I knew you and look where that got me.” I replied quickly.

“Oooooooo day-um.” Chanel said from the other side of the room.

“Well that’s my queue to bounce. I’ll holla at ya later. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.” He said walking towards the door. I followed him to the door. He turned around and looked at me. He was still looking fine, but I can never forget what he did to me and for that, he will always be ugly.

“Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Caleb.” I said holding the door open. He walked out, stopped and looked back. He looked like he was going to say something but he stopped himself.

“Merry Christmas Juniper. Happy New Year too.” He said. I could hear the ring of the elevator and he ran to go catch it. I closed the door wondering why he hesitated, he probably was going to say something about missing me; then suddenly someone knocked on my door. It startled me as I had just turned away from the door and wondered who could it be this quickly. It had to be Caleb, I thought, he must have forgotten something. I opened the door to meet Min Jun.