Before I Knew You
Jiyong
In all fairness, Jiyong had already been in a bad mood when It Happened.
He and Seunghyun were at a wedding for one of Seunghyun’s friends from high school who Jiyong had sort of known when they were kids and sort of knew now, but really he was only invited because having one celebrity at his wedding was apparently not enough for Ko Hyunsu. That wasn’t what made Jiyong mad. He liked weddings, he liked being asked to be in people’s wedding pictures, he liked meeting new people, and in all honesty, he sort of liked being the most famous person in the room. Or tied for the most famous person in the room when the person he was tied with was Seunghyun-hyung.
What had put Jiyong in a bad mood was Kim Minkyu. Kim Minkyu, Ko Hyunsu, and Seunghyun had been best friends in high school and Minkyu was not, under any circumstances, going to let Jiyong forget that. Jiyong was sticking with Seunghyun since he was the the only person Jiyong really knew at this thing, but Minkyu kept talking to Seunghyun like Jiyong wasn’t even there. Everything was “Remember when…”, “Remember when…”, “Remember when…”. And they weren’t even good stories. They were things like “Remember that history teacher who let us listen to music while we were working?”, “Remember that time Kun Jiyoung got a 74 in chemistry and she cried in front of everyone?”, “Remember when we snuck out and got coffees during our study period and we lost track of time and we thought we were going to be late getting back but we weren’t?”
Like, honestly. They hadn’t even been late. How was that a story? Jiyong knew Minkyu was just trying to annoy him by showing he was closer to Seunghyun than Jiyong was. He kept saying how great it was to get “the triad” back together. That was apparently what they’d called themselves back in high school. “The triad”. Jiyong had snorted at that. “Really, Hyung? I didn’t know you were a gangster.”
“It was just a joke thing,” Seunghyun said.
“Oh yeah, it was just a joke,” Minkyu said. He kept agreeing with everything Seunghyun said. “It was just, like, our inside joke thing. You know how it is, Jiyongah.”
Jiyong did know how it was. He had tons of inside jokes with Seunghyun and stories that were real stories where things actually happened. He also knew he didn’t like Minkyu calling him “Jiyongah” like he was his kid brother or something.
Minkyu had completely ruined the ceremony for Jiyong. He whispered through the whole thing. “Wow, Seunghyunie, doesn’t Hyunsu look handsome? Hyeeun is so beautiful! He really lucked out, huh? She’s even prettier than Lee Minji, remember her? Of course you do, you dog! We were all so jealous when you had your first kiss with her. Remember that? And I was trying to get Kim Yujin to kiss me and she wouldn’t even give me the time of day!”
On and on like that. But Jiyong could handle it, because he got to sit next to Seunghyun, and because sometimes Seunghyun would look over at him and roll his eyes and they’d share a smirk.
It Happened after the ceremony, when they were lining up to take a coach bus to the reception. All the other guests in line were talking loudly, maybe a little too loudly – Jiyong was pretty sure everyone was making a big effort to pretend they didn’t care he and Seunghyun were there. But anyway, everyone was talking; there was a sort of happy bustle feeling in the air as they queued up to get on the bus. And Minkyu said, “Seunghyunie, doesn’t this remind you of the triad’s class trip to Jeju Island? Right? Everyone lining up for the bus like this? That was such a wild trip.”
“Oh, you went to Jeju Island for your class trip?” Jiyong asked. He hadn’t heard about that, even though he was back in touch with Seunghyun at the time. That would’ve been when he was working to get signed with YG.
“Yeah, you know, it was no big deal,” Seunhyun said. “It was just for the weekend and we stayed at probably the worst hotel on the island. Nothing really to talk about.”
“Um, are you forgetting something Seunghyunie? Remember when we went to that beach party?”
“Beach party?” Jiyong asked. “That sounds cool.”
“It wasn’t. It was really lame.” Seunghyun said, his mouth a firm line.
“What are you talking about?” Minkyu looked from Jiyong’s curious expression to Seunghyun, who was shuffling his feet and trying to push forward despite the standstill the line had come to. “Omo, Seunghyunie, does Jiyong not know?”
“Know what?” Jiyong asked reflexively.
If he’d thought about it, if he’d had time to reflect, he would’ve known it was going to be bad. When he looked back, he remembered Seunghyun shaking his head over and over in tiny increments and looking at the sky the way he did when he was trying to pretend something wasn’t happening. He remembered noticing that his hands were clenched into fists and that he was jutting his jaw so far forward, his lips mashed together, that he was in danger of spraining something. And he remembered how Minkyu’s face was lit up like a Christmas tree, an eager grin in place, clearly ecstatic to know something about Seunghyun that Jiyong did not.
“Minkyuyah,” Seunghyun said firmly, shooting him a harsh look.
“Oh, right, famous idol doesn’t want to be overheard,” Minkyu said, dropping his voice to a whisper. “But this is so rich, we have to tell him,” Minkyu said. (And Jiyong just stood there, face blank, all innocent, not knowing what to expect, like a fool.) “Okay, Jiyongah,” he whispered, bobbing his head, emphasizing every syllable, relishing in what he was doing. “When our Seunghyun here was at that beach party on Jeju Island, he and Hyunsu totally made out!”
He and Seunghyun were at a wedding for one of Seunghyun’s friends from high school who Jiyong had sort of known when they were kids and sort of knew now, but really he was only invited because having one celebrity at his wedding was apparently not enough for Ko Hyunsu. That wasn’t what made Jiyong mad. He liked weddings, he liked being asked to be in people’s wedding pictures, he liked meeting new people, and in all honesty, he sort of liked being the most famous person in the room. Or tied for the most famous person in the room when the person he was tied with was Seunghyun-hyung.
What had put Jiyong in a bad mood was Kim Minkyu. Kim Minkyu, Ko Hyunsu, and Seunghyun had been best friends in high school and Minkyu was not, under any circumstances, going to let Jiyong forget that. Jiyong was sticking with Seunghyun since he was the the only person Jiyong really knew at this thing, but Minkyu kept talking to Seunghyun like Jiyong wasn’t even there. Everything was “Remember when…”, “Remember when…”, “Remember when…”. And they weren’t even good stories. They were things like “Remember that history teacher who let us listen to music while we were working?”, “Remember that time Kun Jiyoung got a 74 in chemistry and she cried in front of everyone?”, “Remember when we snuck out and got coffees during our study period and we lost track of time and we thought we were going to be late getting back but we weren’t?”
Like, honestly. They hadn’t even been late. How was that a story? Jiyong knew Minkyu was just trying to annoy him by showing he was closer to Seunghyun than Jiyong was. He kept saying how great it was to get “the triad” back together. That was apparently what they’d called themselves back in high school. “The triad”. Jiyong had snorted at that. “Really, Hyung? I didn’t know you were a gangster.”
“It was just a joke thing,” Seunghyun said.
“Oh yeah, it was just a joke,” Minkyu said. He kept agreeing with everything Seunghyun said. “It was just, like, our inside joke thing. You know how it is, Jiyongah.”
Jiyong did know how it was. He had tons of inside jokes with Seunghyun and stories that were real stories where things actually happened. He also knew he didn’t like Minkyu calling him “Jiyongah” like he was his kid brother or something.
Minkyu had completely ruined the ceremony for Jiyong. He whispered through the whole thing. “Wow, Seunghyunie, doesn’t Hyunsu look handsome? Hyeeun is so beautiful! He really lucked out, huh? She’s even prettier than Lee Minji, remember her? Of course you do, you dog! We were all so jealous when you had your first kiss with her. Remember that? And I was trying to get Kim Yujin to kiss me and she wouldn’t even give me the time of day!”
On and on like that. But Jiyong could handle it, because he got to sit next to Seunghyun, and because sometimes Seunghyun would look over at him and roll his eyes and they’d share a smirk.
It Happened after the ceremony, when they were lining up to take a coach bus to the reception. All the other guests in line were talking loudly, maybe a little too loudly – Jiyong was pretty sure everyone was making a big effort to pretend they didn’t care he and Seunghyun were there. But anyway, everyone was talking; there was a sort of happy bustle feeling in the air as they queued up to get on the bus. And Minkyu said, “Seunghyunie, doesn’t this remind you of the triad’s class trip to Jeju Island? Right? Everyone lining up for the bus like this? That was such a wild trip.”
“Oh, you went to Jeju Island for your class trip?” Jiyong asked. He hadn’t heard about that, even though he was back in touch with Seunghyun at the time. That would’ve been when he was working to get signed with YG.
“Yeah, you know, it was no big deal,” Seunhyun said. “It was just for the weekend and we stayed at probably the worst hotel on the island. Nothing really to talk about.”
“Um, are you forgetting something Seunghyunie? Remember when we went to that beach party?”
“Beach party?” Jiyong asked. “That sounds cool.”
“It wasn’t. It was really lame.” Seunghyun said, his mouth a firm line.
“What are you talking about?” Minkyu looked from Jiyong’s curious expression to Seunghyun, who was shuffling his feet and trying to push forward despite the standstill the line had come to. “Omo, Seunghyunie, does Jiyong not know?”
“Know what?” Jiyong asked reflexively.
If he’d thought about it, if he’d had time to reflect, he would’ve known it was going to be bad. When he looked back, he remembered Seunghyun shaking his head over and over in tiny increments and looking at the sky the way he did when he was trying to pretend something wasn’t happening. He remembered noticing that his hands were clenched into fists and that he was jutting his jaw so far forward, his lips mashed together, that he was in danger of spraining something. And he remembered how Minkyu’s face was lit up like a Christmas tree, an eager grin in place, clearly ecstatic to know something about Seunghyun that Jiyong did not.
“Minkyuyah,” Seunghyun said firmly, shooting him a harsh look.
“Oh, right, famous idol doesn’t want to be overheard,” Minkyu said, dropping his voice to a whisper. “But this is so rich, we have to tell him,” Minkyu said. (And Jiyong just stood there, face blank, all innocent, not knowing what to expect, like a fool.) “Okay, Jiyongah,” he whispered, bobbing his head, emphasizing every syllable, relishing in what he was doing. “When our Seunghyun here was at that beach party on Jeju Island, he and Hyunsu totally made out!”