oblivious | surene

the leader trap part 2

november 2015

ramen fixes everything.

          A clear blue day in November is super rare. Joohyun walked out in hopes of taking a nice peaceful walk to clear her head. But that was not possible with all the thoughts in her mind and knowing Junmyeon was walking right next to her.

When Joohyun rushes out of the restaurant, Junmyeon silently catches up to her, giving her the space she needs once again. She feels guilty for making Junmyeon always be the one that takes care of her. She feels guilty that even after everything she has said to him, he's still treating her as a friend.

They sit down on a park bench, quietly observing the river in front of them.

Joohyun decided to finally speak up, "You're so..."

She tries to find the right word as he turns around to look at her curiously.

"Lenient." she finishes.

"Did you just call me lenient?" he replied, amused.

"You take everything in calmly like it doesn't even bother you."

"Are you kidding me? Did you see me back at the restaurant? I was definitely not calm," he said, embarrassed now of how he acted.

"You barely raised your voice and you didn't take anything I said to heart," Joohyun defends accusingly.

"Joohyun you're flattering me, but I honestly don't think it's true," Junmyeon says with a reassuring smile.

"I've seen you! Even when your members annoy you so much, you don't ever snap back at them."

"I'm just being a leader."

"Whatever you say. I'm a leader and I'm definitely not like that."

Junmyeon doesn't say anything. Instead, he gets up and tells Joohyun to not leave and wait for him here. She was confused on why he just left her there but she did not even have time to ask before he took off. 

Joohyun lets out a small laugh when she sees what Junmyeon came back with.

"Really? You made me wait 10 whole minutes just to get some ramen?"

"Of course! It's our thing Joohyun!" he gives her a big grin, "I honestly thought it would take like three minutes but there was such a long line for the water."

Joohyun smiles in disbelief while ripping off the lid and letting the warm air hit her face.

"I'm really sorry," she finally says, pausing, "For ignoring you without even giving you a reason. And for blaming you for trying to fix us. And for yelling at you back there. And for making you always be the bigger person."

"I'm also sorry for not trying to understand your side."

The space between the two was calm and the only thing you can hear was the slurping of the noodles and the wind blowing at the trees behind them.

"We're all good right?" he asks just to be sure.

"Yeah. I'll try to be less anxious about us."

"And I'll try to be careful."

Junmyeon gets up and grabs both his and her trash, throwing it away at a nearby trash can. 

He's such a gentleman, she thought when she saw him willingly do that.

As he sits back down she mentions an upcoming award show.

"You're taking our award?!" Junmyeon asked, shocked at what she just said to him.

"What?! No, we're just picking it up for you."

"What the. Why?"

"Your group isn't attending and you guys already won so we're receiving it for you guys."

"Wow. I love how you have more of a clue for my schedule than I do myself. I didn't even know all this was happening," Junmyeon says laughing.

"Well now you know something your members don't know," she smiles.

"Honestly I love to tease them with all the information I get from the managers."

"I KNOW RIGHT! Leader privileges." she says with a giggle.

"So do you have a speech prepared when you receive it for us?" letting out a mischievous smile.

"Nope. Any suggestions?" she asked, playing along.

He stands up and pulls Joohyun up next to him.

"Present me the award."

Joohyun rolls her eyes and smiles, "And this award goes to.... EXO! Congratulations!"

Junmyeon struts up, receives the award and bows and in a high pitch voice, "Happiness! Annyeonghaseyo Red Velvet iminida!"

She lets out a loud laugh and she saw Junmyeon do the smile gesture as well.

"Congratulations to EXO! They are all very handsome and talented, especially Suho! He is the best leader! Thank you!"

"YA who says you're the best leader!" Joohyun argues playfully.

"Joohyun-ah, you're not at my level yet," he says sassily, flipping his imaginary hair.

Joohyun doesn't respond and instead punches his arm lightly. He lets out an exaggerated act of pain.

"Junmyeon your jokes are so cheesy," she says as she rolls her eyes.

"You're smiling though."

The two continued to catch up on the month they have missed each other. On the surface they were happy to be able to be friends again but deep inside, both Junmyeon and Joohyun was aware that none of their problems really got solved. Although Joohyun was willing to give the friendship thing another go, she wasn't exactly sure if it was the right choice. Junmyeon is still worried that the issues Joohyun was facing, might still linger around. But even though the obstacles are still there, at least now they have each other to rely on.