Jang Ha-ru walked nervously on the sideway his hands fidgeting against his backpack as he felt a cold sweat. He let out a breath as he looked around. He stopped at the stoplight once again. This was the third time he had walked around the small park contemplating whether he should just turn back and run.
He had that option but he couldn't possibly turn back now he had already made a promise. Besides doing that would be an injustice to the original Jang Ha-ru, he had already ignored the problem for too long if he let it go any further it would result in something terrible.
He had received so many messages and calls both to his phone and the family phone that Mae-rin got fed up with him.
He had tried to brush them off for as long as he could but it seamed inevitable when he read the message that they would come to his house. He had to make a compromise and have them agree to meet at a different location.
He had spent sleepless nights trying to learn as much as he could about gaming but even learning about the computer was hard enough to make his head ache. Navigating the games jang Ha-ru played seamed like an impossible task.
He thought up every excuse he had in the book to give them as to why he couldn't join them anymore. He couldn't just tell them.
"Hey so I am not actually your jang Ha-ru I am in fact Kim Jang-ill from the past and now I have taken over your friends body and can't join you anymore because I don't know a single thing about gaming."
He let out a sigh at the thought of it as he slumped down on the ground next to the pole as he held his face.
He looked up and saw the lights turn. He felt his body become heavy as he let his head fall.
Some people looked at him in curiosity. They wondered what was wrong with him yet again life was hard. They were coming from work exhausted with some students eyes dropping from exhaustion. Friends chatted excitedly as they waited. Finally the lights turned red signalling for them to go ahead. They didn't say anything as they walked onto the crosswalk leaving him alone once again, until another batch of people came up to fill their spots.
After a few minutes he stood up with conviction.
"I am not a coward!" He mumbled as he fisted his hand. Just then the lights turned and he felt his courage slowly dwindle but none the less he took courage and quickly walked across the crosswalk before he lost more of his courage.
He didn't remember in his previous life having to be in such a situation. A situation that would make or break jang Ha-ru's life. He didn't want to have to dictate what happened to another person's life when his alone was more than enough. He had thought of the possibility of Jang Ha-ru coming back so he didn't want him to come back to find his life overturned.
He bit his lip as he turned a corner and saw the agreed building, he could feel his feet wanting to make a turn but he held himself and stood strong.
He let out a sigh and walked to the reception.
"I was told to ask for code red." He said. The receptionist looked at him in question.
"Room 10." The girl said her eyebrow raised. She watched him walk down the hallway in confusion.
She cocked her head to the side in question but didn't think anything further about it as another client walked in.
Jang Ha-ru looked at the door numbers until he finally arrived at the door. He held his breath as his hands shakily held the door knob. He could hear someone singing through the karaoke machine.
He gulped.
This would be the first time he met them he didn't know what to do. How to talk. What to say!
But he couldn't back out they obviously needed an explanation. He twisted the knob and pushed the door.
The whole room fell into silence as soon as they saw him.
There were two guys and a girl.
One of the two guys was wearing glasses and he had on a yellow sweater vest with a green shirt underneath. The other guy was a bit plump with slightly long hair wearing a red t-shirt with plad trousers. The girl had a bob-cut and wore a black dress . She was chewing on some gum as she scrolled through her phone.
She looked up slightly and continued scrolling through her phone. The guy in the red t-shirt who was singing when he walked in stopped and looked at him.
The other guy pulled up his glasses as he scrunched his nose before changing his seating position.
He cleared his throat and closed the door behind him.
"It's so cold today right!" He stated before laughing nervously. He rubbed the back of his head. As soon as the words came out of his mouth he felt like smacking himself.
He slowly approached them, the room still silent apart from the small noise from the karaoke machine. He silently sat at the very edge of the seat almost falling.
He looked down at his hand trying to remember the names. He had been so nervous he had forgotten everything he had crammed. But good thing he had the names down.
All the names he could find were codenames so he had to work around Mae-rin to get the right names.
She had asked if Kim joowan would be present but when he stated that he wouldn't she lost interest in coming so he had to come alone. But what she didn't know was the the group specifically asked him not to tell her that he was in fact there.
He hadn't had time to Google about him and had rushed out since he was getting late.
They sat in silence for a few minutes the air feeling dead and heavy. The t-shirt guy,park minyoung,had sat down. Next to the other guy, Si-wan
Suri looked at the room and let out an exaggerated sigh before letting her head fall behind her.
"So are we going to spend the whole night like this?" She asked as she took a sip of her drink before drinking everything in huge gulps. She stood up and walked towards the karaoke machine and took the microphone. She typed in a song and started singing.
After singing it she walked towards the guy with the eyeglasses and held his hand lifting him up. She handed him a microphone and held him by the neck as another song started playing.
They sang two more songs before they collapsed on the chair in exhaustion while they laughed.
The red t-shirt guy was still glaring at Ha-ru the whole time making him shift uncomfortably on his seat.
He held his backpack tightly and brought it closer to his chest.
"When is joowan coming?" Si-wan asked as he breathed heavily while trying to catch his breath.
"I am not sure he texted saying he would be running late."
"Of course idol life must be hard." Si-wan said with a bright smile as he grabbed a can and drunk some of the cola.
The room fell into silence once again.
"Ha-ru." Si-wan stated his voice turning serious.
Jang Ha-ru looked up instantly at him.
"Why didn't you come? We can understand joowan but you were supposed to be there." minyoung stated his voice holding anger and frustration cutting off si-wan.
Jang Ha-ru could feel his heart tighten a bit at his statement.
He had nothing to say. If he stated anything it would only look like an excuse.
He let his shoulders fall as he let out a sigh.
"I didn't mean to." He said his voice low and embarrassed as he looked away.
He stood up and walked towards him. He held his collar in anger and Ha-ru turned away thinking he was going to hit him.