A/N: Ok, so I mentioned before that the story had two parts, but the way PART II turned out so far, it makes more sense if I split it into two parts as well, so overall the story will actually have three parts.
So, please find below the "first part" of the last part of the story (did that even make sense? lol), or as I like to call it, the part of the story where all shit hits the fan. (If you have ever been to a class reunion, you know how interesting they can get, right?…lol)
PART II
An hour and a half later Frankenstein looked around his living room with a slight sense of despair. Any previous thoughts of the kids having developed over the years any sense of table manners had obviously been wishful thinking on his part.
If anything, the room appeared even messier than in any of their past visits and the fact that somehow one of them had managed to dig up from somewhere the old War of Craft board game was only adding to the general disorganization that had taken over the space.
The floor was covered in candy wraps, empty potato chip bags and soda cans, just like in the old days, and the coffee table, around which everyone was now gathered playing a round of the game, was already smudged beyond recognition with chocolate and guacamole stains.
Frankenstein sighed as Seira walked past him with yet another bowl of guacamole and chips, followed closely by Regis who was eyeing with suspicion the tray filled with greasy chicken wings he was carrying… "More stains in the making.", Frankenstein thought to himself. He could only fear the colossal cleaning task that would be awaiting him once the reunion was over.
Loud laughter made him turn his attention to the coffee table. From Ikhan's frown and Shinwoo's wide grin, he could easily assume that the red-haired man had once again outsmarted his friend in the game.
Frowning slightly himself, Frankenstein quickly checked his Master's game pieces. Rai seemed rather bewildered by the match, which truth be told, was his normal state whenever playing War of Craft, but at least he seemed to be fairing a lot better than Ikhan at that point in the game, as from what the older man could perceive he was only missing one piece.
"Great idea, wasn't it?" Someone said behind Frankenstein, making him turn around to face his speaker. Tao was coming from the kitchen area with a pack of beverages under the arm. "Don't you think everyone is having fun?"
Frankenstein nodded; unable not to smile. He had to admit that it was hard not to find Tao's enthusiasm contagious. The computer whiz had been all but beaming since he had arrived at the reunion a few minutes after the kids.
Tao paused for a few moments beside his former boss contemplating the scenery in front of him. "It's a shame we couldn't all make it to the party though." He added, shaking his head. "I really tried to get M-21 to re-schedule the business trip, but the guy just wouldn't listen to me." He let out a laugh. "And now Takeo is running late too. They really don't give a damn about what I tell them… And to think I'm actually their boss!"
The older man suppressed a laugh. He would never admit it out loud, but the thought of Tao trying to boss around the other two enhanced humans was rather amusing to him. "Don't worry too much. I'm sure Takeo will be showing up in no time." He found himself saying to the younger man nonetheless. "I'll agree it is a shame about M-21, but look on the bright side, we weren't expecting Yuna to show up and here she is." He glanced at the brunette sitting beside Shinwoo. He had been truly surprised to see her show up.
Tao nodded in agreement. "Yeah…It was kind of funny though… You see, Yuna called me yesterday evening to personally apologize for not being able to make it and we sort of ended up chatting about the others, and about who was coming to the party and who couldn't make it, and all of a sudden she said that she had been cleared by her boss and would catch the first available flight to South Korea in the morning so she could join us."
"Is that so?" Frankenstein asked suddenly intrigued. "…Did you happen to mention that she was coming to the others?"
Tao scratched his head in confusion. "What others?"
"Takeo, for example" Frankenstein added; his tone of voice casual so as to not raise suspicions in the other man. "…or perhaps M-21."
"Huh… not really, I guess. I haven't seen Takeo all day today, and M-21 had already confirmed he's not coming to the party, so I didn't see the point for it…but why do you ask?... Should I have mentioned it to them? Tao asked, clearly still confused about the subject.
"No, not really." Frankenstein quickly interjected, shaking his head. "I was just curio-"
"OH, COME ON!" The eco of Shinwoo's voice interrupted Frankenstein's speech. "Admit it already!"
Both men turned to see the red-haired with his arms crossed over his chest while eyeing a very upset Suyi on the other side of the coffee table. "You bloody hell know it's true. Just come on out and say it. Don't be shy. It's been so many years that no one will care anymore anyway." He added with a devilish grin.
After the initial shock apparently brought on by his words, Suyi grinned back at him though. "Fine, mister footballer big shot! I'll admit mine, if you'll admit yours." She stated defiantly while holding up two fingers in the air. "Both of them."
"What on earth are you two blabbering about?" Regis asked while carefully inspecting a chicken wing he had taken from the tray.
"High school crushes." Suyi and Shinwoo answered in unison, which got everyone's attention in the room.
"Guys, come on. It's been so long… Let's drop the subject." Yuna asked, sounding somewhat uncomfortable with the direction that the conversation was taking.
"Of course not." Shinwoo retorted, ignoring her request. "Well… ladies first." He said, turning back to Suyi.
The young actress shot him a dry look. "Fine!" She said, suddenly turning to address the raven haired man sitting to her right. "Rai, I'll have you know that I had a huge crush on you in high school. Moreover, I helped found your unofficial secret fan club at Yuran High." She said, turning her eyes back to Shinwoo. "And I'm damn proud of it!" She added triumphantly, not seemingly caring about the others' reactions to her words, including Rai's.
The second they left her mouth though, all eyes were on him, who nevertheless took the unexpected confession with apparent ease, though Frankenstein, who was now standing behind him, could have sworn he heard his Master choke on his tea a bit. Rai did manage to open his mouth though, and seemed to be about to say something on the matter, when Suyi's voice was heard once again.
"Your turn, big shot!" She said to Shinwoo with a smirk.
The red-haired however didn't seem as convicted as he had been a few minutes before, clearly taken aback by Suyi's frankness, which he had taken for a bluff.
"W-Well…You see…" He started, pulling a hand through his hair. "It's not like it was ever a secret." He eyed the young brunette woman by his side. "You always knew right Yuna?" He asked her.
"What? ?" Tao asked, clearly amused by the whole conversation. "So Suyi had a crush on Rai and Shinwoo had a crush on Yuna?... I'll be damned. I never noticed."
Frankenstein couldn't help but roll his eyes. That had not been all that his former employee hadn't noticed in the past. He chanced a quick glance at Yuna. From her tense demeanor, it was clear to him that she would rather be discussing another subject altogether, and for the first time that night he was actually sort of glad that M-21 had not been able to make it to the reunion; otherwise the situation would perhaps turn out to be rather uncomfortable for both of them.
"Yeah, but Yuna ended up rejecting Shinwoo…Twice!" Ikhan added on the brink of laughter, only to get elbowed on the ribs by Shinwoo.
The red-haired man's revenge didn't manage to shut up his friend though, who seemed to be finding it particularly amusing to reminisce on their past heartbreaks. "He was so let down that he didn't even had the courage to confess to Seira when he fell for her afterwards."
"Whaaat? !" Was the cry of disbelief coming out from most of the others' mouths.
Tao, who couldn't hold it in any longer, burst into a fit of laughter, holding his arms to his stomach. Even Rai, who had remained for the most part expressionless, was now looking from a much blushed Seira to an aggravated Shinwoo and back, with a raised eyebrow and an inquisitive expression.
"You are so dead!" The red-haired said to his friend between clenched teeth, all the while checking to see Seira's reaction to the news, which he deemed would not be a pleasant one.
Too his shock and surprise though, despite the instant blush brought on by the unexpected piece of information, Seira seemed to be smiling.
"Oh, relax Shinwoo." Suyi said from the other side of the coffee table while still sporting a mischievous grin. "After all, it's been so many years that no one will care anymore anyway." She added, paraphrasing his previous words.
'Revenge' though, was all that was on Shinwoo's mind at that moment. "Then I'm sure you won't mind knowing that this guy over here," He started, pointing directly at Ikhan, who suddenly became all alert. "used to have his bedroom walls covered floor to ceiling with posters of you and used to send you secret love letters signing 'suyiboyfriend17'?"
The look of utter shock that came over Suyi's face could not be translated into words. "suyiboyfriend17?... suyiboyfriend17? Ikhan, that was YOU?" She asked in horror, pointing an accusing finger at him.
"No!" Ikhan quickly said. "I mean, yes. I mean, maybe…I mean, it was so long ago. I was so young. I didn't know what I was doing." He added, defending himself. "But wait a minute, does that mean you actually read the letters?" He asked expectantly.
This time it was Shinwoo who couldn't hold his laughter anymore, which ended up being contagious because soon enough all the rest of the group joined in, including Rai, albeit in a more moderate manner, as was his nature.
"What a bunch of idiots we were." Shinwoo finally said, shaking his head, once the laughter had subsided. "It's amazing how we managed to get through high school."
"Yeah…" Ikhan beside him agreed, his thoughts lost somewhere in the past for a few seconds. "Well, but truth be told not all of us were idiots." He suddenly added, turning to look at the brunette next to Shinwoo. "We never really ended up finding out who Yuna liked after all."
As if on cue, Yuna shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Guys, cut me out of the conversation, ok. Please."
"Yes, children. I'm sure you've all had enough sharing for one day. Isn't it about time we change the topic of conversation?" Frankenstein quickly interjected, in Yuna's aid.
"I bet it was Rai." Shinwoo said conspiratorially, choosing to ignore both. "All of the girls at Yuran High had a crush on him after all."
"Well, all of them except for me." Yuna huffed under her breath.
"Who was it then?" Ikhan asked, intrigued himself. "I'm pretty sure it was someone we knew." He said, scratching his head.
"Drop it guys, please." The brunette asked again, starting to blush.
"Do you know who it was Suyi?" Ikhan asked; only to be greeted by a shrug.
"Don't look at me. She never got around to telling me, as much as I tried to pry. I'm as clueless as the rest of you, I'm afraid." The young actress confessed.
"Was it Il Sung from the basketball team?" Shinwoo tried. "He used to stop you in the school hallways for a chat all the time."
Hearing her former colleague's name nearly made Yuna laugh despite herself. "No, it wasn't Il Sung. May you please now drop the subject? I am not telling you anything. So there's really no point in you wasting time asking."
"Was it Hyo then? From Math class." Ikhan tried his luck. "I know he had a huge crush on you."
Yuna sighed in exasperation. "Forget it guys, I'm not telling you anything…Ever."
"Hey, remember Jung? Didn't he once nearly get into a fight with you because of Yuna?" Ikhan asked Shinwoo.
"No, that was Kwan, not Jung. He wanted to ask Yuna to the prom and heard I also wanted to. But hey, what about Kyo, that exchange student. I think a lot of the girls digged him."
"You sure are a clueless bunch!" Regis' voice was heard behind them, making them all turn around to look at him. "The answer is right under your noses."
"…Do you mean you know who it was?" Shinwoo asked frowning at him.
"Of course I know who it was!" Regis stated, almost offended by the red-haired man's disbelief. "She used to blush twenty shades of red every time he spoke a word to her. An infant could tell she was in love with him!"
"Well… who was it then?" Ikhan asked before Regis' words had the chance to sink in with Yuna.
The young Noble however rolled his eyes at the computer genius. He slowly got up from the couch and started for the kitchen with the empty chicken tray in his hand. "Here's a clue." He shot back over his shoulder, half-way through. "He's missing from the room… and I'm not talking about the long-haired one."
"B-B-But that can only mean…" Ikhan said, the implications of his unsaid words lingering in the room. He was about to finish his sentence though, when the front door bell rang; its sound echoing throughout the house.
"T-That must be Takeo." Tao announced to the rest. "I-I'll go open the door." He added, quickly disappearing from the room, unable to hide his surprise regarding what he had just heard.
"Ok all, that is enough for today." Frankenstein took the opportunity to interject. "I'll have you know, that if no resumes the War of Craft game in the next 10 seconds, I'm taking the board game away from you."
"…Ajussi. You had a crush on Ajussi, didn't you?" Shinwoo quietly asked Yuna.
"N-No, of course not." The brunette quickly answered back, albeit blushing even worse now.
"Yeah, you did." Ikhan retorted. "Now that Regis' mentioned it, I do remember you used to blush when we spoke about him. I never figured out the reason behind it until now though."
"No, you're wrong. I-I didn't blush." Yuna shook her head trying to reason with him, although she was pretty much aware her voice didn't sound at all convincing at that time.
The young man shrugged. "He was always pretty cool with us, Yuna. I'm sure he wouldn't mind knowing that you liked …Ajussi!" Ikhan suddenly shouted.
That was the last straw for Yuna though. She turned to her friend, her voice coming out a little louder than she had intended. "Damn it, Ikhan. I said it once and I'll say it a thousand times, I've never liked Ajussi in my life!"
Ikhan looked back at her, slightly baffled by her sudden outburst. "…Huh, no Yuna... You didn't understand." He sheepishly said, raising his arm to point at something behind her. "I-It's Ajussi."
"What?" She asked, not understanding his words.
She turned to look at where Ikhan was pointing and suddenly felt as if all breath had been knocked out of her.
Standing by the living room's entrance, the grey-eyed man she had promised herself to forget was staring back at her with as much surprise, as she figured she was showing.
"…Hello Yuna." M-21 greeted quietly; the sound of his voice alone almost making her heart stop.
Thanks to all that have left a review to the last chapter or added the story to your favorites list. I'm glad you found it enjoyable to read. PART III (which I hope to be the last part this time) will follow soon :)
