The Moments In-Between - A JeongHyo fanfic

Chapter 13 - Moment of Lying

"What's wrong?" Jihyo asked.

"Huh... What do you mean?" Jeongyeon replied confused while lifting her head up from her phone. They were riding to an event.

"I just made like the worst pun ever and you didn't even react."

"Wha-... Huh?" Jeongyeon looked back at her phone.

"Whatever..." Jihyo rolled her eyes. She then realized how childish she reacted and sat closer to Jeongyeon.

She seemed focus.

"Whatcha looking at?" Jihyo asked, her voice laden with curiosity.

"I'm just looking at some tabs."

"Tabs?"

"Yeah... I was thinking of getting back to playing the saxophone... I haven't done that in a long while and I kinda miss it."

"Really? This is the first time I'm hearing about this." Jihyo was genuinely surprised.

"Well... You can't know everything." Jeongyeon finally raised her head and smirked at Jihyo.

"Uh, yes I can! I am your friend and co-member and the leader of your group... Like, things bind us together!" Jihyo replied feigning offense.

Jeongyeon chuckled at Jihyo's reaction. She did not think this conversation would go this way.

"You've been acting weird lately." Jihyo then put on a serious tone.

"What do you mean?" Jeongyeon was now serious as well.

"I don't know... You seem distant in a weird way... Okay, maybe not distant, that's probably the wrong word but... Like, you're there for the group, you do everything like you're told...  but... Somehow, I feel like I'm losing you as a friend." Jihyo geniunely showed vulnerability at that point as a look of sadness came across her face.

It was true. Lately, Jeongyeon has been there for the group, she acted nicely towards everyone and she played by the rules. However, she also started to emotionally distance herself from Jihyo. It wouldn't be anything major, but she didn't overreact to things. She would barely react at all - a smile or a laugh would come out of her, but it felt more like a polite way of acknowledging her presence than anything else.

Jihyo would tease her, Jeongyeon would just smile, but wouldn't tease back.

Jihyo would make a mistake while dancing, and Jeongyeon would actually help her get up without laughing at her, which is something she usually did.

Jihyo would ask her to go to the store in the middle of the night, and Jeongyeon would do it without a problem. All with a friendly smile on her face.

And Jihyo appreciated all of that and always said "thank you" to Jeongyeon with sincerety, but she was feeling like this wasn't the Jeongyeon she knew.

And this is where they were at that moment - Jihyo questioning Jeongyeon and looking for answers. She wanted to know if something was happening to Jeongyeon.

And it was - Jeongyeon just really tried to shut her emotions down so that she could have a peaceful transition into just being friends with Jihyo. She knew it would be a long road, but she knew she had to try if nothing else was working for her.

At first, it was hard, but with more practice, she got better. She decided the pursuing Jihyo in that point in time of her life wasn't going the way she thought it would and that she couldn't risk her mental health or the group dynamics in case Jihyo didn't feel that way for Jeongyeon.

Like she figured out before, she knew Jihyo would always be there as her friend, she wasn't going away anywhere, but she figured that not being in love with her would be better for her at the moment.