the map that leads to you - a jidal endgame story

chapter 1: I like to think that we had it all

author's note: 

here am i again ready to make yall suffer because we cant get over jidal even if 2021 is right at the corner lmao

hope you guys like this story and the drama i decided to add to this alternative ending

have a nice reading and i see you at the end of the chapter!

listen to this playlist for a more painful experience: http://bit.ly/JIDAL01 - you can type on your navigator since Wattpad does not allow clickable links

(see the end of the chapter for more notes)

xx

Ji-pyeong could see the finishing line getting farther away from him on the horizon.

So he decided to yield.

He held the steering wheel with more strength than necessary, having parked his car because he couldn't phantom to drive in such a pained state. Feeling his chest constricted and finding air hard to breathe, Ji-pyeong decided it was enough.

It's okay, this is enough , he thought while staring at the plant and the letterbox with glassy eyes.

And it was.

It was enough because he had come this far.

It was enough because he hadn't lost himself in the process.

In fact, Ji-pyeong felt like he learned a valuable lesson from eighteen years of this heartbreaking journey. He found out he could love someone, the wholeheartedly and brazing love some people only dream of encountering in their life.

Despite not knowing if he could be ever loved back, it was enough for him to feel such a boundless and thrilling emotion.

Even if he ended up with only his memories at the end. Even if letters from a person that didn't exist anymore and a tree was his consolation prize.

At least he had loved someone, and this no one could steal from him.

After all, no hands are capable of erasing one's feelings.

xx

Dal-mi held a single worn purple paper in her hand while standing in a room full of color.

For some reason, she felt like this could be the perfect metaphor for her life. Dal-mi, too, felt like a worn-out color standing between bright tones, and yet, she couldn't manage to understand this feeling properly.

Written in a sharpie with Do-san's handwriting, she read his reason for starting a start-up and just froze in place as the words caved-in.

"I want to turn a misunderstanding into reality."

A simple phrase that seemed to dig the last nail on Dal-mi's coffin. Such a mundane sentence that made her remember that it was all a lie from the beginning.

A lie, a free choice made by two men. A choice they stole from her with no rights, not a misunderstanding.

"Does this mean..." Dal-mi began to say, trying to make him assume his mistakes for once.

"Dal-mi..." Do-san interrupted in a pained voice, "Why do you like me?" He asked, almost begging now.

Dal-mi couldn't answer this. Not because it was the third time he questioned her feelings, but simply because she didn't have an answer. Right now, words were escaping her troubled mind as she realized what had happened from the start.