Another Level: CLC SYS

chapter 5: as long as i'm here no one can hurt you

seungyeon: i hope so too. see u girls later back home!

yeeun: that's really weird to me. i haven't even seen the place

seungyeon: then what are you waiting for?

seunghee: ^

yeeun: i'll drop by later!

* * *

“Your brother was kinda right.” Joon says after I ranted to him about how annoying Rieun was today.

“Yah, you're supposed to be on my side!”

He smiles, a little dimple showing on his cheek. “I'm always on your side.” He says, “But I don't understand why you left the company if it's been your dream to work in UCE. It's hard to get in too. That much I know. You never told me why you left.”

I look away, avoiding his eyes. “It just happened.” I say and then changing the topic, I tell him, “I'm thinking of living with Seunghee and Seungyeon eonni.”

“What? Really? Why?”

I smile. “We got drunk the other day and it kinda just happened.”

Joon takes my hand with a playful smile. “Just live with me instead.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “Do you have a death wish?”

“No, I just like you.”

“It's too soon for that.”

“I'm kiddingㅡbut I wouldn't mind.”

I chuckle, pinching his nose. “You weren't kidding. Take it slowly, okay?”

“Okay, ma'am.”

I look at him as we walk and I sigh. “But would you really live with me this early in the relationship? We've only been together for five months. You still don't know a lot about me.” I ask.

He shrugs. “We'll just find out more about each other if that's the case.”

I smile a little. “You have no fears.”

Joon looks at me and asks, “What's that look on your face?”

“It's just that sometimes I envy you for not being afraid to take risks.”

“Jang Yeeun, taking risks does not mean someone's not afraid of them” he says, holding both of my shoulders and making me sit down on a low hedge by the street. He sits beside me, interlacing our fingers together. “Here's a questionㅡwould you rather have stories to tell someday? Or would you rather just listen to others tell stories about how they lived their lives?”

“Hmm, I don't know. Both don't seem pretty bad.”

“Okay, let me rephrase that. Would you rather have stories to tell someday about all the things you've learned from all the risks you took despite being afraid? Or would you rather just listen to others tell stories about how they took risks despite being afraid and then regret that you didn't do the same while you could?”

I couldn't answer him. No matter how much I wanted to choose the latter, fears sometimes still take over. I don't want to say something I couldn't stand for.