"Have you ever met a stranger you recognized?"
One in ten thousand- that's how many people have someone predetermined for them. It's even rarer for them to actually find each other, but thanks to a special birthday wish, fate might just be on their...
Yebin furrowed her eyebrows at him. "What else was I supposed to do?"
"I don't know, stick up for yourself?" Jungwon said exasperatedly.
"You don't know me, Jungwon." Yebin shook her head. "That's not how I do things."
"I don't have to know you to tell that you were lying about not getting offended. I saw the look on your face." Jungwon was growing frustrated.
"It doesn't matter. He was right anyway," Yebin quietly snapped.
"No he wasn't! You can't just let people push you around, Yebin." Jungwon kept his voice down, but she could hear his vexation.
"I know I sound stupid but-"
"Can you stop calling yourself stupid?" Jungwon cut her off. "A while ago you called yourself that more than ten times, and you were talking about an essay for god's sake. You're not stupid!"
"Oh yeah?" Yebin laughed drily, standing up from her chair. "Tell that to everyone who calls me that on a daily basis then!"
Jungwon was taken aback. "What?"
"You're a good student, Jungwon. Just like Yeori is, just like my mom was, just like all my moms' friends' daughters are. Just like everyone else I've been compared to," Yebin said, her voice cracking at the end.
She sounded so hopeless, and Jungwon didn't know what to say.
"It's sad knowing that even when I do whatever people tell me to, when I let them walk all over me, I'm still not enough for them. Imagine if I just told them to fuck off? Imagine what they'd think of me then." Yebin felt her eyes cloud with tears, and she harshly wiped them way. "At least this way they like me enough knowing that they can push me around whenever they want to."
Jungwon saw her hands shake as she spoke. It was obvious she wasn't used to talking like this. He sighed. "You know it doesn't matter if people like you right?"
"I-I know!" Yebin exclaimed, her hands flying to cover her face. "Everyone says it doesn't matter, but it does to me. I know it sounds shallow, but it doesn't change the fact that I still worry about it everyday."
Jungwon stood up, taking a few cautious steps in front of her as she continued.
"I care about what other people think of me, and trust me, no one hates it more than I do. So, I'm sorry if-"
Yebin was cut off when he wrapped his arms around her hesitantly, while her hands still covered her face. She leaned her head on his shoulder without thought, eyes still closed in exhaustion.
"I'm sorry," Jungwon said softly. "I was being insensitive."
Yebin started to shake her head, and Jungwon sighed. "Yebin, I swear to god if you don't let me take the blame this once I will personally delete your entire essay."
Yebin's sobs turned into quiet laughter, and he placed his hand at the back of her head, smiling as he pulled her closer. They stayed like that for a while, in a silence that would have been awkward if they were anyone else, but for them, it was nothing but comforting.
Jungwon had to go home after that, and with caution, Yebin escorted him downstairs without encountering any nosy family members. She opened the door for him, and he was about to step out when he stopped.
He turned to Yebin, taking the phone in her hand without warning. He quickly typed in his number in her contacts, and took a selfie as his profile photo. He then pulled his own phone out and took a candid picture of her, in which just to her bad luck, she blinked. He smiled at it, copying her number from her phone before handing it back to her. "I owed you that."
Yebin sighed, tilting her head at him. "You are so confusing. You know that, right?"
Something flashed in Jungwon's eyes, as if he'd remembered something, but he blinked and it was gone. He simply shrugged with a smile, leaving Yebin to shake her head as he jogged up to his bike. He sent her one last wave before taking off, and she stared at his retreating figure.
Yebin stared for longer than she should have. This was the same boy who'd blatantly avoided her, the one who'd left her alone at a festival. She didn't understand how someone like that could make her feel butterflies in her stomach, because that would mean she liked him more than she thought she did. That would mean she had a crush on him. And now that would be really, really stupid.
a/n. go yebin go yebin 🎉 ok but as a side note to you guys: your insecurities are all valid. idc if people tell you it's not serious or how they have bigger problems, NO. if it bothers you then it is serious. you owe it to yourself to know your own worth ❤️
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