❝wear the jacket for today, then return it the next time you see me on the train. sound good?❞
in which two individuals cross paths on a train.
choi jiung ff
tw: ANGST/CONFLICT, strong language + scenes, family death
+++
❥ bae juhee is a fourth-yea...
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"do you want to talk about it?" jiung asked, still holding juhee's hand as they walked down the sidewalk. tears were falling down her face minutes ago, but now that the two were walking to an unknown location, her confusion took over.
"there's not much to say," she said quietly, still sniffling. "she said she's not ready to talk to me yet."
she paused before speaking, gulping in the urge to cry again. "what if... what if she's never ready though? and then we never talk again. jiung, i think i messed up. maybe i shouldn't have been too eager to talk to her just yet."
the boy shook his head and looked down at their intertwined fingers. "i think there's a reason for everything, you know? you saw her for a reason. whether she's ready or not, you're here now, and she knows that."
he stroked his thumb on hers, bringing warmth up her arm and all throughout her body. there's that feeling again, juhee pondered. she felt her heart rate begin to quicken, her cheeks becoming even more red, but not because of her crying.
why are we still holding hands? she released herself from his grip, coughing to distract herself from the brief moment of jiung's sweet, silent reassurance. you can't seriously be getting flustered over a boy right now, she thought. especially over one you've only known for a week.
jiung awkwardly rubbed his hand on the side of his jeans and asked her, "what happened between you and jae, anyway? you don't have to tell me, if you don't want to."
juhee hesitated, thinking to herself, i've only ever told mari about this. but it feels right... to tell jiung.
she wiped the tears off of her cheeks and took a deep breath. it feels right, her mind repeated.
"my dad, he... passed away when i was sixteen. jae was fourteen at the time. after he died, i fell into a deep hole – i stayed in my room, didn't eat much, stopped talking to my family," she began. her words were so vulnerable that even just saying them out loud tugged at her heart.
"it was that way for awhile. jae would come into my room to ask me to hang out, but i'd snap at her and tell her to leave. even if it was something as small as eating breakfast with her, i didn't want to. so... we started to drift apart," juhee went on, her voice beginning to struggle.
"jae wasn't home that often anymore. she befriended some bad people, and she'd come home smelling like cigarettes and alcohol, things like that. one night, she came home, and it seemed like she was drunk. i came out of my room when i heard my mom and her yelling at each other-"
"how many times are you going to come home drunk, jae?" their mom screamed. "just look at you!"
"i'm barely drunk, mom!"
juhee watched from the hallway, biting back her tongue.
"it doesn't matter how drunk you are! you're eighteen, you're not supposed to drink at all!"
