✓ SOUR SWEETHEARTS | JAKE

27 - Lose You Twice

When she stepped out of the police station, the rain was falling down so she stood at the main door, waiting for it to subside. The world outside was a blurry mess, much like everything she was feeling inside. 

"Take this." The voice made her look back at Jake who was handing her a black umbrella. She looked down at it, feeling the cool metal handle in her hand. "The rain won't stop anytime soon-"

"Why did you decide to reopen the case? You don't even remember everything clearly, do you?" Y/N interrupted, her voice filled with frustration and desperation. "You should have just left it buried in the past."

"I couldn't," His shoulders slumped and he let out a long, heavy sigh. For a moment, the only sound they could hear was the relentless drumming of raindrops on the umbrella above them. "I've spent years trying to forget, but every time I closed my eyes, I saw the flames, the chaos, the screams... when you told me your story yesterday, I felt like I owed it to you, to your parents, and to myself to find out the truth."

Her anger and frustration began to fade away and her fist collided with his chest as the tears streamed down her face. "Why did you push me away like that? Do you expect me to fall in love with you and just suddenly stop? I know Seojin was mean to you and I know it must have hurt but what about me? You asked me to not fall in love with you but I loved you even before I realized it! If anyone lost the dare, it was me!"

Jake gently caught her hand as it hit his chest, and he held it tightly. "I'm sorry, Y/N, I just..." My father killed your parents and now I'm in love with you. The words were on the tip of his tongue but he couldn't bring himself to say them. That truth was too heavy. Too painful. 

"You can't push me away, now, can you?" She whispered, laying her vulnerability bare for him. "You're my only chance to find out the truth and... I don't want to be alone. So please don't leave me in the dark, Jake."

And he didn't. Instead, he took her to his new place and made her a warm cup of tea, the rain still tapping gently against the windowpane. His new house also lacked personal touches, much like his last apartment. "You can never feel home when you keep running away." Only then she understood why he never bothered to make a home for himself, why he never allowed himself to get too attached to anything or anyone. "My father is an evil man. I'm afraid of what he might do if he ever steps into my life again."

Only then Y/N could understand why he couldn't sleep, why he loved dancing at two in the morning, and why he held onto his secrets so tightly. She indeed knew nothing about him.

"Where is he now?" She took a sip from her tea, her eyes never leaving Jake's troubled expression.

"I don't know. He disappeared all of a sudden when I graduated from high school and I never heard from him again. He had hurt me enough to last a lifetime." He confessed, looking into her curious, sad eyes. Then before she knew it, he took off his shirt and turned his back to her, showing her all the scars that marred his skin. "Every year on my birthday, until I turned eighteen, he whipped me and left those marks as if they were his twisted version of a birthday present. But he never said a word, never apologized, never explained why he did what he did."

"Jake..." She gasped, her hands clutching the teacup tightly, her heart aching for the pain he went through. Her gaze couldn't dart away from his back, from the scars that seemed like brushstrokes on a canvas of suffering. She reached out and gently touched one of the scars on his shoulder, her fingers tracing the rough lines before he turned around and met her eyes again, the raw emotions in his gaze pulling at her heartstrings.

"Don't look at me that way, Y/N," He was pleading, afraid that she would be disgusted by how he bore his wounds. If only she knew. "I don't want you to be repulsed by me." 

"Do you think I'm repulsed by you?" Y/N whispered softly, her eyes never leaving his. "Because I'm not. I'm here with you, Jake, and I'm not going anywhere. Your scars, your past, they're all a part of what makes you who you are. And I think you're incredibly brave for sharing this with me."

His shoulders slumped and let out a sigh. "Someone once told me that they felt like an old cardigan under someone's bed, but because of someone's words, they felt like they became someone's favorite sweater. I didn't understand back then, but now I think I feel the same way."

Y/N's heart dropped for a second and she looked into his eyes, trying to understand what was happening. There was no way Jake was him. Her eyes glistened and she whispered, "Who told you that?"

"Someone I met in Jeju some time ago," He frowned, hesitating a little. "Why..."

"Jaeyun?" It had to be him. That was the only way all of this could make sense. He was in the same place her childhood love discovered and showed her. It was all there and she was blind, but now that she realized it and Jake's eyes widened at the mention of the name, she knew it was him. Undeniably, the pieces of the puzzle were falling into place.

He ran a hand through his hair, his jaw clenched. "How did you-" Then realization hit him. It was her, the girl he had met on the beach on that summer trip, the girl he had loved when they were only kids. The girl he had never forgotten, even though he had tried to bury the memories deep within him. He had no doubt now; Y/N was the same girl from Jeju, the one he had called "Angel?"

The nickname was all it took for Y/N to wrap her arms around him and bury her face in his chest, her tears flowing freely now. "It's me... I'm your angel."

Jake held her tightly, as if afraid she might disappear if he let go. He breathed her name like a prayer, "Y/N- it's- I just... it's you." He gently tilted her chin up so that he could look into her eyes. He stared at her, really stared, taking in every little detail he didn't get to see when they were children on that beach in Jeju. He traced his thumb along her cheek as if confirming that she was indeed real. "My angel."

But the world was only going to be more cruel and complicated than the innocent days they had spent together as children. And eventually, he knew was going to lose both Y/N and the angel that had always been a part of his heart. The world promised them that the ending would always stay the same but he couldn't bear losing her twice.