Dive // Jaeyi x Seulgi

Chapter 10

Seulgi didn't face her that night.

It was a small thing. A shift in the way they lay on the bed, the space between them wider than before. But it felt enormous.

Jaeyi wasn't sure what stung more—the distance, or the fact that Seulgi had nothing to say about it.

She was still here. But she had turned away.

Jaeyi couldn't take her eyes off Seulgi's back, steady breaths giving away that she was awake. Her fingers curled against the blanket.

She knew this moment would come.

After everything Seulgi learned last night—about the files, the hidden truths, the years of careful planning—Jaeyi should have been prepared.

But nothing could have prepared her for this.

For the way Seulgi lay beside her, close yet unreachable.

Jaeyi's fingers twitched.

She wanted to reach out. To touch the curve of Seulgi's shoulder, to pull her closer. To say something—anything—to bridge the space between them.

Instead, she pulled the blanket up over Seulgi's back.

That was all she could do.

She didn't know how to ask Seulgi to stay.

She never had to before.

Seulgi felt it.

The warmth of the blanket, Jaeyi's careful movements, the weight of hesitation in her fingertips.

Her throat felt tight.

She wasn't angry. She never was.

But it hurt.

Because even now, Jaeyi wouldn't say the words.

Jaeyi was always the one disappearing.

And Seulgi was always the one chasing.

For the first time, she wondered... if she should stop.

-

Morning came with an unbearable silence.

Jaeyi woke up first.

She sat on the edge of the bed, back turned, fingers pressing against her temple. As if last night hadn't happened. As if she didn't notice Seulgi barely moving, barely sleeping.

Seulgi did the same.

She acted like nothing was wrong.

But when she looked at Jaeyi, when their eyes met for the first time that morning—it was different.

Jaeyi saw it.

The hesitation. The weight of the unspoken things between them.

And for the first time...

She realized—Seulgi was slipping away.

The tension lasted all day.

They moved around each other like strangers who knew each other too well. Like something delicate that would crumble if they said the wrong thing.

And then, it happened.

It was late again.

Seulgi was getting ready for bed, standing by the small mirror in Jaeyi's room, pulling her hair up into a loose bun.

Jaeyi watched her from where she sat at the desk.

Watched the way Seulgi bit her lower lip—like she always did when she was holding something back.