Running to You | Park Han + JL + Steven | Haneulz + Stejay AU

Chapter 68: Back to the Fold

JL tried to picture it: the Chih En he knew now --  sharp, dry, devastating on the track -- back when he barely spoke. Back when Han had seen something in all of them before anyone else did.

"None of us had a shot," Jeongwoo said. "We weren't ranked. We weren't scouted. We were just names on a list. But Han didn't care. He said, 'We'll make them see us.' Not because he needed us to win. He needed us to matter. And he needed to matter to us."

JL's throat tightened. "That's... a lot."

Jeongwoo's smile was quiet. "Yeah. And the thing is -- he still hasn't stopped. Still thinks he has to hold the whole damn thing together with his bare hands."

He looked down for a moment. "He's still trying to be our general. Our shield. Still thinks if he stops being perfect, we'll fall apart. But we've grown. Chih En's ranked now. I've got my own coach. Juwon's busy planning illegal dance revolutions."

JL huffed out a laugh despite himself.

Jeongwoo looked at him directly. "We don't need Han to save us anymore. But he doesn't know how to stop trying. That's where you come in."

JL turned toward him, surprised. "Me?"

"You don't treat him like a hero," Jeongwoo said. "You get mad at him. Call him stupid. You make him answer for the shit he does. It's good for him."

JL looked down. "Steven's good for him too."

"He is," Jeongwoo said, without hesitation. "Steven makes him feel seen. You make him feel real."

Then Jeongwoo added, "You know, people think Steven and Han are opposites. And they are. But it's more than that."

"What do you mean?"

"Steven thinks love means softness. A place to rest. To be seen as you are. But Han -- " he paused. "Han thinks love means cheering the loudest. Believing the hardest. Even when you hate yourself. Especially when you hate yourself."

JL exhaled. He could almost hear Han's voice again, drunk and raw in the dark.

"I love you. So I'm selfish with you. I wanted you to be unbreakable. Because I only believe in someone I love."

It made sense now. All of it.

"You don't have to forgive him," Jeongwoo said. "But if you ever wonder why he keeps pushing everyone else so hard -- it's because he never learned how to be soft with himself. He spent all his time believing in others, in us. And maybe you're the only one brave enough to show him."

JL didn't speak. He sat with it --  the anger, the memories, the tenderness laced with so much hurt.

Because Han didn't love the version of you you offered to the world.

He loved what you tried to bury.

The parts you thought were too much -- or not enough.

He saw your strength even when you only showed your silence. 

Your beauty, even when you felt broken.

He didn't love you to change you. 

He loved you because he believed the truest you was already there. Waiting. Hiding.

And he wasn't afraid to call it out -- even if it hurt.

Even if you ended up hating him.

Because Han's love wasn't about comfort.

It was conviction.

A refusal to let you stay small.

A belief in you, so fierce, it felt like fire.