After Midnight // jongdae ✔️

20 <Happily Ever After>

"Me neither. It'll be weird without you here." GaEun agrees, her tone turning much more grave than moments before.

JinHyuk shakes his head and smiles to himself, "You'll be fine," He leans back against what used to be his desk and crosses his arms, "I saw that wolf boy is back in the picture. You and JongDae made quite the scene outside the hospital earlier this week."

GaEun's bangs fall over her eyes when she casts her gaze downwards to hide her embarrassed expression. She stumbles over her words, "Oh, that... I didn't know people were watching... We weren't really in the right state of mind at that moment."

"I could tell..." JinHyuk remarks, a lot less toxic than GaEun half-expected his tone to be, "So... You're staying with him? Even after everything he's put you through?"

GaEun nods her head absentmindedly, "I know... but we also went through so much together, and that makes up for all the time we've been apart. He's my soulmate... "

"True..." JinHyuk repeats to himself before looking up at her with a reassuring smile, "But if he decides to ditch again, remember you can always turn away from destiny and make your own."

GaEun doesn't believe destiny can be so easily rewritten. Nor can the past be so easily forgotten. But after the unexpected turn of events her life has taken, GaEun does know for a fact that anything is possible. She doesn't know what the future has in store, but she feels secure knowing that her future is solely in her hands. And she's the one who decided to run out in the rain and leap into JongDae's arms. She wouldn't have it any other way.

GaEun smiles and lies through her teeth, "I'll keep that in mind..."

JinHyuk sighs and stares at her, taking in all of her details. He's memorized every little thing about her, from the sparkle in her eyes to how her bangs are wispy and layered, but he's scared that the image of her in his mind will slowly fade away. All the fine details about her will be lost until the image of her becomes a generic person that was supposedly his first love once upon a time.

Maybe the memory of her will hurt a lot more in the future than the image of her, because when he forgets what she looks like, he'll still remember what it felt like to pursue someone he never had a chance within the first place.

So for now, JinHyuk takes in her appearance as much as he can.

She reminds him of an innocent flower he could never have. He wants to pluck it to keep for himself, but the flower will die if it's detached from its roots. So he can only appreciate it from afar and watch as someone else tends to the flower.

"You're too good for the world that JongDae is dragging you into." JinHyuk thinks out loud.

Even up to the very end, he's still watching over her.

At one point, GaEun had thought JinHyuk was too good to be true; he makes no mistakes, always optimistic, has a perfect smile, and always shows up to encourage her when she needs it the most. He's flawless. People like him are rare in this world; people like him just don't exist.

"You know... we're going to have to be enemies from now on, right?" JinHyuk states, distaste evident on his tongue. 

GaEun can't imagine ever hating someone like him, "Do we really have to?"

"That's just how the supernatural world works. My kind and your kind just hate each other; that's how it's been for centuries." JinHyuk explains, but he doesn't have the authority in his voice to express that he agrees. He lowers his head and chuckles to himself at where they've ended up, "I could never hate you. Not in a hundred years."

"I could never hate you, either." She reciprocates. 

"I think that's all the reassurance I need," JinHyuk looks up again, plastering a grin over his true feelings, "But I think it's for the best. It'll help my feelings for you to die down."