缘分 y͏u͏a͏n͏f͏e͏n͏ -; j͏u͏n͏g͏r͏i͏

c a i m 該隱

"i'm warning you, just half an hour of your talking and you let yerim head to bed to rest, do you understand me, jeon jeongguk?" his mother asks him again, only to have her son dismissing her lightly with a wave of his hand, causing her to roll her eyes even though a smile is evident. with that, she shuts the door, leaving the two teens in the guest room.

"you look way better," he breathes out in relief, tucking some of her hair behind her ear as he sits by the side of the bed, while she leans against the headboard. yerim chuckles, nodding her head, "your mom did an amazing job in bandaging me up."

yerim notices the silence from the male, and places her hand on his, "jeongguk, i have my reasons for not telling you, for not letting you know simply because i'm afraid you will see me in a different light. i'm not the girl for you. you're perfect, amazing, talented, happy-going, kind and everything but me, i'm broken, i'm destroyed, i destroy myself, i let others break me apart, i have scars, so many of them that i'm not pretty. i don't deserve you, i don't deserve your love. i break myself to the point where i lost all of my own identity, and i don't deserve to be loved. i don't even want to feel love, because every time i do, i end up shattering even more."

"yerim-ah," the male calls out softly, wiping the tears that are flowing down, as he listens to her; why she's always so secretive and wary, why she flinches at the touch of others, why she's always giving excuses in attempt to protect herself but it never works. "i-i'm so sorry."

"it isn't your fault," she mumbles, as the male pulls her into his embrace tightly, yet gently, afraid she may just break apart by his touch. but what he didn't know is that yerim feels the most ease being in his embrace ― she feels the love she's been longing all this while, she feels the pain inflicted on her all being reflected off just by him, she feels the protection, the warmth she has always wanted but how ironic, she finds it in a boy, who has never given up on her, not even once.

clutching onto the back of his shirt tightly while burying her face in his chest, she cries out for the pain she suffered, the love she always wanted, the protection she has been searching for, and the relief for him accepting her destructive and broken her. jeongguk simply hugs her, running his fingers down her hair, combing it gently while covering his entire body with hers through his hug.

"so t-thank you, for loving me," she whispers softly, squeezing his sides gently as the male breaks into a small smile, "always, forever."

"so you told him?" her friends look at her with surprise, when seungwan pulls the injured girl into her embrace, hugging her tightly as tears flow out, "do you have any idea how scared and worried i was when your younger sister called me last night, crying about you bleeding from head to toe followed by that ear-piercing scream?"

"i'm sorry," yerim mumbles lowly, patting the back of her friend, while shooting reassuring looks at the rest, who are holding back their tears. sooyoung then gestures towards jeongguk, who is leaning against yerim's locker, watching her with a soft gaze even though his posture is rather rigid and protective, "i guess you told him then."

yerim nods her head, and sooyoung sighs out, "gosh, i was so close to spilling to him what was going on in your life, but heck, i promised you and you have no idea how hard it is for me to like even keep my mouth shut."

"well, thank you."

"i would have appreciated if you've told me but i guess you got your reasons," jeongguk says from his position, glaring at sooyoung for a second before nodding his head slightly as a sort of gratitude. he then glances over at yerim, who is still comforting her friend in tears, before sighing softly. he had no idea how she managed to survive all these months, and after an emotional breakdown from the female herself last night in his arms, he vows to keep her safe no matter what.