THE TRANSFER STUDENT

A New Chapter, Pt. 2

Jieun put on her jacket and left the house ten minutes before the meeting time, glancing downstairs only to realise that he was already.

Jungkook.

Jieun felt a lump form in her throat. She had spent the past half an hour rehearsing what to say, but the minute she saw him, her mind went blank. Absolutely blank. All the thing's she'd thought of saying to him to break his heart just vanished. As she took the lift down, a part of her felt like running away. Maybe she shouldn't meet him after all.

Perhaps avoiding him for good would be better than literally shattering his heart.

But her legs took her there eventually and once Jieun locked eyes with Jungkook, she felt like her legs had turned into jelly. Every step she took requires a copious amount of effort. She didn't know how to act as she walked towards Jungkook, she didn't know whether to smile, whether to wave, whether to frown, whether to have a poker face.

And where did her hands even use to go before all this happened?

The ten steps from the lift to where Jungkook was standing felt like an eternity. He spotted her immediately after she took a step out the lift, staring blankly at her as she approached. He looked just as handsome as ever, his brown hair combed neatly backwards, clad in a white elbow-length shirt and jeans.

She hadn't seen him in a long time but he sure was dazzling, Jieun realised for the thousandth time.

"Hi."

The first word that had come out of Jungkook's mouth when had finally come to the end of her arduous journey from the lift. Jieun took a shaky breath, realising at once how dry her mouth felt.

"Hi."

This was the first conversation they'd had in weeks, and it felt unfamiliar. They never used to talk that much even before Jieun had tried to distance herself away from him, but it was just... different. In the past, the silence between them was comfortable. But now... it was just tense. To Jieun, it just felt like a battle of who between them would say the next sentence.

And Jungkook lost.

"How've you been?"

Jieun was crumbling internally, but she tried her best not to let it show. Her head felt light and she felt like she was floating in the air as she walked, but she managed to find her way to the nearest swing and take a seat. Jungkook followed her lead and took a seat on the swing right next to her.

Okay, Jieun wanted to reply. I'm okay. I'm good. I'm fine. Words she'd used to say when she really wasn't. But she didn't want to lie no more, not when she was already deceiving him in such a huge way.

"Not okay," Jieun swallowed hard, trying to come to terms with herself that this was it. There was no turning back now. "I'm not fine."

"Mm," Jungkook simply replied, much to Jieun's surprise.

She had expected a bigger reaction of some sort, which perhaps involved him asking her about what had happened. She'd never really explained anything or given him any excuses for her behaviour yet, after all.

"We haven't met in days, huh," Jungkook said quietly, glancing at his watch. "Not that I really kept track. I didn't even know that it's been six days, nineteen hours and thirteen minutes since I last saw you."

He had really kept track.

"Why did you want to meet up with me?" Jieun asked coldly, though her heart was racing so fast she thought she was going to give up midway.

"I told you," Jungkook said softly. "I had something to say to you."

Jieun saw Jungkook glancing at her out of the corner of her eye and had to physically resist the urge to turn her head and look at him. Looking at him would only make things more difficult, she told herself. Don't look, Lee Jieun, don't look.

"Well, actually," Jieun felt like she was about to cry. "I do too."

"Oh."

"And it's kind of important."

"Mine is too," Jungkook said quietly, finally looking away. "Can I go first?"

"Please let me go first," Jieun stood up from the swing, looking in the opposite direction of where Jungkook was. "It's about that... your confession. I'll keep it short."

"Well - okay," Jungkook seemed startled, as he got to his feet almost immediately. Jieun could feel his gaze burning through her neck. "You go first. What's your answer?"

Just do it, Lee Jieun.

Jieun swallowed hard, allowing the tears in her eyes to fall momentarily and wiping them away quickly with the back of her palm. She mustered up all the courage she had left in her, put on the hugest smile she'd ever put on and turned around, looking up into Jungkook's sparkly eyes.

"Sorry, I can't except your feelings. And... I'm afraid we can't be friends anymore."