Forget Me Not | Jensoo

Chapter 24

SOOJOO

I sputtered around my shop finding things that needed to be done before I opened the next day. I had a few hours left before close and the sun was going to be out longer than that, but I had a headache that was more than I was used too.

"Need any help?" I heard the soft comforting voice and grinned, not having to turn around to know who it was behind me.

"I'm thinking that you just may be a stalker, Mrs. Park." I chuckled and was met with her brown eyes

"Ugh," Irene laughed, "don't call me Mrs," she screwed up her face and shrugged, "makes me sound old."

I raised an eyebrow and shook my head. "You realize you're married right? You took his name therefore the title is all you."

"But it makes me feel old." She whined and leaned against the counter, her tank top riding above her stomach. Irene was attractive but she was also straight.

And I was healing.

"And I'm not stalking," she pouted and hopped up on the counter, looking at me with, "I'm simply here to help."

"Your sister probably already thinks we're having an affair." I chuckled and threw her a rag to clean off the dust the sand caused on my register.

"Are you offended?" She gasped mockingly and threw me a smirk. "Do you not find me attractive? Do I repulse you?"

"Hardly." I laughed and bit my lip. "Just clean."

Irene remained quiet for a few minutes before she kicked me on the back of my thigh. "How are you?" She asked softly, her playful tone gone.

I nodded and leaned against a surfboard. "Coping."

"If you ever need time alone Soojoo," Irene shrugged and hopped off the counter, facing me, "just let me know."

I smiled and patted her shoulder. "You've been awesome Irene and I admit, I love your company. You're keeping me sane."

"It's just with Jisoo and Jennie hanging out all the time…"

"I'm not hurt because of that," I admitted, "they belong together and who am I to stand in the way when I clearly know. I guess it'd be different if I didn't know or wasn't aware."

"You're a bigger person than I would've been." Irene smiled softly.

"I wish you were gay." I breathed with a slight laugh.

"They say I have potential." She nodded confidently.

"Jisoo said she tried to set you up with a girl in high school." I chuckled as she blushed.

"That's because I had it for a certain raven we both know." Irene rolled her eyes and shoved me playfully. "Besides, I guess I was still figuring out who I was. After moving from Jeju to Seoul, life became so different. Jisoo understood that so the connection we shared was-"

"Breathtaking?" I offered sincerely.

"Yea." She nodded and shrugged. "Then I started to fall for Douche, formerly known as Kai."

"What is it about him? Didn't Jisoo like him at one point too?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. It wasn't like Kai was the ugliest guy on the planet, but I've definitely seen more attractive men.

"Ugh." Irene laughed. "I wasn't there to experience the whole mess but she did go out with him to try and prove to herself that she wasn't in love with Jennie."

It was always about Jennie.

That was set in stone.

"Feel free to make out with me whenever, Joo," Irene teased, breaking the tension.

"Yea," I shook my head, "I'll get right on that." I joked and turned back around to finish waxing a board. "I don't kiss married women," I said when I felt her move behind me.

Irene wrapped her arms around my waist from behind and pressed a delicate kiss to my tanned shoulder. "I wonder how Jisoo could not fall in with you. It seems natural." She whispered before pulling back and going about her business.

I swallowed and looked at the goosebumps that the brunette had so easily caused.

It was no use to think about Irene that way. She was married, her heart belonged to another and mine…?

"Soojoo?" Jisoo's voice rang through my head.

…Was with her still.

"Jisoo!" Irene squealed and threw herself at her best friend. "Where's Jen?"

Jisoo shook her head with a soft smile. "I haven't seen her yet today."

Irene and I raised our eyebrows at each other and then she looked between Jisoo and I. "I'm gonna go and take a walk. I'll be back to help you later." Irene smiled and took off.

"Can I ask you a question?" I watched the brunette jog down the beach.

"Anything." Jisoo was beside me, helping me put on the wax, her hair falling in front of her face.

"It's about Irene," I laughed as the raven's head snapped up to look at me, "is she always that bold in her flirting?"

Jisoo chuckled and nodded. "Pretty much. Irene's harmless though, she'd never overstep boundaries that aren't supposed to be – especially now that she's a married woman."

I nodded slowly and wondered if a kiss to the shoulder was overstepping a boundary.

"So how are you?" I asked my ex as she concentrated on waxing the board.

"I miss you." She offered quietly before looking up at me. "I think about you all the time."

"Jisoo," I sighed and she shook her head.

"Not like that," she said quickly and moved to be eye level with me, "I just miss you Soojoo. I think a part of me has no right to miss you but at the same time, I can't help it. You've been my best friend for years. You've been the woman who stood beside me through thick and thin. You were the heart that kept me going all these years. You were the reason I did smile, you know? Or that I laughed."

"I get it," I whispered and cupped her face, "I get that I was important to you. That you loved me and cared about me. I also know that you weren't in love with me."

"I wanted to be," Jisoo stressed, "I'd wake up and just hope that it'd be the day that I would become yours. Just, completely yours."

"Jisoo, I love you." I cried softly. "What you have with Jennie is real. It just took you two this long to figure things out but now that you've got her back in your life, don't let her go again, okay?"

"Can I, Can I help you with anything?" Jisoo offered quietly and I frowned, looking around the shop.

"Actually," I grabbed her hand and held it to my chest, "do you think you could close? I'm really not feeling well and I'd like to lie down."

"Sure." Jisoo frowned in concern but before she could say anything, I kissed her cheek and grabbed my keys.

"Jis?" I turned around and found her staring at me. "I miss you too."