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Gabriel García Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude: "Wherever they might be they always remember that the past was a lie, that memory has no return, that every spring gone by could never be recovered, and that the wildest and most tenacious love was an ephemeral truth in the end."
—
Jungkook seems to take his time as he inspects the pinkish marks around my wrist. The space between his eyebrows crease as he does, his eyes dark as the room falls into a standstill. My vision blurs a little as I watch the darkness in his eyes fade, muted, but nevertheless there. To quote from Fight Club, "You know how they say you only hurt the ones you love? Well, it works both ways."
Soojin breaks the silence first. "Oppa, why don't you look at me? Why don't you speak?"
Jungkook ignores her. Instead, he stares at my wrist as he asks me, "Yerim, are you okay?"
I nod.
Jungkook's eyes flash with guilt, but I understand why—he believes he has made it difficult, asking me to stand on his side.
But in truth, it has always been an easy decision.
Soojin suddenly seems frantic as she springs to action. "You took advantage of me, Jungkook! I went to see you and you took advantage of me! Why...why won't you say something?"
Jungkook finally lets go of my wrist. He raises his head toward Soojin, demeanor suddenly detached and expressionless. "Soojin, I have never thought of taking advantage of you." he says, his voice quiet.
"That's impossible. We grew up together. You've always wanted me that way, the way you look at me..." Soojin stutters.
"If that's true, then why did you come into my room and close the door behind you?" Jungkook shakes his head. "You would have been afraid of me. If you thought of me as a predator, you wouldn't have put yourself at risk."
"I liked you, so I wanted to be alone with you." Soojin counters, eyes bright with tears. "I didn't know you would hurt me. You say you didn't do anything now, but you did! No one here can prove that you haven't. If you didn't do anything, then why would you give me such a big check?"
"That check..." My mom starts, only to be drowned out by Ms. Seo's anger.
"That's right, we have evidence." Ms. Seo trembles. "We—"
Jungkook walks out of the room, only to reappear thirty seconds later with a laptop. He places it on the table nearby, turning it for everyone to see the screen.
"There are 24-hour security cameras installed on this property." he says, sending the living room into a dead silence.
We watch together as Jungkook enters a timestamp into the console. A black-and-white rendition of Soojin appears within the screen, knocking on the door of Jungkook's room. We watch as Jungkook opens the door, as Soojin walks past him, placing a thermos of soup besides Jungkook's bed. We watch, wordlessly, as she sits down on the mattress, speaking to Jungkook—who only stands by the door in reply.
