𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐲 || 𝐤𝐢𝐦 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐣𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐠.

13

the two teenagers sat on a corner table, sipping on their drinks and talking. it was the next day after school and they were in that same cafe as yesterday, waiting for the boy's mother. hongjoong couldn't stop bouncing his legs due to the nervousness. of course he was nervous, he hasn't seen the woman in over a year. dahee notices this and places a hand on his thigh to calm him down. "it's okay, i'm here." he smiles gratefully at her before the bells on the cafe door chimed, pulling their attention towards it.

soon, a middle aged woman walks in and hongjoong's heart rate speeds up, his breathing quickening. dahee grabs onto his hand and rubs it comfortingly as the woman approaches. she stops in front of their table and a warm, yet rather sad smile graces her lips. "hongjoong."

"what did you want to talk about?" he asks her in a cold tone. he wanted it to be done with quickly. the woman frowns slightly at his behaviour before sitting down in front of them, her eyes settling on dahee. "now who is this fine young woman, hongjoong?"

"my girlfriend. now get to the point already, i have to study after this." he states monotonously and dahee squeezes his hand under the table, smiling at the woman who returns her smile.

"still the hard working boy i know, huh? are you maintaining your good grades?" she questions him, genuinely curious. "those good grades left when you left." he spits through gritted teeth. the woman seemed surprised at his statement but she expected it. "hongjoong, you know i–"

"you what? you left for a good reason? a reason you thought i didn't deserve to know?" the boy snaps at her and dahee's eyes widen at his outburst. "hongjoong, it's not like tha–"

"then what is it?! was i not good enough? did you think i wasn't worth staying for?" he asks quietly, gripping onto dahee's hand under the table tightly as he looks at the woman's face, desperate for answers. "calm down, joong. let her speak," she whispers softly into his ears, rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb.

"i'm truly sorry for leaving without telling you. you did deserve to know but i didn't want to talk to anyone at all at that time. i know that i'm a grown woman and i shouldn't have abandoned my responsibilities but the pain of your father's passing hit me too hard. i loved him a lot and losing him, it— it just affected me so much. i was hurting so i tried to find solace far, far away." his mother almost tears up explaining herself to her son.

"but what about me?" he asks, voice almost a whisper. "did you not think of me? did you not think that i, too, was hurting? just like you lost your husband, i lost my best friend. and not even a week after, you left. my own mother left me. without a word. did it not occur to you that what you did was selfish? i was miserable, mum, miserable. i settled on trying to forget you because i was, and still am, hurt by what you did but," he lets out a humourless chuckle.

"here you are, being selfish once again, coming back into my life like you deserve to. you don't. not when you've put me through that much pain. i don't need you in my life when i already have enough people to keep me happy." he abruptly stands up, hand still clasping dahee's, which causes her to jerk slightly before she too, stands up.

"let's go, dahee." he gently pulls her with him and the girl manages to flash a tiny smile and a small bow at the woman before being dragged away by her boyfriend.

-

"i can't believe you managed to convince me to see her again. god, i don't know what i was thinking when i agreed to that," the boy rolls his eyes, poking his tongue through his cheek in annoyance.

"but don't you think you were being too harsh to her? she didn't even get to explain anything. she did say she wanted to explain. you didn't let her finish talking at all." dahee reasons out with the angry boy. "don't you get it? she caused so much pain in my life, it actually hurt seeing her again. you have no idea how hard it was for me to just look her in the eyes like she never did anything wrong at all."

"that's the thing, joong. i know you're hurt and i know you're finding it hard to forgive her but you can't just assume she did something completely wrong. maybe she had a good reason behind it. if you would only give her a chance to explain herself," she tries to persuade the boy. "why are you so persistent about this?" he raises his voice at her but she wasn't affected by it.

"because you need someone else other than me and seonghwa. she wants to make it up to you. because even if you don't say it, i know you want a real parent to be there for you. you want someone to be proud of you and your achievements. give her a chance, joong. she may have left you for a year but she's back now, isn't she? and that's all that matters. because a real parent wouldn't let their child be in pain for so long, especially if they're the reason behind it. a parent's love is unconditional, joong." she tells him, voice cracking as she tries to keep in her tears because what she had just said, was mostly just her trying to convince herself so.

unknowingly, she becomes teary eyed, catching hongjoong off guard. "hey, hey, baby, don't cry. are you okay? i'm sorry if i made you upset. okay, i– i'll give her another chance. i won't let my emotions get the best of me this time." he embraces her, stroking her back gently.

"i'm sorry, baby. you— you're right. everything you said, you're right. i just, i didn't want to admit it. but you're right. and i'll give her another chance. to actually explain herself this time. please don't cry." he says, still holding onto the girl. "okay." she answers in a small voice.

"thank you, dahee. i don't know how you do it but you always have the right things to say. you keep me sane." he tells her as the two stay in each other's arms on his couch. she wouldn't be able to hold it in if she looked him in the face. she wasn't ready to tell him everything and so she kept her face buried in his chest so as to not break down right then and there, even though her body hurt just from his gentle hold.