the new kid : hwang hyunjin

xviii.

"The heavens cried with me..." 

You stared at Hyunjin in shock. "M-me? You like me?" The boy stared down at his hands and slowly nodded.

"Wha-" Hyunjin cut you off.

"It's totally fine if you don't feel the same way, I just thought I should tell you." You thought your heart was going to beat out of your chest, but somewhere inside your head, you heard a voice.

'You can't trust him. Look at what happened to your mother after she met your father. Unless you want to be betrayed like your mother, reject him. It's for the greater good. He doesn't really like you.'

You wanted to deny it. You wanted the voice to be wrong, but it was also right. Would your mother be alive if she hadn't met your father?

You took a shaky breath. "Sorry, Hyunjin. But I don't feel the same way about you." You deadpan, and Hyunjin flinched at your monotone voice. It was the same tone you used when you first moved to Korea, but so much had happened since then.

You stood up from his bed. "I think I should get going." You grabbed your tote bag and left the room. After making sure the coast was clear, you ran down the stairs and out of the house.

You stood on the porch, tears streaming down your face as you realized what you had just done. You knew this wasn't what you wanted, but you couldn't help it. The heavens cried with you, dark and gloomy clouds covered the entire sky as you covered your mouth with your hand to muffle your sobs. You took a step towards the rain, and you were immediately soaked but you didn't care.

"Eunji! Wait!" You whipped around and saw Hyunjin running towards you.

"Hyunjin, I thought I made myself clear." You wiped the tears away, pretending it was the rain.

"J-just... take an umbrella with you. You're going to catch a cold." You felt your gut clench at his kind gesture.

"No thanks. Oh, and Hyunjin," Hyunjin looked up at you. "We're still friends right?"

He nodded, smiling. "Great, then I'll see you tomorrow." You waved at him before hurrying down the road. As soon as you disappeared from his view, Hyunjin's smile disappeared and he began to cry.

--

You slowly walked down the empty sidewalk, clothes and hair drenched. The tears didn't stop as they mixed with the relentless rain. You eventually made it home, and you unlocked the door and took small steps into the living room.

Without saying a word, you climbed upstairs and entered the restroom. You immediately stripped yourself from your clothes and climbed into the shower. As beads of hot water bombarded your skin, you curled up into a ball on the floor of the shower, your hair falling into the drain with the water.