before you / jung jaehyun

thirty eight

—
[ present ]

"you know the other day—" aeri spoke, she stopped mid sentence to find the right words to say. jaehyun looked up in the middle of eating to look at her. "mark came to visit me, to apologize," jaehyun let out a scoff, then shook his head. he couldnt believe anything she said. about mark.

remember when jaehyun said mark had the type of evil that would never go away? and he stood by that. "what did he say?" he asked, curious. aeri laid back on her chair to think. "after he apologized, he got some closure for both of us. he said i was his first love, said that he finds bits of me in different girls and-"

before she could finish, jaehyun laughed, and interrupted her. "you believe that shit?" his eyebrows raised, he was grinning. "what's that suppose to mean?" she said, unaware of why jaehyun said what he said. all he did was shrug.

"i dont know. he cheated. he's a dick. what makes you think he doesnt want you back?" he explained. "because i know mark, jae. i know how he is-" jaehyun interrupted her again. "-and if you know how he truly is then you would know he's a dick and everything that comes out of his mouth is a lie,"

jaehyun didnt know why he had the sudden urge to say all of that. he just had this weird feeling in his chest. and it didnt sit right with him. but he couldnt hold himself back. "what makes you think he changed, aeri? just because he admitted that he cheated? just because he apologized?" he continued.

aeri bit the inside of her mouth, her heart was beating fast because she was slowly getting angry. "yes. do you know how much courage it takes a cheater to admit that shit? how much courage for someone in general to just own up for their mistakes?" she retaliated, rolling her eyes at him.

but jaehyun wouldnt just let her talk. "oh please. you probably still have feelings for mark, that's why you sucked up to whatever he said that day," he blurted out, he did it rashly. didnt think of the consequences of what he just said. aeri's eyes widened. "excuse me?" she interrupted.

"why are you being such an ass? acting like chungha didnt do the exact same thing to you, but you were totally fine when she apologized.  you believed her fucking apology, even though she did the same shit that mark did," she defended herself, and mark, of course.

aeri didnt have to defend mark's name even if he wasnt around. it was true, she did hate him for putting her in so much hurt. but at the end of the day, he apologized and they have moved on and he hasnt done anything wrong to her. and he deserved some respect.

"are you gonna sit there and tell me it's different, jae?" she added. "he just apologized for being a bad boyfriend. and then he wished me the best of luck in life," jaehyun just kept silent because he knew he made her angry a little. "i was so excited to tell you about this fucking story," she looked over at him who was just looking away out of awkwardness.

"i finally got the closure i deserve and i was so excited to tell you that i've reached a point where i'm happy in life. i was happy that mark has moved on, happy that i can finally breathe now. hell, i was even happy for you, because i know how long it took for you to move on from chungha and you finally did," her tone changed, a little higher now. that's because she wanted to cry.

"but i guess you dont wanna hear any of that, right?" she let out a soft laugh, one to hide the fact that she was lowkey hurting inside. jaehyun looked at her, finally. he knew he was being harsh on mark, and on her. he kept forgetting that she wasnt like him when it comes to love.

yes, they were both very kind people who puts others before self. but the difference is, jaehyun knew when to stop. but aeri kept on giving. and she kept giving and giving and giving to this boy mark lee, that he got frustrated. and mark lee kept taking and taking and taking.