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disclaimer,
fluff
mentions of cheating
i think that's it
enjoy! don't forget to vote and comment 💕
⊱ ────── {.⋅ 💗 ⋅.} ────── ⊰
Sanghee blinks up at her ceiling, one question running through her mind. 'How did I get here?' That seemed like the million dollar question at the moment. How did she let herself get into another relationship like this? First her parents, mainly her mother, and now Taesoo. She should have listened to her sister, she should have dumped Taesoo when he'd waved the first red flag in her face.
"We're young and immature unnie. He'll get better"
"He didn't mean it. I'll talk to him ok"
"Maybe try and get along with him more? Just try not to trigger him, ok?"
Stupid. She was stupid to defend him every time. Now here she is tired, alone and depressed more so than she'd been during quarantine. Sighing Sanghee rolls onto her side no longer interested in the ceiling. She focuses on her guitar in the corner. It was mainly decoration now since she'd been too busy to keep up her lessons with Hyunseok. It was her birthday gift from him, hand painted as he put all her favorite colors into intricate patterns and painted her name in the corner.
Sanghee wishes she could have loved him, really loved him romantically instead of platonically. She often thinks about how her life would be had they'd gotten married like their parents planned. Maybe if she'd married Hyunseok things would be different, she might even be happy. But she didn't marry Hyunseok, they broke off their arrangement and ran away from home to become idols.
"You'll regret this"
"Don't come crying back"
Her mother had said. In a way she wished she'd listened to her. There were plenty of things Sanghee regrets from those years. Leaving home to become an idol will never be one of them.
Slowly she begins to drift to sleep, a depression nap pulling her under but before her mind can shut off her brain her phone is vibrating a few times with a new notification. Lazily she picks up her phone unlocking it not even realizing she was picking up her work cell instead of her personal one.
LEO (eCHO):
Hey!
Message me back
We need to talk
I know you're getting these messages
Answer Sanghee
Please...
'Oh great' Sanghee thinks. She'd forgotten about his work phone. He hadn't contacted her through it since their last fight so she'd completely forgotten that she had his work contact. Chewing on her bottom lip, Sanghee debates responding to him. She'd promised Hyunseok, she promised him not to message Taesoo but she promised herself to end things with Taesoo once and for all.
Slowly she types a simple 'ok' before sending it. She shuts the device off before reaching for one of her stuffed animals, hugging it close to her chest. As she lays there she hums to herself before the words come spilling out of her mouth along with her tears until she sings herself to sleep.
//
Sanghee didn't bother putting on makeup or even clean clothes as she got ready to visit Taesoo. She left her sweat pants and tshirt on before throwing a jacket over her shoulders, a hat on her head and shoving her feet in her shoes.
She didn't tell Hyesun where she was going as she left her apartment on her own to go to Taesoo's studio. During the drive she went over everything she wanted to say to him over and over and over until the words were muddled in her head. All too soon they arrived at Lightbeat Entertainment and Sanghee was walking inside. She walked the familiar way to Taesoo's studio before knocking on his door. It doesn't take long before Taesoo is opening it towering over her.
"Come in," he says quietly. They walk into the studio and Taesoo motions for them to sit.
"I called you here because-"
"I think I should go first," Sanghee interrupts. She watches as Taesoo clenches his jaw, his hands balling into fists on his lap. Normally she'd be apologizing for interrupting him but not this time. Sanghee is done listening to his excuses and him justifying his behavior. Better she breaks up with him now before he's convincing her to stay for the nth time.
"Really Sanghee I should go first," Taesoo says gruffly.
"Fine. Talk," she sighs but her body remains tense.
"Sanghee...I'm breaking up with you" Taesoo says and Sanghe's breath hitches. She wasn't expecting that.
"You...you're what?" she questions.
"I'm breaking up with you.." Taesoo repeats but the shock doesn't wear off.
"I know this might be hard to hear but for a while now I haven't really had any feelings for you and after talking with Jisoo last week-" at the mention of that woman Sanghee sits straighter in her seat.
"When were you with Jisoo?"
"I dunno. Some time last week. Why does it matter?" Taesoo huffs rolling his eyes.
"What day last week?" Sanghee presses. She could feel her chest warm with developing anger.
"Like Thursday or something?"
"That's why you couldn't show up for our date? You were with her?" it shouldn't hurt. It really shouldn't since she's here to break up with him but jealousy and hurt burns away at her chest.
"Sanghee that doesn't matter-"
"It does."
"I'm literally breaking up with you right now! It doesn't matter!" Taesoo shouts.
"It does because you did it while we were together!" Sanghee shouts back, feeling her chest heave with anger. She sucks in a breath holding back her tears. She's not going to do this, she will not cry in front of Taesoo again, never again.
"You know what..." she starts as she stands from the chair "You're right, it doesn't matter. I was here to break up with you anyway so you did me a favor I guess." a bitter chuckle leaves her mouth as she pulls her hat off running her fingers through her hair a few times.
"You what?" Taesoo questions jumping up "You were going to break up with me?" Sanghee scoffs at his confusion. He'd said the words first so why the hell is he so surprised.
"Why is that so surprising? You were going to break up with me"
"Yeah but-" he starts but Sanghee holds a hand up, cutting him off.
"No buts. Like you said we're broken up now so it doesn't matter" she turns to walk away to be done but gets held back.
"Sanghee wait!" Taesoo grabs her wrist. The pressure he puts on her wrist hurts, hurts more when she tries to yank it away.
"What? What now? For once we both agree to something, we want to end this relationship so let me walk away. Please," she says, prying his hand off her wrist. Taesoo holds on giving her wrist the smallest squeeze before he releases her.
"Y-you're right. You can go now...I guess" he says. Without looking back Sanghee bolts from the studio. On her way out of the building she runs into her. Noticing her Jisoo waves smiling at Sanghee.
"Hey Sanghe-"
"Don't talk to me," Sanghee huffs as she walks faster trying to escape this god forsaken building. It's not her finest moment and definitely not her worst. She only hopes it doesn't come back to bite her in the ass.
Standing on the sidewalk outside of Lightbeat Entertainment Sanghee feels at a loss. She'd always thought about the moment before. What she'd say to Taesoo, how he'd react, how she'd react but then it was over. She'd ripped the bandaid off and freed herself of Taesoo. She never thought of what to do after. She wrestles with her oversized clothes to retrieve her phone from her pocket. She calls the first person in her recent calls before holding the phone up to her ear.
"Hello my lovely wife! To what do I owe this pleasure!" Sujung sing-songs into the phone.
"Su..." Sanghee finds it hard to speak right now. So many words were running around in her head and she couldn't figure out what to say first.
"Hey, you ok? Why do you sound like that?" Sujung questions. Sanghee is quiet for a bit before speaking again.
"I did it.".
"Mind defining what 'it' is for me babe?"
"Taesoo...I broke up with him," a hysterical giggle spills from her lips as the shock begins to settle. She did it, she really did it.
"Huh?!" Sujung screams from the other side of the phone.
"I broke up with Taesoo!" Sanghee shouts, still giggling hysterically before she burst into tears.
//
Within the hour Sanghee finds herself in her living room surrounded by her now very small friend group consisting of herself, Hyunseok, Sujung, Xiaolian, Youngjae and Geunyoung. Sujung had rounded the group up and proceeded to go out and buy every single one of Sanghee's favorite snacks claiming she needed comfort food.
"Are you sure you're ok?" Hyunseok wonders which earns him a punch to the shoulder.
"She obviously isn't Hyunseok. Look at her, poor thing is in shock!" Sujung exclaims ignoring the way Hyunseok whined about being hit.
"How the hell is she in shock?" Youngjae questions.
"She was crying on the street like the world was ending! Now look, quiet as a mouse!" was Sujung's "clever" response.
"Why would I cry anymore huh? I've cried enough over this last year," Sanghee groans, letting her head fall against her knees.
"Well when you break up with your boyfriend of two years I'd expect more than five minutes of tears. I'd cry forever if Changmin broke up with me," Sujung says.
"Yeah well Changmin despite his flaws actually really loves you and doesn't treat you like shit" Geunyoung says bluntly.
"It's fine. We're over, I'm over it!" Sanghee huffs into her knees.
"Why don't we watch a movie or something! Get your mind off it?" Xiaolian offers.
"Whatever," Sanghee mutters. She runs a hand through her already messy hair before getting up. As she leaves the middle of the circle she snags a few snacks from her coffee table before making her way to her kitchen. She opens the box of popcorn unraveling a bag from the plastic before shoving it in the microwave hitting the popcorn button. Moving to the cabinets she reaches for a large bowl that unfortunately she'd placed on a higher shelf since she didn't have room on the lower ones. Reaching for the bowl Sanghee just barely was able to touch it with her fingertips. She swipes at the bowl trying to get it into her grasp when she feels a chest press to her back.
"I got it," Youngjae says by her ear. He grabs the bowl for her, placing it in her hands.
"T-thanks" she mutters while taking the bowl. She grabs the bag of pretzels and mini twizzlers, dumping them into the bowl and mixing them around a bit.
"So...how are you really feeling?"
"Angry, sad, confused, overwhelmed, depressed, infuriated, relieved, anxious. Take your pick" she mutters sarcastically. Youngjae laughs as he sits up on her counter only to smile brightly when Sanghee gives him a pointed look.
"Those are all normal responses to a break up."
"How would you know? You've never dated anyone?"
"Yeah but that's the thing about watching other people fall in love. You know what's' what, like the night Taesoo said...just that night, I knew he'd gone over the line with you and when he was finally done with his shit I took you to the movies afterwards to cheer you up"
"Ok I got it Young. Everyone knew Taesoo was a red flag! How many times are you guys going to fucking say it? I got it ok?" she snaps feeling tears build up in her eyes.
"Hey no no that's not what I'm saying, Nana. I just- you're one of my best friends and I notice things with you, the big things and the little. That day you looked so hurt and defeated and I just wanted to make you feel better. I don't want to see you hurting."
'Because seeing your hurt makes him hurt' Youngjae thinks to himself before shaking his head. He shouldn't be thinking about that, about him.
Sanghee sighs, feeling guilty for snapping at him. He was just trying to be nice and she'd gone and been mean to him.
"I'm sorry Youngjae. I shouldn't have snapped at you. You're a really good friend," she says hopping up on the counter next to him.
"I told you, I care about you Sanghee," Youngjae says gently, grabbing her hand in his. His free hand comes up to comb her messy hair down with his fingers. Sanghee hums adoring the feeling of his hands against her scalp.
"And besides," Youngjae murmurs as he brings his hand down to stroke Sanghee's cheek "You're too pretty to be crying as much as you were. You deserve someone else, a real man who can take care of you" Sanghee feels her body flush from her face to her neck. Maybe it's because no one has talked to her like that before, or because it's been so long since someone's looked at her...like that.
"Young-"
"Hey are you going to come back in here so we can watch the movie or not?" Xiaolian questions as she saunters into the kitchen. Sanghee quickly pulls away from Youngjae as she hops off the counter. She's not quick enough seeing as Xiaolian stood staring at them skeptically. Her mouth opens for a moment like she's going to say something but then she closes it opting not to.
"Hurry up so we can start," she says softly before going back to the living room.
"I'll go join the others," Youngjae says, getting off the counter to leave the kitchen.
"Ok" Sanghee says, watching him leave.
She moves with muscle memory getting the popcorn from the microwave and dumping it over her pretzels and twizzlers before mixing them up a bit. She returns to the living room for a moment, setting the bowl on the counter before retrieving drinks from her fridge. She passes them to everyone, stopping a moment longer with Youngjae when their fingers brush against one another.
"What are we watching?" she questions.
"The maze runner" Sujung says instantly getting a gasp from Hyunseok.
"Oh my god with Dylan O'brien?!" Hyunseok exclaims as he stops building his makeshift tent in Sanghee's living room. She really wishes he'd stop doing that and she always ends up putting everything away.
"Yes Hyunseok with your boyfriend," Sujung says with an eye roll.
"He is not my boyfriend," Hyunseok mutters with a frown.
"Uh huh."
"Shut up guys the movie is starting," Geunyoung groans as she settles into Sanghee's beanbag chair. Sanghee sits between Sujungs legs resting her head on the older girls thigh. As she sits surrounded by her friends she feels content. She doesn't feel happy, her heart is in too much pain to feel that emotion right now but at least she feels content, pleased to be around friends like this after so long.
"Nana!" Hyunseok whisper shouts. He waves at her from within his now somewhat functioning tent. Sanghee waves back.
"I love you," he mouths to her.
"I love you too" she mouths back, following up with a finger heart. Seconds later she's wincing feeling Sujung hit the top of her head.
"Stop proclaiming your love for each other that's my job" the older says leaning down to kiss the top of Sanghee's head.
"Shut up Sujung I literally had her first" Hyunseok bites back.
"So what I have her now!" Sujung huffs.
"Im sorry she's my girlfriend" Geunyoung says with an annoyed look.
"Girlfriend?! Sanghee you're cheating on me?" Xiaolian shouts "We're supposed to be soulmates!" she exclaims dramatically as she draped herself across Geunyoung's lap.
"She's actually cheating on all of you with me. We all know I'm the best one here" Youngjae says and immediately gets a pillow thrown to him by everyone in the room but Sanghee.
"Shut up Youngjae!" Sujung shouts followed by Xiaolian saying
"Yeah dumb ass!"
"Who does this guy think he is?" Hyunseok groans, rolling his eyes along with Geungyoung who was shaking her head silently.
"Oh my god. You guys are impossible" Sanghee groans playfully. "All of you shut up or I'll kick you out of my apartment!"
"You won't. You love us too much" Youngjae says with a wink. Sanghee bows her head letting her hair fan around her face hiding her blush.
"Focus on the movie. Hyunseok's husband is on screen!"
"SUJUNG FOR THE LAST TIME HE IS NOT-"
"SHUT UP I'M TRYING TO HEAR!"
"ALL OF YOU SHUT UP BEFORE I GET ANOTHER NOISE COMPLAINT!" Sanghee shouts back.
Yeah...Sanghee is content to be surrounded by her friends. People who love her.
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ೃ⁀➷ ꒰ a/n꒱ anndddd now that chapter is over yay! i feel so bad for taesoo since everyone is on the hate train for him rn but this is about sanghee so im happy she's finally moving on and healing some what. hope you all enjoyed! 💙༉
꒰BlueBirdie48꒱