"I already know what I want."
You scanned the sad faces of the expectant crowd standing just in front of you. Your aunt's hand was covering her mouth, and she was trembling, silently waiting for you to continue. Namjoon was only a couple of feet away from her, his body heaving with every breath that he took. With every breath he drew, he was getting closer to just crumbling to the ground.
Both of them looked up at you with expectant eyes and waited for you to say something. You quietly sighed and pushed a few stray locks of hair out of your eyes. You opened your mouth to speak and watched their expressions change.
"I want as far away from this hellhole as possible," you said, your voice cold and mechanical. "I want nothing to do with either of you for as long as I live."
The shock on their faces should have made you feel something, but it didn't. It was like there was fire flowing through your veins in place of your blood, numbing your sense of emotion.
"Y-you don't--you can't mean that," your aunt stuttered, frantically pushing Mark and Yugyeom out of the way and stumbling forward. "You just got here, a-and I haven't been able to see you for a decade. You're the only family that I have left!"
Oh, of course, I am.
"I wonder why that is," you mused, tilting your head to the side and glaring at her. "Three million is a lot of money, but you can never truly cover up all of your mistakes, can you?"
Your aunt immediately turned away from you and walked to the opposite edge of the roof. Mark and Yugyeom quickly followed after your aunt, but not before they each shot you a disgusted glare. As she walked away, she brought her hand up to her mouth to muffle her sobs, but it was no use--you could still hear her.
Why don't I feel bad?
You carelessly jumped down from the wall onto the rooftop, slightly wobbling as you landed on your feet. Namjoon immediately stepped forward to help steady you, but you backed away from him and gave him a cold glare.
"What makes you think I need your help?" You spat, looking him up and down.
"Princess, I-I want--" He stopped talking and looked up at you, his eyes glassy as if he were on the verge of tears.
"You don't have to do this; You don't have to go."
Don't you try doing this to me. You already know what you've done.
"I've already told you this, but I guess I have to repeat myself," you sighed, ignoring him almost entirely. "Don't call me Princess."
You pushed past him and walked towards the door to the building, completely aware of the chaos that was ensuing behind you. The sobs of your aunt were getting louder and louder, each one echoing through your head, although you still felt nothing. You opened the door and looked over your shoulder at the final scene.
"Don't try to follow me," you threatened. "I still have one bullet left."
The door slammed shut behind you, and it was as if the world went silent. You stepped forward and listened to the click of your shoes echo off of the wall and find their way back to you. Even though the only thing separating you from everyone else was a door, you had never felt more alone in your entire life.
What the fuck am I supposed to do now?
You adjusted your glasses and looked at the dried blood on your hands. Then, you looked at the walls surrounding you and realized that you had nowhere to go. You didn't have anybody you could go to, either. You had just rejected the only people that you knew in the entire country. There was no way you could survive on your own.
Almost mechanically, you dragged your feet across the floor and walked toward the stairs. You listened as each of your footsteps echoed off of the wall and came back to meet you. You slowly began your descent down the stairs, leaving everyone and everything behind.
You walked down flight after flight of stairs, letting your eyes rest on your feet. Step after step, floor after floor, the farther you got away from the roof of the building, the worse you felt. Your footsteps were still echoing lifelessly off of the walls as you got closer and closer to the ground floor.
Wait a second--some of those aren't mine. Someone's following me.
You instantly brought your hand down to your holster and drew your gun. You pressed your back up against the wall and waited for someone to come running down the stairs and around the corner, right into your trap.
"(Y/N)?!" A familiar voice yelled. "Wait!"
Jiyong bolted around the corner with so much force that he slammed into the wall. He quickly sprang to his feet, completely ignoring the pain that he should have been feeling. You dropped your gun and let it clatter to the floor, then covered your mouth with your hands. He looked up, startled by the sound, but gave a weak smile when he noticed it was you.
He's still here.
You blinked and wiped your eyes, just to make sure that your eyes weren't playing any tricks on you. You felt your lips curl into a smile when you realized that you weren't alone anymore.
He's still here.
"(Y/N), I--"
At that moment, the mystery man from before came running around the corner, breathing heavily. He stopped and bent over, putting his hands on his knees to catch his breath. Both of you stared in awe at the man, who seemed to be completely oblivious to the world around him.
"Why the hell didn't you wait up for me?!" The man asked, flashing Jiyong an annoyed glare. "I almost fell on the third flight!"
"Youngbae, not now, please," Jiyong harshly whispered, keeping his eyes glued to you as if he was afraid you would leave. "She's right--"
"So, you're Youngbae?" You asked, your voice silencing both of them. "You're Jiyong's friend, aren't you?
"Uh, y-yes I am," he stuttered, his face turning red with embarrassment as he looked up at you. "I-I didn't realize you were right there. If you'll excuse me for a moment."
With that, he shyly slinked around the corner, leaving the two of you alone. He quietly walked up the steps, trying to give you some privacy. Once he was sure that he was alone with you, Jiyong came flying down the stairs, immediately taking you in his arms.
"Jiyong," you whispered, burying your head deep in his shoulder and trying to keep your voice from cracking. "Why the hell are you still here?"
"Why shouldn't I be?" He chuckled, lightly caressing your cheek. "I said I was going to help protect you, love."
"You could have gotten hurt!" You cried between sobs, weakly but angrily hitting your fist against his chest. "You could have gotten killed! Why couldn't you have just left?"
Why didn't he just go?
"I didn't want to leave you behind."
You felt your entire body go numb at his words. His hand trailed down from your cheek to your chin. Your eyes began to water, and your heart sped up in your chest. He slowly tilted your head back so that you were looking him in the eyes.
"I'm not going to leave you behind ever again," Jiyong whispered, shaking his head and trying to keep his voice from cracking. "No matter what."
Before you could say anything, he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you close to him. He buried his head deep in the crook of your neck, a few stray tears working their way onto your shoulder.
"Don't worry, Jiyong," you cooed softly into his ear. "I'm not going anywhere."
You let your hand gently rest on top of his head as you comforted him. You slowly began to stroke his hair as he carefully pushed you over towards the wall. Your back gently bumped against the wall, and Jiyong's arms left your hips. He stepped forward and pressed his forehead against yours, just like before.
Before he could do anything more, you carefully brought your lips up to his. You gently pressed your lips against his, drawing a quiet groan of surprise from him. He leaned in closer to you and put his hand on your cheek, deepening the kiss before you finally pulled away. You looked up and realized that despite his teary eyes, he looked genuinely happy.
I want to stay like this forever.
"Hey, Jiyong," Youngbae stepped around the corner, completely oblivious to how you were both standing. "What were we planning to do after we got out of here?!"
"I haven't come up with anything yet," Jiyong annoyedly huffed, immediately pulling away from you. You crossed your arms over the top of your chest and tried to hide your blush, silently hoping that Youngbae wouldn't be observant enough to notice.
"How about we at least get out of here," Youngbae suggested, nonchalantly walking down the stairs. "They're not going to stay up on the roof forever. And I don't want to be here when they finally decide to come down."
"That's true," you said, nodding your head in agreement. "We should get out of here before anyone else comes and finds us. It doesn't matter where we go--we just have to get away from here."
Jiyong looked from you to Youngbae, and then back at you. After a moment of silence, he tilted his head back and sighed, defeatedly throwing his hands up in the air.
"Alright, but I only have about 100,000 won, thanks to our lovely friend (Y/N)," Jiyong said, nodding his head at you as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out the money. "So we have to be careful with how we spend it. Neither of you has your phone, do you?" He added the last part as an afterthought.
You both shook your heads, earning another sigh from Jiyong. You thought back to when you last had your phone and realized that you couldn't quite remember when that was. Had you even brought your phone with you into the country?
"I don't have mine either, because those idiots took it from me the moment that they found me," Jiyong scoffed. "We'll have to find a phone on the streets so that we can call someone to come get us."
Youngbae quickly slipped down the stairs and rounded the corner, leaving you alone with Jiyong. He cleared his throat and slowly sauntered over to you, giving you a cheeky grin. You uncrossed your arms and smiled back at him. He took your hand in his and leaned in closer to you, planting a kiss on your cheek.
"Youngbae's not going to wait forever," Jiyong said, pulling you away from the wall and toward the top of the stairs. "He's not the very patient type, so we had better try to catch up."
"Alright. I just have one question," you said, willingly following Jiyong to the top of the stairs. "Who exactly are you planning to call?"
"One of my friends from Daegu, Choi Seunghyun."
* * * *
"Come on, Seunghyun. Pick up."
It had taken you forever to find a payphone. The three of you were more worried about getting away from the 2NE1 building, so you didn't start looking for payphones until you were safely a few streets away. Luckily, the first payphone that you found also had three rolls full of coins on the concrete surrounding it.
Jiyong sat leaned against the wall, lazily holding the receiver up to his ear. He was rhythmically stroking your hair, your head resting gently in his lap. Youngbae was just a couple feet away, running his hand through his hair and nervously pacing back and forth. You looked down at Jiyong's wrist and caught a glimpse of his watch.
3:45
You blinked and looked up at Jiyong, who was tiredly slumped against the wall of the cafe just behind him. If anything, you just wanted to be out of the alleyway. It didn't help that his friend Seunghyun wasn't answering any of the calls you were making. You had been here for almost half an hour, and still no response from him.
While you were waiting around for something interesting to happen, you went over the events of the night in your head. It was easy to do, especially with nothing to distract you anymore.
As much as you didn't want to believe it, Jin was gone, and he wasn't coming back. You were the last person to talk to him, and you were the only one who truly knew how he felt before he died. You remembered how cold his hand felt when it was resting in your open palm. By now, most of the dried blood had crusted and fallen off, leaving your hands clean.
There was no way in hell that you could ever go back to your aunt or her company. You couldn't see yourself being in her life again after you had just rejected her hospitality. You were still wearing the clothes that she so kindly gave to you.
Namjoon clearly got the message that you were trying to send. It didn't seem like he would try to bother you anymore. Even though you knew it was wrong, breaking his heart was the only way to keep him from coming after you.
But, you were still without your family. They didn't know what was going on, and you couldn't tell them because you didn't have any way to contact them. They might have been paid off by your aunt, but they didn't know that you had escaped from her. You didn't know how worried they were, knowing that they hadn't heard from you since you landed.
Do I even want to go home anymore?
"Jiyong?" You asked, lightly touching his arm, causing him to jump. "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course," he said, waving Youngbae over and handing him the phone. "You can ask me anything, love."
"What's going to happen to me?" You asked, looking up at him. "Where am I going to go?"
"You're going to come to Daegu with us for a little while. At least until we figure out what we want to do," he answered, softly stroking your hair. "You can stay with me if you'd like. I have a big enough apartment."
"Thank you. There's also something else that I want to say," you said, adjusting yourself so that you were sitting up straight.
"And what is it that you have to say, love?" Jiyong asked, giving you a cute smirk. "There has to be a lot on your mind, given what all's happened tonight."
Here goes nothing.
"I want to go back to America--if I can," you said, keeping your eyes down and focusing on your hands. "I'd like to go back and be with my family."
Out of the corner of your eye, you could see his smile slowly leave his lips. You could feel your heart slowly start to sink in your chest as he realized what you meant. You adjusted your glasses as you thought about what you wanted to say next.
I never wanted to hurt you.
"You mean, you don't want to stay here?" He asked, disappointment staining his voice. "With me?"
"It's not that I don't want to stay," you said, picking your words carefully. "But there are a lot of things back in America that I have to go back and--"
"Don't worry, I understand," he said, putting his finger up to your lips so as to silence you. "You unknowingly left behind a lot of things when you came here. You left behind your family, your friends, your education, and just about everything else. It's okay if you want to go back."
"A-Are you sure it's okay?" You asked, gently resting your hand on his arm. "I know that the past few days have been kind of--"
"I don't expect you to want to stay here," he interrupted, placing his hand on top of yours. "You had your life back in America. I won't think any less of you if you want to go back."
But know that I'm going to hurt you if I leave.
"If I can get a job here and save up the money, I'll be able to pay for the plane ticket myself," you said, somewhat glad that he understood what you were trying to say. "I don't want to burden you with that. I need to be able to support myself."
"Alright," he whispered, trying his best to hide how upset he was. "Are you sure you don't want my help with anything, love?"
"You're already doing a lot for me," you cooed, trying to cheer him up a little bit. "You're giving me a place to stay, which means you're protecting me and keeping me off the streets."
"I guess that's true," he chuckled sadly, moving his hand to the outside of your thigh. "I promise I won't bother you about it or try to change your mind by giving you any unnecessary kisses."
"How about one more?" You asked, giving him a coy smile. "Just for the fun of it?"
"You make a convincing argument," Jiyong said, putting his other hand on his chin and pretending to think about it. "I think I'd like one last kiss."
Without any hesitation, he snaked his arms around your waist and pulled you on top of him. You placed your hand on his chest to steady yourself and brought your lips down to meet his. His lips met yours for one final kiss. He moved his hand to the back of your head, deepening the kiss.
You both pulled away, each of you gasping for air. You fell forward, resting your head on his chest and practically melting into him. He wrapped both of his arms around you, pressing you tightly against him. He lightly kissed your forehead, and then rested his chin on top of your head.
I want to stay like this forever.
"Jiyong!" Youngbae excitedly turned around, clutching the phone in his hand.
Never mind.
"What?!" Jiyong asked as you practically jumped off of him and scurried away. "What's wrong?!"
"I've got Daesung on the phone!" Youngbae said, waving Jiyong over to him. "Seunghyun wouldn't pick up, and we were close to running out of coins, so I decided to call Daesung."
"What did you tell him?" Jiyong asked, immediately pushing himself off of the wall and to his feet. "Give me the phone."
Youngbae quickly handed him the phone without any protest whatsoever. Jiyong took the phone and started pacing back and forth, whispering something into the receiver every few seconds. As the phone call went on, his lips slowly curled into a smile. He slowly turned to look at you and Youngbae and made sure that you could hear him.
"That's great, Daesung. We'll see you soon."
* * * *
While you were waiting for Daesung, Jiyong explained to you that Daesung was another one of his friends from Daegu. Apparently, he was spending a few days with his family up in Seoul. He was supposed to leave for Daegu in a few hours but decided he could leave a little bit early when he got your phone call.
Jiyong hadn't been lying when he said that Daesung would be there soon. Only a few moments after he finished talking to you, a van came into view at the end of the alleyway. At the expense of your ears, they loudly honked their horn, but you weren't sure if it was to get your attention or if it was just for the hell of it. Possibly both.
The three of you ran to the end of the alley and gratefully climbed inside the van, Jiyong holding his hand out to you and helping you inside. Before you could sit down, Daesung quickly turned around and introduced himself. Jiyong quickly cut him short, some subtle mix of annoyance and jealousy lacing his voice as he told Daesung to drive.
The car ride wasn't very long, at least from what you could remember. Somewhere along the way, you fell asleep with your head resting on Jiyong's lap. He didn't bother making you move because he was just as tired as you were.
Throughout your sleep-like state, you could hear Youngbae and Daesung whispering to each other about what to do with you. You were too tired to interject, so you just quietly listened. At one point, Jiyong chimed in, saying that he would be the one to take care of you. It silenced both of the boys, but only for a little while.
Eventually, Jiyong tapped your shoulder, waking you up and taking you in his arms. He carried you from the van, keeping his promise to you despite quietly grumbling to himself about how cute you looked. You remembered giving him a small smile, causing him to chuckle. You must have fallen asleep again because you didn't remember much of anything after that.
When you woke up the next morning, you found that you were resting in a large, comfy bed. Your glasses were neatly folded and set on top of a nightstand just to the side of the bed. All of your clothes were still on, which put you somewhat at ease.
Where am I? What happened?
You grabbed your glasses and slid them on over your nose. You blinked a few times, taking in the atmosphere of the room around you before easing yourself out of bed. You shuffled over to the only door in the bedroom, hoping it would lead you to an answer.
As you opened the door, you were immediately assaulted by a wave of sunlight. You quickly shied away from the light, covering your eyes with your hand. After giving yourself a moment, you blinked and opened up your eyes again, revealing the room in front of you.
From where you were standing, you could see both the kitchen and the living room. One wall of the apartment was made almost entirely of windows, giving the entire room an open atmosphere. The furniture wasn't in particularly good shape, but it made the room seem full and lived-in.
There was one person at the kitchen table, a coffee mug resting in their hand. They were blankly staring out the window as if they weren't quite awake yet.
"Good morning, Jiyong," you said, bowing your head as you entered the kitchen. He looked up at you, his face immediately lighting up as he saw you.
"It's not morning anymore," he chuckled, setting his coffee mug down on the table. "Did you sleep alright?"
"Yeah, I slept just fine," you nodded, giving him a quick smile. "Can I have a cup of coffee?"
"You'll have to drink quickly. You have quite a few things to do today, love," Jiyong said, leaving the table to grab you a mug. "If you want to take a shower, you can go into my room."
You looked down at your clothes and realized that they weren't in the best of shape after last night. You ran your hand through your hair and shuddered at the greasy feeling. Jiyong walked towards you with a new coffee cup, amusement in his eyes.
How could he have kissed me when I'm this disgusting?!
"I hope you like your coffee black," Jiyong said, holding the cup out to you. "I'm all out of creamer."
"That's alright, I'll find a way to live," you said, gratefully accepting the mug. "But I don't have anything to change into after I get out of the shower."
"I went out and bought you an outfit just this morning," Jiyong said after taking a swig of his coffee. "We can go shopping for more clothes later. Although, I would like to see you wearing some of mine."
"What is it that I have to do today?" You asked, purposely ignoring his last comment.
"Other than clothes shopping, courtesy of Youngbae, you have a job interview in less than two hours," Jiyong said, peering at his watch. "After that, we're going out and meeting some more of my friends to go out for dinner."
Without responding to him, you swiftly downed your coffee. Your eyes started to water as the coffee scalded your throat, but you were determined to finish it. You set the empty mug down on the table and turned on your heel, immediately heading towards the bedrooms. You quickly showered and changed into the new clothes that Jiyong had bought for you. They were lovely but simple--a perfect fit for you.
The rest of the day went by quickly. You weren't completely thrilled when Youngbae told you that it was a waitressing job, but you still needed to have something. The interview went extremely well, and you were asked to start as soon as possible.
Clothes shopping was quick and painless. Jiyong was a good judge of style, and he didn't hesitate to veto anything you pulled off the rack that he didn't like. At one point, you just let him take over completely. He ended up picking out more of the clothes than you did.
At dinner, you met two more of his friends, both named Seunghyun. At first, you were confused, but you learned that it was better to call them by their nicknames, Seungri and Tempo. There were a lot of questions aimed directly at you, most of which you answered. Whenever the boys asked a question they could tell that you were uncomfortable with, they immediately backed off.
Soon enough, the entire week had passed. You started working and earning money for yourself. At the beginning of every day, you would go into Jiyong's room and shower before he was even awake. At the end of every day, Jiyong would be sitting at the kitchen table, waiting for you to get back. Some nights, you would go out with him and his friends just to have a little bit of fun.
You were finally getting used to living in Korea and being with Jiyong. But, that's when the nightmares started.
Jin's bloody body--that's how it always started. Bullet after bullet pierced his skin, flying straight through him. You tried to help him, but you couldn't move from your spot. You were trying to scream something to him, but no words ever came out.
Then, the image would change.
Your pale, lifeless body. The only thing that was whiter than your skin was the white silk draped loosely around your form. You didn't blink your eyes, and your chest didn't rise. A trail of blood would slowly work your way from your mouth down to your chin. Then, down your neck, until it reached the silk and stained it all red.
"(Y/N), what's wrong?!" Jiyong whispered, panicking as he frantically shook you by the shoulders until you opened your eyes.
"I-I don't know," you whispered, slowly slipping out of your dream. "I think I had another nightmare."
"These nightmares of yours are getting worse," Jiyong said, gently laying you back down on top of your pillow. "This time, you were screaming."
"What if they come back?" You asked, looking up at him with tired eyes. "I'm scared they're going to come back."
"Do you want me to stay with you?" Jiyong asked, grabbing your hand. "I'll be here in case they do come back. I won't do anything else. I won't break my promise to you."
"Forget your promise for now," you begged, weakly pulling him forward and ushering him underneath the covers. "Please, just lay here with me."
He crawled into the bed beside you but kept his distance. While your bodies weren't touching, he didn't let go of your hand. He gently stroked the back of your hand with his thumb until you fell asleep. The rest of the night, you slept peacefully knowing that he was there, resting just beside you.
It became harder for you to work. Most mornings, you would wake up and go to work tired. There were a few times where you had almost gotten fired because of it. It seemed like no matter what you did, the image of death wouldn't leave your mind as if it was stuck there forever.
Even though you didn't know why, the nightmares continued to happen. Every other night, Jiyong would rush into your room to pull you away from your dreams and make sure that you were okay. Soon, it became every night. It wasn't long before you stopped sleeping in your room, and went to sleep with Jiyong in his room just to keep the nightmares at bay.
You became so used to being with him at night that you couldn't bring yourself to go back to your room. Jiyong would smile and laugh along, telling you that he didn't mind, but the usual sparkle in his eye had left long ago. That was when you decided it was time to pay for your ticket.
I can't continue to hurt him like this.
You worked hard enough that by the end of the week, you had enough money to buy a tiny suitcase and your one-way plane ticket to America. You kept them hidden from Jiyong, mainly because you weren't quite ready to let him know that you were leaving. You gladly kissed your waitressing job goodbye, happy that you wouldn't have to deal with any more rude customers.
Two nights before you were supposed to leave, you were both sitting quietly at the dinner table. You remembered setting your chopsticks down and looking at Jiyong, finally realizing how much time you had left with him. He looked up and caught you, and you quickly picked up your chopsticks and dipped them into the rice, pretending like you hadn't just been staring at him.
"Are you alright, (Y/N)? You seem a bit out of it today," Jiyong asked, furrowing his eyebrows, setting his chopsticks down, and folding his hands in front of him. "Is there something you want to tell me?"
The rice caught in your throat. You forced yourself to swallow, and then you set down your chopsticks. You neatly folded your hands in your lap and looked up at him. He looked at you with concern in his eyes, causing your heart to sink into your stomach.
I knew that I would have to tell him at some point.
"A couple of days ago, I bought a plane ticket and a suitcase," you murmured, pushing the hair out of your eyes to distract yourself. "I quit my job too. I'm leaving in two days."
He was completely silent, his mouth hanging wide open. You weren't sure if he was angry, upset, confused, or a little bit of everything. You shrunk back in your seat, waiting for him to say something, but he didn't.
"You weren't going to tell me?" He asked, trying to keep his voice from cracking. "You were just going to leave?"
"I-I was going to tell you, but--"
"Save it," Jiyong spat, interrupting you. "I've taken care of you for how long, now? About a month and a half?! And you're going to leave just like that?!"
"I was afraid to tell you!" You shouted, pushing yourself away from the table. "I didn't want to hurt you any more than I already have!"
"You haven't hurt me," Jiyong said, a hint of confusion in his angry voice. "What makes you think that?"
"You're not happy anymore. I can see it in your eyes," you whispered, facing away from Jiyong so he wouldn't have to see you cry. "You can smile and laugh, but you're not happy. Ever since the nightmares began, you haven't been the same."
You turned around to find him standing only a few feet away from you, his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes weren't dull anymore, but instead, they were full of pure, dark anger.
"I thought that if I left, you would be happy again," you continued, struggling to keep eye contact with him. "I don't want to be the source of your pain anymore."
"That's bullshit, and you know it."
Jiyong angrily walked forward and hungrily pressed his lips into yours, surprising you. He snaked his arms around your waist and pulled you close so that you couldn't escape.
"I care for you. I want those nightmares to stop, just like you do," Jiyong said, his voice attractively low in pitch. "If you're not okay, I'm not going to be either. If you think that leaving is going to make me happy again, you're dead wrong."
Before you could say anything, he brought his lips back down to yours and kissed you again. His lips trailed down your neck and to your collarbone, and you had to fight to hold back a moan.
"Jiyong, what are you--"
"I want you to understand how much you mean to me," Jiyong said, his arms trailing lower and lower down your back. "I want you to know that I love you."
This time, you pressed your lips to his, your inner emotions completely consuming you. You wrapped your arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. You pulled away and looked up at him, tears in your eyes.
"You can't say that," you said, pulling one arm away and wiping your eyes. "Not when I'm just about to leave."
"We still have two days together," Jiyong said, playing with them hem of your shirt. "That's enough time for us to do anything we want to."
"Like what?"
You looked up at him with big puppy dog eyes, and he bit his lip. He wrapped your legs around his middle so that you were straddling him. His hands tightly gripped your butt, partially so that you wouldn't fall. He stepped away from the wall and started walking, carrying you off to another point in the house.
"I've already broken my promise to you," Jiyong stated, almost absent-mindedly. "How about we go to bed a little bit early tonight? I promise I'll be gentle."
You tilted your chin up and kissed him again, earning a low growl from him. He carried you all the way to the bedroom, somehow controlling himself until you both inside. The rest of the night was long and slow, much to both of your enjoyment.
You remembered falling asleep in his arms, your naked bodies melting together. Your heart beats synchronized as you both drifted off into sleep. And when you woke up, his arms were still wrapped protectively around you. It was like neither of you had moved at all--not that you were complaining.
A few seconds later, Jiyong squeezed you tighter in his arms, and you looked up at him with tired eyes. He chuckled and leaned down to peck you on the cheek. Your eyes fluttered closed just before his lips hit your skin.
"Good morning," he quietly murmured, giving you a tiny smile as you opened your eyes again. "Did you sleep alright?"
"I slept just fine," you chuckled, laying your head on his bare chest. "I don't want to move."
"Me neither," Jiyong agreed, softly patting your head with his hand. "Let's just spend the entire day in bed. Together."
"But it's also my last day here," you quietly whined, sleepily trying to wriggle away from him. "We should spend the day with Seungri and Daesung and everyone else. It's only fair, since they're my friends, too."
"You still want to go back?" He asked, pulling his arms away from you in shock.
"Jiyong--"
"No, it's alright," Jiyong said, avoiding eye contact as he lifted up the covers and stepped out of bed. "It was childish of me. You don't need to give up your life for me."
Please don't be distant with me.
You leaned against the headboard and watched as he walked over to the large dresser in the room. He quickly slipped on some comfortable-looking boxers, and then looked over at you.
"If you want to shower before we go, now would be the time," he said, motioning with his head to the bathroom. "I'll call everyone and see where they want to meet. You can take your time, love."
You ended up meeting everyone at a park just a few blocks away. Daesung brought a basketball and a frisbee, which was enough to keep everyone entertained. You ended up playing a rather intense game of frisbee with Seungri and Youngbae while Jiyong sat at the side and watched.
For dinner that night, the boys took you out to a nice restaurant. They all seemed just a little bit upset when Jiyong vetoed all of the bars in town, simply because he knew that you weren't old enough to drink. But, that didn't mean that they left the restaurant sober. Once you were outside, you all said your teary goodbyes and gave everyone a final hug.
Jiyong walked you home with his arm wrapped protectively around you. You were both completely silent, unlike the other couples that were walking alongside you. Jiyong squeezed your waist and brought you closer to himself, bringing his lips down to your ear.
"I'm going to miss you," Jiyong said, tracing patterns on the outside of your thigh. "I don't think I was ever ready for you to leave."
"What do you mean?" You asked, turning to look at him and furrowing your eyebrows.
"I knew that you said you wanted to leave, but I didn't think you actually would want to," Jiyong said, running his other hand through his hair. "You never talked about your family. I didn't know if it was because of your aunt or something else, but I thought that you forgot about how much you wanted to go back."
"It surprised me," he said, shaking his head. "But, I'm not against you going back."
I'm glad you understand. But, I feel awful. What have I done?
The rest of your walk continued in complete silence. When you got back to the apartment, you sparingly talked to each other. That night, when you went to sleep, he made sure to distance himself from you, but he still held your hand to keep the nightmares away.
But tonight, it didn't work. Your dreams were oddly different tonight.
You and Jiyong were standing together, smiles plastered on your face and holding each other's hands. You both seemed genuinely happy just being there beside each other. Jiyong brought one of his hands up to your face and leaned forward to kiss you.
But then, something violently forced the two of you apart, throwing both of you into the darkness. You could see the shock in both of your eyes as you tried to process what happened. Jiyong stepped forward, only to be thrown back even farther into the darkness. You ran forward to help him, but something invisible was blocking your way. You stood and watched as Jiyong sank farther and farther into the darkness.
You jolted up in bed, your hand clutching Jiyong's. You were surprised that he wasn't awake. You waited for your heartbeat to slow down before you laid awake on your pillow for the rest of the night.
Jiyong came with you to the airport the next morning, insisting that he be there to see you off. He made sure that you brought your ticket with you, and helped to carry your bag inside. Even though you could tell how upset he was that you were leaving, he was doing his best to show his support.
"Yah, here we are," he said, plopping your bag on the ground in front of you and faking a smile. "Three months ago, I never would've imagined this could happen. But, here we are."
"Are you sure you're okay?" You asked, timidly placing your hand on his shoulder.
He looked over his shoulder at you and flashed you a confident smile. You drew your hand away and smiled back, pretending that you believed him. He grabbed your hand and brought it up to his lips.
"If anything ever happens, you can always come back to Daegu," he said, his smile disappearing as he looked you dead in the eyes. "No matter what, you will always have a home with me."
"Thank you, Jiyong," you said, nodding your head. "You've done so much for me over the past two months. Thank you for taking care of me."
"It's only fair, love," Jiyong chuckled, pressing his lips to the back of your hand. "After all, you saved my life."
He pulled you close and wrapped his arms around you. You hugged him back, but neither of you wanted to let go of the other. You could feel the tears form in your eyes as you realized that this was the last time you were ever going to see him.
"Alright, it's best that you get going," Jiyong said, awkwardly pulling away from you. "You don't want to miss your flight, do you?"
"No, I guess not," you said, avoiding his gaze as you discretely wiped the tears from your eyes. "I can't wait to be home."
Jiyong knelt down and picked up your suitcase, then handed it to you. You slowly walked towards the airport terminal, over a million thoughts bombarding you at once.
It's been two months since I've seen my family. I should be in school by now. I didn't get them any gifts. I didn't get anyone any gifts. I don't even know what happened to my wallet. And what about my phone?! At least I still have my glasses. My parents would kill me if I lost my glasses. They would have to pay a fortune to replace them.
But that's not a problem now that they have 3 million dollars.
You shook your head at yourself and walked faster towards the entrance to the terminal.
I'm not sure that I can get from the airport to my house. Maybe I can find a bus or ask for directions. I didn't drive there because my parents didn't want my car to be stuck there for two weeks. My parents don't know that I'm coming home, though. It's going to be interesting when I get back.
Do they even want me to come back?
You stopped in your tracks. You shook your head and looked up at the sign that pointed to the terminal and mentally scolded yourself for getting caught up in your thoughts.
I'm going to be tired when I get back. I can't sleep on the flight because I don't have my headphones. I can try to, but I don't know that I can sleep like that. But, I'm probably going to have more nightmares. How am I going to deal with the nightmares when I get back? I'll just have to bring Jiyong with me.
But, I can't do that. He has to stay here.
You stopped just in front of the entrance to the terminal. People stepped around you, clearly annoyed that you suddenly stopped moving. You brought your hand up to wipe the hot tears away from your cheek.
I can't do this.
You immediately turned around and walked back towards Jiyong, the hot tears still streaming down your cheeks. He gave you a confused look but stepped forward to meet you. You let go of your suitcase and wrapped your arms around him, burying your face in his chest.
"(Y/N), what's wrong?" He asked, calmly stroking your hair. "Did you forget something important?"
"Yes, I forgot something very important," you murmured, looking up at him with teary eyes.
"I forgot that I love you."
"(Y/N)--"
"I don't want to go anymore," you cried, pushing your face into his chest. "I want to be with you. You're going to be here, so that's where I'm going to be."
"(Y/N), please calm down, people are beginning to stare," Jiyong whispered. "You need to go get on your plane before it leaves without you."
"I don't care if it leaves without me," you said, lowering your voice. "I want to go lay in bed all day with you."
"(Y/N), I'm not going to let you miss your flight for--"
"I love you, Jiyong."
He looked down at you, his eyes glassy as if he were about to cry. You scanned his face for any sign of emotion, but you didn't see anything. Before you could say anything, he leaned down and passionately pressed his lips into yours. You could feel the tears streaming down your cheeks, but this time, they felt different. If anything, they felt happier.
"I love you too."
He grabbed your hand and started pulling you toward the exit. You quickly grabbed onto your suitcase, pulling it along just behind you, a genuine smile plastered onto your face. Jiyong sighed and planted a small kiss on your forehead as you ran up beside him.
"Let's go lay in bed all day."