"Gotcha." Jaehwa skipped towards the guy tucked in the minty green hoodie.
"How do you know I'm here?" Jeongguk spoke through his gritted teeth, Jaehwa's existence there was almost transparent to his eyes. Jaehwa shrugged, had reminded herself to not be taken aback by the way he would treat her.
"I saw your car at the parking lot. Means that you must be around here." Jaehwa tucked the strands of her hair behind her ears, the winter breeze was starting to annoy her but she chose to not leave the rooftop. She had thought about what Hoseok told her over and over, and she had came to a conclusion that the orange haired guy was right. As much as she wanted Jeongguk to keep Hyun, she wouldn't let him do so because to see Jeongguk being jailed was the last thing she wanted to do in this world. "I heard everything, from Hoseok."
Didn't know what was so funny about it that Jeongguk suddenly let out a hearty laugh, his thin lips quivered to show that he was forcing himself to bear the coldness. The white puff that escaped his mouth made Jaehwa wonder how hurt Jeongguk was that he chose to stay outdoor like this, to the point exposing himself to the freezing temperature was nothing to be compared to the throbbing pain in his chest.
"So you came here to convince me about same the thing?" Jaehwa only could fiddle with her shirt when Jeongguk turned his torso, taking few steps to decrease the gap between them. Being so close with him was never this intimidating. "Good that you came now. Listen here carefully, my answer is no." Jeongguk's fierce glare somehow stabbed her chest, taken aback by the instant change of his demeanour. The last time they were on a rooftop, Jeongguk was crying but now, the guy was literally staring at her in hatred. "Tell Hoseok that I won't change my mind."
"Jeongguk-" Jaehwa tried to reach for Jeongguk's forearm, however was appalled when he retracted his hand almost immediately. It wasn't the temperature that made her freeze in her position—arm stretched out, eyes widened in shock and slightly quivering lips—, it was the way Jeongguk acted that made every system in her body stop functioning.
"How amazing of Hoseok to be able to brainwash you. Hey, Jaehwa." The last time he called her with a hey was two months ago, when she thought he was no different from those fuck boys. A simple hey, yet it shattered her heart into pieces, turned her saliva into a thick, bitter liquid that was so hard for her to swallow. "I thought you knew how much I want to keep Hyun. You claimed yourself as someone who has been there for me all along, but look who's talking now. Can't you understand that everything happened for a reason? Maybe this is a sign that Hyun is really destined to be mine. Why are you guys taking it too far, Jaehwa?! Why are you guys so convinced that Park Jimin is trying to frame me?!"
"Jeongguk-"
"Leave me alone." Jeongguk gritted his teeth. When Jaehwa looked down, she saw his hands were already curled into fists, showing off those angular knuckles.
Jaehwa shut her eyes close and nodded in disbelief. Don't cry, don't cry was repeated in her mind for endless times, as if it was some kind of mantra that would help her to pick up the almost nonexistent courage left in her body.
"I said leave me alone!" Jeongguk raised his voice all of a sudden, startling Jaehwa and right at that moment, a stream of hot tears left the brim of her eyes. "Are you deaf?! Can't you understand simple Korean?! Fuck, go to Hoseok and plan more things to make me change my mind. I wish you two all the best of luck!"
Jeongguk turned his heels without bothering how shaky Jaehwa was. She knew, realised that Jeongguk saw her tears, knew that Jeongguk was aware of what he said yet there he was, making his way to the door so casually as if he hadn't done anything wrong.
It then reached one point where Jaehwa could no longer refrain herself from letting out everything that had been bothering her mind. She was the person who knew Jeongguk the best in this case—she understood how much Jeongguk wanted to keep Hyun and continue looking after the little boy. Jaehwa wasn't that heartless to simply come to him and ask him to forget about Hyun and listen to Hoseok.
Of course, she had to admit that it was the hardest decision ever. Letting someone you loved so dearly was never easy, especially when a soft spot had been carved somewhere in the heart. Forgetting someone you loved was not and would never be a piece of cake.
Because emotions and feelings, they made you fuck up big time, yet they also could throw you into a state of euphoria that was impossible to be described by words.
Jeongguk suddenly stopped in his tracks. "Stop butting into my life. A person like you should know her limit-"
"I did this because I don't want anything happens to you!" Jaehwa noticed the way Jeongguk's eyes widened upon her statement, but the urge to pour everything out was too strong that she couldn't think of anything, not even shame or the after effect. "I want you to be happy! I don't want to see you being imprisoned just because you insisted to keep a baby with you!" She paused, bracing herself to walk towards where Jeongguk was and stood just across him. "You need to get custody, Jeongguk-ah. If you really want to keep Hyun then do something to make him legally yours! Not by hiding the truth! Think, Jeongguk! Think! I have been there since the first week you have Hyun. We helped each other to raise him so I know how much you love him!" Tears were leaving her eyes like a broken dam, yet Jaehwa didn't bother to wipe them off. Seeing how Jeongguk clenched and unclenched his jaw made the flame within her grow bigger. "I have thought about it again and again. And I came to a conclusion that Hoseok is right. What if Jimin planned to do something to you? He can accuse you for kidnapping Hyun!"
Jaehwa looked down at her feet. Her mind became blank for a split second before she finally realised what she just said. She could feel Jeongguk's stare burning her petite frame, but all she could do was keeping her head low before bursting into tears.
"You're right." Jaehwa said in between her sobs. "I should've known my limit."
Jaehwa wiped her tears hastily and inched away, was about to run towards the door when her wrist was suddenly grabbed in a furious way. Jeongguk's skin was icy cold against hers.
"Jaehwa-" Jeongguk gulped, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down as he uttered.
"I know it's hard, but Jeongguk... if you report it to the officers, Jimin won't be able to hurt you."
"But they will take Hyun with them and give him to Jimin, right?" Jeongguk's grasp on Jaehwa's wrist tightened. "... I don't want that to happen. I will lose Hyun-"
"Jeongguk." Jaehwa pleaded, almost got on her knees when Jeongguk looked away. "Jimin ran away so the probability of him to claim Hyun is very low. Hoseok and I have thought about this thoroughly. If nobody claims Hyun, they will place him in an orphanage."
Jeongguk sighed in frustration before letting Jaehwa's wrist go, his jet black hair fell covering his forehead and eyes. Jeongguk had never looked so weak, had never looked so speechless to the point he only could look down at no specific direction.
"Fine." Her heart skipped a beat upon hearing that one word though she had been hoping for Jeongguk to agree with the decision she made with Hoseok. "Let's do that."