"No, Jungkook-" Jieun was oddly annoyed. Jungkook was in denial right now, wasn't he? "Listen to me- I was the one- I-"
"No, Jieun, really," Jungkook handed Jieun the piece of paper in his hands, his hands trembling slightly.
Jieun, completely confused about what is going on, was suspicious about what secrets the paper could possibly contain, frowning as she unfolded the tiny piece of paper.
It was a letter. A handwritten one, written in black gel ink. Jieun's eyes widened as she recognised the handwriting at once - it was one that she hadn't seen in a long time - the way the y's and g's and j's curled, the way the words were equally spaced out so neatly across the paper, the way smiley faces punctuated sentence, the way it was written in the signature black pen she knew only one person insisted on using in every single exam-
Jieun looked up at Jungkook in complete realisation. "Somi wrote this."
Jungkook nodded, but didn't say a word. He gestured towards the paper, not rushing her, but prompting her to read on. Jieun took one last glance at Jungkook, then looked down at the paper and started to read silently.
"To: Jungkook oppa :)
Oppa, it's been a while hasn't it? :)
How are you? :) Have you been taking good
care of grandma? I hope you have. I miss you
and grandma dearly, and I'm writing to you
to say thank you... and I'm sorry.
Thank you for the past 16 years of my life. For taking care of me, showering me with an endless supply of love, for making up for our lack of parents. After dad and mom left, being the
stupid immature child I was, I blamed them. I blamed you, I blamed everyone I could - everyone except myself. I was so immature, that I left you alone to take care of grandma while I moved to
the house dad and mom left us, completely
cutting off all contact. And for that, I'm sorry.
It was all thanks to you for reconnecting with me
years later. By then, I had grown a little older, a little wiser, but nonetheless, I was still a child. I was way too scared, way too afraid to take the first step.
I was afraid that if I came knocking at your door, you'd just drive me away. But who was I kidding? You aren't that kind of person, oppa. You never were. So you didn't chase me away - you didn't
even have the chance to, because you were the
one who came looking for me first. I cried that
night after we talked for the first time in years, because of how sorry and grateful I was, oppa.
It has always been you - showing me how to
live the right way - by example.
I still remember the time we went fishing
together with mom and dad when we were
young. How old was I then? I can't remember,
it was way too long ago. But I still remember...
how good you were. You kept catching fish after fish, like some professional. Meanwhile, me being the noob I was, I couldn't catch any fish and started crying. You secretly slipped one of your fishes into my bucket for me. That made me so happy, you know? Only years later did I realise that I wasn't the one who caught the fish - it was you who helped me, and made me smile that day.
And that's how it has always been in the past 16 years of my life, oppa. You have always been a blessing, and I am so, so thankful to have you as my brother. Even now, as you receive this letter, I am no longer by your side, but I am still grateful, and I still love you from the bottom of my very heart.
Yes, you read that right.
Don't bother to find out why, oppa. All I want you to know is that I wanted this to happen this way. I hid everything from you, on purpose. Don't blame yourself, don't blame anyone else. No one could have stopped this from happening, not even myself. I've been very happy these days, you know? I spent the last few days doing the things I wanna do the most before I leave. I lived a good happy 16 years, so I now leave with no regrets.
My only regrets would be not spending more time with you while I still could. I wished I got to talk to you, hang out with you, eat with you and play with you more often. If only I had more time... I wish you could meet my best friend. She's the loveliest person in the world, and she's quite like me. I was so sure you'd be fond of her - just the way you're so fond of me. But I guess, some things aren't meant to be.
The necklace you'll find together with this letter, please keep it. It's filled with our memories, our happy times, our love, our pain, our fights, our sadness, our reconciliations, our childhood, our regrets, our joy, our treasured moments. Hopefully, it brings you some comfort during these tough times. You will get through it, oppa, you are strong. And I will always be watching you up there from above, so don't worry about me, I'm all good :)
I feel like I still have so much to say, so much to do, but there always an end to everything, am I right? So I guess here is where I gotta end off.
Goodbye, oppa.
Take care.
Keep smiling.
Thank you.
I'm sorry.
And I love you.
Love, Somi :)
P.S.: Thanks for the pair of white sneakers you sent me last week. I wore it to the doctor's office that day and the nurses said they were pretty :)
P.P.S.: But I personally would have preferred black.
P.P.P.S.: JK, anyway, now you can have them."
Jieun looked up from the letter, her face covered in tears. And so was Jungkook.
~
"What do you mean, you've been that girl before?"
Byulyi's widened her eyes as she stared at her own grandma. She'd never heard of such a thing from her grandma before, and all of a sudden, she felt like she didn't actually really know the motherly figure sitting right in front of her.
"Yeah, what do you mean?" Seokjin looked equally confused. "You mean, Byulie's grandpa-"
Byulyi's grandma laughed. "No, silly. It wasn't him. It was my first boyfriend who did that to me, he took my heart and shattered it into a million pieces. An asshole, really. Quite like you, Jin."
Seokjin gasped.
"Okay, I'm kidding-" Byulyi's grandma laughed, as she smacked Seokjin playfully on the shoulder. "But I was broken for a while. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, I felt like my world had come to an end."
"You must have really loved him," Byulyi frowned.
"I really did," Her grandma continued. "But even the greatest love can come to an end as well, over time. One day, I met your grandpa. He helped me to forget and start to love again, over time."
"It must have been love at first sight," Seokjin added cheekily.
"Quite the opposite, really," Grandma laughed. "I didn't quite like him, because the guy who shattered my heart... was his high school best friend."
"Wait- no way!" Byulyi gasped as she turned to Seokjin, who looked equally appalled as her.
"Yup," Grandma laughed. "I tried my best not to talk to him. But the more I did, the more similarities I began to find between us. He had been hopping from relationship to relationship year after year, yet not being able to find what he wanted. He was quite a flirt, really. Your grandpa was a pretty handsome man."
"Okay, grandma," Byulyi scoffed. "We've heard you said that at least a dozen times in the past."
"Oh, have I?" Grandma chuckled. "Well, that's because it's true. But his looks weren't what I fell for. He gave me the comfort I needed, and the love I has been looking for. He was like the perfect fit for me."
Grandma took a deep breath, sighing as she recalled the wonderful memories she shared with her late husband. "So... my point is that even though you may have hurt that girl, it may be a blessing in disguise. For all you know, one day, she'll find someone who's at the stage of life that she is, and she'd fall for him before she knows it."
~
Taehyung's lips felt soft against hers. It wasn't sweet, like she had imagined, but they were salty - salty from the tears.
Jisoo couldn't even process what she was doing. It was so spontaneous, so in the moment. Just a few seconds ago, Taehyung had been crying non-stop and she just wished she could take the pain away from him. She just wanted him to be happy.
Never would she have imagined that moments later, her lips would be pressed up against his, and he had finally stopped shaking like a leaf.
Jisoo's eyes were closed shut, unable to see what was happening around her, how Taehyung reacted to her sudden action which she herself couldn't explain, but everything felt like a whirl. She felt dizzy and her heart was racing at a million miles per hour.
Her first kiss tasted of tears, too. But this one was comforting, warm and hopeful-
Until Taehyung pulled away.
Jisoo's eyes fluttered open and she stared, eyes wide open, evidently still in shock and confusion towards what she had just done. Taehyung was evidently just as confused, as his eyes were open just as wide, his fingers fingering his lips gently, the way one would if their lips felt numb.
"I-" Jisoo bit her lower lip. "Taehyung, I-"
"I gotta go," Taehyung stood up all of a sudden, the tear tracks still evident on his face, but the shock had evidently stopped him from crying anymore. "I- I think I'm hungover- I- Um-" Taehyung looked around frantically. "I- Well- Um- I'll see you soon-"
"Wait, Tae- I-" Jisoo stuttered as she got up from her seat as well, desperately trying to think of something to say. "I- didn't-"
She watched hopelessly as Taehyung grabbed his jacket from his bench, waved a quick goodbye and dashed off without a second look back at her.
"I didn't mean it," Jisoo finally managed to complete her sentence, as she plopped down onto the bench. But she frowned. "That ain't right, I meant it. I meant every bit of it. I enjoyed it, I wanted it. I kissed you because I wanted to kiss you, Taehyung."
And Jisoo realised, in that very moment, that she had fallen for him before she even knew it.