Jaehyun's POV
I was standing by the elevator when I saw Chaeyoung getting inside the building. Behind her, I saw a familiar car.
"Isn't that Jungkook's?" I thought to myself before quickly dismissing my idea.
Jungkook works at the opposite side of the city so I doubted if he would send Chaeyoung to work out of courtesy. I shook off the thought and walked towards Chaeyoung with a smile plastered on my face.
"Good morning Chaeyoung!" I cheerfully greeted her when she was nearing me.
"Good morning Jaehyun!" She greeted back warmly.
"We're going to see the final draft for next month's issue today. Are you excited?" I asked.
"Am I?" She playfully answered with a hand on her chest.
"Well, you should be." I coaxed. "Your work was marvelous. I'm sure the readers will fall in love with your stories."
She grinned in response, completely surprising me.
Lately, I noticed that Chaeyoung was slowly warming up to me. Our conversations were still mostly about work but there were times when she responded to me even if the topic was not related to work.
I was looking at Chaeyoung from afar. She was sitting by the glass window while looking at the pouring rain outside. She looked peaceful with her hands wrapped around her mug.
I carefully approached her and spoke softly as I said, "Hmm. Your choices didn't change much, did it?" I commented while looking at her flower tea.
She smiled while lightly nodding her head.
If only that also reflected her feelings about me, I would have been thrilled.
"Um, can I?" I asked, pointing to the seat in front her.
"Uh, sure." She answered.
I rewarded her with a grateful smile as I took a seat.
"Do you know that I used to resent the rain?" I asked while looking at the drops of rain running down the glass window. "I even made a poem. Do you want to hear it?" I added, turning my head towards her.
She stared at me directly in the eyes. She looked curious and puzzled at the same time. From the little that I knew about her, I believed that she was contemplating whether to hear me out or not. And as she met my gaze, I held on to my seat because I felt like I was falling more into her.
After all these years, my attraction towards her remained the same.
She hummed before answering in a soft whisper. "Go ahead."
I gulped a lump in my throat as I recalled the poem that I wrote years ago. It was a few days after I came back to Korea. I was so worried about her and missing her presence so much. And it was raining outside when the words just poured out of me.
I gave her a timid smile and looked at her straight in the eyes as I recited the poem.
"Rain, rain, go away
I cannot let you ruin today
I have errands I needed to run
So please go and show Mr. Sun"
I wanted to fly back to Australia so bad. I wanted to fight for you and defy my family. But I did not know how. Back then, I wasn't even ready.
"Rain, rain, go away
I uttered in dismay
There is someone waiting for me
A li'l more delay it cannot be"
I wanted to run back to you. I knew I've hurt you but I was still praying that you were waiting for me despite that. And I wished I could do it soon before you completely forgot me.
"Rain, rain, you're not going away
So must I also stay?
In this unknown, I feel cold
Yet warmth surrounds me in this threshold"
I was heartbroken because there was nothing I could do. My hands were tied so I had to let go of you.
Buzzing silence followed afterwards. Chaeyoung avoided my gaze and looked back outside in the middle of me reciting the poem to her, for her. I could see her eyes brimming with tears while her teeth were pressing hard on her lower lip.
I wanted to talk to her but my mouth felt dry. I wanted to know why she suddenly looked so glum and looked like she'd be crying any minute now. Then a tear escaped her eye. She readily wiped it off and I was quick to grab her hand.
"Hey! What's wrong?" I asked.
"Your poem. It's so beautiful and sad that it makes me want to cry." She answered while sniffing her unshed tears.
"You're such a cry baby." I said with a chuckle as I put her hand in between mine.
Her hand felt warm to touch, making me realize that this was actually happening. I was no longer dreaming. Here I was, holding Chaeyoung's hand after so long.
A broad smiled painted my lips as I tenderly looked at her. And she smiled back in her prettiest eye-catching smile, her kind of smile that got me smitten with her from the start.
Not long after, she cleared her throat and slowly slid her hand away from me.
"Oh, I'm sorry." I apologized right away, not wanting to offend her.
She only hummed in response before pulling her hands off the table and putting them on her lap.
"It seemed like you haven't changed much." She commented without facing me. "You still have a way with words."
I smirked, "You think so?"
Is that why you're refusing to talk to me?
"Chaeyoung." I called, catching her attention. "Please talk to me." I begged.
She chuckled nervously and leaned back on her seat with her arms crossed over her chest.
"What do you mean? Aren't we talking now?"
"Rose." I murmured and took a deep breath as I dared to call her that way. "You know what I mean."
She snapped her head up, her piercing gaze boring a hole on my face.
"There's no need for that. That ship has sailed a couple of years ago." She spat aloofly before getting up her seat and leaving me behind.
I knew that it was a long shot but what more could I lose? I already lost everything the moment I turned my back on her.
So even when she still acted cold towards me and refused my every attempt to talk about the past, I learned to appreciate the times when she was being friendly. Just like now.
If Chaeyoung was feeling chipper today, I better make sure that she would feel this way for the rest of the day.
... ... ... ... ...
It was almost lunchtime when I heard Chaeyoung shrieked. I quickly ran to her cubicle only to find her sitting still on her chair with her widened eyes directed to the black screen on her laptop.
"Chaeyoung." I called and placed my hand on her shoulder to catch her attention.
She looked up to me with the same facial expression, shocked and confused.
"What happened?" I asked.
"It turned off on its own." She plainly answered.
"Ah, I see." I shifted my eyes between her and the laptop. "Then why do you look so upset? It must be the battery, you know. Maybe you did not notice that it already needed to be charged."
She frowned as she looked up to me.
"But I haven't saved my work yet." She worriedly said.
I cursed under my breath, causing Chaeyoung to look up to me in surprise. She bit her lower lip as unshed tears were pooling in her eyes.
"Wait! Don't cry." I exclaimed while rubbing my hands on her shoulders to console her. "I'll help you fix it."
She was wearing a pout on her lips when she asked, "You will?"
I was taken off guard with her oozing charm. She was not even trying yet I was spellbound by her cuteness, making me want to squish her chubby cheeks.
"Jaehyun, you're going to help me, aren't you?" She asked while raising her pinky finger in front of my face. "You have to promise me."
I immediately interlocked my pinky finger with hers while giggling, not able to help myself anymore. I was too amused with how cute she looked.
"I promise." I firmly said with a wide grin on my face.
She furrowed her brows, "But why are you acting that way? Are you happy to see me in trouble?"
"Oh! No. No! No!" I frantically said while shaking my head from left to right. "No, Chaeyoung. It's nothing like that." I assured her before mumbling my next words. "You looked so cute just now, that's why."
"Um . . ." She moved back and hastily pulled her finger from me.
I grinned when I saw the blush creeping up on her cheeks.
Did she hear me?
Then she added while avoiding my gaze, "So . . . be my guest." She got up from her seat and pointed to her laptop.
I gave her a small smile before I sat on her chair and started fixing her laptop.
My fingers were busily dancing on the laptop's keyboard. And I was trying my best to focus solely on what I was doing because I belatedly noticed that Chaeyoung was standing dangerously close. She was standing behind me while crouching towards the front, one hand on the table and the other one resting behind the backrest of the chair where I was sitting. With her face hovering a few inches from mine, her sweet intoxicating scent slowly filled my nostrils and distracted me even more.
"Chaeng!" A woman's voice rang a few meters in front of us, making both Chaeyoung and I looked up to the interruption.
When I met Lisa's gaze, I felt both grateful and disappointed at the same time. I instantly breathed out when Chaeyoung stood upright. I did not notice that I was holding my breath for some time now. But I felt sad because having Lisa here only meant that she would be taking Chaeyoung away from me.
Before Chaeyoung came to Korea, I've met her friends, Lisa, Jennie and Jisoo, around the company. I did not know them personally though, aside from Jisoo. But whenever our paths crossed, we usually exchanged friendly smiles. And it was only recently when I noticed the three of them giving me glares instead. I was not sure what their problem was but I assumed that it was pertaining to my past with Chaeyoung.
Lisa raised a brow as she threw a scrutinizing look at me before smiling broadly towards her friend.
"So Chaeng, lunch?" She asked.
Chaeyoung put a finger in her mouth before replying.
"Is it lunchtime already? Oh my, I did not notice the time." She anxiously answered while looking at her wristwatch. "Um . . ." She turned towards me. "Jaehyun, let's eat lunch first."
My eyes widened in anticipation before my hopes went down the drain. Oblivious to how she kept my hopes up and disappointed me right after, she added.
"I am going with the girls. So see you later!" She quickly explained before walking way with Lisa.
I was left speechless as I sat forlornly on her seat.
She did not even hesitate leaving me behind.
However, the disappointment that I was feeling earlier instantly vanished when Chaeyoung handed me my favorite drink when she got back from lunch.
Iced Pumpkin Spice Chai Tea Latte
I looked at her in surprise and mumbled, "You still remember it."
"Yup! Grande, Iced, Nonfat, Chai Tea Latte with 2 pumps of pumpkin spice." She answered with a proud grin on her face.
And I mimicked her smile, happy to hear that she still remembered that much about me.
"Alright! Now let's get to work." I cheered as I sprung from my seat and took big steps towards her cubicle.
It took me another half hour before I successfully retrieved her unsaved work.
"Wow! Thanks Jay." She uttered, surprising both of us at the same time.
From the way her hand was resting over her lips and her round eyes while looking at me in surprise, I would say that my name, Jay, only slipped her mouth unexpectedly.
"I mean . . . uh, Jae-Jaehyun. Yeah. Jaehyun, thanks!" She stuttered.
I snickered at her, "You're welcome . . . Chaeyoung."
After hearing Chaeyoung called me that, I hoped that it would not take long before she would be ready to talk to me about the past. When that time came and she's ready to talk to me about it, I could also begin my plans in reconciling with her.
I was already back on my cubicle when I opened a drawer and picked up a piece of paper from it.
I'm still uncertain what's going on between the two of them. But I'm pretty sure that I could not afford to lose Chaeyoung to anyone, even to my good friend, Jeon Jungkook.
Fighting, huh!
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5K reads!! Thank you everyone! 😘
And I'm sorry for updating a bit late this week. I was kind of busy with other stuffs. Thank you for being patient though and continuing to support this story.
Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. Tell me your thoughts on this.
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