[ 7th May, 2018, 5:12PM ]
jungwoo knocked on the door of aeri's front porch. he was told to bring aeri to the party. it was supposed to be the three of them but guess who decided to bring a special guest the last minute? of course, jung jaehyun.
jungwoo complimented aeri, saying she looked stunning with her dress and aeri did the same. the two were like bestfriends too. although they dont hang out 24/7 like jaehyun and aeri, the bond between them were almost, or just as strong as hers and jaehyun.
"screw jaehyun. let's just make tonight about ourselves then. he can go get hurt all over again for all i care. i literally kept telling him off and he still wouldnt listen," jungwoo groaned, adjusting his hair while looking at himself in the rearview mirror of his car, before putting on the seatbelt.
aeri just laughed. "i cant believe he said he wanted me to meet chungha before he could actually let her go," she complained. only to make jungwoo almost jump out of his seat, "why the fuck would he say that type of shit? jesus christ, something's off with him," it was his first time hearing about it and he was taken aback. jaehyun was never like that.
-
the day before the party, jungwoo and jaehyun had a small talk over at jungwoo's house. jungwoo just walked aeri back home and he already took a long shower because his work exhausted him the entire day. it was about 830 at night and he was just about to close his eyes and sleep but jaehyun knocked aggressively on his apartment door.
"dude get the fuck up," jaehyun pestered jungwoo, he took the nearest pillow he could find and threw it over to him. jungwoo groaned, begging him to leave cause he wanted his beauty sleep. "i need your opinion, should i bring chungha tomorrow?" was all jaehyun said to make jungwoo sit right up on his own bed.
he was about to sleep but after hearing that, his eyes were wide open. "my opinion is, what the fuck is wrong with you? you already have aeri tomorrow. do you know how awkward it will be for her? AND me?" jungwoo said, emphasizing on the and. jaehyun rolled his eyes and looked away.
"yeah but im planning to have my last talk with chungha tomorrow. by the end of tomorrow, she'll be out of my life. i just- i'm scared that if i finally get my closure, i'll be heartbroken. and i want you guys to be there for me," was jaehyun's excuse of bringing his ex girlfriend to his friend's college party.
"you're telling me tomorrow is gonna be the last time you ever think, talk and breathe this bitch?" jungwoo groaned, letting out a soft scoff. jaehyun nodded his head. "look, i know how much she hurt me. and i'm trying to get over her. not even for myself, but for-" he was about to finish his sentence but he stopped before he could even bring himself to.
jungwoo looked at him, "well? for who?" he asked, trying to let jaehyun speak but he just brushed it off. so jungwoo just rolled his eyes and threw him off the bed since he didnt want to tell what he was thinking off. "just- take care of aeri okay? tomorrow?" he said before taking his stuff and leaving.
-
"do you want to sit down here?" asked jungwoo, pointing to the first sofa they see in the apartment. it wasnt taken by anyone so he quickly ran to it and plopped himself onto there, giving anyone a deathly glare who dares to step near the sofa. aeri just laughed, told him to knock it off and then sat right next to him.
"i'll go get drinks!" jungwoo excitedly exclaimed, reassuring her that he'd be back soon before walking off to the beverage table. the music was blasting super loud and everyone was basically talking over each other. she hated parties, not because she hated the attention or anything. but because she always had bad memories at parties growing up.
ding!
jaemin sent you a message:
hiii how are you doing at the party?
jaemin sent you a message:
everything alright?
jaemin sent you a message:
take care! and stay safe!
jaemin sent you a message:
im sure jungwoo or jaehyun can protect u because i surely cant. HAHA
aeri just laughed to herself, unlocking her phone to reply to jaemin since she knew nobody there and everybody was practically already having the time of their lives with the people they know. jungwoo came back with two cups in his hand, both sprite. "im the designated driver, cant afford to get wasted,"
jungwoo checked his phone, 6:12pm. "where is this guy anyway?" he said to himself, checking around the room to see if there was any sign of jaehyun around. "let's just let him be, if he wanted to be with us, he would by now," aeri said, trying to get jungwoo to snap out of whatever he was thinking. he pursed his lips, nodding his head, "you're right,"
-
jaehyun and chungha both sat at the park swing that was located right behind the house the party was at. it was gonna be their last encounter and he was ready to let his heart out. because he was finally ready to let go. "so when am i gonna meet this new girl of yours?" chungha teased, slowly swinging herself.
jaehyun looked at her, "shes not mine," was all he said. "she's at the party right now, but we're not here to talk about her," he continued. "i wanna talk about us, chungha," he added on, she stopped swinging. she adjusted her hair, to put it behind her ear.
there was a moment of silence. none of them said anything. because both of them were gathering their thoughts. "i left you because you were too nice to me, jae," she started the conversation first to get them both on track. he laughed, a stupid excuse to leave someone.
"i cheated on you, jae. i tried to tell you but you were so oblivious, so i just ended things," she explained herself. "i knew about it chungha! i knew you were busy screwing the captain of the football team, okay?" he raised his voice. it was nice to finally let it all out.
"then why didnt you just let me go?" she asked. it took a lot of courage in jaehyun to tell her, "because i loved you more than you loved me. and at that point of time, i was convinced we were gonna grow old together," and then he continued with a, "couples face setbacks. but if they can grow up and out of it, i thought we could too,"
the girl just sighed. "i dont know why you called me out of the blue to come back into your life jae. i know you seek closure, so here's what im giving you right now. there was no hope for us, back then, okay?" she tried to be nice. "we were gonna fall apart sooner or later, and i just ended it before things couldve gotten anymore worse,"
"im sorry if you believed that we were gonna be together. but in my world, we were never even close to reaching the finish line," she let everything out. jaehyun just sat there, on the swing, processing everything she's saying. "although we didnt get to live the happy ending you planned in your head, at one point in our relationship, i loved you as much as you loved me, okay?"
he wanted to just break down. he knew he needed closure, to finally move on. but he was living in denial, he thought he could go on in life without knowing the real reason she left. "jae, i promise you. there will come a time when you will wake up, and realize that other than living for yourself, you also want to live for somebody else," she stood up and slowly walked over.
"im just not your somebody else anymore, and neither are you for me," she said. "the feeling you had when you had me, it wasnt healthy after i stopped caring for you. but trust me, jung jaehyun, one day you're gonna find yourself caring for someone more than you cared for me," she put her arms around jaehyun's shoulder, patting his back.
he just let out a soft laugh. "sorry, i just need a minute to process all of this new information. it's been years since we last saw each other and had a deep talk like this," she just brushed it off. choi chungha grew up and out of jung jaehyun. she was living the best time of her life at the moment, being single and all that.
and although they had history, she did at one point would die for jaehyun. so there was no way she would just let jaehyun sit on the swing all alone feeling sad for himself.
"you're right," he finally spoke after taking a few minutes to think. he stood up, and she opened her arms wide, asking for a hug. he went in for a long one. two years since he last had her in his arms.
"you're gonna find her soon, okay?" was the last thing she said to him, before walking away. jaehyun decided that he didnt want aeri and jungwoo to meet chungha. it would mean absolutely nothing and it would be selfish of him to put them in the picture. it was his fight, not hers.
and just like that, he could feel his heart start to heal.