Broken Hearts Parade

When you have to learn it the hard way.

“So, what happened exactly?“, Jongin immediately asked Krystal, who was glaring out of the window as her insides were still boiling. She still couldn’t believe what had just happened. How could she have been so wrong about Amber? They had a deal! Krystal had trusted Amber! And that was how Amber treated her after everything? What the hell!

As the girl thought about the betrayal, her eyes started watering and Jongin reacted as soon as he saw the little teardrops glistening in the corner of her eyes. “Did he break up with you?“

“You’re terrible.“, Krystal replied, still stubbornly looking out of the toned window. Her voice already sounded hoarse and as she spoke, her face felt hot and wet.

“Well, you look terrible.“, Jongin mentioned at the sight of the disaster that was the mix of colors Krystal was carrying on her skin. “Did you fight a parrot when you tried to get out of the house this morning?“

Krystal snorted, shaking her head bewilderedly and yes, she had to admit that she felt very embarrassed. “This…that is… ugh, just shut up!“, she barked, crossed her arms and legs and leaned more strongly against the door.

The rich guy sighed shortly, then a grin spread on his lips. “Where do you want to head, parrot princess?“, he asked her and Krystal tried to avoid direct eye-contact. Actually, she didn’t even know where to head. There was nowhere she wanted to go right now. She just knew that she didn’t want to stay here any longer.

“Home.“, her final answer was. But again Jongin just snorted.

“So you’re calling me over to give you a ride home? You could have called your parents. Or sister. Or one of your housemaids, heck even one of your drivers! But you called me, so tell me where you want to go. It’s definitely not home.“, the jerk insisted and Krystal felt more anger crawling up as she had to admit that he was right. It .

“Then take me anywhere, I don’t care!“ The anger won over her way too quickly and Jongin flinched back as Krystal turned towards him to brawl into his face. Did he even see some hatred blinking up in her eyes? He looked a bit distraught for a whole moment, yet gave his driver a hand sign to start the engine and then told him to drive to the next mall.

The mall was extremely packed, but Krystal didn’t really care. After a short trip to one of the designer shops, Jongin had made sure that the girl right by his side was no longer an eye sore and in a new, fancy little black dress, Krystal was sipping on her Iced Americano as she walked down the hallway with Jongin pulling his usual cocky ‚I’m a rich ‘ walk. Honestly, she had no idea why she was doing it but for now she was willing to push all the fault onto Amber and her latest treatment.

“Are you feeling like watching a movie? I could rent the entire auditorium. It’d be just you and me.“, he offered and the girl’s eyes instantly formed small slots.

“As if.“, she replied. “This is not a date, you jerk.“

“I bought you a dress and coffee, how is this not a date?“, he kept insisting and Krystal rolled her eyes, getting her phone out, noticing it being dead as she looked at the black screen.

“I have a boyfriend, that is why.“ Even though said boyfriend was actually a fake girlfriend that didn’t care about Krystal and treated her like garbage. The thought alone caused Krystal a foul mood again.

“Then it’s cheating. And still a date.“ Jongin kept the last word, as he too, glanced over at the black screen and raised his eyebrows. “Need to charge it?“, he asked and offered her his power bank. A few moments later the screen was set back to life and a massive amount of missed calls popped up. Sulli, Amber and Krystal’s mom had tried to call and text her. The amount of Amber’s texts was dominating over all the others, nevertheless. And Krystal soon figured why.

As it seemed Sulli had started worrying about Krystal and contacted her mother who then started to pester Amber and got angry at her for loosing Krystal. And so, Amber was bound to the duty of taking care of the whole ordeal. Oh, luck was finally back on Krystal’s side. She was finally in the position to punish irresponsible Amber for leaving her hanging like this.

Krystal’s lips formed a content grin. “Hey, Jongin. I have a way better idea what to do.“

 

The weather outside was perfect, when Jongin and Krystal arrived at one of the Han river areas that were not entirely flooded by the masses of people that tried to have a chill moment. There was a soft breeze refreshing the two teenagers as they were walking past some bike rental shops and a little GS25 where Jongin had to buy some popsicles because it was a bit warmer than expected.

Far away from the drivers, Krystal was happily eating her popsicle as she knew her phone was still buzzing. Amber must have been looking for her right now. But no, she wouldn’t pick up. Amber deserved this. All Krystal had done was sending Amber a message, telling her to come find her at the Han river. Fun fact, the area was huge and it would take Amber hours to find Krystal. If she’d even find her.

“What are we doing here?“, Jongin asked, almost finishing his popsicle. He was leaning against a balustrade that was separating the green meadows from the path where every now and then either joggers, some groups of ahjummas or bicyclists were passing them.

“You love to make others feel ty, right?“, Krystal asked and Jongin immediately made a face.

“Is that how you see me? Ouch.“

The girl snorted. “Oh come on. You know that people see you like this and you enjoy it. Stop denying.“

Jongin didn’t look too happy about her words but he was clever enough not to argue further with the girl. He knew she was right. Everyone knew. “So we’re making someone feel ty?“, he assumed.

“Correct.“

“Hah!“, he suddenly exclaimed. “Then this is a date and you’re totally trying to make your boyfriend feel ty by pretending you’re cheating.“ As he said so, he was pointing a finger at Krystal, a victorious smile all over his face.

Krystal couldn’t believe how wrong this guy could be with his assumption. He was just an accidental by-stander in this scenario… but ah well. Did it make much sense to try finally making him understand what she was doing? No. Because Jongin would only believe what he wanted to. The girl sighed, rolled her eyes and focused on the river in front of her again.

It was a nice day and the view wasn’t too bad at all. The Han river had something very calming and peaceful. It was unbelievable how on the other side of the river, terrible things had happened when now there was only peaceful happiness on this side with all the couples and families spending their time in the sun. It would have been nice to spend a real day like this. Yeah… it would have been really nice.

The wind was gently brushing through Krystal’s hair and between her and her classmate the silence grew more and more. Jongin, just like Krystal, was watching the water flow, indulging in this brief moment of togetherness.

Time passed and the sun was loosing the bright yellow to make space for a full red, the area getting a bit fresher. Amber still hadn’t shown up and Krystal started to question her plan. Maybe the woman didn’t try to find her at all. Maybe she didn’t care. Maybe she was still spending time with that girl. The thought of it hurt but there was nothing Krystal could do, right?

“Does he treat you bad?“

Jongin’s question came very low and with much caution. Krystal looked over, finding real worries reflecting on his face. Wow, he actually could be a nice human being.

“I don’t want to talk about it.“, she answered and looked away.

“You don’t deserve to be with someone who doesn’t treat you right. If you’re unhappy, break up and look for someone who knows what it means to be with a girl like you.“, he still tried.

Krystal snorted shortly and was willing to look at him again. “You mean someone like you? Tsk. You’re even worse than him, Jongin.“

“I might come off as a jerk but I’d never let my girlfriend cry over something I did. And it would break my heart seeing her run to another person to seek for comfort.“

The seriousness in his voice was irritating Krystal and she blinked a bit overwhelmed, taking a step back from Jongin who slowly approached her.

“Eh…eww? K-Kim Jongin, can you please come back and replace this weirdo that is with me right now?“, she stuttered and chuckled nervously.

It was weird. As much as she felt grossed out by the sudden kindness coming from Jongin, at the same time she started seeing why so many girls were after him. He was handsome. For all the time she had known him, she had felt the urge to punch him in the face just from what he looked like. It probably was the arrogance that caused her to feel this way, but now that it was gone, she noticed how handsome he was. Not only his face, his figure, too.

And suddenly she felt her heart skipping a beat.

“Are you okay?“, Jongin asked.

“I-Uh-Sure!“, Krystal blurted out and jumped away. “Let’s get back to the car, I’m getting cold, okay?“

“Do you want my jacket?“

“NO!“

Irritation spread on Jongin’s face. He was already about to take his jacket off but halted when Krystal was yelling at him. The red sun behind him was drowning him in deep shadows but Krystal could still see his widened eyes and his frozen expression.

“I…“  Why did she feel bad for making him look like this? She never felt bad about yelling at Jongin! “I just want to head home… sorry for yelling at you.“, she mumbled and stared at the ground, all of a sudden feeling Jongin patting her head.

“It’s okay.“, he said and then waited for her to accompany him. “Then let’s head home.“

On the way back to the car, a few girls passed the two by and they were looking after the tall guy, eyeing Krystal with a mixture of envy and hostility. It made her think of herself when she saw other women together with Amber. Amber…she still wasn't here. Krystal seemed to have to admit defeat. She had lost the battle against her and now that she thought about it, it appeared wrong to her, that she even forced Amber into a fake relationship with herself. Why was she even in a battle against the person she had fallen for so hard? It was just natural that Amber had started a disliking for her. Just like she had felt this hatred towards Jongin which was fading slowly now that she had witnessed his soft side. She started wondering if Amber hated Krystal the same like she hated Jongin before. Krystal didn’t want Amber to hate her…

“Hey Jongin…“, she started and he instantly was all ears. “…if there was someone who forced you into a relationship with her… would you hate that person?“

“This forced you into a relationship with him?!“, Jongin burst out and he was loud enough to draw the attention of most people around them to them.

Krystal winced and even panicked at the wrong track of thoughts that Jongin suddenly had.

“It’s no-“

“YOU PUNK, STOP!“

The sudden uproar from behind the teenagers caused them to stop and turn around.

Amber.

She was standing behind them, looking super angry, her teeth flinched and her arms strained next to her body with her hands forming fists. “I SPENT HOURS LOOKING FOR YOU! STOP RIGHT THERE!“ Amber stomped over, grabbing Krystal’s wrist. “YOU’RE GOING HOME RIGHT NOW!“

“She’s not going anywhere.“

Jongin reacted quickly, grabbing Amber’s hand and pulling it away from Krystal. He stepped between the two and built himself up like a brick wall in front of Krystal. “Get lost!“

Amber looked up at the way taller guy and her eyebrows moved, forming an upset line. “What makes you her body guard, kiddo?! You’ve treated her like .“, she huffed.

“I did? You’re the one forcing her to date an older person! I can sue you for that!“, Jongin barked back.

“I do what?!“, Amber asked bewildered at his accusation.

“OOOOOOOKAY! I think this is enough. Let’s go home, honey. Jongin, thank you for picking me up today, see you at school!“, Krystal intervened, moving around Jongin to grab Amber’s hands and pull her away from him. She quickly walked - almost jogged - away from him, Amber trying to turn around and yell at him a bit more.

“HEY! WAIT! WHAT WAS THIS ABOUT FORCING SOMEONE?! KRYSTAL! STOP!“
 

The drive back home was dead silent.  Amber was every now and then muttering something about Jongin’s accusation and that she couldn’t believe how a punk like him dared to say something like that to her. She had asked Krystal about his weird idea, too, but she just shrugged it off and tried to avoid the whole topic. Aside from that, uncomfortable silence lay between the two women.

When they arrived at the Lee mansion and Amber parked her car, Krystal stopped Amber from getting out.

“Wait.“, she said and Amber let the door fall back again.

“What now?“, she asked.

“I… I’m sorry. I’m sorry about forcing you to be my fake boyfriend. I just… I don’t know… I was looking forward to it and I was really happy when you asked me out today… I thought it would be nice and… well, it wasn’t. I was super angry at you for treating me this way… but I guess it was partly my own fault.“, she said while looking at the dashboard. Krystal let out a deep sigh before she continued. “I shouldn’t have done that. And… you don’t need to do it anymore.“

Amber looked fairly irritated, but Krystal ignored it the best she could, hopping out of the car and rushing inside.

It was her first break-up. A fake break-up. But still a break-up. People were right. Break-ups hurt. They hurt a lot.

Hello everyone, yes, it's been a while - like always. I should stop promissing updates when I can't handle my own update schedule X'D
However, I am about to manage this now (if you want to know more about it, check out the story's foreword and look for the support link) and maybe I'll be able to get more updates out for this story. I had a lot of this chapter ready, there was only a part missing and it still kept rotting in the dungeon of my started chapters XD I'm so sorry about that. But I still hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll try to get the next one out a little sooner!
Thanks for staying with me and this story :)