( another flashback )

( CHAPTER THREE )

First, it was Jaejoong, then Jessica and now, their mother. Jongin doesn’t think he has the guts to face the Jung family anymore after being caught being intimate with Soojung. He groans in annoyance as he drank the glass of whisky in his hand. Why do they always get caught in the most unfortunate times? The only one who hasn’t caught, and will never catch them was her father. But now that he thinks about it… wouldn’t he be watching her daughter all the time?

“Holy . Does this mean that I can never kiss her again? Or do it with her- Oh my god, Kim Jongin stop thinking about that!”

Hearing his silent whisperings to himself, Mrs. Jung glances by the window where Jongin had been drinking and thinking deeply. She has been looking at his way, feeling a little guilty that he was all alone after her daughter insisted that he stayed there in hopes that they could spend more time together, but so far Soojung hasn’t been able to escape from her group of friends even if she wanted to.

The widow excuses herself from one of their visitors and walks closer to the young boy. Upon seeing her reflection on the glass window, Jongin internally panics and immediately bows before her. “Mrs. Jung! I must apologize for the vase. I promise you, I’ll fly to London to buy you another one. And for… Uhm, what I did… With Soojung-”

“Oh, Jongin. You don’t have to bother about the vase.” The older woman chuckles. “And as for what happened earlier with my daughter, I’ll just pretend that I didn’t see what I saw. But I have to remind you, if you want to do it with my daughter, do it carefully.” She looks at him, and he flushes red as they talk about what happened. “I do like children, but I wouldn’t like to care of one as my Soojung goes to Harvard. I trust you understand what I mean.”

“Y-Yes, I do.”

They may have cancelled the engagement, but this didn’t stop the friendship between their parents. After all, they’ve been friends way before their children were born. Mrs. Kim has expressed her regrets for not being in-laws to Mrs. Jung and vice versa. They were really looking forward to the day that their families would be one, but they realized that their children’s happiness were first before anything else. However, seeing how Jongin flew to Boston, Mrs. Jung felt like she shouldn’t stop hoping for something in the future.

“When you informed me of your plans of cancelling the wedding, you told me that you won’t see my daughter until she graduates.”

“That... was my initial plan. I thought that the years would pass quickly, and that I could manage without seeing her but… it’s really hard.” He sighs, before admitting. “I love your daughter, Mrs. Jung, and I do not mean just as a friend. I love her as a woman. I truly do. I don’t know if she has mentioned it to you, but I love everything about her.”

Jongin looks up to see her smiling. “You know Jongin, you were a part of our family, and I honestly don’t mind having you officially. If there’s a man I’d want my daughter to marry, I think I’ve made it obvious that it’s you.” Mrs. Jung states. She then glances at her daughter on the other side of the room, talking to her friends. “But now that I see that Soojung is serious when it comes to her studies in Havard, I’d rather not want her to have any distractions. Do you understand what I mean?” She looks at him back before finishing, “Are you willing to wait for her until she finishes?”

Jongin glances at her Soojung, and seeing her laughing and having fun made him smile. “For Soojung, I could wait a hundred of years.”

“He didn’t even say goodbye to me, ugh.” A bummed out, upset Soojung mumbles to herself not so quietly.

Now on her night gown, she sits right next to their fireplace, opening the gifts that she got that year. So far nothing has caught her attention or has stolen her heart. She didn’t want to sound y or mean, but literally everything that they gave her seemed like they had bought it at the last minute. Just when she was about to give up on finding a gift that she liked, she stumbled upon a teddy bear, one of the three presents he gave her.

“You don’t talk to me that much anymore. I hate you.” She pouts, pressing the poor bear’s nose. She was, of course, talking about the person who gave it to hear. Despite her frustration, she hugs the cute little bear anyways. “You’re lucky that I love you. If not, I would have thrown you out.”

Because of the teddy bear, Soojung was suddenly reminded about the gifts Jongin have given to her. Since the cake was also served during the party, there wasn’t any left. Meanwhile the flowers that he gave were already in a vase, as it was the first thing that she did when she received it from him. Soojung then realizes that it also had a card, something that she has completely forgot because she got too excited about the fact that Jongin was in her apartment.

Running to one of the drawers in the living where she kept the note, she excitedly tears it up to read it.

My dearest Soojung,

I am very sorry for not being able to see you on your special day but I have left you these gifts. I hope you had a great day and I will see you soon. Take care of yourself.

-Jongin

After being left disappointed by the short and half-hearted message to her, Soojung could just sigh. Just when she was about to crumple the paper in annoyance, she had the brilliant idea to flip it, only to see the message that she was expecting.

P.S. I still love you… hehe

Because of this, she couldn’t help but to squeal and jump around. She didn’t know why, but she found the ‘hehe’ part absolutely adorable. She immediately hugs the card, planting kisses and leaving kiss marks as if it was Jongin himself.

“Look, it’s Choi Jinri.” For a second, Jongin thought that she suddenly arrived at the small café that they were in with his university friends, but one of his classmates pointed at the television, only to see her getting interviewed as she promoted her latest movie in a show. As soon as he saw her, Jongin and Sehun immediately exchanged looks before looking back at the screen. “You guys are friends with her, right?”

“We were- I mean, we are… I think.” Sehun replies, mumbling the last part. He wasn't even sure anymore as she has been ignoring their calls.

For the record, she did look very happy and seemed like she was enjoying her job. She could answer the questions confidently without hesitation and even jokes around with the host. The only difference was she had a different vibe to her, and he wasn’t sure if it was the extra cutesy actions that she was doing or the exaggerated smile she does.

Since the host has started to question his male co-star, an uninterested Jongin turns back to the table and was about to remind his classmates about the project that they were supposed to do.

“If Jinri was single,” The host asks the male actor who was sitting right next to her. “would you there be a possibility for you to get together?”

“Oh, I’m single though.” Jinri answers before the actor could even open his mouth. As soon as she mentioned her relationship status, both the host and her co-actor looks at her in shock. Jinri just laughs, and this time, Jongin was sure that she was faking it. “I’ve broken off my engagement.”

Jongin and Sehun exchanged looks again, this time much longer after they sighed. Even though they don’t mention a word, they already know what they have to do by just looking at each other.

“Just so you know, I’m the one who’s calling Chanyeol tonight.” Sehun whispers.

“I guess I have to do the harder option, huh?” Jongin just sighs again, unable to protest. “What time do you think she gets home?”

“God damn it, Jongin! Are you an idiot?” A frowning Jinri shouts as she approached him, her arms crossed. Upon exiting the elevator at 12 in the midnight, she sees someone right next to her door so she immediately panics until she finally realizes that it was just him.

“What? I didn’t do anything.” The boy replies, leaning at the wall behind him.

“Exactly! You’re just standing there looking like a serial killer!”

Not sure if he just heard what she said right, he was about to ask her what she said but decided not to not waste time and just expressed his frustration on that fact that she moved out of her family home without telling her own friends. “You didn’t even tell us that you moved out of your family’s residence. Your mother had a confused face when I asked her where you lived, thinking that I might have known.”

Looking away, she mumbles, “It doesn’t even feel like I’m living here though.”

“Excuse me?”

“What are you doing here anyways?” She asks, ignoring what he said. She honestly didn’t expect him to show up in her apartment door, especially at that time of the day.

“Aren’t you going to invite me inside first? I’ve been here for like an hour or so, waiting for you to come and I’m freezing.”

If she was in a better mode, she would have pointed out that it wasn’t her fault, but she herself has been dying to go inside and lay down so she just keeps quiet and silently puts her passcode to unlock the door. Upon entering, Jinri points to where the kitchen was, telling him to get whatever he wants because she had no energy to go and serve him. She then proceeds to the living room, where Jongin followed shortly after.

The apartment was not so surprisingly big, but it wasn’t that small either, as he expected from Choi Jinri. If he was not wrong, her apartment was smaller than his. It looked very modern too.

“So, can you tell me why you are here?” She asks once he sits down at the sofa opposite to hers. Before she could get an answer, Jongin throws her the other can of Pepsi that he got, which she catches, low-key surprising her. “Thank you.”

After taking a sip of the cola, he finally speaks up, “I heard that you broke up with Chanyeol from an interview.”

“Ah, I see someone watches my TV appearances.”

“Oh, believe me Jinri, I wouldn’t want to, if only you didn’t appear on broadcast that much.” He rolled his eyes. 

To response, Jinri just glared at him. “I just can’t help it that I’m becoming more and more popular.”

For a second, Jongin was about to say another insult and had to press his lips to remind himself the real reason why he stayed up late just to see her. “So… what really happened?” For the past few hours before he went there, he was reminded by that time they fought at his apartment just a few hours after he arrived from Paris. Thinking that he had something do with their break up, he couldn’t help but to feel a little guilty. “Is it… Is it because of me?”

“I wish it was because of you, but no, the reason’s much stupid than that. The idiot’s jealous of one of my co-stars. I admit it, I am close with my co-stars but he knows me very well. I won’t just… leave him for someone I just met.” The girl replies lifelessly, her eyes closed and her body slouching down on the couch. “But then I guess, I also have my own issues.”

“What did you do?” He asked simply, but Jinri groans.

“Nothing! I just… didn’t want him to go… And I guess, I’m not good at hiding that.” She mumbles. “I don’t know how you do it, Jongin. I still don’t how could you just let Soojung like that-”

This time, it was his turn to groan. “Don’t change the topic. I’m here to talk about you and Chanyeol.”

Jinri doesn’t speak up and neither did Jongin. She was actually glad that he wasn’t asking any more questions or was pressuring her to tell more details and just let the silence surround them. Jongin then realizes that the reason why she had become so quiet suddenly was because she was already crying.

It was absolutely awkward and painful to watch for Jongin. Unlike Soojung who used to cry all the time over the littlest things when they were younger, Jinri was much stronger when it comes to her emotions. Now that he thinks about it, the only time he has seen her cry a lot was when they find out that Sehun’s mother died back then out of pity for their friend. She gets emotional sometimes such as that time when they sent off Soojung to Los Angeles, but seeing her break down, especially because of Chanyeol, was a first for Jongin.

“I didn’t even want this to happen, to be honest. I was hoping for things to work out for us.” She admits. “I loved him dearly and I’m sure he felt the same thing, Jongin. He knows that, everybody knows that. And I know that you’re very aware of that. You’ve been with us all the time.”

That was true. No matter how much he hated it, he was always the third wheel to the couple back in high school especially in their early days no thanks to Sehun who at those times left the group for his flings. Jongin was also a witness when Chanyeol confessed to her in front of the whole school, and whenever she wasn’t around them, the one and only thing that comes out of Chanyeol’s mouth was her name.

Jinri didn’t look like she was going to stop crying anytime soon so Jongin got up to sit beside her, offering his handkerchief so she could wipe her tears with it. “So what are you going to do now?”

Mumbling a quiet ‘thanks’, Jinri accepts the handkerchief, “Nothing. What else is there to do? It’s over. It’s quite obvious that I’m disappointed because of this, but we made it clear that it’s over.”

Jongin frowns upon hearing her answer. This wasn’t like the Jinri like he knew. “You two dated for how many years? Four- five years? And you’re just going to throw all that away?”

Once again, Jinri was unable to speak. She tried to open and say something, but when she did, she ended up crying for the second time.

“Can… Can two people just stop loving each other like that?” He asked. Though it was not his relationship, she could tell by the tone of his voice that he was somewhat very affected by all this.  “What will happen if they stop loving each other?”

“Move on with their lives. What else can you do? Life still goes on. Maybe not all people can have it all, you know?” She replies. When she glanced at him, she suddenly realized why she was acting that way. “You’re… not… worrying about your relationship with Soojung, right?”

This time, it was his turn to keep silent as he looked away to avoid an eye contact with her.

“Can you stop worrying about these things? You’re not even dating her yet.” She scolds him but it doesn’t stop him from sighing. “Go ask her to be your girlfriend first before you stress over breaking up.”

“How can I do that when we live in different countries? Wouldn’t we end up like you two?”

“We have different circumstances, and just because it happened to me and Chanyeol doesn’t mean it will happen to you too.”

“What if I hurt her? What if I make her cry?” He asked worriedly, and Jinri literally stop showing her sad emotions just to look at him judgingly.

“You already are making her cry, Jongin.”

“I-I am?” Taken aback, his eyes widens. “But I didn’t do anything!”

“Exactly. You haven’t done anything in like months even after you two confessed.” She explains while he just blinks innocently. “She hasn’t said anything about it and I hate myself for telling you this when I promised her that I won’t, but she’s pretty upset that you haven’t asked her.”

“She is…?”

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