Chapter 5

                She sat down on the tall chair at the kitchen counter, her legs slightly swinging. She picked at the dry cereal in the bowl she had gotten herself and sighed. Seungri had left early in the morning again, not bothering to wake her up and instead had left her a note.

                ‘You looked too peaceful to wake up.

                                                -Seungri’              

                She sighed and stood up, heading for Seungri’s room for a change of clothes. She then heard a door open and smiled. She turned towards Jiyong’s room, her smile fading. Surprised to find a woman in front of her, she was at a loss for words.

                The woman looked back at her in equal surprise, pausing for a brief moment. “H-Hi. I was just – bye,” she quickly excused herself, finding her way out the front door.

                She just continued to stand there, feet planted in front of Jiyong’s door. She had no idea that Jiyong was one to have one night stands, but by the looks of how the girl rushed out, that was what it had clearly looked like. She didn’t know why, but she felt her heart dropping to the floor, feeling her head spinning and a lump in started to form. She then heard a creak and saw a groggy Jiyong rubbing his eyes, wearing nothing but his boxers. She swallowed whatever metaphorical lump was in and took in a deep breath.

                “Jiyong!” she tried to sound chipper. Shocking him, he looked up, eyes wincing.

                “W-what are you – you’re still here?” he asked, genuinely surprised.

                She smiled and nodded. “I see you had a good night. Who was that I just saw?” she acted as if nothing was wrong, heading towards Seungri’s room to get her change of clothes.

                “W-what?” he followed her. “Who did you see?”

                She shrugged, opening Seungri’s drawer that was designated for her. “I don’t know,” she pulled out a change of clothes and closed the drawer. “She was tall, had shoulder length hair, had nice eyes,” she tried to describe the girl she saw in the nicest manner that she could. She leaned on Seungri’s dresser, looking at Jiyong.

                She saw him close his eyes tight and groan. He called out her name and said, “Nothing like what you think happened. We didn’t – we didn’t do anything.”

                She just mustered up the best smile she could and said, “No need to explain to me, Ji? It’s not my business what you do and not do. Oh, I mean who you do,” she tried to joke, shrugging it off.  Before she could walk out of Seungri’s room, she saw something shimmer in a small glass bowl on the dresser. She recognized it as the partner for the ring she had on at the moment and picked it up.

                She then heard Jiyong say her name and she just quickly dropped the ring back in the bowl. “I mean, if Seungri did that, it would bother me,” she tried hard to make it sound like it was a joke. “But I know you’d tell me,” she said before walking past him, towards the washroom. Once she knew that Jiyong couldn’t see her expression, her face fell.

=

                She stared at her mug of coffee while her friend continued to ramble about what happened to her that ticked her off that day. Her friend’s story went in one ear and out the other as she just sat there in a daze, something clearly bothering her. But what annoyed her was she wasn’t quite sure what exactly was troubling her. She sighed, not noticing that her friend had stopped talking and just stared at her.

                She called her name and looked up, clueless as to what had just happened the past couple minutes.

                “What’s up with you?” her friend, Soyeon, asked, taking a sip of her own coffee. She shook her head and just wrapped her hands around her mug, warming up her hands. She saw Soyeon roll her eyes at her, “I’ve known you for years. I think I would know if there was something major bothering you. Is it Seungri?” she asked.

                She thought for a while, wondering if it was Seungri who was bothering her. Thinking of no other reason, she just concluded that it must be the lack of time spent together with her boyfriend was what was unsettling her thoughts. “I guess so.”

              Soyeon raised her eyebrow at her. “What do you mean ‘I guess so’? How can you not know what’s bothering you?”

                “I’m – “ she shook her head, still thinking of any other possible reason. “ –not sure.” She then remembered that morning when she was at Seungri’s place.

                “Is everything okay with you two? It just seems like you guys haven’t been spending much time together,” Soyeon thought of what she had also concluded.

                “Yeah, I mean, I think it is…” she bit her bottom lip. “Seungri’s just been busy with work recently and the only one I have to hang out with is you and Jiyong. I just wish –“

                “Wait,” Soyeon stopped herself from drinking midway. “You’ve been spending more time with Jiyong than you have with Seungri?” She just looked at her and nodded, not seeing why she sounded so surprised. “I know you two are close but –“ Soyeon paused, trying to recollect her thoughts. “Do you still have feelings for him?” she bluntly asked.

                Taken back from her friend’s question, she stuttered. “Who? Jiyong? No. That was ages ago, I mean Seungri –“

                “But think about it,” Soyeon interjected again. “I know you’ve been going out with Seungri for what, three years now? But are you sure that you’re over Jiyong? I mean, he didn’t really say he didn’t like you when he rejected you. He just said that –”

                “Yes, I’m sure,” she answered right away, not even thinking about it. “When I agreed to go out with Seungri, I knew for sure that I didn’t have any lingering feelings for Jiyong.” She didn’t want to think about that night when she had been rejected by Jiyong.

                 Soyeon looked at her for a while with her arms crossed. She then sighed and shrugged. “Okay. If you say so.” She continued to look at her with a slight judging demeanour. “I’m just saying if you do have a small part of you that still likes Jiyong, maybe that’s what’s bothering you.”

-

                She stood in front of their apartment door, taking in a deep breath before knocking. She had been here a hundred times, but this was the first time she felt so nervous about being there. Soyeon was right, she needed to know herself for sure – that she had no more feelings for Jiyong. Finally knocking on the door, her heart pounded against her chest as she waited for Jiyong to answer it. When no one answered, she gave out a disappointed yet relieved sigh.

                She then headed towards the elevator as her speech to Jiyong all fled her mind. Feeling like a bunch of weight had been lifted from her shoulders; she turned the corner, coming face to face with him. Just like that, the weight had come back – tenfold.

                “Hey,” Jiyong greeted her with a smile. “What are you doing here?” he asked as he walked past her. She closed her eyes tight and bit her lip as she turned around, following him back to where she was a couple seconds ago.

                “Um, just bored,” she made up an excuse. She heard him chuckle as he searched his keys for the apartment. He held the door opened for her and she walked in, feeling even more nervous than she had been before. “Actually,” she turned around as soon as Jiyong closed the door behind them. “Something’s been bothering me lately, Ji. I was hoping you could help me figure exactly what it is…”

                He looked at her, caught off guard. “Uh, yeah. Sure.” They slowly made their way to the living room, Jiyong leaving his back pack in front of his door. “So, how am I supposed to help you?” he said as he sat down on the couch, leaning his head back and rubbing his eyes gently.

                She sat down at the opposite couch, sitting up straight and stiff, opposed to the relaxed and limp Jiyong. “I-I don’t – well…thing is –“ she stuttered. She heard Jiyong lightly laugh, lifting his head to look at her. She sighed and smiled, seeing him laugh at her. “I don’t actually know...I mean – that’s the thing!” she said frustrated. “I can’t figure out how I’m supposed to figure out what’s bothering me. I know there’s something but –“

                Jiyong continued to laugh. “How about we just get your mind off it, instead of lingering on it?” he said.

                She pouted, thinking. “But I really –“

                “Nope,” Jiyong said, getting up and walked towards her. He took her hand and pulled her off the couch. “Let’s go for a walk, it’s nice outside anyways.”

                She smiled, reluctantly agreeing to go back out. They spent their time walking around the area, going into some shops near by and having a small bite to eat at a coffee shop. Throughout the whole time, she couldn’t help but feel a tugging at her heart.  Soon, night fell and they were walking back to Jiyong’s apartment.

                “So, were you able to figure it out?” Jiyong suddenly asked, after a day of making her forget.

                “Hm?” she asked, confused at first

                He smiled and said, “See, you’ve already forgotten.” He opened the door of the apartment and they walked in.

                She gave a soft chuckle as she set her bag down, taking a seat on their couch. She leaned her head back, taking in a deep breath before exhaling it all out. “Did nothing really happen, Jiyong?” she kept her eyes closed, mumbling the question.

                Jiyong paused as he was about to take off his jacket, caught off guard by her question. He composed himself and hung his jacket on the chair. When she heard no response, she opened her eyes and looked up at him. He made his way to the other couch, adjacent from the one she was sitting at.

                “I’m pretty sure nothing happened…” his answer left open.

                Her brows furrowed, confused. “How can you –“

                “I don’t remember,” he cut her off, avoiding her scrutinizing stare. “I don’t – I don’t remember what exactly happened. One minute I’m at the bar, dancing. The next, I’m waking up to a girl that served me my drinks at the bar.” He buried his face in his hands.

                She took in a shaky breath and looked at her hands. “I-I think I know what’s been bothering me.”

                Jiyong looked at her, still ashamed to face her. She looked at him with a solemn look on her face.

                “You’re my best friend Ji,” she said softly before casting her eyes down. “I guess it hurt when I saw that girl come out of your room. I didn’t peg you for – “ she paused, not knowing the exact term to call him without being offensive. “—someone who would sleep with a stranger.” She swallowed the lump in before looking back at him. “I just thought that with our friendship, I would know you better. That you were comfortable telling me things openly, that I wouldn’t judge you. But –“

                “You’re judging me now, aren’t you?” he asked.

                “N-No! I was just –“ her voice caught in . She sighed again, looking down. “I was just surprised is all…”

                Jiyong looked at her as he nibbled on his bottom lips. He couldn’t get his beating heart under control. He wasn’t sure if her emotions were jealousy or something else, but he liked the fact that she cared enough about him to feel that way towards him.  “I’m sorry,” he looked down at his fingers which were playing with his rings.

                She looked at him, “Why are you sorry? It’s not like –“ she paused. She lightly chuckled and shook her head and stood up. “Anyways, thank you,” she said as he stood up as well. She walked towards the door and then faced him. “For everything.” She saw the corner of his lip tug into that sloppy uneven grin. She turned around, reaching for the knob before pulling it open. She took one step out of the door when her feet were suddenly frozen in its place, unable to take her eyes away from the scene a couple feet away from her. She felt her heart rise up to as her mind tried to process what was before her.

                She could hardly hear Jiyong’s faint voice behind her, asking if she was alright. “Are you okay –“

                Blinking the blurriness out of her eyes, she saw Seungri peel his lips away from the girl in front of him. Pulling himself away from the girl who had her grasp on his arms, he made his way towards her. He was about to reach for her when she stepped back, feeling something wet on her face. She hadn’t noticed that she was holding her breath until she felt Jiyong’s hand on her shoulder. Before she knew it, her feet picked up as she shoved herself past Seungri and the pretty girl with him.

                She quickly walked towards the elevator, anxiously pressing the button as more tears fell. She could hear both their voices – Seungri and Jiyong’s – calling after her. She didn’t stop pressing the buttons until she heard the ‘ding’ of the bell. An elevator door opened and she quickly went inside just as she saw both of them turn the corner. Once again, she pressed the button to close the elevator, not wanting them to be in the elevator with her. The door closed and she was alone, engulfed in the chaos of her thoughts. She then finally understood what was going on with him this whole time. The times he would cancel on their dates, reschedule, or leave early, it was all because he had someone else; the reason why his promise-ring was sitting on his dresser and not on his finger.

                Sobbing, she wiped away her tears as she realized that this probably hasn’t been the first time Seungri had done this to her in the duration of their relationship. Knowing his past, there was more than just that one. She felt stupid to think that after dating her that he would change. He had pursued her for so long that she had thought he was serious with her. They had been together for three years and she couldn’t believe how naïve and stupid she was to believe that he wouldn’t do the same thing to her what he had done to his other girlfriends.

                The bell dinged and the door slowly opened. Quickly walking out of the elevator and the apartment as a whole, she hailed the nearest taxi cab. She got into the vehicle, ready to tell the driver where to go when the other door in the back seat suddenly opened and Jiyong hopped in. He immediately told the driver to step on it and looked past her. She followed his gaze and saw Seungri running after their cab. Her heart ached seeing him chase after her, making jer want to stop the car, but remembered the reason why she was trying to get away from him in the first place.

                She turned around, seeing Jiyong’s worried expression. He then brought his hands up to her face, wiping her tears with his cheeks. With the overwhelming feeling of heartbreak, she shoved her face into his chest and cried.

-

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update! But here you go~ Also, sorry if there are any errors, I only looked over this once before posting it.