Day 11 - Cherish ft IU (Lee Jieun) and Jang Wooyoung (2PM)

Cherish: To treat others with tenderness and affection; to protect and aid.

Wooyoung clenched his fists tight as he tore his small eyes away from the girl lying on the hospital bed. He forced his legs to move and walked out of the hospital ward. He leaned against the wall, with almost no strength left in his body. Wooyoung could barely breathe; it was as if a large rock was lying on his chest. Tears started to flow slowly down his soft cheeks, torturing him as he cried in the lonely night. If only he had cherished the moments when she was still moving around and being the bubbly girl she was, he would not be here, torturing himself with the disdainful liquid and a hurting heart. 

"Jieun ah... I'm sorry."

Memories of them surfaced in his mind, and he allowed himself to drown in those memories. It was all he could do now.

-flashback-

"Oppa!" Jieun called as she ran down the school courtyard. Her long black hair flew as she ran towards Wooyoung, who returned her nothing but a slight nod. The sun was scorching hot and all Wooyoung wanted to do was to quickly leave the school premises and go home. Jieun walked silently beside him, playing with the tips of her hair. Jieun had milky white skin and soft pink lips. Her eyes were large and innocent, giving her a child-like charm. Her blunt bangs and beautifully straight hair made her look like a living angel. She had a small cute nose right in the middle of her face, but Jieun never found her nose perfect. She had always contemplated surgery to get the bridge of her nose higher, but Wooyoung had dissed that idea many times.

"With your clumsy personality, you would probably ruin the surgeon’s work of art in no time.” Wooyoung would say. It was true; Jieun could bump into walls and be nonchalant about it since it had happened to her so many times.

As they boarded the bus, Jieun’s phone vibrated in her pocket. As she was reading the text message, Jieun accidentally tripped over the steps. Luckily, Wooyoung reacted quickly and grabbed her arm before she could suffer a bigger embarrassment. Jieun quickly stood up and tapped her bus card before brisk walking to the back of the bus. ‘Why am I so clumsy?!’ Jieun mentally scolded herself. Wooyoung sat beside Jieun and looked out of the window.

“Oppa…” Jieun started. Wooyoung looked at her with his small sleepy eyes and took off one of his earpieces. “Mum said that she would be cooking for you tonight. Your parents are out of town right?” Jieun looked at Wooyoung innocently as he nodded, putting his earpieces back on. They spent the journey home in silence.

At 6pm, Jieun heard the doorbell ring. “I’ll get it!” She excitedly announced and ran towards the front door. She opened it and grinned widely when she saw Wooyoung. Even though this was not his first time eating dinner at Jieun’s, she was still as excited to see him. She moved aside to let Wooyoung in and shut the door carefully. Wooyoung poked his head into the kitchen and flashed his smile at Mrs. Lee, who was busy preparing dinner. She acknowledged him and Wooyoung walked to the living room. Jieun was playing her pink guitar as usual, and Wooyoung sat opposite her. Jieun plucked a few strings and jotted something down on her music writing notebook. Jieun was born with a musical talent. After a year of learning guitar, she could already compose 2 songs. He wondered why she did not want to become a singer, but never asked her once.

“Dinner’s ready!” Mrs. Lee shouted from the dining area. The two kids walked to the dining table which was filled with delicious food. Wooyoung was a neighbour of the Lee’s, and he frequents the Lee’s residence as his parents were always busy. Whenever his parents were not home, he would go to the Lee’s for dinner. Needless to say, the children grew up together. Wooyoung was naturally a good speaker, while Jieun was a shy girl. She had always admired Wooyoung’s good communication skills, and slowly she started to learn all about him as the years passed. Naturally, she grew fond of this older brother figure of hers.

“I’ll eat well!” The kids exclaimed together and tucked in. As they devoured their food as if they have been starved for days, Jieun’s mother asked how her day was in school. As usual, Jieun would reply with a mouthful of rice, “It went fine.” Wooyoung would answer the same way and the trio would then eat in silence. It has always been like this ever since Mr. Lee passed away 6 years back. At first, they were not used to the silence, but after a while the silence became comfortable for them. Jieun took a piece of meat and put it on Wooyoung’s bowl of rice. He nodded and resumed eating. He was used to such a treatment.

He knew of Jieun’s feelings towards him, but he really only saw her as a younger sister that he could not have. He was the only child in his family, so he had always looked at Jieun as a sibling. Wooyoung also knew it was harsh to not tell her about his own feelings towards her, fearing that his words might hurt the young child. They may only be a year apart, he felt like she was a little kid that needed to be cared for. Similarly, Jieun was the only child in her family, and hence she too looked at Wooyoung as an older brother she wished she had. However, things started to go wrong and she developed feelings for him. Jieun continued helping him get vegetables and meat until he raised his hand, telling her that it was enough. Contented, she happily ate her dinner.

Their days went on like this, walking home from school and having dinner together. Occasionally, when Wooyoung’s parents were free, they would bring him out to eat instead. She was not saddened by this, knowing how much Wooyoung loved it when he was finally able to have a decent meal with his parents. However, that one day when Wooyoung was in low spirits and feeling annoyed with everything around him, he had unintentionally hurt the person he had cherished most.

“Aish, this is totally not my day!” He said in an annoyed tone. That morning, he went to school late and got scolded by his homeroom teacher. Wooyoung had also slacked during physical education that day and got punished. A series of bad events followed, causing Wooyoung to become impatient and grumpy. He had been bearing with some of his teachers for a while, having bore some hatred for them because they always picked on him.

“Oppa!” A familiar voice called out. He was not interested in talking to anyone at that moment. He quickened his pace, hoping that Jieun would understand and leave him alone. However, it slipped his mind that Jieun could not see the atmosphere, meaning that even if there is tension in the room, she would not notice. That was one of her charming points. She was so innocent that she could lessen the tension anywhere. Jieun chased after Wooyoung on the road, calling out to him. Jieun was worried, seeing Wooyoung’s actions. She managed to grab hold of his arm, but he shook it off violently. Unfortunately, Jieun lost her balance and an incoming car was speeding over. A long horn could be heard, followed by a loud terrifying crash. Wooyoung turned around, only to find Jieun lying on the road in front of a black sports car. Crimson red blood was flowing out of her head and her flawless complexion was now full of scars. Her uniform was stained with some of her blood, causing patches of red to appear on the white.

“JIEUN AH!” He yelled desperately. He held the girl in his arms and shook her. He kept calling her name as his tears flowed from his eyes. Why did he shake her off so violently? Why did he push her away? Why did he let his emotions take over? Questions formed in his mind, torturing him more. Within 10 grueling minutes, the ambulance finally came. They carried Jieun on the stretcher and drove off towards the hospital. Wooyoung begged Jieun to open her eyes, to say that she was alright, to smile at him with her adorable smile, to see her dimples flashing at him, but Jieun remained still. Her eyes were closed and her skin was turning paler by the minute. Wooyoung was anxious, unable to control himself. He wailed in the ambulance, an agonizing pain taking over his heart.

He stood outside the emergency room, allowing himself to cry. He did not care about the people who passed by or the nurses who looked at him sympathetically. All he cared was Jieun’s safety. He leaned against the cold hospital wall and slid down. Wooyoung hugged his knees close to his chest and drenched his long pants with his tears. How did this happen? He vowed to protect her to the best he could, and yet now she was in the operation room because of him. She was injured, due to his inability to control his emotions and let her comfort him. She was suffering now, because treated her harshly.

“Wooyoung-ie!”

Wooyoung looked up, only to see both his parents and Mrs. Lee. He had informed them of what had happened, thinking it would be best that he had informed the adults. Mrs. Lee looked at Wooyoung with her blood-shot eyes, having cried profusely on her way to the hospital. Her look sent shivers down Wooyoung’s spine, torturing him more.

“How did this happen?” Mr. Jang, Wooyoung’s father asked. He tried to explain to the best of his abilities, saying that it was his fault. Mrs. Lee then lost control and gave Wooyoung a slap across his face. The Jangs were shocked, but Wooyoung did not respond.

“I deserve it. I failed to protect her.” He said emotionlessly, staring into blank space as he sat on the plastic chairs nearby. Mrs. Lee calmed down a little upon seeing his helpless state. She took care of him like her own son, and she felt immense guilt for slapping him.

The doctors came out 5 hours later, saying that the operation was a success.

“But,” The doctor took off his mask with a solemn expression. “I will not be expecting the patient to wake up within the next 2 weeks. The impact was rather great.” The four closed their eyes, wanting to block out whatever reality was in front of them. Wooyoung fell to his knees, and the doctor merely patted his head before walking away. He was used to it, seeing patients’ friends and relatives breaking down at such sad news.

Wooyoung stared aimlessly when he reached Jieun’s residency. He wanted to help pack some of Jieun’s stuff, thinking that it would lift some of the extreme discomfort in his heart. He came across the notebook that Jieun wrote her compositions in. Curious, Wooyoung flipped it open and hummed. He had learnt piano since he was younger, so he was able to read the score. Wooyoung flipped to another random page, and the title caught his attention immediately.

Take My Hand ♥

He hummed to the melody and read the lyrics. His heart sank deeper and deeper as he went through the song. The lyrics matched his feelings, and that was when it struck him.

“You’re getting this feeling, you’re trembling. When are you going to stop stealing glances at me?”

“Hurry and hold my hand.”

“Without realizing, your mischievous way of talking, I want to hear it over and over again.”

And the most important part, “This is love, between you and I.”

Wooyoung thought hard and he realized, she had noticed. He always checked on her whenever they meet in the school compounds. Wooyoung was famous for his sweet talking and he had always used them to his advantage to get out of most sticky situations.

It was then he realized, he did have special feelings for her. It was due to the fact that he had always thought that he only saw Jieun as a younger sister, he never once considered it. Only now when he saw her work and her current state, he saw how much he cared for her.  He quickly packed up her stuff and left the house.

Wooyoung walked to the hospital room and saw Jieun lying unconsciously on the bed. His heart ached, now that he was clear of his feelings for her. He walked towards her, set the bag beside her bed and sat down. He grabbed onto her fragile hands and kissed the back of her palm.

“I’ll cherish you from now on. I’ll protect you, I’ll treat you better than before. I promise. Jieun ah…”

---

Sorry for not updating yesterday! I was far too tired): I'm almost done with 'Heaven' and I'm starting to brainstorm for 'Sweet Kiss'. I will post up both by tomorrow night! T^T Homework is killing moi.

I really like the milky couple ever since I saw Dream High! I ship them more than Taeczy and SooZy (Is that their couple name cos I'm not sure). Okay, then again, I mostly ship the non-main couples in most dramas so... *shrugs* They're both adorable little creatures as well keke.

Not much comments for this chapter. It is quite bad, but I think it did not turn out toooooooooo bad.

Thanks for reading~~