It had been a month since your parents' disappearance.

You had barely spoken to any in the time that they had been gone, including Jongup. He called you everyday, but you ignored him. You slowly stopped showing up at school, work becoming a priority now that you had been abandoned. Although you had been the primary caregiver even when your parents were around, they still took care of the rent with. You didn't question how they got the money to do so.

You searched for your parents for a week. You went to all of their favorite hang outs, checked out local bars, and even went as far as to knock on drug dealers front doors to find them. Jongup didn't know, of course. He would freak out if he knew where you had been going.

You didn't know why you were so surprised. You hadn't expected your parents to stick around as long as they had. You knew that something like this would eventually happen, but it was more of a shock now that it actually had. You thought about moving somewhere where rent was cheaper, but you had the fleeting though that they might come back. What if they couldn't find you when they did?

You wondered how long it would take before people started showing up looking for them. It had happened several times before, but your parents had always been there when it had. You would sneak out of the window to avoid the inevitable fighting that was sure to ensue and run away to the park down the road. The same park where you had met Jongup.

You knew you weren't being fair to him, ignoring him the way you were. You couldn't let him see you in such a state, though. You knew he was worried about you, the thirty something voice mails on your phone telling you so. You had the texting feature on your phone turned off so you could avoid the millions of text messages you received a day from him, constantly wondering where you were and why you were ignoring him. He just wanted to help and you knew that. But you weren't going to allow yourself to bring Jongup down with you. He deserved better than that—better than you.

You sighed at the thought, your forehead dropping on the counter of the convenience store where you were still working. The manager had heard about your recent condition and was giving you more hours in order for you to cover the rent, along with everything else you had to pay. You heard the bell on the door ring, signaling that someone had just entered and lifted your head to greet them.

You blinked when your eyes met the object of your thoughts.

Jongup walked over to you, his hands shoved in his pockets as he stood across from you on the other side of the counter.

“Is this why you're not at school right now?” he asked, his voice flat. You could tell by the look on his face that he was upset. He looked exhausted. You suddenly felt a pang of guilt in the pit of your stomach.

You ignored his question by looking away, swallowing heavily as you avoided his gaze. He sighed in frustration as he placed his hands flat on the counter, leaning forward slightly to try to catch your attention.

“Talk to me, _____-ah.”

You shook your head and walked away from the counter, moving down the aisles in an attempt to look busy. He simply followed you.

“I can't do this right now, Jongup. I'm working.” you said, your back to him as you pretended to stock shelves. He grabbed your wrist and turned you around, forcing you to look at him.

“I know you're having a hard time, but you can't shut me out like this. You need to let me help you--”

“How are you going to help me?” you interrupted him, keeping your voice low so not to disturb the few customers you had in the store. “I can take care of this on my own. I just need you to leave me alone.”

You tried to move past him, but he held on to your wrist firmly, not letting you go. “Stop being stupid.” he said. You glared up at him.

“You need help. You can't do this by yourself.”

“I've been doing this by myself for years,” you hissed back. “I don't need you to baby me.”

“God dammit, ____!” he said loudly, attracting the attention of a girl standing a few feet away from you. You looked away, your gaze meeting the ground so you could avoid the awkward stare she was giving you. Jongup didn't seem to notice, however, as he continued on.

“You can't keep doing this to yourself! I'm watching you literally fall apart. I can't stand seeing you like this. I don't want to—it's not healthy for you to be working so much like this. What about school? You need to graduate—you can't leave this place if you don't, ____. I can't watch you do this to yourself.”

You stared up at him, drinking in his words. He was right, and you knew it. But you couldn't let him stick around to watch you fail.

“Then don't.” you said, your voice cold. This was the only way he could be happy. He frowned at you, his hand still holding on to your wrist.

“Huh?”

“I don't want you to watch me anymore.” you said. “I want you to go away.”

He dropped your wrist from his hand as he stared down at you, his face falling slightly at your words. “I know what you're doing.” he said quietly. “You don't mean that.”

“Yes I do.” you said harshly. “You're just getting in my way. Can't you see that I just want some time alone? My parents just abandoned me and you're constantly trying to in. I turned off my text messages to get away from you! The only reason I haven't blocked your calls yet is because you're the only one from school who knows about what happened. You could recognize them if you saw them.”

“Stop,” he said, his voice shaking slightly. “Cut it out, ____-ah. I'm trying to help you.”

You laughed once, shaking your head at him. “Help me??” you said, your voice almost a shrill. “How is this helping me?! You've cornered me at work, demanding that I give in to you and that's something that I just can't do! I need you to leave me alone! How many times can I tell you that?! Leave!” you shouted, pushing your hands against his chest.

He stumbled back once, his eyes sliding away from your face and to the ground. He didn't try to fight back. “I just want you to be better...” he said quietly.

“I would be better if you were gone.”

His gaze shifted to yours at your words and you could feel your heart literally breaking apart. You never let your cold facade falter as he bore his eyes into your own. His voice shook when he spoke and you almost dropped your act right there.

“Fine.” he said finally. “Keep pushing me away. Keep doing this to yourself. You're never going to be happy if you do, ____. You know that, right?”

You didn't answer. He shook his head before turning around. Your hand twitched, dieing to reach out and touch him before he could leave but you refrained. You watched his head drop, his hand running through his hair before he sighed angrily. He didn't turn around as he stormed out of the store. You watched as he took off down the street and you felt your legs give out underneath you, your hands catching you on the floor.

You broke down there in the middle of the store, not caring who was listening. Your manager emerged from the back room at the sound of your sobs and kneeled next to you, his hand on your back as he tried to assess the situation and calm you down. Nothing seemed to work though, and you let yourself go—just as you should have done with Jongup there. At least then he could have caught you.

You thought you'd never see him again after that day.

Little did you know, it would only take him three long years to find you again.