08; I didn't.
The Joys and Sorrows of Our Love
Kai watched as Jaemin sat motionless on the couch, eyes glued onto the floor. She’s been acting that way ever since after dinner. Kai’s eyes traced over her slightly swollen eyes – he knew that she cried earlier on.
He pushed himself off the wall and walked into his room, grabbing the blanket that was left on his bed. He held onto both the ends of the blanket and opened it up, covering Jaemin’s tiny body frame with it.
Her head snapped up immediately and her large eyes stared into Kai’s. “W-what?” Kai stuttered, a little taken aback by the coldness and hostility he saw in her eyes. But it went away as soon as it came.
Jaemin shook her head and the end of her lips tugged up a little. There’s a weird feeling gnawing on Kai’s heart but he can’t put a finger on it. He shrugged and plopped down onto the couch, beside Jaemin.
“A penny for your thoughts, my troubled lady?” Kai faced Jaemin and blinked. Jaemin snorted. “It’s nothing much actually, just thinking about some unimportant stuff.” Jaemin smiled at Kai but he knew that it was forced one.
Kai nodded and decided to let the matter go in the end. He yawned and stretched out his limbs. “I’m tired, Jaemin. Now hurry and get your off the couch that I’m sleeping on tonight.” He shoved her shoulder lightly.
Jaemin narrowed her brows at Kai; she knew what he was planning. “I’m sleeping here tonight, Kai. If you really would love to sleep on a couch, there’s another couch in your house, if you weren’t aware.”
Kai rolled his eyes. “That couch over there is a two-sitter couch; it won’t be able to fit either of us. I’m definitely NOT letting you sleep on a couch tonight, Jaemin. Now can you please do me a favour and get your off the couch?” Kai frowned at her.
Jaemin her teeth and got up from the couch. “Grouchy idiot.” She mumbled under her breath but deep inside, she knew that Kai was doing this for her good and he really did care for her.
She peeked into the living room from Kai’s room and saw that Kai have already buried himself under the thick woollen blanket and probably was already fast asleep. She sighed and dove under the blanket on Kai’s bed. It was of the same material as the one Kai brought into the living room but this one was much thicker. Jaemin closed her eyes with a small smile playing on her lips, drifting off to sleep within seconds.
***
The weekend flew by and the pair spent their Sunday working on their assignments and fooling around with each other. Jaemin retreated back to her own place in the evening when the repairs for her heater was finally done.
Jaemin slipped into her uniform after showering and her brows scrunched together when she heard her phone vibrating. She buttoned up the last few buttons of her blouse and tugged the ends into her skirt before rushing out of the bathroom.
She snatched her phone up from the study table, sliding the answer bar to pick up the call.
“Hey, little brat, what took you so long to answer your phone?”
A too familiar voice was heard from the other end of the line.
“I’m preparing for school, duh. It’s a Monday morning, Mr Oblivious.” Jaemin rolled her eyes and pressed her phone against her ear using her shoulder so that her hands are free. She gathered up all her hair and brushed her fingers through them, soothing the strands of hair that were sticking out before tying them into a high ponytail.
Kris chuckled. “Are you working at the cafe today?”
“Yeah I am.” Jaemin replied as she zipped up her backpack. She threw a glance at the clock hung up on the wall, relieved that there was still time left for her to grab a quick breakfast. She made her way towards her kitchen while waiting for Kris’ reply since she heard some shuffling and mumblings; she presumed that he was busy.
“Hey, sorry ‘bout that, was just talking to my roommate. Since you are working today, let’s meet later on at the cafe then.”
Jaemin hummed in response as she tore away the lid of the cup of yoghurt in her hands. “Don’t you have classes today, giant?” She asked while swallowing down the mouthful of yoghurt.
“I do. It starts in an hour and a half.” Kris replied but he sound distracted.
Jaemin filled with another mouthful of yoghurt. “Are you busy right now?”
“Huh? I’m not, I was just clearing up the mess that punk left behind. Argh god, this whole room is in such a friggin’ mess.” Kris grumbled.
Jaemin chuckled and nearly choked on her yoghurt. “Oh good god, Kris, I almost choked on my yoghurt.”
“Yoghurt, you are eating that right now? Hey, wait a moment! Are you having just yoghurt for your breakfast?!”
Jaemin snickered and blew her bangs while she threw away the empty cup of yoghurt. “Yup, giant, that’s all I’m having for my breakfast. If you do have any comments about that, do leave it to later when you see me because I’m going to be late for school right now. See you later, nagging giant!” Jaemin chirped and hung up without waiting for his response.
Jaemin sighed in relief while heading into the living room to put on her blazer. She grabbed her backpack and slung it over her shoulder carelessly, proceeding to slip into her shoes before dashing out of her apartment.
There was only 5 minutes left to school starts and she really had to hurry if she doesn’t want to be down for detention. Jaemin cursed Kris for causing her to be late. She could have done things a little faster if he didn't call.
She fastened up her footsteps and fortunately, she arrived just before the gates closed. She patted her now dishevelled hair and headed straight for her locker to grab her books. Hugging her books close to her chest, Jaemin walked into the class with her head hung low.
She slipped into her seat, returning the grin and wave SooJung threw at her. Jaemin’s brows knitted together when she realised something was out of the norm. Kai was there, she was sure about that because she caught sight of him. But the thing was, he didn’t smile nor make a snarky comment which he used to do whenever he sees her.
Heck, he didn’t even tear his gaze away from the window. Jaemin played with the edge of her blazer sleeve while tracing back the events on Saturday. *Everything was still fine on Saturday... Just what exactly did happen? Maybe he didn’t see me walking in... Maybe...* Jaemin tried assuring herself but there was a little voice in her head that tells her that it’s not that simple.
The first half of the lessons went by slowly and Jaemin couldn’t concentrate in class at all. Her head was resting on her folded arms throughout all the lessons.
The bell went off and Jaemin opened her eyes slowly. She waited till all the chattering died down, signaling that everyone has left the classroom and all that was left was nothing but silence. She straightened up, ruffling her bangs.
She pressed her palm onto the left side of her face, feeling a little hopeless and down. She wanted to talk to Kai but there's a part of her that's dreading it.
She got up from her seat slowly and stabilized herself by grabbing the edge of her table. She froze mid step when she saw Kai sitting at his desk, staring straight into her eyes. She flinched a little under his
intense gaze.
"Why?" Kai asked, breaking the silence. Noticing the confusion on Jaemin's face, Kai continued talking. "You befriended me for a reason, didn't you?"
"W-what?" Jaemin glanced at Kai, bewildered. "What makes you say that?"
"Lay and the others dared you to get close to me, didn't they? They wanted you to help me get over the stupid heart break phase, am I right? Did you arrange for all those things to happen, huh? Right from the beginning - you asked those girls to hurt you, didn't you?! You arranged all of this, Yoon Jaemin. You lied, just like everyone else. You are just as horrible as everyone says you are. All that stuffs that you told were made up by you, aren't they? God, maybe those stories about your past, your father and everything else were fake as well. You knew I detest it when people lie to me yet you still did it. You make me sick to the guts. " Kai sneered and stood up, pushing his chair back with so much force that it fell back onto the ground.
He shot a glare at Jaemin before storming out of the class with his hands tucked into his pockets. Jaemin stood rooted to the ground, trying to digest the words Kai threw at her. Every single word he uttered was dripping with hatred and anger and it stabbed right through Jaemin's heart.
Jaemin placed one foot in front of the other slowly, as if forgetting how to walk. She staggered over to Kai's chair and set it back up right again. She walked out of the class, unsure of where to head to. She ended up at the rooftop in the end.
She sat down on the cement floor carelessly, not bothering whether if it's dirty or not. She drew her knees in and hugged them, rocking her body back and forth.
*I didn't lie to you, Kai, I didn't.* Jaemin shut her eyes and a lone tear escaped from her eye, rolling down her cheek.
For the rest of the day, Jaemin was nowhere to be seen. Her bag was gone and so were her other belongings. SooJung tried calling her phone but it was switched off.
Kris, who she was supposed to meet after school, was at the cafe she worked at for the entire afternoon but she didn't turn up. He sighed and left in the end, thinking that she probably got caught up by something else.
Meanwhile, Jaemin was curled up into a ball at the foot of her bed, staring into space blankly. *He hates me. He hates you, Yoon Jaemin. He said that you make him sick to the guts.* Her heart ached so badly but there wasn't any tears left after hours of crying.
Her eyelids were getting heavily by the minute and her gastric was hurting but she didn't care a single bit. Right now and then, she wished she could just disappear from the world.
Jaemin wasn't in school on Tuesday.
Same goes for Wednesday.
And there goes Thursday but she still remained missing.
Friday, too.
Jaemin wouldn't have missed her shifts at work, she needed that sum of money to get her through her everyday life. So when MiYoung rang Kris up, he knew that something was terribly wrong. Jaemin wouldn't be so irresponsible as to miss out on work.
Finally, Kris couldn't sit around and just wait for Jaemin's call. He bolted up from his couch in his house and made his way to Jaemin's house. He knocked on her front door over ten times but the sound of locks unbolting didn't meet his ears.
Shifting from foot to foot outside her house, Kris debated with himself whether he should just break into her apartment. He glanced at the door knob, thinking that it might not be locked. Brushing that thought off and labeling that as impossible, Kris ran a hand through his hand.
His gaze returned back to door knob again and the next second, he found his hand reaching out for the door and twisting it. His heart stopped beating for a second. He was right. The door was not locked. He opened the front door wider and stepped in.
It was 12pm in the afternoon but Jaemin's apartment was pitch black. All the curtains were pulled over the windows, not even a single trace of sunlight filtered in. Uneasiness crept up onto Kris and it gripped his heart as he made his way around Jaemin's apartment.
Kris was about to head into the kitchen when a figure caught his sight. He turned and his eyes widened at the figure sprawled carelessly over the floor. He ran towards Jaemin instantly and knelt down beside her. Her face was deathly pale and that made Kris' heart beat even faster.
Kris cupped Jaemin's cheeks and was aghast at her icy cold cheeks. "Jaemin? Jaemin, wake up, you are scaring me." He patted her cheeks lightly but there wasn't any reaction from her. "Jaemin! God, damn it." Kris pulled his phone out of his back pocket and dialed for an ambulance.
***
"She fainted because she didn't eat a single thing for four days. We are going to attach a drip to her and she has to stay in the hospital until Sunday." The doctor said while scribbling onto the clipboard he held in his hands.
Kris nodded and glanced at Jaemin who lied lifelessly on the bed. The white hospital gown she was wearing made her look even paler and weaker. "Take good care of her, kid. She doesn't seem to have the willpower to live." The doctor followed his gaze and shook his head gently. He gave Kris a small pat on his back and turned around, walking out of the ward.
Kris remained standing at where he was - at the foot of the hospital bed. He couldn't bring himself to move closer to Jaemin. Why? Because he broke the promise he made with her mum. She told him to look over her and to protect her but look at Jaemin now....
"Hey. How is she?" Kris glanced at the new presence beside him and realise that it was Lay. Kris shrugged. "Where's Kai?" *Yeah, where's Kai? Shouldn't he be the one who's rushing here the moment he heard she's been admitted into the hospital?*
Lay shook his head. "When Jaemin didn't turn up for school after Monday, so did Kai. I received a text message from him yesterday, saying that he's in England to continue his studies there because he's preparing to take over his fathers hospital."
Kris frowned. "Do you have any idea what happened to Jaemin then?"
Lay sighed and shook his head again. "I was hoping that you might know why."
The two guys stood in silence for a few minutes till a movement from Jaemin broke it. Kris hurried over to her side instantly, placing one of his hands behind her pillow and the other holding her hand. He smiled a little when Jaemin's eyes peeled open.
"Hey there, little brat, how are you feeling?" Kris asked in a gentle voice but Jaemin merely stared at him with her pair of blank eyes. Kris didn't like the look of her eyes - it was empty, without a single trace of emotion.
Kris glanced at Lay who seems as confused as he was. "I... Will fetch the doctor." He said softly before heading out of the ward.
"Jaemin... Why are you acting like this? Did someone hurt you? Hmm?" Kris tried again, while her hair this time round. Jaemin averted her gaze and stared at the ground, worrying Kris even more.
Finally, the doctor entered the ward and Kris straightened up, backing away so that he could examine Jaemin. He walked out of the ward and stood by Lay who was watching from outside.
"What do you think happened to her?" Lay asked while watching the doctor speak to her but she didn't open to respond at all.
"I don't know but I'm sure Kai has something to do with it." Kris balled his fists and tore his gaze away from Jaemin. *I have failed you, Auntie, I'm so sorry.*
Hey there, I'm back! I'm sorry for being away for so long. My mid terms have just ended but I'm preparing my Prelims which starts at the end of this month...
So I would really appreciate your understanding that I won't be able to update as frequently but i promise I will try updating once per two weeks!
And here's a warning: The upcoming chapters won't be as cheery and light-hearted. It's going to be gloomy so yeah... I warned you eh... Hehe.
Enjoy~ and don't forget to leave comments behind! Love you guys <3
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