Facade
The Pretty One II
Mrs Lee glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall and stopped her cooking, turning off the stove. She stacked the pancakes in a neat stack and washed her hands, wiping them on her apron.
With a small smile, Mrs Lee treaded carefully up the stairs to the second level of their house. She came to Jaekyung's room first and opened the door carefully, peeking in. Just as she expected, she found her elder daughter asleep at her study desk.
She shook her head in amusement. "When will she stop doing this?" she murmured to herself.
She walked over to her daughter and watched as Jaekyung slept soundly against her textbook. Mrs Lee sighed softly to herself as she pushed some hair out of Jaekyung's face. Her heart ached when she thought of what her daughter had gone through.
It wasn't fair that someone so young had to go through so many painful experiences. Too many.
Mrs Lee's eyes moved towards the photoframe on her daughter's desk and her eyes softened at the selca Jaekyung took of herself and L. This boy was a blessing to the family, even if he did cause some conflict between her two daughters previously.
If not for L, Mrs Lee doubted that her daughter would recover from that incident this quickly.
Mrs Lee gently shook her daughter. "Jae, time to wake." she murmured. Jaekyung woke up easily and she rubbed her eyes, looking slightly disoriented. "Umma?" she yawned slightly. "Morning."
"Morning to you too." Mrs Lee chuckled softly. "Get ready for school, I'll go wake Chae up."
"Okay umma." Jaekyung stretched on her chair and smiled sleepily. Jaekyung's phone gave a timely buzz and Mrs Kim hid a smile while going off, having a feeling of who exactly sent that text.
Mrs Lee went over to the next door and saw her younger daughter curled up under the blankets, so much that even her head wasn't seen from under the blankets. She sighed softly as she pried the blanket off Chaekyung's head. Thinking of her younger daughter made her worry as well. This girl met with an accident, lost bits of her memory and fell in love with a guy that had his eyes on her elder sister.
Life really did for her.
"Chae." Mrs Lee called. "It's morning."
Chaekyung continued sleeping soundly. She was harder to wake out of the two sisters. Mrs Lee pulled the blanket off Chaekyung to rid of the warmth for easier awakening, but stopped halfway when she saw what Chaekyung had been hugging to sleep.
It was Jaekyung's diary. The diary which told of the betrayal that happened years ago, the betrayal that Chaekyung had no memory of.
It was then that Mrs Lee noticed the tear stains on her younger daughter's cheeks and the former nearly sobbed out loud. She could hardly imagine the guilt Chaekyung felt.
Being the mother, she could tell that Chaekyung felt responsible for Jaekyung's even though she had nothing to do with it. The younger sister always felt that it was her fault that Jaekyung was caught as Kim Junki's crazy victim. If she hadn't been having a cold war with Jaekyung, she would have noticed if her older sister was missing. She would have gone out with Jaekyung for the walk instead of letting Jaekyung go alone. Everything could have been prevented.
Stupid reasons, but when someone wanted to find reasons to blame themselves these points suddenly seemed legit.
Mrs Lee caressed Chaekyung's cheek softly. "Babo. It's not your fault. It never was and never will be."
"Morning L oppa!" Chaekyung chirped cheerfully as she skipped out of the door. L chuckled and ruffled her hair, causing her to beam brightly. "I'll go to your car first!" Chaekyung darted off to L's car and plopped herself at the back seat.
L repeated the greeting and diverted his gaze back to the front door. He waited with an amused smile as he heard hurried shuffling from inside the house and a very urgent "Bye umma!". Jaekyung rushed out of the door with a flushed face and dazed expression.
L chuckled and cocked his head to the side, watching his girlfriend. He never thought it was possible to love anyone anymore than this, but with every passing day, there were new things he found out about his girlfriend that made him fall in love with her over and over again.
"Morning." L half-smirked. Jaekyung stuck out her tongue at him and rearranged her hair, knowing that it was in a terrible mess. Terrible mess or not, L thought she looked adorable.
"In a rush today?" L teased lightly as he grabbed Jaekyung's bag for her. She wrinkled her nose again. "I almost forgot to bring my thumbdrive I had to rush back up to get it. Teacher Jung would kill me if I didn't have it with me."
L made sure to move slowly towards her as he grabbed her hand. These were the things he had to take note of these days with Jaekyung. No sudden movements. Not too much intimacy. It kind of killed him to not be able to kiss her as and when he wanted to, but Jaekyung was getting better by the day and it comforted him.
He was the only male that could touch Jaekyung without shocking her. The Infinite boys were allowed a closer proximity to her, but none of them dared to even pat Jaekyung on the shoulder.
It seemed as though she had developed some sort of a boy phobia after that unfortunate incident and found it very difficult to trust any males besides L. L hoped to bring her out of the pain but knew something like that needed time.
His fingers touched Jaekyung's lightly and he watched her expression. Assured with her lack of reaction, L tightened his grip as his lips curled up in a wider smile. "You'll have me if Teacher Jung ever decides to be suicidal by provoking you." he grinned.
Jaekyung made a face and shook her head in amusement. "Just because you're the principal's son."
"Exactly because." L grinned.
He walked her to his car, his eyes gazing lovingly at her while her back was turned. He couldn't help it. He knew that if someone watched him by the side, they would think he was completely smitten and pathetic to look so helplessly in love.
However the fact was, he was helplessly in love. He couldn't stop himself from loving Jaekyung if he wanted to, and that was the last thing on his mind. Why would he want to stop loving her? He was falling more and more in love with her with every passing day and that made him insanely contented and goofily happy. He liked it that way.
He just didn't think it was fair for THAT incident to happen to Jaekyung. They didn't talk about it much and tried not to bring it up, but sometimes dead in the night, L would get a call from Jaekyung and she would just cry and cry over the phone. He knew she hadn't recovered from that incident yet and he could hardly blame her.
He felt anger, agitation everytime he thought about it. There were so many other girls in the world, why did something like this have to happen to the girl he loved. Didn't God know that he hated to see Jaekyung suffering especially in something so severe?
However he knew as well that he wouldn't want something like this to befall on any other girl. It wasn't so much of "why Jaekyung?". It was more of "why did it even have to happen in the first place?"
But life was as thus. Life didn't just go like how stories were usually planned, with some terrible obstacle and morales learnt, before the happy ending. If so world hunger wouldn't exist. There would be world peace. If only the world was so perfect.
Jaekyung didn't seem to deserve to be . But who deserved to be? was a serious offense, something detrimental to mental and physical well-being. No one, not even the most evil of people deserved to go through something like this.
She was such a sweet girl, always giving in, always thinking for other people first before herself. There was absolutely no reason why she had to go through something like this.
But if there was something L learnt, it was that life was unfair. You couldn't bargain with life, you just had to accept what lemons were thrown your way. The thing about it was that it all depended on whether you were going to sit there and cry about your misfortunes or try to walk out from the suffering.
L was glad that Jaekyung was brave enough to step out of all this, even if not completely. Her state of mind was so strong that L thought she was much more courageous and resilient than he could ever be.
"L oppa, stop zoning out!" Chaekyung hit L on the head.
L blinked and realized that he had been staring out into space while his hands were on the steering wheel, the girls waiting for him to start the car.
"Oh sorry. Just thinking about some things." L muttered and started the car, the engine roaring to life. Chaekyung giggled and shook her head from the back seat. "Next time you decide to start thinking about things, at least turn on the engine first L oppa, so that unnie and I can get some aircon."
Jaekyung chuckled amusedly at her sister and L made a face. "Fine fine I'll try to remember alright?" he pretended to pout. "Alright ladies, sit tight. Time for school!"
"Noona!" Sungjong beamed at Jaekyung. "Morning Chaekyung!"
Chaekyung beamed back and went to join her friends. L narrowed his eyes at Sungjong and snorted. "What about me, am I transparent or something?"
"Ayee why so calculative?" Sungyeol harrumphed. "It's not a very attractive trait to have, L." Sungyeol wriggled his brows at Jaekyung in a joking manner. "If someday these unattractive traits of L finally get to you, always remember that there's a Lee Sungyeol around the corner."
L scowled and between Sungyeol and Jaekyung. "Excuse me but this is my girlfriend you're hitting on. Go get yourself a girl and stop harbouring such thoughts over mine."
Sungyeol pretended to be hurt and gestured wildly. Dongwoo nodded and pretended to pluck out the "knife" L "stabbed" into Sungyeol's back. "There pal, feeling better?" Dongwoo patted Sungyeol's shoulder. "Much." Sungyeol nodded, wiping away a pretend tear.
L rolled his eyes and reached for Jaekyung's hand slowly. "They never grow up."
Jaekyung smiled softly and shook her head. "Stop acting so much like a parent when you're like a kid yourself." she teased.
L pouted and flicked Jaekyung's nose lightly. "Mean."
Jaekyung laughed softly. L just had to prove her point about him being a kid didn't he? She moved closer to him, feeling more secure whenever she was near him. He was the only guy that she could allow within a half metre radius to herself. Even the Infinite members were confined outside that range.
L reached out and tucked her curls behind her ear, giving her a tender smile and her hand a gentle squeeze as he led her towards their lockers. Jaekyung sighed softly, knowing that her cheeks were a pretty rose pink by now.
She couldn't ask for more, really.
-----
"-you serious? There is?" Bomi nearly fainted. "I had no idea there was history homework. Oh . Oh oh ." she fanned herself.
"Relax." Soomi murmured. "It's due later in the afternoon so you have some time during break or something to rush it out. It's just a few multiple choice questions, not an essay so it's fine."
Bomi pouted. "But still!" she turned to Chaekyung. "Chae, did you do the history homework?"
Chaekyung gave no indication that she heard what her friend said, her eyes staring blanking into the distance. Bomi blinked and followed Chaekyung's line of sight, realizing that Chaekyung had been looking where the infinite boys and Jaekyung had gone off to.
"Yah Chaekyung, stop zoning out!" Bomi nudged her friend. Chaekyung blinked and forced a smile on her face. "Sorry. You were saying?"
"History homework, did you do?" Bomi repeated. She frowned at Chaekyhung and twisted her lips in thought. "You're not as bubbly as before, Chae. Are you not feeling well?"
Chaekyung forced a nasal laughter and nudged her friend back. "I'm fine, just tired. You were talking about history homework? Wait, History homework? There's history homework?" her voice grew higher.
Yoomi laughed and high-fived Soomi. "Exactly the reaction I expected."
Chaekyung pouted and rushed to grab her books. "Aish why didn't you guys remind me! Which assignment? Bomi let's get to class early to finish it quick!"
The girls rushed off to their class and Chaekyung found herself lagging behind as she got pushed about in the hoards of students in the hallway. She stared at her friends for a second before the smile she fixed on her face slowly faded away.
She was tired of smiling when she didn't feel like it. Tired of meeting expectations of her peers in cheerleading. Tired of pretending everything was alright.
It wasn't.
Chaekyung swallowed as she passed by the senior's classrooms and caught Jaekyung's eye. Immediately, she plastered a cheerful smile on her face and waved at her sister. Jaekyung waved back, which caused L to notice her as well. L gave a cute salute and went back to talking to Hoya.
Once Chaekyung passed the class, she let the smile drop as she stared at her feet.
She was so so tired of pretending she was alright when she wasn't. She knew that Jaekyung deserved to be with L more than herself. Her sister had suffered so much because of her own foolish acts in the past and it was time for her to give back to her sister.
Chaekyung was now more sensible and sensitive to her sister's feelings and more often than not, she gave in and did things for her sister when Jaekyung wasn't aware of it. This was her growing up. She felt the guilt of what happened to her sister even if people kept telling her time and again that it wasn't her fault.
Couldn't they see? It was.
She cheered and supported the Jaesoo couple and could be appointed the couple's greatest fan, not at all an exaggeration. She liked it when L surprised her sister with sweet plans, when he was sensitive and caring. This was her point of view as Lee Jaekyung's protective younger sister.
But it didn't feel good as Lee Chaekyung, the girl.
Because even if no one could tell under her brilliant smiles and cheerful character, Lee Chaekyung was suffering from both guilt and heart break.
Because even if no one knew, Lee Chaekyung was still in love with L. And very much so.
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Hi :) I'm aware that this is supposed to be in the high school setting, but I think I got confused somewhere and told a reader that it was in university. Sorry about that!
I know high school has uniforms but I hope you guys will overlook this small tinsy fact :DDD and just assume that these students can wear normal clothes to school alright?
Thank you for your understanding !!^^
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