20 ~ Explain

"I guess that kind of explained a few things."

Yongguk stared at his thumbs with a solemn expression, as they rested atop the other in his clasped hands on the table. He shifted his view to look into his sister's worry filled eyes from the seat opposite. Daehyun was right beside her.

Mihi nodded slightly at his remark. "I would never have guessed that Myungsoo-ssi was your bro--"

She stopped abruptly. Yongguk wouldn't like the word she was about to say.

"I-I would never have guessed that your mother was a-also his mother," she stammered instead.

"That woman is not my mother!" Yongguk snapped instinctively.

Mihi stayed quiet. She hadn't chosen the right words after all. Her brother quickly reached over to gently pat her hand when he realised how harsh he must've sounded to her.

"I meant that, the only mother I have is the caring mother who gave birth to my precious little sister here." He flashed her a gummy smile, which she returned. "I suppose I should probably start explaining from the very beginning."

Daehyun wrapped an arm around Mihi's waist and held her hand comfortingly as they listened closely.

Yongguk's mother, who he referred to in disdain as 'that woman', had always loved the lavish lifestyle despite her family not being very well off. She was introduced to their father through their parents who knew each other, and a marriage was eventually suggested from both sides. Their father at the time was an average music teacher who could not provide her with the high-life that she craved, but she married him for the sole purpose of being able to move out from the outskirts to the main city, where he resided.

There, she took every opportunity she could find to approach and pursuit wealthy businessmen. Shortly after giving birth to Yongguk, she caught the attention of Myungsoo's father, who strangely paid no heed to her background and marital status and persuaded her to be with him. The woman did not hesitate to follow him and left her husband and son with nothing but their divorce papers. It wasn't long before she married Myungsoo's father and gave birth to Myungsoo a year later.

"Since she left Appa and I when I was still a baby, I never got to know her as I grew up," Yongguk continued. "Appa always told me that it would be best for me not to know anything, so I never asked about it."

Daehyun's face was shrouded with a grim expression as he absorbed all of this new information. He had no idea that a mother could be so cruel as to leave their own child behind without even a backward glance. There was a question tugging at his brain as he considered this entire ordeal.

"The company and the family has always been in the centre of attention, so how is it that the media has not followed any of her past?" Daehyun knew very well how much media coverage there was surrounding the chaebol family.

Yongguk almost scoffed as he replied. "Money. Rich families like theirs solve everything with money. And Appa's quiet life made it much easier to cover. They approached Appa and I to force us out of Seoul, and that was the time when I finally found out who she was. I met Myungsoo along the way, and we disliked each other as soon as we set eyes on the other."

"We moved to Uijeongbu, where Appa met your mother, Mihi, soon after. After mother quietly left this world, the three of us stayed there for a long time without any problems, but complications eventually convinced Appa and I that leaving South Korea would be for the best."

Mihi hung her head sadly. "And everything would still be okay if I wasn't so stubborn to stay here on my own to open my café."

Her brother shook his head. "There's no blaming you, Mihi-ah. So don't blame yourself." He beamed at her. "This café is your dream and both Appa and I are extremely proud of you for achieving it. Arasseo, baby sister?"

She nodded with a slight smile, but she couldn't help but feel responsible for any troubles that have happened or may happen in the future.

"Besides..." Yongguk added with a grin. "You wouldn't have met Daehyun if you didn't stay, now would you?"

Mihi glanced up at Daehyun, who returned the eye contact. She shook her head. No, she wouldn't have. And meeting him was the one thing in life that she would never regret. Daehyun, likewise, was thankful to have met her too. He could only imagine how dull his life would be right now if he hadn't ever gotten to know her.

Yongguk leaned back against the seat. "The only family I have is Appa and you, Mihi. None of those other irrelevant people that I don't care about."

Daehyun sat quietly in his seat feeling like an outsider. Yongguk's eyes flickered to him as they gleamed playfully.

"And Daehyun here can be a part of the family too, if he plays the right cards."

This left the couple blushing furiously at the much too early suggestion.

~~~

Youngjae pulled back when he started to feel breathless, but still held Sujin's body close to his. Once again, he smiled goofily at her.

"I want to officially ask you Sujin, will you be my girlfriend?"

She blinked up at him with round eyes as her heart continued beating erratically. She was hesitating to answer him.

For the longest time, Youngjae continued staring into her eyes, trying to search for an answer, a sign, anything. He got worried whenever she was this silent, because then she would suddenly start pushing him away again.

"Suj--"

She cut him off. "I-I… I can't, Youngjae."

He frowned and creased his eyebrows. Sujin had already admitted her feelings for him, so why didn't she want to be with him?

"Why?" he asked with such a forlorn expression that it left Sujin's heart clenching in pain. "Why can't you?"

"Because you've hurt me before."

She studied his confused face and added, "Back in middle school, remember?"

Youngjae racked his brain for memories from that time and became flustered when one particular memory came to mind.

"A-are you talking about that time when I accidentally kicked the soccer ball at the back of your head? I-I'm really sorry! It was-- I lost control of where I was kicking it and I really regret it! I didn't mean to hurt you Sujin, so--"

"I don't mean physically, Youngjae," she sighed. "I mean, you've hurt me before." Sujin looked at him with sad eyes. "I heard what you said to those guys back then. I was outside the classroom."

"What do you mean? I don't…"

His voice trailed off. From what she was saying, it seemed most probable that she was referring to that time.

Sujin took a deep breath and summoned all of her courage to say the next few words. "I have always liked you Youngjae. But you even said something like that. Now do you understand why you've hurt me so much?"

Youngjae's eyes widened. He had absolutely no idea that she had always felt the same way as him. He always thought that it was just his one-sided feelings. A smile tugged at his lips, which didn't go unnoticed by Sujin. She frowned.

"You think this is funny?" she scoffed, before glaring at him. "I never knew you were this type of person. Let go of me."

She tried pushing away his arms which were still wrapped around her waist. But of course, it did nothing to get him away from her and only tired herself.

"Yoo Youngjae! Let go of me!"

"Not until you listen to my end of the story," he countered. "Please… Sujin-ah?"

She stopped thrashing in his arms and averted her gaze. "Five minutes."

Youngjae nodded. "It was a misunderstanding."

"Like I've never heard that before," she muttered sarcastically.

"It really was."

His voice was so adamant that she remained silent and listened.

"Those guys… they liked you, you know? You were really popular with the guys at school, Sujin-ah. They saw how I always tried to talk to you and came up to me asking whether I was close to you. We weren't really at the time, so I said that I talked a little with you and Mihi sometimes. But they didn't stop there."

Youngjae lowered his gaze away from her face in embarrassment.

"They asked me whether I was trying to get close to you because I liked you. I'm not sure how much you heard… but I'm sure that perhaps, the misunderstanding started from what I said next."

"You said that the two of us would never be a couple, that you would never ask me out," Sujin said for him. Her voice softened, as she felt pain shoot through her. "You said that you would never like someone like me."

He nodded sheepishly. "I wasn't popular like you or those other guys in school. People just thought of me as the nerdy class president. You know how things are like in school with all of those unspoken 'rules' that they had. I… I was no match for you. No matter how much I liked you, I could never admit it to anyone."

Youngjae reached up to graze a hand against her cheek. "I've always liked you Sujin. But I was too much of a coward to tell you, to tell anyone who asked me. I have always thought that someone like me would never be able to catch the attention of someone like you."

He smiled brightly at her, a hint of sadness still in his eyes as she gazed at him in surprise. "But I was a fool for thinking like that. When you genuinely liked someone, you were meant to fight for them and disregard anything anyone else said or thought. I only realised this when it was already too late. We had already graduated and gone our separate ways to different highschools."

Sujin kept her head down as tears started trailing down her cheeks.

Youngjae chuckled mirthlessly. "I really was a big pabo, wasn't I? Despite how much I liked you, I failed to see how you were different to those other people in school and how you liked me back, regardless of that stupid social hierarchy others followed." He rested his forehead on hers. "I'm sorry Sujin, I'm really sorry. Will you forgive me?"

She quickly shook her head. "No. Because there's nothing to forgive. I… I can understand everything..."

His mouth flitted into a smile. "You're absolutely precious, did you know that?"

Sujin just blushed.

Youngjae pulled back a little so that his face was now hovering above hers. He cleared his throat. "So, Lee Sujin. Uhh… I suppose I should ask you again. Will you be my girlfriend?"

He glanced at her hopefully.

"You are the biggest pabo I have ever met," she declared straight-out, causing him to pout involuntarily and look at her with upset eyes. Then she smiled shyly.

"But from now on, you'll be my pabo."

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I'm really sorry for not updating for two weeks, but assessments and whatnot have been taking over my life. But hopefully you all like this chapter :D 

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