Chapter 4
Quicksand
Jongin woke up at the crack of dawn the next day. It was Thursday, December 7th.
He had skipped school the day before and ignored all of the texts he received- although it was hard for him to ignore one of the senders' messages. Jongin was determined to accomplish his goal. It involved attending school today though, so he threw on his shirt and jeans. Not even bothering to comb his hair, he walked straight over to the Cha residence and knocked softly on the front door.
Jaekyung, having developed very acute hearing, was awakened by the soft tapping. Listening intently for a few short moments, she recognized the knocking pattern and sprang off of the couch to answer the door.
"Jongin!" She didn't even need to see his face before swinging her arms around his neck.
"Hi, Jaekyung." he answered coolly.
"Where were you, babo-ya?! You had me worried sick yesterday!"
"O-oh.. were you? Sorry.." Jongin scratched the back of his neck awkwardly while trying to control the butterflies in the pit of his stomach. Here she was, the girl he loved long before she began dating Baekhyun. However, he couldn't bring himself to make any moves- he just couldn't do that to Jaekyung.
But what he could do was make her happy, even if it meant sacrificing his own happiness in the end.
"Come with me." Jongin took Jaekyung by the hand and gently ushered her out the door.
"B-but.. I have to tell Kyungsoo. I'll be right back." she rushed upstairs and came right back down. "Okay, now let's go wherever you were going to take me."
"Hand." he extended his own for her to take.
The two walked together side by side. Halfway through, Jongin saw that Jaekyung was a little stiff so he released his grip on her hand and she visibly relaxed. Jongin wondered if she knew... if she knew how much he cared for her and loved her. He wanted to confess to her but refrained, knowing that she still hadn't moved on.
He would wait.
--
"Oppa, where exactly are we going?" Jaekyung asked quietly.
"Somewhere you'll really love," he replied with a smile.
"Ok, then. Let's hurry up, I wanna see what the place is!" she suddenly bounded down the pathway excitedly.
Chuckling and jogging to catch up, Jongin whispered to himself, "Wow, is this the return of Cha Jaekyung?"
"Okay, now come here. I'm gonna cover your eyes and walk you over to the place. Okay?"
She nodded and followed along with his steps.
"Five more steps. Five, four, three, two, one..." he uncovered her eyes.
Jaekyung gasped in awe.
What lie in front of her was a huge frozen lake. The winter starlight danced off of the surface in a delicate manner with glimmering spheres dotting the ice. Stars overhead shined ever so brightly down at Jaekyung and Jongin, twinkling and smiling.
Jongin smiled softly. "Do you like it?"
"...Yes." Jaekyung couldn't take her eyes off of the lake. "Thanks for taking me here, I love it."
"We can come here anytime you want, just tell me."
"Ne," she sighed contentedly.
"Ah, I have something to tell you, oppa."
"What is it?"
"It's just.." she trailed off, clutching her head in pain.
Jongin looked on, distressed. "J-Jaekyungie? What's wrong?"
"Oh, ah.. it's nothing. Don't worry about me!" she painfully smiled.
Jongin continued to worry despite her pleas for him not to. "Let's just go back to your house, yeah? It's almost time for school to start anyways."
"..Yeah, that'd work. I think I need to lie down." Jaekyung replied.
"Mm, hop on my back. I'll carry you there!" he suggested.
She laughed. "Sure."
Jaekyung wrapped her arms around Jongin's neck then climbed on his back as he began to walk slowly back to her home.
This interaction reminded him of when they were children, except it would be Jaekyung giving Jongin a piggy-back ride while Chanyeol did it to Kyungsoo, ultimately dropping him. The four used to be so happy together, frolicking in the neighborhood.
So carefree were they back then.
It was the beginning of primary school when Kim Jongin first fell for Jaekyung. As children, Jongin had held feelings for her, but two became close even before then due to their parents' friendship.
--
"Jongin oppa!" A young girl called out. She was holding a red box of sorts.
Said boy turned around and was tackled to the ground by a small figure. "Mmph, Cha Jaekyunggg!" he complained, trying to squirm out of her surprisingly strong grip.
"Oppa! I got you a box of chocolates!" Jaekyung giggled.
"But Jaekyungie, you know that I have to eat good food to have good health! I'm a dancer, you know!" he said in his squeaky high-pitched voice.
The girl feigned sadness as she got off him and traced the ground with her shoe.
"...Arasso.. I guess I'll just give them to Chanyeol oppa then, that fatty." she joked.
Jongin's mouth curved downwards into a frown. "No! They're my chocolates! That fat giant gets none!" He snatched the box away from her hands.
The smart little girl merely giggled. "I knew I could trick you! Haha, you're a cute oppa, Oppa." Jaekyung pecked his right cheek.
His eyes widened as her small pink lips made contact with his face.
"A-ah.. Jaekyung..?" he stuttered.
"Ne~?"
"...Nothing! Nothing at all."
--
Jongin smiled like an idiot as he recalled these fuzzy childhood memories. However, after pondering for a few seconds, he grew sad.
"Maybe she doesn't remember any of the moments she's shared with me.."
--
hey c: so the reason why I upload "quickly" is b/c the ch's are so short LOL
~carelesswhispers
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