24

All this time, he was her only compass.

He was the only person that could make her waiting for years long,

and he was the only one that she couldn't take out of her mind no matter how.

She believed he was the only one.

But she knew it shouldn't mean like this.

"Stop it, Yongguk! I said no!!" Jieun squealed, trying to stop that guy from pulling her into a long, tiring, and pointless run that was suddenly happening right before her eyes.

But no matter how many times she shouted him to stop, he was only laughing out loud instead—completely free, totally wasn't the same person that she knew for this past weeks.

And she wondered how someone could change that easily.

How—how he suddenly became like the one that she knew eight years ago.

She missed him afterall.

And those feeling hurted her so much that she finally broke into tears.

Either it was because of her overwhelmed relievement or because she couldn't contain her emotions any longer—she could feel the burdens inside her heart slowly lifted up, one by one, leaving her alone with him on their own time.

Fading, fading away.

"I'm not going to let you go again," he shouted, between his gasping for air and heavy breathing. "I won't let you go, Jieun-ah."

Jieun looked up, watching his board back that she used to see everyday on their way to the school, his short black hair that she used to slightly smell when she sat behind him—everything, everything of him.

She missed him, a lot.

"Hello?"

Junhong smiled, letting her soft, whispering voice coming through his ears before answering, "yeah?"

"Where are you?" she finally asked, slowly and full of hesitancy.

Which Junhong could easily sense from her voice alone.

"I'm sorry, Jieunnie," he said, leaning his shoulder against the wall. "It looks like I can't go back to Seoul with you."

"Why? Where are you?" she asked again, now he could feel the worries on her voice.

"Are you with Yongguk?" he made sure, just in case that guy broke his promise again.

She paused for a while. "Yes."

Then, Junhong smiled again. He felt completely relieved now.

"He got the train tickets, right? Just go back with him. I still have something to do here," he told her, got a little bitter inside.

"Did you ask him to come? You met him on the event and gave him the tickets, right?"

She was indeed too smart to be tricked.

"Yes, Jieunnie. You got me," he chuckled, "I did tell him."

"You told me to say farewell to him," she reminded him of his own words.

Junhong grinned, looking up into the ceiling. "I don't think you would."

Both of them drowned into silence for a moment, where Junhong could feel the way she looked down into her shoes without knowing how to put her thoughts into words. He understood her too well afterall.

"Jieunnie," he called her, slowly lowering his eyes to the floor. "I don't ask anything from you at all—I just want you to promise me that you will always be happy. Do you understand?"

She didn't say anything.

And Junhong actually wished she would never hang up the phone, until he vaguely heard the sounds of coming train from behind her, indirectly remind him that he should let go of her already.

"That's all," he muttered, taking one more deep breath before bitterly saying, "have a good life, Jieunnie."

He finally ended up the call, clenching his teeth to fight against the aching inside his ribcage. He had already do the right thing. There's no point of forcing her to stick with him when he knew it better that her heart was belongs to somewhere else. He had enough good time with her—and he was really thankful of it.

Letting out a heavy sigh, he turned off his phone and put it inside his pocket before making his way through the empty and cold corridor. He could only hear his own steps, which telling him how many moves that he had already make, and how many left for him to get there.

To get into those room.

He carefully shifted the door open at the same time he tilted his head back, only to see her sitting there on the couch placed by the corner of the room alone, staring at the little girl that was tightly sleeping on the bed.

After closing the door behind, Junhong made a slow steps towards the couch and sat on the other side of her afterwards, still without saying any single words. Actually, he just didn't know where to start the talk afterall. He couldn't put himself into her situation at all.

"Did he already go?" she finally asked, through her low and weak voice.

Junhong glanced at her. "Yes."

She chuckled, with digust filling on it. "So she left you too."

As much as Junhong wanted to deny it, he knew what she said was the truth anyway. He let her go or she left him—there's no any differences, to be honest.

"Isn't this funny? Looks like we just become like the old us," she leant against the couch's back, putting on a smirk down her face.

"There's never 'us' to begin with," he corrected her, later turned his head to look at her. "Don't you think so?"

Junhong watched her let out a soft snort, yet she didn't say anything to against his statement as well.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't able to protect you," he slowly remarked, still putting his eyes on her.

Hyosung finally turned to look at him, giving such a stare that he couldn't really see through. "I didn't need it."

"I was too young and naive. I didn't think about your difficulties and couldn't understand what you really hoped from me. I just believed that I couldn't protect you—and there's no reason for me to stay," he goes on, now looking at those little girl. "I'm sorry."

Hyosung looked at him, finding the old Junhong that she used to know was there, literally sitting next to her. No cold stare, no discomforting silence, no clothed hatred inside—just the two of them, and their long forgotten memories.

When everything was still prefectly fine.

"You ever said that I will never be able to survive if I keep on holding someone else for support," she muttered, and when she found him giving her a confused look to what she just said, she calmly added to remind him, "when I asked you for break up."

Junhong nodded, couldn't help but to smile to know she still remembered it.

"Guess you're right. I used you before, and now, I tried to drag Yongguk along my problems. He is just a very nice guy to accept me all this time," she talked, spilling out her honesty. "In the end of the day, I'm the bad one here. I even hurted Jieun and you."

Hearing her honest words made all of the hates that he had towards her before slowly breaking down, somehow making him realized that she was in a difficult position too and it wasn't like she ever asked for this kind of life. It wasn't like that at all.

"I didn't feel hurted," he denied, flashing a thin smile before going on, "in the end, she will definitely choose Yongguk over me. I know it from the start."

She smirked, raising her right side eyebrow in ridicule. "You really loved her."

Junhong just smiled, didn't think she need an answer for that.

"Just until Sarang recovered—then I will quickly prepare the divorce application to set him free," she made a promise. "Please tell Jieun about it."

"I won't call her again," he cut her off, showing her a smile later. "You'd better tell Yongguk about it."

Hyosung paused for a while, feeling a little sorry for Junhong to make him suffer like that. "Isn't it me that should be sorry instead?"

Junhong tilted his head a little, thinking for a while. "Not really. You've changed both of us—me and Jieun, to become a more mature person. I personally want to thank you for turning Jieun to be like what she is now."

Hyosung chuckled. She just realized it wasn't the same short-temper, immature, and playful Junhong that she knew anymore. He has changed, way too much that she didn't think she could acknowledge him at the moment.

"Sarang is not Yongguk's daughter, right?" he carefully asked, yet he couldn't really pull back the grin that was slipping off his lips later.

Hyosung looked at him, with a sardonic smile on before answered, "you will know."

"Have a good life, Jieunnie."

Jieun stared at her phone screen, watching the call already being ended without her able to say something—to at least say her thankfulness to that guy, like what she had prepared inside her head before. Though, it was actually only a reason that she faked for her own. The truth was, she didn't want him to say good bye like that. She didn't want him to walk out of her life.

And it made her wonder why did she become so selfish like this.

"Let's go,"

Jieun turned, finding Yongguk was already taking all of her stuffs away and already preparing to get into the train without her knowing. Pushing all of her doubts aside, she pressed her parted lips together, forbid her ownself to speak and just followed those guy's steps towards the platform, wanting to just get herself straight and did what she should have did instead.

She was with Yongguk now.

He chose her. And she must be glad about it.

Should have.

"Why?" Yongguk asked, when he realized those girl was still not coming inside the train yet and just wordlessly stood right in front of the door instead.

She tilted her head back, looking into his dark eyes deeply. "Shoud we do this?"

Yongguk looked at her, didn't really show any expression. "Why?"

Jieun frowned, having those amount of anxiety inward that she couldn't really figure out what. "What about Hyosung?"

"I'll call her later," he replied, certainly.

"But—" she furrowed even deeper, getting more and more confused. "You have a child!"

And for that question, Yongguk was only blankly staring at her, didn't answer to her question until the last time announcement was coming out through the speaker, telling all of the passengers to get into their seats. Slowly, he lightly pulled her arm to make her move inside the train, later held her hand and lead her into their seats on the fifth row still keeping her question left hanging.

Jieun sat near the window, still with her both eyes fixed on Yongguk whose sitting next to her to ask for his answer. She has promised Hyosung that she would never disturb them again and she wasn't going to break her own words—no matter what.

Yongguk sighed, turning his head a little to look at his seatmate. "I don't have one."

Jieun frowned, wondering what did he mean by that.

"Jun Sarang—her name is Jun Sarang," he explained, clear enough to make Jieun understood his meaning. "She is Hyosung's daughter. Not mine."

"What?" Jieun was still in shock, unable to put all of her thoughts in order.

"Sarang is Hyosung and her father's daughter," he muttered, trying to keep his voice in balance. "No one knows about this."

Jieun's eyes widened in utter surprise, totally never having those kind of thoughts across her mind before. She knew what happened to Hyosung before but she didn't think it would happen for the second time—moreover she already had Yongguk to protect her.

Why?

"How—" she gasped, feeling something was painfully being stucked on .

"That's why, you don't have to worry about it," he pulled out a thin smile, slowly put her small hand inside his palm. "I'm here."

Jieun looked at his hand, couldn't hide her doubts at all. "Is this alright?"

Yongguk smiled, giving an answer to her doubt on the same time the whistle sound flying in the air—sending them away, far away from the town.

"We'll be alright."

"Hyosung-ah, are you afraid of me?

"Are you scared?"

"Because even if you are,

no one could help you now."

Hyosung gasped, forcing herself to wake up from those dream only to find she was indeed alone in her apartment—dark and silence, nothing's really different from what she had in her dream before.

She was indeed alone. Always.

She got up from the bed, still trying to catch her breath and removed those scenes out of her head when she suddenly heard some noises from outside her bedroom which causing her heart to stop from beating. She automatically held her breath, clenching her teeth tightly to fight against her own fearness before carefully placed her feet one by one on the floor and made her slow steps towards the door.

She gulped once, running her fingers on the handle with huge hesitation for a moment but she eventually managed to open the door anyway, only to find it was actually someone that she didn't expect to be.

It was Junhong.

"I'm sorry," he awkwardly said, "I came here just to take some foods and drinks. I think she won't like the hospital's dish."

She didn't say anything and just wordlessly stared at him, somehow appeared to be cold for Junhong.

"Don't worry, I will go now," he flashed a smile, later turning around to aim for the front door when he suddenly felt the weight on his back, with both thin arms clinging around his waist.

He turned his head a little, wasn't really sure if he should asked her what happened or not but as soon as he heard her trembling voice behind, he knew there's something going wrong with her.

"Please—don't leave me alone."