Soojung slammed shut the gate before she ran towards the door to her house, the door closed in a flash, completely shut and locked. “Did he just—“ Soojung’s voice trailed away as her hand reached up to touch her lips, her small frame resting on the door almost out of instinct, looking like she was in a whole different world, floating among cloud nine. The expression on her face was a mixture of shock and daze.

There was the sound of knuckle rapping against the door seconds later, successfully pulling Soojung out of her trance. “Soojung ah. Jung Soojung,” Jongin’s voice sounded from the other side, somehow sending a shiver ran down her spine at the way his voice had pronounced her name, soft and tender muddled up with desperation. “Please let me in, Soojung. Please give me a chance.” It was quiet for a moment before he called her again. “Soojung ah.”

She shot up into a standing position almost immediately; panic surged up into her being as a blush threatened to colour her cheeks, and she suddenly felt heat enveloping her. “What should I do? What should I do?” Soojung blabbered out of panic, repeating the same words over and over as she paced back and fro. Should I open? Should I not? Should I let him in? Should I just leave him there? What should I do? Endless questioned swirled inside her mind.

“Please let me in, Jung. Please,” Jongin’s voice sounded again, impatient and pleading, followed by a weak knocking sound and Soojung could definitely tell that her cheeks were tinged with pink, heart palpitating inside her chest as the second passed by; the scene from minutes ago kept playing inside her head over and over again.

But before Soojung could utter a word in response, Jongin’s voice could be heard from the other side again. The lady instantly shut . “Or we can just talk like this, I don’t really mind,” he expressed, sounding more calm and collected than a second ago. “All I need is for you to listen to me, Soojung.”

Soojung let herself relaxed then, her body slowly sliding down in instinctive manner, gathering her knees into her arms as she leaned her back against the door, waiting tentatively for the guy to speak whatever that he wanted to say, to explain himself, and Soojung would just be there listening in silence.

“Are you listening? Are you still there, Soojung?” Jongin questioned, hoping to hear her voice, however, Soojung only responded to him with a soft knock. A small smile graced his lips at the non-verbal response then. At least she gave him a response. At least she was still there to listen to him. “Just listen to what I have to say,” he told her. “You don’t have to say anything, because, I know you’re still embarrassed about earlier.”

Blood rushed up instantly at Jongin’s words of jest, and Soojung wanted to badly strangle the guy for even mentioning the event that took place a few minutes ago. And when she heard him laughing lightly on the other side, Soojung wanted so desperately to glue his mouth so he couldn’t laugh at her again, but she refrained herself from doing so, or to be perfectly honest, she was just too embarrassed to even confront him at the moment.

“Please just listen to what I have to say, and you can do whatever you want after that. I won’t force you into doing something you don’t want to do,” Jongin started then, the tone of his voice turning serious, and Soojung swallowed in sudden anxiety. “Honestly, I don’t even know what I wanted to say. I didn’t prepare anything before I came here, courtesy of Sehun for not telling me that he’d bring me here,” he said as a matter of fact, and Soojung could already picture him rolling his eyes as he spoke.

“To tell you the truth, I was not ready to confront you about my feelings yet. I didn’t plan on telling you about it today, or even tomorrow,” he confessed, body slowly sliding down the door and he rested the side of his head against the tall wooden door as he continued to speak. “I was not near ready, or more like, I wanted to continue pretending for a few more days just to see how long you’re going to hold onto the hope of me remembering you again. I know it was wrong, I know it was a selfish thought, but you can’t blame me for being like this. You can’t blame me for becoming a prick, not when you’re the one who had made my heart broken countless times, not that I entirely blame you for that. You didn’t know what I felt about you back then anyway. I didn’t know what you feel about me too, not until few days ago when Sehun confronted me about it.”

Soojung’s eyes grew in size then, widening in shock at the revelation. Jongin knew about what she feels for him, he knew that Soojung loves him, yet he acted as if he didn’t know. How embarrassing that was for her to have her feeling being revealed by someone else. Soojung had the sudden urge to kill Oh Sehun. Jongin must have been laughing at her internally all the time he knew about it. The lady then hid her face in the palm of her hands, out from the view, as if Jongin could see her face that was slowly turning red.

“It was not until I looked at you earlier; looking into your eyes, that I became so scared, and everything was just so overwhelming for me that it just came out. I was so scared, Soojung, I was so scared that if I don’t say it today, I’ll lose you for good.” Jongin’s lips trembled at the thought of losing her, who was not his to begin with, and the thought of his one and only chance slipping out of his finger terrified him so much that Jongin had to momentarily shut his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his nerve. A sudden pain shot up to his head, throbbing from the many feelings he had at the moment. Joyous, upset, disappointed, disgruntled, angry, exasperated.

Soojung’s back hunched forward then, resting her chin in the space in between her knees and she bit her lip to stop the tears that were threatening to fall. No, Jongin, no, she cried silently. The lady didn’t know why there were tears lining her eyes. All she knew was that her pants might get damp if Jongin won’t stop talking any sooner.

“When Sehun told me that you love me, I was so happy, very happy at the fact that my love was finally being reciprocated, that it was no longer one-sided, but even then, I couldn’t bring myself to embrace you in my arms, to tell you that I love you too, that I’ve loved you from the very beginning. There was just something that always kept on holding me back. Maybe it was the uncertainty that lingered inside me from long time ago. Maybe it was just me being insecure of everything. Pathetic, that’s what I am.” Taking a deep breath, Jongin continued then, “Just know that, whatever happens, I’ll always be by your side, I’ll always love you no matter what. I will always—“ he could hear the sound of the door being unlocked before it was suddenly  pulled open, startling him, mouth agape as he was came face to face with Soojung again. “Be here, by your side,” he finished after a few beats, shutting his mouth completely after.

“Stupid,” Soojung mumbled before she crashed herself into Jongin, the guy stumbling back a few steps out of shock and her arms came to encircle the guy in a tight embrace right after. “Stupid,” she mumbled again against the fabric of his shirt, her words were muffled but Jongin could still hear her voice just fine.

They stayed in that position for a few more moments, Jongin standing still as he was completely trapped in Soojung’s arms but there was a smile painted on his face, so bright and blinding. It was only when Jongin felt the front of his shirt where Soojung had her face hidden was slowly covered with moist that he finally found his voice again. “Soojung ah,” he called, and he was freed from her hold then.

When Soojung removed her arms from around him, the lady quickly hid her eyes from his view, not wanting the guy to see her swollen eyes. Pink tinged her cheeks still, all the more reason to not meet the eyes of the other. He must be laughing inside his head right at the moment; Soojung didn’t have to look to know he was smiling.

Jongin then slowly took her hands away from hiding her eyes. “Why are you hiding your eyes?” he questioned with a smile, wiping the tears away with his thumb while Soojung tried her best to avoid  looking at Jongin’s eyes that were fixed completely on her. The guy then held Soojung’s hand before he interlaced their fingers together, fitting perfectly in the spaces like a complete puzzle. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, having no idea why he did himself.

“What for?” she asked in a whisper, still refusing to look at him straight in the eyes.

“Just because,” Jongin shrugged before he asked, “Did my kiss startle you? I’m sorry.” His blunt words caused the blood that had flowed down to rush up Soojung’s veins again, completely colouring her face with scarlet red.

“How can you ask me such thing so casually,” she muttered in embarrassment, wanting to flee from the place right then and there.

Jongin laughed then, loud and lively, and Soojung’s heart fluttered at the pleasant sound. “Why? Are you shy?” he teased, not hiding even the slightest bit of the fact that he was enjoying the way she was fidgeting on her spot.

Soojung didn’t reply, landing a light punch on his chest instead before she stormed off into her house in abashment, leaving Jongin standing outside the door, who was doubling over in laughter, string of cuss words escaped under her breath as she sprinted to the living room in haste to avoid the guy.

Still full of laughter, Jongin followed after the lady, closing the door behind him before he sauntered to the living room in search of Jung Soojung. He found the lady sitting on one of the couch, face hidden in the arm rest, practically mashed into one. She must be so embarrassed to be doing such thing. Jongin then took a seat on the single seat sofa adjacent to the lady. Silence hovered over them for a few ticks of the pointer before Jongin finally spoke up. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you’d be this devastated,” he expressed, and when Soojung peeled away from the armrest to look at the guy, finally, there was guilt evident all over his face.

“You should’ve listened when someone wanted to say something,” Soojung voiced out as a memory of the first night of Jongin’s supposedly memory loss came flooding in her mind, sharp eyes almost resembling a glare found its way into Jongin’s, as if scolding, but it couldn’t quite be called as that.

“Sorry,” Jongin apologized again, knowing exactly what the lady was referring to. He had already lost count on the number of times he had apologized in a day.

“Why are you saying sorry again?” she asked, her face scrunching up in slight frustration. “Please stop saying sorry, Jongin, you’ve done nothing wrong,” she said. “And you’ve done enough more than I deserve. I should be the one who’s apologizing,” she added, slightly regretting at the way things happened. “I’m sorry for not realising it sooner, Jongin. I’m sorry for never giving us a chance before. And I’m very sorry for hurting you all this time, for actually not realising your feelings for me sooner. But then again, your actions gave it all way but I was just too stupid to understand.”

“You’re not stupid,” Jongin quickly countered followed with a smile on his face that looked like it was meant to be there all along, “You just thought you’re not over him.”

“Yeah, I did,” Soojung admitted in a mutter, a little sheepish to herself to say the least. “But that still doesn’t make me a little less stupid.” Soojung heaved out an inaudible sigh that had Jongin wanting to make a retort but then he settled with shrugging his shoulder instead.

“If you say so,” he shrugged, a playful smile playing around his lips, eyes glint with mischief as he stared at Soojung. The lady looked like she wanted to say something, probably a protest, with the way she had open in a snap but Jongin was quick to move, settling himself just beside the lady in a nonchalant manner. “Do you know that once a heart is broken, shatter into pieces, it can never be patched together ever again?” he asked out of nowhere, the expression on his face turning to that of serious as the next words rolled out his tongue, “No matter how many times you’ll try to glue them together, it can never be the same.”

“What—“ Soojung wanted to ask what he meant, but Jongin cut her off before he could even hear her question.

“And that’s why I'm-- I can never be with you,” Jongin finished, staying quiet as he stared at Soojung straight in the eyes, lips seemingly twitched as he studied the expression on the lady’s face, before his voice sounded again. “What do you think of these words?” he asked, the smile he had earlier was back on his face, only this time it was a little too wide and a little more annoying than the previous one.

“What are you—“

“You should’ve seen your face. It was hilarious!” Jongin exclaimed, doubling over in laughter out of nowhere, leaving Soojung to look at him incredulously, disbelieving that Jongin would actually joked with this. She was almost certain that he had meant the words he said, what with the way he had his face serious when he said those words.

Soojung couldn’t find her voice to speak, too stunned to make coherent words.

“You thought they were for you, didn’t you?” he laughed again, clearly enjoying every minute of teasing the lady. “Well, to make you feel better, I just recite it from some sappy movie. It wasn’t meant for you at all,” he assured, a grin splitting face appearing on his face, too bright for her liking. “Even if a glass is shatters and the pieces can never be perfectly glued together again, I believe that my broken heart can be patched with your love,” he uttered, voice laced with a sweetly playful tone and he sniggered.

“What the—Oh my god—Kim Jongin—“ she spluttered.

“Just wanted to test you out,” he told her in a nonchalant manner, flashing a grin to the lady, which Soojung wanted to wipe off of his face really quickly because it made her blushed profusely in embarrassment. “Guess I succeed,” he finished with a triumphant smirk.

“Don’t you even start, Kim Jongin,” she warned with a glare. “And what was that?” she murmured, “Can be patched with your love?” she mimicked his words in slight irritation, making a gagging sound  with a little exaggeration as she muttered, “Cheeseball.”

“But you secretly like it, right?” he questioned, hopeful eyes looking at her. When Soojung didn’t say a word in return, he asked again, a little impatient this time, “Right?”

Instead of answering his question, Soojung just settled with, “I’m just grateful you’re alive, Jongin.” She wanted to tell him that she did secretly like it when he said those words, but knowing the guy, telling him that would only make him cockier than he already was.

Jongin then leaned down and with a quick movement of his head, he boldly stole a kiss. It was chaste, merely a peck, a slight brushed of the lips, ghosting against each other, but it was enough to make Soojung’s eyes widened in surprise, and a pink tinged her cheeks at the sudden action. “That’s for not answering my question,” he told the lady, voice scolding but lips smiling.

“What—“ Soojung managed to utter, completely out of herself. When she snapped out of her reverie, the lady shot daggers at the person sitting beside her, who looked like he just won a million dollar. “Why did you do that?” she exclaimed, having no idea herself of why she was getting mad over such thing.

“What? I can’t even kiss the love of my life?” Jongin asked, wearing a disappointed look that had Soojung’s heart tugged. “I guess I have to live without a kiss from you then,” he said, letting out an exaggerated dejected sigh.

“Oh my god—“ Soojung cried out, questioning who the hell was the person in front of her at the very moment because the last time she checked, Jongin wasn’t this cheesy person who recite a cheesy line from some sappy drama, not even the person who would go as far as being so ridiculously dramatic over some kiss. Did he get possessed by some tacky ghost? She couldn’t help but to question herself.

“Wow!” the guy exclaimed after seeing Soojung’s face. “I didn’t know your face could turn so red. You’re practically a tomato, babe.”

“Jongin!” She hit the guy on the arm, standing up and ready to flee at any moment. Yeap, he’s possessed.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” Jongin apologized in between his laugh. “No more teasing,” he told her. When Soojung gave him a look, he added, “And cheesy lines.” Soojung looked at him with a raised eyebrow then, as if telling him that there was more. “And pet names, noted,” he announced, nodding his head, but then he added with a wink, “For today.” he looked at Soojung with a mischievous glint in his eyes, a playful grin playing around his lips as he wiggled his eyebrows.

Soojung let out a sigh of defeat then, rolling her eyes and shaking her head because there was no stopping Jongin when he had set his head on it. Without a word, Soojung walked off to the kitchen.

“Can you get me orange juice? Thanks!” Jongin yelled from the living room.

Soojung rolled her eyes before she replied, “No!” with the same level of voice, but she moved to make one for the guy anyway.

“Do you need help?” His voice could be heard again, and those words tugged the corners of Soojung’s lips to form a smile.

“Just worry about your arm, Kim Jongin,” she replied instead.

In the living room, Jongin’s lip protruded into a pout for not being able to help, looking down at his arm that was in a cast and he silently cursed, reprimanding himself for being so careless on the road.

Jongin fiddled with his phone as he waited for Soojung to come back, playing several games, one after another out of boredom. It was not until he decided to open a new message box to write Sehun a message that Soojung appeared in the living room again. She put down his glass of orange juice and Jongin put his phone away into his jeans’ pocket.

“Should I do something to your motorcycle?” Soojung asked out of nowhere, just as she set down a plate filled with melons on the coffee.

“Huh? Do what?” he asked, a little taken aback that Soojung was talking about his motorcycle, even calling it motorcycle instead of her usual ‘that thing’. He almost smiles but faltered instantly after Soojung's next words.

“Crush it maybe,” Soojung uttered, not looking at Jongin as she spoke, but Jongin could already tell by the way her posture was, one leg crossed over the other and arms crossed over her chest, that the lady was serious with her words.

But Jongin was not one to back down so easily, not when it involved his motorbikes. “What? Why would you want to do that to my precious baby?” he cried out, but deep down he knew Soojung want nothing more than for him to be safe.

“Look at where it got you!” she huffed in response.

Jongin’s bottom lip protruded into a deep pout, looking so much like a child who had his candy taken from him. “But it’s my baby.”

Author's Corner:

FINALLYYYYYYY. We've reached the ending of this story!!!! :'D  But i'm not marking this story complete just yet since there will be epilogue to wrap this story more nicely, which.. I'm not sure when I will post it lol I just hope you're satisfied with the way I end this story. Fluff is not really my area of expertise (is it? hahah!) so.....idk if it was fluffy enough to make you squeal because I actually got goosebumps while writing this I swear idek why hahahahahahah (this is not my last A/N so I won't say much here) :)