He was used to girls swooning over him, casting flirtatious glances his way, sending him love letters and valentines and miscellaneous objects in which he would actually like if it wasn’t for the reason why everyone kept sending them. He was the most admired boy in school, and basically, to just about everyone, he was a god. Even to the young teachers, he caught everyone’s eyes and drew attention to himself just by simply breathing.

The one lucky girl to claim him as her boyfriend was Jessica, and she flaunted that he was all hers... All the time.

“Oppa, come sit with me at lunch!” She’d say as they walked into the cafeteria, hugging his arm and tugging him over to her table, away from the people he really wanted to sit with.

“Oppa, let’s go out on a date! You like spaghetti, right?” She’d say as she climbed into his car after school was out, forcing him to take her on countless dates.

As  Jongin made his way down the hall, the last bell of the school ringing in his ears, he breathed a sigh of relief, running a hand through his newly dyed blonde locks, for once relaxed at the end of the day. Then he heard the call.

“Oppa!! Oppa, wait for me!” Jessica’s hand shot up in the air behind him as she pushed through the crowd of students leaving the school, but he didn’t see. Nor did he care, and as she continued to shout for him, he pretended to not hear it, pretended that the crowd was just too loud to hear her annoyingly loud calls for him. So Jongin kept walking, making his way out of the school and towards his car, ignoring the girls that paused in their course to stare at his as he passed by. Just as he was climbing into his car, though, there was Jessica, her hair a mess and a small frown plastered to her tiny little lips.

“Oppa... Why’d you ignore me like that?” She asked as she opened the passenger door, about to climb in, but Jongin’s hand stopped her. “Oppa, what are you doing?”

“You aren’t coming with me today, Jessica,” Jongin stated plainly, looking up at her with an eyebrow raised. “So please, before I pull out and run over your pretty little foot, go.”

Jessica stared. And stared. And then after a moment or two she huffed and slammed the door shut, Jongin chuckled and pulled out, his eyes on her as he gave a small little wave before taking off. He slowly pulled out of the parking lot, scanning the school grounds for the girl he was supposed to give a ride home. Yes, that’s why he ditched his girlfriend, because he promised an old friend he’d give her a ride home and with Jessica in the car, there would’ve been a lot of questions.

Jongin smiled wide upon seeing Tiffany running out of the front of the school, dashing around the car and climbing into the passenger seat. From his rearview mirror, he saw people pointing, getting Jessica’s attention and directing it towards his car. Growling under his breath, Jongin slammed his hand down on the edge of the steering wheel, startling Tiffany slightly.

“Jongin, what’s wrong?” She asked softly, reaching over and touching his leg lightly. The second her fingertips met his thigh, she felt a spark go through her arm and hit right in her heart, and she gasped, staring at Jongin.

Jongin didn’t seem to notice this. “Jessica’s gonna be pissed.”

Tiffany just stared at Jongin, her eyes wide, and then with a bashful smile she shifted in the seat slightly. “Jongin, can I try something?”

“Sure, what is it?” He asked, turning his head to look at her, and the second he did, Tiffany’s lips met his in a sudden kiss, one that was shocking to, actually, both of them. Someone passing the front of Jongin’s car saw this, instantly pulling out his phone and snapping a picture, and a surprised Jongin shoved Tiffany off of him.

“Get out of my car, just get out!” He screeched in a higher pitch than his usual tone, his hands trembling slightly. As much as he hated the clinginess from Jessica, he wasn’t one to cheat. And because of what Tiffany did, everyone was going to think he was cheating. A very pink-faced Tiffany shoved her way out of the car, running on the path towards her house. Jongin peeled off of the school grounds and just drove, drove as far away from the scene as he could.

He finally pulled over to the side of the road at some point, parking his car and leaving it running. He just sat there, gripping his steering wheel with white knuckles, shaking in a mixture of anger and worry. He ignored his nonstop ringing phone until it got so annoying that he shut it off, tossing the electronic into the backseat of his car.

Hyunwoo was strolling quite casually down the street, his hands in his pockets, as this all happened, tilting his head curiously when the sleek black car rammed to a stop a short distance in front of him. Well, he thought, picking up his pace. Time for another session.

Jongin was startled by the rapping on his window, jumping and turning in his seat before calming at the sight of a mere man. Figuring he would go on his way, Jongin turned and ignored him then, wanting to be alone in his own thoughts. But when it was obvious that the man wasn’t leaving, Jongin sighed and reached over, unlocking the door. The man smiled wide, a somehow soothing smile, and slid into the passenger seat, sighing softly.

“You’re gonna say grown men don’t cry,” The first words that tumbled from his mouth shocked Jongin, as if he knew his thoughts. “But when you go through hard times, it’s okay to cry. Crying isn’t a weakness. Sure, it makes you vulnerable, but it also lets you move on from what happened so you can work through it.”

Jongin looked at the man with a sudden pinching feeling in his nose, his eyes burning slightly. And then it happened, ever so slightly. Tears slid down his cheeks as he cried silently, just sitting and watching the man in his car. “Who are you?”

“Hyunwoo. Better known as the tear collector, healer of all hurts. Trust me, your tears are safe with me,” Hyunwoo said with a wide smile, then reached over and brushed Jongin’s tears from his cheek. “Now, what happened?”

“My best friend kissed me, some guy took a picture, and my girlfriend saw,” Jongin stated simply, laughing bitterly as he turned away, wiping at his cheeks. “And now I’m seen to the entire school as a cheater.”

“Are you?” Hyunwoo asked, tilting his head.

Jongin stared, his eyes narrowing. “No.”

There was a brief moment of silence before Hyunwoo spoke again. “Talk to her, your girlfriend, I mean. And your friend, of course, but your girlfriend first. Tell her what happened, explain the circumstances to her. And if she freaks out and overreacts and does things like that, then she definitely isn’t the one for you. Talk to your friend about what happened and explain to her your feelings about it. But don’t let everything go up in flames.”

And then he patted Jongin’s head lightly and opened the passenger door, getting out without another word and simply walking away, pulling his hood up over his head as he walked on, his hands in his pockets. Jongin watched, amazed, before smiling slowly.

“Thank you?”

⎛ end ⎠