15: Faltering
It's Complicated.Narrator's POV
"-I had a great time Daeyong-ah" Chaerin smiled "sorry I sort of moved our date up"
"It's totally fine, I'm glad you did" Daeyong said
"well here's my stop, I'll text you" she smiled. The boy nodded leaned in
"can I kiss you?" he asked quietly. Chaerin looked in his eyes and saw the kindness, after a minute of silence, she nodded and let him kiss her. It was a short and sweet kiss, but it was still one to make her smile.
"bye Daeyong-ah" she said getting out of the car and entering the hotel. He was - no, is - a sweet boy. He's perfect for her, don't you think?
As soon as Chaerin entered her hotel room, she called Jasmine - knowing that her girls would probably be hanging out. Of course, she was right
"Hey Cherry" Tara answered "Jas is taking a piss"
"That's great to know Tara" Chaerin laughed
"what's up Cherry? What's the news in the SK?" Angela asked
"So I just finished my date with D. Not Daniel, but D" Chaerin said
"ooh, details please" Jasmine said
"how was your piss?" Chaerin teased
"not the point. Tell us about your date" Jasmine said
"give us a full recap, from beginning to end" Tara said
"okay okay" she nodded and began to start her story
"wait! What did you wear?" Angela asked
"it's like peach-ish floral dress" Chaerin said "can I start now?"
"yeah go ahead" Jasmine chuckled
"okay so he picked me up from my mom's hotel at 7. Since his parents are wealthy, we ate dinner at a 5 star restaurant, amazing food. We stayed there for like an hour and afterwards, we walked around a park, he even offered to carry me because my heels were killing me. They were new by the way" Chaerin said "so we talked and got to know each other. He's incredibly sweet girls. Then he took me back here."
"what else are you leaving out Cherry?" Angela asked
"well we kissed" Chaerin said "he said 'can I kiss you?' And I let him. It was cute, really sweet and cute"
"aw that's sounds cute" Tara said
"who's the better kisser? J or D" Jasmine said
"Jas, why bring him up?" Chaerin whined
"answer my question" Jasmine said
"they're good in different ways" Chaerin defended. "D's was adorable and sweet. But J's was...wow"
"Team J!" Angela shouted
"guys, I don't want to talk about J" Chaerin said
"but I have a feeling that you just got a text from him" Jasmine said
"you're crazy" Chaerin laughed, but checked her phone nonetheless only to see a text from none other than Jungho "holy "
"no way" Tara said
"Jas are you doing crazy voodoo right now?" Chaerin asked
"what does it say?" Angela asked
"do you like kids?" she translated "what the ?"
"respond to him!" Angela screamed
"a guy who loves playing with kids is attractive" Tara said
"wait he said something else" Chaerin said "open your door"
"open it!" Angela squealed "oh my God, he's there! Cherry!"
"shut up Ang" Jasmine shushed "we'll put ourselves on mute"
"you girls can't even understand-"
"open the door!" Tara demanded before they silenced. Chaerin rolled her eyes and put her phone face down on the kitchen counter before opening the door
"yeogiseo bwohae?" she said
"why are you so dressed up?" Jungho looked her up and down
"none of your business" Chaerin said
"were you on a date?" he guessed
"so what if I was?" she crossed her arms
"why do you keep doing this Chaerin Tuan?" Jungho sighed running his fingers through his hair
"doing what? you don't own me Jeon Jungho" she said "why are you here?"
"I have to babysit my neighbor's daughter suddenly and I wanted to know if you can come with" Jungho said "I assumed that you'd be good with kids"
"now? It's 9 pm. Where did your neighbors go?" she asked
"It's their anniversary. They called a babysitter, but she cancelled last minute. So I said I'd do it" Jungho said
"then go, why do you need me there?" Chaerin asked
"I didn't want to do it alone" he muttered then added with a sigh "please?"
"give me 5 minutes" she rolled her eyes
"are you gonna invite me in?" he asked
"I won't be long, just stay there" Chaerin said grabbing her phone and walking into the bedroom. She quietly rushed a goodbye to her friends and changed into something more casual. Chaerin got her wallet and phone, stuffing it in a bag before she slipped on her converse and exited the hotel room to see Jungho leaning against the wall, eyes on his phone "let's go"
"It's pretty windy outside" he commented "you should get a jacket"
"I'll be fine" she said "where's your car keys?"
"here" Jungho said taking them out of his pocket. He led her outside and into his car before driving off to his house - well, to be more exact, his neighbor's house.
"How old's the kid?" Chaerin asked as she checked her Instagram
"She's 4" Jungho answered, he added with a smile "she's really cute, has a lot of aegyo. Yurin and I play with her sometimes, but I haven't really visited her since school started"
"ahh" she nodded "where's Yurin?"
"sleeping. Her bed time's 7:45" Jungho said. She nodded "oh and before I forget, my umma's wondering about some session. You can meet her tonight if you want. I have to stay overnight because my neighbors come back in two days. Ask her when the baby's asleep"
"arasso" Chaerin agreed. After a few more minutes, they arrived at his street. Jungho parked the car in his driveway before heading over to his neighbor's house. Chaerin trailed after him.
"oh good thing you're here, Jungho" a man said opening the door
"thank you so much for doing this, you saved our night" a woman said rushing to the door
"It's no problem ahjussi, ahjumma" Jungho smiled at them kindly "you two look really dressed up. Have a special night"
"We will, thank you" the man said and looked towards Chaerin in confusion. Jungho noticed
"Oh I hope you don't mind, I brought my girlfriend along to keep me company" he answered
"oh no problem" the man said and smiled warmly to Chaerin, she gave him a smile back
"Jungho-ya, you finally got yourself a girlfriend? Wow I was thinking you were going to die alone" the woman said. Jungho awkwardly chuckled as Chaerin stifled her laughter "what's your name dear?"
"Chaerin Tuan imnida" she introduced herself
"you're a pretty girl, Jungho looks like you made a good choice" the man said
"a-ah kamsahamnida ahjussi" he stuttered "aren't you going to be late for your reservation?"
"you're right!" the woman jumped in surprise "Yeobo! Let's go! Ppali!"
"Youngji's in her room, she's sleeping right now, but who knows when she will wake up! Everything you need is on the fridge" the man reminded before his wife dragged him to the car. Chaerin and Jungho watched the couple leave before entering their house. It was a nice and classy place, but when they walked upstairs, it had an aura of playfulness.
"she's so cute" Chaerin smiled at the sight of the sleeping little girl
"yeah" Jungho agreed "she looks like Yurin a bit. Youngji grew a lot from the last time I saw her"
"so what do we do?" Chaerin asked
"just hang out I guess. Ahjussi and ahjumma have a killer movie theater in the basement, we can watch a movie" he shrugged
"I could go for some horror right now" Chaerin said
"I thought you didn't like horror" Jungho said
"I have my moods" she shrugged
"alright you're call" he said and led her to the basement
"Holy " Chaerin said, agape
"Huge, right?" He smirked "alright, what movie?"
"any horror" she said "surprise me"
Jungho shrugged and took out a DVD. He told her to sit down as he got the baby monitor and some blankets. After putting the disk in, he turned off the lights and sat down next to her. He chose an English movie, for her she could understand no problem, but Jungho still had to read the Korean subtitles on the bottom of the screen.
"this movie seems so ancient" Chaerin commented
"I saw that it's from 2011. Way back when" Jungho agreed "but it's a good movie, I heard. Appa watched it before"
Like most horror movies, the beginning was serene and normal, it was when the screen focused on the attic door that the scary parts began to creep in
"This kid is so stupid, didn't your parents tell you never to go into a sketchy attic alone?" Chaerin commented. Jungho chuckled and kept watching. "I swear to-OH MY GOD"
Chaerin jumped and hid under the blankets. Jungho stared at her "there's nothing there, don't worry"
"maybe horror wasn't a good idea" she muttered to herself, but apparently loud enough for him to hear
"do you want me to change it?" Jungho asked
"ani ani it's okay. Keep watching" Chaerin shook her head
"are you sure?" he said and the girl hummed. As the movie progressed, Chaerin kept hiding and fidgeting in her spot. Suddenly, the baby monitor rang and a crying was heard in the basement. Chaerin screamed at the sudden noise at such a quiet moment in the movie. Jungho paused the movie and grabbed the monitor
"where are you going?" she asked from under her blanket
"upstairs to where Youngji is?" he asked like it was the most obvious thing in the world
"you're leaving me here alone?" Chaerin mumbled
"do you want to come with me?" Jungho said. She popped out from under the blankets and pushed him ahead to the main floor. The crying got louder as they neared Youngji's room. Jungho made a 360 degree change and went to the edge of her bed
"umma!" Youngji cried.
Jungho gently appealed to her, "Youngji-ah, umma and appa are having dinner right now. Do you remember me? Jungho oppa?"
Youngji just continued to cry. Jungho tried to reach out and her hair, but her screaming just got louder
"what do we do?" Chaerin asked. Jungho ran his fingers through his hair, a habit that Chaerin noticed he did when frustrated
"stay here with her and try to calm her, ahjussi has a guitar somewhere in the house" Jungho said standing up
"jamkamman, if you can't calm her, what makes you think that-and he's gone" she said watching him leave the room. It's true that Chaerin loved children and took very good care of her own younger siblings, but she's never experienced being alone with a stranger-kid. After a few attempts of trying to stop Youngji's crying, she eventually gave up and waited for Jungho to come back. "she won't stop crying"
"I found the guitar, it's okay" he said holding it up. After sitting down again at the edge of her bed, he began to play a soft acoustic melody
Along with the accompanyment, he began to sing. Now that Chaerin thought about it, she hasn't actually heard Jungho sing before, just dance. Not only did Youngji stop and stare at the singing boy, so did Chaerin. was agape as she looked at him from behind.
"uljima Youngji-ah" he said after finishing his little song. The little girl obediently nodded. Jungho smiled "everything's okay. Go back to sleep"
"oppa" Youngji muttered quietly
"hm?" he asked gently, standing up
"can you sing again?" she asked. Jungho let out a soft chuckle and nodded, tucking her under the covers
"what song?" he asked
"any song oppa wants" Youngji said and reached out to take his hand. Jungho made himself comfortable and began singing as he her hair
The boy didn't have to sing long as Youngji soon fell back to sleep. From behind him, Chaerin looked at the sight and couldn't help but smile at their cute interactions. Jungho quietly got up and took Chaerin's wrist before gently walking out of the bedroom and leading her downstairs
"do you want to still watch the movie?" he asked
"um, do you?" Chaerin asked back
Jungho shrugged "it doesn't really matter to me"
"we should at least finish the movie" Chaerin said starting to head back to the basement
"can you handle it?" Jungho asked, a teasing smirk at the corner of his mouth. Usually, Chaerin would want to slap that smirk off his face, but this time...she found it cute?
"shut up" she said and unconsciously moved closer to where Jungho sat before, not that he minded. From then on, when the scary parts showed, she grabbed Jungho's arm for comfort. The boy, though, said nothing and kept watching the movie. "oh my God"
"gwenchana?" Jungho asked as the movie ended. Chaerin stayed and silent and hid her face in his arm. "yah Chaerin-ah"
The girl wouldn't respond and in retaliation, he kept on bothering her. Starting to get annoyed, she lifted her head "what do you...want?"
Chaerin was planning on being annoyed, but her irritation disappeared as she met gazes with him. Her tone went from sharp to meek in a blink of an eye.
"are you okay?" Jungho said, more like whispered, not breaking eye contact with her.
"y-yeah" she said trying to avoid his eyes. Her heart beat increased rapidly that she was pretty sure he could hear it by now. Chaerin closed her eyes and moved away "Jungho please don't do this"
"what am I doing?" he asked as she stood up
"everything, stop trying to make me confused" Chaerin vented "stop trying to make me like you more than Daeyong! just stop it!"
"do you like Daeyong?" Jungho quietly asked. She was a bit suprised he didn't yell at her back or give a snarky remark
"what?" she said
"do you like Jung Daeyong?" he said again
"I-I don't know. I mean, he's really sweet and he makes me know that he likes me. H-he's sweet" Chaerin said "yeah, he's sweet"
"so if you know that he likes you and if you sorta like him, then why don't you go be his girlfriend?" he glared
"because of you, I guess" she muttered "you're holding me back"
"if you're talking about the fake relationship we made because of Daniel, then just break up with me and go to Daeyong" Jungho growled
"you idiot" Chaerin screamed "did you completely miss the part where I said I think I like you?"
"wait what?" his ears perked up, turning to look at her
"forget it" she said getting her phone on the couch.
"no" Jungho said pulling her down as her wrist was in his reach. "you like me?"
"I don't know, do I?" she glared at him. Instead of responding, he decided to capture her lips in a kiss. This one kiss sent a thousand butterflies into the girl's stomach. She was at first too shocked to do anything, but eventually she began to respond. In the end, it was he who ended the kiss in order to take a breather "Jungho...I-"
"I like you Chaerin Tuan" he said cutting her off. Exasperated, she sighed and looked away "you said you liked me back"
"I know! but I also said that I liked Daeyong" Chaerin said
"screw Daeyong" he retorded
"Jungho, I can't just do that" she said softly
"Chaerin, we can start over, can't we? Make this second chance be real?" he asked
"I don't know. I can't date you for real, knowing that I also have feelings for Daeyong. I'm sorry, but I need to sort out my feelings" she said exiting the basement. After leaving the house, she took out her phone "Park Jooyoung, mind picking me up?"
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