HOLDING ON Part 1

The presents kept on coming.

HyeoYeon remembered very clearly how she had asked him nicely not to send her presents anymore. They were over. There should be nothing going on between them anymore. She wants nothing more to do with him. Nothing.

Dearest HyeoYeon,

I don’t know any other way to say this, how many times I have said it.

Please… Please… Please… Forgive me. I am nothing without you.

Please… Come back to me.

I Love U,

JaeJoong

Same content, different wordings… A sigh. She glanced at the sparkle of the diamond necklace but took no time to throw the whole box into the bin. She didn’t care if the damn thing costs millions. She didn’t care if they were custom made. She didn’t care if she had thought it was beautiful and would have complemented her neck quite nicely.

He knew her preferences, and she wouldn’t let him use it against her.

Since that day they broke up, her ex-fiancé had taken upon himself to send in presents every other week. She thought it was a lame excuse for an apology, but did nothing to stop him. Let him do whatever he wants. She was serious when she said that she wants nothing more to do with him. It takes much more than presents to make it up to her for what he had done.

“JaeJoong again?” came the voice of her sister. HyeonJi was a few years younger than she was, but her opinions had always been the most wise between them. “Sister, you should really tell it to him to stop or he’s really not going to. Ever.”

HyeoYeon pouted and huffed. “I don’t care. He’s ing rich. Let him do what he wants with his wealth.”

“Then at least don’t throw the presents away. This is really beautiful,” HyeonJi mentioned as she picked up the velvety box from the trash and opened the lid to reveal the sparkling diamond necklace. “Can I have this, please?”

“Sure,” the older said nonchalantly. “Do whatever you want with it. Just don’t let me see it.” She then left the room after waving her sister goodbye.

“Don’t come back too late!” HyeonJi managed to call out. She never liked it when her sister went out until late at night. She knew HyeoYeon was only studying at the State Library, but does she have to stay there until midnight? It was really dangerous for her to be walking home alone at that hour!

***

It was her final year of studies. She would be graduating in three months. It had been such a hectic year, and somehow she was glad that her wedding was cancelled.

She was glad. Really. Otherwise she would have to prepare for her finals and her wedding simultaneously. That would be a total headache.

She would always tell herself that breaking up had been one of the best decisions she had ever made in her life. She shouldn’t have accepted his proposal in the first place. She should have known better the kind of person that he was, the cluster where he had come from. He was no different than the rest of them. She was young and stupid, and he had taken advantage of that. How stupid.

Everything had been a lie. His words, his actions, his promises… They were all empty. She shouldn’t have held on to them for so long. She shouldn’t have let her heart get attached. She shouldn’t have given him the chance.

It was all a big fat mistake. She was so stupid to let her heart get broken by something so worthless. She was so stupid to allow herself to be played around to the extent that marriage was involved. His friends must’ve been laughing hard all those while, seeing how effortlessly their friend was toying with her. How stupid!

She will never forgive him. She swore it upon herself. She will never let her heart be opened for someone like him ever again. She was done with this game of love. Never again…

Like any other day when she was taking walks alone, she would find herself with tears at some point. Furiously wiping at them, she marched towards the State Library’s large entrance and headed straight towards the third floor. She needed to focus. Mock Exams are just around the corner. Studying was such a great excuse to take her mind off of everything else.

***

His grip on the steering wheel tightened.

It was past midnight and she was still nowhere to be seen. Was she planning to stay till morning? Why would she do that? There was still plenty of time left before any large exams would take place. It was still too early for her to spend so much time studying at the library. She was an excellent student. Study Week was enough for her to cover everything and excel.

His frown deepened. He fidgeted in his seat more than several times. He could feel that something was not right. His grip on his phone was tight. It was already past 1AM. His thumb was already ho