Episode 24: Trapped together

 

(Hyun Jin’s POV)

 

“And this really hurts!”

 

I was riding the same elevator with Jin and Minho, and even though I pretended not to care about their existence and put on the earbuds, I didn’t turn on any music and just listened to their conversation and peeked at them when they didn’t pay attention.

 

“I must say, you passed” Minho held his thumbs up. “You deserve to be a part of the M.A club”

 

“Hehe” she chuckled “But I still don’t think it’s a good idea for you to join the Art club”

 

“Don’t you trust me?”

 

“Nope, I just pity the girls there”

 

The two of them were so close with each other.

 

I grinned faintly, closing my eyes.

 

But I can tell that their relationship, isn’t as I thought at first.

 

“I promise to give you a harder kick if I saw any of the girls crying because of you” she laughed.

 

It’s been a while since I saw her laugh this lively. It made me feel at ease.

 

Although I wish I would be the one to make her smile like that…

 

“Oh, I just remembered” she clapped her hands together. “This Sunday”

 

“You wanna go out on a date with me?” his tone was seductive and I clenched my fist but then.

 

“In your dreams” she flicked his forehead “I was saying I wanted to go with you for a walk around the city”

 

“Haha, you dummy, isn’t it the same thing?”

 

“No! It’s not like I’m doing it for fun” she protested “I just want to go buy some clothes” her voice lowered.

 

Clothes?

 

I looked at the striped overalls skirt and the white shirt she was wearing. And I just realized how cute she was.

 

“Why? Are you possibly interested in the latest trends?” he gaped.

 

“O-Of course not!” she waved her hands in protest “I just don’t feel comfortable in this kind of clothes…” she dropped her head.

 

The elevator stopped and Minho patted her on the head then waved saying:

 

“Ok then, see you on Sunday!”

 

“Thanks!” she waved at him and the elevator’s door closed.

 

She glanced over her shoulders at me and then stepped aside, leaving a wide gap between us.

 

She cleared and raised her head up.

 

I wanted to pull her in a hug and scold her for talking to Minho about things that she shouldn’t tell a mere friend about, but I had no right to do it.

 

“It’s not… moving” she uttered.

 

I blinked, thinking that she was talking to herself but couldn’t understand what she was trying to say anyway.

 

“The-The floor’s number… it disappeared” she turned back at me and pointed toward the small digital-monitor that was supposed to show the numbers of the floors.

 

“What?” I removed my earbuds and went to press some random button but then the elevator quaked violently before the lights got turned off.

 

Jin let out a yelp and the brightness of the place became very dim.

 

“W-W-What’s… happening?”

 

I took out my phone and looked at the screen, it’s still 8pm so I’m certain it’s not the curfew time yet.

 

“It’s probably a small system failure” I reassured Jin, thinking that she might be scared.

 

“I-I see…” her voice trembled.

 

“How troublesome” I sighed as I dialed the emergency’s number.

 

I felt Jin’s fingers squeezing into my sleeve.

 

“D-Did it ring?” she questioned, getting her face close to the phone which was on my ear.

 

“Yes… ah… hello?” it went through “I’m stuck with my girlfriend in the elevator sir!”

 

W-Wait… did I just say…?

 

Jin jerked slightly and pulled her hands away, and I cursed in my mind.

 

How thoughtless of me!

 

‘There’s no need to panic, but unfortunately a light earthquake happened earlier and the power went down in all the close by buildings as well, but it’ll be back in few minutes’

 

“What? F-For how long?” the information surprised me.

 

‘An hour at most. We’re so sorry for this, but please be patient and we’re working on it’

 

I hung up,

 

“W-What did they say?” Jin shyly asked.

 

I looked back at her and gulped:

 

“Don’t worry, they’ll fix it shortly, we just have to wait” I tried to keep cool so that she won’t get more scared.

 

“O-Ok” she pulled herself to the corner and crouched down, hugging her knees.

 

I gritted my teeth and stood by the wall.

 

There was a long awkward silence and nothing happened.

 

I looked at the time and it showed that 15 minutes have passed.

 

I stole a glimpse at her and she had her head buried in her arms.

 

Did she possibly pass out?

 

“J-Jin?” I called at her.

 

“Yes?”

 

I felt awkward now that she replied.

 

“Uh…” I rolled my eyes around “D-Do you want to listen to some music together?”

 

Oh damn it!

 

“Y-You really don’t mind?”

 

I sighed then went to sit down beside her.

 

“Let’s listen to some music until we get out of here” I handed her an earbud and plugged the other in my ear.

 

I was the one to take away her phone after all…

 

“Here” I handed her the device “Pick whatever song you want”

 

“Really?”

 

I nodded at her then looked at the other side.

 

You mustn’t smile! Don’t let your guard down!

 

She chose a love ballad unlike what I expected.

 

And it made me remember her singing with Minho that day.

 

“Can I ask you a question?” she uttered with a low voice.

 

“W-What is it?” I tried not to lose my composure.

 

“Is that girl taking good care of you?”

 

What? Does she mean So Ra?

 

I remembered her ruining my lovely apron today with tomato stains and it made my blood boil.

 

“Yeah, she is” I clenched my fist. And trust me, I might end up murdering her soon.

 

“Then that’s a relief” she said with a happy tone.

 

Relief?

 

“As long as she can make you happy… I don’t have any regrets.” she added.

 

Please tell me you’re just saying it… and don’t actually mean it.

 

“I didn’t find the right time to apologize to you properly and thank you for the great time we spent together… even if it’s very short”

 

“Stop it!” I yelled.

 

Stop hurting yourself because of me!

 

“I-I’m sorry” she dropped her head down and started to rub her eyes.

 

“Please respect my will and don’t give me a hard time, I just want to date So Ra happily” I uttered calmly.

 

I hated myself for doing this, but what else can be done?

 

“Y-Yes…” she nodded.

 

Another song ended and we didn’t pay attention to it. My playlist was on shuffle mode and the next song that played surprisingly was…

 

“E-Eh?” she gasped and looked at the screen of the device that was in her hands. “I-Irreplaceable?”

 

I facepalmed.

 

! This now really isn’t the time…

 

I did record the song secretly when she performed it with Minho.

 

“J-Jin you…?” her voice was hoarse

 

I was caught blood-handed.

 

“Hehe” she giggled.

 

“It’s not… it’s not what you think!” I quickly snatched the phone and switched to another song. “I just recorded everyone’s so don’t misunderstand!” I shrugged.

 

“It’s fine” she retorted “As long as you…” and she murmured the rest in a voice that I couldn’t hear.

 

As long as I’m what?

 

I really wanted to know, but couldn’t ask and pretended not to care.

 

***

 

“The battery’s almost dead, they better get us out of here soon”

 

I stood up to my feet and started to walk back and forth in the small room because I started to have a weird sensation and I got more self-conscious as I felt the room getting smaller and smaller with only Jin and I in it.

 

Neither of us said anything for the next few minutes, and I eventually found myself sitting down again, giving up.

 

“Give me the phone, I’ll call them again” I tapped her shoulder as I took off the earbud from her ear, but she didn’t respond.

 

Oh great, choosing to ignore me huh.

 

“Hey” I shook her by the arm but she leaned my way and I found myself embracing her.

 

Ba-dump

 

“A-Are you doing this on purpose!?” I was flustered despite knowing that it’s not the first time for us to be so close. “H-Hey, y-you!”

 

My body was doing the opposite of my thinking, because no matter how many times I called at her I didn’t move the slightest bit and remained on that uncomfortable position.

 

“Why are you making it hard for me?”

 

I gave up, and hugged her back.

 

“Why are you pushing me to hurt you even more?”

 

I brushed the strands of her hair with my fingers.

 

“You even sing me a song… and take care of me when I’m sick…”

 

I stared fixedly at the wall behind her.

 

“I know that it’s not fair for you to suffer like this but I’m sorry… I’m sorry because I love you” a tear ran down my cheek.

_________________________________

 

(Jin’s POV)

 

“I’m sorry because I love you”

 

I rose up from my bed with my eyes wide open. I clutched my chest.

 

“Once again… I had that dream”

 

And every time I woke up from it, I would find my face blushing so hard because I know for a giving that it wasn’t just a dream.

 

“Jin doesn’t… Jin doesn’t hate me after all"

 

***To be continued...