CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

 

Because she still feels like she still couldn’t face her friends, Soojung decided to visit the river where she went to before when she was on bad terms with Jongin back then. She had forgotten to bring bread though, so whenever the ducks swam away, she would walk to wherever they went to. She had also given them names, Beyoncé, Shakira and Britney – naming them after pop superstars, ‘cause according to her she feels awkward by just calling them ducks.

 

“Anyways, Jongin’s a lot angrier to me now. I just don’t want him to get injured, or worse. I wish he would understand.” The girl sighs. The ducks weren’t even looking at her way when she was sulking. “I couldn’t tell him either about what happened to my sister, mainly because it’s not my problem. And I feel like that’s the reason why he’s angry to me at the first place- Hey, wait up!”

 

After realizing that the ducks were swimming away again, she stood up from her seat for nth time and followed them. She doesn’t even know where she is anymore. She had reached a wooden bridge, and it was her first time seeing it. Below it stood some scary looking older men. And even though she was standing a few meters away, she could already smell the fifthly smell of .

 

“.” She mumbles after having an eye contact with one of them. “Jung Soojung, why do you always get yourself into trouble?” To avoid being suspicious, she starts to walk away quietly but then she felt like they were following. Before she could run as fast as she could, she hears a voice coming from the top of the bridge. She was scared to look behind her, but does it anyways.

 

“Soojung, come!”

 

It was Namjoon, his right hand gesturing her to come where he was and a cigarette on the other. Relieved, she quickly runs at top of the bridge, causing the man to go back where his friends were after realizing that there was another person around.  Seeing him reminded her of Jackson, who she hasn’t seen and has also stopped sending her messages for some reason.

 

“You just saved my . I owe you one.” She says after reaching him. Mentally, she promised to herself that she’s never coming back there anymore. “You’re not… You’re not doing drugs, are you? Or are you planning to buy from those people under the bridge?”

 

“Goodness, no Soojung. Well, do you want me to buy some for you? I would really need cash money though.”

 

“Namjoon!”

 

“Just kidding. But in all seriousness, I was just about to pass this bridge when I felt the sudden urge to smoke.” He answered, dropping his cigarette to the ground to press it with his foot. “So if I didn’t decide to smoke, you’d probably get eaten by those drug dealers.”

 

Soojung cringes, causing Namjoon to chuckle. “Let’s get away from here, please.” She then walks to the other direction opposite to where Namjoon was heading.

 

“Actually, I’m going this way to visit Seokjin.” He tells her, but motions her to keep going to where she was about to walk anyways. “There are some taxis straight ahead. Just keep on going.”

 

“Oh, alright.” She slightly bows at him as her sign of gratitude.

 

“Ah, by the way… Visit Jackson soon, okay? He misses you a lot.”

 

 

As if things couldn’t get worse, it started raining before she could even find the taxis Namjoon told her about. So instead of earning gazes from strangers for looking like a lonely person that she actually is, she decided to enter a mini mart to pass some time inside. At least the rain won’t get her there.

 

She grabs a bag of potato chips and a bottle of Pepsi, just so she won’t feel guilty at the owner of the place for hanging out there for free. She heads to the cashier to pay, and much to her shock, Seokjin was standing there, looking super bored. He was as surprised as her when he saw her.

 

“Jung Soojung. The last person I thought I would see here.” The boy chuckles. “Long time no see.”

 

“Wait, if you’re here… then…” Soojung stops midway. She was confused since Namjoon did tell her that he was going to meet up with Seokjin, but Seokjin was there in front of her, and Namjoon went on the other way.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“Nothing, nothing.” She shook her head. It’s either she just misheard what he said, he didn’t know where he was, or he knows another person named Seokjin. Maybe he just didn’t want to tell her. Soojung tells herself to stop thinking about it and turns her attention to Seokjin. “You never mentioned before that you worked.”

 

“Unfortunately, I do. This is actually my family’s shop. It’s not as big as your family’s business though.” He explains. “My dad has been sick and I had to help my mom since last week.”

 

“Since last week? Then Namjoon must have known that he was here?” She thought to herself, but shrugs the thoughts once again. She puts out the food that she got so he could scan them and jokingly says, “Aye, you should help out with your parents sometimes, even when your father’s not sick.”

 

Seokjin just shrugs. “Ah, by the way… How’s Kim Jongin?”

 

“I suppose you were there when it happened.” She awkwardly bows to apologizes while he insisted that it wasn’t her fault. “Whatever his reason was, I don’t get it. He went to school confidently as if nothing happened.”

 

“Really? Did he not go to the hospital at all?” The boy asked. Normally, he wouldn’t care nor ask about Jongin, but he saw how painful he looked so he felt a little guilty. “He wasn’t able to walk properly after and according to Taehyung he got punched and kicked a lot-” Before he could even finish what he was about to say, Soojung rushes outside, leaving the food that she was about to buy. She didn’t even mind the pouring rain and went straight ahead to God knows where. “-by Namjoon… Hey, at least pay for this!”

 

 

Because of the pouring rain, the football team of Imperium Academy wasn’t able to continue their practice. Their coach has allowed the whole to leave but Jinwoo, being the football obsessed that he is, thought that they didn’t practise enough so he ordered his fellow seniors to stay until the rain stops.

 

Sitting in the bleachers, the five boys watched the rain drop. To pass time, Chanyeol suggested that they should tell scary stories, in which everyone except Taehyun disagreed. He decided to sing instead, much to everyone’s annoyance.

 

While he was trying to hit some high notes repeatedly, they hear footsteps approaching. They didn’t really care at first, knowing that it was just probably the janitor but they were shocked upon seeing Soojung walk in, drenched in rain. She looked around until she finds Jongin, who quickly went down to talk to her. He even accidentally pushed Taehyun, who was blocking his way.

 

Before asking what happened to her, his first thought was that if she doesn’t get changed soon, she’ll get sick. So he grabs her wrist and leads her to the locker rooms. “I don’t have any other clothes but you can wear mine-”

 

Soojung removed his hand, confusing him. She looks at him and then says, “You didn’t go to the hospital, did you?”

 

“And why would I go to the hospital-”

 

Instead of answering, she just lifts his shirt up. Feeling flustered, he quickly covers up but it gave her enough time to see the bruises in his stomach just like how Seokjin predicted. She bites her lip as she somewhat felt pitiful of him. “You’re going with me. I’ve already called Junmyeon oppa.”

 

 

“Can you give her a jacket or something? She’s freezing.”

 

“Jongin, can you shut up and focus?” Junmyeon tells him. He was checking if he has major injuries, but the younger boy wouldn’t stop glancing at the sofa where Soojung was silently sitting. To his defence, Jongin explains that he’s not even a doctor yet, so he didn’t understand why he was the one checking him up.

 

“Just because your family owns a hospital doesn’t mean, you’re already a doctor.”

 

“But I am studying. So if you could stop moving, I’d appreciate it. Thank you.”

 

Jongin finally listens to him, but just because Soojung looked at him. It wasn’t really a glare. It was just a simple look, but she looked tired already so he decided to just stay still so that Junmyeon could do his job and that they could leave already.

 

As Junmyeon continued on telling Jongin what he is supposed to do about the pain that he was experiencing, Soojung suddenly receives a call from her brother. She stands up and walks to a corner where the two boys could not listen to what she was saying.

 

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” Junmyeon asks worriedly.

 

“Why would I? I’m not even hurt.”

 

“You just told me that you’re in pain a while ago!”

 

“Uhm, excuse me.” Soojung clears , making the two boys stop arguing. “I have to go now so I guess-”

 

“I’ll send you home.” Jongin quickly stands up, only to be pulled down by Junmyeon again.

 

“You’re not going anywhere, Kim Jongin.” The older one scolds.

 

“It’s okay. I’ll head home myself.” She smiles at them and bows slightly.

 

Before leaving, Junmyeon tells Soojung to take care and have a safe ride home. Jongin just smiled along, but as soon as she leaves the room, he turns to Junmyeon to glare at him. “What the hell?! I was about to take her home for first time in like, for so long until you interfered!”

 

“Have you confessed already?”

 

“Stop changing the subject, hyung!”

 

“So that’s a no. You do know that it will be better to tell her already, right-”

 

“Oh shut up. I will do it. Just not now. I will… Soon.”

 

 

Just like how he predicted, Soojung got sick the following day according to Jinri, who called at the Jung household as soon as she heard from the other class that her best friend was absent.  Jongin, knowing that Jinri will surely visit her later after school, he has decided to skip the last two classes to visit her alone. He has been wanting to spend some alone time with her and it was the perfect time to do so since she was sick and probably couldn’t push him away.

 

After all, she did take care of him when he pretended that he wasn’t able to walk. Kind of. He might as well do the same thing for her.

 

Thinking that it was just a maid who knocked on her door, Soojung was very surprised when he sees Jongin enter her room. She was actually looking outside her window when she heard someone knocking and as soon as she saw her fiancé, she jumped back to her bed and hid under the sheets.

 

“Don’t look at me, I’m sick and I have no makeup.”

 

Chuckling, he puts down the crackers that he bought for her at a table near him and then sits at her bed near her. “I’ve seen you without makeup, and you don’t look any different. You still look cute as ever.”

 

Soojung took quite a while to reply. “You just want to tease me.”

 

“No I don’t. Okay, maybe I do. But just stop hiding, please.”

 

Since he plead kindly, Soojung has decided to come out already and sit down properly. It was kind of awkward at first though because Jongin was just smiling at her, probably laughing low key at her. Eventually, he touches her forehead to check on her.

 

“You’re still pretty hot.”

 

“I know.”

 

“I meant, your temperature.”

 

“I know.” She repeats. “That’s what I thought you meant. My temperature.”

 

“O-oh.” Jongin laughs awkwardly. He thinks of another subject to talk about when Soojung suddenly asks him something.

 

“Are you mad at me?” The girl asks, not looking at him. She was just playing with her fingers while waiting for his long reply. “For being so distant lately, I mean.”

 

“Soojung, I’ve known you for years and I know for once that you’re the type to just hide your feelings. And if you were acting like that in front of your mother, then the reason why you’re like this must be quite big. So no, I am not.” He states. He was kind of disappointed at first but he later realizes that it must be hard for her to explain. “Are you mad… at me?” He asks the same question. “Because of what happened with me and your friends from Ehra?”

 

This time, Soojung finally looks up to him. “I have to say something a little similar to what you just said. I believe that there’s a reason for that. Whatever it is, in the end I will believe you.”

 

Jongin couldn’t help but to smile from what he just said. Even though she was very close with his rivals, she will still stand beside him and she still doesn’t even know what the reason is. How could have he doubted her before? He was about to explain what happened when she suddenly says…

 

“I find it weird though, because I was pretty sure I saw you guys outside my brother’s house?”

 

Upon hearing what she just said, Jongin was not able to say anything else. How did she find out? Youngji didn’t tell her, did she?

 

“You guys really thought I would not know? When my brother’s house is full of CCTVs even on the outside?”

 

 

On Saturday morning, Jongin headed straight to the studio where his supposed pre-wedding photoshoot with Soojung was. When he arrived, there were a lot of people – the stylists, the assistants, etc... Since it was still 9am, he thought that Soojung hasn’t arrived but then his eyes spots someone just a few meters away from him…

 

There she stood in front of him, getting her makeup retouched. Its funny how he noticed the staff running a few seconds ago but now it was like they’re moving in slow motion as Soojung opened her eyes after getting her eye makeup done and smile at him sweetly to greet him. To his eyes, she looked a lot more beautiful today. Was it because it was his first time seeing her wearing a wedding dress? He doesn’t know why, but he tells himself that he should start getting used to it.

 

It was Jung Soojung, after all.

 

“What do you think of the dress? I made it myself.” He didn’t need to turn around to know that it was her sister who was talking to him.

 

“I think she looks gorgeous.” He says unknowingly, causing Jessica to chuckle a little. He was still staring at his bride who was wearing a white ball gown wedding dress that fit her perfectly just like the princess that she is. "Like, wow... She's amazing."

 

“I was talking about the dress, but thanks for complimenting my sister anyways.”

 

Realizing what he just said, Jongin immediately panics as he blushes. “I-I mean... I-I was just..."

 

“Yeah, sure.” She laughs even more after hearing him stutter. “It seems like my sister’s going to have a nice life with her husband in the future.” She smiles, looking at where Soojung was. “Take care of her, alright?”

 

Despite the little tease Jessica has just said about him being Soojung’s husband, Jongin couldn’t help but to feel a little strange. Why does it feel like she’s already giving the 'talk'? You know, that talk where family members usually talk to the bride or groom to take care of their loved one? She could have done that on the day of their wedding, so why tell him now?

 

“Noona, why are you speaking as if you’re not going to our wedding?” The boy tried to joke, but she just looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

 

“Soojung hasn’t told you yet?”

 

“T-tell me what?”

 

“I thought you’re the first person she was going to talk about what happened to me.” Jeesica says in almost a whisper. Just when she was about to say it, the photographer, a man in his early 30s and one of Jessica’s closest friends approaches them to introduce himself to him, much to Jongin’s dismay.

 

 

“The girl’s beautiful, but she lacks facial expressions. It’s like she doesn’t even want to be here.”

 

After a short break, Soojung’s solo photoshoot was stopped abrubtly for 5 minutes. As he waited for his turn, Jongin was just looking at the pictures that were taken of her. He himself has already suited up, and he was just passing time by watching her finish her shoot. Thank God she was standing far from him, because if she heard that she would be affected.

 

“Well it is her first time doing this in years so no wonder she looks uncomfortable.” He thought to himself. He bet that if Jessica stayed a little longer in the studio, he wouldn’t dare to say that when she’s around. Besides, the Jungs are known for not smiling that much. It’s just normal that she would have the same habits as her family members.

 

Jongin quickly goes to the room where Soojung was staying to get her makeup changed. Of course, he knocks at the door before entering just in case. When he entered the room, the stylist had finished fixing her hair into an up do. One by one, they go out of the room, having the feeling like the young boy wanted to talk to her alone.

 

“You really don’t like these stuffs, huh?” He asks her, looking at her through the mirror where she was also looking at.

 

“You know me so well.” The girl sighs. “How am I not used to these things, Jongin? I just want to be like my sister, but all the things that she likes and she does aren’t really my type. All these fancy accessories and this high quality brands… It makes me uncomfortable.”

 

Instead of answering, Jongin removes the pins from her hair, letting it down. What he was doing made her confused but she didn’t have much energy to stop him so he didn’t. He also grabbed a tissue and slightly removed the makeup that she said she didn’t like.

 

“For me, you always look nice. But I think you look the nicest when you’re comfortable with yourself.” He says, putting both of his hands on her shoulders. “Let’s just runaway from here and don't do the shoot.”

 

“You’re crazy, Jongin.” She laughs.

 

“I’m serious! I don’t want to do this as well anyways.”

 

“We can’t just go.”

 

“Hell yeah, we can. Nobody will notice, I swear.” He assures as he placed his hands on her cheeks to cup them. “How does a trip to McDonalds sound?”

 

Even though she tried not to smile, she wasn’t able to resist it. And just like that, Jongin smiled at her back.

 

 

After successfully sneaking out the studio, the two had driven out to the nearest McDonalds to the place. And since it was raining quite hard, they decided to just order through drive thru and eat inside the car. They were still wearing their wedding attire anyways. They didn’t want to cause a lot attention because of it.

 

“Honestly, I’ve been going to McDonalds a lot of times now, and nobody even knows.” Jongin confesses, munching on his double cheeseburger. Next to the driver’s seat was Soojung, her feet crossed as she ate her meal facing him. “I don’t think our friends would love to eat these. Chanyeol would probably like it though.”

 

“I can’t believe this. Did I actually convert you to the dark side?” She asks, surprised.

 

“I guess you have.”

 

Chuckling, Soojung continued to eat her fries while Jongin ate his burger. As they did, the only sound that they hear was the rain drops falling under the car where they were at. It was that kind of silence that was nice to hear. Neither of them was talking, but it was nice and comfortable.

 

After eating, the two decided to stay a little longer. Both of them didn’t feel like going back to the studio yet anyways.

 

“You know, before my sister left the studio, she told me that she’s surprised that I haven’t told you what happened to her. So I guess it's okay for me to tell you now.” She mumbles silently, leaning at the car door next to her. Jongin didn’t say any word and just let her speak more. He was just watching her looking at the raindrops outside. “I’ve always thought that she could do no wrong in my eyes. And I still do. She has been my inspiration since… Forever.”

 

“You speak as if your sister has done something unforgivable.”

 

“It might be to our parents.” She looks at him and says, “She’s pregnant, Jongin.”

 

Confused, Jongin’s eyebrow automatically arches. One thing that Soojung loves the most are kids, so he didn’t understand why she was being sad like that. And if Jessica was indeed pregnant, why would be it unforgivable to their parents?

 

“I don’t get it. Shouldn’t you be happy if she is pregnant? I mean, you were excited when you found out that your brother’s wife was expecting-”

 

“I am. Kind of…”

 

“Kind of?”

 

“It’s just… I… I don’t know.” Soojung sighs before continuing, “She’s pregnant, but now with her husband’s child. It’s Lee Donghae’s. She cheated on her husband.”

 

Jongin was lost for words. So that’s why she was like that. He had knew that there was something up between those two but he never thought that it would be this grave. Jessica was expecting a child that wasn’t her husband’s, and to make it worse, Donghae was just a normal working class man. The Jungs would surely not accept this.

 

“I-I do not know what to say. I’m sorry.”

 

“You don’t have to say anything, nor apologize…” His fiancés states, getting a little teary eyed from thinking about her sister’s situation. “I know that Jessica will find a way to solve this, but I’m just so worried for her. Jaejoong has been telling her to abort the baby, and she refuses to do it but I know that once our parents find out, she won’t hesitate to do it. And if that does happen, she’ll be heartbroken… She’s going to be so, so devastated…”

 

This time, her voice cracks and just like what his instincts tell him to do, he grabs her hand to comfort her. Her tears started to drop when he did that though. “It’s okay, I’m here.”

 

“I’m so scared. I don’t want to lose neither my future nephew nor my sister, Jongin.”

 

“Just like you, Jessica noona is a smart woman. I know she’ll find a way out of this.”

 

When she started to tell him on how Jessica cried a lot when Jaejoong find out, on how her husband threaten her before, on how he almost hit her once, on how many girls he had cheated with… Those were just some of her reasons why she will never get back with Jin and why she will choose Donghae over him even if she was asked a thousand times.

 

“Jongin, we never were the bestest friends, and I know you don’t like me at all, but this will never happen to us, right?” She asks. “I’m afraid of our future. I just want to be happy with you.” 

 

“Never, Soojung. You can trust me on that.” He offers her a small, but assuring smile. If she only knew how much he loved her.

 

He would tell her that, but not now. Not that she was vulnerable like that.

 

 

Monday, 6AM – a time when Soojung is usually still at bed, tucked under the thick covers of her blanket that protected her from cold, harsh winter weather. The only difference that day is that she has actually gotten a few hours before. She had no choice anyways since it was the day of her flight to New York with her classmates for their fieldtrip.

 

Unlike most mornings, she wasn’t very sleepy that day. In fact, she was actually feeling more nervous as she stood in front of her friends who were picking her up so they could all go together at the airport. But before she entered the car, she asked them if they could listen to her so they all stood there, waiting for her to say something.

 

But the problem is, she doesn’t even know how to start. She was just either playing with her fingers or fixing the pink beret that she was wearing even though it was perfectly placed in her head. “I… Uhm…” Suddenly, she bows at them that made them caught completely off guard. “I’m really sorry.”

 

“What? Why?” Chanyeol asks, looking around at his friends. “Wait, did I miss something again?”

 

“The way I acted the past few days was a little… childish. I felt like I’ve made you guys upset. I’m sorry. I just wanted to be alone.”

 

“Oh, honey. It’s alright.” Jinri was about to throw her hands at her to hug her bestfriend when she unexpectedly said the reason why she was acting that way.

 

“My sister is having a baby with another man, and I was deeply affected.” This time, they were a lot shocked. Except for Jongin, who has already heard about it from Soojung herself, of course. “I just knew that I couldn’t pretend that I was doing fine and I thought that if I stayed with you guys, I would make the group’s mood down.”

 

Just when Jinri was about to hug her again, the huge doors behind them suddenly opens, revealing Jessica herself, much to her and the group’s surprise. She looks at her friends with panic showing in her eyes, and then back to her sister, who was carefully going down the stairs.

 

“Unnie! What are you doing here?” She exclaims, freaking out a little because of the fact that she was just talking about her a few seconds ago. “I mean, sure I know you live here and all… But isn’t it still a little early for you to wake up?”

 

“Silly, do you think I would forget that today’s your flight to New York? I’m here to send you off of course!”

 

“O-oh… Okay.”

 

She fixes her sister’s beret, that was still perfectly fine and then turns to her friends. “You all better take care of my sister, especially you, Jongin.”

 

“Of course, noona. When did I not?” He smiles at his future sister in law, causing the older woman to just smirk because of his much confident response compared to his stutterng phrases back then.

 

“Well, I have to go and prepare myself now. Have a safe flight, sis.” Jessica bids goodbye, patting her shoulder as her sign of goodbye as Soojung tells her to be careful when she was about walking at the stairs. And as soon as she enters the mansion, the younger Jung crouches down.

 

“She didn’t hear me talking about her, did she?”

 

“Aye, stop worrying about it. I don’t think she did.” Sehun comments.

 

“Don’t worry, once we land in New York, I’ll make sure you’ll forget all your worries.” Jinri says, helping her best friend get up. “For now let’s head to the airport. Everybody is waiting for us.”

 

author's note: 

I shouldn't have put Taehyun of WINNER and Taehyung of BTS in the same story 'cause I'm like super confused when I write lol. Anyways, Namjoon..... is still acting all nice to Soojung. I wonder what he wants? 

I hope you all have a nice day! ♥