002

Donghae soon noticed her crying. He could hear her muffles and cries. He was looking at her every now and then that made him feel unfocused. He halted the car at the side and took a deep sigh. He doesn’t know what made her cry but he’s sure that there’s something about what he had told her a few minutes ago.

“Hey, stranger,” he called. “Is there something wrong?” he asked only to be ignored. He sighed and wondered why he dragged her all along with him. He asked himself why he’s with her when he doesn’t even know a single thing about her. He doesn’t even know her name for crying out loud!

The girl wiped her tears away and cleared . She composed herself and faced him. She gave him a faint smile. “I’m okay. Where are we headed to?”

Donghae had gone confused and felt weird about the girl. The first second, she was crying and now, she’s saying that she’s okay? How cool is that? If those tears coming out from her eyes were happy tears, well she doesn’t look like she’s tearing for joy. Sadness was written all over her face and is invisible to her eyes. Donghae realized that somehow, she’s easy to read.  He remembered her in the pub last night drinking like there’s no tomorrow.

There’s only one thing that comes to his mind when people drink like that. Even he, himself does that. He came into a conclusion wherein he thinks that this girl he’s with is being miserable. And there’s one thing that he knows: she wants to forget.

“Where do you want to go?” he returned the question.

She bit her lip. Where does she want to go? Is there a certain place where broken hearts usually go? Because if there is, she would really like to go. But then, she thought that she wanted some peace and fresh air. The pain that she’s feeling in her chest was just too much to make it hard for her to breathe. She needed some peace to think things through, to process everything, to know how to pick up the pieces that has been broken by Minho.

Damn that guy for breaking her heart like this. How dare he? He was her first love and promised her things that she believed in. She felt like a fool now. Anger filled her heart as she recalled the betrayal her ex-boyfriend did to her.

“Is there such place wherein you can get some peace of mind?” she asked shyly.

She was thankful that she has someone at this point of her life even though she doesn’t know the guy at all. She felt safe and by the looks of him, he isn’t the kind of guy who has bad intentions. She looked at him as he thinks of a place to go.

“Peace of mind?”

She nodded.

“Get out of the car and go there,” he told her as he pointed to somewhere.

Sooyeon looked to where he was pointing at and she saw the beach.

Perfect.

Sooyeon was sitting on the sand as she stared at the calm sea in front of her. The guy was right. Staring at the sea is relaxing. She inhaled the fresh air and she couldn’t deny the fact that it is totally refreshing. She owed him one. She was pretty thankful for the guy who brought her here. The calm sea in front of her gives her the peace of mind she needed to think things through. She was able to breathe normally again but, the pain is still there. It remains deep in her heart and she knows, by the end of the day and when she leaves at this place, it’ll all come back again to her.

She chose to love and that is the same thing as choosing to be hurt as well. But what’s worse is he chose to hurt her when he promised her that he won’t. She was so wrong about him that he had changed. He didn’t and he hasn’t. He’s still the same old jerk everyone has known that she thought that had changed but no.

In this world full of lies, she became unsure of what is real and what isn’t. Everything around her had become unsure that will make you doubt. In this world full of liars, you don’t know who to trust and believe in and the only thing that you can trust is no other than yourself.

“Can I trust you?” she asked him.

She knew he’s right there behind her ─ watching and patiently waiting for her. She thinks he’s safe and good in a way but she’s still in doubt. She was fooled once by the man she loved and she will never let herself be fooled twice.

She heard him chuckle. “Don’t give your trust to someone like it’s some kind of flyers or something.”

“That’s why I’m asking you,” she retorted. “Can I trust you?”

He smirked. “Aren’t you scared of me? I’m a stranger and you have no idea if I’m safe or not.” Donghae asked.

She chuckled. “Then if you’re not, I could’ve been by now. But no, I am not and that reason is enough for me to say that you’re harmless.”

Donghae realized that the girl actually has a point. If he was a psycho, he really could’ve just done something bad to her but he’s not. He may look like a bad guy but he’s not but then the people in his family thinks that he is.

“Where do you live?” those words came out from his mouth. He had asked her earlier but then she suddenly turned emotional and that’s why they are at the seaside.

“I am living with my bestfriend and after what she had done, I don’t think I can stand living in the same roof as hers. As for my family, they are based in Boston because of our business. I basically have nowhere to go.” she answered in a soft voice. He looked at her as she stared intently at the breathtaking view in front of them.

“If it’s not rude to ask, what did your bestfriend do to make you hate her?”

“Having an affair with my boyfriend is an enough reason to loathe her,” she replied. “Why does he have to cheat on me with my bestfriend? I hate the both of them, seriously, I really do! If ever our paths would cross again I swear I might kill them with my bare hands!” she sounded so angry like she wanted to strangle someone or wring her ex-boyfriend’s neck.

The next thing that she knew was she was crying her heart out. He went beside and comforted her. He knew she was in pain. Even him, himself is in pain and even though they have different reasons, there’s one thing that makes them the same.

They are both heart broken.

“I just wish he never did such thing to me so I won’t be hurting like this.” Sooyeon said as soon as she felt a little bit okay. She couldn’t deny that the hug and comfort he gave was actually effective that made her alright somehow.

“A jerk will always be a jerk and there’s no way you could take that away from their system,” Donghae commented as he patted her back. “Unless they have finally found the right person that could change their ways.”

He recalled something ─ someone. Someone from the past that could never be a present or future. He was a jerk way before he met her. He had loved her so much that he changed himself just to become the perfect man for her. He changed for the better and to be enough and best for her. But she wanted more. He realized that he was never the best man for her. His brother is. He realized that he was just better but his brother’s the best. And even in terms of loving a woman, his brother is still his competitor.

His brother is his competitor in terms of everything ─ in love and attention from his family, the successful and perfect live and the woman he has ever loved. His brother basically had everything within his hands while he got nothing to live without.

He thought he was the best for Jaekyung only to realize that he wasn’t.  She had turned him down way too many times but that didn’t stop him until she told him directly that she’s in fact, marrying his brother which hurt him the most.

He was always the second best when he wanted to be the best of the best. He could never be the very best if his brother’s always there to take the spotlight away from his direction.

Sooyeon looked at the guy who is now staring at nothingness. She stared deeply into his eyes and from what she could see, the pain and anger is there. But the sadness and pain is more visible. She saw his jaw clenched and so did his right fist.

“I could see the sadness and anger in your eyes, whoever you are. Let that out as well.” Sooyeon snapped him out.

He let out a chuckle as he shook his head, looking away. “Just tell me if you wanna go home so I could take you” he told her as he tried to change the topic.

Sooyeon shook her head, holding his hand to prevent him from going away. “Don’t try to change the topic. I told mine so you’re telling yours. Spill it.”

He stared at her for a good minute to see that she’s totally dead serious about it. He thought that there’s nothing wrong telling about it especially that she’s a stranger. She’ll eventually forget it since it’s not even her story to interfere. Besides, it would feel really damn good if there’s someone who could listen to him as he tell those painful stories that he kept to himself for who knows since when.

And that’s when he gave up and told her his own version of a heartbreaking story.

Now they’re even.

“There are tons of fish in the water, whoever you are. She’s not the only woman in this world. I’m sure there will be that someone who is right for you. For her, you’ll be the very best. You wouldn’t have to bother anymore.” She tried smiling for him even though the pain is still there deep inside her chest.

He looked at her with such amazement. “You don’t sound like you just cried a few minutes ago.” He was now smiling at her.

Sooyeon wiped her tears away. “Thanks, whoever you are. I felt better than before.” She gave him a sweet smile.

He nodded his head. “Thank you too, beautiful stranger.”

Sooyeon chuckled as she felt shy upon hearing him call her beautiful stranger. Did he really think she’s beautiful? She felt her cheeks becoming hot and she knew that she’s blushing so she looked away to hide it away from him.

“I feel odd when you’re calling me whoever you are, though.” He said, changing the topic.

She looked back to face him with a questioning face. “What do you want me to call you, then?”

“Let’s stick with whoever you are and beautiful stranger.” He answered and gave her a meaningful smile in which she returned.

“Where do we go now?” he asked her as soon as they went back to Donghae’s car.

“To where do broken hearts go?” she laughed.

“Let’s go back to Seoul,” He decided that made her a little bit hesitant. Donghae noticed the uneasiness in her face. He suddenly remembered that she has nowhere to go and she can’t stand the fact of living with her bestfriend who betrayed her. “You can stay in my pad for a while.” He gave her a smile.

“A-Are you sure?” she asked, quite surprised to hear those words coming out from him. “I-I mean you didn’t have to. I can j-just search for n-new place.”

He held her hand and smiled assuredly.

“It’s okay, beautiful stranger. You can stay in my place for the meantime,” he told her with such assurance that made her feel more comfortable with him.

She smiled at him. “Thank you, whoever you are. You’re such a good guy.” She said to him because he’s really a good one. She’s lucky enough that she found someone like him who can listen to her all day and comfort her whenever she’s feeling sad. She needs someone like him at times like this. She thanked God for giving her someone who she can lean on when no one’s there for her.

“You’re the very first one to tell me that I am indeed a good one, thank you.”

He felt satisfied and happy when he heard her say that, and that’s for sure.

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