Pride, Prejudice, and Pretty Boys - Episode 7: The Promise, Part One

“Oppa, what do like best about me?” You asked, ruffling his curly hair before setting a homerun ball on his desk as he furiously scribbled away on his homework.

“Of course I like you,” he replied, pausing in his scribbling to some snot back up his nose as a green monster tried to sneak out of the deep caverns of his nose.

You sighed, continuing to ruffle his hair just because you loved to play with it because it was . . . well, it was so fluffy and cork-screwy. Like sheep wool. Just like the wool of the sheep you once raised with your uncle in Australia before your father had gotten a stable job to bring you and your mother back to Korea.

“Why the sigh, though, Young Eun-ah?” he asked, pausing again in his scribbling. He pushed his spectacles up his long nose before turning slightly to look at you. Putting down his pencil, he jokingly puts up his hands in defense. “You’re not mad at me for something, are you?”

“Oppa, what do you like best about me?” You repeated the question, dragging a student-desk over from a row next to his to sit across from him. Picking up his pencil, you absent-mindedly correct his mistakes, wondering why he was always so busy nowadays. The two of you were growing distant, and on most days, the only time you got to see him was after class, when he was furiously working on homework or something else that he had fallen behind on somehow. You didn’t get to see him during class because your classes were divided by gender and grade level, and sometimes, he wasn’t even in school. “Oppa—“

“Hmm, your s?” He said suddenly, taking you by surprise. Seeing you caught off guard by his sudden joke, he quickly raises his hands again to defend himself as you tried to slap him. “Young Eun-ah, I was kidding—“

“You ert,” you huffed, feeling your face turning red. Crossing your arms over your chest as he slowly put his arms down, you start to feel insecure over the two globs of fat that all the other boys in your school had gawked at. “Seriously, this is why Wonshik won’t even let you see his sister from a hundred meters.”

“Young Eun-ah.”

“What?”

“I promise you I’ll become a handsome man you can lean on. And I’ll buy a house with a yard so we can raise sheep—“

“Dream when your eyes are closed, and focus on your homework. Look at how many errors I corrected—“

Running to the music room after class—it would definitely be empty today because everyone was rushing off to cram school or elsewhere to study for midterms—you felt your eyes becoming hot and the hall before you turning into a blurry mess of tears. Your uncle—the one that you loved so much and always comforted you when you missed your dad and your mom wouldn’t even talk to you because she was often distraught, too—had just passed away from a sudden heart attack. You couldn’t even attend his funeral because your family couldn’t afford plane tickets to Australia. And besides, dad had just gotten the big promotion that he had been working so hard for these last two years, so he was too busy to go to his older brother’s final parting.

Finding the practice room, you lock the door once inside, not bothering to turn on the lights. Tripping over something large and heavy as you stumbled towards the old piano in the corner, you just stay where you fell, leaning against the piano as the tears fall over and over again, endlessly streaming from your eyes. You think about that time your uncle first brought you church, and they were playing before service that Sunday . . .

Erbarme dich, mein Gott,

um meiner Zähren willen!

Schaue hier, Herz und Auge

weint vor dir bitterlich.

Erbarme dich, mein Gott . . .

You sang, not caring how badly you mispronounced the words. Thinking only of your uncle, you sang to try to get rid of some that sadness caused by your uncle’s passing. You sing more songs, until your voice is gone and your throat is beyond sore;

Love only gives me pain,

A bruise forms in my heart.

If we try to hold on to love when it’s already too far away,

Then it is too late.

You bury your face in your knees as your voice breaks and barely comes out as whisper in the middle of that song, feeling numb as you start to feel tired from crying and singing so hard.

“Young Eun?”

And you froze as you heard a groggy voice from behind the piano. You hold your breath, hoping to just melt into the piano’s shadow so that whoever was in the room wouldn’t find you. Pulling your knees closed, you try to make yourself smaller as you hear whoever it was shuffling over to your side of the piano.

“Young Eun-ah?”

You shrink even more as you recognize the warm arms holding you, the boyish, yet manly timbre . . . So that thing you tripped over earlier was his book bag--

“Young Eun? Is something wrong?” Gently, he rocks you in his arms as the two of you sat on the floor.

Your heart squeezes painfully at that voice that you broke up with two months ago, and weakly, you try to push him away. “Go away.” But that person that you keep trying to push away just tightens his hold.

“Young Eun. Tell me,” he demands, his voice dropping a few tones. He tightly grabs onto your wrists as you try to push him away again. “Young Eun-ah, look at me. Young Eun—“

Violently, you shake your head while staring at your lap. Ignoring the bruises that were forming on your wrists, you break free from Jaehwan’s hold. “Oppa, just go. It’s none of your business—“

And you squeaked as he suddenly pulled you even closer, burying your ruined face into his shoulder.

“Oppa, your shirt will get dirty—“

“Shut up,” he scolds. Then his voice softens. “Young Eun, I promised I’d become handsome man you could lean on, didn’t I?”

“But you’re not mine anymore—“

“Says who?”

And he just completely shuts off your brain as he kisses you, forcing you to get a good look at him before you closed eyes and fell into his embrace.

Yes, this familiar stranger that you just kissed had Jaehwan’s nose and doe-like eyes (but no thick, coke-bottle glasses) and his beautiful voice . . . but he didn’t look anything like your Jaehwan. His shoulder was so hard, his face was so angular, and his hair was so straight—And then everything just went dark as your exhaustion caught up to you again.

“Young Eun-ah!” you think you hear his panicked voice as you slipped into sweet darkness . . .

But you’re not mine anymore . . .

//The Promise, Part One

20170312 - Long time no update again, sorry, been a little busy and out of my mind lately x_x Sorry (per usual) about the typos, I rushed to upload this u_u Ken X reader/OC because I finally feel like I make it too obvious that Leo is my bias u_u and trying to break out of Lesinset ;;

Songs mentioned:

Matthaus Passion, 39. Aria A, Erbarme dich - Bach

Have mercy, my God,
for the sake of my tears!
See here, before you
heart and eyes weep bitterly.
Have mercy, my God

암연 (Tearful) - 고한우 (Go Han Woo) (aka the song N covered on "King of Masked Singer," apologies if my translation of it is inaccurate)

사랑이란 것은 나에게 아픔만 주고
내 마음 속에는 멍울로 다가와
우리가 잡으려 하면 이미 먼 곳에
그땐 때가 너무 늦었다는데

There might be a part 2, there might be more to this story arc, and maybe there will be nothing at all u_u jaedelle is so inconsistant these days u_u Is there some kind of word filter active? Stuff keeps getting bleeped o.o;;