× T03: DECAMPMENT
WHY, STARLIGHT, WHY? /// apply open!
TEASER 03 × decampment
» Daegu-Pohang Expressway, Outskirts of Pohang, 02:23 p.m.
The moment the town sign of Pohang came into sight, Yewon's eyes started watering unconsciously- Jongsuk was the first one to notice. Reassuringly, his slim fingers reached for her right hand that was lying on the gear shift, causing her to slam on the breaks, the car coming to a halt right in front of the sign- thank god there hadn't been any other cars behind them, or it surely would've become an early end to their little roadtrip.
Instead of panicking or heaving, both of them sat completely still, the impact of the sudden stop barely perceived by any of them. Time seemed to have stopped for a few seconds, with Jongsuk continuously gazing at Yewon as her eyes still seemed to be glued to the name of the town she had spent most of her life in, the place she loved the most in the whole wide world.
Instead of panicking or heaving, both of them sat completely still, the impact of the sudden stop barely perceived by any of them. Time seemed to have stopped for a few seconds, with Jongsuk continuously gazing at Yewon as her eyes still seemed to be glued to the name of the town she had spent most of her life in, the place she loved the most in the whole wide world.
"Yewon... you can still back out of this. I don't want to force myself on you, you know, we could just take a turn and-"
"We already talked about this, Jong." Finally, Yewon shifted her eyes over to her boyfriends', meeting and holding his gaze with all of the strength she had left. "I am not letting you alone in this situation." She could see the mix of his emotions dancing behind his deep eyes as he mustered her face, obviously searching for something she didn't know... until he raised his hand, soft fingertips gently caressing the traces her tears left behind and wiping them away.
"You're scared, aren't you."
She had thought about these words so often, she had heard him using them on a daily basis- and yet, they still hit her like a punch in the gut. Unable to speak for a second, she opened , searching for the right words to say, when-
"It's okay to be scared, love." Jongsuk laughed a little, yet that wasn't enough to fool Yewon- it never had, neither back in kindergarten, nor now. "You don't know how much I would love to run away from everything with you, to start over and go to college, to fulfill all of our dreams- but I can't." He sighed at that, gently putting a few strands of hair behind her right ear, his eyes drooping. "It's impossible, I can't run away from this, that's why I asked you to be with me, but... I don't want you to feel uncomfortable next to me. More than anything, I want you to be sure about this, love."
Yewon smiled at the way he affectionately used her nickname and slowly took his left hand in hers, her fingertips barely palpable as they traced along the palmar creases. "I am scared, but I also know that you're actually much more frightened than I am." She scooted closer to him, now caressing his quivering jawline, "That's why we said we'd go on this trip and share everything, love and pain, wasn't it? I made the decision to put you above everything, Jong. Don't try to work a way out of this for me when I was the one who decided I'd go with you."
He smiled in return, raising the edges of his lips as high as he could, while his eyes remained sad. He knew most people would have left him in the situation he was in- actually, all of them had left him behind. Everyone but her.
"Fine", he whispered, his voice getting hoarse from holding his tears back and the urge to clear his throat reached his mind, "Together, then." He placed a chaste kiss on the top of Yewon's head and unfastened his seatbelt before getting out of the car. A questioning look placed itself on his girlfriend's face while he made his way to her door and opened it.
"Get out, love." He said, reaching for her hands and pulling her out of the car, only to pull her over to the town sign and hug her from behind, wrapping her in his jacket as her gaze was fixated on the name of her hometown again. Once more, Yewon's eyes started glistening with yet unshed tears as she tried to burn the picture into her mind. Her hometown. Her family. Her friends. Her loved ones. Pohang's beach and the beautiful night sky...
"As if it wasn't warm enough..." She murmured, still leaning into his tight embrace and trying to supress her tears, her hands making their way to the back of his shirt under his college jacket.
"You think so? I'm actually quite cold-"
"Don't get sick on me now!" Yewon lifted her head to meet Jongsuk's gaze, the combination of her squinted eyes and also puffed-out cheeks making him laugh.
"Too late, love- I'm already incurably lovesick." His joke made her groan.
"Where did my sweet, awkward boyfriend vanish to...?" Her question was answered by another sweet kiss placed on the edge of her lips, making her hold her breath for a second.
"I left him behind when we exited the airport."
"You wish you did." He watched Yewon fumbling with her phone for a bit, her vision obviously blurred enough to make it harder for her to find the camera icon on the display, until he took the small device out of her hands and slipped it back into her pocket.
"You won't need this to remember, love. You'll come back here as soon as this trip is over."
She saw him gazing at her in awe, maybe he mustered the way her hair sprkled in the afternoon sun. How many times had he said that already?
"Why are you acting like this trip will be the end of the world? You'll see all of your loved ones again."
"You will come back to your hometown."
"Pohang will wait for its most beautiful citizen to come back home."
She lowered her face, snuggling up to his chest, feeling her grip on him automatically tighten. She felt his whole body vibrating when he started to laugh.
"What, you're also feeling cold now?"
"...Yeah."
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