2017

JENNIE

The last person I expected to bump into when I arrived was Jaewon.

And I didn’t have time to think as he suddenly approached me,

just like nothing happened.

“Can we talk?” he whispered to my ear.

He looked different,

clean,

calm,

but lonely.

A part of me wanted to run off, 

but I knew I couldn’t avoid him forever.

Taking my silence as a yes, he lead me away from the crowd.

We walked down the halls towards the cafeteria and he opened the door to one of the private dining rooms, signalling me to go in.

I took a deep breath before stepping inside,

hoping our conversation wouldn’t turn out to be a mess like the last time.

I turned to face him after hearing the door close.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“Just 5 minutes of your time.” He kept a safe distance from me as he pleaded, 

“Just hear me out, like you always do.”

I kept a straight face.

“I didn’t mean what I said back then.”

I flinched at his mention of the incident.

He noticed.

“I could never hurt you, Jen,” he continued, “I got carried away and just recklessly blurted out words. You know I couldn’t do that. Not to you. Never to you.”

He had a desperate look in his eyes.

Like he was fighting a losing battle and knew it but stubbornly wanted to try anyway.

That’s how he’s always been,

stubborn.

Just like me.

“I need you, Jen. I can’t lose you like this.”

He took a step forward to reach out to me,

I instinctively took a step back.

“J