Bittersweet Romance

Chapter 5:

Why?

It was dim and quiet. The atmosphere was filled with loneliness, sorrow, and stifling silence. Your bedroom door was closed tight, the curtains were shut, only a bare minimum of sunlight glimmered between the cracks, and the only noise was of the air conditioner running and your very low breathing. It was dark and lonely. Almost lifeless within this small room.

You were laying in your bed, sleeping almost peacefully… However, your face was puffy and swollen. Your cheeks puffed and stained with the color of pink and red from your body temperature rising, and your skin was pale. You had been crying like crazy last night; every part of your body was numb from the pain and cold rain. You were stuck in the cold rain for almost two hours before you stopped crying and took a taxi out of the awful weather. You didn’t return back to your parent’s home after that incident, instead you took the taxi back to your apartment.

Without a word, you left everyone back in the big city and trudged back into your apartment, wet and depressed. You of course showered and cleaned yourself up, but afterwards, you just dropped dead onto your bed and have been trying to sleep since. You didn’t bother to look at the time before you fell asleep and when you occasionally awoke, you just drifted back into slumber. You were too tired to get up, too drained to try to do anything, both emotionally and physically.

Nothing seemed to be going right since you found out about your marriage. You were tackled with so many sudden events that your heart just couldn’t stand it. You had initially thought you could handle all of this, that you wouldn’t mind because you knew about it so well. However, you were wrong. Terribly wrong. You weren’t expecting this, you weren’t expecting Minhyuk. You weren’t expecting your heart to waver and ache so badly like this. You hated it so much. So terribly much.

You tussled and turned in bed as your body slowly tried to wake up, but you didn’t want to. You wanted to go back to sleep and forget everything had ever happened to you. You wanted to just fall back to a deep slumber and never wake up again. As you tuned around, you spotted your digital clock and stared at the time. It read 1:49 p.m. It was already evening and you hadn’t ate, washed, or drank. You didn’t want to though. You were too tired to get up. You stared silently at the glowing green light from the clock blankly. You now couldn’t sleep and could feel a terrible headache grow in your head. You sighed and slowly closed your eyes.

As you did, you suddenly remember Minhyuk and his words. His harsh, terrible, and stabbing words. “You should’ve been like your sister… You’re just a puppet…” They replayed in your mind and you felt your heart ache again. Your face scrunched in pain and you clenched your chest, gasping for air. You hated remembering it. You hated replaying his cold words over and over again in your mind. But, you could not stop. You couldn’t because… you knew they were true.

You should’ve been like your sister, you should’ve been like Yura and found your own love. You should’ve ran away when you could. But no… you didn’t. You were too afraid, too much of a pitiful coward. You obeyed your parents and withered away into the darkness, letting them control your life and who you would marry. You fell right into their trap and became their puppet. You lost all of your sense and became your parent’s doll. You were just a toy to them. You became what Yura could’ve been. You had to take her place because she ran away. You,,, were the one left alone… abandoned… and betrayed.

You… were forced to become a puppet with no truly happy future. You… lost everything, no. You never had anything to begin with. And at that thought, you began to cry. Painful whimpers and huffs escaped your mouth and you quickly buried your face into your pillow, muffling your voice that was already cracked and hoarse. Your chest ached and stung, it felt like someone had placed a two-ton rock atop your chest, the pressure and pain were agonizing. The back of your throat was dry and burned when you tried to swallow in air in between tears. Your head was now throbbing, and your face was burning. You felt your body go numb and stiffen from the pain. You squirmed and huddled within your blankets to try to subside the pain, but nothing was working. Eventually, you just huddled tightly into a human ball and covered your face as you sobbed uncontrollably into your pillow, staining it with your tears and leaving wet smudges in the fabric.

You didn’t want to endure it anymore. You hated it all. You wanted it to all disappear. To vanish into thin air and never return. You wanted to run away. Far, far, far, far away.

Minhyuk’s POV (Third-person omniscient – everyone’s view):

Minhyuk had carefully walked out of the bathroom and rubbed his hair roughly with a towel to dry it. He was in a thin white tee and sweat pants. As he walked out and deeper into the room, he saw Jungsuh still sleeping in bed, nicely covered with her blanket, keeping her delicate skin tucked in warmly. He stood there with a small smile and then walked over to her. Sitting gently on the bed, the blonde smiled and caressed her cheek gently. She was so beautiful, so peaceful, so gentle. He leaned in closer and gave her a warm kiss atop her forehead. Pulling back only slightly, he stared at her and caressed his thumb under her eyes.

“So cute.” He whispers as he kissed her lips and pulled way. Miraculously, she had not awakened, and he was fine with that. Minhyuk watched as she peacefully slept and pondered over her, as well as last night.

Flashback:

Minhyuk ran with all his might as he rushed and pushed through the crowds within the park and desperately tried to find Jungsuh. But he could not find her anywhere. He ran to the last stall he saw her at, to the water park and even into the female restrooms, however no Jungsuh. Earlier, after he had saved Y/N, Jungsuh had a part-time job at Lotte World and was present. She was coincidently there at the moment when the board had fallen and saw the event. However, as she watched, her mind went blank and she saw Minhyuk. She had witness Minhyuk pull Y/N into his arms and watched as he held her tightly in worry. This ached Jungsuh’s heart, she couldn’t watch any more and left without hesitation.

After almost an hour, he left out of the park, presuming she had left, and ran to the nearest phone booth. He needed to call her and find her. He was worried and afraid. Afraid she would leave him, afraid she would misunderstand. He dialed and called and called. But no answer. She wasn’t picking up her phone. He became even more concerned. He needed to see her and quick. Hence, Minhyuk quickly dashed out of the booth and to his car, but before he got in, he went into the trunk and ripped out the tracker his parents had placed in the car. They had thought he didn’t know where the tracker was, but he knew. After tearing it off and making sure the guards weren’t following him anymore, Minhyuk started the car and immediately drove off to Jungsuh’s home.

He drove for almost thirty minutes before arriving at her apartment complex and hurrying to the apartment. His mind was filled with “what if’s” and worry. He wanted to explain to her what happened and tell her not to worry. He wanted to tell her he was still hers. He walked up to her door and immediately rung the bell and knocked furiously. No one answered. He rung again and knocked even more loudly. “Jungsuh!” He yelled out. No one answered again. He was sure she was home. He saw that her mailbox was empty, she always gets her mail at 4 after work and heads home. He knew her well. He knocked and knocked, not caring about the neighbors and yelled out her name. After ten more minutes and she still didn’t answer, Minhyuk had to resort to getting in himself.

Minhyuk had known Jungsuh’s apartment key password out of safety concerns. He never used it out of privacy for her, but this was an emergency. He immediately logged into the password and rushed inside. As he did, he ran into her room and saw her sobbing on the floor. Without a single thought, Minhyuk ran to her side and pulled her into a tight hug. “Jungsuh…” He gasped as he held her tightly. Jungsuh immediately tried pulling away and began to yell at him. “Let me go, Minhyuk!” She shouted as she tried pulling away. But, he held onto her tightly and kept her in his arms. He was not letting her go. Not again.

“Jungsuh! I’m sorry! It wasn’t what you think!” He tried to explain. But Jungsuh wasn’t having it. “No! Go away! Leave me alone!” She hollered in between her sobbing. “Just forget about me and go back to your wife! She needs you more!” She thrashed and pushed away as hard as she could, even hitting Minhyuk, however, he stayed his ground and didn’t let her go. He was intent on proving her wrong. “She’s not my wife and you know that!” He yelled. “I love Jungsuh! I love you more than anything else in this world! Please! Believe me!” He tried to explain, his voice cracking from trying to hold back his tears. He wanted her to know, he loved her. That he would never hurt her. That he was hers and only hers. Jungsuh sobbed and sobbed as she tried to flail out her words. “I-I… Why is this so hard?! Why do we have to go through this?! I don’t understand why! I love you so much! B-But!...” She screamed and cried as she shut her eyes tightly in pain. “It’s so hard…”

All these years they had been dating, he had always loved only her. He had always wanted to make her happy. He had always wanted to keep her safe. But as time went on, their relationship became shaky. Jungsuh, was a poor and lonely girl. Minhyuk wanted to help her, give her a better life. He wanted to give all his love to her. But, when his parents found out, they were not happy with it. They wanted him to marry a rich heiress to continue their business. They wanted him to choose better. But Minhyuk refused. He refused to marry someone else. He wanted only Jungsuh. However, things just weren’t going well. He hid their relationship, he tried so hard to keep her safe and sound. Minhyuk did everything he could to give him and Jungsuh a chance. But, things only got worse as the years went by. Eventually, his parents had threatened him that if he didn’t marry their choice of bride, they would place this role onto Minjae, and remove Minhyuk.

Although, he was fine with being removed, he however did not want Minjae to suffer. His younger brother whom he loved so very much, he couldn’t be that cruel. So, with his brother as his parent’s blackmail, he agreed to marry Y/N. But, he had planned to fake it and after the marriage, continue to stay with Jungsuh. However, Jungsuh was not too keen on the set-up.

Jungsuh continued to try to break away from Minhyuk’s grip but eventually failed and had fallen into defeat within his arms. He continued to tell her his heart and let her cry in his arms. He wanted to let her know, he was never going to leave her, he was hers, and that he loved her unconditionally. So much, he would lie and trick his family to be with her… even… hurt someone else…

After a while, Jungsuh had stopped crying and Minhyuk loosened his grip, still unable to release her completely. They stared into each other eyes filled with both sadness and love. Minhyuk slowly leaned into her and the two fell into a deep passionate kiss. His lips moving across hers as she does the same. The love and passion within their kiss was overpowering and almost lustful. They kissed and kissed and soon, the kiss led to something more intimate. Minhyuk’s hand moved around Jungsuh’s body and Jungsuh allowed her lover to explore her. They kissed and touched and fell deeper into the world of sensual intimacy. The two eventually climbed on the bed and let the night accompany them into their love-making.

End Flashback.

Minhyuk smiled and slowly removed himself from the bed, he then walked on over to his clothing from yesterday and picked them up along with Jungsuh’s. He then walked out of the room and over to her laundry room. The handsome man placed the clothing in, alongside others, and started the wash. As he returned to the living room and began to prepare food for the both of them, he suddenly felt a slight pain in his cheek and then remembered.

“Ah…” He had remembered you slapping him. Once he had thought of it, all the memories rushed back in him. Your angry and sad eyes, the tears that ran down your pale face, and the look of hatred that filled your expression. He remembered it all clearly. Deep in his heart, he felt sorry, he felt regret, and he felt guilt. Why did he say those words? Why did he leave you? You were obviously badly hurt, physically and mentally. All these thoughts began to flood his brain and he felt his heart ache. He was now, filled entirely with guilt. However, his selfish side didn’t feel anything. You let him go. He chose to leave. You let him. But, his guilty conscious came right back and hit him across the head.

You left her. You hurt her. She did absolutely nothing wrong to you. And you know it.

His mind scolded him as he thought over the event and he mentally beat himself. He did indeed abandon you. He left you alone. In the rain as well. You had no ride, no one to call help for. You were probably alone and crying. And here he was with his girlfriend after having and enjoying his day. He now felt like an a**. He quickly finished making the food and stared at the food silently. What had he done?

Suddenly, Jungsuh comes walking out of the room with a towel around her bare body and a towel wrapped around her head. “You made food?” She asked as she walked over to him. He nodded and forced a smile. She smiled back and gave him a quick kiss. “Looks really good!” She gleamed as she examined the food. She then looked up at him and laughed. “After three years of dating and teaching you how to cook better, it’s really paid off, huh?” She joked. Minhyuk chuckled and pinched her cheek. “Sure.” The two laughed and talked a bit before Jungsuh returned back to the room to change.

Minhyuk set the table and sat there by himself, waiting for her to return. As he did, he began to think over the events again. He wondered if you had returned home, if you were okay, and if you were still mad. He presumed you would be. He said some pretty harsh things. He regretted it badly. He felt sorry. Minhyuk sighed and placed his head into his hands. “Why did I do that?” He mumbled. “Do what?” Jungsuh asked as she suddenly appeared and sat on the seat in front of him. Minhyuk quickly looked up and shook his head. “Ah! Nothing! Just daydreaming.” He answered. She raised an eyebrow in suspicion, but didn’t linger on it too much and just began to eat.

Back to Y/N’s POV (First person):

Slowly, you trudged out of bed and to the kitchen to get yourself a glass of water. Your head was still hurting, and your ankle still ached from yesterday. You limped over to the fridge and with the little energy you had, opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. You then closed the door and walked back to your room and sat on the bed, huffing as though you just ran a ten-mile race. You struggled to open the bottle but eventually got to it and took a large gulp down. You gasped loudly and then took another drink. Your throat burned and felt terribly sore, but you continued to drink, hoping the coolness would subdue the pain. It did, only a little though.

After drinking, you capped the bottle and placed it on top of your bedside table. You then laid back down on your bed and sighed. Your nose was now terribly stuffed, your eyes swollen and numb, your body very cold and achy, your throat sore as heck, and your ears were aching. You laid there silently for a while, struggling to breathe and stared at the blank wall. After a few more minutes, your phone began to ring and vibrate. You didn’t even bother to look at it. It had been constantly ringing since last night and you didn’t even dare to answer any calls. You had a feeling it wasn’t your parents however. Had it been them, they probably would’ve been at your door already. But they weren’t. Why? Because they either didn’t care, or thought you were still with Minhyuk. He probably didn’t return home either. But, you didn’t care. Not anymore.

You sighed and turned your back away from your phone and tried to sleep again. However, it rings again and again. Yet, you continued to ignore it. You did not want to interact with anyone anymore. Your brain was malfunctioning, and you felt terrible. You knew you were getting sick, but you didn’t care about that either. Who cares if you get sick. Who cares? No one that’s what. No one.

Eventually, the ringing stopped, and you fell back to sleep.

The next day, you awoke, still feeling ill, actually even more worse. You could barely get up and you felt your body feel terribly heavy. When you tried to get up to use the restroom, your entire world spun, and your vision blurred. You were forced to lean on the bathroom door rims to keep balance. And when you tried to rise again, your head spun like cr