seventeen

Make It Count
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17.

 

Ga Eul squints at the feast served on the table, she made an unamused face, lips parting and shoulders dropping before another bowl of stew arrives, the bottom of the glassware makes a clunking sound with the wooden table. And the lady’s eyes follow the movement of the hand that placed the food – from in front of her, up and back to the side of where it belongs – then she meets her mother’s wide grin; which actually looks scary at the moment. The face is smiling but somehow those curling lips screams ‘If you don’t eat this, I’d make sure to kill you before the malnutrition did.’

“Ma…” She chuckles timidly, “I understand that you’re angry…” And her eyes trails to every dish that is laid right in front of her bowl, there are seven of them at least, “…but isn’t this too much?”

“Noona.” Haneul who sits across the table whispers, leaning in after stealing a glance at Mom. “Do you think you have rights to comment anything on this now?” His eyes squinting then rolls to their mother’s direction, showing his sister the obviously tensed and straight look on the old lady’s face.

“But, still…”

“Shut it and start eating.” Madam Lee shoots a death glare as she commands and her daughter could not help but to let out a wincing puppy sound before picking up the chopstick on the side of the younger’s rice bowl. Upon the sight, she smiles quietly whilst Haneul makes the sound of suppressed laugh. He covers his mouth with one hand then slowly starts stuffing in his mouth with his mom’s cooking.

All three of them start munching their food quietly, as if there are words left unuttered between them that leads to the tense of that space. Ga Eul notices her brother’s eyes that constantly flickering between herself and their mother and that helps a lot in annoying her, however still, the things that she was supposed to say and tell remain stuck somewhere in . And so the mother, she looks like she is waiting for Ga Eul to say something as she eats her meal in silence.

“Shixun and I broke up.” And that doesn’t surprise any of them, most probably because Haneul has already told their mother what happened that day they went to the mall together. It does not bother Ga Eul either, as she is more concern on another thing she is bounded to do. “I’m sorry, Mom.” The young lady puts down her chopstick then turns to her mother’s direction, eyes on the floor, “I handled it stupidly, could’ve done better. Then I ended up making you guys worry. I know you’re mad at me, you deserve to do so.”

Again, silence conquers the room. Haneul stops eating as well, his eyes quietly glance to his mother, patiently waits for the elder’s reaction. And the one whom those two people are focusing on has finally stop chewing, she doesn’t seem surprised by the news, but quite taken aback that her daughter has finally decided to be honest with her. She sensed that something must have happened that day, since Ga Eul looks strangely exhausted when they came back from the department store.

Thus the mother lightly drops her utensils to the table’s flat shiny surface, her shoulders slumps, a heavy sigh comes from as she extends her arms to reach her daughter’s before patting them lightly, “Why are you hurting by your own? Was it that hard to simply be honest?”

“Ma, I…”

“I never told you to be strong, because you don’t need to. There’s no point of doing it for us if you’re hurting yourself as the result of it, you’re still breaking my heart for that.”

 

 

“So…” Jongdae takes a deep breath as his legs swinging playfully while we walk along the roadside to Haneul’s school, “…is Aunty okay now?”

“If nagging me every time we have a meal is considered as ‘okay’ then hell yes, absolutely fine,” I blurt as I think of how my mother keeps on picking on me though it has been almost a month since I was discharged, earning chuckles from the guy as he shakes his head lightly, “Is me getting scolded sounds funny to you?”

“Considering your age, yes. Well you deserve it though…!” I am annoyed that Jongdae is being a little bit too honest to answer that question of mine yet the guy seems unbothered by the glare I’m giving him at the moment. Instead, he continues, “But that must’ve feel good too. I miss my mom.”

Realizing that the topic has now take its turn, my head pivots to his direction, “You miss her?”

“So much.”

He sounds like he is sighing to the sky, a side which I hardly see on him that’d make me wonder, “Jongdae, I’ve come to realise something.” He hums and glances in order for me to proceed and so I do, “You know a bunch of things about me, you’ve witnessed a lot of my…embarrassing moment.” I smile sheepishly as I peek at him through my lashes, thinking of everything that have happened in the past. Jongdae was always there. “But I’ve never really…”

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nadwifeygd
#1
Chapter 38: my heart hurtSsss both of them feel responsible for that incident but in the end, gaeul be the one to cut it out.... i hope they can get back together after they healed from the bad memories
baekroses_
#2
Chapter 36: Awww it's broke my heart reading this ㅠㅡㅠ.
Jongdae must not expected the reaction.
Thanks for this wonderful chapter
Bubbleblue1994
#3
Chapter 35: I'm crying so hard right now.
I thought it'd like Jongdae predicted. Where he'll be the one who'll beg for forgiveness and Gaeul will hate him because he's the brother.
BUT I DIDN'T EXPECTED GAEUL TO BLAME HERSELF LIKE THIS. This is so heartbreaking. Like so heartbreaking. They're both good people, but why fate being like this to them.
I understand why Gaeul blame herself, if only she wasn't hesitating for too long, maybe she can come and talk to Hwan and maybe Hwan would still be here. But it's not her fault too. She lost someone precious to her, she needs times to adjusting well to the new life without her father. I hope she won't blame herself anymore.
I read this chapter twice, at first I was kinda mad at Jongdae to let go of her hand, because his actions made it looked like he agreed that if she came earlier, his brother would still alive, and he wouldn't be all alone in this world now. But maybe, he's just too shocked as well. Maybe he suddenly wondered why he didn't think of this scenario before. It's kinda selfish of him. But I still appreciate how he quickly realized it and tried to wait for her even tho in the end he left without saying goodbye.
In the end, he left and she wasn't dare to show up too. I feel so bad for them. When they see each other again later, I hope they'll be fine. I hope, they're not two people who lived in regret and pain anymore. Please, be happy later. :')
Is it selfish of me if I say I still want them to be together? Maybe after both healed? :')
Author-nim, do you know Writer Lee? The one who wrote the script for Reply Series and Hospital Playlist? I think the way you write this story kinda reminds me of her. You don't necessarily need a villain to create a conflict and in your story. The story focused on the main characters, both are good people, with good heart. It doesn't have to be love triangle to make the story more interesting. You don't have this complicated mysterious or anything in this story, yet you successfully captured every emotions sooooo well. I really admire you. ㅠ.ㅠ
Thank you so much for the update! See you! Take care! ♥
nadwifeygd
#4
Chapter 34: im scared what will happen later aaaaa what a fateful moment. sooner or later, gaeul will know the truth and it depends o her whether she wants to accept jongdae or not..... i hope she wont abandon jongdae bcs she still has her mother and brother but jongdae only has baekhyun and her as his family :(
baekroses_
#5
Chapter 34: Uuuuu what a cliffhanger there ㅎㅎ. So it looks like Gaeul's mom already know the story. Aaaa Jongdae so brave to do that and i hope the result will be good. Im curious what will happen next if Gaeul know the story,what will happen with their relay then.. thanks for the update and i looking forward for the next one
Bubbleblue1994
#6
Chapter 34: Woahhhhhhh my mind goes blank ㅠ.ㅠ
I wanted to wrote a really long comment about Jongdae met Mr. Lee, probably told her the truth and asked her permission to date Gaeul. But what's with the last part? Did Gaeul ever tried to look for the kid that her father helped? Did she found Jongdae's house because of that? I think she thought Jongdae was the one who's her father help ㅠ.ㅠ
Whatever it is, I want her to listen to Jongdae first. Her reaction kinda scares me ㅠ.ㅠ
Thank you for the update! See you! Take care! ♥
Bubbleblue1994
#7
Chapter 33: Hehehe. I'm actually kinda happy when Jongdae said he gets lonely at home. It means he's used to Gaeul's presence now. He lived alone for years, so staying alone at home shouldn't be that lonely for him. But maybe because Gaeul always with him most of the time now, he suddenly feel lonely when she's not around.
Oh god. My heart. This is so lovely. Too muvh fluff to handle. Hehehe. But I like it. Especially now that Jongdae is starting to opening up. And the way Gaeul treated him was so sweet.
Eh? Hhhmm what kind of secret that Jongdae hide? Seems like Gaeul is kinda mad (?)
Thank you for the update!!! Hope you're doing well. See you! Take care!
baekroses_
#8
Chapter 33: The fluff on this chap was killing me ㅠㅠㅠ that's too adorable to handle. Thanks for the update and looking forward for jongdae's secret.
Bubbleblue1994
#9
Chapter 32: So, the woman was cheating on Shixun too? That's karma. Tch. Why he tried to meet Gaeul again? Maybe he thought she'll consider going back to him? LOL. At least, this time he came to talk when he's sober.
I agreed with Gaeul. I don't think Shixun still loves her. Or maybe he do, but his heart isn't entirely hers anymore. Maybe he loves Gaeul and that woman at the same time? Or maybe he loves that woman? But he's used to have Gaeul beside him, that's why he came back? I know in relationship sometimes just love isn't enough. There will be time when you got bored of your partner, or you feel suffocated and want to escape the relationship for a while. But it doesn't give you rights to cheat on them. If you do, maybe you're actually falling out of love.
I'm glad seeing them talk about this. We need a proper closure, right? Hehehe.
Okay. So, when's the wedding date? LOL
Thank you for the update! I didn't knew I need this chapter. Shixun was once a big part of Gaeul's life, so it's nice to see them officially moved on and had a proper goodbye. See you! Take care!
Bubbleblue1994
#10
Chapter 31: Jongdae is so fcking sweet. Oh god. He's the sweetest ever. I swear. His confessions was simple yet so genuine. And when he realized how he made she feels all these times with his actions, I hope he realized that he's worth that much. That there's someone who treasure him a lot. Who's always patiently waiting for him to make a move. You're so loved by people around you, Jongdae.
Baek and Gaeul's relationship is kinda cute sometimes. Not in romantic way, but more like siblings/ friendly way. I love how Baek just casually called Gaeul 'big sis'. Hehehe.
Okay. Now what Shixun? You're just here to apologize and leave, right? Please, Gaeul already happy. No more drama, drama king. Tch.
Thank you for the update! See you soon! Take care!