- A few weeks later

“Doyoung, why are you here?” It was unexpected of him to come without prior notice. You were just finished getting ready to go out to meet Taeil. The meeting you had been waiting for. You didn’t tell anybody on purpose because you knew everyone would against it.

“Visiting my friend.” He wore his little smile as he entered your house as if it was his own. “And since work is not piling up, I’m taking you to out of town.” He wandered around, found your usual bag and started collected your stuff and then he put them into your bag.

“Doyoung, I can’t today. I have to go somewhere else.”

“Yes, that somewhere would be out of town and you’re going with me.” This boy clearly wasn’t listening. Or maybe didn’t want to listen to you.

“Doyoung..”

“Jena, you know I don’t take no as an answer.” He slowly lost his smile while taking one of your coats from the hanger. “Come on. Chop chop.”

“Doyoung, just hear me out for a sec.”

He reached out his hand to grip yours. “I’m sorry but you only get to see me being selfish today. And yes, you can hate me after this,” he said as he dragged you to follow him.

Doyoung made quick steps walking down the stairs and you had no choice but to keep up your pace. You called his name a few times but he pretended not to hear you. Both of you finally reached the parking lot. You were thinking of finding a way to escape. Yet it was a failure even before you tried, and it was all because on this unusual day, Doyoung hired a driver instead of driving by himself. He wouldn’t let go of your hand until he gently escorted you until you were in his car. And this is when you hated yourself because no matter what Doyoung does and you despise it, you still let him do whatever he does.

You two sat in the back row. He secured the seat belt for you in silence, then he did too for himself. He didn’t say anything, even to the driver about the destination. Perhaps he had told the driver way prior to kidnapping you. Since you at direction, the next thing you knew was the car was already passing through the highway, clearly leaving the capital city. You took out your phone to find one missed call and a text from Taeil. It was 1 hour late from the time you were supposed to meet him.

You frowned. Just… why?

Your thumbs typed quickly to reply Taeil’s text. Yet just right before you tapped the ‘send’ text, Doyoung snatched away your phone.

“Doyoung! What is so wrong with you?” You yelled at him.

“Sorry. Today is no phone day.” He remained calm as he pressed the lock button on your phone. This time he didn’t need to see if the text was from Taeil. He was certain of it just simply from looking at your expression. He did have an intention to repeat what he did back then; deleting Taeil’s message and pretending not to know anything. But to do that right in front of you? You were already in rage now. He didn’t need another reason to make you more outrageous. “Here’s mine,” he continued as he took his phone, then he put both yours and his into a small bag which he handed it over to the driver. “Fair and square.”

“You’re unbelievable,” you hissed. You just can’t get through what’s on his mind. But still, it was not that you completely had no idea why he behaved in such a manner in the past few days. Of course you had a slight hang of it, yet you just kept on denying it.

The driver pulled over in a rest area. Doyoung woke you up, giving you some gentle taps on your shoulder. You were asleep after drowning in your own thoughts and a whole pack of emotion. You opened your eyes, blinking in confusion as you didn’t remember how you lost consciousness.

“Let’s grab some lunch,” he said as he unbuckled your seat belt.

“Where are we?” you asked in a raspy voice.

“Let’s hop off first.”

“Doyoung, may I have my phone back, just for a while, please?”

“Jena..”

“Please? I promise I’ll give it back to you right away.” You held on to his arm, giving him a slight squeeze. “Please.”

Seeing you pleading with all your might actually made him feel bad to you. He didn’t understand why you had to be like that. “I’ll give it to you later at night. For now, can you please just enjoy this moment without any interruption or whatsoever?”

You frowned again. You can’t hide your disappointed face towards him as you let go of his arm. You ended up giving him silent treatment you had never wanted to do. You would always try to talk first, no matter how uncomfortable the mood is. But for now, Doyoung completely ignored every word you say and he didn’t seem to have his cool head now. It would be useless to talk with him. You say A and he would go to Z directly.

So there you were, stuck with him for the next few hours. During lunch, on the road again, until the car brought you to a small house in a woods. The house appearance was like the one in a fairytale. If it was colorful, it may resemble the house made of candy in Hansel and Gretel. But plain as it is was also good, somewhat classic. The grass and small flowers surrounding the house was your favorite part.

Next to you, Doyoung smiled softly looking at you with your sparkly eyes. He was glad you liked the place. He hopped off first, taking care of the bags. You followed him in silence, still admiring the house. Until you realized that the car left both of you.

“Why is the car leaving?” you asked abruptly. You forgot you were giving hin silent treatment.

“I’ve talked to Human Resource just in case we can’t make it in the morning,” he said.

You quietly groaned in annoyance as you turned your back and crossed your arms.

Doyoung showed you the room you were going to sleep in and put your bag there. Still, you didn’t say a word to him. While he still tried to communicate with you. At least asking what you would like for dinner and breakfast, although both of you knew it would be kimchi fried rice and simple toast.

You spent most of your time in the bedroom, practically doing nothing since Doyoung still kept your phone. You were drowning in your own world, thinking about what would happen with you and Taeil. What if this day was the only chance to talk and make up? Were you going to be angry and spill it on Doyoung, blaming on him for the rest of your life? And again, you fell asleep until dinner time. You came out when Doyoung was already frying the kimchi. “Hey there, sleepyhead. Isn’t it a beautiful day to do nothing but eat and sleep all day in Sunday?”

You remained silent as you took a seat on the couch in the living room.

Doyoung followed to the living room, bringing a pan full of fried rice. “Talk to me, please?” he pleaded as he sat down beside you after putting the pan on the table.

You inhaled deeply. As much as you were still upset, Doyoung was a friend you cherished and cared a lot. “What’s the matter with you, Doyoung? You’re never like this. This isn’t Kim Doyoung I used to know.”

He chuckled. You could tell he was annoyed a little. “Really? You have no idea?” He was clearly testing you.

“If you have a problem, you can always tell me. I’m your friend.” You pretended to know nothing.

“See, this is the problem, Jena! It to keep hearing that I’m only a friend to you. It to pretend that everything is okay. It to pretend that I feel nothing to you. It to bury the fact that I can’t get over you!” He started to raise his voice.

You were genuinely surprised by his act right now. It was really the first time he exploded. And you were not sure how to respond, so you just decided to let him spill it all out.

“I like you first, Jena. When I thought I should tell you how I felt, suddenly Taeil hyung came to me and said he developed feelings for you. I sacrificed myself for him, Jena. But look what he did. Look what you are now, where you are now with him. You think I would just sit back and do nothing?”

You were stunned. Finally you heard it yourself that Doyoung had a feeling for you. Yet you were sat still with your expressionless face. You were expecting there would be more coming out after all this time.

“Jena, you have no idea what I would do for you to look only at me. I have played it dirty once. And I can do it again if you make me.”

Finally it caught your attention. “What do you mean?” You squinted your eyes as you faced him directly.

Doyoung looked at you with his fiery eyes. But he still managed to be calm and sharp with his words. “You made a mistake letting me have an access to your phone that night when Donghyuk called. Here’s another reason for you to hate me: I deleted his message on your phone. You know how I accidentally dropped your phone to a fish pond. I had to, so you wouldn’t know I blocked Taeil hyung on your phone.”

“You did what? What is so wrong with you, Doyoung?” Now you were the one raising your voice. You just couldn’t believe your ears. Was he gone mad or something? Just what was exactly going through his mind?

“You know why I always wait for you to go home together? You know why I always come up with random excuses on weekends just to see you?” He raised his voice even more as he started to get emotional. “So that he doesn’t get the chance to see you, goddamit, Jena!”

“Honestly, who are you?!” You almost shrieked as you rose from your seat.

He got up as well and quickly grabbed your hand. “Look, you no longer need him. He wasted his chances. Why do you keep on giving him another one?”

“It’s my relationship with him, Doyoung. I get to decide whether I want to give it another shot or not,” you firmly stated as you pulled your hand off of his with force. “I want to make this work, Doyoung. I’m sure he and I can get through this. Why can’t you just be happy for me?”

“Jena, let’s stop right here, please. If there is something I hate, that would be fighting with you.” He started to lower his voice as he took a step closer to you. Yet you quickly stepped back.

“No, you always do this whenever I mention it.”

“Jena, I’ve made myself clear. I like you. Now I want you to be by my side.”

“I…” You stuttered. It was difficult to find the right words. And somehow you knew he was not going to accept your answers. “I don’t know, Doyoung..”

“After all this time, I thought we have a thing, Jena. I thought I have my chance. I’ve been keeping my hopes high, that your feelings towards me will change.”

“I’m sorry, but—”

“I don’t want to hear it.” Doyoung threw his body back to the couch. His hands were running on his hair, slightly giving himself a light rub on his forehead. “Pretending to support you is the least I can do, Jena. But you have no idea how bad it hurts. I can’t even pretend to be happy for you.”

“Doyoung…” Your voice got softer, hoping that this conversation could be concluded soon in a healthy way. The only solution you had in your mind was for him to pretend that everything never happens, or for him to completely shut you away from his life so he could move on without having to see you anymore. Or maybe vice versa; you being purposively oblivious regarding his presence.

“Jena,” he called with his soothing voice. Your head turned facing him and his bunny eyes. “Break up with Taeil already.”

Again. You were speechless and you just dropped your jaw.

“Do that, or I will gladly do it for you.”

“Doyoung!” you shrieked in disbelief. You dramatically stood uo as you put one hand on your forehead, another on your waist; a clear sign that you were madly frustrated.

When you were trying to arrange some word vomit in your head, suddenly Doyoung’s phone rang. Then he casually picked it up as if nothing just happened.

“Yes, Jaehyun?”

You got worked up when you heard Jaehyun’s name. You noticed Doyoung threw a sharp glimpse at you.

“Me? I’m with Jena. We’re out of town right now. Why?”

Your eyebrows furrowed, again in disbelief. You knew Jaehyun would tell this to the others, including Taeil.

“What are we doing? Just a short weekend gateaway.”

You can sense him smiling although you didn’t even look at his face.

“Jena’s phone? Umm, I’m not sure.”

You squinted your eyes to his words. What is it that he’s not sure of? He had your phone with him, for God sake.

“I’m not doing anything stupid. We’re going back to Seoul tomorrow. I’m hanging up.”

You saw him putting away his phone. “I’m done talking with you,” you coldly muttered to him. You stomped your feet in anger, heading to your room and locked it.

Doyoung diverted his sight to his untouched signature dish that had gotten cold, then to your closed door, then back to his phone.