Chapter 31:  When the world crashes you down.

Taking a sip from my cup trying to fill up my body with caffeine so I could stay awaken. It was freaking 4 am and the filming would go on for a couple more hours. In fact, I was glad in some way because I didn’t have a place to stay anymore.

I blew up the air left in my lungs, and gave a sneak peek to the script on my hands for the last time. My head felt null but I managed to take a look to my pretty Piggy Mushroom Head. She was filming next to Minho. Her bright smile brought peace to my heart.

Small flashes appeared in front of my eyes probably in meaning of tiredness. I closed my eyes tightly forcing me to sleep for a bit, but in that moment the director called the actors for the next scene.

It was a shame my character wouldn’t kiss Sumi. We actually barely interacted in the drama’s scenes. Even so, having her in the same place as me got me happy.

Finally after the sunrise, we could go to rest. The thing was, I didn’t have a place to stay and I had to get good grades at school. So, I’d better attend to my classes instead of sleeping for a while.

“Where are you going?”

Someone took me by the wrist. I didn’t have to turn back to know it was Kim Sumi the one who was behind. No response came from my lips. The fact that she only cared about me because she pitied me, hurt to the extent I wanted to ignore her words.

“You’re not thinking about going to the University, are you?”

She pulled my t-shirt so I could face her. She was so tiny and cute, giving me that angry look. She hated the most being ignored. Looking at her like that, made me feel the time hadn’t passed between us. Like if it were the two of us arguing back then, like nothing had changed.

“Answer me!”. She raised up her voice.

“What if I?”

“You’re crazy. Look at you. You need some sleep”

“I need good grades. I can’t be absent for so long. It’s not like I have a place to stay either”

“You’re coming with me”

She took my wrist again and dragged me out of the filming set. We stopped at her company’s van and she dialed me to get in.

I’ve got to say my heart fluttered at her being that gentle. But I couldn’t let her do that. Certainly not when she felt pity towards me.

“Sumi. I truly appreciate your good intentions. But I really have to go to classes and…”

“You can’t stand in two feet now. If you overextend yourself, you’ll end up sick and you won’t be able to work properly and pay back your scholarship”

“Sumi…” I looked down.

“Yes, I pity you. Live with that, like I did when you told me just the same. Get in the freaking van. If people see us, they’ll think we’re dating. I’m way risking myself being nice with you”

I sighed and had no option but to get in the van. I sat on one of the back seats while Mushroom sat next to the driver’s seat. As soon as I listened to the engine starting, my eyelids became heavier than before and I fell asleep.

“Youngmin-ah! Get up!”. I heard Piggy’s voice from far away.

I opened my eyes and found myself in front of a big building. I yawned and looked at Sumi who was looking at me upset with her hands on her hips.

“And you wanted to go to school like this. Come on. Get off the van”.

She extended me her hand, which I didn’t hesitate in taking. I jumped out of the van and Sumi’s manager said goodbye to us.

“Thanks for…”

“Don’t even say it. Let’s go”.

She let go of my hand even though I squeezed hers. We took the elevator and I followed her till we got to what it seemed her apartment. She unlocked the door.

“You can sleep on the sofa. I’m tired too, so I’ll be at my bedroom”.

She placed some blankets on the living room’s big beige sofa. At that time, even the floor was a nice place to sleep.

“I thought we were sleeping together” I smirked.

“If you don’t want to get kicked out of here, omit that kind of stupid comments”. She rolled her eyes.

“I was just kidding”

“You’d better be”

“That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like that”

I slowly approached to her. She looked up in my eyes and her cheeks reddened instantly. A little chuckle came out from my throat. I bowed my head little by little on my way to kiss those tiny and thin lips.

“Go to sleep Youngmin”

She stopped me and walked away, locking herself in her bedroom. I sighed and jumped on the sofa. Again, falling asleep in a matter of seconds.

“What is he doing here? Is this why you’re like this?”

Female’s voices were heard. I groaned. Waking up from the couch. I blinked and realized I was surrounded by Sumi’s group members named “Kpop Queens”.

“You! Get out of here!”

One of them pointed at me. I tilted my head puzzled, not understanding the situation.

“I’m sorry. I’ll leave” I muttered.

“Oh no! You’re not going that easily. When did you come back? And why are you here? What did you do to Sumi?”

A blonde girl approached to me with piercing eyes. She looked scary, even though she was kind of short comparing to me.

“Wait. Sumi let me come here for sleeping since I don’t have a place to stay. Where is she?” I looked around.

A crash sound coming from the kitchen made me jump. I ran there and found someone on the floor. It was her, my girl. She was drunk. What actually happened while I was sleeping?

“Sumi! What happened to you?” I held on her.

“Don’t touch her!”

The other girl who was holding her on the left side yelled. What was wrong with these girls?

“Calm down. I’m sorry. I was just trying to help”

“Trying to help? You are the reason why she’s like this. Get out!”

I gulped. Sumi’s eyes looked lost. My heart stopped. Where was the strong girl I knew? Why did she look so weak? Is this really my fault?

“He’s telling the truth, girls. I brought him here. He doesn’t have a place to stay”

“Unnie…”

“I know. I’m stupid, right? You more than anyone else know what he did to me. How much he hurt me. So, why am I being so nice?”

“Get out of here!”. The blonde one ordered me.

I had no option but to exit the apartment. I was so confused. What exactly just happened? Why did she drink? I remember telling her not to ever drink alcohol before leaving. She has no tolerance to it and gets drunk easily.

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I walked in the school’s gym coming back from the filming set. It was about 3 am. I couldn’t stop thinking about what happened at Sumi’s place a while ago. Was it really my fault? I couldn’t find an answer either.

After extending the blanket I prepared myself for sleeping a bit. The school’s gym was warmer than what I thought. A pair of footsteps was heard.

“Youngmin-ssi?”

Holy ! I was discovered. Cold sweat ran through the back of my neck. I sat down facing the visitor.

Great. Lee Taemin.

“Taemin sunbae. What are you doing here so late?”

“I was going to ask you the same question. Were you planning to sleep in here?”

He tilted his head in confusion. A big lapse of awkward silence was brought after he spoke. Yes, he was right. But I was too embarrassed to admit it.

“I’ve heard some rumors about you. But I prefer not to believe in what people say. They gossip for fun and invent mostly every story they tell.”

His eyes were piercing. Hands placed in his pockets.

“What rumors have you heard?” I cleared my throat. The room became suddenly cold.

“Let’s not talk about the stupid rumors. Let’s talk about the truth”

“Ok, then what do you want to know? Because I’d like to know the truth also”

I clenched my teeth in annoyance. I had never seen this side of Lee Taemin. He was always kind to me, although I never liked him or treated him well. Now, he was with his guard up all the time while he was with me. Attacking at any opportunity.

“Why did you come back? I’d like to know”

“It’s more than complicated. But it was because of Sumi, most of my reasons”

“Do you actually want her back?” He raised a brow. Not believing in my words.

The question hit me hard. Yes, I wanted her back. I wanted to hold her in my arms more than anything else. I wanted her to be only mine, as I was only hers. But, did all of that matter now? After seeing her in that state. Were my wishes that important? I should stop being selfish. I knew it.

“Does it matter? What I want… it’s not that important now” I sighed.

“Then what do you want from her? Why do you keep bothering her being around?”

“I want her to forgive me. I want her to be happy”

“She already forgave you. And she was very happy before you came back to her life. Believe me”

“Did you and Mousey write a script? He said the same” I chuckled.

“Does it look like I’m kidding?”. Taemin groaned.

“You are the one who is not taking my words serious. I mean, no one believes me. Not even her. I expected you to do it”

“It’s not that I don’t believe in your words. Maybe you came back because of her. But that doesn’t change anything”

“I know it won’t be easy. I know it will take time too”

Taemin shook his head in disbelief and sat down.

“You don’t understand Youngmin. She wasn’t the same when you left. She was depressed…lifeless. You come back now like if nothing had happened. But you don’t have idea of everything she went through for forgetting you. She didn’t sleep, eat, talk. It took her time. And where were you that time?”

“I… I know I made mistakes” I stuttered.

“She was getting better. She would laugh sometimes and she seemed to get it over finally. She was concentrating in her career and she was happy to be back filming in a drama. But you had to come back. Sumi, she changed again”

I stayed quiet. I couldn’t say a word. Taemin was right. He was ing right. I was thoughtless. I was so immersed in my own misery, that I didn’t realized there was more behind.

She had been through so much. And I wasn’t there for her. Her friends were, but I left her alone. I was selfish, insolent. How were they supposed to let me get close to her when I was the one who caused her so much pain? When I was the one who made her cry countless times.

Yes, I hurt her. Even though I always believed she was strong. Even when I thought she would never take my words personal in the past. I did wrong. Did I actually deserve forgiveness? I couldn’t at least forgive myself.

“I think you finally get it”

Taemin’s deep voice was heard.

“I won’t let you hurt her. And you’ll have to prove you actually love her if you want me to let you get close to her again”

“Can I ask you something?” I cleared my throat.

“Go ahead”.                    

“Do you love her? Do you think you can take care of her? Do you think you can make her happy?”

My heart ached. My tongue tangling at every spoken word. I didn’t want to think about letting her go again. I couldn’t conceive a life without her. But it was the right thing. I had to stop being selfish.

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Youngmin hurt Sumi in the worst way.

Will he be able to repair the damage? Do you think he should give up?

Thanks for reading!

PS. Who else is excited for Boyfriend's comeback? ^^