Part I
Chase Me (One-Shot)
Part I
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“ I thought you were different.” She whispered those few words, staring hard into his eyes. She bit her lips, “ I--” She sighed as she ran her long slender fingers through her hair that flowed beyond her thin shoulders. Before she ever finished her statement, her gaze that he swore could pierce through his skin into his heart broke off. She blinked away tears that built up in her eyes while looking down at her feet before walking away
The silence didn’t stay awkward for too long; during this small time frame, he honestly believed a million thoughts ran through his heart before a sudden shutting of a door abruptly stopped the flow.
JongHyun pulled up a chair and quietly sat alone at the kitchen table while the dim kitchen light accompanied him. He stared at his own hands, placed on the table, solemnly.
What had gone wrong along the lines of this love. Those exact thoughts rang obsessively through his mind. It was desperately searching for an answer.
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HyeBin closed the door behind her, trying not to make a loud ruckus and locked the door. She stood against the door, trying to suppress herself from simply breaking down--into so many pieces for so many reasons.
She wanted to somehow allow her feelings, disappointed and upset, out without causing too much of a trouble to people around her, especially JongHyun, but it just became too big of an ordeal for her heart to handle. Tears built, rolling around the frames of her eyes, waiting to pour out.
It was in times like these, where all you simply wanted to feel, was to be protected and safe. HyeBin withdrew into a corner by the door. Her legs were drawn close to herself, against her heart that was aching so desperately. Her hands wiped away the moistness on her face in the dark bathroom.
Those tears finally rolled down her face. It wasn’t like anyone was watching anymore. She cried to her content--she cried for herself, for her selfish wants. What was so wrong with what she wanted? What was so hard about what she wanted?
Those exact words kept disturbing her mind, her thoughts revolving around those two very questions.
With all her heart, she simply wanted to be chased after.
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JongHyun sat still and frozen, questioning himself for what seemed like eternity. He couldn’t read HyeBin, in spite of his inner attempt to. He just couldn’t recognize what she truly desired from him.
It was tearing them apart. Even without her, it was tearing him apart, from his heart to his mind.
His guilt sunk in as JongHyun felt more frustrated by the moment. Even in the silence of the emotionally empty house, JongHyun knew he was causing his wife to cry her heart out.
When he had saw her dreading eyes, why was he not able to stop her, pull her close to himself and embrace her? JongHyun thought about his genuine feelings questioning them and himself altogether.
What was it that stopped him?
He couldn’t see the answer he searched for and before he could, JongHyun looked up to see a figure appear before him. HyeBin wiped away any last tear that escaped down her cheek. The sight of his wife’s appearance just breaks his heart; her thin frame, tired face, recently moist with genuine tears. Yet when she declared her leave, JongHyun couldn’t budge an inch.
“ I want to be found.” HyeBin paused for a split moment, “ Chase me.”
With that, she left JongHyun without a look back. JongHyun still hadn’t moved an inch. His heart nearly sank, as though it was sitting at the bottom of the Pacifac Ocean at the very second. . . as though he’d never see the same face in his life again.
Normally, JongHyun would leave to find her, only to find her sitting on their doorsteps. He understood it as a kind of mutual truth that neither of them could ever leave each other. Without going after his wife, he began to slowly walk towards their bedroom despite her still occupying his mind and heart.
On their dresser was a picture from the first day they moved into this very house together. On their bed laid not one, but two pillows. On his desk, she polluted it with her jewelry scattered all over the desk, including her engagement ring. JongHyun tore his eyes away from all of those, only to see her phone silently laying on their bed.
He would imagine it ringing any minute, with HyeBin sheepishly asking JongHyun to bring it to her, symbolizing the end of their so-called war.
JongHyun felt almost as if someone had stripped the privilege of oxygen away from him, suffocating from the lacking of her presence. He was uneasy inside. When sitting down on their bed, JongHyun missed her tendency to always lay on his lap regardless of his opinion.
Life is just a blend of experiments, learning from success and mistakes.
The void of emptiness was everywhere when he realized how alone he felt without his significant other. It was like realization suddenly hitting and crashing on JongHyun did he come to his latent senses.
JongHyun hit his own forehead at his own stupidity. This whole time he was searching for what she wanted from him, all that mattered to him really was what he truly wanted. It was a selfish thought he disposed of, thinking it was for the better good of her, only until this very minute. It was what he decided a long time ago; what he wanted was Ahn HyeBin, the girl he vowed to chase after for life.
JongHyun ran out of the house, without keys, without his phone, without anything except the thing HyeBin left behind. That was the very thing that suffocated him for so long, even without her.
HyeBin left her heart behind with JongHyun.
His heart not only sank, but nearly broke when he found that she was not on their doorsteps. His legs took him as fast as possible down the night streets of Seoul, searching for her.
What stopped him so long from finding her was his pride he held so precious and not able to let go of. But now, all that mattered in his half-complete world was Ahn HyeBin, his destined soul mate.
JongHyun turned the corner and sprinted down another yet street, looking for the person he longed the most at the very minute. While searching, he began to understand himself more. Because he was a man, he decided that pride was most important in his life. Little did he understand before this very moment, that HyeBin was a part of this pride he held to much importance.
Instead of blinding chasing and running down many streets in matters of minutes, JongHyun stopped at a street corner. Even at night, it was busy with people and the nightlife in Seoul. Amidst all these busy people, his only wish now was for one of them to be his very own wife.
He breathed harshly from all the running, yet that wasn’t even enough to distract his thoughts. JongHyun thought hard about where HyeBin could possibly be. He’s always believed that no one knew her better than he did, that he was the significant person in her life that knew her thoughts.
Now, JongHyun knew he was so wrong.
Over the course of many minutes, JongHyun put together all the possibilities as he walked slowly down the street. He eliminated some, checked some out, and ended up with one final place that was his last resort.
If HyeBin wasn’t there, JongHyun’s biggest mistake in his life was ever letting her go.
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