Facade - Final
Facade
Italics is Jin Ae's flashback.
Perhaps it was the fact that I was too naive. I left my heart open to other people, unaware that eventually it would get broken. Maybe it was because I thought that he'd love me forever, that we'd have a future together. I kept my hopes up, and as they all say: once you keep your hopes up, you're setting yourself up for disaster. That's exactly what I did.
As I took a step outside, I was instantly hit by the harsh winds. It was mid-January, and by now winter was starting to take it's toll. Snow covered the ground like a blanket, covering the treetops and roofs of buildings. People were bundled up in their snow gear, trying to protect themselves from the frigid winter weather. That's the thing I was always fascinated by. Winter was such a beautiful season. It's gorgeous to look at, but once you get hit by the cold, you start to hate it.
Some people are like winter. At first glance, they seem perfect. Nice, sweet, funny... but once you find out what's hiding underneath that facade, you learn that some things aren't what meets the eye. Specifically, Hyukjae.
We started off good. He would be on time for our dates, not forgetting to compliment me countless times throughout. Occasionally he'd present to me a white rose; my favourite flower. The texts he sent me every morning were what kept me energized. They were always cute and full of love, or so I thought. Hyukjae would give me kisses whenever he had the chance to, and would always whisper sweet nothings into my ear. He was my everything, my world. I guess that's why I felt like I had nothing when he left.
Eventually, things started to go downhill. The sweet texts he sent me lessened, eventually turning into none. Promises were broken, tears were shed and words were left unsaid. When I'd get the chance to see him, he'd ignore me and pretend that I wasn't even there. Like I was invisible. He stopped showing his affection for me, and eventually we just... stopped. Like an unfinished book. There was no more "us". It was only "Hyukjae", only "Jin Ae".
"Hyukjae!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms around his neck. I was surprised when I didn't get a response back.
"Hey," I spoke, poking his cheek and giving him a cheeky grin. "what's up?"
He glared at me before squirming out of my embrace, going to sit on the couch and turning on the television, putting it on high volume. "Nothing,"
"Are you-" I was cut off when he blasted the volume to maximum, completely drowning out my voice.
"Hyuk!"
"Hey, Hyukjae!"
"Yah!"
"HYUKJAE!"
"Can you just shut up?!" He turned off the television and looked at me. His sudden outbreak caused me to jump back in fear.
"You know what, just leave," Hyukjae demanded, pointing to the door.
"What?" I asked, hurt welling up in my chest.
"I said, leave," He repeated, pushing me out. "I don't want to see you anymore."
Tears were starting to cloud my vision. The hurt I felt the day he left came back to me, like a punch in the face. Shakily, I leaned against a wall on the sidewalk and slowly sat down, hugging my knees to my chest, my breathing rough and tears cascading down my face.
"I'd never leave you for the world, Jin Ae," He kissed my temple and my hair softly, his breath lingering on my skin. "I promise."
"You really mean that?" I asked, looking up at him.
"Of course," Hyukjae replied, giving me a sweet smile. Too bad I couldn't see the slight smirk hiding underneath.
Believing his words was a mistake. I looked up and noticed people giving me questioning stares, but all I saw in their eyes was pity. Oh, look at her, so pityful, I wonder why she's crying, she looks so sad, poor girl. I sighed, seeing my breath form wisps of white clouds in the air.
As soon as my legs started feeling numb from sitting, I got up and started walking around without a destination in mind. All I wanted was to get rid of the feeling in my heart. The anguish, the hurt, the pain. I wanted to get away from it all. But how, when I was the one who got myself into this heartbreak in the first place?
Suddenly, I smelled a faint scent of baked goods. Looking up ahead, I noticed a small cafe. It wasn't too busy, so I decided to go in. As I entered, bells attached to the door chimed, announcing my arrival. Quickly, I ordered a hot chocolate and sat down at an empty table. I was never really fond of coffee. Hyukjae knew that.
"So, what do you want?" Hyukjae asked me as we stood in line looking at the menu on the wall.
"Hot chocolate is fine," I responded, interlocking our hands together.
"No coffee?" He asked me, clearly surprised. "Girls usually like coffee, don't they?"
I let out a giggle. "Don't be so general. Not all girls like coffee, Hyuk,"
He grinned, giving me a quick kiss on the nose. "Well then, you're quite unique,"
Yeah, unique, I thought to myself, taking a sip of my hot chocolate. The moments we spent together kept slipping into my mind, but the sudden sound of bells jingling snapped me out of my reminiscing. A man walked in. He was slim, but as he took of his coat, you could slightly see the muscles peaking underneath. His hair was blonde, but not too bright, his fringe slightly covering his eyes. Even if this was a stranger, I couldn't keep my eyes off of him. He reminded me of someone, but I couldn't exactly pinpoint who it was.
But as he turned around, my eyes were met with those same pair of dark brown orbs. The ones I fell for. The ones that used to show me love and care, but eventually turned out to be evil. Lee Hyukjae's eyes.
A surge of mixed emotions ran through me. My eyes widened, and I quickly looked down at the table, feeling tears brim my eyes.
Slap.
His hand came in contact with my face, hitting me hard. I quickly put my hand up to my cheek, tears streaming.
"H-Hyuk,"I choked out, horrified. "What's g-going on?"
He stared at me with disgust. I looked down, trying to hide the pain I was feeling. I couldn't stand to look at those eyes. Which was ironic, because I used to be longing to see him again.
"You're so stupid," he scoffed, smirking at me and rolling his eyes. "I can't believe you didn't see that I was just playing you the whole time."
I lifted my head and stared back at him. My legs felt like jelly, my heart felt numb. I sighed, realizing that everything was a mistake. The love he showed me, the happiness I saw in his eyes when he saw me was just a facade. Purely fake, and I was too innocent to notice it.
Without looking back at him, I nodded slowly, making my way towards the door. "No wonder," I muttered under my breath as I walked outside, my heart heavy.
I wanted to run away. Escape from his stare, escape from him. Next thing I knew, I was still sitting in my seat when he walked towards me, taking a seat in the chair infront of me. I kept my gaze down, not sure if I'd break out into tears if I made eye contact with him.
"Why are you here?" I managed to whisper, feeling his eyes on me.
"Is there any reason for me not to be here?" he responded nonchalantly. Like it was completely normal for him to suddenly come back into my life.
"You were the one who was playing me," I spoke with an edge of annoyance in my voice. "Hyukjae-ssi, you have no right to be coming back into my life when you told me to leave yours."
He flinched, maybe because of the fact that I said ssi after his name for the first time. Surprisingly, he chuckled, pissing me off even more.
Hyukjae gave me that gummy smile, the one I always fell for. Quickly I looked away, feeling tears forming.
"Well, you do have a point, but I wanted to see how you were doing,"
"How am I doing?" My voice unintentionally rose up. I was in disbelief; how can he just say that so casually? Furiously, I grabbed my purse and headed out the door, the tears I tried so hard to hold in leaking out.
"Jin Ae, wait," the last person I wanted to see caught up with me, grasping onto my hand. I shook it off and continued walking, only to be stopped again. "Please," he begged, looking me square in the eye. "I just wanted to apologize."
"Apologize?" I repeated, scoffing slightly. "You want to apologize?"
"Yes, and-"
"Hyukjae-ssi, there's nothing to apologize for," The tone of voice I used gradually got smaller, transitioning from a yell to a whisper. "You've done enough damage."
"I know I've made some wrong choices," he replied, my cheek softly. "but we can always start over, right?"
"This is just another facade of yours, isn't it?" I asked him, pulling his hand away from me. "You're trying to lure me into another scheme of yours by putting up this romantic facade. I'm not falling for it again, Hyukjae-ssi."
His eyes showed pure shock, his mouth gaping open.
"But, didn't you love me? If you did, wouldn't you want to get back together?"
I let out a bitter laugh, realizing the irony of that sentence. Slowly I let my arms drop to my side, mustering up all my courage to stare at him in the eyes.
"That was the mistake I made," My lips curved into a bittersweet smile, trying to picture the soft and loving Hyukjae that I thought he was. "loving you."
With the salty droplets of water streaming down my face, with the sad smile still lingering on my lips, with the image of Hyukjae in the back of my mind, I walked away from him. From the lies, from the hurt, from his life. From the person I thought he once was. From the person he really is.
Some people are like winter.
Specifically, Hyukjae.
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