Jongin’s POV

I rolled over and banged my head straight into the side of my bed frame. Swearing silently, I sat up to make sure that I didn’t wake Jaehi up. I glanced at the bed expecting her body to be tangled in my sheets and her long hair sprawled across my pillow.

It was empty.

The bed looked like it was unslept in – the covers were square to the bed. ‘Where is she?’ I was fully awake now as my eyes frantically searched for her figure in the dark. I got up and looked in my washroom and was about to head out my door to check for her downstairs when I paused over the window that was left slightly ajar.

I heard vague voices murmuring as the wind carried away their hushed conversation. A tall guy and a girl stood outside by the sidewalk. I prayed that it wasn’t her, I really did. But as soon as the light reflected from the streets, her dark hair shimmered and I caught a glimpse of my cardigan.

I slammed the window shut. No matter what I taught her, she always ended up going back to him. Always returning to Kris Wu even though we both knew that she was no good for her. And during the process of this whole stupid revenge game, I’d fallen for her – more than I like and more than I could possibly ever imagine.

. . .

Jaehi’s POV

I spun my head towards Jongin’s window as soon as I heard it shut. I could have sworn that I saw a retreating figure, but I shook it off, it was probably just the freezing wind. The goose bumps on my arms ran wild as another cold wind blew my hair into my face. Slightly shivering, I pulled Jongin’s cardigan closer to myself to trap my body heat.

“What is it?”

He eyed the cardigan I was wearing. He looked tired and weary and gave me a grim smile, “I think I'm too late...”

“Kinda, have you seen the time?” I replied slightly annoyed at the fact that it was still 3am and I wasn’t asleep like I was supposed to be.

“I'm not talking about the time,” he shook his head, “I know for a fact that I'm too late.”

“You aren’t making any sense. Are you drunk? Too late for what?” At this point I was completely lost.

“He has your heart now.” His words were quietly whispered as he looked down. I was going to interrupt him and tell him to take it back, but I couldn’t. It was somewhat true.

“I know I lost my chance with you Jae, but you need to listen to me carefully,” he pressed and looked at me intently.

It’s true when they say that eyes are doors to the soul. I never gave Kris a chance to explain himself because I never thought that he was worth my time, and that whatever bull he spewed would make a difference. But tonight was different. His eyes showed fear, regret, loss, and mostly love. And frankly, it scared the hell out of me. I kept silent to gesture him to continue.

And he did, “All the guys on the team, they were doing a stupid bet to see who could string along a girl the longest – and I agreed, just for fun. Then they picked you. I never understood why, but I went along anyways. And in three weeks, I didn’t care anymore because I had you.” He paused to reorganize his thoughts as he continued to look at me.

My chest heaved as I took in the information that he was telling me about. I felt absolutely betrayed, and it took a lot of effort to restrain myself from slapping him. I wasn’t going to say anything, not until he finished.

He continued, “I fell deeper into the lies, and forgot all about the bet. I fell for you Jaehi, I fell for you hard. The guys said that I won and that we should all give up the gig as soon as you and I were out. You know, to expose the bet.”

It was a continuous web of lies that he had spun, and I was trapped in the middle of it all. I felt sick to my stomach as I listened to him go on about his deceit. He should have just told me from the start. I let him finish.

“I dumped you. I dumped you in the worse way imaginable so that you’d hate me and forget about me. I didn’t want you to be hurt by the boys – because I care for you Jaehi. Kang Jaehi, I love you.” His eyes frantically darted back and forth between my eyes as they searched for forgiveness.

I stepped towards him, “You love me?” I asked and he remained silent, still longingly looking at me. “You love me, so you decide to cheat on me, because cheating on me will hurt me less than telling the truth? You love me, so you go around with a new girl every day. You thought that it was just to play with my feelings? Oh, because you were stupid enough to go along with your basketball team’s idea. Blame it on them, huh? What am I supposed to believe Kris? What if this is another bet, or another lie?”

I wanted nothing to do with him anymore, “Too late Kris, you should have just told me from the start.”

I snapped at him, and it felt so great. My head was spinning and adrenaline was pumping through my veins. I finally found the courage to say what I needed to say to Kris. ‘Jongin would be so proud.” Jongin – suddenly I was desperate to retreat to his room.

Kris was shocked. He was shocked, but he knew he deserved it. As soon as I took a step towards the house, he pulled me into his chest. Strong arms wrapped around me while I stood still. I hated how his touch still sent tingles up my spine. He held me close as his lips made their way to my ear, his cheek softly brushing against mine.

“He may have your heart, Jae, but I'm not giving up the girl I love that easily. Not just yet,” he vowed. He gave me a slow peck on the top of my head before going back to his car.

I sighed as I watched him hop in and pull away from the curb. The headlights created a silhouette of my body against the house, and he drove away. I knew that things were about to get way more complicated.

. . .

“Jaehi honey, wake up! You're late!” Mrs. Kim’s sweet voice ran through my head. I pulled the covers over my head and mumbled, “Five more minutes!”

“Darling, it’s 7:45.”

‘7:45 – school starts in fifteen minutes.’

I snuggled into my pillow before I bolted up. “Oh god!” I quickly leaped out of bed and dashed to Jongin’s closet to pull out one of his sweaters. I brought a limited amount of clothes over from my house and didn’t have any time to waste. I scampered down towards the door while clutching onto my schoolbag and hastily pulling over one of his white “WOLF” hoodies. Thank god I slept with tight on that night.

As I hurriedly slipped into my boots, I asked Mrs. Kim of Jongin’s absence.

“He left already, quite early!”

“... He didn’t even wake me up.” I muttered to myself. “Thanks Mrs. Kim!” I hollered and sped out the door to catch the next bus.

. . .

I slumped in my homeroom chair as soon as the bell rang. I missed the bus and had to run the entire way to school. “Jae, you look like crap!” Mingki sang as he took a seat beside me. “I didn’t sleep, and woke up late.”

He chuckled in amusement, “You didn’t sleep... yet you woke up late?”

“Shut up,” I demanded calmly.

“Someone is in desperate need of the fashion police! Thank god for the regular school uniforms, I don’t think anyone could handle your sense of style on a daily basis,” he teased.

I completely ignored him, “Have you seen Jongin?” Mingki scrunched up his face as if he was thinking hard. “Uh, the field? I think?”

“Thanks!” I grabbed my bag and made a bee line for the door, “Tell the prof that I’m here!’ I called before exiting.

I jogged through the hallways, careful to be quiet and stay out of any other teachers’ sight. I made my way out of the school and ran to the oak tree that overlooked the field, hoping that I could catch a glimpse of Jongin. And sure enough, he was just walking around kicking imaginary stones on the vast green surface.

“Jongin!” I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted to amplify my voice.

He continued to walk as if he didn’t hear me, and I was sure that he did considering there was practically no other noise for my voice to get lost in. I made my way down the hill and quickly ran to catch up to him with my bag bouncing behind me.

As I approached him, I noticed that he was wearing the same sweater as me in black. I clasped my hand on his shoulder to make him stop as I hunched over slightly to catch my breath. “Jongin...” I huffed.

He gave me a solemn nod and shrugged my hand off his shoulder before continuing his little walk. ‘What is he doing? Why is he so cold?’ I couldn’t find the answer so I trotted quickly to keep up with his steps. Silence – this time it wasn’t so comfortable.

“Hey, listen to me!” I sped up and planted my feet right in front of him, “I don’t know what crawled up your this morning. Stop ignoring me!”

He didn’t crack a smile. He didn’t smirk. He didn’t attack me with some snarky comeback. He was expressionless, but his eyes told a different story. He was holding back emotions of anger. “I'm not, so stop throwing a tantrum.” His words came out sarcastically, but to me they were harsh and stung so bad.

My playfulness slid away as it was replaced by a dismal smile, “Why are you acting like this, especially after yesterday’s...” I trailed off. I desperately searched Jongin’s face as if to cling onto any remote memory of yesterday while he looked at me in disgust. “You want to talk about yesterday?” he started, “Okay, how about whenever Kris needs you, you go crawling back to him!”

I felt the world come to a halt. I knew that I dug myself my own grave – and I wanted so badly to inch into it and die. My knees felt weak and my heart dropped into the pit of my stomach. “Jongin, I didn’t –,” I stammered. He raised his hand to stop me and so I did. “Forget it, it didn’t mean anything anyway.”

I began to shiver as I felt the icy wind blow past me. For some reason, I felt much colder than earlier. I felt much emptier as well. Tears brimmed my eyes as Jongin turned his back towards me. I swallowed the growing lump in my throat, “But...” He began to walk away. “I have an exam to write,” he grumbled before completely leaving me behind.

I was losing everything. I’ve lost trust, happiness, and Jongin. I finally caved in and crouched silently as a lonely tear created a path for the rest that were about to follow. He left me alone in the middle of the field to feel a conflict of emotions.

‘I'm young and I shouldn’t have to deal with love, or heartbreak.’

It just wasn’t fair. Kris hurt me and claimed that his intentions were good. And Jongin, he just abandoned me with no emotions intact. It was agonizing trying to figure out what was going on.

My foolishness tore us apart.

12:56 AM

Umm, yeah. I hate this chapter so much guys. Like, I seriously don't know what to do with this rubbish -_- But I guess it has to stay there for now. Idk. It's poop. I'm sorry for giving you all this to read, especially after your long wait ;~; I think this is probably the worst and most boring chapter I've written. GAH! FAILURE!

- tickleherheart