Chapter 82

“I’m really sorry for hitting you that day.” –Daehyun apologized.

After arriving to the hospital so Youngjae could get his wounds treated and checked up, Daehyun asked to be left alone with his friend; they needed to talk things out and fix everything that went wrong in their friendship. When he knew Youngjae’s other side of the story, Daehyun felt awful by the way he treated Youngjae that day.

“I deserved it. I know I thought I was just protecting her, but she didn’t deserve those horrible words I said to her.” –Youngjae glanced at Daehyun. –“You didn’t deserve that either.”

Daehyun looked down, even though Youngjae was apologizing; deep down his friend’s words still hurt him. It was really hard to get that awful memory off his head.

“I owe you a lot for the person I am today. My business has been your business since we’ve met, and whenever I’m struggling, you are always there unconditionally.”

The boy looked away after listening to his words.

“Aish… Just stop…” –Daehyun hid his glossy eyes, flustered cheeks and the smile on his lips from his friend.

“But I’m being honest…” –Youngjae said and then added. –“Thank you for looking out for me and ___-ah… Even when I left her. I appreciate everything you’ve done for her. ”

By the end of his words, Daehyun wiped away a tear that fell and kept his eyes fixed away.

“You’re the only person I can call best friend since I’ve came to this place, and she's my friend, how can I just leave any of you behind after knowing all this?” –Daehyun said with his voice breaking a bit, and Youngjae felt touched by his words. –“Let’s just leave everything bad that happened behind us and go back to how things were before. That’s all I really want.”

“Me too.”

For a second they stayed quiet. There was another worry on Daehyun's mind, so he was the first to speak up.

“So… Does she know?” –He asked cautiously, and Youngjae sighed.

“She said she knew everything, but I feel like I still owe her an explanation. But honestly, I don’t even know where to begin…”

--

The reunited couple were on the bus together making their way home after Youngjae was discharged from the hospital. He spent almost the whole ride looking out the window in silence. Noticing that, you turned to him.

“You must be tired huh?” –You caressed the side of his cheek getting his attention.

Surprisingly he shook his head.

“How can I feel tired when I want to make up for the time I spent without you?”

…

After he insisted on accompanying you home, you made your way to the study room with him. It was pretty late and your parents were fast asleep.

“We could’ve talked tomorrow Youngjae…” –You tried to reason.

He walked you to the small couch of the room and sat down.

“I don’t think I would be able to sleep if I don’t fix things the right way.” –Youngjae took your hands and looked intently into your eyes. –“ ___-ah... I’m sorry for hurting you that day and making a scene in front of the other students… You can’t imagine how much regret I’ve felt since that day. All I could think about was about how you were feeling. I am truly sorry...”

“Jae... I already forgave you… Kikwang told me everything, I know you did it to protect me.” –You reassured him. 

He took one of his hands and fixed a strand of hair that fell in front of your eyes.

“I still think you need to hear the whole story from me...” –He said, and you nodded. If he wanted to spill his heart for you, you were all ears.

Just as he already said, he confessed that everything began in middle school. He was new, and Doo Joon and Yoseob took advantage of that. They helped him a lot at first, which made him feel indebted to them. So when they knew they could use that, they fed him lies about you.

“…Yoseob said that he liked you, and that after he confessed, you had taken advantage of that and played him on, by that time his family was having problems, and his parents also divorced, so I felt terrible for everything that was happening to him, especially since he trusted me..." -Apologetically you glanced at him, it was taking a lot of him to say everything. He really seemed to hate to talk about Yoseob's feelings towards you, even in the future he struggled with that part. But even when it was taking all from him to confess everything, you listened attentively.

Things about Yoseob’s behavior by his past made some things clearer, it was not an excuse for the things he did, but surely those sort of events in his family could’ve had affected him. Not to mention also that he was pushed around constantly by Doo Jun, whom he ended up betraying at the end.

"...Doo Joon also said that the only reason you were the top student of the school was because you cheated and bought your way there. Foolishly, I believed all that. They acted as the good guys and made you the bad person, so I helped them, they made me feel like I fit in, in this new school... So I didn't think twice, and just did what they told me.”

All the missing pieces of the puzzle were fitting in perfectly. It made sense that Doo Joon hated you by that time, by seventh grade you approached Sarah once more after she distanced herself from you when she went through her family issues. She was dating him by then, and not long after you became closer to her they broke up, and he blamed you for it