“This thing about you that you think is your flaw - it’s the reason I’m falling in love with you.”

― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

 

 

He said his name was Bang Yongguk. He said that he was on that bridge because he had lost faith in everything. He had lost faith in himself.

“Are you hurt anywhere?” I asked Yongguk examining him frantically. He remained silent for a while.

“Come on” I said while dragging him away. “I think we should go see a doctor.”

Suddenly, he stopped walking and stood still.

“I’m alright. I’m not hurt. But to be honest..a cup of coffee would do wonders,"he chuckled. I started at him with mixed emotions. Despite what he had just been through, I saw that he was not a person who truly wanted to die. He seemed to love life too much. But as I thought about it maybe that was his destruction. Maybe the love that he felt towards others was not something that was always reciprocated.

I smiled at him. "Coffee sounds great.”

We started walking towards the nearest cafe. Along the way, we made conversation about the weather and the small town. Yet as the conversation stopped and then started again, part of me wanted to find out what had led him here. I wanted to know why he was feeling that way. But the other half felt it was none of my business. “I think I see the cafe over there,” I said pointing to a small coffee shop that had chairs and tables set outside. Much like the town, it gave a pleasant and sincere feeling. He smiled at me, a bright gummy smile that made me feel comfortable even in the awkward and tense moment. “Let’s go,” Yongguk said.

After a few minutes of deciding what to order, we sat down outside with our drinks in our hands. For a while, Yongguk didn’t look at me or say anything. He just blankly stared at the cup of iced coffee on the table. “Do you not like the coffee? Do you want me to get you a smoothie instead?” I asked. He still didn’t respond. “Yonggukssi, are you alright?” I saw that his gaze shifted and he looked up at me, locking his eyes with mine. The weird feeling came back again.

“Y/a-ssi"

“Yes?”

“Will you keep your promise to me?” Yongguk asked. I looked at him and thought about what had occurred a few hours ago. I had promised Yongguk that I would be there for me. And nothing had changed within that short time.

“Why do you think I wouldn’t?” I responded.“You can trust me.”

He grasped his hands over his cup and shifted in his seat.

“Trust..such easy words to say but so difficult to carry out. Everyone claims to be trustworthy yet it’s only when they’re done using you do you realize what their true colors are.” Yongguk explained while looking down at the table. Due to my limited vocabulary in Korean, I tried to follow what he was saying.

“Yonggukssi although trust can be a blessing and a curse it brings you hope. If you have trust in a person then you have hope in yourself. Be hopeful.” I said smiling at him.  He nodded his head yet I wasn’t sure if he felt the same way or simply was dazed by what happened. I placed my hand over his and his eyes shot up. I wanted to let him know that I was sincere and wouldn’t break my promise. But as our hands both lay there, a knot formed in my stomach and I felt a dizzy sensation come over me. I moved my hand and quickly drank my iced coffee. Suddenly, my phone rang and I saw it was Namjoon calling.

“Hello?”

“Y/a-ssi where are you?” He asked slurring his words impatiently.

“Namjoonssi are you…are you drunk right now?”

“Why?.."He said quietly.

I dropped my head. This couldn’t be happening to me.

"I’m busy now. I’ll call you back lat-”

“No! Come here now,” he demanded interrupting my sentence.

“I can’t right now. I’ll talk you you later okay? Bye.” I hung up the phone abruptly and shoved it in my purse. I looked up at Yongguk who was staring at me the whole time.

“Sorry..my manager from work was calling me. I’m not sure why he was calling me when he was drunk though. I mean we’re friends but he’s never done that and-”

“Woah. It’s fine Y/a I wasn’t really paying attention anyways,” he said keeping his eyes locked on mine.

“Sorry, I tend to ramble a lot,” I explained trying to cover my strange behavior.  

Moments later my phone suddenly started to ring again. I let it ring until Yongguk said it was fine and I should pick it up. “It might be important,”he mentioned sincerely.

"Listen Namjoonssi I don’t know why you’re calling but I’m in the middle of something-”

“Hello? Is this Y/a-ssi? This is Officer Choi from the police station calling. Your friend was passed out at the park and a nearby runner brought him here. We couldn’t get in touch with his family so we decided to call the first number on speed dial,” Officer Choi calmly explained. I tried to process everything in my head as I listened while question after question formed simoutaneoulsy.  I let out a sigh and started speaking. “Okay, I understand. I will be there shortly Officer Choi.”  

I shut the phone then started getting up. I noticed Yongguk also got up. “I’m sorry that I had to leave like this,”I explained sadly. I didn’t want to disappoint him, but I also didn’t want to be a bad friend to Namjoon. Yongguk shook his head. “Don’t worry, go to your friend. I’m fine now,”he explained showing his gummy smile. I nodded my head in response. Before I left I made sure to give him my phone number in case he ever needed to get in contact with me.  

When I arrived at the police station I saw Namjoon laying on the row of 3 seats. Since he was so tall, his feet still dangled off the edge. I walked over to one of the desks.

“Umm..excuse me. I got a call to come pick Kim Namjoon,”I explained to the officer sitting down.

“Oh yes..he’s over there Miss,”he said pointing.  “Just fill out this report and he’s free to go.”

I sat down, filled out the report, then walked over to where Namjoon was laying. I had never seen him drunk before so I didn’t know what to expect. Yet, I soon began to see that he was a very sleepy drunk. Every time that I would try to make him get up, he put all his body weight on me. We both collapsed on the chairs. I gritted my teeth in annoyance and began placing his feet on the floor then trying to make him to sit up.

“Namjoonssi please get up. Come on it’s time to leave,”I said shaking his arm.

He let out a small burp and I backed away disgusted. Why did he have me on speed dial out of all people???? I thought. It’s his fault I’m here right now. I could be studying at home.  

When I saw that he started to open his eyes slowly, I tried to lift him up and place his arm over my shoulder. Somehow he was able to stand and we both walked out of the police station.

“I swear if you do something like this again,”I muttered under my breath.  

“Y/a-ssi…Y/a-ssi,”Namjoon weakly said.

“Yeah yeah don’t worry we’re going home now,”I explained as I barely held him up.

“No Y/a-ssi I..I have something to say,”he went on. He opened his eyes and looked at me. His face moved closer to mine. My body remained tense and I looked back at him. 

 

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I hope you guys liked this update! Sorry for the lateness and also if there are any grammar mistakes anywhere I also apologize for those. I will try to upload part four soon! Please let me know if you are liking the story so far <3