WHEREVER /JJK

Chapter 22 - Paranoia

Jin was bothered by something. He felt it, even when there was nothing concrete to pinpoint the change but it was there. Jeon seemed a bit distant from him and it might be caused by his closeness to Jia. He knew that Jeon might still have feelings for Jia, he saw that Jia also had feelings for Jeon. Where does that leave him?

If he were to be honest with himself, he liked her. She was pleasant to work with. Of all the talents he managed, she never complained or demanded anything unreasonable, and she always had good ideas to clinch deals for her brand. As a person, he appreciates her warmth, her sense of humor most of all. He liked women who laughed with no reservations, he was not a fan of any ladylike shit. He liked women who were confident in their own skin to eat as much as they want, laugh loudly over a joke, and can be one of the guys, without asking for any special treatment. Jia was all that. Her only weakness was she never seemed to be able to speak for herself, to put her needs first. It was always the others first before her.

He would talk to her about that. But for now, he needed to fix whatever this thing with Jeon was. Thinking Jeon might still be driving Hei-Won home, he sent a text message asking Jeon to meet him after dropping off Hei-Won.

---

Jin and Jeon agreed to meet over drinks to settle a few things between them. Jeon was like a little brother to him. He would hate for any misunderstanding to get in the way of their friendship. Hopefully, this meet-up would settle the score between them.

"Jin-hyung."

"Oh. There you are. Sit. What do you want to drink?"

"Just a beer. I can't stay long though, I have an early shoot tomorrow."

"Yes, I understand. I just wanted to clear things with you bro."

"What things?

Actually, Jeon already had an idea of what Jin was driving at. He just needed it voiced out to make sure they were on the same page. This was actually a good thing.

"I can't exactly put my finger on it. But I get the feeling you don't feel comfortable about me being friends with Jia. Am I reading you right?"

"I don't mind the friendship, it's the level of closeness I'm not comfortable with."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because...what?"

"Jin do I have to spell it out for you?"

"Kookie, I'm confused. You have two girls who have feelings for you. You've made your choice, Hei-won. Isn't it right for you to let Jia move on? Don't be greedy."

"It's not that simple."

"Simplify it then. Look, I'm here for you. I get the feeling you still like Jia. Why are you staying with Hei-Won? You're not being fair to both of them."

"Great. Judge me for trying to do the right thing. Bro, when Hei-Won and I got together, I already assumed Jia was part of the past. I left her in NY, started a new life here in Seoul, and reconnected with Hei-Won. How was I to know that Jia would follow me here? After two years, I thought anything I felt for her would be gone but I was wrong. "

He took a swig of his beer, trying to compose himself. He didn't know what to do really. Jeon knew inevitably someone would get hurt no matter what his decision was. 

"What am I supposed to do? Leave Hei-Won? Even if she wants me to be true to what I feel, I can't bear to hurt her. She stayed with me till I got better, despite knowing I had feelings for someone else. And now she's undergoing this new phase in her life. I can't think of my needs first. I'm at a loss, man. I don't know what I should do. Decency dictates I stay with Hei-won but what about Jia?"

Jeon was right. He was in a difficult situation and this made Jin feel bad about judging him. Even if he were in Jeon's shoes, he wouldn't know what to do. Both Hei-won and Jia deserve to be happy.

"You like Jia, don't you?"

"Yes,  I like her. But Kookie, Jia is my client more than anything. Before I do anything, I'd consider if it will hurt our working relationship. I'm attracted to her, I'm willing to give it a shot, assuming she'll allow me. But bro, I won't do anything if you tell me not to."

"I'm not selfish, Jin-hyung. I may not like it but I won't stop you. If Jia likes you back, I won't stand in the way of you both pursuing a relationship."

"You sure of that? " Jin felt his heart constrict. Now even he was confused. He wondered if it was right to pursue his own happiness. He knew how Jia and Jeon felt for each other. 

"I want Jia to be happy. If it's going to be with you, then so be it. Better you than anyone I don't know. But hyung, please take good care of her."

---

Hei-Won knew it was pathetic of her to do this but she just had the compulsion to do so. She tailed Jeon, following her intuition that he had somewhere else to go after dropping her offShe trusted him, but with the way she was pushing him lately, she was kind of worried that Jeon might have gotten fed up with her and is now, more and more, being drawn to Jia.

She was in for a surprise though. Jeon met with Jin, and it puzzled her why they were meeting when they were together just an hour ago. She wondered if they were discussing Jia. Was Jin interested in her? Was he asking Jeon for permission? She couldn't hear what they were talking about but they both looked serious.

Feeling like an intruder, she got back to her car and drove home. She really felt like she sunk to an all-time low. What was she turning into? Why couldn't she control herself? She was good at controlling everything in her life but for the first time, she lost control of her emotions and was wallowing in her paranoia.