Fifth Floor - JooHyuk

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October 24

"What are you trying to say?" I yelled after the fact that Minhyuk had accused Vivian of cheating finally sunk in. My body washed over with a sense of being numb. I couldn't believe that she'd cheat on me.

"He's lying. This is all a joke." I told myself as I continued to defend Vivian.

"She would never do something like that!" I looked down at my girlfriend who now had glossy eyes. "You need to leave, now." I stood up, pointing at the door. No more thoughts. Only the forced feeling of needing to protect my girlfriend.

But the thing was, it wasn't out of trust that Vivian hadn't done what he was insinuating, but out of fear that she would reprimand me later if I didn't.

"Did I ever trust her? Or was it always forced from fear? Fear of what? Losing her."

Minhyuk got up with a glance at my girlfriend and left with no objections. He knew Vivian and I were together much longer than a couple of months.

"Did he really see that happen?"

Vivian broke down crying once he left, but seemed fine as if nothing had happened only twenty minutes later. She didn't say a word about what Minhyuk said, and I wouldn't dare to bring it up.

For a while, we sat in the living room, Vivian's head on my shoulder, and watched videos she had found on her phone.

"But what if he wasn't lying?"

After I was sure my girlfriend was okay, I asked her out to dinner. Hoping it would make her happy, and keep anything bad from happening. She quickly agreed and got ready fairly quickly, having to wait for me.

I took her to a restaurant a little farther away from the apartment. It wasn't overly fancy but was still to her liking where we both dressed nicely.

"What if she really cheated on me? She wouldn't hurt me like that, right?"

"Joo," my girlfriend lightly called from across the table. I looked up to her, noticing how I wasn't paying attention to anything around me with how engrossed in my thoughts I had become. Even earlier in the apartment, I would get lost in thought, blankly staring at the screen Vivian would hold for the both of us to see.

"Do I trust her enough, or at all, to believe she didn't cheat on me?"

"Yeah, baby?" I replied and reached my hand out to take hers off the table and entangle our fingers, looking at her as she watched my action, her eyes not filled with any affection.

"Is there something bothering you? You've been spacing out a lot since that neighbor left."

Panic.

"Gosh, I'm sorry, baby—"

"You believe him don't you?" Her voice was raised, causing more panic within me. My eyes subconsciously widened seeing how my brain desperately looking for the answer made her angry.

"Do I? Maybe? But why would she? There's no way she could...?"

"What? N-no of course I don't."

"You do! I know you do!" Vivian said, disentangling our hands, "Why else would you be zoning out after that god-awful neighbor left?" I wasn't given another chance to speak as she stood and ran in a matter of seconds.

I stood speechless, looking like an idiot to a restaurant full of people. Seeming like the bad guy.

There was no telling how long it took me to finally run after her, but it felt like minutes had passed before I dared to find her (later on I'd be thankful that we hadn't ordered yet).

Stepping out of the restaurant, I watched in every direction for Vivian but saw no sign of her, making it ever so apparent that I had stood at that table too long.

I first thought to look for Vivian at her work, thinking maybe she had gone there in hopes I wouldn't find her. So I took off running down the sidewalks. It wasn't too far away, but far enough for my lungs to burn, and my side to ache.

When I entered her work I leaned against the bar and caught my breath, quickly getting the attention of an employee. The tall man behind the bar waited for me to catch my breath, giving me a concerned look and asking if I was okay.

"Is Vivian here?" I finally got out.

"Vivian? No. Why would she be? How do you know her?"

Upon hearing that my girlfriend wasn't at work, I ignored the man completely. I turned and left, grazing past a few people as the building started to get busy.

Once outside, I looked up and noticed how dark it was about to get with night approaching. I didn't waste another second to start running again. This time to the apartment. I didn't know where else she would go.

By the time I made it home, I had taken an hour and a half since leaving the restaurant because of how many times I had to stop to breathe again. There was a wave of relief when the apartment building finally came into view. I was almost there. I swung open the door to the silent building and ran towards the stairs—suddenly remembering the five flights of stairs.

I was so focused on how close I was that I hadn't noticed someone walking right towards me, not seeing me either, until we collided with each other. The two of us fell and I was quick to get up and apologize profusely as I continued running not taking note of who it was.

I took those stairs two to three at a time, going as fast as I could. How that didn't literally kill me, I have no clue. Arriving at the apartment, I didn't give myself any time to breathe before ripping open the door my conveniently unlocked door.

No sign of Vivian. None.

The bedroom was just as empty as the rest of the rooms. Anything that was clearly Vivian's was missing. Her makeup, clothes, everything. It was all gone. She had taken all that time I spent running to take her belongings and leave.

Vivian left me.

Walking out of the bedroom I stood in the middle of the living room feeling lost. The person I had invested all of myself in for a year just left. Because I was questioning if Minhyuk was telling the truth?

I collapsed to my knees feeling the tears that were streaming down my face for who knows how long. The only feeling I felt was my broken heart. A year of trying so hard to make her happy, and it only took one person calling her out on cheating.

The sound of footsteps coming up behind me went unnoticed. But when the person knelt down and hugged my back, that slight feeling of hope hit me like lightning. I turned my head around as quickly as my neck would let me.

The hope didn't leave, but my heart ached.

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Word count: 1166