Eight Shots of Espresso | Na Jaemin

Chapter 26

After a few days of spending your time in the little town, you were back in the city for the second semester.

If you're being honest, you had been itching to go back to the city. You were expecting that all that happened that night was just a nightmare and once you arrived at the city, everything would be normal and you'd be happy again. Neither of that happened because the first day of the second semester was today and you had never saw a glimpse of Jaemin. You went to his house but no one was there. Jeno and Jaemin, and even Chenle, were still in South Korea.

Giselle told you everything and all she could do was pat your back as you cried your heart out. You told her about the night he said goodbye and reminiscing the painful memory made it twice as unbearable.

"I was one of the options to be his bride, but in the end, his grandfather chose Lia, the daughter of his father's supposed fiance."

You grabbed your phone sitting on the bedside table and opened your Instagram. You at least wanted to know what kind of girl Jaemin was marrying. You typed her name on the search bar and she was at the top of the result because she was verified with more than two million followers.

You wish you didn't search her because you were slapped by the reality that you and Jaemin were world's apart.

Lia's feed consisted of her flexing her family's wealth. Riding on an expensive yacht, having a vacation on a private island, hanging out with her friends in a villa, owning bags, clothes, and shoes from luxurious brands, attending fashion shows, everything that a heiress did, Lia was doing it.

"She looks so beautiful and kind..." you whispered as you stared at her picture. "Jaemin will fall in love with her if he will open his heart to it."

"(Name) please don't do that to yourself. You're just as kind and beautiful---"

"But not rich enough to be with Jaemin, to be accepted in his family. He told me his family history and it was tragic. His father was brave enough to rebel against the Chairman but not Jaemin. I'm not saying that Jaemin is a coward, but he was their only hope."

Giselle's eyes were glistening with tears at the sight of you who was slowly falling apart.

"I don't think I can accept this," you said. "It was so... unfair. It ended before it even began. We didn't have much time..."

You shook your head as fresh tears cascaded down your cheeks. Giselle hugged you as you cried for who knows how long. No words were enough to describe the agony you were going through.

No luck on the next days as well for you didn't see Jeno nor Jaemin. You weren't expecting to see Jaemin anymore but you at least wanted to see Jeno. There was at least something that only he could know.

"(Name), your eyes are puffy. Are you okay?" Ningning asked worriedly one time when you sat during lunch with the girls. Giselle felt helpless.

Crying was the first thing you would do in the morning and before you go to sleep at night. Spacing out and staring into the void had also been your hobbies. You were miserable to say the least and all that Giselle could do was to let you feel the pain until it's gone.

The other girls didn't know what happened yet and you couldn't bring to tell them without breaking down.

"I just watched a really sad movie," you lied.

It was the second week of the second semester when Jaemin broke the news. He was finally introduced to the media as the next heir who would take over the Na Enterprises in a few years but they didn't announce the engagement yet with Lia Choi. For the past few days, you avoided looking at his pictures or anything that reminded you of him. When the news had spread, he was the talk of the campus, both students and professors, and it was killing you just hearing his name.