K-Pop: Imagines & Reactions

(ɴᴄᴛ) ᴊᴀᴇʜʏᴜɴ - ᴀ ᴄʜᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʏᴏᴜ

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✿ 1st Person POV ✿

I first saw you when I moved to Seoul when I was four. I remember the very moment I saw you--double braids and swinging at the playground in the park. I watched as another boy came and started tugging your braids. Coming to your rescue, I pulled him away from you and told him to leave you alone. You thanked me with a big grin and skipped to your mother after hearing her call for you.

Growing up, we were in the same class every year at school. I was your next door neighbor and my room was always right across from yours. I could see into your room and sometimes I'd watch you dance to music and paint with those acrylics that your older brother got you for Christmas. You never noticed though--how you were one of the only people that made me happy.

During freshman year, my two friends shoved me towards you, urging me to ask you out. I ended up stumbling into you and you dropped your notebook. Remember that? Probably not. That day when your notebook fell on the hallway floor, I got a glimpse of what was inside and it was enough to make me feel like a complete fool. You had written one thing, and probably didn't think anyone would ever see it amongst your science notes: Seo Y/N + Lee Taeyong.

You had a crush on one of my friends instead.

I quickly apologized and bent down, closing your notebook and handing it back to you, with my head hung low in humiliation. I watched you date my best friend for two years. And although we became good friends during that time, I slowly started to feel out of place.

After those two miserable years were over, you got a job at the school library over the summer to tutor some students. I also started helping you tutor other students and at some point on the timeline, we started hanging out more. You let me come over to your house and while you painted beautiful sunrises, I always painted sunsets. I never understood why until later on.

Then we went on that trip to Jeju our senior year and you came back depressed and anxious. I wasn't sure what had happened between us but you never spoke to me again. You never spared me a glance and walked right past me like I wasn't even there. I was hurt so much, I thought I could physically feel it.

I blamed myself for whatever had happened. I thought it was my fault and that I had done something so horrible to you. It scared me and I felt insecure. All I wanted was your attention, I craved it until it consumed my very being.

Only three years after the trip to Jeju did I understand why things had changed. I was sitting on a bench when a passerby stopped and let out a sigh, staring at one of the TVs from a shop window.

"So they finally ended up collecting enough funds to make a memorial for the family that died..." they mumbled sadly.

Someone else stopped and replied, "Poor people, they passed away while their son was on a trip to Jeju. The boy ended up passing away before reaching home."

I turned to see what they were speaking of and felt a wave of shock almost knock me to my knees. There on the TV was a picture of me during senior year, standing with my two friends Johnny and Taeyong. You were there too, with your hands on your hips and laughing with that stunning smile of yours.

The headline was "Citizens Raise Funds For Memorial of Jung Family". A reporter then recited the story of my death, "Jung Jaehyun passed away May twenty-third while in Jeju. He was crossing the street when a speeding car drove through a red light. The high school senior was hit and sent to the hospital. Unfortunately, he never regained consciousness."

I didn't realize it until that point, but I had never thought much of the fact that one second I was crossing the street and the next I was at home alone. I thought they had gone on a long business trip as they usually do. But it makes sense now why you always seemed downcast after that trip.

My whole life I thought I had a chance with you.

Turns out I never did.

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