although // shin ryujin

start of something new

(ryujin's pov)

my heart was racing at a million miles per hour and the butterflies in my stomach gave me a literal stomach ache as I felt her soft lips on mine.

I must be dreaming.

she slowly pulled away, immediately making me miss her taste. I whined a little and pouted, I didn't want the kiss to end so soon, I mean I deserve one that's a little bit longer, since I've been chasing and thinking about her, a taken woman, for so long, now, right?

I was broken out of my thoughts when she suddenly rested her head on my shoulder, at least giving me some sort of her physical touch.

"I like it here with you," she said, breaking the silence as she grabbed my hand, "nobody bothers me and it feels like it's just me, you, and these flowers, which, to be honest, is all I could ever need."

I turned my head to meet her eyes, I opened my mouth to say something, but I was speechless. words couldn't even describe how I feel about her, nor how she makes me feel. instead, I took in the silence and tucked in a loose strand of hair behind her ear, before leaning in to kiss her once again.

this time, she moved away.

before I could react or say anything, she interrupted, "I already kissed you twice despite still being with keeho, I don't want to make it a third time, okay? let me break up with him and then you can kiss me all you want." she said.

i pouted, but she didn't give me any time to respond, because she immediately pulled out her phone and dialed keeho's number.

"hello?" keeho yelled, once he answered, as jangmi put him on speaker.

"are you drunk?" the girl asked, skipping the introductions and getting straight to the point.

"no, why?" he replied.

she sighed, "I need to talk to you. meet me outside in 5." she said and then hung up the call, not giving him a chance to accept or decline, probably knowing he'd come, anyways.

she removed her head from my shoulder, "i'm going to do it, okay?" she said, as she slowly arose from her spot. "I'm not going to mention you, though." was the last thing I heard before she walked out.

I sighed, taking in the fresh floral smell that returned once the smoke dispersed. I could feel the temperature slowly drop as the sun set and the moon took its place, but nothing was going to make me move from my spot. if it means getting hypothermia for having to wait for her return, then so be it. I'd wait the rest of my life for her.

...

It's been about ten minutes since she left. probably the longest ten minutes of my life, as I missed every second spent away from jangmi.

I was playing games on my phone, until the sound of two voices outside of the garden interrupted me. it sounded a lot like jangmi and keeho.

you know, I hate eavesdropping and I hate people who don't mind their own business, but those don't apply to me. especially since I wasn't even eavedropping, I was just.. scooting closer so I could hear them better, obviously.

"what do you mean you want to break up with me?" a deep voice slightly yelled. it was keeho.

"I just do!" the feminine voice, which immediately registered as jangmi, replied back. I chuckled a little at her lack of reasoning and words, but I was wondering if she was going to tell him the real reason why, excluding me from the part, of course.

he sighed, "give me a better reason, jangmi. I'm not stupid, you're not one to do something just because you 'want to', so what is it, really? are you seeing somebody else?" he scoffed. I could hear the bitterness from his voice from here.

she sarcastically laughed, "me? seeing somebody else? please, don't accuse me of that when you, my love, have been seeing somebody else, this entire time!" she yelled back.

he scoffed again, "the fuck? since when? who?" he replied. this time, I could hear the uncertainty in his voice, and I know jangmi could, too.

"don't play dumb. I went to your place on that one off day we had, and saw that blonde bitch all up on you." she bitterly replied. "next time, if you don't want to get caught, don't give your girlfriend keys to your house." she sarcastically muttered, as I heard the sound of keys jangling.

I heard him nervously laugh. there's no way he can get out of that one. "baby, please, it was on accident! she wouldn't leave me alone, she never leaves me alone!" he pleaded, as I heard his voice shift from bitter to manipulatively soft, knowing he was caught in the act.

"then don't invite her over to your house next time, if you knew she'd do something like that, keeho. you have a girlfriend, may I remind you— oh, i'm sorry, ex-girlfriend now." she finished, making my heart flutter at how hot she sounded when she was mad.

I thought that was it for the two of them, until I heard jangmi speak again. "I am seeing another person." she said, but pausing. I held my breath, is she going to tell him? "but, every second I spent with them was not a moment I felt wrong because even though you cheated on me, I still knew better— but, love, it is so hard to control myself with someone I like, knowing my own boyfriend could so easily throw away something like what he had for a one time thing. so, I did something you would: i kissed them, too. although, I felt terrible. I dragged myself for it for too long, until I realized, once I saw you with another girl, it was over for us. me choosing not to kiss them wasn't going to save our relationship, anyways." she finished, for good this time, too, because I heard the faint noise of heels clicking and keeho yelling after her.

"w-wait! jangmi, please! i'll change, don't leave me like this!" he begged, earning a scoff from me at his patheticness.

I took time to think about what she indirectly said about me, though. I respected her decision to tell him. she could've chosen to leave out the part of her seeing someone else, too, all the while being with him, but she told him the truth, nevertheless. she was open and honest with him, up until the very end of their relationship.

which I hope will be the start of something new for us, too.