It's Over, and So Are We

Eight

The sweet smell of melted butter wakes her up. Jisoo's hand reach out to an empty spot beside her. Haein is not there anymore. She slowly gets off from the bed, then walks to the kitchen and finds him there. He is cooking something.

"Pancake? At this time? For real?" She is kinda surprised.

"Ah, did I wake you? Sorry," Haein places the newly cooked pancake to a plate. "Well, I know it should be lunch time. But I only have this at the moment."

He then rushes to get something from the fridge. "I have strawberries and honey. The pancake will go well with this. You must eat something before practice."

Jisoo smiles brightly as she hugs him. "I'm so lucky to have you."

Haein smiles back, he gently strokes her cheek without saying anything.

"I really don't want to go..." Jisoo pouts while staring at him.

"What time will you finish the practice? Is there anything you want to do?"

"What? Will you be with me tonight as well?" She quickly changes her mood.

Haein giggles. "Yes, I have time."

"Yeaay!" She gives him a peck on the lips. "Then... Let's play basketball!"

Haein's eyes widened. "That's... so random."

"I heard you're good at it. I want to see how good you are," Jisoo bent down to take a bite of the pancake. "There is a place that we can rent. It's private, don't worry. Me and Jennie went there once, but she didn't enjoy basketball as much as I do so we rarely go there again."

He laughs, maybe he still thinks this idea is hilarious. "Alright. Let's do it. We can play one on one."

"Great! We should make a bet, Oppa!" Jisoo then hums, thinking. "The one who loses should... give the winner a piggyback."

"A piggyback? I can give it to you now. Come here."

Jisoo screams when Haein suddenly carries her in bridal-style instead of giving her a piggyback and starts to spin her around.

***

That night, after a long practice with her members, Jisoo's manager takes her to an indoor basketball court where Haein waits. She feels quite tired, to be honest. But the thought of having a basketball match with her boyfriend somehow becomes her source of energy. Jisoo pushes open the door. The LED lamps light up the room. One person is standing in the middle of the court, wearing a black and red jersey, dribbling a ball. Haein smiles from ear to ear and Jisoo's heart is throbbing for some reason.

"You're pretty." He says.

Jisoo smiles shyly, can't look into his eyes. "I won't go easy on you even though you compliment me."

"Same here." He moves the ball to his back. "Come and get this ball from me if you can."

Jisoo smirks. She tries once, and failed right away. Haein does a long range shoot. The ball goes smoothly into the hoop.

"That's 1-0." He brags.

Jisoo gets the ball this time. Haein tries to take it back. They are running, laughing, joking around while shooting the ball. Unlike what they said before, it almost doesn't look like a competition. They take turn to shoot the ball, and Haein ends up mentoring her. It's very clear that he is more skilled than Jisoo.

"Look, when doing a long range shoot, you should do it like this," he shows her the way.

Jisoo follows his guidance. Haein never changes. He is still the most gentle person when it comes to mentoring and he never forgets to give her praises and encouragement.

"Good, good. You learn really fast."

"Right, just focus on the ball."

"See? You can do it. You're great."

Compliment after compliment keeps coming from his mouth, until at some point, it feels fishy.

"Good job. You will do everything well without me." Haein says in deep voice.

Jisoo stops her hands from throwing the ball. "Oppa, what do you mean?"

Haein stares at her with serious look on his face. "Jisoo-ya, I've been thinking."

At this very second, Jisoo knows that she won't like whatever Haein is going to say after this.

"Our relationship... Maybe we should take a break."

She shivers, yet she wants to listen to his reason. "Why? Are you still mad because I lied to you?"

"I'm not mad because of that. But it makes me realize how risky our situation is. And for now, I think it's best for us to focus on ourself and not cause any harm to each other's career."

"Oppa, you're not a harm!" She holds Haein's arm, but lets it go in a second. "Wait... Or maybe you think that I'm a harm to your career?"

Haein doesn't react for a few seconds, but then he anwers with something Jisoo never imagine will come out from his mouth.

"My two dramas will be airing soon. I can't take the risk of being catch in a dating rumor again. It will ruin my hardwork."

"Oh so you do see me as a threat for your career?" Jisoo's tear falls.

"Jisoo-ya, I'm doing this for us..."

"For us? To me you do this for yourself!" She takes one step back. "Oppa, do you even love me?"

He doesn't answer.

"When you said I can come to you when I want to let out what I feel, was that a lie?"

Again, he doesn't even say a single word.

"Wah, really..." She sobs as she wipes her tears away. "And here I really thought I've found someone who will always be with me no matter what. But I guess I'm not as important as your damn career, right?"

He looks away and finally responses to all Jisoo's questions with two words that summarize everything. "I'm sorry."

Jisoo can't stand being there anymore. She grabs her bag, and run as far as she can.

***

"Yoo Eonnie, how was your date?" Lisa greets Jisoo with a big smile.

The three of them are there in the living room, at the dorm. Unlike Lisa, Jennie and Rose quickly notice that something isn't right. Jisoo already stops crying, but her puffy eyes can't be hidden. As she drags herself closer to her members, Lisa's smile slowly disappears too. Jisoo sits on the sofa between Jennie and Rose, who don't say any word. Lisa chooses to sit on the rug near Jisoo.

"I... broke up, guys." Jisoo said.

"Eonnie..." Rose's voice sounds shaky.

"I feel like a fool... How come I fell for someone who didn't love me back as much?"

"No Eonnie, you're not a fool!" Lisa grabs both of Jisoo's hands.

"I'm okay, guys. That's it. Lesson learned. No more boys for me, hahaha."

No one is laughing with her.

"Ah, it's really frustating. Nevermind! At least now I can focus on my solo." Jisoo ensures herself.

"I really hate you for this," Jennie suddenly says. She grabs Jisoo's face and pull it facing her. "Seriously, Eonnie! Just cry when you want to!"

That's when Jisoo realizes Jennie is crying, she has no idea since when. Then from behind, she hears Rose sobs.

"How come it happens to you? You love him so much... Eonnie..." Rose hugs her.

"Hey don't cry..." She is busy patting Rose's and Jennie's hair, they hug her from left and right. Then Lisa is starting to cry too, she cries on Jisoo's lap. "Guys..."

She can't help but to get carried away. Her heart is aching again, looking at her members who cry for her. Maybe, just this once, it's okay for her to cry with them. Just this one time, Jisoo wants to cry with them. Jisoo's breath suddenly gets really heavy. She can't see clearly because of her watery eyes. Then just like that, she wails. The four of them shed tears together.