Let me In | Enhypen

Tag | 23

Two pairs of footsteps echoed out in the hallway as Jiyeon walked a few steps in front of Jungwon, speeding up slightly any time Jungwon tried to catch up with her.

"Will you just listen to me please?" Jungwon begged for the umpteenth time, making Jiyeon immediately turn around with a snap of the fingers.

"I'll listen to you once we're out of here and I don't feel guilty about smacking the crap out of you," Jiyeon shortly snapped making Jungwon purse his lips as he exhaled through his nostrils - he was slowly growing frustrated with Jiyeon's stubborness to not listen to him.

"You know that lie-detector thing was something you buy in a toy-shop!" Jungwon exclaimed making Jiyeon just widden her eyes at his outburst, "it isn't 100% accurate! You weren't a bet, a dare, a game or anything of the kind! How low do you think of me?"

"I'd ask you the same," Jiyeon retorted as she crossed her arms over her chest - internally it was more of a protection mechanism, she knew very well that if Jungwon wanted he could easily knock her out with all his years of Taekwondo, "you decide to believe rumours about me like that without even asking?"

"I was a child!" Jungwon exclaimed, "how am I supposed to know better?"

"So why not just ask me if the rumours were true or not?" Jiyeon snapped, "I would've been able to tell you that I didn't even have a babysitter!"

Jungwon frowned at her at the revelation. He swore he recalled her getting picked up by a strange man from school back around their first few semesters of their school lives. He swore it was a babysitter.

"My mom was having an affair with that man while my dad was abroad. I was a kid and I didn't know better than think he was a nice friend of my mom's!" Jiyeon yelled in return, "you could've just asked!"

"It doesn't change if it was your mom's lover or your babysitter, the rumours would still be there," Jungwon coldly remarked making Jiyeon let out a frustrated squeal before turning around and marching down the hallway, "you can't just walk off!"

"Watch me!" Jiyeon called back in return.

Jungwon had to bite down on his tongue to not yell another remark. He sucked in a sharp breath before quickly jogging down and walking beside Jiyeon, grabbing her arm before she walked ahead of him once again.

"You're more in danger if you walk alone than if you walk with me," Jungwon calmly remarked, earning no response from Jiyeon. She knew he was right, but at that moment she despised Jungwon, "I knew the rumours weren't true. I knew you would've told me if they were. I was just scared of what peolpe thought about me," Jungwon admitted as Jiyeon glanced up at him, "I know that was immature and it wasn't fair. Because I know that what you needed most when we started in school was a friend, and I was that friend... and I neglected you, and I'm sorry for that."

"The rumours were true," Jiyeon quietly admitted before going silent and retreating to her own thoughts as she pondered if she should go more into depth, but once Jungwon assuringly squeezed her arm in his grip she decided she could just go ahead - according to her they would die in those hallways anyways, "he promised my mom to start picking me up from school, so she didn't have to stress that much. To me he excused it with us having time to play before my mom got home," Jiyeon quietly explained as a small frown grew on her face as she recalled the years, "I guess you know what he did due to the rumours, but it continued... for a long time actually... I was first thirteen when I realized what we actually were playing. But I always doubted it... I think I doubted it because he never actually... you know... raped me, it was just harrassment," Jiyeon murmured the last part, "I told my dad when I was fourteen that mom was seeing this man, and dad began working more abroad. They didn't want a divorce because it was expensive, and now. It has stopped, because my mom got pregnant last year. He did not want to be a dad and he disappeared."

To Jungwon it sonuded very artificial what he was being told, but he was quick to figure out it was only because he was getting the surface of everything. She wanted to explain the whole ordeal to him shortly, so of course she decided to skip over certain parts she wanted to keep away and forget.

"It continued until last year?" Jungwon questioned in a whisper, earning a shake of the head.

"It stopped when I was fourteen," Jiyeon quietly assured him, "he stopped when I told my father. I guess he was scared of what my dad would do to him if he found out that it wasn't only my mother he had done anything to."

"Do I make you feel uncomfortable at any point?" Jungwon questioned and Jiyeon quietly shook her head, "I don't?"

"Only that time when you kissed me in the park, unannounced," Jiyeon shrugged quietly, "but not since then. I know you have pure intentions and are too kind to wish to hurt me in any way. I just... it hurt hearing you say all those things back there."

Jungwon abruptly stopped walking, forcing Jiyeon to do the same as he still held a grip on her arm. She looked at him with slightly widened eyes and raised eyebrows, as if she was quietly questioning why he had stopped.

Without any exchange of words, or any sounds, Jungwon pulled Jiyeon into him. He wrapped his arms securely around her as she kept holding onto her elbows. Her head was softly pushed onto his shoulder as he rubbed his thumb back and forth over her scalp as a way to soothe her. He knew from when they were kids that anyone playing with her hair could calm her down enough for her to eventually fall asleep. He didn't want her to fall asleep he just wanted her to feel calm and safe around him.