𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐑 | 𝖫𝖧𝖲

𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞: sorrow

——— 𝑱𝑨𝑲𝑬

it's been around a week since the scene happened. i remember very well how i heard crashing sounds, jieun's voice and her sobs before leaving the event with a ruined mood. i would have loved to stay longer there, but she needed me and she shouldn't be wandering all alone in the middle of the night.

heeseung just stood there with his dirty suit, perhaps still trying to progress what just happened. he deserved it in my opinion, no one casually makes a girl cry like that, especially not when we're all on a special event.

jieun has been going to work more often nowadays, coming home later than usual. kyungjun said she'd take over her colleague's shift to distract herself from her private problems, but since she didn't look well last week already, it made lots of us worry about her condition.

i was still curious about what heeseung said to break jieun like that, but i didn't want to invade her privacy or anything. she should have time for herself and tell me when she's ready.

"love, dinner is ready." i knocked on her door a few times. "but i'm not hungryy!", she replied while opening the door for me. "you have to eat, jieun. you're starving yourself and it's not good. i'm really worried about you. not only as your boyfriend, but also as your close friend who watched you grow up. it's just painful."

ji stomped on the floor and groaned: "you're sending me on that guilt trip again, aren't you?"

"very much, but don't take it too seriously." i pecked her cheek and went to the kitchen, waiting for her to follow me.

"i have to admit that your cooking skills have improved very much.", she complimented me.

"thanks, ever since we went on that breakfast with jay and jungwon, i've been in contact with jay who teaches me sometimes."

"i didn't know! hey, that's great! good job, then.", she smirked.

"i wanted to ask you something though. is there anything bothering you or why are you overworking yourself?"

jieun stopped eating and almost dropped her chopsticks as she looked at me with widened eyes. "jake, how long have you been keeping this question in your mind?"

"i asked first, love." a proud smile formed on my face, making jieun laugh out loud. god, i missed her bright side so much, happiness suit her the most and yet, she almost lost it over time. but after few seconds, her laughter died down already before she inhaled sharply.

"well, i've been overthinking ever since the event. heeseung kept bothering me and you were nowhere to be seen. next thing i knew i stood in the hallway while he desperately tried to explain himself. after i let him, i just accepted it and moved on, but he threw a few nasty insults against my head. after that, i ran outside. you know, you were there then.", she finally opened up, trying to hold back her sniffling.

"oh, jieun. and you've been keeping that to yourself all the time?" i got up to hug her, making her sob. she then just stuffed her face into my chest, sulking like a little child. "you don't have to tell me everything, but i'm here to listen! you shouldn't keep things like that to yourself, because if you do so, you're hurting yourself and it's going to eat you up on the inside."

"you're really helping, thank you." she raised her head and slightly smiled at me. "seems like you aren't in the mood for dinner anymore, huh?"

"we should just cuddle.", ji suggested.

"we definitely should."

——— 𝑯𝑬𝑬𝑺𝑬𝑼𝑵𝑮

"what in the world were you even thinking?"

yujin looked through the documents we have just received and ruffled her hair. "woo enterprises cut off the contract! our stocks are going downhill after you caused a scene at the event! heeseung, are you out of your mind?", she scolded me and threw a few papers in the air.

"in my defense, it's quite unprofessional to cut off the contract due to personal reasons.", i hesitantly backfired.

"you don't get it, do you?", my wife groaned, "there needs to be trust in those contracts. once we actually do a single bit against their will, we don't seem to be trustworthy anymore. why did you have to come for jieun like that? she was such a sweet soul." she pressed her lips together. "you're going to fix that."

"what? why should i?" i raised up from my seat and scoffed in disbelief.

"stop acting like such a mature and powerful man, heeseung. deep down you're regretting every single second of it!"

"got me there, i guess." i sat down again and crossed my arms. "what am i supposed to do? it's not like she wants to see me again after i apologised and added fuel to the fire that was raising inside of her."

"i can't believe the two of you dated back then. god, what exactly made her fall for you?", yujin asked herself and lightly slapped her cheek: "i don't know what you want to do, but make sure you two are on good terms again, so that woo kyungjun is willing to resign the contract. we really need him as an investor this time!"

"ha, easy to say. i don't have her contacts and showing up to the company will make me be banned there before i even know it."

"oh my god, use your fucking brain, stupid!" she flicked my forehead: "you must have had friends, haven't you? as if you stopped contacting them right after graduation! weren't you in the same group of friends? let your contacts play along, what have you been doing the whole year?"

i didn't even blame yujin for being so harsh on me. ever since she got the head position at the charity, she's been a great leader with a strong will. my dad simply ran the company for actors and stars, resulting in me becoming an actor. a rather clueless one, even though i had played some small and a huge role already.

"yujin, i think we should just ask another friend of mine to invest. nagging on the woos doesn't seem right to me.", i admitted and sighed frustratedly.

"you've got a point there, hee.", she nodded, "my bad. i'm truly sorry, we just... i'm quite under pressure nowadays and it's really hard to keep up with everything."

"you shouldn't overwork yourself, it's not healthy at all. i think you can loosen up a bit, can't you?"

before any of us knew, i inched closer to her and closed the gap between our lips. yujin seemed a bit surprised, but didn't push me away. instead, she lazily hung her arm around my neck and pulled me closer.