Love and Let Go ↔ Yang Jungwon

4

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Jungwon immediately stands up, extending a hand to the girl who had crashed onto him. "Ahhh... are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," replies the girl. "Sorry for not paying attention, I was lost in my thoughts." She collects her books and clutches them tightly. With her free hand, the girl grabs his hand and pushes herself up. She bows apologetically. "Sorry again."

Jungwon smiles. "Like I said, it's fine."

The girl just hums and lifts her head. Automatically, they lock eyes, both thinking the same thing in recognition.

Ah, shoot.

They stood there, just staring at each other, both having no idea on how to escape the awkward situation.

"Er... I'll go first," the girl says, breaking the silence between the two. In one swift movement, she swivels around, about to walk away before Jungwon grabbed her sleeve.

What are you doing, his mind screams, yet, he did not let go of her. Slowly, the girl turns around to face him, confusion evident on her face. She tilts her head, her hair spilling to one side.

Suddenly, he lets go. "Uh..." he mumbles shyly, letting go of her sleeve. What was he going to do again? Jungwon stares at the ground, unable to look at her straight in the eye. "... Sorry about yesterday, ma'am. I didn't mean to make you cry..." He lifts his head and meets her eyes. How would she react...?

"It's okay, I understand," she answers calmly. "You didn't need to apologize."

Silence. Jungwon uncomfortably shifts from foot to foot. Unable to bear with the silence any longer, he blurts, "What's your name? I-I mean we are partners for the Social Studies project, so I might as well get to know you..." he trails off.

Surprise appears on her face. "It's Giselle. Kwon Giselle." she replies softly, blinking innocently.

"Oh, that's a nice name." Jungwon compliments. He rubs his arm nervously. "Thank you for trying to help me yesterday, I appreciate it. It's just that she's gone-"

"And it's hard to move on, right?" she finishes for him. For the first time, Giselle shoots a small smile at him. "Moving on doesn't mean to forget, it means to accept reality and proceed in life, feeling lighter. Nor is it easy to move on."

Jungwon remains silent, processing her words. It makes him feel, just a bit, lighter. Like as if some of the burden was lifted from his shoulders. "I think I owe you something..."

Giselle looks down. "It's fine. There's no need to... I was just trying to help..." 

Jungwon tilts his head playfully. "Who said that I was asking you for permission? I owe you for trying to help me." he says. "Were you secretly a therapist in your last life? You're good at that kind of thing."

A soft, bubbly laugh came out of her mouth. Just like Sakura's, he thought unconsciously in the depths of his mind. "No, I don't think so." Giselle smiles at him. "I think I know why Sakura loved you."

A pang hit his heart. Heartbreak. Jungwon exhaled deeply. Forcing the smile on his face, he asks, "What do you mean?"

Unfortunately, she notices his fake smile. She covers her mouth. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to remind you of-"

"No, it's fine," he interjects. "What did you mean by you know why Sakura loved me?" Jungwon asks curiously.

Giselle fidgets nervously. "It's nothing," she says, clearing her throat. She changes the subject. "You said something about owing me?"

She was avoiding his question, but he respects her decision to keep quiet. "Yeah, are you free tomorrow afternoon?" Jungwon asks. "I'll buy you something at the nearby cafe. We also need to work on the project."

"Yeah, I'm free tomorrow. Send me the address. Uh... your number?" 

"Sure!" Jungwon smiles as Giselle hands him her phone. He types his phone number into the app and hands it back to her. Everything was going well, but he felt like he forgot something. He snaps his fingers. "Oh! I almost forgot, you left your messenger bag yesterday. I have it in my locker. Wait here."

Without waiting for a response, he rushes to his locker and spins the dial to enter his locker combination. Once he had successfully opened his locker, he rummages through his messy locker and retrieves her bag and races back to where Giselle was waiting for him. "Here!" he says, presenting her bag.

"Thank you... Jungwon," She slings it across her shoulder and places her books in there. She checks the time on her phone. "Oh... we've been here for 10 minutes already." she awkwardly laughs. "Well, I'll get going now, Jungwon. It was nice talking to you! See you tomorrow!"

"Oh okay." For some reason, he felt slightly disappointed that his conversation with her ended so shortly. At least he could talk to her tomorrow at the cafe.

Giselle turns to the direction of the library, just about to leave. She had only taken a few steps when Jungwon suddenly calls her name. "Kwon Giselle!"

She whirls around in bewilderment. "Yes, Jungwon?" she asks, standing there patiently as she waits for what he had to say.

"Would you like to join my friends and I for lunch today?"