MISSION: Love

+ thirty-seven +

I held my belly and felt like it was going to burst at any moment. Sunghoon still had his eyes fixed on the road, holding the steering wheel tightly with his right hand. My expression turned into a frown as I realised he was driving into an unknown lane which led us away from our workplaces.

"Where are we going?" I asked and glanced at him. He smirked and stepped on the pedal, "You'll see."

As minutes went by, I finally recognised the neighbourhood we went into. It was near my parents' house. He drove the car further and finally stopped at an empty volleyball court. I got out of the car and gasped in awe, "This place."

"Where I taught you how to properly play volleyball."

I rolled my eyes after seeing his proud smirk. I was still looking around, feeling nostalgia washing over me. He went to the back of his car and took out a volleyball.

"I have to warn you, I'm already good at volleyball," I smugly smiled as I motioned him to hand me the ball. He went to the other side of the court and started serving it. I immediately got prepared to hit it when it suddenly fell on the spot next to me.

"I'm already good at volleyball," he mocked me. I scurried towards the ball before serving it. It caught him off guard and he tried his best to avoid it.

"See? I'm getting good at serving it!"

"Whoever loses has to treat the other person. Deal?" He started to feel his competitiveness rising inside him. I took off my heels and stretched myself, "Sure."

He served the ball again and I managed to hit it back to him. I jumped out of happiness, "Be prepared to lose, Park Sunghoon!"

As he hit it back to me, I failed to catch it and watched as it fell behind me. It felt as if my soul just left my body when I realised I just lost the bet.

I panted tiredly and sat on the ground, watching as he laughed at my sudden reaction. He then approached me before sitting down next to me.

"If you didn't bring me here, I would probably forget that this court even exists."

He smiled to himself and lay down, watching as the white clouds moved slowly in the blue sky. "Jinae wouldn't like to come to this place. She's not the type to play sports and be athletic."

"If you teach her and convince her to play with you, she probably would. I'm sure she'll enjoy doing it as long as she's with you."

He sat up straight and scowled, "Do you really want me to marry her?"

I didn't know what to say. I laughed awkwardly and looked away, "Well, you're engaged to her. That's the whole point, right?"

He nodded and got up, "Let's go."

He left me behind as I quickly got up to follow him. It seemed like his mood was gone. He didn't open the car door for me and even started the car engine before I even got in. Thank God he didn't leave me at the volleyball court.

💌

Jinae

As the sky grew darker, I was left alone at the office. All the workers bid goodbyes to me before leaving the workplace. I smiled at them before sneaking into Sunghoon's office. I went straight to the shelf and found a few more of his photo albums. I sat on the floor and began turning pages to pages.

There were so many pictures of him and Hana. During a camping trip, during volleyball practice and even in the school science lab. As I turned to another page, I saw a picture that he probably took secretly. It was Hana tying her hair and she looked like the most beautiful person I've ever known.

I closed the album and closed my eyes as I leaned against the bookshelf. The door opened out of the blue, revealing an angry Sunghoon. He sat on the couch and breathed in and out heavily as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"Bad day?" I asked, making him jump in shock. He finally noticed me sitting behind his desk and sighed when he saw all the albums next to me. He squatted in front of me and took them away, "What are you doing here?"

He didn't look like he was trying to hide that he still had feelings for Hana. It seemed like he knew I could've found out about it. "Why didn't you tell me? About your feelings for her?" I asked with my quiet voice. He sat next to me and closed his eyes, "Because it was an unrequited love. She doesn't have feelings for me."

"So you bottle your feelings up for ten years?"

He nodded and stayed silent before asking, "Are you mad?"

I couldn't help but laugh, wondering how I ended up being engaged to him in the first place. He was confused when I snickered. "I know that you never have feelings for me. You only agreed to the engagement because your parents tell you to. How stupid was I to tell your parents about my crush for you? And I appreciate that you try to take care of my feelings because you didn't want to hurt me."

"I'm so sorry, Jinae. You are so nice and the most perfect woman a man could ever have. But I'm in love with Hana. She's my perfect woman."

"Well then, what the hell are you doing? Why aren't you pursuing her? Why are you still treating her like a nobody?"

"I can't," he lowered his head as he exhaled heavily, "I hurt her, Jinae. I broke her heart and betrayed her."

"Stop wasting your time and go to her. Apologise like you really mean it. Kneel for her and beg for her forgiveness. Show her that you really love her and you're so sorry for everything that caused her heart to break."

"You're right," he smiled at me for the last time before grabbing his coat and leaving the room. I felt my chest heavy as I tried to suppress my tears.

I knew I was the other woman all along and I thought I could change that. But at the end of the day, I couldn't.