Masquerade | Johnyong

★ Chapter thirty

Chapter 30: the first snow fall, my first love

Jungson frowns at the sight of his ex-girlfriend crying as she holds her son's hand. He takes a moment to go outside for fresh air.

After a while, she comes to sit down next to him on a bench. They don't look at each other. They don't even speak. They just sit there for an hour in silence until she decides to break it.

". . .How- how have you been? I haven't seen you in a few years." She asks.

"Roselina-"

"Rina." Rina corrects him.

"You've always had such a complicated name." Jungson laughs. "Not really. I'm just American." She says, smiling.

"The average American has three first names?" He asks.

"Well, Rosalina is my first name, Clarity is my middle name, Rina is my Korean name. Kwon is my last name. Not really complicated."

The two laugh at each other. When they calm down, Jungson looks at Rina. She brushes her hair back as she looks away.

"So what happened to Jungwoo and Doyoung?"

"You remember the one kid, Ten?"

"Yeah. He actually scared me. Never liked him." Rina says, nodding.

"Doyoung cheated on Jungwoo with Ten." Jungson tells her. Rina's smile fades away. She looks down at her lap.

"How-. . .how did Jungwoo handle it?"

"Pretty well. He's been doing good. He broke down when he told me but he's doing well."

Rina nods. "As long as he's ok, I'm fine. Do you think we should do something to that Doyoung boy?" She questions, tilting her head. Jungson furrows his eyebrows.

"What do you mean?"

"I'd say we give him a good beating." Rina suggests. Jungson nervously laughs. "I'd say we don't resort to violence." He says

"So? What do we do?"

"I'll call his parents so he can feel some sense of shame." Jungson says. Rina nods, "Alright then. We'll do just that but I still think we should beat him up." She says and Jungson laughs.

"Whatever you say, Rina."

🕊️

Ningning comes out. "I would say don't worry but that wouldn't help." She tries to joke. "I ran a few tests, just some malnutrition and his iron levels have dropped really low. I suggest he takes multivitamins if he can't get it from food and iron tablets as well. You can go home as soon as he wakes up but take it easy on him." She explains. Johnny thanks her before going inside just to see Taeyong standing at the door, seemingly about to leave.

"Tae. . .you're awake." He breathes as he goes in for a hug but Taeyong pushes him away.

"Don't touch me."

"What?" Johnny reaches out but Taeyong slaps his hand away. He turns to go back to his bed but Johnny pulls him back, hugging him from behind.

"Get off of me! Get away from me!" Taeyong demands, squirming.

"I'm so sorry. . ." Johnny whispers. He feels Taeyong stop fighting. "Get- get off. . ." He breaks down crying as he falls onto his knees, Johnny following.

"Get off of me!" Taeyong weeps, hardly trying to push Johnny off on him. He just sits there, crying.

"I'm sorry, baby. I didn't do it. I didn't do anything." Johnny whispers. He's not sure if Taeyong even hears it as he sobs harder, even hysterically.