The Empath And The Narcissist | JJK

14.

**

*an year later*

**

You wake up irritated being distributed by the sounds of construction going on in the apartment next to yours. You sigh loudly as you get out of your bed and walk towards your bathroom adjusting and pulling down your cotton shorts.

Getting ready for the day, you in a rush start storming through your document cabinet trying to find a document that is needed by the company administration. It has almost been a year since you graduated and got a job at one of the marketing firms. You are totally living the life you planned for yourself a year ago. Everything has finally fallen in place. You have a great paying job that you love, you have your own house in the city, you are perfectly healthy and you even have people in your life. Yeonhan is studying in the states to whom you talk every morning and check on. You also got the life you wanted for him. Your parents have moved back to your hometown since your father quit the job and started his own business. Now you are all by yourself in Seoul.

"You better stop eating that trash right now. Since when did you go from having a whole-ass healthy breakfast meal to eating stupid cereal in the morning and rushing out of the house?" you yell at Yeonhan on the call. "No, that is not at all acceptable. You need to eat well to stay healthy. I sent out a package for you yesterday with all the eatables and traditional spices. You better get your ass back to cooking and put a harsh full stop on fast food. I don't want to see you reduced to atoms next time I see you, got it?"

"It's the American style. I need to adapt to where I am, don't I?" Yeonhan replies playfully.

"Yeonhan, don't even try to teach me. If you are going to say such stupid stuff, I am going to cut off your pocket money, how about that?" You smirk and try to fight him while you find the piece of document.

"Ayo! I take my words back! I'm sorry. I'll eat good and send you pictures of me eating healthy food, happy? Don't joke with the money, c'mon, my blood pressure shoots up" he acts dramatically.

You chuckle listening to him give up. "No no, let me teach you a lesson and stop-"

"Stop? Stop what? My pocket money? Jeez Y/N don't do that-"

"Yeonhan I'll call you later"

"Hey what? But what about my pocket mo-"

You hang up on him abruptly after your attention fully diverts to something unexpected you found from in between the papers. You let loose of the phone from in between your ear and shoulder and place it away, holding a half torn piece of paper. It had been over a year since you last saw this piece of paper and frustratingly shoved it just anywhere trying to get rid of everything that reminded you of........him.

It's been around two years since you last saw him. Now his memories have faded away in the back of your mind and only come up in situations like this. You recall going back to his apartment that night not knowing it would be the last time. You could still picture the empty apartment that smelt like him, the walls, the staircase which had a memory stuck to itself. You recall walking upstairs in his room and finding nothing but this crumpled piece of paper lying around one of the leftover things in his bedroom, the trash can. You picked that paper up out of curiosity and brought it home. Of course you aren't crazy to bring someone else's trash home but it wasn't just any piece of paper but the half torn sketch of the girl you saw in his sketchbook. You eye the paper you are holding with a bitter yet curious expression one last time before shoving it back again. You could never bring yourself to throw it away even after it's been so long. Just the fact it's his drawings, it's his work, it's his writing, it connects you to him on some level. The only realization that you have been left with is that he is gone.

Forever.

***

"Do you think I should buy some exotic lingerie for the weekend?" Hyeyeon sneakily whispers in your ear, making you startled in your seat.

"Don't sneak up to me like that!" You scold her back in whispers while you both work together on a project with the rest of your team at work. Yes, that's true. Two best friends working together at the same workplace. Fortunate.

She snickers with a smirk following. You enlarged your eyes at her telling her to shush and decided not to answer her by provoking a conversation in the silent and dedicated work environment.

Later in the break, you two gather in the break room to chat a bit while having your lunch.

"Since how long have you been dating this guy again?" You raise a question.

"We will complete four months this weekend while we are away" she sips her diet coke.

"Now that I've been thinking about it, I am not sure if I should tag along with you to meet your secret boyfriend" You sit back on your chair sighing after wiping your fingertips with the tissue, barely finishing your garden salad.

"Hey don't you dare ditch me-"

"Isn't it suspicious how he wants this relationship to be secret. Doesn't that provoke some thoughts in your head like.........you know?" you cut her off with your sudden urge of letting the thought out.

"Like him cheating or having me as a side chick in his life?" Hyeyeon questions but sips her coke again showing you a confident look establishing that she has a lot to say after you answer.

"Look I don't want to be judgemental but I am just worried about you. I don't want you to be heartbroken at the end of this. I've been there. I care about you too much for not being frank and warning you in the beginning itself" "I love you, okay? I will worry about you!" You sit tight raising your eyebrows at her, making sure she takes each and every word of yours seriously.

Listening to that, her confident face softens in 'aww' and looks like she is hugging you with her eyes.

"I love you too, my only best friend. Y/N, you know I don't let many people get close to me just like you and I choose my people wisely and there's a reason why you and I have been best friends since years. You have the right to worry about me, warn me about the guys you feel icky about, scold me, yell at me when I am wrong and then correct me. You are not only my best friend but my sister too, so there is no need to hold back. You can say whatever you want, I trust you more than anything." "About my boyfriend, I know it's been four months and he is secretive about the relationship but trust me. This time, I am feeling confident about it. He is something else. He is different. I promise I'll be fine. If not, it'll be an experience and I know you will be there for me so I am just enjoying the ride. I need you by my side like you have always been, okay?"

A convinced smile forms on your face listening to her.
"Indeed. I will be your constant even if everything else changes. I promise" you become a bit emotional after listening to how much she trusts you and values you in her life.

"You better be" Hyeyeon smirks.

Now that you both are past the serious part of the conversation, you lean back slurping your green smoothie. "So? What's his name? I'll keep that a secret don't worry" you ask with a mischievous smile,

She lets out the same smile with a hint of blush and answers. "Jimin. Park Jimin".

You nod with a teasing smile but at the same time you think that name rings a bell in your head and stare lightly looking at the ground, trying to recall. You feel like you've heard this name before but there is not even a close hint of who it could be. You later let it go as you were very unsure about it.

**