oneshots • nctdream x aespa

be there for you 🐰⭐️

CW⚠️ self-harm, please read this story at your own risk.

•

Her eyes brimmed with tears of endless despair. The magnificent shine reflected from the blade brought her back to reality, in which her forearm was stained in rich, wine-red blood that diffused a metallic scent, and her pained reflection stared back with soulless eyes.

He deserved so much better than this, Minjeong thinks.

Someone who was prettier, smarter, and easier to handle—all qualities Minjeong believed she didn't possess. She would never let her tears fall in front of him.

Her boyfriend, and the person she holds closest to her heart. There was no way Jaemin could love her after this—feelings of disgust with herself resurfaced. Why couldn't she just deal with her issues peacefully? Constantly trying to hide her scars around him as her unhealthy coping mechanism was tiring her out.

The distant noise of rattling keys grabs her attention; he said he'd be back much later. Running water infiltrates her wounds; it stings, but she has to get it over with. Jaemin, under no circumstance, could see Minjeong's pathetic state, eyes bloodshot with the misery of existence. Worry seeped into every crevice of her being as she could only envision his revulsed gaze upon her.

A knock on the bathroom door makes her flinch.
"Love, are you in there?" Jaemin's sweet voice provides momentary comfort before she remembers the situation.

"Give me a moment; welcome back!" Minjeong tried in her most enthusiastic tone, attempting to bury the instability of her voice.

Frantically wiping the droplets of distress away, Minjeong quietly unlocks the door to find Jaemin looking at her already, smiling gently.

"Hi, baby."

She can't help but grin back at him. He may have noticed her puffy eyes, but he hasn't commented yet.

"I missed you so much," she mutters, wrapping her arms around his torso. Jaemin's smile grows, and he rests his head above hers for a prolonged moment. They let go from the hug soon after, and he goes to wash up after a day out with his friends.

Minjeong sits on their bed, her head in her hands. The fresh wounds still sting, but they have stopped bleeding for now, and she could only pray the bleeding does not start again; she didn't have enough time to take care of the cuts.

A bit later, the dip next to her breaks off her train of thought when she turns to look at him.

"How was your day, baby?" She snuggles into him. He takes both her hands in his. Jaemin noticed her dazed state of mind beforehand, as Minjeong failed to notice the bouquet of red salvias now residing in the vase on the table.

"I got you flowers. The florist there said something about it symbolising forever love, and, well," he shrugged.

Her eyes widened a fraction, and she went to pick up the vase. "Thank you so much, they're so beautiful." It almost brings tears to her eyes.

Moments later, he steps next to her, eyebrows furrowed lightly.

"Baby, there's something on your shirt." He accidentally hikes up her sleeve, giving her a brief time frame to react, in which she unfortunately freezes. She yanks her forearm away in a failed attempt at hiding it—this was the worst-case scenario.

Jaemin's lips parted and his fingers were still, mid-air. Neither of them speaks for a moment that stretches on forever. His brows furrowed deeper when he inhaled sharply, and Minjeong could feel his gaze boring into her when she dropped her head to face the ground.

Still, he dared not utter a word.

So carefully as though she'd break, Jaemin held Minjeong's hand and wordlessly led her to the bed, where he sat her down to retrieve the necessary treatment kit.

She could feel the disappointment radiating off of him. Losing herself in her thoughts was the only thing she could do now.

"Love, look at me," he whispers, kneeling down in front of her, wiping away the tears she didn't know fell.

"May I?" He gestured towards her sleeve. She nods, too tired to do anything. Her lover holds the cotton with such benign care that it only makes her cry even more, to which he sets down the material to hug her.

"I really tried not to. I'm sorry... I'm so sorry." Minjeong's voice muffles against the fabric of his shirt, tears soaking his shoulder. He pulls away soon after out of concern for her wounds.

"It's okay, baby. I just wish you'd have told me before so we could work through it together. You've nothing to apologise for." He whispers, cleaning and treating the wound with as much gentleness as he can, then proceeds to apply several bandages along her knuckles and forearm.

Once he finished, she pulled him up next to her, and he threw one arm over her waist when they both lay down. Once again, he doesn't speak when he picks her bandaged hand up, pressing a loving kiss to her knuckle.

Minjeong hasn't cried this much in a terribly long time.

Loneliness has always been a core component of her daily life, and her desperate wish to be saved from it has finally been fulfilled. However, love was always such a foreign concept, and both mutual vulnerability and accepting love have always been challenges.

She thought she could be selfish for a little longer, accepting the love she didn't think she deserved, but Jaemin deserved so much more.

He continues pressing light kisses along Minjeong's wounds, observing her saddened gaze towards him.

"Don't even think about breaking up with me," he mumbles against her soft hands, unlike his calloused ones, and continues. "You're everything I could ever dream of, truly. It's pretty surreal that I have you all to myself; if only you could see yourself how I see you.."

Jaemin kisses her cheeks, her nose, and one atop each eye, then brushes her bangs back to kiss her forehead, where he lingers a little longer before facing her, once again with a tear-stained face.

"-and I, for as long as you need me to, will be there to wipe your tears."

•a/n double update just for yall
and OH MY GODDD THANKYOU FOR 10K
i cant even imagine theres a lot of people who read my book, also THANKYOU FOR THE VOTES AND WHOEVER THAT BLESSED ME WITH COMMENTS, I LOOOVE YOU AND THE COMMENTS.
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