boomerang

Chapter 21

Just when she thought that the second Jungkook's hands were gently holding her face, her lips would finally meet his, Chaeyoung's eyes shot open in surprise when she felt him gently pushing her head away from his, accompanied by a low 'stop'.

Chaeyoung's brows dropped as Jungkook looked away, his hands gripping her arms and pushing her away before he quickly turned on his heel. His shoulders rose for a couple seconds before they dropped, his sigh heavy.

She felt her lips trembling as she watched his tensed back, his fingers raking through his hair and she could feel the frustration emanating from him.

"Stop... Enough..." Chaeyoung muttered.

Jungkook dropped his hand from his hair and he merely looked at her over his shoulder.

"Why?" she asked, her voice breaking. "Why do you keep saying that? Why do you keep saying that it's enough?"

He was silent, focusing back toward his front instead of turning to her. She waited despite the disappointment growing bigger within her.

"Why?" she repeated.

Jungkook made a noise in his throat. "Because—" He sighed heavily. "Because that's what we should do."

Though she tried so hard to hold it in, a tear escaped and she quickly wiped it away before it dropped to the floor. "We?" Chaeyoung tried to laugh but it sounded pathetic. "Has it ever occurred to you that I might want more than enough?"

"You don't want that."

She scoffed as irritation bubbled within her. "What do you know about what I want?"

It angered her that instead of treating her like how he'd been in the beginning of their relationship, as the days went by, he changed her perspective of him. He made her feel safe and protected despite how reluctant she was to let him into her life. Who was to blame when this happened? Him? Or was it her fault for letting her guards down?

"You don't get to tell me what I want and what I don't. If you don't want me, Jungkook, you should just say so. Instead of trying to turn it on me, instead of making me think that you fucking wanted me even just for a little bit, just tell it to my face that you don't want me if that's what you really feel. Stop misleading me."

Jungkook's fists were clenched on his side but he remained quiet. When his silence prolonged, Chaeyoung's frustration grew at him and at herself.

"Not a word? Really?" She nodded her head quietly and stomped to take her handbag on the couch. "As expected from a coward," she mumbled under her breath.

"Where are you going?" He sighed heavily.

"Out of here."

"Out where?"

Chaeyoung threw her hands in the air. "I don't know, Jungkook. Just— out. Somewhere. Anywhere. Maybe someplace else where I'll find someone who won't waste my time." Her hand landed on the door handle. "Maybe someone out there would actually want me, since apparently, you don't."

Just before she could swing the door open, Jungkook's hand roughly pushed against the door, blocking her from opening the door.

"In that case," his hand wrapped around her arm before he turned her around to face him, "you're not leaving."

His eyes were burning, but she wasn't easily backed down as she stared back at him challengingly, tilting her chin upward. "Why not? Why should I stay here? Do you need me to continue making a fool of myself into thinking that you would want me? Is that your form of entertainment?"