3 Years and Forever [EN- Jay X OC] [EDITING]

Chapter 23: Don't Trust Me

She turned to him. "You should not trust me, Jongseong"

Jongseong brought his knees too into his embrace. He faced her. "Trusting you is my choice, Haneul. No one can change that"

She felt her face redden at his word. She hid her face in her arms, leaving her eyes to look at him. "Hey, I have a question for you"

"Yea what is it?"

"Why do you want to trust me?"

He thought for a bit. He recalled the moments he fell for her over again. "No specific reason I guess" he chuckled. "I think you're a good person that's all"

"Guess we're on the same page on that" she replied. "I think you're a good person too"

"Okay it's my turn to ask" Jongseong glanced at her. "Who are we to each other?"

She looked at him puzzled, unsure of what he meant by that. "Like.. What are we to each other? Are we friends or something?"

"Friends? We're just friends aren't we?" she answered.

"What would you do if I say I want us to be more than that?" he stared at her.

She could feel the warmth on her cheeks. She looked away to hide her embarrassment.

"Our marriage" he said, looking far at the sea. "None of it is real, but I wish it was"

"Jongseong..." she turned to him while he quickly avoided her eye contact.

"I know I shouldn't feel like this. It's a contract marriage anyway, just 3 years. I'm sorry that somewhere along the way, I start to care about you, more than friends" she could hear the sadness laced his voice. He sounded disappointed that he started to care about her. She couldn't imagine what it must've been like for him. To grow attached to somebody and let yourself care about them without really caring about how they feel about you. She hated to see him so sad.

"Jongseong..."

"I'll stop now if you don't want me to" he got up from the ground. "I'll see you later then" he turned around and walked to the cafe again, leaving her to think alone at the beach.

* * *

It was morning again but both Jongseong and Haneul had a late morning since both of them arrived from the cafe a bit late in the night.

"Hey" Jongseong came into the kitchen to see Haneul had already started preparing food. "Hey" she replied short as her mind recalled the things he said last night.

"Let me help you" he joined her in the kitchen.

She shook her head, causing him to frown. "No need"

"I'm still gonna do it" he ignored her and grabbed other things from the fridge. Haneul watched him and sighed. She eventually went to the chopping board to chop some carrots and tomatoes. Her mind kept remembering every detail about her conversation with him last night. About his feelings towards her.

Her fingers started moving on their own. She cut the vegetables in small pieces, putting them aside. When suddenly she winced in pain. Jongseong, who was busy stirring the pot, turned to her. Haneul frowned slightly as she looked at her bleeding finger but before she could do anything, he immediately approached her to examine it.

Without a word, she lifted her to sit on the counter before grabbing some kitchen towel and wrapped the injured finger in it. Haneul watched as he went to turn the stove off, took the first aid kit from the higher cabinet and approached her again. She watched him clean her wounded finger and apply ointment and bandage on them. She didn't say a word. He too as he was focused on her finger.

"Just stay here, let me finish the cooking" he kept the things in the kit again. Haneul looked down at her bandaged finger. "Thank you, Jongseong" her voice was low.

"Hey" he called her. She looked up to meet his eyes. Jongseong put his hands on the counter on either side of her body.

"Jongseong..." she saw his eyes. His gaze was different but she couldn't decipher what it meant.

"I'm not going to apologize for the things I'm about to do to you" he said. "Not anymore" he whispered the last two words.

She was puzzled as to what he was going to do, until he leaned in. And slowly pressed his lips against hers. She was surprised about what was happening and she wanted to push him away, but instead she found herself kissing back. She closed her eyes, accepting the kiss. His lips soft against hers. The kiss was sweet and gentle. Their tongues danced together and soon it turned into something else. Soon, the kiss became more heated and passionate. Her heart raced faster when she felt his hand caressing the sides of her waist. Her hand moved to his hair. As she felt herself being pushed against the cabinets, their lips broke apart. Her eyes opened in confusion, her breathing fast.

"What was this for?" she managed to ask. They looked at each other, faces flushed pink.

"Because I want to" he answered. "And also I wanted to see your reaction. To see what you'd do. Why did you kiss me back?"

She avoided his gaze. "I... I don't know"

He sighed. Not the answer he wanted to hear. He let go of her and went to the stove again, turning it on. "Go away I can do this on my own"

Haneul pushed herself off the counter and went out of the kitchen. She went to the greenhouse, sitting on the patio.

'Why did I kiss him back? What kind of response is that? Why was I not able to stop myself from doing that? Now that I think again, how can I kiss him just like that during that photoshoot?' she thought. She touched her slightly swollen lips. Her face turned redder. 'This is not fair! He's messing with my head!'