𝗪𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗗 • 제이크

Eleven; Past

Opening his eyes, the first thing he saw was Yurim. Sleeping peacefully. A few strands of her hair falling over her face. His hands reaches to remove the strands from her face. He pulls her even closer to himself. Her arms were already around him. And then, a question arises in his mind.

What are we actually? Are we friends? We can't be friends right? Friends doesn't cuddle like this. Do they? Most importantly... Friends doesn't kiss.

He gets so engrossed in his thoughts and suddenly feels Yurim moving. She lazily opens her eyes. "Good morning beautiful" Jake says as he reaches to cup her face. Yurim's cheeks turn slightly pink. "Morning" she mutters shyly.

"Are you feeling better?" Jake asks while stroking her hair. She hums. "Good to know" Jake softly smiles. "I'll get something for you" Jake says while trying to get up. "What?" Yurim looks at him in awe. "Aren't you hungry?" Jake asks. "No" Yurim replies as she closes her eyes again. "Sleepyhead" Jake laughs.

"Wait! Jake don't you have work today?" Yurim suddenly sits up from her bed making Jake flinch. "I took a day off" Jake says. Yurim looks at him in awe. "For me?" Yurim asks. "I mean. Yeah? I guess" Jake replies while running his hand through his hair.

"Jake" Yurim calls him. Jake looks at her waiting for her to speak. "You don't have to do this Jake, I'm always troubling you" yurim says. "It's fine, Yuri. You're not troubling me. I just wanted to do this for you" Jake says as his voice slightly becomes low.

"Why?" Yurim asks as a hint of guilt appears in her voice. "What do you mean why Yurim. I just wanted to stay with you and help you" Jake awkwardly tries to smile. "No Jake, no. I want to know what are we and why would you even help me" Yurim says as her eyes start glistening with tears. Jake sits up. "We're... friends?" He hesitantly speaks. He, himself didn't know what was going on in his mind. He couldn't say anything else other than 'friends'.

Yurim scoffs "Friends? Fine, we're just friends" saying that she gets up from the bed and walks straight to the washroom. Jake blankly stares at her. After a few seconds he gets up from the bed and walks towards the kitchen.

~

"Is it good?" Jake asks as he eagerly waits for Yurim to reply. "Umm yeah.. It's so good!" Yurim smiles wide. "Yay" Jake squeals in happiness. Yurim looks at him for a while. "You're cute" then she starts giggling like a kid. Jake's smile fades and his ears turn pink.

"I'm not" he says as he tries to hide his blush. "You are" Yurim replies. "No" Jake says again. "You are, stop arguing" yurim rolls her eyes. "I'm not" Jake repeats.

"Okay, fine. You're not cute. You're kawaii" Yurim giggles. "Whatever" Jake rolls his eyes and takes a bite of his food.

After they finish eating Yurim goes to the kitchen to do the dishes. Jake leans again the counter and watches her. "What are you watching so attentively" Yurim looks at him and laughs. "You" slips out of Jake's mouth. "What?" Yurim looks at him surprised. "Nothing" Jake replies as he looks away.

"Alright , I'm done" Yurim says as she wipes her hands. "What are we gonna do?" Jake asks. "I don't know?"

"Let's watch dramas" Jake suggests. "Good idea" Yurim says. "What drama?" Yurim adds. "Nevertheless?" Jake smirks. "Are you fucking serious right now?" Yurim squeals and hits his arm. "Yah! I was just kidding" Jake says as he fake cries.

"Shut up" Yurim rolls her eyes. Suddenly the doorbell starts ringing. "I'll go open the door" Jake stands up and walks towards the door. "Yuri" Jake calls Yurim. Her eyes widens. "Yejin-" she starts panicking and then Jake realized it's the guy Sunghoon told him about. Her bully.

He has to save her, from him. "What are you doing here?" Jake asks. "Can I come in?" Yejin asks trying to be nice. "You are not welcome here you know that right?" Jake warns as his voice becomes dangerously low. "Come on dude I'm tryna be nice you know. I have some business with her and who are you to stop me?" Yejin says putting a little more pressure on the last part.

"You have nothing with her. Just leave already" Jake says as he tries to slam the door shut. And Yurim stands there dumbfounded. Yejin tries to stop him but Jake was way stronger than him. If he tried a little more he'd be dead by now.

Closing the door he looks at Yurim, who was standing there like a statue. Her eyes were red. It showed how traumatizing Yejin was to Yurim. Jake holds her hand and gestures her to walk towards the couch. She takes a seat on the couch and Jake sits beside her. He then takes both her hands. She starts tearing up.

"Yuri, don't cry" Jake looks at her in sorrow. Jake drew his face a little closer to her. "Look at me Yuri" he says placing his hand on her chin. She looks up in his eyes. Jake's hand reach to remove the tears from her eyes. "Don't cry pretty, I can't see you crying" he says cupping her cheeks.

"You can tell me everything Yuri. You'll feel better" Jake says while pulling her in his arms.

"We were in the same class. He was a nice guy at the start. He used to be so friendly. We were really good friends" she pauses for a while. "After a few months, we started dating. That's when I saw the real him. He suddenly turned into a monster" she cries again. Jake pulls her closer and removes her tears.

"I- I don't know how. He just turned into the worst person. He tried to hurt me. In every possible way. And I couldn't tell anyone. I couldn't hang out with anyone. Other than him. He was scared if i tell anyone. I tried to save myself. He abused me" "Even more" she starts crying harder.

"He left scars everywhere, I tried my best to forget him. But he started appearing in my dreams. I couldn't sleep" she adds. She tried her best to stay calm. But she was panicking. Jake tried his best to calm her down. He did everything he could.

"Everyone misunderstood me. My closest friends. Except Niki. He's the only friend I still have. They thought I was distancing myself because I had a boyfriend. They started distancing themselves even more. I try my best to forget all of these. I tried. But I couldn't. They don't let me"

"I know Yuri. I saw. I saw how much you try. I never imagined this. None of these. I thought you were always a cheerful girl always. I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud that you came this far" Jake says and hugs her. She sobs and he caresses her hair, trying to calm her down.