SKYFALL ↠ Haechan ✔

XXVIII

CHAPTER XXVIII : Walls Between Us

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Waking up, Areum found the memories of the previous night to be hazy, like fragments of a dream slipping through her grasp.

As she saw the clothes on the floor, memories started flowing in and she finally remembered what happened between her and Haechan last night.

She scanned the room to look for Haechan but he was nowhere to be seen.

"He left?" She frowned her eyebrows, confused but shrugged it off immediately and quickly got dressed, afraid that someone might come in.

True enough, Hanni came in right after she got dressed "Unnie! You can leave now!" Hanni said excitedly.

Areum smiled "Oh? Haechan agreed to it?" She asked.

"Well, we need your help on finding your dad. He's literally nowhere so I figured the only person that knows him would have to be you" Hanni explained.

"I'm not sure if I know him anymore, Hanni.. or in fact know him at all"

Hanni gave an apologetic smile and rests her arm around Areum's shoulder "It's okay, you have us. Come on let's go and find him"

-

Areum and Hanni entered the meeting room, the low hum of discussion already in progress. Areum's entrance shocked everyone. Haechan stood up and walked up to the both of them.

"Everyone, Areum will be helping us on catching her dad" Haechan announced.

As Haechan walked back to his original spot, he heard whispers circulating about Areum. The air thickened with unsavory comments.

"She's out?"

"Just because she's his wife doesn't mean she can just get away like that"

"Mark literally died because of her"

Haechan, furious by the circulating whispers about Areum, abruptly slammed his hand on the table, the resounding impact demanding attention. Stopping everyone from doing what they were doing.

"I don't want to hear any of that. Focus on the task at hand. Areum is part of this mission, and that's where our attention should be" Haechan said and after getting nods from everyone he continued.

"Now let's start"

-

After hours of discussing, everyone finally came up with a plan "So, that wraps it up. We'll continue tomorrow, everyone is dismissed"

Everyone started to leave the room and Haechan closed his eyes and leaned back on his chair. He massaged his eyebrows trying to get his headache away.

"Are you okay?" A voice spoke and he opened his eyes to see Areum standing beside him.

"Yeah i'm fine, let's go home. You must be tired" Haechan said and quickly stood up and packed his stuff. Areum nodded and followed Haechan to his car.

The car ride home remained enveloped in an uneasy silence, each passing moment amplifying the weight of unspoken words. Areum, glancing at Haechan beside her.

"Does he really want to act like nothing happened between us last night?" Areum thought.

The air in the car seemed to thicken, Haechan's gaze fixed on the road ahead.

"What's bothering you?" Haechan broke the silence and it caught Areum off guard.

"What- Oh um nothing" Areum quickly shrugged it off.

The journey continued in silence, the unspoken conversation hanging in the air until they reached their house. As they entered their house, a tinge of nostalgia crept into Areum.

"I missed our house" Areum smiled as she looked around the house that used to be a happy place for the both of them.

She realised Haechan didn't reply anything so she turned around just to see him already heading upstairs.

Sensing the weird vibe going on between them especially after the night they spent last night still bothered Areum.

"I need to talk to him" Areum thought and quickly ran up the stairs to catch up on Haechan.

"Haechan!" Areum shouted down the hallway and it stopped Haechan from opening his bedroom door. Areum walked up to him.

"Yeah?"

"About last night-" Areum tried to speak but Haechan cut her off immediately after sensing where this conversation was going.

"Areum, I have a favour to ask" He took a deep breath.

"For now, let's just focus on catching your dad first so you can prove yourself. And I think only then, it's appropriate for us to talk about.. us" Haechan said completely catching Areum off guard by his answer.

"Oh. I thought last night was-"

"Last night.. was a mistake. We never should've done that" Haechan clarified.

"This is ridiculous" Areum scoffed "So you're meaning to say that last night meant nothing to you?"

Frustrated, Haechan ran his fingers through his hair. He closed his eyes briefly, collecting his thoughts before finally speaking.

"Areum, things are complicated. We can't just go back to how it was" He explained.

"You're such a jerk! You shouldn't have initiated it last night!" Areum raised her voice.

"I know, and I regretted it so i'm really sorry for that" Haechan said, still keeping his cool tone.

"Whatever, i'm done" Areum rolled her eyes out of annoyance.

She then moved to enter their room to which Haechan intercepted, blocking the entrance with a firm stance. Disappointment etched across her face.

Areum lets out a disappointed scoffed "So we're sleeping in different rooms too now?" Areum asked but didn't receive a reply from Haechan.

He kept his gaze on the floor, a hint of regret in his eyes, he felt the weight of the decision but stood firm, recognizing the complexity that now dictated their shared space.

"Fine!" Areum immediately turned back and walked to her previous room and entered it, slamming the door.

"He's unbelievable" She thought.

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