Catch-22, HAECHAN

24 | mon cherie

Donghyuck seems shocked to see her, but Chaerin doesn't blame him. Anyone would be shocked to see someone drenched from head to toe at their front doorstep.

"Oookay. So I'm just gonna leave..." Mark says before shutting the door quietly. He had opened it for her not even a minute ago, his expression mirroring one of Donghyuck's upon seeing her in her frazzled state.

"Haechan. I need to see Haechan," was the first and only thing Chaerin managed to tell him, but the wide-eyed boy could only stare back at her dumbly as he processed her words. That was only ten seconds ago.

And now, Donghyuck is here.

The first thing he does is to shrug off his jacket as he rushes to her, draping the thick fabric over her shoulders. "You're freezing, princess," he whispers. "Why were you in the rain, hm?"

"No, Donghyuck, stop," she murmurs, softly pushing his hands away. Chaerin dares herself to look into his eyes, seeing the hurt that flashes across his wavering pupils. "I need to tell you something. I need to say something but you can't interrupt me until I'm done, okay?"

She takes his silence as a cue to continue.

"What you said to me the other day," Chaerin starts shakily, gulping when her throat suddenly starts to feel dry. It's now or never. "It really fucking hurt me, Donghyuck. And I had spent the past few days just thinking and thinking about it, replaying it in my head like a fucking broken record because deep down, I didn't want to believe that you meant all of that. And I know you don't, because really, you wouldn't have let me go on for this long if you didn't want to see my face again," she scoffs humourlessly to herself, wiping the mixture of tears and rain off her right cheek.

"I know that I hurt you, too. But I want you to know, and I'm telling you right now that I didn't mean any of that shit. I'm sorry," she whispers. "I was miserable after my break-up— you knew that. But when we started that stupid bet I started to feel like myself again— hell, I even started to feel things I've never felt before. And for the longest time I was so fucking confused with myself, because here I was, going on dates with random people you set me up with, but the only times I actually genuinely enjoyed myself was when I was with you."

She laughs slightly. "And that list I made? It wasn't even supposed to make sense, and I'm sure you know it too. It's funny, because as absurd it was, you somehow met the mark for all of them. Even down to the fucking chapstick. And that was when I realised, my heart was never closed. It was just reserved... for you." This time, she doesn't stop the tears falling from her eyes.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that... I'm in love with you, Donghyuck. Gosh, I'm so fucking in love with you, Lee Donghyuck, and I hate that you're pushing me away because even if you don't like me back, you deserve to at least know what being loved feels like. So please," her voice breaks, "just give me a chance. Give me a chance to be there for you, and don't you dare think that you're only going to be dragging me down because if you can't tell already, I'm all in. The same way you taught me to fall in love again, I'm going to show you what it's like to have somebody love you, okay?"

Donghyuck stares at her wordlessly. His eyes are glassy and welled with tears, as though a single blink would break the dam to his tears, and they do.

Droplets roll down his cheeks, his tan cheeks filled with beauty marks that Chaerin had come to love, and she has to refrain herself from wiping the tears away from him.

He finally speaks up, his voice a careful, hushed whisper. "Are you done?"

Chaerin sniffles, nodding.

And just like that, Donghyuck grabs the sides of her face to crash his lips against hers, the warmth of his touch searing her skin immediately. Chaerin doesn't waste any time in kissing him back— how could she, when it's the one thing she's been wanting to do all along?