Be With You | Jangkku (Jang Wonyoung and Park Sunghoon)

Eight

W O N Y O U N G

The city was quiet at this hour, wrapped in the soft hum of distant traffic and the occasional, faint laughter of couples lingering under the warm glow of streetlights. I'm hiding myself using a black face mask, a dark-colored cap, and an oversized hoodie to avoid being recognized. I already went to the pharmacy earlier, grabbed the medicine I hoped would soothe me, and decided — against my better judgment — to wander along the banks of Han River. If Yujin knew about this, she'd be loathing my decision-making skills even more, but whatever. I need this.

I walked slowly, the pills I’d swallowed only beginning to loosen the tight band around my skull. This is my first time buying medicine for myself. The pharmacists told me that it was their most effective pill, so I bought it without any hesitation. Goodness, I hope that they are not lying.

The river stretched before me, dark and wide, with faint, silvery ripples catching the light of the moon above. I stared at my reflection through the waters, the water held an odd comfort, a rhythm all its own that somehow managed to drown out my thoughts. The wind rustled the leaves overhead, their whispers loud in the silence.

“Hey, be careful.” It was a voice that stirred the pent-up anger from within me. I heard it, but I kept my eyes locked on the surface of the water, still staring at my reflection. “You might slip and fall.”

“Is that you, Wonyoung?” a familiar gentle tone echoed through my ears. I closed my eyes and took the deepest breath I could before walking away. “Hey, Wonyoung!”

The voice sounds exactly like Sunghoon. There's a high possibility that it is him, but I could also be hallucinating; either way, I'm not ready to talk to anyone at this moment, especially if it's him. I'm not ready, I want to fully understand the weight of the situation before facing the guy who's linked to the whole chaos.

He called my name again, louder this time, but I kept walking, trying to block out the sound. Why the hell would he call my name out loud? People could hear him! My pulse quickened, yet my legs felt weaker with each step.

“Hey, come here.” When his hand wrapped around my wrist, my breath hitched, and I had no choice but to turn. As his gaze met mine, the time froze for a moment.

I tried to remove my wrist from his grip, but he didn't budge. “Why are you even here?” The words slipped out harsher than I intended, but I didn’t care. I felt too tired, too worn down to play nice and pretend that everything is okay when it's not.

“Let me go, Park Sunghoon.”

Sunghoon let go of my wrist, but his gaze didn’t waver. “I should ask you the same. I haven’t seen you in—”

“Don’t,” I interrupted, pulling my arm back as if his touch still burned. “Don't even try to act as if it was me who's been keeping my distance because it has been you this whole time. And stop showing up just wherever or whenever you want just to bother my peace, and then what? Leave me hanging again? Don't even dare, Sunghoon.”

I placed the hand on my chest, feeling a physical pain as those words escaped my lips. I didn't want to say those words directly to Sunghoon because I knew it might hurt him, but I couldn't stop myself; the words kept flowing out my mouth as if they had been caged for so long and had been desiring to be freed.

There was a flicker of something in his eyes — hurt, maybe, or frustration. He ran a hand through his hair, exhaling sharply. “I didn’t expect to find you here,” he admitted. “And it's never my intention to disturb your peace, or to put the blame on you for keeping your distance, Wony.”

“Stop calling me Wony! What's your intention then? Make me understand and make it make sense.” I challenged, the words spilling out before I could stop them. “Because you never replied to my messages right when I kept reaching out to you after our contract, you never tried to keep in touch after our several recent encounters, and you didn't even bother to check on me when all that article madness began.”

“So tell me, what is your intention?”

He didn’t answer right away; he just looked at me with a pair of concerned eyes — the same comforting glance he would give me whenever I felt sick and tired. “I'm sorry if I made you feel that way, but please listen to me first. It hurts me to see you frustrated.”

I laughed, a sarcastic and empty laugh. “It hurts you? Don't even try to pretend that it does because it doesn't. If you care, I would've felt it.”

The silence that followed felt heavy, and so did the weight on my chest. “I was hurt for the past week, but I tried so hard to keep it to myself. I tried not to make a big deal out of it, but it kept me up at night. It bothers me.” I bit my lower lip, trying to keep my tears from falling.

“Now I'm hurt, Hoon. By the comments from the people online, those accusations, judging the entirety of my being out of a single article. And maybe a part of me is searching for your presence, maybe some of your comforting words because out of all the people, you know me well, right? But guess what? It never came.”

“Take care,” I murmured, barely loud enough for him to hear, before turning away. But as I walked back into the night, I felt the weight on my chest get heavier and heavier. My vision slowly gets blurry, and my body slowly loses its balance.

“Wonyoung!” I heard Sunghoon call my name for the last time before my vision completely went black, and I lost consciousness.

—

I'm so excited to write the next chapter! We will finally hear Sunghoon’s side of the story. I hope you guys are just as excited as I am. See you thereee.