Entangled Love

Chapter 53: Tense

"Did you forget that you still have a boyfriend? Both of your lips were almost touching!" Gary shouted and gripped her wrist even tighter than before.

"It was just a game!" Jihyo tried to get his hand of her wrist and in the midst of it, she accidentally slapped him across his face. Jihyo was surprised at what she just did. Her eyes widened as she stared at her hand that was trembling. Silence hung in the air as Jihyo tried to compose herself.

She reached out her hand towards him with the intention of wanting to rub it against his cheek to soothe the pain and apologized. "Oppa, mianhae. I didn't mean to-"

He didn't wait for her to complete her sentence and hit her hand away from him. "I had already apologised to you. Why are you still doing this to me?" he continued. He wasn't expecting that. Jihyo was the first woman that ever hit him. He clenched his fists tightly, trying to control himself.

"I knew that I was wrong last night. I tried my best to make up for it but you wouldn't accept it." he paused and let out a sigh. "Sometimes, I feel that I'm the only one putting in the effort to keep this going."

Jihyo frowned and looked at him. "Are you saying that you want to break up?" her eyes welled up as she struggled to ask.

"We should give each other some time.."

"So we're breaking up?" she repeated the question. Her lips quivered.

"It's not a break up. It's just a short separation to give ourselves some time to think about this relationship."

"How is this not different from a break up?" she shouted at him loudly. Jihyo unclasped the necklace with a ring hanging on it from her neck and remove the bracelet on her wrist, and then shoved it into his hand. "Take all these back."

Gary glanced at the items in his hand and looked at her. "You don't have to do to this." He held his hand out, hoping that she will take them back.

"Since you want to break up, then let's break up.." she slowly stepped backwards and turned to walk away. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she cupped her mouth with her hand and quickly walked to her car where Eun wol was waiting.

Gary stood silently in the tent. The only noise was the whirring sound coming from the ceiling fan. 'Break up, separation,' those were the words that should not have been mentioned but it was too late. He put the necklace into his pocket and wore the bracelet on his wrist.

Gary was not willing to give up on her. He loves her a lot and no matter what happen, he wouldn't want to make the choice of breaking up with her. To him, it wasn't a break up, it was a separation that he felt was necessary but to Jihyo, 'break up' and 'separation' means the same.

Jihyo told her manager that she and Gary had broken up. Eun wol wanted to know the reason but Jihyo wasn't willing to tell her. Perhaps, she doesn't even know the actual reason to it.

That night, her tears wouldn't stop flowing. It felt like a deja vu to what happened in her previous relationship but this time round, it hurts even more. She locked herself up in the room, not wanting to talk to anyone. Her phone was switched off, the curtains were drawn. She curled into a ball on her bed in total darkness.

She couldn't understand why Gary said he felt that he was the only one putting in the effort in this relationship. "Was my love for him not strong enough to make him not feel that way?" she thought as the tears flowing blurred her vision.

The more she thought about it, the more hurt she felt. It felt as though there was something missing in her heart. There was a dull pain in her chest. Perhaps she was exhausted from the turn of events or perhaps she was just tired from all the crying, her eyes gradually shut and she fell asleep.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gary headed to a nearby pojangmacha (small tented stall) to grab a drink. He called Gil out to accompany him. Needless to say, Gil was aware that something must had happened since Gary only called him out for a drink whenever he was feeling down or upset.

"What happened this time?" Gil sat down to catch his breath and took the filled shot glass from Gary and gulped it down to quench his thirst. He rushed down upon receiving Gary's call.

Gary poured another shot glass of soju and drank it. "We.. broke up." he placed the empty shot glass on the table and topple it to the side.

Gil appeared taken aback by what he was hearing. "Why?" he blurted out. It doesn't make sense to him that Gary will break up with Jihyo judging by how much he wanted to be with her.

"Things happened. I suggested for a short separation but she choose to break up instead." Gary didn't want to go into details since it was complicated. He continued to down another shot of soju.

"Gil.. Why does my heart hurt so much?" he asked in his drunken state. Gil looked on and shook his head. Gary slumped on the table, pushing the shot glasses to a side. "I love her. Very much." he mumbled as tears flowed down from his bloodshot eyes.
"Ahjumma! I'll leave the money here." Gil weighed the money down with an empty soju bottle and send Gary back to his apartment.

He gently laid him down on the couch and placed a damp cloth on his forehead. "Yah, I'm leaving." he said without expecting a reply from Gary who was dead drunk.