cold coffee / ijb

+ twenty four (alt. ending/official ending)

chapter twenty four
[alt. ending]
***

aera stumbled into the room, clothes and hair wet from the rain. she carried armfuls of groceries, clumsily maneuvering over to the table to dump her load.

jaebum rushed to help her and her eyes met his briefly before she looked down shyly. it was out of character for jaebum to do anything kind, especially for baek aera. but, he knew he would have to clean up his act if he wanted to be with her.

"thank you, aera," miss im smiled, swatting her hands away from the grocery bags. "i'll get them. you two just go talk."

"are you sure miss im? it's no problem, really i—"

"go! don't be bothersome!" miss im assured, shooing jaebum and aera away.

aera walked to their shared room and jaebum followed behind her silently. she could sense him trailing her so she didn't bother shutting the bedroom door when she entered.

jaebum pushed the door shut lightly, staring at aera's back because she refused to turn and face him.

she was scared, to say the least, scared that jaebum would find some reason to get mad at her, scared he would be so blinded with anger that he would take her in the most intimate way and act like it never happened, leaving her to wonder what he was thinking, scared that he would do it again.

aera's clothes were dripping wet from the storm outside and she began to peel off her shirt.

"aera..." jaebum bit his tongue. he just wanted to be sure that she was aware of his presence.

"what? it's nothing that you haven't seen before," she continued to strip off her clothing, changing into leggings and a big sweater.

all the while, he watched her, testing himself, restraining himself.

when she was done changing into dry clothes, she made her way to the door, not sparing jaebum a glance. he grabbed her hand before she could leave, lacing their fingers together. he'd already crumpled the note he'd written and stuffed it inside his pillowcase, deciding that pouring his heart out through a note was embarrassing and cowardly.

finally, she looked at him. she looked at him then looked at their hands, then back at him.

"aera, i'm sorry."

aera's breath hitched in her throat and her heart stopped beating. her eyes were stinging and she told herself not to cry.

"i'm sorry, it was a mistake," he continued.

her body betrayed her and tears spilled over her waterline.

jaebum immediately stepped closer to her and she flinched back habitually. there was a pang of regret in jaebum's heart as he searched her face and saw that she was hurting. because of him.

"i-it was a mistake?" she stuttered quietly. "that night?"

jaebum lifted his hands to her face, wiping her tears with his thumbs. his heart was aching.

slowly, he brought his lips to hers. softly, he held her face. delicately, he kissed her, as if she would shatter like glass if he made one wrong move.

he wished he could say it was their first kiss. he wished he could say it was his first time laying hands on her. not because sleeping with her was a mistake, but because hurting her was a mistake.

after what seemed like forever, aera kissed him back. her arms wrapped tightly around his torso and she clung to him like he was falling apart at the seems. and he was, until her heart was beating along with his at speeds unknown.

"my mistake..." he trailed off, kissing her on the tip of her nose, the apple of her cheek, the corner of her mouth. "...wasn't being with you..." he connected their lips again, his heartbeat gaining speed when she tilted her head to mold herself with him perfectly. "...it was..." his hands traveled to her jaw, holding it at an upwards angle towards himself. he lightly grazed aera's bottom lip with his teeth. "...not telling you..." she gripped his shirt in her hands, pulling him closer. "...i love you."