Running Shoes | j.jungkook [COMPLETED]

12: Pink Letter

Ever since their first interaction, they had become pretty good acquaintances.

Although, conversations happened more over texts than in real life. Then occasionally she would join him in the small cafe in the lobby during his break times since Jun would drag her with him to his favourite hyung.

They bonded well over a mutual love for sports and food. She didn't think they would've continued talking since he had been so quiet during her 'thank-you' meal for him. However, after a few nights of exchanging text messages, he had broken out of his shell and proved to be a person she enjoyed talking to.

"My friend likes your housemate," she said out loud in a blunt manner.

He shot his eyes up from his sketch pad to her face. He stared for a few seconds, too stunned to even blink.

"How do you know who I live with?"

"Well, Jun told me you live with a young fortune-teller and my friend recently went to one, in the area. I just connected the dots."

Iseul made a line with her index finger in mid air to highlight her point. 

"It really is a small world," he said before chuckling and getting back to scribbling his pencil on his pad.

"Is that all you are going to say?" she furrowed her eyebrows.

Iseul kept on trying to express her thoughts through her expression, hoping that he would get where she was going. But they weren't on the same page.

"What am I supposed to say?"

"My friend is interested in him and you are close to him..." she raised a single brow and shot a sly smirk.

He simply blinked back with an empty expression. "We aren't that close."

Iseul sighed and slouched back on the wheelchair, a sign of defeat. 

Why am I even trying? 

He was as naive as a little boy, at least when it came to dating. She wouldn't have been surprised if he had never dated, judging by how clueless he was.

"The point I'm trying to make here is that we should be like a catalyst into bringing them closer together."

"How are we going to do that? Actually, no-" he shook his head. "I don't think it is a good idea for us to interfere."

"Which is why I'm metaphorising a catalyst. We speed up the process without altering anything."

"Is that even a word?" he wondered, a confused expression on his face.

"Plus, do you even have any experience with dating?" she challenged him, a teasing smile on her face.

When he replied with silence, she took that as a yes and victoriously sipped her coffee. Iseul didn't manage to catch his jaws clench and his grip on the pencil tighten to the point he thought it might break. A strong memory floated back into his mind, uninvited and unwelcomed. It was a memory he hated to even think about and it left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"I'm going to my aunt's now so see you next time," she said, reversing backwards on her wheelchair. He replied with a slight nod, not being able to meet her eyes.

Twenty minutes later, she arrived in Byung-ho's house and he pleseantly greeted her at the gates before leading her inside.

"She is taking a nap because she was a little sick and tired this morning," he said when Iseul asked him where her aunt was.

She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips as she deeply thought, trying to decode what that meant. It reminded her of the conversation she had with Eunbi, who had brought up the story of how she saw her aunt at the hospital. Together, they had come up with a hunch about a possible pregnancy.

Iseul followed him to the kitchen so she could help out. The place was busy with all sorts of ingredients and a strong scent of kimchi lingered in the air.

"Has she been getting morning sickness lately?" she strategically asked. She curiously watched his back as he made his way around the kitchen island to the sink to wash his hands.

This prevented her from noticing his nervous gulp. He didn't reply for an odd few seconds before nodding his head. Their conversation on her aunt ended there as he turned on the radio.

Although her cooking skills weren't too fantastic, she used to frequently help Byung-ho around the kitchen when she still lived with them. Her job was to cut all the ingredients on the dining table as the kitchen counter was too high for her. Going back to that usual routine suddenly made her insides buzz with familiarity. She felt at home.

Half an hour of cooking and having silly little debates one of which was about what type of kimchi was the best had passed in no time.

"Wake your aunt up and bring her over while I set the table, alright?"

"Sure," Iseul wiped her hands with a cloth before making her way down the corridor.

She gently pushed open their bedroom door before going inside. When she made a turn, the quick movement caused the little cylinder bin in the corner of the room to topple sideways. It's content messily spilled onto the wooden floorboards.

A quiet curse came out as a whisper from Iseul's lips.

She bent completely forwards, her chest uncomfortably pressing onto her thighs as she scooped the rubbish back into the bin.

A crumpled piece of paper caught her eye, particularly due to its familiar pastel pink colour. She didn't doubt that it was from the hospital since she always received a similar-looking letter from them.

Iseul looked up to see her aunt beneath blue covers that laid over her petite body. Her dark hair was a little damp as they stuck to her peaceful face.

The thought of what that letter was possibly about made Iseul smile widely. She imagined cradling her aunt's new born child in her arms. She would finally have a cousin. She shook her head and giggled at her imagination.

Iseul grabbed the crumpled paper and began to flatten it out on her thighs. Her eyes squinted a little as she tried to read what it said.

Her mouth fell open. Her thumbs were beginning to hurt from how much pressure she was applying to the paper. It began to shake before her blurring eyes.

This wasn't what she had been anticipating. The idea hadn't even crossed her mind.

It didn't make sense. It couldn't. Her aunt was a good person. She was young and healthy. So why her?

She desperately wished it was simply her eyes decieving her mind. But when she blinked a couple of times and read it thoroughly one more time, it still was the same.

When her aunt began to stir in her bed, Iseul quickly stuffed the pink letter underneath her thigh. Her hand trembled as she held on to her arm rest.

This was why her aunt had lied to her.

Iseul went towards her aunt, with a turmoil of anger and fear surging through her body.

A/N: Thanks y'all for being patient with me. I'm trying as hard as I can but GCSE is going to be the death of me -__-
- Panda