Crestfallen • Jeonghan [2]

23

The cold wind was no match for Lia's determination to find the books. It was her father's. Her family's. Her posession. Jeonghan had no right to suddenly volunteer to throw them away. And what was with Seungcheol, agreeing to everything the boy says? It was as if there was no more family between them; Jeonghan and work was prioritized.

Although Seungcheol himself had said that the main reason why he had stopped the business was to stay at home with family, but why does it feel different? Family was only for them; only for Lia, Seungcheol and Hansol. But why with all these people?

Why with Jeonghan, especially?

She huffs. Her bangs had grew. She needed a haircut.

The area that Seungcheol had texted her seemed quiet and lonely, like the outskirts of the city. There were still people passing by, although not much. The day was already dull enough based on the clouds, and her day couldn't have gotten any more dull than this.

She took a right turn and entered a building. It looked somewhat like a small public library, but she wasn't sure herself. There were a lot of books, though, books that were waiting to be thrown away.

"Excuse me, have you perhaps gotten anyone entering here with a large amount of books today?" Lia asks the woman by the counter. The woman hums, checking the board on the table to see.

Her eyes lit up, "Ah yes, we've had one recently. Is anything wrong?"

"I was wondering if we could get the books back, they were something important to me." Lia tells her, eyes full of hope, not being wanted to let down.

"I'm sorry, but the last van has taken them to charity. There is no way to return them back to the owner; a contact was signed between the donator and our company." The woman says, fixing her gold-framed spectacles. Lia's heart dropped. Her eyes had faded. There was no choice now.

"Is there any way to get the books back?" A voice from behind interrupts, the figure standing by Lia's side "if I kept the paper we could still get it back right?"

Lia looked up. Jeonghan?

There was no way he was there to help, right? He had thrown away the books at his own will, why was he changing his mind all of a sudden?

"Apparently yes you can! Good for you, so do you have the paper with you sir?" The woman stands up from her seat, ready to reorganize everything.

Jeonghan offers a smile.

"Nope, sorry, I threw it away."

Lia grits her teeth. She dragged Jeonghan's arm out of the building, ready to attack him with questions, hit him, even.

"Wow, your hands sure are cold, do you want my gloves?" Jeonghan asks, offering another smile of his. It just addes fire to Lia's already burning flame.

"You didn't have to do that. At all," Lia says sternly "if you weren't there to help me then you could've just; fucked off."

Jeonghan's eyes were elsewhere, acting like it wasn't a big deal. He had trimmed his hair, the short black locks right below his ear. He looked better with dark hair, but it meant nothing to Lia, remembering what had happened, what he did towards his hair.

"I never said I was going to help you, did I?" Jeonghan retorts, shoving his hands inside his pockets. Lia wanted to scream. Has he no idea of how her father's books meant so much to her? Of course he does. It was obvious. He had read her father's journal. He knew those books contained everything. And there was no way to get them back now.

Lia's ears were red from both the cold and the frustration. There was no hiding it already. And she didn't need to. Jeonghan had already known that she was pissed.