Regret Me Not | 김석진

Eleven

The rain continued that night, having stopped conveniently for the duration of their bonfire. Iseul got out of Victoria's car and waved before running up the steep street and to her house.

She pushed the door open, conscious of the drops of water dripping from her soaked clothes and hair. Her sister was already standing there with her car keys.

"You didn't take a jacket with you?"

Iseul sighed. "It was warmer earlier."

"Well, take one if you go out again." She slithered past her to the door that was still open. "I'm going on a date with that foreigner guy."

"Shrimp dick?"

"Yeah."

Iseul nodded in remembrance. "Have fun," she called halfheartedly on her way to the bathroom to dry off.

"I'll be back in the morning!"

"Slut!" she yelled playfully just before the door shut.

The house was small with only one bedroom, which the girls shared. It was all they could afford with her sister's salary and the small inheritance left by their parents.

Iseul grabbed a towel from the small cabinets next to the bathroom door and began to rub it over her hair to dry it. She continued with it to her room where she paused only to change into dry clothes.

Her phone pinged, and she thought it was the group chat, but it was Jungkook.

She smiled before responding. Her thumbs hovered over the screen when she suddenly remembered what she had wanted to ask him.

Her heart rate quickened as she waited for a reply. What if he was just being all affectionate with her because he saw her as a sister or something? They hadn't actually kissed on the lips.

She jumped out of her skin when he responded.

Staring at the response she typed, she decided it was better to just leave it.

Iseul wasn't aware of the tears streaming down her face until they dripped onto her phone screen, leaving a streak across Jungkook's exclamation. She took a deep breath and tried to focus on the good.

She watched the screen for what seemed like a long time. Minutes passed. Then a half hour. She began to cry again, knowing she'd scared off another person. Nobody ever stayed. The only person who did was Victoria.

Iseul started thinking about how she couldn't face any of the guys anymore—not after this. Humiliation seeped deep into her bones and caused her to cry harder. She wanted to reach out to Victoria, but she didn't want to be a bother.

A knock on her door interrupted her thoughts. She quickly wiped away the wetness on her cheeks, remembering that her cousin was coming over to get something she left while visiting.

Trying not to look too miserable, she opened the door to find Jungkook standing there, soaking wet and breathing heavily.

He squinted at her through the water continuously falling on him. "Sorry I didn't get here sooner!" he shouted over the roar of the rain. "I had to find you through the snapchat location thing but it doesn't give an address so I had to knock on a few doors before I found you."

Iseul's eyes were wide, still not really believing that he was there. "But you—I thought—"

"I know," he cut her off with a warm smile before placing his hands on her face and bringing her lips to his.

He kissed her like she was air and he couldn't breathe. She rested her hands on his chest as he held her in his strong arms.

When he pulled away, she couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. "So does this mean we're dating?"

He just laughed before kissing her again, which was a much better answer than a verbal one.