"And what illness do you think you have?" Dr. Kim asked.
She stared at his flawless handsome features in awe as she blurted, "I think I'm in love."
"W-What?!" he choked.
Lee Ha-eun, a broken girl with a haunting past, in fear of hospitals and whit...
Ha-Eun stared at him in shock, still clutching to the money she was supposed to pay.
"F-Freckles??" Jungkook shakily asked, his eyes not even believing it was her.
Her lower lip quivered slightly, though he could still notice it. And she finally handed him the money as her utter shock died down a bit, immediately darting towards the door and walking as fast as a human could ever walk.
The confused lad with the red notebook followed his friend outside the shop, leaving a still stunned Jungkook.
It was her. It was that girl. It was her scent, that familiar lavender scent that never changed.
But it was that girl, she who has suffered from him. The old him...
"Ha-Eun, could you please stop and explain why you acted like that??" Taehyung asked in frustration after following the girl for ten minutes straight through the streets, her slim legs never stopping.
She suddenly stopped at last, not turning to Taehyung as she spoke, "you don't... recognize him?" She finally turned to him, her eyes watering.
"E-Eun?? What's wrong? Who was—"
"THAT JEON FREAKIN JUNGKOOK!! That butthead!!" She screamed out as her tears came streaming down her cheeks. And it hit him. It finally hit him.
"Oh." He didn't even know what to say now. "Ha-Eun," he said after a few moments of silence drifting by. He placed his hand over her shoulder as gently as he could. "Things have changed. You're not that fragile girl anymore. And he's not that ugly ass kid who kept hurting you. You're stronger now. And I'm still with you. You know nothing would happen to you as long as I'm here for you, right?"
She cried out as she hiccuped, unable to answer. Taehyung then brought her closer and hugged her tightly. "Come on, Ha-Eun, you know I hate to see you cry, not in the streets, at least."
That gave him a fainted laugh from the girl. And he smiled as he caressed her head softly, letting her let out all the pain. "It's better to be held than holding on, Ha-Eun."
━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━
As the day got colder, Ha-Eun's heart was getting warmer while she was walking out of the office of Dr. Kim. Even though she had told him about many dark things she couldn't even tell to anyone, she felt more relieved now, the weight in her heart lightning a bit.
As she walked towards the exit, she was startled by a figure sitting on the bench outside the office. Once the man sitting there noticed her presence, he locked eyes with her.
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She wanted to avoid him, but suddenly her phone rang. "Hello?" She said as she answered the phone. It was Taehyung. "Hey, Eun. I'm gonna get a little late. There's a lot of traffic because of this horrible weather. Don't get out of the building, okay? It's raining so bad."
She gave him an 'okay' and a 'bye' before hanging up, thinking what to do now. There weren't other benches here but the one the strange guy was sitting on.
"Are you just gonna stand there or leave??" He suddenly spoke, which startled her as she flinched.
Well, that wasn't very welcoming.
"I'm.. waiting for someone."
"Yeah? Well, so am I. Just sit like me," he said before looking away. She thought for a moment before slowly sitting beside him.
As soon as she sat, though, she noticed the faint smell of smoke that loosely clung to his clothes, the dark bags beneath his eyes and the slightly ruffled hair. He didn't look in his finest state.
"Would you stop staring? It's uncomfortably annoying."
"Geez," she said as she turned her face away, trying to stare at anything else.
"So, you're here to see doctor Kim?"
He looked at her for a moment before slightly nodding. "I'm guessing you were in there before me?"
"Um, yeah."
He nodded as he took out something from his pocket; a small cigarette box. He took out a cigarette and lighted it, smoking it and exhaling a puff of grey smoke.
Ha-Eun scrunched her nose in disgust at the smell that suffocated her.
"You can't smoke in here, you know."
The guy gave her a side look, replying, "no one's here anyway."
"Well, I am."
He let out another puff as he shrugged, not caring about the girl who coughed beside him.
Oh, lord, Jesus help me. Save me.
RRRIING
Ha-Eun picked up the phone. "Yeah?"
"I'm waiting in the car, Ha-Eun. Come out."
"Okay!" She happily got up as she held her bag.
She wanted to look back one more time at this strange man. But she forced herself not to. Although his eyes travelled towards the girl before she disappeared, whispering sadly to himself, "she looks like her."
