HYUN [ JJK ]

19

"You haven't gone out to babysit for a few days now. Did you quit?" Yerin plopped herself onto the couch with a mug of hot chocolate in her hands.

Yes, Jaehwa hadn't gone to Jeongguk's apartment for a few days now—or to be exact, it had been five days since the day she found out that Hyun was not Jeongguk's son. Though she had been wondering how Jeongguk and Hyun were doing, she could't gather the courage to look Jeongguk in the face yet,
couldn't think she could stay under the same roof with him without those insults she threw at him before bouncing off the walls of Jeongguk's apartment, ringing in her ears nonstop like a broken tape. She had told him that she needed some time to process everything that happened, and thankfully, Jeongguk had been really understanding for him to not even send her a single text message.

Jaehwa jutted out her lower lip, sparing Yerin a quick glance before she watched the television again. Her body was curled into a ball with her knees against her chest, arms hugging the knees tight to fight the chill of December. "I took days off."

Yerin chuckled in disbelief as she put the mug on the coffee table, joining Jaehwa on the couch afterwards. "You are telling me that Jeongguk allowed you to take days off?" Jaehwa nodded lazily, the image of Jeongguk staring down at her with those widened dark brown eyes was enough to make her shudder, couldn't beg for more but to wish the mother earth to swallow her alive. The embarrassment she felt when she was around him seeped into her body, just by the mention of his name made her want to cry out of embarrassment again. "I'm betting that you two have got along really well now, huh? Well, good for you anyway. Finally the day where Kim Jaehwa stops badmouthing Jeongguk has come."

Jaehwa buried her face in her knees, swallowing her saliva that now had turned into pieces of shattered glass, shredding her throat with no mercy. It had been days since she kept her discovery all to herself because Yerin had been busy with university preparation, and Jaehwa did not want to bother her with her stories as a babysitter. But as days went by, she found out that it was hard to bottle the wave of emotions up, harder to act normal when the words she spat at Jeongguk lingered on her mind whenever she was alone or spacing out. Jaehwa had forced herself to stop thinking about Jeongguk and his mocking face the moment she confessed that she found out Hyun wasn't his son, yet no matter how she tried, no matter how she wanted to shove every bit of memory to the very back of her mind, she just couldn't.

"Yerin, I have something to tell you." Jaehwa turned her torso to face her friend completely. "There's a reason why I haven't been babysitting and why Jeongguk never calls." Yerin looked at her with anticipation, yet she did not interfere her statement and waited for Jaehwa to finish off patiently. "Look, I have been keeping this to myself since Saturday, but I think I can't keep it any longer. I have to- no, I must let it out because it has been haunting me ever since."

Yerin blinked in confusion, couldn't grasp what she just heard. "Wow- wait wait. What happened and... God, why are you suddenly so red?"

If there's any trait that Jaehwa wanted to erase then it would be this; this very trait that she got from her father. Because of this, there's no way Jaehwa could lie without being busted on the next second because her blood would be fast enough to travel up to her head as a response to the fast beating of her heart, her veins pulsating faster that its usual pace. Groaning, Jaehwa buried her face in Yerin's lap, sighing hard with hope that would be enough for her to have the gut to tell her friend the story she had been keeping.

"Jae? Hey! Jae, are you okay?"

"I'm not. I am fucking not." There, a curse word finally spilled out of Jaehwa's mouth. They had befriended each other since high school so upon hearing the f word, Yerin knew that Jaehwa was nowhere near joking. "Yerin, can you like slap me hard in the face so that I can forget this just for a brief second?"

"Hey, what's happened?" Yerin pushed Jaehwa away before cupping her cheeks, her skin felt so warm against her palms. "Look at me, Jae. Look at me and tell me what happened. I am all ears, okay? But if you need more time then don't force yourself."

Jaehwa didn't know how the courage she had been looking for suddenly came when Yerin engulfed her into a warm hug, didn't know why she was so emotional that her vision turned blurry when the latter rubbed her back gently. This is what she loved the most about Yerin—it was her understanding side. Apart from her good brain, Jaehwa was thankful to have a housemate as sensitive as Yerin, knew that she was lucky to have her as her friend though their friendship only strengthened when they started university.

"Breathe in... breathe out." Yerin flashed her a mild smile which induced Jaehwa to reply with a rather forced one. "You want to tell me now or do you need more time?"

Jaehwa sighed. She knew Jeongguk would text her to ask if she's ready to come over sooner or later and to say no was not a choice. Now that she had known how Jeongguk got Hyun, she realised how much he needed her help. Jaehwa had reached the stage where she wanted to help him like he was her friend, not because she was paid to look after the baby. The reason as to why Hyun was adopted still remained as a mystery because she couldn't bring herself to look at Jeongguk on that day, couldn't think anything but the determination to leave his apartment as soon as possible.

"I- I-" Jaehwa took a sharp inhale. "I'll tell you now."

"Are you sure? You don't have to force yourself-"

"Yerin, Hyun is not Jeongguk's. Jeongguk is not Hyun's father. He is adopted and they are not blood-related at all." Jaehwa blurted in one breath, face flushed when Jeongguk's name left her lips swiftly.

"I see- what?!"

"Yerin, I have no idea where I should hide this face of mine! Look, I called him fuck boy, I said he's being irresponsible by ignoring his baby when he had banged a random woman who ended up leaving him with the baby. I even told him I despised fuck boys but turned out- ugh!" Jaehwa buried her face in her palms, biting her lower lip hard that it could bleed anytime soon. "Why am I so stupid to not notice that he's actually... not like what I had thought."

Yerin had her jaw dropped but it wasn't long before she scooted closer to Jaehwa, arm draped on her shoulder. "I don't- I don't want to put the blame on you but- I think you are the wrong one here. Well, Jeongguk is too because he kept this whole thing from you but... " Yerin trailed off, pursing her lips for a brief second. "If he's a fuck boy, he probably had fucked you since a long time ago. But here you are, still owning that oh-so-glorious virginity. The other day you told me that he let you slept on his bed, right?" Jaehwa nodded sagely, could only bring herself to look down at the floor. "Then where did he sleep on that night?"

"The couch." Jaehwa mumbled, the words were unclear but enough for Yerin to catch.

"See? He chose to sleep on the couch when he could sleep on the bed with you. But you are so into your he's young and he has a baby so that means he fucks around ideology to the point you didn't even realise that he's been treating you well. Well, minus the parts where he raised his voice at you and stared at your chest, he actually has been quite a gentleman."

Jaehwa looked down at her lap. Yerin was right—why did she choose to focus on his bad side until she couldn't notice every kindness he had shown to her?

"This is why we shouldn't judge someone so fast, Jae. Don't let the hatred you created yourself blind you to the point you can't see his kindness." Yerin leaned forwards to grab her empty mug, getting up from the couch afterwards. "It doesn't hurt to apologise and blushing like this won't solve the problem. Also, since he's maaaybe still single, grab the chance."

"Huh?"

Yerin grinned before aiming for Jaehwa's ears. "Hyun needs a mommy." She whispered.

_______

a/n:

[ QUESTION ]
what scene do you want to read the most? please let me know by leaving inline comments!

the backstory of what happened between jeongguk and jimin will be revealed soon! please prepare yourself for another episode of these two heartthrobs gambling for their life :)