How It Should Have Ended (A Ji Hoo and Jan Di Story)

Chapter 7

Jan Di woke up, feeling refreshed. She refused to completely open her eyes – she could smell him everywhere. She savored his scent and smiled. It was like he was right there beside her.

Memories of the night before came flooding back.

She sat up with a jolt. It was still dark outside. She looked around and saw his scarf on the bench and noticed his coat still wrapped around her. Ah, that's what she smelled. She couldn't believe she fell asleep in the library. She stood up quietly, wondering why her sunbae had left her alone in the library in the dead of night. She had walked a few steps when she noticed a copper colored head resting on top of the table. She walked closer to him in disbelief. He was breathing quietly, and she couldn't help but stare at his beautiful face. Her heart gave a small jolt. She tried to ignore it, and she reached out to touch him gently on the cheek.

I can't believe you slept here too, sunbae.

Just as she was about to brush his cheek her phone rang.

Ji Hoo sat up with a start, still looking sleepy. His hair was in disarray, but he still managed to look good. She cursed silently and put her phone on silent.

"Hey, you're up." He smiled that smile she knew so well. She loved that smile. Her heart gave another jolt.

"I can't believe we slept here," was all she could say. She could feel herself turn red. She was just glad it was dark enough in the library for anyone to see that.

He stood up, gathered their things, and handed her a piece of paper. She looked at it and saw he had carefully drawn and labeled the anatomy page she was having issues with.

"I thought this might help you remember the parts better than what they showed in the book."

"Thanks, sunbae." Another jolt. What was wrong with her? She was going to have to get her heart checked. And maybe her head too.

He winced as he stretched. She looked at him, concerned.

"Sunbae, are you ok?" she asked, worry etched on her face.

He grinned. "Yeah, I slept on it wrong," he pointed at his neck. "I'll be fine. Let's go get breakfast and head home. I miss my bed."

...

Jan Di stared at her phone. She had just finished talking to Jun Pyo for one whole hour – something that was rare for them lately. It was night time in New York, and she could tell that Jun Pyo was tired because towards the end of their conversation she heard him just say ah or hmmm in response, but she didn't care. She babbled on incessantly about everything and nothing, because by doing so she hoped the guilt and doubt she had been feeling lately would dissipate.

Why am I feeling guilty? She asked herself. It wasn't like she had cheated on Jun Pyo – she hadn't done anything she hadn't been doing since she'd met him. She just hung out with her sunbae, who was her best friend.

But she couldn't help but feel a nagging feeling deep inside her. She tried to push it away and bury it deep. But something had changed...something felt different.

No. She had to reinforce herself. Nothing's changed. You're just...tired. And confused.

Jan Di scrunched her face in concentration. She had to focus. School was getting harder. She finally gave up her job at the Porridge restaurant because between her studies and helping out at the clinic, she just never had enough hours in the day. Money was tight also. She felt so grateful she still had a scholarship even though she had failed a class. The scholarship money covered her tuition, books, and a little bit of spending money. She needed to get her grades back up so she could finish her last year of pre-med with a scholarship. Jun Pyo had offered to pay for her schooling numerous times but she made him promise not to interfere. He didn't understand why she would choose to struggle with money when he could just freely hand it to her. She sighed. Things seemed so easy for the rich.