Irony of Revenge

Chapter 13

Jinyoung wished he could bring time to a standstill. Mark always managed his time to meet Jinyoung but it was rare for them to stay together for long hours. And on such a day as today when they had the whole day for each other, Jinyoung felt time was passing too fast.

Since the morning, he had not left Mark's bedroom - in fact, Mark's bed- and the whole morning had been spent by them making love. But when the noon approached, they were spent and worn out, and could only lie against each other.

"Am I that handsome?" Mark asked, with an amused smirk.

"What?"

"Because you're staring at me so long."

"You're handsome, charming, charismatic, etc. Did you need to ask me? Oh, I want to wipe that smirk off you, Mark Tuan."

"Do then."

Mark challenged but it was he who inched closer to Jinyoung and initiated a tongue-swirling yet brief kiss. Jinyoung could feel the sensation running down to his loins. When Mark broke the kiss, he did not pull away and instead, let their noses stay in touch with one another.

"I love you."

It was such a low whisper that Jinyoung almost missed it even though Mark's moving lips were almost touching his own. Those words had such a strong effect on him that pleasant shivers went down his body. He had already been certain that what they had between them was love, but this was the very first time to hear Mark say that.

"I love you, too."

"And I'll always love you," Mark took a deep breath, "Let's break up with our girlfriends. It's about time we went our own way. Let them know that we've not been faithful boyfriends to them. Let them know that we aren't meant for them. What do you think?"

"Yes, that's what needs to be done. If we keep waiting for the right time, it'll never come. They deserve to know the truth, after all."

Just the thought of freeing themselves from their girlfriends and from the guilt, relieved their mind, even though it was more than certain that it would be a disastrous experience for all four of them.

Leaning against the car, Jinyoung waited for Jieun, who had said she would be on her way out soon. He could not help being a little anxious and knowing that he was in the wrong, he was already feeling sorry for her.

Jieun waved at him as she came out of her office building. He felt quite hesitant to meet her eyes but she did not seem to notice any of that. Once they were inside the car, as usual she started talking about her day and everything seemed to be just normal.

"Where're we going?" Jieun asked, when she noticed where they were now was not her home route or Jinyoung's.

"You'll know," Jinyoung said, stiffly. He wondered if she was thinking that he was going to surprise her, by taking her somewhere romantic.

Jinyoung pulled up at the car park of a public park and motioned to her to get out. It was already quite dark and the lights were already on in the park. Jinyoung led her to the nearest bench, ignoring her questioning eyes.

When they were by the bench, they did not bother to sit down and just stood side by side. "I'm sorry, Jieun. You can hate me all you want and I won't ask you to understand me."

"What're you talking about?" Jieun asked, her voice cracked, slowly realising what he was going to tell her.

Jinyoung looked into her eyes, "Let's break up. It's not because I've found faults in you or you aren't good enough for me. It's just... it's just that I've found someone else I really want to spend my whole life with."

"Is that Mark?"

Jinyoung stared at her, with his lips apart, and asked, "How did you know? Oh my gosh, Jieun, you knew everything? Why didn't you tell me then? Why did you still keep me by your side, torturing yourself? I'm sorry, Jieun. I know you don't deserve all of this but I love Mark and he wants to be with me. I'm sorry."

"I know you love each other. You can stop saying that!" There were tears on her cheeks already and she wiped them. "I thought you wouldn't forsake our two-year relationship for him. I was wrong. I never expected this break-up."

They stayed there a little longer, as she continued crying, and Jinyoung could do nothing, except trying to comfort her as much as he could.

Mark caught Hyebin's wrist, preventing her from getting out of the car. They were in front of her place and he had driven her home.

"Yes?" Hyebin said, turning to Mark, who slowly let go of her wrist.

He swallowed hard and searched for the words. She might have noticed Mark's unusual hesitation and asked him again, "What's it, Mark?"

"Hyebin, I want to end our relationship. I'm sorry, I've cheated on you. And I love that person, I feel that he's the one for me. You are a perfect girlfriend for a man but I can't keep this relationship anymore. I'm sorry."

"I hate you. And I hate myself for having hoped that you two weren't that serious. You know you two have broken not just one heart but two hearts. Tell me what Jinyoung has that I don't have. Why do you leave me for him? Tell me."

Mark's eyes widened in astonishment, "You knew that? How? When?"

"Is that even important now? You need to answer my question."

"It's not like that, Hyebin. Love is just love. It was not like I compared you two and chose the better one. I love him and to be honest, I could feel that it's deeper than what we've had. I'm sorry to be saying all of this to you, but it's true that there's no way to continue our relationship."

Hyebin looked away, biting her lip hard, "Is that all you have to say? Good luck in your new relationship then. Let's see if someone who's cheated on their partner once, can live their whole life not doing that to their new partner too."

At the end of her words, she turned away and got out of the car, before slamming the door shut. She strode to her house, without a glance back at Mark.

Hyebin noticed her hands were still trembling as she groped for her phone inside her bag, once she was inside her house. She dialed Jieun's number and a few minutes later, they were pouring their hearts out to and comforting each other.

"If they think they can now fully be with each other and free from us, they're wrong," Hyebin said, through her gritted teeth.

"What do you mean, Hyebin?" Jieun asked, between her sobs.

"I'm not making it easy for them. We'll show them how fragile their relationship can be. As much as our relationships were."