Rejection

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Minho POV

We were standing under a willow tree by the pond. Areum was staring at me, confusing in her eyes. Her brows were furrowed, trying to figure out my intentions. She rose a brow when it was all too silent.

"Did you just drag me away to stare at me?" She asked.

"No." I put a hand behind my back for a moment. "I... wanted to talk to you... alone."

"Okay..." She said suspiciously while eyeing me.

"I... Areum." I stuttered out, suddenly getting nervous. "Um... you're a really cool person, you know?"

"Um, thanks?" She chuckled. "What do you want to say, just tell me." She seemed not to suspect a thing.

"We've known each other almost a year now, right?" I looked away from her.

"Yes... what does that have to do with anything?" She seemed really confused.

"Do you remember when we first met?" I asked.

"Of course." She smiled at the memory. "You were so cold back then."

I got flustered at the statement. "Oh... yeah? Sorry..." I rubbed the nape of my neck.

"Don't be. I understand." She gave me a small, assuring smile.

"I want to thank you." I put my hand out to her. "Really, I'm grateful."

"What for?" She stood there and put her hand in mine, turning it over and looking me dead in the eye. "I should be thanking you."

"Not really." I looked at my feet. "I'm sorry I never noticed."

"It's not your fault." She said, being awfully mature about the topic. "It's hard to see these things anyways. Just be happy that things didn't take a different turn..." She trailed off, letting go of my hands and staring at the pond.

"Here's the thing." I finally spoke up, catching her attention. "I really want to be there for you." I took a breath. "I know you still get the nightmares, I know that it's hard, and you're probably still thinking about those things." I paused. "And I want to be the one to help you through that. Don't get me wrong, all the guys want to too." I looked up at her, straight in the eyes. "But I would really like to be the one you lean on... in more ways than that."

She looked at me, a slight confused look on her face. "Thank you, but what are you trying to say?"

Sighing, I mustered up my courage. "I know that it's Valentine's, and it's supposed to be girls to guys today... but... I just couldn't wait anymore..." I looked away for a moment.

"Minho... what do you mean?" She sounded a bit worried.

"Can... Can today be our first?" I asked, looking back at her. "Areum, I really want you to be mine. Please?"

I watched her expression. At first, she seemed shocked, but it changed to a pleasant smile. She opened her mouth slightly to say something, but stopped, seemingly remembering something. She closed her mouth and stared at me, sadness starting to engulf her, making me sad. She was rejecting me.

"You don't have to just stand there like that." I looked down. "You can just say no."

"It's not that I want to say no..." She trailed off. "It's just..."

"I get it." I let out an angry breath. "I'm just not the one, or maybe you have another boyfriend because of Duri or something."

I heard nothing from her. She was still there, but silent. We stood in silence, doing nothing more than stare at the ground. Suddenly, I noticed drops falling down by her feet. Was it raining or something? I looked up to see her wiping a few tears away. When she realized I was looking, she turned away and began to walk away.

"Areum!" I called out. She turned back to me, waiting for me to continue. "Why can't I be the one?" I said, a little desperation in my voice.

"I'm... I'm sorry Minho." She stood, the wind blowing her dress and hair sideways.

"Why?" I asked. "Have you turned your back on us again and found someone new?" I paused. "Or am I just not good enough for you?"

She was left agape, slowly shaking her head before she turned away and walked away. I knew I struck a nerve, I knew that was not right of me to say, but I was angry. Why couldn't it be me?

~*~

Jisung POV

"Areum?" Haneul's voice caught my attention. I looked up to see her getting out of Chan's grasp and walking away.

Chan and I watched her walk away, but he quickly turned his attention back to Woojin, whom he had been talking to earlier. Whilst, I kept my eye on Haneul. She was walking in the direction Minho had taken her and had stopped by a bench. She stood still by the bench as she stared at something behind the willow tree. Soon enough, I saw someone emerge from behind it, she came running and in a few seconds, she was in Haneul's arms.

Oh shoot. I stood up, eyes turning to me as I did so. Minho's plan didn't work, did it? I quickly jogged towards the two. Once there, I looked to the pond, Minho was there, kicking the ground angirly. I looked at Haneul and Areum, waiting for a moment to talk to her.

"He asked you, didn't he?" I asked.

"How did you know?" She sniffled.

"He told me he would some time soon." I said. "Why are you crying? Did you reject him?"

"I don't want to..." She wiped her face. "I really don't want to, but I... I have to."

Together, Haneul and I calmed her down and brought her back to the picnic site. Minho was there at this point, and when we arrived, he looked away, not facing any of us. Chan looked up at Haneul and patted the space in front of him. She took a seat between his legs and leaned back against his chest.

"Noona?" Jeongin's voice rang out. "Were you crying?" He seemed confused.

Areum gave them a weak smile and I sat down, asking her to sit by me. She looked over at Haneul, and for some reason Changbin, who gave her curt nods.

"Guys, I have something to tell you." She took a deep breath and smoothed out her dress as she stared at each of us. "I'm leaving."

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How are you guys? I'm not my best but I'm living hah.

I think I want to start a skz series soon, should I?

By the way, thanks for 12.6k, it's unbelievable! <3

Oh, I saw this post... Jisung is doing okay guys! If you haven't heard, jyp (or him, I'm not sure) came out with a message that said that he had some sort of anxiety and could not do fan meetings and such. However, he did attend one recently and I saw a post that said he was visibly nervous and always had a manager by him, but he was still having fun and even held fan's hands! I wish him the best <3

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