Broken Mirror

Chapter 14

"You really gave me those letters until I could walk again."

Wooshin bowed his head and played with his fingers, pouting out of embarrassment. He had Wooseok's traits too after all.

"Jinhyuk and I were teased a lot, because he always gave me letters and nice things every day." Jinhee chuckled and wiped the tears off her eyes, feeling nostalgic. "Everyone called us JinJin couple."

"I should've treated him better," Wooshin murmured, just loud enough for only himself to hear.

"Seungwoo oppa." Jinhee turned to the eldest in the room, who had his head low like a punished puppy. How fast the tables had turned. "Have you apologized to Wooshin? You know, he just wanted to apologize to me back then."

Seungwoo raised his chin and looked sideways at Wooshin, who didn't dare to look back at him. The older boy was fully aware of that mental wound he had left in him. Guilt arose in spite of his cold gaze.

"Kim Wooseok." Seungwoo began. Wooshin flinched.

"It... It's Wooshin." The younger boy corrected hesitantly.

"Whatever it is." Seungwoo sighed. "I hope you know this doesn't justify what you did. It could even be counted as a murder attempt. I'm sure you know all of that now, and I hope you're not that psychopathic little monster anymore. Well... On the other hand," he sighed again, "I know I was wrong too. Just... know that I'm not a bully anymore. I apologize for hurting you too much. For..." he winced as if in pain, "...those scars on your face."

Jinhee snapped her head towards Wooshin and her eyes rounded in surprise. "Scars? Those on your face aren't from your uncle??"

"...No." Wooshin averted his face away. "Scars are just scars, doesn't matter who left them."

Jinhee couldn't hide her disappointment.

"I did what I did to protect you, Jinny. Seeing you get hurt once is more than enough," Seungwoo said.

A deafening silence filled the room as Jinhee took her time to accept the excuse, which didn't really do much to kill the flame inside her. She sucked in a deep breath before pushing out a smile that looked anything but sincere.

"...I understand. Thank you for that... but I hope you won't say that to me and me only. What's the use of protecting me with all your might, while at the same time you also hurt others out there? Whatever your reason is, if you use your power that way, would that make you any better than the bad guy you hurt?" she took Wooshin's hand and stood up, staring down at the older student. "Please be true to your words. I believe you're not the same old monster too, like what you called Wooshin just now. See you tomorrow, Seungwoo oppa."

Seungwoo's head dropped and a bitter smile creeped across his lips, masking his tear. Jinhee didn't look back once as she led Wooshin out the huge yet silent room, out their school building, down the lonely night road, back to their home.

"So, that was why you chose to sit next to me on the first day?" Jinhee asked that night, again sneaking into Wooshin's room when the rest of the family were asleep.

"Mhmm." Wooshin snuggled comfortably under the cover. "Since I couldn't approach you in our freshman year, I thought I should make use of this year to the fullest and pay for what I did. But... I kind of didn't know how to be close to you. So I teased you and pissed you off."

"I don't get your logic." Jinhee shook her head as she let out a small laugh. "So... What happened to that girl?"

"Who? Doyeon?" Wooshin pulled the cover up to hide his smile. "Why do you want to know?"