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Hands shoved into the small pockets of her shorts, Haeun walked toward the children's playground, her mind still tangled in indecision. The clock read 12:14—late, but not impossibly so. She had spent far too long debating whether she even wanted to see him.
Turning the corner, she finally spotted the playground in the midday sunlight. Empty, as the children were either at school, kindergarten, or finishing lunch. The atmosphere was different from the quiet evenings when she and Jongho usually met—a strange, hollow sort of calm.
The tall boy on one of the benches noticed her and waved.
"Haeun!" he called, springing to his feet. She trudged forward slowly, a thread of regret creeping in.
"What do you want, Jongho?" she demanded immediately, skipping any greeting. "Why couldn't you just ask over the phone?" Her tone was sharp, clipped.
He glanced back toward the direction she'd come, pretending to care. "Where were you? Your house isn't that way, and neither is school."
She scoffed and crossed her arms. "Just get to the point."
Good. That was all she wanted—straightforward confrontation. She wouldn't tell him where she'd come from. Taeyong's driver had dropped her off, and she'd made sure to leave him a false excuse to stall.
Jongho drew a deep breath. "How... how did you learn to fight?"
Haeun froze for a moment, startled by the serious tone. Until that day at the mall, he had seen her as fragile, pliable, broken. But she had finally snapped.
"Funny what years of mental abuse can do," she said, letting a small, bitter smile curl her lips. It faded quickly as anger flared, the memories crawling up her spine like ice.
"You tricked me into believing you were always right and I was wrong." Her steps were deliberate, advancing toward him. He stepped back instinctively. "You blamed me for everything, whispered rumors about me, and then comforted me with lies—'whoever did this will pay.'" Another step forward. "You made me feel pathetic because I could never say no, because I had to forgive you." She shoved his chest, and he stumbled backward. "Even after I broke free, even after I had the courage to leave you, you chased me. Do you know how furious I am?" Her voice was low, trembling with suppressed fury. "And you tried to hurt my friends. That I cannot forgive."
Jongho's wide eyes betrayed panic.
"And before you deny it, think of all your other girlfriends. I know them all. They felt the same. One even... killed herself. Don't you have any shame?" Her voice cracked slightly, but she swallowed her tears, her anger sharper than her grief.
He looked down, shame finally reaching his expression. "I didn't know you felt that way. I thought you were just mad at me, that breaking up was for show... I wanted you back. I love you." His gaze lifted, hopeful and desperate.
