Jisu exhaled slowly, a heavy, weary sigh escaping her lips. Her gaze drifted toward the window, though she wasn’t truly seeing anything beyond the glass. It had been two days since the breakup, and yet the weight of it hadn’t lessened. If anything, it had grown heavier, pressing down on her chest like a stone she couldn’t dislodge. She hadn’t told her mother. She couldn’t.
The mere thought of it twisted her insides into knots.
Her mother adored Ryujin. Had always spoken of her with admiration, affectionㅡeven quiet certainty. There had been dreams, subtle and unspoken, of wedding halls and shared futures, of Ryujin becoming more than just a name in their home. They’d laughed together, bonded in a way that had once filled Jisu with warmth. And now? Jisu couldn’t bear the idea of seeing disappointment shadow her mother’s faceㅡor worse, pity.
So she hadn’t gone home. She couldn’t face the silence waiting for her there, thick with memories that refused to fade.
For now, she stayed in the haven of Chaeryeong’s house. The air here felt less cruel. The walls didn’t watch her fall apart. Home had become a haunted place, echoing with laughter that no longer belonged to the present. Every corner remembered Ryujin. Every cushion, every framed photo, whispered her name.
Just imagining walking through that front door again felt like stepping into fire.
──⇌••⇋──
Jisu shook her head, as though the motion alone could scatter the thoughts that kept circling like vultures overhead. It was useless. Ryujin’s face rose behind her closed eyesㅡnot the version twisted by anger, but the girl she’d fallen in love with. The curve of her smile, the mischief in her gaze, the way her fingers always found Jisu’s without needing to ask. Her voice, her laughㅡGod, that laughㅡplayed through her mind like a song she couldn’t stop replaying, no matter how much it hurt.
A dry, bitter chuckle broke from Jisu’s throat. She should’ve known. Loving someone like Ryujin was never going to be easy, never without risk. But she hadn’t imagined it would end like thisㅡwith her heart hollowed out, her body an ache, her soul left unraveling at the seams.
The silence in the room pressed in around her, suffocating in its intensity. Desperate to shake herself free of the looping thoughts and memories, Jisu reached for the remote with trembling fingers. She didn’t care what was onㅡanything was better than this unbearable stillness.
She clicked the TV on.
The screen flickered to life, and for a brief second, Jisu braced for the usual chatter of commercials or variety show laughter. But the image that appeared stopped her cold.
A breaking news banner. A familiar headline.
Her breath caught.
TRUAN NEWS
Shin Ryujin, the heir to the globally influential Shin family empire, has reportedly ended her relationship with Choi Jisu just two days ago.
“The ‘Faceless Heiress,’ as she was once dubbed, captured the public's attention when she stepped into the spotlight. Her magnetic presence quickly won her widespread admiration and praise.”
All Jisu wantedㅡneededㅡwas a sliver of peace. Just one fleeting moment without her heart in her throat or memories clawing at her from every corner. She sighed, dragging a hand down her face.
Fine. I’m shutting this damn TV off.
YOU ARE READING
Roses and Thorns (Jinlia)
FanfictionIn a world that felt just a little unrealㅡlike a moment lifted from an old filmㅡJisu found herself caught in something delicate and dangerous. It wasn't just love. It was something more complicated, something shadowed. When Ryujin entered her life...
