a reason for being | jung jaehyun

nine

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟎𝟗

- 섬세한 순도 - 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞

☁️

JAEHYUN STOOD A FEW FEET AWAY from seonmi, studying her facial expression with neutral eyes. she was sitting on her bed, knees up to her chin and trembling fingers tightly clutching the thin pistachio green fabric on her gown. often, she avoided eye contact with him, even though they had a close and comfortable bond, and this was one of those times. confrontations were among seonmi's least favorite things.

"jaehyun, you've been really tense lately," she mumbled, rubbing the pinkish fingertip of her thumb over her nails. after not receiving a response, she bit down softly on her lip, a delicate rose-pink that was slightly in need of chapstick. "is everything alright?"

the doctor smiled and leaned his back against the door, fumbling with the front pockets of his white lab coat, which was a little loose for his thin build. underneath, seonmi could see his necktie, which was tied a bit messily, making her almost crack a smile. she couldn't recall a time where his tie was properly on, but then again, he had other things to worry about rather than a tie.

"i'm busy, as always," he sighed, corners of his lips twitching into a reassuring smile. well, he wasn't necessarily lying.. it was true―his schedule had been hectic lately, although that was only about 20% of the reasons.

"but if you're always busy, why the shift in behavior now?" seonmi frowned, pulling her legs in closer to her chest and finally averting her gaze from the mans improperly placed tie up to his firm gaze. even though he was the kindest man she'd ever encountered, his hickory brown eyes held such an intense stare whenever he wasn't smiling, almost making seonmi look away immediately.

jaehyun hummed to himself, momentarily glancing at the dressing and bandages around her wrist before feeling himself wince. it wasn't a pleasant feeling knowing he was the cause of it.

"i guess," he remarked, almost inaudible, "that it's because i don't want to take your time away from hendery."

another partial truth, only making up for about 10% of the reasons.

"but...hendery's just my friend," she murmured, slightly widening her eyes when his stare averted back to her face. "and you're my best friend."

jaehyun swallowed, trying to suppress the gasp he nearly let out at her statement. it was so reassuring to hear those words come out of her mouth, and yet, he didn't feel as happy as one would expect him to be after that.

holding his breath, jaehyun quickly thought of a response that wouldn't embarrass him, looking around at each individual object in her room, but always being pulled to look at her bandaged wrist. "hendery is your friend, which is the reason i don't want to interfere. i'll feel bad if i'm bothering you guys all the time."

"lie," seonmi concluded monotonously, furrowing her eyebrows and standing up from the bed. there was a few feet of distance between them, but somehow, they could both feel each other's warmth. "you looked down." silence stilled in the atmosphere, only filled with the slight struggling sounds to breathe being heard from seonmi. "whatever it is, i would rather find out, so i can do something about it."

the doctor widened his eyes slightly, unable to look at the girl as he slightly flushed pink from embarrassment. whenever jaehyun was embarrassed, it was one of the most apparent things to exist. the tips of his ears would turn bright red and stay that way for a while, just like they were at that moment.

"so," seonmi continued, "please don't distance yourself from me. my birthday is tomorrow."

"i won't," he kindly whispered, smiling as he looked up at seonmi, who was unexpectedly approaching him. he nervously pressed his body further into the wall behind him, watching as she got closer and closer until the distance between them was merely two feet. with slightly enlarged eyes and a heartbeat so rapid and loud that he thought seonmi could hear it, jaehyun was nothing but a mess at that moment.

"haha! why so embarrassed?" seonmi noticed, tilting her head at the sight of his red ears with a big grin.

"i'm not," jaehyun sighed, unintentionally averting his gaze to the tiled floor.

erupting in chuckles, seonmi's smile persisted. "another lie." when her smile was slowly wiped off her face, seonmi looked back to his crooked necktie. "and jaehyun?"

"yes?"

"thank you," she smiled, eyes slightly closed. jaehyun studied her details― her cedar brown hair that seemed to be in a constant bedhead state, flowing down in straight follicles to her waist, the blue looking veins that were crystal clear through her porcelain skin, a slight slouch in her posture. but most importantly, her smile, so contagious that it spread to his lips as well.

why is she thanking me?

"for what?" jaehyun asked.

rather than responding, seonmi quickly wrapped her arms around his shoulders, giving him a brief and unusually stiff hug, which she'd never done before. jaehyun widened his eyes, unable to react in time before the girl detached her body from his, walking past him to the door and quickly walking out of her room.

jaehyun was left in shock, heartbeat somehow thumping twice the speed than it was less than a minute ago and vibrating loudly in his ears. his eyes were trained on her bed, trying to process what just happened, trying to familiarize himself with the brief contact of warmth that she transferred from her body to his. she was evidently uncomfortable doing so, which made jaehyun feel a little special, knowing that she made such a gesture despite her awkward, clumsy personality.

then, he smiled. tomorrow..