Serendipity | c.y.j

1.2

my eyes flickered back and forth between my drink and the man in front. he cleared his throat catching my attention. "so," he started off. "is he a good boyfriend?" i nodded my head. one lie really does continue on. "listen areum i'm-" he got cut off by yeonjun coming over. "areum," i looked up at him. "i have to go. something really important came up and i have to go. i'm so sorry," i smiled at him. "it's okay," i took his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "i'll take you home," i nodded. "bye," i peeked my head at jeongguk and gave him a small smile.

yeonjun and i started walking away hand in hand when another hand grabbed mine. we turned around to see jeongguk standing there slowly letting go of my other hand. "oh um..." he rubbed the back of his neck. "you should go if you're getting late. i have something to talk about with her," i felt yeonjun's body tense. "it's okay. i'll take her home," he put out coldly. "no really i'm sure you're getting late, you should-" yeonjun cut him off. "i said it's okay. she would-" i tugged at his hand and his attention turned to me. "i'll go with him," i gestured to jeongguk. yeonjun gave me the "are-you-crazy-" look.

i shot a smile to the waiting boy. "bye jun. i'll see you later," i was about to walk away when he dragged me a little away from the now frowning boy. "what's wrong with you?" he whisper-shouted. "nothing," i replied back. he put a hand on his forehead and looked everywhere but me. finally setting his eyes on me, he put his arms on my shoulder. "why would you say yes? i thought you didn't like him," he scowled. i shrugged. "it doesn't hurt to give him a chance to explain himself,"

his eyes were cold. "you don't know what he could do to you!" he exclaimed. "i can take care of myself," he scoffed. "yeah right," he rolled his eyes. "why do you care anyway? its not like we're really dating," i mimicked his expression. "you're right. we aren't. i'll leave," he sighed and walked away. i stood frozen. i want to go back and tell him to take me with him. "wanna go?" i looked at the taller boy and nodded blankly.

i never talked the entire walk to the beach. he wanted to see the sun go down and so here we are. "you okay? did anything happen between you guys?" i didn't reply. "he doesn't like me does he?" i turned my attention to him, my poker face still on. "speak," i let out flatly. he looked taken aback. "oh um yeah," he scratched the nape of his neck and his fingers fidgeted around. "i'm sorry areum. for everything. i was just that stupid high school boy who didn't know what he was doing. i didn't realize how much i was hurting you. i was being a jerk and i cheated on you with multiple girls. you always forgave me cause you loved me but you couldn't anymore," tears were falling down freely.

he took in a deep breath and continued. "and even then i didn't once think i should apologize to you. instead i started bullying you. and again i pretended to be innocent and played with your heart again. i repeated the same mistakes again," i wanted to cry in a corner. i'm crying right now i just need a corner. it took me a while to stabilize myself.

sniffling, i spoke to him. "you broke me to the point where i couldn't trust people again. i had a hard time being confident in myself. it took me years to be the person i am today jeongguk. all because of you. your harshful words still linger around in my head and i still cry myself to sleep because on bad days, that's all that's there in my mind. i had no one to speak about this to. taehyung knew, but a lot later. you made me a person who i never thought i would be. a mess, my heart in shambles. but you know the worst part?" i met his eyes. "i can't bring myself to hate you no matter how badly i want to," i spoke out everything.

he looked sorry but would it heal the pain i felt for all these years? "you took my trust away from love. you accused me of cheating on someone i never knew and made it so bad to the point everyone hated me. how bad did you make it? i still don't know," i wiped away my tears harshly, "and then i confessed. you said you don't go to cheaters. everyone laughed at my face. you humiliated me in front of everyone. once again," i drew in a sharp breath. "i hate you," i whispered before leaving him there.

"areum," he turned me around. he held my shoulder and looked deeply into my eyes. "would you give me a chance? please areum. i know i can't be your boyfriend no more. i've blown my chances but let me at least be your friend. please," his eyes were glossy.

i pushed his hands away.

"i'll tell you exactly what you said to me. i'm sorry but no. i don't go to cheaters," and i walked away.

he didn't follow me either.