ʟᴜʟʟᴀʙʏ ♪ ʟᴇᴇ ᴅᴏɴɢʜʏᴜᴄᴋ

[42]

The silence lasted for what felt like ages.

Both Donghyuck and Soomin remained completely quiet and still, staring at each other. All the girl could hear was the wild pulsating of the heart in her chest, making her regret every single decision she had ever made.

Donghyuck's face twisted slightly, but she couldn't see through him at all. Was he angry? Sad? Anxious? Disgusted? About to murder her? About to cry?

No, Soomin couldn't tell at all.

That's what made the situation even more nerve-wrecking and Soomin felt a small tear of cold sweat dripping down from the side of her face and onto her shoulder.

The one that finally broke the silence was Donghyuck. He let out a long sigh, afterwards pursing his lips into a thin line as he shut his eyes tightly. He was in deep, deep thought. Although the girl had no idea about what.

"What did I say about her?" Was the first thing he asked, still not looking down at Soomin.

The girl swallowed nervously, fiddling with the tip of the bed sheet. "Not that much. You just murmured to yourself about how you were sorry and how you missed her."

"Is that really it?" He opened his eyes to stare at her.

'No.'

"Yes." Soomin of course lied.

Another moment of silence followed, but this time it was quickly interrupted by Donghyuck. The girl was surprised as he slowly lowered himself and sat down on the edge of the bed, head turned in order for him to be able to see her. There was an unfamiliar look of longing and defeat lodged into his sad orbs.

"Song Yuna..." He began, clearly re-assessing his words three times before he said them out loud. "... was someone really special to me." He exclaimed, spacing out as he stared at the door to the room.

Already knowing that this was the start of a pretty lengthy story, Soomin curled up into a small ball, hands wrapping around her legs that were up against her chest. She laid her head there, watching Donghyuck's unusual behavior as he spoke.

"I can't believe I'm telling you this..." he breathed out, looking up. His adams apple throbbed slightly as he closed his eyes once again. "Actually nevermind, you won't-"

"No, Hyuck." Soomin stated softly, making his eyes travel to hers. The girl spared him a small and comforting smile. "You can tell me everything you want to. I know you've probably kept this in for years without telling a single soul. Sometimes you just have to let yourself go to feel at peace. And don't worry, I'll listen to everything you have to say and you can stop as soon as you feel uncomfortable." She reassured him, choosing her words very carefully in order to make him feel like he could confide in her.

And it worked. Donghyuck sat back down, back completely straight and hands strictly placed onto his thighs. He seemed extremely nervous, but took a very deep breath and began speaking in an ushered and low voice.

"We had always been best friends." He began, eyes wandering off again as he just let himself spill everything. "We lived in the same neighborhood and our moms knew each other so it wasn't surprising. Ever since we were three, we would spend every summer out on the playground and every winter taking turns to go to each other's houses. I knew everything about her and she knew everything about me. She was always so much fun to be around."

"As we both got older, started middle school... I developed a big crush on her. It was funny because everyone knew, except her. But apparently, she liked me too so we started dating.

Yuna was perfect. All that I could ask for. She was beautiful, smart, kind, understanding, loveable, clingy, empowering... she made me a better person.

And then... " Donghyuck took a shakier, more uneven breath. "When we were 17, we had a big fight."

Soomin could already tell that this was where it all went wrong judging by his hopeless expression.

"I said some stuff I shouldn't have out of fear that I would lose her. I wanted her to focus all of her attention on me and no one else. I wanted to be her entire world just because she was mine.

And Yuna didn't like that. She was strong, independent. She had amazing friends who loved and needed her just as much as I did. But I was too selfish. And so we broke up.

A day later I went to apologize. And that was when..."

He had to stop, trying to regain his stability and composure as he took a few big breaths. It was clearly a struggle for him to continue, and Soomin immediately picked up on it.

"Hey, listen, you don't have to tell me if-"
"She ran into the ongoing traffic and got hit by a car."

Silence.

The girl was struck by awe as she watched Donthyuck run a hand through his hair, a look of expression dominating his face. He tried to laugh the fact off, but was clearly hurting.

"Actually, her death anniversary was the same as your mother's." He exclaimed through a fake smile as he looked towards Soomin.

That's when she noticed that something was really not right. Donghyuck would never smile at her like that.

The boy looked away, shutting his lips tightly in order to not make a sound. He tried to hide the tears pooling in his eyes, threatening to spill out onto his cheeks. Pretending to he strong about it was his last shield of defence from being vulnerable.

But that soon was torn into pieces as he heard shuffling and then felt 2 small hands wrapping around his neck.

Snapping to the side, he caught Soomin as she pressed her body against his, catching him in a tight bear hug.

Surprised and flustered, he was frozen for a few seconds before finally opening his mouth.
"What are you doing?"

"You can cry." Soomin instructed quietly and softly, lightly patting his back to a relaxing beat.

And that's all that Donghuck needed to hear.

Because just moments after, his arms were tightly wrapped around the girl's torso, his head buried into the crook of her neck as he allowed himself to finally let it all out.

:(