Chapter 79 - Wasn'st me

As Jinhee stepped into the hotel room, she found herself bumping into someone. Backing away by a step, Jinhee raised her head up to look at who that person was.

"I'm sor—" Jinhee stopped when she saw the female standing in front of her was Taehee.

Jinhee was curious on what Taehee was doing the entire time today. She did not show up in front of Jinhee neither did she tried to contact her in another way. 

Saying no words to her, Taehee was about to walk past Jinhee when Jinhee grabbed Taehee's arm. Taehee stopped in her steps but did not look at Jinhee. 

Judging by how Taehee was avoiding her, Jinhee was bound to lose. Nonetheless, taking her pride into consideration, Jinhee had to do something. She did not want to be known for bluffing.

"Want to grab some ice-cream with me? I heard there's a famous shop around somewhere here," Jinhee stated, somewhat confident that Taehee would agree.

"No, busy," Taehee answered shortly, removing Jinhee's hand from her arm.

Jinhee was shocked. Has their positions reversed now? Was it now Taehee who'd be doing the rejection? 

Nonetheless, this was not enough for Jinhee to give up determination. In one way or another, she will bring Taehee to have ice-cream with her.

"Then, I'll accompany you and we'll have ice-cream together later on," Jinhee voiced out, stepping in front of Taehee in order to block her path.

"You'll be a bother," Taehee answered.

'Wow! This Taehee is too strong! Even I don't insult that directly.'

"I promise, I won't be; I'll not get in your way," Jinhee voiced out. 

"I don't associate with useless people," Taehee replied.

Jinhee gaped.

'Did Han Taehee just call me useless? Why was she as much infuriating as before when she was ignoring me?'

Irritated, Jinhee used all of her strength to push Taehee towards the wall and glared at her. It seemed that Taehee was rather carefree about it and did not try to resist.

As Taehee stood, with her back touching the wall, causally, Jinhee held her shoulders tightly against the wall. Taehee arched her eyebrows.

"If you don't follow me right now, I can't promise that your limbs will stay intact," Jinhee threatened.

Violence wasn't the best possible option, but left with no other choices, Jinhee decided to resort to this. Physically, she wouldn't be able to defeat Taehee, but at least she'd be capable of cause some injuries on Taehee's body. 

A smirk appeared on Taehee's face whilst she raised up her hand to hold Jinhee's arm, and in a matter of few seconds, their position was exchanged. It was Jinhee who had her back touching the wall now.

"How can someone as weak as you harm me?" Taehee said with an added sneer.

Even if Taehee was acting, this was too much. She was too brutal with her words. Certainly, Jinhee could not beat her, but that doesn't mean she was weak.

Kicking on Taehee's shin with as much as strength she could manage, Jinhee smirked victoriously. Holding her knee, Taehee backed away, and smiling, she stated, "Since I want to stay safe, let's go."

"Weirdo!" Jinhee exclaimed.

"Well, I don't kiss people whom I think are rude to me," Taehee voiced out whilst wearing an innocent smile. The nonchalant outlook from before disappeared.

Jinhee harrumphed.

'You're the one who's being rude to me in the first place!'

°°°

As she and Taehee walked by the shore, Jinhee finished eating the cone. From the beginning until now, Taehee did not talk as much as usual and was rather quiet.

Nonetheless, Jinhee found it weird how she was bothered by it. Surely, she is irritated when Taehee opens her mouth, but a quiet Taehee made her more annoyed.

"Has your mouth been glued together today?" Jinhee questioned— her irritation shown in her tone.

"I thought you preferred me better with my mouth closed," Taehee retorted in a light-hearted tone.

Jinhee halted in her steps. Taehee was right; That's what, Jinhee always prayed for. She wanted for Taehee to not disturb her with her words. Shouldn't she be happy now? Then, why was she feeling that way.

Staring at the silent Jinhee, a small smile formed on Taehee's face, and she held Jinhee's shoulder to turn Jinhee towards her. Jinhee's eyes stared at Taehee's face as it came closer to hers. It seems that Taehee's lips were directed towards her forehead.

'Was it that easy? Well, never mind that, at least it's a trouble off my back.'

But, unexpectedly, Taehee's lips did not touch the forehead, and instead, Taehee moved back, removing her hand from Jinhee's shoulder. 

"It seems that I can not kiss something ugly," Taehee commented, causing Jinhee's eyes to widen.

'Did she just call me ugly!? What was I thinking earlier that she was less bothersome with her mouth open!? She was definitely better with her mouth stapled together.'

As Jinhee was about to raise her fist to punch Taehee, Taehee said, "Compared to ugly people, I don't kiss violent people more."

°°°

The night breeze blew across the two, who stood at the shoreline. The night sky was filled with twinkling stars that were capable of attracting one's attention. 

The two of them stood facing the ocean whilst silence sat between the both of them. It was not as if none of them wanted to talk; It was just that they did not know what to talk about.

"Well, about your confession," Jinhee started, "I-I think I'd have to reject you."

Jinhee stared at Jaehyun with a decisive look whilst his eyes held nonchalance. Nonetheless, he stayed silent, probably waiting for her to continue.

Letting out a deep breath, Jinhee continued, "Tempting, extremely tempting— that's how I felt about your confession, and I had a hard time choosing. At one point, I even thought of accepting your confession, but I couldn't."

"Why?" Jaehyun questioned.

"That's because I want to treasure myself more now. I have just started my life, and maybe I could get multiple more opportunities to love. 

But I have only one life and I have to protect that beforehand. At some point, I really loved you a lot, and probably a portion of that love is still remaining. Nevertheless, I want to look at the bigger picture this time around.

If we get into a relationship now, it could potentially ruin both of our futures, and we'd have to fight many wars that are not worth it. You have a career and don't give it up for something as trivial as teen love."

"What if those wars are worth it? What if my love is not trivial?" Jaehyun questioned with a serious outlook.

"Look, Jaehyun, I don't want to think about others; It's me, who I want to think about. Your fan's hate, family's hate, classmate's hate— I don't want to handle all that. I want a peaceful life. It might be hard at this point, but one day, you'll move on and treat this as some memory.

I'm grateful that you were there beside me when I stood at a corner in those parties and for the silent comfort you provided me. Those small pats and handing me tissues when I cried were encouragement on its own. They made me feel as if I wasn't alone."

"Wait. What did you just say?" Jaehyun questioned with his eyes widening in surprise.

"What's the matter?" Jinhee stared at him in confusion.

"It wasn't me; I wasn't the one who was beside you in all those parties," Jaehyun expressed, causing Jinhee to be shocked.