Chapter 193 - Admit defeat

Han Taehyun's words caused Jinhee's cheeks to turn into a shade of red, and in order to get away from him, Jinhee stepped onto his foot harshly. Han Taehyun winced in pain and loosened his grip on Lee Jinhee. Smiling smugly, Jinhee instantly moved away from Han Taehyun and then glared at him.

"Wow! Lee Jinhee, your strength keeps on increasing. What do you eat?" Taehyun questioned.

"Instead of me getting stronger, could it be that you're becoming weaker?" Jinhee asked— raising one of her eyebrows.

Han Taehyun laughed and pinched Jinhee's nose. As always, Lee Jinhee scrunched up her nose and stared at Taehyun blankly.

"Alright, I will admit defeat this time. Where were you though so late at night though?" Taehyun vocalised.

"With Chaewon," Jinhee answered, "Her landlord wanted for her to move out of her apartment, so I went there to help her. In the end, I had to contact Jaehyun, and he was the one who did everything."

Lee Jinhee walked into her room and sat down on the bed. Closing her room's door, Han Taehyun leaned against the door, and creases formed between his eyebrows.

"You called that Kim Jaehyun? You could have just called me and I would have went there to help you immediately," Taehyun said.

"Oops. Your name slipped out of my mind at that moment," Jinhee replied nonchalantly as she shrugged her shoulders.

Han Taehyun scoffed in response.

"You repeatedly stomp on this fragile heart of mine. You really do not have a conscience," Han Taehyun vocalised — putting emphasis on the word really.

"Being evil is in trend these days, so get used to it," Jinhee voiced out, "Anyway, why did you return so soon? It would have been better if you had returned after four to five days."

Lee Jinhee's words did not reflect her genuine thoughts. In all honesty, being without Han Taehyun bored the girl. Nonetheless, Jinhee would not be admitting that any time soon.

"Well, unlike you, I am a top student, and I need to study to keep that up. I already missed two days of class. That just means that I have a lot to catch up on. Wow! This is really nerve-wracking," Han Taehyun voiced out whilst starting to panic.

Lee Jinhee began to laugh and stated, "Acting like this does not suit you, Taehyun."

"Heol! Lee Jinhee, I am not acting; I really am being honest," Taehyun said, "These classes are extremely important to me. If it was not for these classes, I would not have returned so early . Seeing your face truly causes me to feel irritated, Jinhee."

"Really?" Jinhee raised one of her eyebrows.

Folding her arms over her chest, Jinhee voiced out, "Then, you're free to leave. No one is holding you here."

"Right," Taehyun stated, "I was just leaving. I wanted to see your scared face in order to satisfy myself. Now that I have achieved this , I will be going back. Hope you're plagued by worries and nightmares."

A pout sat upon Han Taehyun's face, and Jinhee noticed that. Turning back, Han Taehyun turned the knob to the room and left the room, closing the door behind him. Looking at the closed door, Lee Jinhee was surprised.

"What? He left that easily," Jinhee mumbled, "Well, that's a good news for me then."

°°°

Lee Jinhee let out a sigh. Han Taehyun's pout before he left still remained inside of her mind, and Jinhee wondered whether or not she had really hurt his feelings. At times, in her opinion, Jinhee went too far with her words and once those words left her mouth, Jinhee felt guilt.

However, after seeing Taehyun's lighthearted expression, that guilt was immediately driven away. Even though Jinhee tries to drive Taehyun away, she is completely used to his presence, and without him, she felt a sort of emptiness. 

"Could it be that Han Taehyun was really hurt by my words? Aish! Lee Jinhee, although that boy is annoying, he had done a lot for you yet you can not even control your mouth around him," Lee Jinhee mumbled to herself.

Lee Jinhee groaned and muttered, "Whatever it is, you can deal with it tomorrow. Before that, you need a good night's sleep."

°°°

Yawning, Lee Jinhee sat up on her bed. An irritated expression was present on her face whilst a headache took over her mind. Her hair was currently a mess and Jinhee was in no mood to deal with all of this.

Han Taehyun's curse really worked.

When Lee Jinhee was finally able to sleep after continuously thinking for hours and rolling around on the bed, she was woken by a horrifying nightmare. The nightmare consisted of her being chased by a man eating monster, and coincidentally, the face of the monster resembled Han Taehyun's.

Standing up, Lee Jinhee reluctantly carried herself to the washroom. As much as Jinhee was desperate for a nap, she knew that she had classes to attend and had already skipped too many classes for her own good.

°°°

"Jinhee-ah, are you alright?" Han Jihye asked while staring at Jinhee's tired face.

"Huh?" Jinhee voiced out whilst staring up at Han Jihye. Her hands stopped playing with the food on her plate.

Then, replacing her current expression with a wide smile, Jinhee lied, "Yes, I am absolutely fine, Mother. I was just studying until late last night and lost track of time."

"Dear, you need to take care of your health as well. Studying is not as important as your health," Jihye voiced out in concern.

Lee Jinhee nodded.

Her eyes fell upon Han Taehyun. The entire time Taehyun had been especially quiet, while he silently ate the food on his plate. He did not even glance at Jinhee, making her feel even more guilty than she already did. 

Staring at the food before her, Lee Jinhee no longer had the appetite to eat it. Due to her lack of sleep and headache, Jinhee knew that she would throw up the food.

"Mother, I am unable to eat any more. I will just wait for Taehyun to finish eating so that we can head to school early," Jinhee voiced out as she stared at Han Jihye. An apologetic smile sat on her face.