bitter days of july | yang jungwon

      Jungwon's footsteps were fast as he practically ran to the front of the counselling room, pacing himself so he wouldn't make a disruption to the classes that were already starting.

When he got to the door of the counselling office, the door was already closed, and the window of the door had the blinds shut. Jungwon knocked loudly, waiting a few seconds before having the door opened for him.

Inside was the first year he saw. Her hair was thin and long, but in her face, covering her face frame due to the fact that her head was tilted down. She looked up hesitantly at Jungwon before pressing her lips together.

"Thank you, Minyoung." The counselor spoke, pushing his glasses up. She returned to the seat directly in front of his desk as Jungwon stayed between the opened door.

"Is there any way I can help you? I have a student in here right now." Mr. Cho. it read on his desk beside the picture frame of him, his wife, and his young son. Jungwon took a step forward and gulped, eyes widening slightly when he glanced at the girls wrist, which she slowly covered with her sleeve.

Jungwon could only gulp, not knowing what to do now that he's faced the situation. Was he being insane for barging in like this and involving himself in a matter that didn't involve him?

"I.. I need Minyoung for a moment." He recalled from Mr. Cho saying her name.

Mr. Cho glanced at Jungwon for a long moment before staring at Minyoung, only drinking his coffee calmly. "Alright. Don't be too long. I need to discuss something with her." He said, forcing a friendly smile. "Bye now."

Jungwon nodded, waiting for Minyoung to exit as he closed the door and spoke to her while walking down the hall. "Are you alright..? What was that on your wrist...?" He asked.

Minyoung only nodded, keeping her head low. "It's.. from my mother."

Jungwon's eyes widened, misunderstanding everything. "O..oh.."

"Mhm..." She hummed, slightly lifting her head, "What did you need me for..?"

"Um.. I just thought-" He stopped himself, cursing under his breath, "I'm sorry.. I got the wrong idea."

Jungwon shook his head in frustration with himself, letting go of her wrist and looking to the side. "I don't know what I was thinking... you should go back." He sighed.

She stared back, brows knitting together in slight confusion before she just nodded, turning around and quickly making her way back to the counselling office.

He stood there, looking almost... defeated. It was like every ounce of responsibility he had felt for Jiyoon back then was haunting him. It was only a few minutes since they parted, yet he had this aching feeling in his stomach to feel her presence.

However, classes were now in session, he had to remind himself he was at school. Involving his private matters into his studies wasn't on his bucket list.

He'll see her when he can, and with that, he walked towards the direction of his classroom, a small sigh escaping his lips.

     Soon enough, school was over, and he found himself rushing to leave the classroom as soon as possible. Footsteps pacing down the halls in a hurry to spot her 'coincidentally', but there was no such thing.

He was going out of his way to see Jiyoon. Really, there was no way she was at all a coincidence. There was something they both shared in their subconsciousness that brought them together.

All Jungwon could do was helplessly search for her with quick, yet subtle turns of his head to any sight of her long, wavy brown hair. Once he couldn't catch a glimpse of her anywhere, his thoughts began to flood his head.

He looked at his shoes, thinking about what he last told her. For a moment, he began to wonder what love meant, what all these deep-rooted feelings he had for her meant, and how it managed to pull through after all this time.

It surely meant something, right? I mean, after all, not an ounce of care had been stripped away since the day she disappeared from his world. And the moment she walked back into his life, it has only increased from there.

In the midst of his overflowing thoughts, he sees two feet step right across his, wearing her school loafers and contrasting in size from his feet. He looked up and there she was, his July.

He couldn't wait to lift his head to meet her eyes with welcoming, yet when his eyes locked on hers, a pang of worry was felt in his chest.

She made eye contact for a split moment before averting her eyes anywhere else, but her body language stayed fixed facing him. It looked like she had something to say while fighting every bit in her to just spit it out.

"Jul—" he paused himself when he realized they were still on school grounds, and people were scurrying from left and right to get home. He let out a sigh, "Jiyoon." He spoke.

You could see her brow twitch for a second, and he noticed the small bandaid on her cheekbone from earlier. Now, all his attention was on that. He wanted to make sure she was alright, reaching his hand slowly towards it before she panicked and grabbed his wrist to stop him.

"J-just.. wait!" She quickly said, breath getting heavy as anxiety began to fill her veins.

He pulled his hand away, furrowing his brows in confusion as he tried to understand why she was acting this way. She still couldn't figure out how to form a proper sentence, staying silent and just looking around as if her words would appear somewhere in midair.

"It's..." she took a deep breath, "it's not just me."

She said while finally meeting his eyes slowly, "Is it..?"

♡

hi, it's been a while.

i just wanted to say, while reading back
through some of the chapters,
i realize how realistic some of the portrayals of my characters are, especially in my life.

relationships aren't easy.

it's easy to think you've got an
idea of it all and have no worries at the start,
but when you're with someone who
treats you so healthily compared to what you
were shown growing up,
it brings out all your vulnerabilities,
weaknesses and ugly parts.

no matter what, be patient with yourself!
don't let assumptions and expectations ruin things.
i want to remind you guys to always be grateful.
we're called to love one another so walk with love.

everything works out in the end.
love you guys, and again,
apologies for the late update.