when the stars align | sim jaeyun

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the next day

jake's pov.

The truth was, I was just as lost as she was. 

Every day, it felt like I was walking a tightrope. One wrong move, and I'd fall. I never thought I'd end up like this—avoiding her when I used to be able to talk to her about anything. But then, after everything happened, it seemed like the only choice was to pull away. 

I couldn't let myself get close to her again. Not when I had no idea how to explain why I shut her out. Not when I didn't even know how to explain myself to me. 

But damn it, every time I looked at her, it was like I was seeing a stranger wearing her face. It hurt. More than I thought it would. 

I wasn't supposed to care this much. 

I wasn't supposed to let her affect me the way she did. 

But the truth was, I couldn't stop thinking about her. 

---

I walked around the hotel courtyard, my hands shoved deep in my pockets, trying to clear my head. But everywhere I looked, I saw her. Every corner, every shadow seemed to remind me of the way things used to be. Of the way she used to look at me, the way we used to laugh until our stomachs hurt. 

Now, I could barely look at her without feeling like I was about to collapse under the weight of everything I hadn't said. 

"Jake." 

I turned, startled. It was Jisun, standing just a few feet away. 

"Hey." Her voice was soft, hesitant. "Can we talk?" 

I swallowed, the knot in my chest tightening. "Sure." 

We both stood there for a moment, unsure of what to say. The awkwardness between us was suffocating, and for the first time, I realized that maybe we were both waiting for the other person to take the first step. 

Finally, Jisun spoke, her voice quieter than I expected. "Jake, I don't get it. You've been avoiding me this whole time, and I don't know why. I don't know what happened between us, but I need to know. I need to understand why everything changed so suddenly." 

I wanted to say something—anything. But the words wouldn't come. How could I explain it to her? How could I tell her that I had distanced myself because I was scared? Scared of what would happen if I let myself get close to her again. 

I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck. "I didn't mean to hurt you." 

She looked at me, her eyes searching mine. "Then why? Why did you shut me out?" 

I didn't know how to answer. The truth was, it was easier to pretend I didn't care. Easier to keep the distance, to ignore the ache in my chest every time I saw her. 

But it wasn't working. And the more I tried to avoid her, the harder it became. 

"I don't know," I finally muttered. "I just... I didn't know what else to do." 

She took a step closer. "What do you mean?" 

I swallowed hard. "I don't know how to fix this. I don't know how to make things right between us." 

Jisun was quiet for a moment, her gaze never leaving mine. And for a brief moment, I saw the vulnerability in her eyes—the same vulnerability I had been avoiding all this time. 

It hit me harder than I expected. I wasn't the only one hurting. 

"Jake," she said softly, almost like a whisper, "I don't want to keep pretending like everything's fine when it's not." 

The words hung in the air between us, and for the first time, I felt like we were finally being honest with each other. 

But before I could say anything else, someone called out from behind us. It was Sunghoon, the rest of the group following close behind. 

Jisun and I both looked back, startled, and the moment between us was broken. She turned to walk back toward the others, and I stood there, frozen, my heart racing. 

---

The rest of the day passed in a blur. The conversations were all surface level, the smiles forced. But underneath it all, the tension between Jisun and me was undeniable. We hadn't solved anything, but it felt like something had shifted. 

For the first time, I didn't feel like I was walking away from her. Maybe, just maybe, I was starting to walk toward her again. 

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