FORCED ʲʲᵏ ✓

27| Fraternal Dispute

❛❛How much more do I have to wait?
How many more nights do I have to stay up,
Until I can see you?❜❜

- Spring Day

๑☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ๑

At around four o'clock, Junghyun heard a knock on the door of his studio apartment. Wondering who it could be - since he hadn't given anyone the address - he opened the door.

Only to find the last person he had expected to see. Jihye, his ex-girlfriend. Or maybe ex-fiancee was a better word.

He stared at Jihye in surprise for minutes till she asked, "Aren't you going to let me in?" He moved away from the door immediately, cheeks heating up at his own baffled behaviour.

Jihye sat down on the couch without a word, and he took a seat in the armchair. "Nicely arranged, as usual." She looked around.

"Why are you here?"

"I'll take that question as my cue to get straight to business. Like I said in the hospital, I'm here to get my answers and clear this up," she repeated the exact same words from a week ago.

"Firstly, when are you going to return to your parents? You already know your father's condition and I bet your mother spends most of her time worrying about you."

"Why do you even care?" He diverted his gaze from hers.

"Because you left me a week before our marriage?" Jihye snapped. "Listen here, Junghyun, I could've easily stayed mad at you for that but guess what? I'm not. So please cooperate with me."

Guilt spread in his eyes. "I don't know how I'm going to face them after letting them down like this."

"But your parents are neither mad nor disappointed at you. They just want you back. Is that too much to ask?"

"I-I don't.."

"Look, I get how you're feeling but if you want to get rid of that feeling, you have to do something you couldn't do one and a half month ago: talk to them. Tell them how you're really feeling."

"Alright," he sighed, "I will."

"Good. Minor problem solved." Junghyun sent her an inquisitive look. "What are you going to do about your fraternal dispute?"

Normally, Junghyun would have laughed at Jihye's choice of words but the situation was different. His expression hardened.

"Jungkook still loves you, Hyun. He looks up to you." Jihye's tone softened.

"Is that why he married the girl I love?"

"For the last time, neither of us really wanted to marry each other. Under the given circumstances, we were forced to," Jihye stated. "And I think you're missing a piece of information here."

"You think he stole me from you. But in reality, he protected me so that I could be with you again when you returned. That's why he married me," she continued on. "For two months."

Junghyun's eyes widened. "Two months?"

''It's a contract marriage," Jihye answered. "And we both wanted to keep it that way."

"Wanted to?"

This time Jihye looked away from his gaze. "It's not one-sided, Hyun. I fell for him, too."

Pain flashed in Junghyun's eyes. "I wanted to wait for you. I knew you'd return but... I couldn't control my heart. I love him. And no matter how much I try, I can't deny it anymore."