The Rise, The Fall
Chapter 9: Baby Don't Hurt Me
Chapter Summary:
âThink of Haru,â Taehyung tried again.
âWhy?â
âJust do it.â
âOkay. What of it?â Jeongguk asked.
âDo you share the same characteristics of love as you do with me?â
âNo. But it almost seems vaguely familiar when itâs her.â
âDo you wish for her to cover such characteristics, anytime soon?â
Jeongguk gave him a confused look. He had no idea where his brother was going with him. All he knew was that he was stepping into uncharted waters. He wanted him to stop talking but keep going at the same time. This was so foreign.
~this is smut
âIâm going to call her,â Hyejin practically grabbed Jeonggukâs attention away from his job.
He sat behind an oakwood desk, stamping a few scrolls and contracts.
âYouâre actually calling her?â he asked in disbelief.
âWhat do you mean? I did say I was going to, wasnât I?â
âNo, I meanâŚnothing. Leave it.â
And they both knew that he meant calling Haru was much easier for Hyejin, than it was for Jeongguk.
He sighed and stared at her intently as she dialed Haruâs phone number, placing the phone near her ear.
A few seconds passed, then Hyejin suddenly grinned.
âHey, Haru. Can we talk?â
It had been 4 days since Jeongguk had yelled at Haru to stop seeking them. He hadnât been stalking (Hyejinâs words) her either. Something about the prospect of following her was scary to him now â now, that she was in his life; part of it.
âPut the phone on speaker,â Jeongguk ordered Hyejin.
Hyejin signed a cross at him, her face contorting to that of mild annoyance.
âHyejin-â
âGive me a moment,â She spoke into the phone and muted it.
âJeongguk-nim, Iâm not listening to orders from you right now,â She hissed-yelled at him, âIâm not doing this for you. This is a personal conversation between two women. What you did is on you. Fix it yourself.â
Not even a little help, huh? Jeongguk frowned.
âWhy are you whispering?â Jeongguk disregarded her demeanour, âYou muted the phone.â
Hyejin huffed and went back to her call. Jeongguk heard a few strings of sentences here and there, and was glad Hyejin hadnât decided to stroll around while talking on the phone, astonishingly.
Following her around to eavesdrop on their conversation; how would he look doing that?
â5 works for me!â, âSureâ, âOh, he doesnât knowâ, âYou donât have to!â was what he made out from their chat.
They were meeting? At 5? Jeongguk pondered what Haru was saying on the other line.
Hyejin then hung up, and stared at her phone for a while.
âWell?â Jeongguk started.
âWeâre meeting at 5 pm at a cafĂŠ. Sheâs free after a group study session there,â Hyejin said.
Strangely enough, she looked like an excited little girl when she answered.
âDid she say anything about me?â
âAnd what of it?â Hyejin replied, âI donât get it, Jeongguk-nim. Why you want to look like that in front of her.â
Jeongguk paused for a moment at her choice of words.
âLook like what?â
âLike you donât care.â
âI have no knowledge of what you speak of. Didnât know I was coming off as you say,â he replied, nonchalantly.
âSee, youâre doing it again,â Hyejin laughed pointedly.
âIâm doing what?â
âWell, anyway. At this rate, youâre never speaking to your human again. Sheâs not coming back to the mansion, master.â
âYou couldâve called her here, Hyejin. Why go to a cafĂŠ? Everything wouldâve gone back to normal if you did that,â Jeongguk sighed, exasperatedly.
âNormal, huh? I told you, Jeongguk-nim. Iâm not doing this for you. Haru is my friend. You have to solve your own problems. If you want me to help you apologize, Iâm all ears. Other than that, Iâm steering clear if youâre going to bet it all on my head and think things will go back to normal with the way you act when it comes to her,â Hyejin explained, then added, âStop acting like youâre doing her a favor by having me call her back to the mansion, boss.â
Jeongguk clicked his tongue, staring daggers at Hyejin.
âIsnât this insubordination?â Jeongguk stated, curtly.
Hyejin stood her ground, âWho will you complain to, Jeongguk-nim? The council?â
He clicked his tongue again. Why was Hyejin getting more and more insufferable by the day?
What would he tell the council? That his subordinate wasnât helping him apologize to a human? They would stop listening by the middle of the sentence and he would be a laughingstock. Would he throw a tantrum like that?
âWell, then. What do you want me to do?â Jeongguk asked, maintaining his ignorance.
Hyejin placed both her palms on the desk and leaned forward.
âWhat do you think you should do in such a situation, Jeongguk-nim? The apology is common sense. But what would you do?â
Jeongguk leaned back in his armchair, mulling over Hyejinâs words as he stared at the ceiling.
Hyejin continued, âBesides, why do you need her at the mansion, anyway? Canât you keep your end of the deal even if she doesnât visit the mansion?â
Jeongguk sighed, running a hand through his hair.
âYou said youâll help me apologize. I will go with you to see her at the cafĂŠ,â was all Jeongguk replied.
Hyejin half smiled. She knew Jeongguk was a hard nut to crack.
âI take it you need her here so you donât have to exert yourself too much by keeping tabs on her all time?â Hyejin did the job for Jeongguk.
âYes, that.â
Hyejin laughed, much to Jeonggukâs annoyance.
âWeâre taking my car though. I hate yours,â Hyejin said.
Jeongguk promptly swiveled his chair backwards and went back to staring at the ceiling, showing his back to Hyejin.
Hyejin was still grinning at his obvious annoyance.
.
She parked the maroon convertible at a parking lot behind a park, since the cafĂŠ skirted an intersection, with no parking space.
Hyejin was humming the whole ride. Jeongguk had offered to drive, but sheâd declined; politely so.
Having friends was new to her, even though she was a long-term member of the brotherhood. Being friends with a girl did somethings to Hyejin, Jeongguk could tell.
He smiled inwardly. She deserved it. After all the girl had been through, she deserved real friendship, outside of Bangtan. He didnât have a problem with Haru being her close friend, even with all the indefinite possibilities that lay in front of them in the future. Even if Haru was to disappear from their lives altogether; Hyejin deserved true friendship.
They had reached there half an hour earlier. Hyejin was being insufferable again, wanting to see Haruâs friends in real-time.
âNot everyone is a stalker like you, Guk-nim,â she said with an upturned nose, âI just want to see how she interacts with her schoolmates. You can come along separately if you want.â
âYouâve been awfully disrespectful ever since the human. I think some discipline is in action once we get back,â Jeongguk uttered.
âAgain, go to the council, will you?â Hyejin reminded him, âSee, master. I am your subordinate. You can behave like this with me; but you canât do that to Haru. She is human, first and foremost. And she doesnât serve you. Not everyone can be treated this way. You canât use your subordinate as a pawn to manipulate Haru back to the mansion. I donât want her to find out by herself and think any less of you. All I want is for my master to hold his head high and take responsibility for his actions.â
But why; she is a human!
Jeongguk could have said so himself, but then, the things heâd done for a mere human were beyond crazy. He had no defenses for himself. His hands balled into fists at his own situation. How stupid had he been?
âI am sure my master can keep his ego aside and think of it as a normal interaction; something you do when youâve disrespected someone instead of blatant contempt for humans.â
It wasnât contempt or ego for Jeongguk, that much he knew. He just didnât know how to interact with Haru. Not after concluding that his human was gorgeous. It was like he wanted her to know that he was sorry, but he didnât want to say it himself; if that made any sense.
âItâs not ego. Itâs not even pride. I just donât know how to interact with humans, let alone women. So itâs good youâre coming along with me.â
âMakes sense,â Hyejin agreed without doubt.
Jeongguk took a peek beyond the glass exterior, his humanâs head visible among the side-booths.
Sheâd cut her hair; trimmed a little from below. Jeongguk sucked in a breath then promptly let it go after what he saw next.
It was obvious. She was way more bubbly and joyous with her hair bouncing like that. She was flaunting, subconsciously. Jeongguk almost smirked at how much he understood her. But he stopped himself when she grinned wide.
It had been a while. His human looked well. Did she worry over him as well? Did she not want to come back to his lair? Did she want to see him again, even? His mind ran rampant with a myriad of thoughts as he watched her pull at the seams of her sweaterâs arms. Was she cold, or nervous?
Sitting in front of her were two boys her age. They were probably from her class because he recognized one of them from around their school perimeter, often chatting with Haru and her classmates.
She sat beside her other friend, the one heâd met earlier but couldnât remember the name of.
They were upbeat and chatty, passing notes and stationery between each other. Haru looked so engrossed in her friends; it almost made Jeongguk want to stay and just watch her interact with them.
Until she handed her phone to the blond dude in front of her, showing her something they both shared a laugh at; fingers brushing at the exchange.
Jeongguk blinked, and blinked again. Clenching his jaw, he turned to Hyejin. She had a huge smile plastered across her face as she looked at Haru.
She gasped, âSo this is school friendship!â It wouldâve been comical how Hyejin was acting like an old outsider if Jeongguk wasnât seeing red currently.
âLetâs just sit at a table away from her. We can wait up for her to finish her studies. Her study group was going to leave around 4:30.â
âSure,â Jeongguk pursed his lips into a thin line, resisting the urge to punch the glass wall. Hyejin was too excited for Jeongguk to ruin the mood with unneeded violence.
They sat at a booth furthest away from Haru, Hyejin peeking at her study group from time to time.
âHeâs dyed his hair blond,â Jeongguk stated, rudely.
âWho?â Hyejin asked, âOh that boy with Haru? He looks like a sweet boy. I hope heâs good friends with her.â
âYou hope for unwanted things sometimes, yes, thatâs a habit of yours,â Jeongguk bit the inside of his cheek after saying so.
Hyejin gave him a poker face, because she didnât understand a word he said.
âLighten up a little, Jeongguk-nim. We asked to meet her here. You canât just go and talk to her with a sour mood like that.â
âHow long before her friends leave?â
âAround 20 minutes or so.â
âFine. Iâll wait.â
Hyejin smiled by herself; her master was quite an impatient one when it came to his human. How was he even planning to apologize to Haru? She had a hard time envisioning him apologizing to anyone who wasnât from Bangtan, her included.
Had he even practiced or rehearsed what he was going to say?
Their heads turned in the study groupâs direction as the other girl stood up, probably to use the restroom.
The blond boy promptly got up and replaced himself in the girlâs seat, right beside Haru.
Jeongguk almost stood up and walked over to them. Almost.
His human wouldnât like it. It would make her think less of him, he remembered.
He stared at them, kind of hoping Haru would be the one to move away or do something to break their contact. But she simply took his phone and laughed at a few stupid pictures.
They both exchanged familiar glances and smiled while Haru swiped at his phone.
How many minutes had passed? Because it was getting more and more annoying being in their presence.
Jeongguk chanced a glance at Hyejin, who was staring at Haru intently with a small smile on her face.
Jeongguk scoffed and looked back at them. The boy had put an arm around her shoulder, held her close and snapped a picture.
Jeongguk stood up.
âIâm leaving,â he stated with no explanations.
âBut Haru-â
âI just remembered I have some business to attend to. Besides, wasting time waiting for a human isnât my cup of tea. I came here for niceties, but I guess itâs of no use here.â
âJeongguk-nim, you said you want to apologize,â Hyejin held a solemn gaze.
âI said Iâll come along with you, not that Iâd apologize,â Jeongguk corrected, âIâll smoke out in an alley. You can drive back home.â
And he immediately walked out of the cafĂŠ.
.
Jeongguk slumped into his bed, throwing his coat across the bedroom floor.
Of course.
He timidly ran a hand through his hair. He kicked his shoes off, almost flailing them away from him.
Of course.
Haru was a human. A normal human.
It was obvious she was a good human. An exceptionally good human too.
There was no way.
No way it could be.
She was obviously going to be a heaven-dweller after her time on earth.
It had to be acknowledged by him. There was no use circling around this blatant fact over and over again, hoping for a different outcome.
In all the three and a half years heâd been watching her, heâd been avoiding that simple obvious fact. He threw his head back against the headboard and closed his eyes.
Did she have to do that to him? Act all familiar with that guy right when he was watching her? Four days he hadnât seen her, and this is what she first did when he finally saw her.
âYouâre so pathetic.â
He didnât know why he said that and who he was referring to.
Was he ready to talk to her? Not really. What would he say to her, anyway?
âI am sorry for throwing you on the couch even after knowing our power dynamics. I am just an ignorant man after all.â
He had a hard time believing Haru would buy that or even consider his apology.
Taehyung knocked on his bedroom door. The dude would just smoke himself in in any corridor of his mansion whenever he wanted. Jeongguk was fine with it, because Taehyung was his brother. As long as he avoided smoking into personal rooms, he was fine with it.
âCome in.â
They had a small chat about todayâs gaffe and Taehyung was already done with him.
âIâm going to change the conversation topic to something else now, Guk-ah.â
He was that done with Jeongguk.
âNow Manshik knows about her. And he saw her in person,â Taehyung reminded him.
Jeongguk gave out an airy laugh at his own stupidity.
âIâm going to smack you,â Taehyung was serious, âYou couldâve asked me for information on Park Doyun. I wouldâve got it for you from Yoongi-hyung himself.â
âWe know how that would work hyung,â Jeongguk sighed at the end of the sentence.
âWell, it worked well; because I did speak to him, dumbass,â Taehyung said proudly and Jeongguk immediately sat up, his eyes wide.
âHyung-â
âUh-uh-uh,â Taehyung clicked his fingers in front of Jeonggukâs face, âYou have a serious apology to make, donât you think?â
âSorry, hyung. Please.â
âSee how easy that was. Now do this with Haru as well!â Taehyung smiled victoriously.
âItâs not that easy.â Jeongguk was getting impatient, âPlease, just tell me about Doyun. I really need that information.â
Jeongguk looked at Taehyung with pleading eyes, something Taehyung wasnât used to. Yet, as much as he wanted to explain things to his younger brother; sometimes things were harder to explain than to understand. It was like muscle memory. Someone wouldnât learn to drive a car if you just told them about it in theory. The older manâs eyes almost seemed distant as they looked at each other.
âHaha,â Taehyung chucked dryly, âhow simple yet trivial but important.â
Taehyung sighed and turned his head away, looking through the stained glass window.
Before Jeongguk could plead again, heâd already started talking.
âWe have love between us, right, Jeongguk?â
Jeongguk held his stare while Taehyung still looked into the distance. He knew Taehyung was going to drop a bomb on his head that he would understand much, much later.
âHyung, I donât understand.â
âJust answer the question, Guk-ah.â
âI think I donât know what love is?â he replied, scratching his head.
âWhat is love, from what youâve seen?â Taehyung asked, as he finally looked at Jeongguk.
âSpending time with each other?â
âAnd?â
âBeing there for one another. Knowing someone is always ready to help you, no matter what it is?â Jeongguk thought intently, âA familiar feeling you get when you know someone is sharing the same level of understanding as you for something?â
Taehyung waited as Jeongguk pondered more; but when no other answers came, he replied, âThatâs good. So by these definitions, do we have love between us?â
âI think thereâs more to it,â Jeongguk answered immediately.
âReally? I think itâs as simple as that,â Taehyung didnât miss a beat.
âHow so?â
âThink of Haru,â Taehyung tried again.
âWhy?â
âJust do it.â
âOkay. What of it?â Jeongguk asked.
âDo you share the same characteristics of love as you do with me?â
âNo. But it almost seems vaguely familiar when itâs her.â
âDo you wish for her to cover such characteristics, anytime soon?â
Jeongguk gave him a confused look. He had no idea where his brother was going with him. All he knew was that he was stepping into uncharted waters. He wanted him to stop talking but keep going at the same time. This was so foreign.
âOkay, do you feel she almost steps into a Venn diagram of these characteristics; or think she could easily encompass them if she wanted to?â
If she wanted to.
The answer to that made Jeongguk shiver in fear and uncertainty.
Did she want to?
âYes,â Jeongguk half-whispered, half-said.
And Jeongguk suddenly ached for something like sand slipping between his fingers.
It was like heâd had this ache for eons.
Oh, he ached.
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