written in the stars | yjw

12 | honey bunny

CHAPTER TWELVE

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

seoyoon sense her emotions wave all at once — upon seeing the person she expected the least. it leaves her mouth slightly hanging, still couldn't decipher what did just occur last few moments ago.

"jungwon."

her word resemble of relief and acquaintance. if it wasn't for him, she could've died or something else that she would remember in a lifetime. by that, he only beams, and fiddles with the hem of his hood.

and for jungwon, a next response was quite hard for him to counter hers, lately being overwhelmed by their encounter. honestly, he didn't expect meeting seoyoon down there on the alleyway, only realizing when they reach the lit path and peers on the trembling student besides him. it wasn't that obvious, perhaps he managed to be not overidden by shock.

"i—i — thank you for saving me there..." she says, a hint of relief and panic were laced in her soft voice. the way her emotions slowly subside as she meet his eyes for a second — knew that there is something unusual.

"no problem." that's all he could say at least a while, "come on, let's get inside and have something to eat."

jungwon motions his hand to be followed by seoyoon as he pushes the glass door to enter. he leads the way onto a shelf of cookies, grabbing a pack of honey and orders two cups of vanilla ice cream before heading out the store. seoyoon haven't said anything else, until they stepped out of the convenience store and gives him a confused look.

"here, take this." jungwon says, handing a cup of ice cream while he rips the cookies' wrapper. she takes it with both hands and tries to speak back.

"i — "

"— not yet."

although it sounded quite odd, she remains on her position, hands holding the ice cream that slighly leans towards him. he then grabs a piece of cookie that resembles the shape of a bunny head, crushing it — as the crumbs fall down on the top of its vanilla swirls and squirts a satisfying amount of pure honey. seoyoon watches the mere simple scenery in front of her, as it was remaking something that seemed so familiar. she couldn't herself but to stare at him without reciprocating a locked gaze and truth to be told,

jungwon was more than a forgotten scenery.

"and there you go." he says, snapping her from the trance accidentally. jungwon had barely finished sprinkling those crushed cookies in her dessert then his afterwards. the scenario leaves an unconscious smile on her face, feeling a sudden motion below her lungs.

seoyoon, you have to stop it.

"i made you cookie ice cream, it's your favorite."

pang — and the sense of nostalgia just hit her straightly. ah, jungwon loves making her ice cream whenever she felt distressed. he believed that one kind of a dessert would solve her problem in just few minutes by scooping a frozen cream with crumbs of cookies in it. even taehyun never knew that — those simple of all things that mattered to her.

"t-thanks..." she lastly says as jungwon leads the way to the park.

they walked together like usual, having a disclosed past yet moving in the present. seoyoon was beginning to get curious of her well-being for the past few months — just when jungwon had appeared in this town. she felt quite unsure of what she's feeling towards him but she knew that taehyun still owns her heart.

jungwon had always been the nicest human being on earth, despite all those hatred and mistreatments, he remained sensible and humble. there was not a single thing they've fallen into an argument and that attachment they've creates had been so special ever since.

now there were no reasons to hate this man, even he had done the worst possible thing to do to her, and that's to disappear without a trace back then — yet she still couldn't understand the situation until now, how he would show up like nothing had happened, as if he recently went to restroom and traveled time from a toilet bowl then coming back to like without knowing how few years passed by already. did he even know what he's doing? she wonders, did he ever wonder what i felt when he was gone?

"does is taste good?" jungwon asks out of nowhere. they have arrived at the concreted path that leads to the park's gate — few people were strolling across the garden, lampposts were vividly illuminated, enhancing the enthralling view that was sight to behold. whilst seoyoon had her mind drifting to somewhere else, her present thoughts are no longer in track. she had already forgotten the vanilla's aftertaste.

"yeah, it is — i-i just remembered something..." she unconsciously answers, scooping a little of her dessert and eats it silently as they reach an empty bench spot near the fountain.

her answer leaves a weird sensation on the back of jungwon's mind. must be the nostalgia or something that seemed obvious to think about. he surely knows that seoyoon would never forget those simplest of things that goes unnoticed. he only wanted to regain his connection with her after a few years of detachment. he haven't said anything about it yet, and when he does, will she be able to believe him?

"tell me what do you remember." he says. those feelings still linger inside him, yet couldn't find out how to get rid of it. jungwon has still loved seoyoon until now, but doesn't know how to put things on line, "if it doesn't bother you, at least."

"you still remember it." she admits, an audible sigh is heard afterwards. seoyoon sits initially on the bench as she watch the clean water ripple from the upper water flow from the fountain, "and thank you."

"honey bunny." jungwon softly says; those two words meant something back then, a made-up ice cream flavor that she only wanted amongst those particular flavors that existed, "did you made those name right?"

soeyoon chuckles and shakes her head in disagreement, "it was you coming at me handing a bowl of these after the movie marathon and thought of a name."

"ah yes!" he exclaims on his cup and expels a hearty laughter, "you were craving for something that night and i bet you didn't eat brownies just because you wanted ice cream."

"well, i sure did." she eagerly replies, a sense of bubbly emotion as nostalgia resurfaces, "you missed the good part though."

"did i?" he asks, finishing the last scoop with a final lick, "but you being there was the good part."

seoyoon didn't anticipate the sudden dissonance of her heartbeat just when she hears the unexpected response from him. it just feels undescribable to the extent that it makes it hard to comprehend what it is. it's all about words,  and words shouldn't be the reason to let her guard down. besides, jungwon didn't mean those honestly — and that thought leaves a bitter taste in her heart.

he never meant those.

all those giddy emotions were washed away by a single disruptive thought; she smiled halfway, admitting that she had ingested the sweet feeling she's hiding — however, as soon as the realization kicks in, it was all lost, and it goes back.

her smile fades instantly upon thinking that jungwon was doing his trick perhaps, her mind gather all those bittersweet past, rolling like a film. she absolutely hated it when he did that, and instead of appreciating it, it leads to nothing.

"i-i have to go..." seoyoon says absentmindedly — her body's responding to flight mode. she wanted to get herself away from him, to stop herself from misleading. it should've been over, and right now she could've been home. she could feel the stinging sensation on her eyes as she begins to walk away from him.

he looks at her in confusion and calls her, "seoyoon..."

"thank you and goodnight... jungwon." she says for the last time before disappearing.

she couldn't think anything else but one thing she wanted to ask,

why is there still left?