stranger ‣ y.jw

040

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"So Jungwon's not going to leave." Seona, Jungwon's mother, says as she sat across Jihee, who couldn't help but avoid making eye contact with her because of her guilt.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't take him away from this reality. He can't lose the same things I lost. It wouldn't be fair." Jihee apologized for hurting him.

They were currently in Jungwon's house, drinking coffee while sitting at the dining table. Jungwon was out with Jay to play basketball and his father; she had no idea where he was, but she could only guess he was out to run an errand. Seona wanted to talk to Jihee after hearing the final decision, and she couldn't help but be dismayed that their conclusion would have to be like this. Jihee could tell Seona wanted to try at least changing their decision, but the younger was already keen with her response. Though she didn't want to make that choice, she still thinks it's for the better.

Seona sighs. "I admit I'm relieved that he won't leave. After all, no mother would want to lose their child, but at the same time, no mother would also want to see their child hurt. You are already my child, Jihee. Before you became a stranger, I've always treated you like my own. I don't want you to suffer another hundred years because you failed in love."

The younger bit her lip; tears were threatening from her eyes. "Don't make my leave any harder than it is. I've endured a lot for the past hundred years, sure, the next may be more painful, but I'll manage."

The fact that she was so used to being sad made Seona even more upset than she already was. "What are you planning to do then? You can't leave for two more months." She asked as to shift the topic into something lighter.

"I'll probably stop school after a month, and I'm getting tired of pretending to be a student, plus the students there aren't very nice." She replies, which causes a chuckle to escape the older's lips. "For the last month, I don't know."

"Don't think much about it. Just do what you want to do." She tells her, then coughing later on. "I want to ask about Jungwon's fate. I'm sure you've seen it."

Ah. A slight smile appeared on Jihee's face as she remembered the fate he once was destined to live. "He has a great future ahead of him, though major changes happened since I intervened." She scratched the back of her neck nervously.

Relief washed over Seona's face at the mere mention that her son had a bright future. She wasn't in anyways worried because of Jihee's intervention because she knew what Jungwon was capable of, and she was sure he was going to achieve something far greater now in the new future ahead of him.

"How about we talk about your first reality?"

Jihee nods. "I'd like that."

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"You're dropping out?" Sunoo gasped upon hearing Jihee's announcement, his eyes going back and forth between her and Jungwon. "Why?!"

"I have to leave in a month, so there's really no point staying here anymore," Jihee tells him, her hold on Jungwon's hand tightening.

As Sunoo and her discussed her dropping out, Jungwon remained standing by her side. He still can not believe that there is only a month left for them. For the past month, all they ever did was continue with their lives as if nothing wrong would happen, as if they were actually normal for once. And how he loved it.

When she finally left for class, and he was alone with Sunoo, the older glanced at him with a concerned expression plastered all over his face. "How are you feeling about her leaving? Surely you aren't taking this very lightly." Sunoo worriedly asks him.