where it all ends.

ii.

theme: 'high infidelity' / 'bad at love'

it was the gayo daejun after-party. jisoo had entered a little late, having had to change into something suitable for the party after she was done emceeing. half the star-studded crowd whooped as she entered beside her co-emcee, lee taeyong. the female with her social butterfly persona had become a favourite even among the unnies and well known among males for obvious ethereal looks. her, beside the much-wished-for, icy-looking taeyong was nothing less that a treat to the eyes.

jisoo clad in an long puffy sleeved glittery black bodycon descended the stairs while her counterpart chose to skip the white shirt he previously had on under his black velvet suit during the official event. but her eyes scanned the sea of eyes to meet those of her man's. and when she did a wave rushed through her as she smiled and she dropped taeyong's hand, something she didn't know she had been holding. but all these people's eager eyes on her acted like chains withholding her from immediately running to him, into his arms.

suddenly someone yelled, "you both were quite the thing tonight!", and there were cheers in agreement. the lady smiled and the latter smirked, both pairs of eyes going down.

"well, the pleasure is all mine to have such a femme fatale beside me all evening.", taeyong spoke and jisoo watched with parted lips as he kissed her hand and met her eyes, which glinted with a smile in return. the crowd drowned her husky giggle as she went on to say, "anyway! we don't want to halt the fun now so dance the night away everyone!" everyone shifted their attention as jisoo rushed to her fellow blackpink members to chat endlessly.

when she could sneak out, she immediately was in front on park jinyoung, her boyfriend, and engulfed him in a happy hug. yet there was something amiss. she didn't miss the way his smile at her faltered, puzzling her. yet she put it behind herself and enjoyed the night to the maximum. in the midst of drinking and laughing, the couple found themselves in a dark corner, lips entwined, glasses of alcohol long forgotten on the counter. and again, she found him zoned out, mouth on hers, unresponsive with mind in some other dimension. 

she leaned back to cup his face with her hands. she raised her creased brows at him. "nothing babe, i just felt a wave of dizziness. i'm okay." jisoo nodded half-heartedly. merely thirty minutes later, jinyoung said he was feeling off-colour and wanted to go home. feeling disturbed by his  changed energy, jisoo was too confused to stop him and instead watched his figure retreat out the club.

absent communication left the couple with a dent in the heart. jinyoung couldn't admit he was feeling jealous and jisoo didn't even think of such a possibility.

"jisoo? i'm asking why this article's up!", jinyoung's soft voice was firm as her rested his hands on the café table, pushing the article on his phone towards her. jisoo frowned a little, not fully grasping the gravity of this situation. she was expecting anything but this when they decided to meet up for a 'date'.

"that is you isn't it? what were you doing on a date?"

"it wasn't a date! geez, i was out with the astro members because we're rookies and thought it'd be good to get to know each other better."

"then why were you pictured alone with sanha? on a separate table?"

"well they said the others would bore me and as a joke we sat on a table to chat.", then jinyoung spewed the actual thing clawing at him inside: why was there a photo of him pecking her cheek lightly?

jisoo paused for a moment before continuing, "it was just a friendly gesture! we were playing around. besides what's wrong in a little flirting-"

"while committed?!"

"c'mon jinyoung, it isn't that bad. this is the entertainment industry, keeping idols pleased never hurts.", she shrugged, trying to be the supposedly laidback, understanding person jackson had played with her.

"i've been in the same world as you jisoo, and i never knew gambling like this is something normal or even good. i'm really sorry to say i cannot go on like this."

jisoo's face hardened as the colour drained out.  she couldn't comprehend how deep this cut went. "youngie, i—"

"please don't, jisoo. i sincerely hoped we could be permanent. but it's not the first time such a thing has happened. it hurts me; i don't want to keep feeling this way."

wordlessly she reached to grab his wrist as he got up to leave. "i'm sorry, soo. maybe this happened at a wrong point in our lives. i always hope the best for you."

the woman could not utter a single syllable, with her throat dried up and voice box sinking every second. she managed to give a subtle grin, expressing all the regret she was drowning in.

then she let go. and when his silhouette was no longer visible, she put her hand over her mouth, wondering if she had been the jackson this time.

(heya, is it like one cannot tell who's fault it is here? i want it like that cuz that's how things go irl mostly. anyway!)

868 words

08/06/2023

~sid.