Evolution of a lover's heart | jjk

56

Jeongguk's struggles get easier as time goes on. During the first few months, he evidently struggles a lot with who he is and who he should be, but then, something happens.

There's a change. A shift.

He was supposed to be out late tonight, having prepared you that he most likely would sleep at Tae's since he had a huge apartment near their bar of choice for the night. But a woman spilled splashes of her drink on his shirt as she walked by, and that soured his mood. When he later texted you a cute little note and your answer came in short–polite but short, he decided to just leave.

He didn't think anything was necessarily wrong with you, he just didn't have a good time, and would rather see if he could spend the night with you, bettering both your moods.

It's only ten thirty p.m. when he unlocks his front door, smiling when he hears the sound of your sewing machine. He can practically see it, you, concentrated to the point of looking angry, with your lip bitten as you start another project.

After locking the door behind him and removing his shoes and jacket, the first thing Jeongguk does is yank the shirt off him, leaving his top half naked as he heads directly toward his bedroom.

Not bothering to waste an entirely clean shirt, he settles for the black t-shirt already hanging over the chair in the corner.

If he stopped to think about it, he'd find it a bit odd that you haven't called out to him yet, but then again, he'd probably blame it on the volume of the machine.

However, the dumb smile he's wearing falls when he enters the kitchen where you've set up your stuff.

The machine's noise echoes through the kitchen, and it's no wonder you hadn't noticed him, startling when you see him.

Immediately, you wipe at your eyes with the back of your hand that's filled with tissues.

"Hey... what's wrong?" Jeongguk calls, heart aching by seeing the tears you try to hide. He moves to your side. "Are you crying?"

It's not very convincing, the smile you force between silent tears. "I'm fine, I promise. I just had a little accident. I... sewed myself in the finger."

When Jeongguk inspects your hand, he sees that parts of the white tissues you hold–pressed against your finger–are slowly turning red.

"Let me see," he urges, but you shake your head.

"It's nothing bad."

The whirring begins again as you restart the machine, and Jeongguk stops his thoughts to look at the fabric draped through it.

"Is that Mrs. Lee's dresses? I thought you were done with them?" he questions.

A neighbor of yours, Mrs. Lee, had asked you to alter four dresses for her young daughters to wear to a... what was it? Wedding? Baptizing? Jeongguk can't remember, but he knows you already returned them, altered to her wishes.

"Yeah, she gave me the wrong measurements, so I have to redo, well, everything. And she brought her niece's too," you chuckle, but there's no humor or joy in it. Just sadness, stress, and ...heartbreak?

He lowers himself to his haunches beside you, noticing the traces of blood on the white machine. "Hey, let me look at your hand. If it's not bad then let me at least bandage it."

"Gguk, I need to get this done, maybe later."

"When did you say the... event was?"

"Tomorrow. They need them early, but I can still make it if I just–"