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It was the Sunday after, Nari and Renjun sat on a swing in the late evening. The sun was slowly setting and bathed them in a warm orange glow. For a while, the faint screeching of the swings and the wind whistling gently as it tickled their skin were the only sounds between them.
It was a pleasant silence.
Both of them needed that very much, taking the opportunity to try and sort their thoughts and emotions. Both of them were heartbroken, but they both also partially healed by regaining their friendship and maybe even strengthening their bond.She closed her eyes in an attempt to rid herself of the images that flashed her mind, but it was no use.
"No, Nari, what do you mean?"
The amount of irritation his eyes held, the pain that swirled in them. The way his face fell, as if she had stabbed him right then and there, as if she had torn his wings.
The way he had been keeping ahold of her wrist, as if he couldn't let go, as if she was his lifeline. The way she would have wanted him to pull her back and hold her close, deep down.
"How do you deal with it?"
Nari looked up from her dangling feet and met Renjun's eyes. "Heartbreak, I mean"
Renjun forced a smile onto his face and his eyes met the pebble stones that littered the ground.
"I.. I don't know actually"
He sighed and then stared ahead, off into the distance, as he thought of an apt answer.
"I guess the only way to deal with it is to hope that, whoever the person you like is with treats them right, and that they make your loved one smile. That they reach for the stars for them and fight their evil dragons like a shining knight in some fairytale."
A bitter smile stretched across his lips.
"That's how I went with it. If you truly love someone, you can love them even from a distance. Because usually, their smile would matter more than your own."
He fidgeted with his hands and twisted the rings he wore today. "Look, I know I wasn't exactly good at handling my own jealousy. I tried hard to see things that way, to put your smile first, but I so badly wanted to smile with you..", he looked at her, she had been silent throughout the entirety of his answers so far.
Nari listened intently; she couldn't believe how badly he must've been suffering from his feelings for her. She was at the brink of grasping it now that she chose to lose Jisung, but even that couldn't be compared to how he had been, and still was, in love with someone who had feelings for somebody else.
"I don't know what happened for you to break off contact with that Jisung guy, but he must've been dear to you. I wonder what he's like.... Was he good to you? Did he take care of you when Mark and I didn't?"
