SIN | CHOI MUJIN/JUNG TAEJU

8 SINS

❝IT WAS A SIN FOR HER TO IGNORE ALL HIS RED FLAGS, BUT LIKE THE NAIVE SEVENTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL THAT AERA WAS, SHE WAS BLINDED BY HER CRAVING FOR THE SLIGHTEST BIT OF LOVE AND AFFECTION❞

Since the day Do Gang-Jae had saved Park Aera from her bullies, the two had naturally become closer to the point where their fellow classmates suspected that they were secretly dating.

"I mean why else would he save her from Hee-jin?" One of Aera's classmates, Kwon Sara, gossiped with her own circle of friends in the cafeteria.

"I know right?" Sara's best friend, Jung Hae Soo exclaimed as she shoved kimchi into her mouth. "It's either that... or he has a crush on her."

"You think so?"

"I mean... she's kind of pretty." Hae Soo explained. "Boys would do anything for a pretty face, didn't you know?"

"I guess you're right." Sara sighed. "I don't know why he would try to defend her, knowing what's at risk. I mean isn't Heejin's father the biggest donator to this school? I heard he donated 500 million won this year... I doubt her father would let this go easily..."

"Didn't you hear about the prostitution rumors about her? She probably seduced him into defending her dignity, or what's left of it anyway." Hae Soo's boyfriend loudly muttered before he returned his concentration to the pickled radish on his plate.

Aera, who sat with Do Gang-jae two tables down from them, grit her teeth as she heard them loudly gossiping about her. No matter how hard Aera tried to blend in with the rest of the students and graduate quietly, the students of the school always had a way of stirring up more rumors. Too consumed in her thoughts, she neglected to notice that Gang-jae had vacated his seat and headed towards the table where the group of gossipers sat. The group of friends, still too engrossed with the topic of gossip, also failed to notice he had approached the table until Gang-jae decided to knock their cafeteria trays to the floor, earning the screams of the girls at the table.

"Are you crazy?" Hae Soo's boyfriend exclaimed as his tray of flood splattered the ground. "Why'd you fucking do that?"

"My bad... I thought I was doing you a favor by getting rid of your tray." Gang-jae smirked. "I mean you must be full from talking all that shit."

"This psycho!" Hae Soo's boyfriend exclaimed as he got up from his seat and pushed Gang-jae to the ground, straddled him, and punched his face a few times, drawing blood from his lower lip.

"You're really going to regret that." Gang-jae warned before he flipped their positions and started punching him, landing blow after blow until the kid's face was barely recognizable. All the while, Aera was in shock, unable to move from her position. She had never seen someone's face beaten so badly that it was hard to distinguish the person's features.

"Here! They're here!" Sometime during the fight, a classmate had run to get a teacher to come break up the fight.

"The two of you need to stop now!" Ms. Yoon shrieked and the cafeteria had gone silent. The two boys had stopped fighting, but not because of the teacher's interference, but because Gang-jae had beaten the boy into unconsciousness.

"Get them to the infirmary quickly. The two of you will be dealt with after we get you two treated."

From that single fight, anyone could see that Do Gang-jae had serious issues, but naive seventeen-year-old Aera ignored the initial red flag.

"Why'd you do that?" She asked him later at the school nurse's office when everyone had finally dispersed to let the two boys rest and recover from the fight. Hae-Soo's boyfriend ended up needing to be rushed to the hospital because his injuries were too severe to treat at the nurse's office, leaving Gang-jae the only person in the office.

"Why do you think?" Gang-jae sitting on one of the school's cots, turned his head to lock gazes with her.

"I don't know... maybe you like fighting?" Aera offered and waited for his response.

"Maybe." Gang-jae closed the gap in between them.

"You didn't have to do that though..." Aera looked away from him. "They weren't bullying me... they were just gossiping..."

"And you were gonna let them talk about you like that?" He raised his left eyebrow at her as if she was stupid.

"Words don't hurt me anymore..." Aera lied as she fiddled with her fingers.

"That's bullshit, and you know it." Gang-jae retorted which had caused Aera to look at him with an indecipherable expression. Aera didn't understand how he could read her so easily and why he had cared enough to discuss the matter further.

"You didn't answer my previous question." Aera decided to change the subject. "Why'd you do it? Hae-Soo's boyfriend is probably going to press charges."

"Let that fucker try. He's probably too scared to do anything anyway." Gang-jae laughed. "He seemed like a momma's boy anyway. And if he does try anything to fuck with me, I'll just make sure to cripple him next time."

"You would do it again?"

"Fuck yeah."

"But why?"

"You really want to know the answer?" Gang-jae had gotten up from the cot and closed the distance between the two, locking his eyes with hers.

"Yes." Aera whispered.

"I like you." He stated.

"You what?" Aera widened her eyes in disbelief.

"I fucking like you."

Sometime between the months that they had gotten to know each other during the school year, Do Gang-jae had developed a liking towards her. He had developed a crush on her and like the blunt person that he was, he stated it like the obvious.

It was Aera's first time being confessed to and like the naive girl she was, she found her heart fluttering. She craved love and attention because she received any growing up with her deadbeat father and at Gang-jae's confession, she had hope that maybe she was actually worthy of being loved.

"I like you too." She stood on her tiptoes and kissed the left side of his cheek.

In her final year of high school, Aera had finally experienced her first love with none other than Do Gang-jae. However, they always say that first loves never last and had she known better, she would've never accepted his confession. After all, it was a sin for her to ignore all his red flags, but like the naive seventeen year old girl that she was, she was blinded by her craving for the slightest bit of love and affection.

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hi everyone! i hope everyone has been doing well! it's been 5 months since the last update! so sorry for the delay! i had an unexpected surgery recently and am busy catching up on a lot of work that i missed out on! i hope to post many more chapters this summer! i'm a bit rusty, but i hope that this chapter satisfies you all!

-love, shirley x