Broken [EDITING]

Chapter 28

Jeonghan froze. His mind replaying the images of event that he never wanted to remember.

"Jeonghan? What's wrong?" Seungcheol came from behind. They were all about to leave until he realise that his boyfriend wasn't with them and got panicked. Seungcheol knew something wasn't right when he saw the horrified expression Jeonghan has when he turned to see him. Jeonghan didn't say anything but show the text message he received not long ago.

"Are you going to see her then..?" Jeonghan wasn't expecting a question like that from Seungcheol. He thought that the other will get furious instead. What he didn't know was that Seungcheol is actually burning mad inside but bury those emotion deep underneath and tries to be calm so that Jeonghan wouldn't feel too scared. Seungcheol smiled for a second when he realised it was like a reversal from when Jeonghan tried to calm his down in the cable car.

Jeonghan's answer to the question was obviously a no but for some reason, his heart said yes.

"I'm so sorry Jeonghan,"
"I did what you asked me to so please leave my boyfriend alone,"

Taeyeon's words came in his mind. If she said sorry, she didn't mean to do it..right? And that guy that was being dragged.. was he her boyfriend then? Jeonghan endlessly thought. "If you're going, I'll go with you as well; don't worry." Hearing those made Jeonghan's heart flutter and smiled. Finally making the decision, he held Seungcheol's hand tightly and said, "Let's meet her,"

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The two boys entered the boba tea shop that they loved so much and immediately notice the person they wanted to meet. Both Seungcheol and Jeonghan left their group of friend with the excuse that they had something important going on and went straight to the place where they agreed to meet the woman.

Jeonghan was anxious to meet his once close friend. Being betrayed by someone you trust with your whole heart hurts more than being stabbed by a knife. Seungcheol could tell that the long haired boy was scared so he kept reminding him that he would stay by his side throughout the whole meeting.

They awkwardly sat in front of the person and all three of them could feel the tension. "Han, it's been a long time since I last saw you," Taeyeon spoke after a long silence. "Don't act so kind and get straight to the point," Seungcheol said as he was quite annoyed at how she was acting.

Taeyeon smiled bitterly, knowing that this would happen. "I'm sorry," she said while looking at the   two young boys in front of her. Before she could continue, Jeonghan cut him off. "That's not enough. I was literally dying and you think just a simple 'sorry' is enough? Why did you do that?" Jeonghan burst out his feelings that he has kept for weeks. Just by looking at Jeonghan's side profile, Seungcheol could tell that he was filled with a mix of anger and sadness.

"It's because someone that I love is also dying," Taeyeon answered immediately, defending herself before letting out a sigh. "Your father, he threatened me to.. kill you. I said that I could never do that but then he somehow got hold of my boyfriend and he was being tortured by him. I was asked to choose; either you or my boyfriend will die. It was the most horrible choice and I hope you will understand my situation." Taeyeon finished her story and glanced at the two boys nervously.v

"How did you and dad meet?" Jeonghan asked after a while.

"At the hospital.. I saw him standing in front of your door. It was when your friends came over. I asked him if he needed anything and that's how he asked me to kill you. I'm not sure how he got hold of Baekhyun-my boyfriend-though. I know you hate me so much right now but actually, I called the police when you were running away that day. That's how you managed to escape from them.." Taeyeon said and like before, she waits anxiously for the two boys to react.

Out of nowhere, Jeonghan started laughing and the two people other than him stares at him weirdly. "I really thought I had some athlete skills when I managed to run away from them," Jeonghan said in between his laughter and made both Seungcheol and Taeyeon laughed as well. The tension they had not too long ago slowly disappeared and the three of them finally felt comforatble.

"Anyways, I'm here to tell you the truth since you deserve to know it. And I wanted to warn you to stay out of your father. Seungcheol, I know I can trust you to protect Jeonghan." Taeyeon said after laughing so hard. Seungcheol, who's name is mentioned out of nowhere became flustered. "Y-yeah, of course I'll make sure he'll stay out of his father,". Seungcheol said.

"Thanks for telling me this. I've been getting nightmares over this incident and hearing this might help. I can't fully accept your apology yet but I understand your situation..thank you, again." Jeonghan said with a sincere smile. Nobody knew how much relief Taeyeon felt hearing those words. Although she wasn't forgiven yet but at least she let those out from herself. "It's okay, like I said, I understand if you won't forgive me. Well, I have to go back to work now. I hope this isn't our final goodbye..?" Taeyeon said with a little question mark at the end of the sentence.

"Surely won't," Jeonghan confirmed before Taeyeon had to go, leaving the two boys continue their day on their own. "That went out pretty good," Seungcheol finally spoke as he admire Jeonghan's small yet sincere smile. "Yeah, I didn't expect it to be like this to be honest," said Jeonghan. Honestly, Jeonghan thought that it will end up in an argument that would make everything worst. Thankfully, it didn't ended up like how he imagined it to be.

"Hey, you said something about nightmares.. how come I never knew about it?" Seungcheol asked out of curiosity. Jeonghan didn't even know why he hid it from Seungcheol but he was sure that the other will know one day. "Oh, it's nothing. Just nightmares" Jeonghan answered shortly and he saw Seungcheol frowned a bit. "How long have you been getting this nightmare?" Seungcheol's voice sounded more serious that it gave Jeonghan goosebumps.

"Well,um.. I don't really remember when it started but I guess around 2 weeks ago..?" Jeonghan hated himself for stuttering. Why is he even stuttering? "Two weeks ago? And you've been getting those every night? Why didn't you tell me?" This is why Jeonghan didn't tell him. He'll get so worried over small things like that and Jeonghan never liked that.

"I don't want to add more burden on your shoulder by worrying about small things like this. It's going to make me feel guilty and I hate feeling guilty. Seungcheol, don't worry about it, I'm perfectly fine with it. If it gets more worse, I'll definitely tell you." Jeonghan said, hoping that Seungcheol would believe in him just like how he believed the other.

"Jeonghan, you don't have to feel guilty by telling me your problems. I'm more than glad since I get to help you. Next time, please tell me if there's anything that's bothering you, okay?" Jeonghan can't help but to fall in love all over again. Seungcheol always made him feel like this.

They ended up having a small date at the mall, not doing much other than walking around, teasing each other and nothing else. Whenever they're together, time really does fly and with a blink of an eye, it was already late and Seungcheol's parents called him, worried about where the two boys are. The  day surprisingly ended beautifully for the two of them.

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Author's note:
Sorry for the lame chapter! Leave down some comments for any predictions about this story or just simply write anything since it's like my happy pill :)  One question: Quick update but shorter chapter or Late update but longer chapter? Which one do you guys prefer?
Till the next chapter, goodbye!

Lots of love,
lightofexo