Remember When

Give Me One More Chance

"What more do we need to talk about?"

Woo-jin gritted his teeth at the stubborn girl in front of him.

The stubborn girl who had pulled him into her apartment as soon as she got over her shock of seeing him and realized that he was soaking wet from the rain.

The stubborn girl who pushed him into the bathroom, brought him fresh clothes and made him a cup of tea to warm him up.

The stubborn girl who was now drying his hair with a towel, an angry, worried look plastered on her face.

And she wonders why I love her, he thought morosely.

"And don't you know there's this nifty invention called the umbrella?" she continued to rant sarcastically.

Woo-jin exhaled in frustration and set down the cup on the coffee table. Then he grabbed her hands. She stiffened and slid her gaze from his hair to his eyes.

"Sit," he told her.

Her eyes flashed. "I'm not a dog, Woo-jin."

No, you're the love of my life.

He didn't say that. He sighed long instead.

"Please," he muttered.

Somin continued to frown down at him. And he stared up at her, waiting.

She gave in after a long moment and sat at the other end of the sofa, putting as much space as she could between them. He almost smiled.

Even angry, Somin still looked like the most beautiful girl in the world.

**********

Woo-jin had been waiting for his best friend Tae-hyung when someone crashed into him. It was a girl holding a load of flowers on her arms, the same load of flowers that were now on the ground after they collided.

The girl was angry about the flowers and he calmly tried to appease her as he picked them up for her. But she wasn't having none of it and it irked him, though he didn't show it. It like she was saying it was his fault she collided into him.

Then he got a close look at her. She was genuinely upset and his heart went out to her.

Then he got a much closer look at her.

And he suddenly felt like he was drowning.

Woo-jin clutched his chest when she left him for the theatre with the flowers. He still had trouble breathing and his hands were shaking, his knees were weak and his heart was racing.

Because God, she was the most beautiful girl he's ever seen.

Woo-jin didn't believe in love at first sight. He might seem the romantic type to others but he was pragmatic kind of guy. But he refused to just chuck this feeling aside, determined to see if what he was feeling for her was true.

He knew who she was, of course. Somin Jeon, a freshman, one of the most popular girls in school. Rumors were useful when you know how to use them so he made it a point to know every new piece of gossip that circulated the school. And the rumors about Somin Jeon weren't putting her in a positive light.

But Woo-jin had a gut feeling they were wrong. And usually, his gut feelings were on point. So he sought to get to know her.

His chance came when he saw her on campus grounds with Na-eun Lee and learned that she was her best friend.

Woo-jin had a class with Na-eun. And he carefully and subtly wrangled an invitation from her to her study session with Somin. And damn, if he didn't feel the electricity crackle between them when he shook hands with Somin. From that moment, he knew he had lost. No, more than that.

For the first time in his life, Kim Woo-jin had fallen in love.

He was held captive by her smiles, held prisoner to her wit. And the more he got to know her, the more he fell deeply in love with her. But he had to tread carefully if he wanted her to be his. One of his friends told him that Somin ran from any man who showed the least interest in a serious relationship with her. So he bided his time.

But then Somin met Tae-hyung.

And then he suddenly found out that they were dating.

  **********  

"Do you really not have feelings for me anymore, Somin?" Woo-jin asked.

Somin's expression hardened. "I already told you no."

Her answer crushed him but he refused to give up. "Then please," he said heartbrokenly. "Please tell me what I should do to make you love me again."

Her brows flew up. "Why?"

"Because you're breaking my heart all over again."

"I'm breaking your heart?" she said in a dangerous tone before she stood up, shouting, "I'm breaking your heart?"

"Somin," Woo-jin started but she talked over him.

"You dated tons of girls back then, Woo-jin. You can't just expect me to believe you loved me all these years."

"That was because you were dating Tae-hyung," he reasoned, standing up. "I couldn't just wade in and tell you I love you."

Her face changed. She looked like he'd struck her. And Woo-jin didn't understand this.

Then he did when she said quietly. "You could have told me. Before I... before I dated Tae-hyung, you could have told me you loved me."

He felt his chest compress. Horrified, he pushed out a weak, "What?"

"I loved you. Even before I met Tae-hyung. But I didn't confess because I... I was scared. So I waited. I waited for you to love me." Something shifted in her face that wasn't pleasant to witness and Woo-jin held his breath. "But then I heard you talk to Tae-hyung. You were telling him to go out with me."

The blood drained from his face.

"And you didn't show up at my musical." She furiously swiped the tears that leaked from her eyes and looked away from him. "I was hoping you would because I was going to confess but you didn't. So I asked Tae-hyung out instead because I was so hurt and thought I deserved better."

His chest squeezed painfully.

"And when Tae-hyung and I broke up, I went to your apartment with his blessing. He knew how I felt for you all those years. And I wanted to confess to you."

His head started to hurt.

"But I saw you." Her breath hitched and her lips trembled. Woo-jin watched the lone tear fall from her eye. "I saw you with a girl."

No.

Woo-jin felt the world collapse around him.

No, no, no.

"A girl?" he whispered, dropping on the sofa.

Somin looked down at him and hissed, "Yes. A girl. You were on the balcony with her. And you just broke up with Jisun too. To this day, it amazes me how you've moved on real quick."

He gripped the back of his neck with his hands tightly and blew out a steady, controlled breath. Then he blew another, and another, doing everything in his power to pull himself together.

"Woo-jin?" he heard Somin say hesitantly as she sat next to him. "Woo-jin, are you alright?"

The concern in her voice washed over him and Woo-jin shut his eyes tight, covering his face with his hands to stop his emotions.

Then he lifted his head, looked at her and said in a dead voice, "That was my sister, Somin."