bad chemistry

thirty - three

Jisung wakes up to the sound of coffee being dripped as Minju greets him with a bright smile from the kitchen. Jisung smiles back brightly as he rubs his eyes to wake himself up. "Brush your teeth so that we can eat breakfast." 

"Yes, noona." 

It feels great that Jisung feels close to Minju as if they are actually related. Turning around, Minju sees Jungwoo entering into the apartment as she also invited the other for breakfast. She barely makes some coffee as Jungwoo starts to cook for the three. Jisung leaves the bathroom before widening in surprise as he didn't expect to see Jungwoo within the apartment. 

Jungwoo bows at the other respectively as Jisung clears his throat before introducing himself, "Hello, I am officer Jisung." 

"Nice to meet you, I'm Jungwoo." 

Minju takes the completed dishes towards the dining area as Jisung watches the male quietly as Jungwoo stares at her walking away. Jisung realizes something that he is able to connect to Jeno....a gaze of admiration. 

Jisung remembers when Jeno would often look over at Minju whenever they are together recently. It is silent gaze but a symbol....of perhaps his true feelings. Especially at the hospital when he caught Jeno quietly staring at Minju sleeping in the room....Jisung never entered the room as he didn't want to disturb Jeno nor wake up Minju. 

But the same gaze is painted onto Jungwoo's eyes as the hint of admiration and affection cover the beautifully dark orbs. Jungwoo turns to look over at Jisung before Jisung smiles nicely as he realizes the officer is just staring at him. "Can I help you?" 

Jisung shakes his head as he replies back as he walks towards the dining hall, "Time to eat breakfast." 

As they are eating breakfast, Minju turns on the television to be on track with the news. Breakfast consists of simple toast, scrambled eggs, and some soup that Jungwoo prepared beforehand. As they are eating, Jisung stares at the television as he widens his eyes quietly at the scandal that just breaks out. 

Minju and Jungwoo both turn their attention towards the television due to his response, as Minju drops her toast onto the plate before running towards the television as anger starts to rise within her emotions immediately. Jungwoo stands up soon after as he stays put in the dining area as he is in shock as well. 

"Breaking news... popular actress Xiyeon and supermodel Jungwoo have broken up. There are immediate reports that Jungwoo has been cheating on Xiyeon with his best friend, Kim Minju who is also in the same industry at them both." 

Xiyeon appears as an interview as she is seen wiping her tears with a tissue. Minju scoffs at the view as she angrily yells, "This lying bitch." 

"Oppa and I have been in a beautiful relationship. But Jungwoo oppa always liked someone else, and I recently found out that it is Minju. We have been friends since back when I first started the industry which really shocked me. But I trusted Minju as we contacted many times and talked together on set. But she made an embarrassment out of me on set as she has been cheating on me with my boyfriend. I don't understand why such a tragedy needs to be placed on me right now- it truly is unfair." 

Minju clenches her teeth and starts to form fists as she storms into her room to change so that she can drive to her management. But Jungwoo stops her from doing so as he follows her into her bedroom, "Minju-" 

"Can you believe her? All these years, she got what she want. She took everything from me. I barely was able to start getting a name for myself after being bullied. And she's trying to destroy my life once more. And I have been friends you with for years, and she tries to manipulate that." 

Jungwoo stares at her quietly before replying back with slow confidence rising within his tone, "She isn't wrong." 

"Jungwoo-" 

"You never failed to look at my feelings. You knew that I liked you from the start, and that I continued to like you. But, did you ever give me a chance? No, you didn't. But I thought it was best to watch you from afar and make sure you were okay rather than throwing a relationship that you didn't want onto you." 

"Jungwoo-" 

"No, don't interrupt me on this. You always got what you want as well. For me, it took me years to muster up the goddamn courage for this kind of confession. Why don't you understand? Why do you not see me as a man for you?" 

Minju is speechless as she really does not know how to respond to Jungwoo's confession. His blunt words and his reaction- she knows that he is not joking around. And she knows that he wants her to stop caring about Xiyeon. But now, her whole reputation is falling down the drains as Jungwoo is the most wanted man within the industry. And her career is going to be destroyed. 

But she knew she never felt an attraction to him because he was only a friend. 

She has feelings for someone else. 

And the only way to protect her feelings and herself is to never acknowledge it publically and to hide her growing feelings for Jeno.