waterfall // lee juyeon

1

seohyun's pov

it finally happened.

after going back and forth for a span of eleven months, i finally got out of that hellhole.

let me explain.

for eleven months, i was in a very on-and-off relationship with a boy in my grade -- cha eunwoo. after coming back to my school after studying abroad for a year, eunwoo was one of the few people i stayed in contact with. he cared for me and when i got back we finally decided to date. 

however, it wasn't what i expected.

eunwoo was really harsh and cruel. he threw endless insults at me and basically abused me verbally. we broke up numerous times but he would "apologize" and i just felt the pressure to keep dating him. maybe it's a high school thing. i was a junior in high school and felt the unnecessary need to find a boyfriend. 

i feel really dumb for dating him, especially since everyone around me was telling me to stop dating him. even teachers. eunwoo would blow up and get angry at me even in class in front of everyone. clearly that was a red flag for me, but of course i never noticed. we continued to date, obviously in an on-and-off fashion, until we finally decided to cut ties. mostly thanks to my friend, chaeryeong, who brought me to my senses and finally opened my eyes about him.

but even though i got out of an extremely toxic relationship, that doesn't mean i'm not sad over it. we broke up a month into summer and school and sports couldn't distract me. chae tried her best to, but i was really caught up in it.

"seohyun!"

i looked up to see my best friend, lee chaeryeong, staring down at me with a concerned look on her face.

"what is it?" i asked.

"you spaced out for a while there," she sighed. "please tell me you're still not thinking about him."

"can you blame me?" i said defensively.

"yes i can, actually," chaeryeong looked at me with that "i'm so done with you" look on her face. "lee seohyun. it's been almost a month since it went down and it's time to heal yourself. i know that you dated the guy for almost a year but that doesn't excuse everything he did to you! you need to realize that there are so much better people out there for you and eventually you'll find the person for you."

"chae, trust me, i'm trying," i mumbled. "i feel like we spent so much time together and made so many memories. it's hard to not forget him. yeah, there were the bad times, but he was so many firsts for me. my first long relationship. my first real boyfriend. my first kiss."

chaeryeong took a deep breath. "girl, i'm not telling you to forget him. when we get back from summer break he'll be there our whole senior year. i'm just telling you that you should try and stop thinking about him. explore other options. don't be so hung up over a guy that hurt you so badly."

"okay, okay, i'll try--"

"WE'RE HOME!"

i sighed at the obnoxiously loud voice that had come from the front door. that voice being my older brother, lee hyunjae, who i assumed was with his best friend, kim younghoon.

"do you really have to yell everytime you come home?" i grumbled, looking at hyunjae with an annoyed expression on my face. "you too kim younghoon. it's your fault for letting that idiot who is supposedly my brother yell all the time."

"shut up," hyunjae rolled his eyes at me. "remind me how we're in the same friend group again?"

"because we're siblings and we're always grouped together," i answered. "plus, you're way too overprotective of me and probably want to supervise me 24/7. you'd probably get angry if even younghoon accidentally bumped into me."

"not true," hyunjae pouted.

"actually, it's true," younghoon piped up, making chaeryeong and i laugh. "face it bro. you're pretty overprotective of seohyun. it's kinda cute though."

"ewwww," hyunjae and i gagged simultaneously.

"aw, look at that sibling love," chaeryeong said teasingly. i shot a small glare at her and she just laughed in response.

younghoon cleared his throat. "on another note, what were you two doing before we got here?"

"oh, and is mom home yet?" hyunjae interrupted. "it's almost midnight."

"at this point, i don't know what mom is doing," i answered. "and clearly she's not too worried about us since we're seventeen and should be able to take care of ourselves by now. and to answer your question, younghoon, chaeryeong was lecturing me about how is should stop thinking about eunwoo."

"she's right!" hyunjae exclaimed, somewhat angrily. "seohyun, he was seriously the biggest asshole ever to you! there was a reason why i beat him up for you, ya know?"

"and yet you still don't think you're overprotective," younghoon snickered.

"shut up," the other boy told his best friend. "but seriously, chae is right."

"see? even your own brother agrees with me," chaeryeong looked at me sincerely.

"you really think that that's going to make me stop thinking about him?" i raised my eyebrows, making hyunjae slap me. "sorry! you know i'm trying."

"we know, we know," younghoon said, giving me a hug. 

"kim younghoon -- okay never mind," hyunjae muttered. 

chaeryeong burst out laughing. "the way you don't even trust your best friend."

"nah, he'll be fine," younghoon grinned. "that is, unless i--" the boy got a mischievous look on his face as he suddenly scooped me up and started running around. 

"yah! kim younghoon! put me down!" i squealed as younghoon continued to hold me.

"kim younghoon! put my sister down right now!" hyunjae scolded him. 

"yes sir," younghoon saluted him as he set me down. i ran back to the couch, where i was before in my place next to chaeryeong. 

"now will you admit it?" chaeryeong gave hyunjae a knowing look.

"okay, fine, yeah, i'm a little overprotective over seohyun," hyunjae sighed. 

"a really big understatement, but okay," younghoon said. 

"you really enjoy testing my patience today, don't you," the other boy mumbled. "anyways, seohyun, whether you like it or not, we will find a way to get you off this couch and actually go do something to get your mind off of him."

"okay, okay, fine," i answered. "now can you and younghoon go into your man cave? let me enjoy my time with my friend, you little ass."

"no cursing in this christian household, missy," hyunjae waggled his finger at me as younghoon giggled while they walked into the hallway.

"how hypocritical of you," i said with a fake smile.

"it's different when i do it," hyunjae grinned as he slipped away.

a/n: woah i'm back to writing! i've kind of fallen in love with the boyz, and let's just say this fanfic came to me~ hope you all enjoy it, cause i actually had a decent idea for this one lol:) and coincidentally, i decided to write this on younghoon's birthday, so happy younghoon day!

{written on august 8th, 2020}