paths of fate and future - a jidal endgame fanfic

chapter five: confrontation

author's note: 

in order to have a full experience, i suggest that you guys listen to this playlist over here, starting with one day and then letting the algorithm decide how to make you cry https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5vAiszvBhqKjXOtSVnmnoQ?si=c3xurLo6ScydU8Xmq3QTYg

im sorry in advance for every pain my writing might have caused and i hope yall like this chapter, it is a very emotional one but also necessary

enough with being formal and polite now: LETS GO JIDAL CLOWNS shout out to mail for creating this awesome playlist and to julia for being the best beta reading out there, even when she's cursing my ass 

see the end of the chapter for more notes

xx

Their expressions carried a universe of suppressed emotions.

Ji-pyeong and Dal-mi stood miles apart on Sandbox's rooftop, the same place she once chose him as her mentor and guide. The short distance between them was nothing compared to how emotionally far they seemed to be from each other.

For Dal-mi, it felt like drowning.

Ji-pyeong was, once again, concerned with Dal-mi. He feared being an inconvenience on her love and professional life, already seeming to have caused trouble with his short visits.

Perhaps the constant evasion and rejection was her way of showing that he was indeed a burden. Perhaps four years wasn't enough for her to see Ji-pyeong after all.

You couldn't force someone to fall for you, just like you couldn't force a person to move on.

At least Ji-pyeong could clarify the situation and get out of her radar. He was going back to Europe right after New Year's Eve, so getting closure could be enough.

It could be enough just like once the money tree and the letterbox was. Even if Ji-pyeong had to repeat this over and over until he believed it.

"Listen, Dal-mi." He said, startling the woman after hearing her informal name rolling out on his tongue for the first time. "I decided to refuse Seo In-jae's proposal because it's not my intention to be a burden in your life, it's not my place too. I..."

"Why did you leave?" Dal-mi asked, tired of wasting time and not caring to be polite anymore.

While being an annoyance preoccupied Ji-pyeong, Dal-mi could barely think with a thousand questions running through her mind. Questions that haunted her day and night.

So she chose to start with the most obvious and frequent one.

Dal-mi knew that opening this box meant being vulnerable and susceptible to anything. However, she couldn't hide anymore, and getting this over with allowed her to at least work with him.

Ji-pyeong shock threw every word and prepared speech through the window. Although he feared this was the topic of their conversation since the beginning, he didn't feel like it was the right scenario to discuss such a weighty matter.

Thinking about it, they were about to discuss four years of their lives at the same place she once insisted on choosing him. Maybe it was the perfect place.

"I left because SH Venture Capital decided to expand over Europe" Ji-pyeong answered with his interview tone making her mad

"Stop," she pleaded, with an open hand cutting Ji-pyeong before he considered continuing, "Don't lie to me. Not you. Not again," Dal-mi asked with pain in her eyes, remembering his lies in the past with a tight heart.