Rude Boy | Park Jihoon

Ch 32: He opened up

"This is so cool!" I exclaimed while feeling the cold air hitting my face.

"I've never seen you this happy before," Jihoon said as he kept his eyes on the road. "We're almost at the top."

Our ride up to the mountain was a little risky because its night. Good thing that the road up here isn't narrow. Soon enough we reached the top of the mountain. Jihoon parked his pick up and we took all our things from the back.

I let go of everything I was holding when I looked up. My jaw dropped and I could feel my lips etching into a smile. There are more stars here than there is back in the city. And they are much more clear, much more brighter up here.

I ran up to the edge and my breath hitched in astonishment as I let my eyes glue to the scenery before us. The lights down there are like stars too, and it is beautiful. The cold wind blew again and I had goosebumps, so I hugged myself as I turned to Jihoon.

"I never knew that it could be this beautiful up here," I chimed.

He chuckled and handed me a coat. "I'm glad you're happy. You need to wear this though, its so cold up here."

I took the coat and wore it then helped Jihoon set up our tent. Although it was a little frustrating how Jihoon kept on purposely messing up the tent, I had fun making it and chasing him around.

We made our own bonfire too. And me having a short temper, gave up easily. Jihoon laughed and made fun of me when he managed to make flames out of those twigs and branches. We barbecued meat while sitting before the fire and enjoyed the view.

"Jihoon," I called him. "Do you want to hear a scary story?"

"W-what?" He stuttered.

"A scary story," I repeated.

"Maybe next time..." he replied, taking big bited from his barbecued meat.

I chuckled, realizing that he doesn't want to hear one because he is afraid.

"Zaine..."

I looked at him and raised my brows.

"What do you do if you are doing something good for a person... but you don't actually want to do it because it benefits a bad person?" He asked me.

"That's kind of a difficult question, Jihoon," I said. "Is there something going on you need help with?"

He looked away from me and remained silent. And I took that a yes. I scooted closer to him and rubbed circles on his back.

"Tell me, Jihoon, so I could help," I said, smiling.

He glanced at me and smiled back. "Well... you don't really know me yet, Zaine."

He bit his bottom lip and I waited for him to continue. "I was different when I was young. I was the perfect child that I was taught and trained to be. A loving mother and a hard working father, they were the only ones that I had in my life."

Jihoon is opening up to me now. I'm glad that he is comfortable with telling me his story. He hasn't been secretive but he doesn't want me opening up the topic about his family. Maybe the reason why he was mad at me before when I looked at his family picture is because he has a past. I wonder what he has been through.

"My mom is born with an illness and they were thankful that it wasn't passed down to me. Mom hid that from my father so when he found out, he was really mad... starting that day, he would often hurt her. He even cheats on her sometimes. Mom's illness became more severe and evident... and she would often be admitted to the hospital. Until one day, she didn't have to be admitted to the hospital anymore..."