Chapter 8 – Hurt

[FLASHBACK]
It was the summer of 07’ and, frankly, Megan was the first to be in the mood for summer love. Sure, she had a few kickoffs with a few guys in the past, but those relationships were far from serious as far as she was concerned. She was ready for an actual relationship, with an actual guy with actual boyfriend potential, not another one night stand as a result of overdrinking the night before.

Then she met Jungmin.

And so they dated. Sure, they had a couple of flings but then any couple would have their share of fights amongst each other.

So to Megan, they were a perfectly normal healthy couple.

Sure they were.
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“Mmmph, what do you want?” said a groggy Jiyong as he opened the door only to find none other that Yongbae at the other end.

“Geez,” continues Jiyong, “If you were Megan, I wouldn’t have minded so much.”

“Yeah….” Yongbae replied, “Speaking of, she wouldn’t have happened to call you, did she?”

“No…..not that I’ve heard anyways,” Jiyong answered, “You know, some people ACTUALLY like to enjoy their sleep.”

“Yeah….sorry about this..but we need to talk,” said Yongbae.

Jiyong gave him a questioning look.

“Look, if it wasn’t important, I wouldn’t have come here in the middle of the night.”

“You live right across the street; I don’t think that was much of an effort on your part.”

“Can we just..get to the talking part…please,” Yongbae said, with a sense of urgency in his voice.

Jiyong hesitated for awhile, then said, “Fine,” and let Yongbae in.

“What is SO important that you couldn’t wait until the next morning to tell me?”

Yongbae took a seat on the couch. Jiyong followed.
“It’s…about Megan,” Yongbae started.

“Yeah, I figured.”

“Look, we had a little….argument…over dinner, and it was regarding you.”

“Well, that’s what I figured. But I guess you showing up at my house at 1 in the morning totally gives it off right?”

“I just…need to know something.”

Yongbae paused. He was suddenly reconsidering the idea of paying this visit to Jiyong.

“Are you….in love with Megan?” Yongbae said.

“Very much so, why?”

“How much in love are you with her?”

“Erm…a whole lot, I guess. Where is all this coming from?” Jiyong asked hesitantly.

“Look…Megan used to date this….guy. And he was everything to her. In fact, he pretty much controlled her whole life.”

“But Megan would never let anyone do that to her,” Jiyong interrupted.

“Look, just hear the whole story first okay?”

Jiyong nodded, and proceeded to listen attentively.

“He would always bring her stuff, and always gave her anything she wanted. And I guess at that point, that was what she would’ve called ‘true love’. Anyways, she immediately fell head over heels for him. And as time passed, I don’t think she noticed, but, he began to be the one more in control of the relationship, if you know what I mean.”

“Wait, so Megan just surrendered to this…guy?” Jiyong interrupted again, “That…doesn’t sound much like her.”

“So Megan became more submissive,” Yongbae continued, ignoring Jiyong’s comment, “She became the one buying gifts for him. She became the one who would drop everything whenever he called, because I think she truly believed that deep down inside he was a good person at heart.”

“Okay…..” Jiyong spoke, “How long did this go on?”

“For about a month and a half. Then, I guess, she just got tired of catering to all his needs. She broke it off with him in the end.”

“Well, that’s good, I guess, I still don’t see how…..”

“It didn’t end there,” Yongbae interrupted, “He would call her at least twenty times a day, and when she never picked up, he started showing up at dance practices, demanding to be let in. He would stand at her doorstep all night long, to the point where she was even afraid of going out of the house.”

“He finally reached her, of course,” Yongbae continued, “and practically got on his knees and begged her to take him back. And she didn’t refuse. They started going out again, only it was on her terms this time. But over time, he started becoming more and more possessive. He would practically make her wear the couple ring that he’d gotten her, although she didn’t want to. In the end, she came to me for help. She wanted to break things off with him, but she didn’t know how.”

“So….” Jiyong asked curiously, “What did you do?”

“Beat the guy up, roughen him up a little, told him to never set foot within a 10 mile radius near her again,” he answered.

“Well, that was a nice story and all,” replied Jiyong, “But what does this have to do with me exactly? You know I would never do such a thing to Megan.”

“It’s just….” Yongbae started, “Megan swore from that day on that she would never go out with anyone ever again.”

Jiyong chuckled.

“And she did live up to it…for awhile, then..of course….that thing happened.”

“Wait….” asked Jiyong, “What is ‘that thing’ exactly?”

“Oh,” exclaimed Yongbae when he just remembered that Jiyong did not exactly know of his and Megan’s past, “It’s..nothing really.”

This earned a rather questioning look from Jiyong.

“Look, back to the point,” Yongbae said, desperate to end the silence, “If you’re going to ‘be’ with Megan, and you’re pretty much sure that she’s the one, then go for it.”

Jiyong nodded.

“But,” he started again, “If you ever hurt her, I swear, no brotherly bond between us is going to stop me from hurting you as much as you hurt her.”

“Look, I appreciate the effort,” said a rather calm Jiyong, “But the last thing in the world I would ever do is hurt Megan. So, you can be pretty sure that I won’t do a thing to hurt her in any way.”

“Good….” said Yongbae after a long moment of silence, “At least we’re on the same page here.”

At that point, Yongbae proceeded for the door. His watch read 2 a.m. and he was worried sick over how he was going to get up for tomorrow’s early practice.

“Oh, just so you know,” said Jiyong, “I know about you and Megan. That you two were together in the past.”

“Oh…..you do…” said a rather startled Yongbae.

“Yeah, the maknae sort of blurted it out to me the other day. And, look, I’m totally fine by it, how you used to date my girlfriend and all,” he continued, “But, if I ever catch you trying to take her away from me, well, then you’re in for hell.”

“Good to know,” answered Yongbae, and he closed the door behind him.

Well, thought Yongbae, obviously he doesn’t know that all Megan and I ever had was a one night stand. Thank god for the maknae’s poor understanding skills.

And Yongbae made his way to his apartment, for a good night’s sleep.