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46
"Still not talking to me?", Jo questioned, his head popping inside my room where I was snuggled up in my blanket, eyes still screwed shut from sleep and only opening for a second to see him.
"Sleepy," I clarify, still scowling slightly since he had woken me up quite early than I was expecting to. "Turn my light off and go fuck yourself," I grunt, throwing the edge of the blanket over my head. "So rude," he gasps playfully before his footsteps near and the blanket is snatched away from me, an evil giggle following. "Your boyfriend is waiting outside, he's all dressed up today." "Really? Guess what? I don't fucking care," I chuckled while trying to prop myself up on my elbows nonetheless. "Send him in," Jo rolls his eyes and throws the blanket in my face before padding out of the room. "Good morning princess," Nathan grumbled and I pushed the blanket away from my face to look at him. He was dressed in a pair oBab terkait
COMBATIVE 47
"Why do you think she is responsible for everything that happened or is happening to Nathan?", I questioned, the stirring spoon still dipped more than halfway into the cappuccino I had ordered for myself and Josh to share. "What did he tell you? Did you ever meet her?""Calm down, I'll answer all your questions. not going anywhere," Mr. Min teased before leaning back in his seat, the largest available cup of iced americano in his right hand while the left one was lying flat on the top of the table. "I didn't ask Nathan anything all by myself. I waited for him to say it.""He never says anything about it though, like I hadn't heard even a single mention of his biological mother not being the current Mrs. Kim," Josh shrugged, prying my tightly curled fingers from around the handle of the mug to take a small sip out of it."Yeah," I muttered, quietly dropping my hands back into my lap. "He doesn't.""His father does though," my head j
COMBATIVE 48
My feet ached from how hard I was running through the corridors but that didn't stop me from reaching the changing room in which Nathan stood with his bare back facing me. I locked the door and ran up to him, wrapping my arms around his waist with a sniffle.My mind screamed at me to believe that all of this was just a bad dream and that whenever I would wake up, it'll be gone with my sleep but with my head spinning as the adrenaline wore off slowly, I realised that this was even worse than a dream, than my worst nightmares."I-I'm sorry," he sobbed, softly banging his head against the locker in which I had folded and stuffed his clothes. I shook my head against his back, not having enough courage to look him in the eye when I should be the one comforting him but here I was, weeping loudly.I was his girlfriend after all and it was an unspoken promise for us to comfort each other despite what the grief was. "D-don't be sorry baby, i
COMBATIVE 49
"Mrs. Kim said she'll go back home first thing in the morning and I-I didn't find it appropriate for us to call Mrs. Lee at this hour of the night?", I sighed, scratching the back of my head. "Right, that's right," Josh whispered, leaning onto the wall, beside the window with his gaze fixed outside which must be displaying the entrance of our apartment complex.Perhaps, he was waiting for Mr. Min and Mr. Jung to turn up at our apartment."Jo?", I called out in a gentle tone and he immediately turned around to face me with a hum. "I-I can't help but think about what this would have as a consequence on Nathan's career. Would you mind if I turn the news on for a while?", gulping when he nodded silently I grabbed the remote and made sure to turn the volume down.As soon as I had turned on the screen, some random news station was displayed but it even as I stayed on it for over a minute, they didn't show anything about or even related to Nathan. So
COMBATIVE 50
"Oh yeah? Then why did Nathan ask her to marry him?", he questioned, getting defensive with his arms folded across his chest. "He says he loves you, doesn't he? How come he moved on from an year long relationship just like that? Huh? It must've been pretty serious considering how they were planning to get married last month.""Shut up, just shut up. You vanished for four years, you know nothing about it. She cheated on him with Mr. Min after they got engaged. How do you expect him to stay stuck on a person like that?""Why don't you see for yourself today? He's using you as a rebound and as much as I care about him, I care about you more. Get it through your head that this is not a stable relationship.""It is stable," I huffed. "Even if he hadn't moved on before, he most certainly has done now.""Okay. Soph, listen to me, okay? I'm sorry for everything I just said, I only called her to be of potential help. I really don't want to
COMBATIVE 51
"Did any of you notice what Teressa was calling Nathan?", Mr. Jung questions from the opposite side of the table, blowing on his coffee with his eyes stuck onto my movements as I sat next to Mr. Min, still sulking over last night's events."Oh yeah," Josh chimes in, mouth full of the Hotteok before he swallows the bite. "She was calling him Han," he shrugs and dives back into his lunch. "She always called him that," I mutter softly and three heads turn back to me, these being my first words since morning. "What? Teressa dated him for over an year, of course they had nicknames.""Yeah but what's 'Han'?", Mr. Min chuckles, probably mocking it and I laugh back in a softer tone. "Nat-Han, Nathan," I emphasize, moving both my hands in two different directions. "Oh yeah, that makes sense," Mr. Jung nods, his brows furrowing in concentration.We were all at Sam's restaurant for brunch after waking up quite late in the morning with all our
COMBATIVE 52
"Mrs. Lee," Mr. Min smiles in a welcoming manner and Jimin takes it as the hint to get up and get the elder lady a chair that would fit her comfort. "Good afternoon, we're so relieved to see you." "Oh, I'm aware," she chuckles, thanking Jimin as she perches upon the cushioned chair and nods to all of our greetings. "Where is the little boy?", Mrs. Lee hums in question, her fingers lying linked onto her lap. "Not here with you all?" "Mrs. Lee, h-have you seen the news?", I ask, leaning further in Mr. Min's side so she could have a good look at me. Said lady nods, an exasperated sigh leaving her lips as she does. "Darling, he's all over the news. Every damn channel has been talking like its their business for the past twelve hours," she waves her hand in the air to explain her exhaustion and all of us agree. "He's not here because of another reason though," Jo frowns and Mrs. Lee moves her now curious eyes to the boy before nodding at hi
COMBATIVE 53
"What do you remember about yesterday then? If you didn't go to a therapist then what did you do the whole day before the fight at night?", Jimin mutters, ears and neck red from frustration that all of us were going through except for Mrs. Lee who seemed and ought to be a professional in such situations."Nothing, probably just practiced, had lunch with Teressa and then went to the stadium with Sophie and Choi? What else," Nathan shrugs, seeming a lot calmer than before but the cloud of uncertainty hung low and dark over all of us, even Nathan as he contemplated his words."Probably? Or for sure?", I chime in, sounding a lot more on edge than I tried to let on."I don't know, okay!? I don't remember! All I remember is that we had the congratulatory party at Sophie's and Teressa was there too, you guys were there as well and well we had that fight and everything. Everything is messed up inside my head," he confesses, volume rising up for a few w
COMBATIVE 54
"I'm sorry, what?", I gape, jaw hanging open in shock but before she could explain further or even respond with a mere nod, Nathan's footsteps were heard from behind the counter and were slowly growing louder closer both."We can't let him know about it yet, act normal," so many eyes hawk at Mrs. Lee as she makes a hasty jazz hands gesture before resuming at the process of picking at her cuticles while my heart hammered loudly in his chest.I mean all of us were aware that there was something wrong with Nathan's mental state including himself but who would've guessed the extent of it all?"Here," Nathan whispers, cheeks dimpling in a graceful smile as his gentle demeanor towards all of us slowly returned. "So, where were we? Oh yeah, it's okay Hyun. I myself didn't understand until a few years ago. We're good, I'm happy to see all of you supporting me during these times.""We always will, always," Mr. Min presses, h
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