🖤 Here's Chapter 5, where Jisoo makes he
It rained that day.
Not hard enough to flood the streets, just enough to make everything feel heavier.
Quieter. Like the world was holding its breath.
I stood under the school awning, watching students scatter in pairs and groups, laughter echoing too loudly for my head.
I waited.
I didn't know for who.
Then my phone buzzed.
Minjae: Stay where you are.
I obeyed before I realized I had.
He appeared minutes later, umbrella in hand, hair slightly damp, expression calm like he'd known exactly where I'd be.
"Let's walk together," he said.
Not do you want to.
Just let's.
I nodded.
Halfway home, my phone buzzed again.
A message from my classmate the girl who'd complimented my notebook.
Hey, do you want to study together sometime? You seem nice.
My heart jumped.
Someone reaching out.
Someone normal.
Before I could reply, Minjae spoke.
"You don't like her," he said casually.
I stopped walking.
"What?"
"She watches people too much," he continued. "She'll ask questions you don't want to answer."
"That's not—"
"You're already tired," he interrupted softly.
"You don't need more people."
He looked at me then, eyes steady, unblinking.
"I'm enough."
The words were gentle.
Absolute.
I stared at my phone again.
The typing bubble blinked.
Then disappeared.
I put the phone back in my pocket without replying.
Minjae smiled.
Not wide.
Relieved.
We stopped at the convenience store near my house.
He bought me warm bread without asking.
"You skip meals when you're stressed," he said.
I didn't argue.
I didn't ask how he knew.
I just ate while he watched, satisfied.
And in that moment, the thought crept in quietly:
He takes care of me better than anyone ever has.
That thought felt dangerous.
But comforting.
Like a hand closing around mine.
That night, lying in bed, I replayed the moment I ignored the message.
The way it felt easy.
Natural.
Right.
And the realization struck me slowly, like cold water:
I hadn't chosen Minjae over her.
I had chosen quiet over uncertainty.
Chosen safety over connection.
Chosen the one person who never asks me to be more than I am.
And once you choose someone like that…
You start choosing them every time.
Even when you don't realize it.