Yura burst into tears. “I’m so sorry, Jin. I’m so sorry.”
She kept saying it over and over. But her words weren’t helping. She had betrayed him in the greatest way possible. And she was leaving him to marry Seungbin. Jin’s heart split clean in half.
“Are you sure? Are you sure you want to marry him?”
She looked into his eyes. “It’s his baby, Jin. And he…he loves me.”
Jin wanted to puke. He doubted very much that the guy who had abused her for ten years loved her. Even a little.
“How can you believe that? He’s terrorized you for a decade!”
“I don’t think I’d call it terrorizing, Jin.”
“All right. But you did fear him. How did that change? He’s irritated you and picked at you for all those years. Ever since we first met. I don’t understand how you could think you’re in love with him.”
“I don’t either,” she mumbled.
But she didn’t mention all the times her eyes had met Seungbin’s over the last four years. And that indefinable thing had sizzled between them.
“Please,” Jin pleaded with her. “Please don’t rush into marriage with that guy. Get to know his true character before you tie the knot.”
How could she have ever chosen Seungbin over this gentle man standing in front of her?
She couldn’t punish Jin. He had done nothing to deserve any of this.
She burst into tears again. For him. “How – how can you be worried about me when I just broke your heart in the worst way possible? I betrayed you. How can you still look at me?”
“I love you, Yura. I really love you. I have ever since I saw you dripping wet in front of that water fountain. I told you once, and I meant it. You’re my forever girl.”
“No, Jin,” she shook her head. “No. I don’t deserve a forever love! Not after what I did to you!” With those words, she spun on her heel and chased after Seungbin.
Jin would see her again at school. But this was the last time they would speak to each other. For years.
—
Yoongi stared at his friend. Today was graduation day. But no one looking at Jin’s face would have guessed it was a day of celebration. He was clearly in mourning as his eyes longingly sought out the object of his affection. Yura was sitting with Seungbin. And Jin was eating his heart out for her.
“I’m not sure how you can still want her, Jin,” Yoongi murmured. “After what she did to you. Falling in love with another guy isn’t even understandable. Not after your years together. But to have picked Seungbin, and to have slept with him when all she would give you was a few brief kisses,” Yoongi hissed, shaking his head.
“How do you know that’s all she gave me?” Jin murmured quietly.
Yoongi looked at him. “Jin. You forget that I’ve known you since kindergarten! There’s no way you would touch that girl till you married her!”
“With good reason,” Jin muttered under his breath as his eyes traced her belly. It wasn’t blossoming yet. But soon enough it would be. Her belly would be burgeoning with Seungbin’s baby. Not his.
Jin closed his eyes. It still hurt so badly. How would he ever get over her?
His gaze sought her out again. That’s when he saw it. The promise ring he’d given her. It was still on her ring finger. Why hadn’t she taken it off?
He had spoken a vow to her. How could he break it?
—
Yura took off his ring. It had taken her twelve weeks to talk herself into removing the ring Jin had placed on her finger. Her heart cracked in half as she removed it. She threaded it on a chain and hung it about her neck. In the years to come, it would pierce her heart with pain every time she saw it.
She left it there on purpose. She deserved to be punished for what she had done to Jin.
