Chapter 19

"An opening"

"This is crazy," yelled Eric over the phone, making Taehyun move the phone away a little bit, "this is utterly and completely insane!"

"Calm down, Hyung," said Taehyun while laughing, "it isn't that huge."

"Are you kidding me?" said Eric in a firm voice, "you won her over! And much faster than I had anticipated. I had a whole bunch of ideas ready for how to win her over, but you did it all without my help."

"Don't say that, you really helped me a lot," said Taehyun, "you gave me the confidence I needed."

"Oh well," said Eric, brushing over the compliment before he started feeling awkward, "congratulations on getting a girlfriend."

"Don't say that! If Yoo Jin heard you call her my girlfriend, she would flip out!" said Taehyun quickly, his voice almost sounding scared.

"Why?" asked Eric.

"I don't know…" said Taehyun, and dragged out the response, "to be honest, I don't understand what Yoo Jin Noona is thinking. She said she likes me, she kissed me, but she also says we aren't going out and I can't talk to anyone about us, which reminds me, Hyung, you can't tell anyone."

"My lips are sealed," said Eric and Taehyun smiled while imagined him "zipping" his lips closed with his fingers.

"Don't feel discouraged," continued Eric after a short while, "no man can understand a woman, that is just how it is. All you have to do is go with the flow and do everything to make her happy."

"You make it sound so easy," said Taehyun and laughed.

"And yet, I am the one who can't get the girl…" sighed Eric and Taehyun's smile faltered. It got quiet over the phone, a darker atmosphere taking over the conversation, making Taehyun take in a deep breath, determined to break the bad mood.

"DON'T GIVE UP!" yelled Taehyun and Eric nearly dropped his phone from the surprise.

"Calm down, I haven't given up at all," said Eric, while struggling to position the phone again, "I make sure to keep in touch and I regularly ask her out for lunch or dinner, and she does say yes… sometimes."

"That is good then!" said Taehyun.

"Yes, but she always makes a big deal out of saying 'we are only friends, this doesn't mean anything'. So really, I don't feel like we are moving forward at all."

"That was how I felt with Noona too. You just have to be patient and it will all work out," said Taehyun with great enthusiasm.

"Oh my, the student really became the master," said Eric and laughed, "thank you for the encouragement. I won't give up. Actually, Chaeyeong and I made plans to have dinner tonight."

"Then what are you doing talking to me? Shouldn't you get ready?" asked Taehyun.

"I probably should, we will talk another time," said Eric and said his goodbyes to Taehyun before ending the call. 

After moving the phone away from his ear, Eric looked at his reflection in the dark screen, seeing a faint smile on his lips, and it only got wider when he noticed it.

That boy is really something, thought Eric before getting up from his bed, going towards his closet to pick out what to wear.

It was freezing outside and Eric made sure to wear lots of layers. January was always a cold month and it had been snowing a lot this weekend. 

After wrapping a thick scarf around his neck, Eric locked the door to his apartment and left, walking outside into the cold winter.

The restaurant they had agreed to meet at wasn't very far away and Eric arrived in a around 15 minutes, still having a few minutes to spare until their designated meeting time.

The minutes passed and Chaeyeong was nowhere to be seen. Trying his best to be patient, Eric looked around in the street, making his mind busy so he wouldn't overthink or worry. The last thing he wanted was to be like the clingy boyfriend Chaeyeong didn't want to be with right now.

But minutes turned into a hour and the cold had managed to fight its way through every single layer of clothing Eric was wearing. His feet were freezing and he wondered if he would even be able to move them at this point, feeling like they had frozen to the ground.

He looked at his phone and once again checked his messages, but there was nothing.

His patience was long gone and the same was his pride. At this point he didn't hesitate for even a moment before calling up Chaeyeong, holding the phone against his ear which was blood red from the cold.

The ringing went on and on and on, until Eric decided to hang up and instead lifted his feet from the cold ground and started walking forward in a fast pace.

He knew the way by heart, not once looking at a map or a street sign. He just kept putting one foot in front of the other, until he was standing outside the huge apartment complex Chaeyeong was living in.

At first he walked to the intercom, but just as he was about to ring the buzzer for Chaeyeong's apartment, he looked to the right and noticed the door slightly open.

Without further thoughts, Eric grabbed a hold of the handle and pushed the door open, walking inside with firm steps. 

Panting as he walked up the stairs, Eric arrived at the door where he stood for a minute, gasping for air. But while still trying to catch his breath, he placed a firm knock on the door, and when no answer was heard, he started pounding on it continuously, giving no thoughts to the poor next door neighbors.

While his hand still went on and on, beating up the door, he suddenly heard someone approaching, and before long, the door was opened, a puffy eyed, confused Chaeyeong standing on the other side of it. 

"Eric… what…"

"Are you okay?" asked Eric, finally starting to breathe normally again, "I tried calling you."

"My phone is on silent… but… why are you here?" asked Chaeyeong.

"I was worried. You didn't show up and then you didn't answer my call," explained Eric and Chaeyeong just looked at him confused.

"Show up?" whispered Chaeyeong, until suddenly, both her eyes lit up and she started blushing uncontrollably, "Oh… we had dinner plans… I am sorry… I forgot."

"That is okay, I was just worried," said Eric, "but… are you really… okay?" Eric looked directly at Chaeyeong, who quickly diverted her eyes.

"Me?" said Chaeyeong and felt the tears pushing on, "I am f… fine…" Eric noticed the tears sitting in the corner of her eyes and he slowly took a step closer.

"Chaeyeong, can I come inside?" Chaeyeong silently nodded her head while making way for Eric, trying to fight back the tears.

After closing the door behind her, Chaeyeong walked inside her studio apartment where Eric was standing in the middle of the room, looking at her with great worry. He didn't say anything, he just waited, gave her enough time and space so she wouldn't feel pressured or stressed out.

"Do… Do you want some coffee?" asked Chaeyeong, her voice cracking in the process. Eric let out a small sigh and took a step closer.

"Chaeyeong, please tell me what is going on," said Eric firmly while looking at Chaeyeong, who immediately looked down. Eric slowly lifted his hand and put in our her shoulder, making her move slightly, but still facing the floor.

Her small shoulders started moving up and down slightly, she moved her hand to her face and wiped away a stray tear sliding down her cheek while sniffling.

"It is just…" stuttered she, wiping away another tear, "I… I…" With every word spoken, Chaeyeong cried more and more, making it impossible to finish a sentence.

Eric looked at Chaeyeong, whose entire body was trembling as the tears were streaming down her face. He held his breath and felt his heart drop inside his chest, as if all the pain Chaeyeong was feeling, was being transferred to him and he was unable to hold himself back anymore.

In a quick movement, Eric stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Chaeyeong, pulling her closer to his body so she could feel his warmth and comfort.

"I am sorry," said Eric while holding her in his arms, "but at least let me hold you for now. You can cry all you want, I won't say anything or ask you anything. I just want to be here, by your side." For a short moment, Chaeyeong stayed completely silent, her body went stiff, almost like she was contemplating whether to push Eric away or say something. But then, after a few more seconds went by, her body loosened up and she let go of everything.

Sobbing like a little child, Chaeyeong hid her face in Eric's sleeve. Her small hands held a firm grip around his shirt, while she continued sobbing, feeling Eric's hand gentle hand slide up and down her back.

As time went by and the only sound left to be heard in the small studio apartment, was coming from the huge clock hanging on one of the walls, Eric loosened his grip on Chaeyeong and slowly moved away. He looked at the girl in front of him, whose eyes were red and puffy. Her mascara seemed to have set camp underneath her eyes, her nose was red as a tomato and she kept sniffling.

"Why don't I make us that coffee you talked about before," said Eric with a smile on his face, his head slightly tilted to the right.

"Okay," said Chaeyeong and sniffled again.

"If you want, you can go to the bathroom and blow your nose."

"Okay," said Chaeyeong again, sniffled and then walked to the bathroom like a zombie. Eric just let out a sigh and went to the kitchen counter to make a coffee.

After Chaeyeong returned and both of them finished their coffee, Eric finally spoke up.

"Now that you seem to have calmed down a little, do you want to tell me what happened?" asked Eric and Chaeyeong put down her mug, leaning against the kitchen counter as she looked at Eric.

"Nothing happened… I mean… nothing new happened," said Chaeyeong, much calmer than before, "it is just… too hard…"

"What is? Your work?" Chaeyeong nodded, "if it is that hard, you shouldn't stay."

"I can't just quit," said Chaeyeong, slightly annoyed and angry at the same time, "I just can't…"

"Then let me help you," said Eric.

"You already help me enough, more than you should," said Chaeyeong.

"I can't keep watching you like this, it is breaking my heart to see you cry," said Eric, "please let me help."

"There is nothing you can do," said Chaeyeong, "I need a job, a well-paid job, and that isn't something that grows on trees." Chaeyeong looked at Eric after she finished her sentence and she watched his facial expression change in the same instance, making her utterly confused.

"Actually," said Eric, "there is an opening in my department, one of our Data Scientists quit, so they are looking for someone. If you want, I can put in a good word for you, maybe set up an interview."

"I… I don't know…" said Chaeyeong, a little overwhelmed by the sudden offer.

"Come on, you can at least try and see what happens," said Eric.

"I don't think your motives for putting in a good word for me are pure," said Chaeyeong and chuckled, "you just want me to be around you all day so you can annoy me and flirt with me."

"Obviously that too," said Eric and both of them laughed, but when he continued, his voice changed into a much more firm and serious one, "but what I want the most, is for you to be able to quit that horrible job of yours and get away from that boss and those coworkers. I just want you to smile and be happy." Chaeyeong looked at Eric and then let out a sigh.

"Okay… I will try then."

Hello everyone!

I hope you liked this short chapter, if you did, please leave a comment down below before you move on.

Have a great day and take good care of yourself.

Love, Annalise~