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they love you, chaeng

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jisoo smiled at you before wiping the rest of the tears staining your cheeks. she planted soft kisses on both of them before pulling away, staring straight ahead as she leaned her body further against the metal railings of the bridge. you didn't hesitate to mirror her position.

afraid that silence might take over you once again, you immediately thought of a way to break it.

however, you were rather relieved and surprised at the same time when the brunette beat you to it.

"i still think they do, you know?" she mumbled, feeling a lump starting to form inside your throat at the realization of what the older girl was trying to say. she turned to face you, a soft smile gracing her lips. "i think your parents do care for you."

you felt smile vanishing in an instant as you tore your gaze away from her. "speak for yoursef, then."

you didn't mean to sound harsh, but the pain inside your chest was just too strong, so your words had to come off equally.

however, you were surprised when jisoo just chuckled lightly, turning to face ahead once again, eyes lost into the mesmerizing view.

"you know, as a kid, i once had a dream that i lost my puppy, dalgom, in the busy streets of seoul during the jinju lantern festival." she paused as she glanced at you for a second. "the next day, i accidentally found something off my dad's office desk that revealed something rather harsh for just an innocent, twelve-year-old jichu."

you continued to stare at her as you listened intently, hand reaching out to hold hers that's resting firmly on the metal railings of the bridge.

jisoo smiled sadly as she spoke in the most fragile of voices, "adoption papers."

you felt like your heart just stopped beating inside your chest, but jisoo just turned to face you, smile turning rather reassuring.

"i've always thought i was different from my siblings in most ways, not just physically, but in our own natures, too. i was naive to realize just yet, so i thought maybe i just have to train myself into acting like them; prim and formal, at times fastidious, like real life royal children." she chuckled lightly, shaking her head. "so it was rather jarring finding out the real reason why only after a long painful decade."

she let out a sigh as she closed her eyes, savoring the cold breeze that brushed against your exposed skin. you held her hand tighter.

"i was angry at my parents for lying to me, and waiting for me to find out on my own rather than just simply telling me as i was growing up. it'd be a lot easier to accept that way, you know? since kids, they're nothing but happy. they basically own the world."  

you felt your heart beating erratically inside your chest when a stray tear suddenly rolled down jisoo's cheek, so you were rather quick to wipe it away.

"later on, i felt guilty for lashing out on them, because, believe me, it's the least that my parents deserve. they're precious, and they certainly didn't raise me that way."

taking a deep breath, she shut her eyes, tears still streaming down her face, yet her body was still unbelievably composed.

you leaned in to hug her by the side.

"i was guilty, and hurting, and i wanted them to just be angry at me too. that way it'd be easier for me to hate them, and it would make total sense hating them. so i acted the exact opposite that my siblings did. i stopped living by the rules, i left their mansion to live with lisa's family in their humble little home, because she and her parents are the only ones i thought would be worthy of putting my trust into."

she smiled a little as she reminisced the past, shaking her head as she let out a light chuckle. "well, i was wrong. they shouldn't be trusted at all."

you had to furrow your eyebrows confusedly at the statement, so jisoo chuckled as she held your cheeks softly in her hands.

"mr. manoban, one of the kim's loyal butlers, was promoted as the new household head of my grandparents' mansion here in paris, and you know what he did?" you smiled at her back as you shook you head no. "he straight-up sold me out on grandma, taking lisa and i with him to paris a month before i turned thirteen."

she let out a chuckle once again, this time genuinely happy, and you felt your smile widen even more as you stared at her adoringly.

"my thirteenth birthday was my favorite, because it was the day i realized how much my family loves me, even if i wasn't their real daughter, and even if i turned against them in ways i thought would hurt them tremendously, yet didn't at all." you bit your lip, grip around her shoulders getting tighter as you watched the way she stared into your eyes deeply. "and it took a lot of sage talking, and endless buckets of tears, maybe even enough to fill an entire pool, but trust me, it's all worth it for the people you love."

you leaned in to kiss her giddy smile away, yet it only widened even more against your lips, and you thought it was the sweetest kiss you've ever shared with her.

pulling away, you held jisoo by the jaw as you caressed her reddened cheeks with your thumb. "and you kept bending the rules until now for what reasons, exactly?"

"for they're all irrelevant, chaengie." she mumbled back, and you felt your heart flutter at the way her words rolled off her tongue. "those rules were not, and will never in a million years be, the basis of a family's love - of a parent's love for their child, flesh-and-blood or otherwise."

biting your lip, you felt your own tears starting to well up in your eyes as you continued to stare back deeply into jisoo's chocolate orbs.

"then you're lucky enough to have a family that thinks that way." you choked out, shutting your eyes close as you let out a pained sob. "because mine doesn't, chu, no matter how hard i even tried."

your tears started to completely fall from your eyes, yet every single drop was met immediately by jisoo's thumbs, wiping them away.

planting a soft kiss on either sides of your face, she spoke.

"usually, people are said to be made for each other the more similarities they share," taking your hands in hers, she planted a soft kiss on your fingers before reaching out to wipe your tears again. "and i think they're wrong. do you know why?"

you sniffled, finding yourself having a hard time to respond, yet you fortunately managed to choke out a weak, "why?" in return.

smiling at you widely, jisoo mumbled. "because puzzle pieces don't fit together when they're of the same shape, chaeng."

you were out of words.

placing her hands on your waist, jisoo pulled you closer to her to capture your lips in the most passionate kiss. you let your arms wrap around her neck completely as you kissed her back with all the might left in your system, tasting salty tears in between your locked lips, yet not minding the slightest bit.

jisoo was the first to pull away, tucking a few strands of stray hair behind your ear as she breathed out,

"maybe that's why we met at these circumstances; when i've already figured out the things that still don't make sense to you." leaning her forehead against yours, she mumbled, "they love you, chaeng."

her statement just made you cry even more, now unable to prevent several uncontrolled sob sfrom escaping your lips.

you wrapped your arms around jisoo's neck tighter to capture her in a warm embrace. you leaned your head against her steady shoulders while she held you by the waist just as tight,

and you just cried everything out right there in her arms.

a few moments had passed before you finally managed to calm down. jisoo was rubbing comforting circles against your back, even after your body stopped shaking uncontrollably.

pulling away, she wiped the rest of the tears staining your cheeks before fishing her phone out of the pocket of her coat.

"do me favor." she smiled, that insanely charming lopsided grin that never fails to make your knees weak. "call them." she said, handing her phone to you as she stared deeply into your eyes. "tell them you're okay, and that you're coming home soon."

you bit your lip, a stubborn part of you still hesitating, yet you didn't let it overpower the subtlest hint of willingness inside of you.

you swallowed the lump in your throat before taking the device from jisoo's awaiting hands, which made the latter smile at you rather proudly.

it made your heart swell.

you took your time in logging in and searching for your mom's contact. biting your lip, you took one last deep breath before clicking the green button and pressing the screen firmly against your ear.

jisoo attempted to take a step back, but you held her hand to prevent her form doing so.

it only took less than three rings before your mom answers, worried voice ringing against your ear through the screen.

"chaeyoung, is it you?" she hurriedly asked, voice erratic and obviously strained because of crying, and you felt a harsh pang inside your chest. "oh my god! chaeyoung, baby, are you okay? are you safe? we didn't immediately realize you were lost, and we're- we're worried. we're all worried, chaeng. please tell me you're okay. please, say something, sweetie."

you felt another wave of tears escaping your eyes, so you shut them close as hard as you can.

"mom," you choked out in between restrained sobs, "it's okay." holding onto jisoo's hand tighter, you shook your head repeatedly as you sniffled your tears away, "i'm okay, mom."

"shh, it's okay, baby. it's okay. don't cry." your mother's shaky voice echoed against your ear, breathing out phrases of comfort that only made you cry even more.

because why does she still have the need to comfort you even when she's crying too?

and you felt your heart shatter into pieces as you slowly realized that you were the cause of your mother's tears in the first place.

you were just about to respond when you heard another familiar voice in the background, "is it her? where is she? let me talk to her."

you let out another pained sob when the sound of your father's cracking voice now replaced your mother's worried ones. "chaeyoung, is everything okay? where are you? it's been almost twenty-four hours. we are all worried sick."

"daddy," you mumbled in between restrained sobs. "i'm okay. please don't cry." you giggled lightly, especially after hearing your father sniffle on the other line. fluttering your eyes open, you looked back up at jisoo, who's now staring at you with a genuine smile plastered on her face. "i'm in good hands."

"please, come home, princess."

you chuckled lightly after hearing the familiar nickname, chest aching, yet not in the worst way anymore. you continued to let your tears stream down your face freely, because jisoo was there to wipe them for you, after all.

"i will, daddy." you replied, voice now growing steady as you felt jisoo kiss the back of your hand that she's currently holding tightly in hers. "i'm coming home."

the moment you dropped the call, you didn't hesitate to pull your hand away from the smiling brunette's grip, only to use it in grabbing her face to pull her in and smash your lips passionately against hers.

she kissed you back with the same intensity as she smiled in between your firmly locked lips.

and you felt your heart almost exploding inside your chest.

pulling away, jisoo sent you the widest heart-shaped grin you always knew you loved staring at, before wiping the rest of the tears away from your puffy cheeks with the pad of her thumb.

leaning her forehead against yours lovingly, she mumbled with a smile, "happy birthday, park chaeyoung."

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