Chapter 94

When Jin Taeyeon got home, she locked herself in her room. Everyone except Jin Taeyeon’s father, including Jin Ji-yong, Jin Taeyeon’s mother, and Jin Yae-yeon, looked surprised. Jin Taeyeon’s father frowned deeply, sighed, and recounted the entire story. The family looked at each other, unsure of how to react.

This... how is it like a TV drama?

Although they were family and should be worried about their daughter, such thoughts couldn’t help but pop into their minds.

Jin Ji-yong, being a boy and not too young or old, leaned forward and asked his father directly, “Dad, is that guy handsome?”

With a *smack*, unsurprisingly, he got hit on the back of his head.

Pouting and rubbing his head, Jin Ji-yong fell silent.

Jin Taeyeon’s father glared at him, “Didn’t you say you were going to pick up your sister after school? Why did you come back first?”

Jin Ji-yong’s eyes darted around, and he hugged Jin Yae-yeon affectionately, ignoring her frown and attempts to pull away from her mother, “It’s all the same, right? Picking up the older one or the younger one?”

Jin Taeyeon’s father couldn’t do anything about him, shook his head, and stopped looking at Jin Ji-yong, who was being scolded by his mother.

Looking upstairs, he sighed after a while and said to the others, “Let Taeyeon have some peace. I’ve already asked for a long leave for her. The S.M. audition is coming up, and she needs to focus on practicing with Teacher Jung Il-woo. We should support her in becoming a trainee at S.M. If she likes this, she needs to put in the effort. School is too distracting. Just from what she experienced today, I’m afraid...” Jin Taeyeon’s mother, who had been scolding her son, also looked worriedly upstairs.

Jin Yae-yeon looked around and tugged at her mother’s hand, asking softly, “Mom, I’m hungry. Is Unnie not coming down to eat?”

Jin Taeyeon’s mother snapped back to reality, stood up, and walked to the kitchen.

Jin Ji-yong pinched her little face, “You only think about eating. You’ll end up fatter than your Unnie.”

Jin Yae-yeon pouted, looking like she was about to cry. Jin Ji-yong quickly smiled to please her, but in his heart, he cursed that sisters should be strangled to death at the first opportunity. If he could bear it.

Jin Taeyeon sat on the bed, hugging her knees against the wall, just like she did in the abandoned teaching building on the hill. The only difference was that she had a blanket on her now.

As her father said, everything she experienced today left her with no emotions. The last scene kept replaying in her mind, filling her thoughts with that color, that figure, and the feeling of being held in his arms.

Staring blankly out the window, she couldn’t help but think back to the day in her first year of middle school when she was punished by a senior because she was being pursued by a junior. Her father never knew about it, and Jin Taeyeon had kept it to herself, the wound never fully healed. It wasn’t just the pain of being punished by the senior, but also the junior’s cold indifference in the crowd.

She looked at him for help, but he turned away. At that moment, she truly closed her heart. But today, the same thing happened, and it was even worse. When the stick was about to fall, Jin Taeyeon thought it would be the same, so after instinctively calling out, she closed her eyes and didn’t look at the boy behind her.

But someone held her tightly, using his body to shield her from everything. And that person was the one she had hurt, the one she had deeply wounded with her stubbornness and willfulness. Even if he had raised the stick to hit her, it wouldn’t have been too much.

It was already evening, but even the moonlight made Jin Taeyeon feel uncomfortable.

She buried her head in her knees, and despite having cried many times today, tears slid down her cheeks again. She murmured softly, a phrase he couldn’t hear: “I’m sorry...”

But what good was it? You can’t hear me, and even when I saw you, I didn’t have the chance to say anything before you got hurt for me and left. How can I face you?

Crying softly, she suddenly remembered something and jumped out of bed, running downstairs.

Jin Ji-yong was helping his mother set the table, and Jin Taeyeon rushed over, calling, “Oppa! Where’s my phone?”

Jin Taeyeon’s mother was carrying a dish out and, seeing Jin Taeyeon come down, said quickly, “Eat first, Taeyeon.”

Jin Taeyeon ignored her mother and tugged at Jin Ji-yong, “Give me the phone! I need to find an old number!”

Jin Ji-yong nodded hesitantly and was pulled upstairs by Jin Taeyeon. Neither of them noticed that Jin Yae-yeon, upon hearing about the phone, quietly slipped into the bathroom and locked the door.

In Jin Ji-yong’s room, Jin Taeyeon watched as her brother frowned and muttered, searching.

Jin Taeyeon helped him, “Where did you put it?! Didn’t you say you didn’t take it to school?”

Jin Ji-yong scratched his head, “Yeah, I was using my own phone. I put yours in the drawer and didn’t touch it... Did Mom take it? She was home all day today.”

Jin Taeyeon stood up and ran out of Jin Ji-yong’s room, heading downstairs, “Mom, have you seen Oppa’s phone? The one I gave him yesterday!”

Jin Taeyeon’s mother was standing at the bathroom door, knocking. Seeing Jin Taeyeon, she shook her head in confusion, “Why would I need your phone? I’ve been home all day, and the landline is enough... Yae-yeon! Why are you in the bathroom when it’s time to eat? Come out quickly!” Jin Taeyeon’s mother frowned and knocked on the bathroom door.

After a while, Jin Yae-yeon’s trembling voice came from inside, “Mom... I... My stomach hurts.”

Jin Ji-yong walked over and suddenly clapped his hands, “Right. That brat Yae-yeon came into my room this morning when I was going to school.”

He went over to help his mother knock on the door, speaking in a serious tone, “Jin Yae-yeon! Did you take the phone? Hand it over quickly, or your Unnie will eat your jelly.”

Jin Taeyeon hurriedly joined in, knocking on the door, “Yae-yeon, give the phone to Unnie. I just need to find a number, and then I’ll give it back... Come out quickly!”

Jin Taeyeon’s father came out of his bedroom, changing clothes, and frowned at the family gathered at the bathroom door. He walked over and asked, “What’s going on? Why are you all here? Not eating?”

Jin Taeyeon’s mother was about to say something when the bathroom door opened with a *click*. Jin Yae-yeon came out, head down and pouting.

Jin Taeyeon quickly pulled her over, “Yae-yeon, give... lend the phone to Unnie. I just need to find a number, and then I’ll give it back.”

Jin Yae-yeon looked up, timidly at Jin Taeyeon, “Unnie... Is that number important?” Jin Taeyeon was about to say something.

Jin Ji-yong looked surprised, “What?! Jin Yae-yeon. You... didn’t you lose the phone?”

Jin Yae-yeon fidgeted with her hands, nodding slightly.

Jin Ji-yong was stunned, smiling at Jin Taeyeon, “I bet you can’t even transfer the number data?”

Jin Taeyeon’s father frowned at Jin Yae-yeon, “Tell Dad, where did you leave the phone?”

Jin Yae-yeon timidly replied, “I... I don’t know. It was already gone when I got home from school.”

Jin Taeyeon sat on the floor, head down, lost in thought. The atmosphere became cold.

Jin Yae-yeon seemed to realize the gravity of her mistake. Her lips trembled, and she clung to her mother’s leg, “Mom... Is Unnie angry?”

Jin Taeyeon’s mother helplessly patted her bottom and said to Jin Taeyeon, “Eat first. If you need someone’s number, Ya-won should have it.”

Jin Taeyeon’s eyes lit up, and she quickly turned to her brother.

Jin Ji-yong quickly shook his head, “I don’t have Ya-won’s number. Check the landline for any missed calls.”

Jin Taeyeon ran to the landline and found the number. She dialed it, and when it connected, she asked, “Ya-won? It’s me, Taeyeon... I’m fine, how about you? I got hit... Let’s not talk about that. I have a question... I might not go to school this semester... My dad asked for a leave for me... I have a question, do you have Moon Jung-woo’s phone number... I lost my phone because of Yae-yeon... What?... What did you say... How can that be?! You said... Oh... Oh... Oh... I see... Okay, 88.”

The whole family watched Jin Taeyeon intently. Her actions affected everyone’s nerves. When the call connected, they all breathed a sigh of relief. But as her expression turned increasingly somber, and she hung up, she was completely dejected.

Smiling bitterly, Jin Taeyeon looked at her father and family, “His phone... is broken.”

With that simple statement, Jin Taeyeon walked past her family and slowly went upstairs. The family watched her go into her room again. His phone is broken? The reason seemed too simple and too coincidental. But they all knew that the process might be complicated, and this result... probably wouldn’t change anything.

“Just like a TV drama.”

Jin Ji-yong shook his head in amazement. His parents frowned at him. Jin Ji-yong stuck out his tongue, hugged Jin Yae-yeon, and walked to the dining table. Jin Taeyeon’s parents exchanged a glance, sighed, and sat down at the table. They took an empty plate and bowl, preparing a meal. It seemed... they were saving it for Jin Taeyeon.

Everything returned to the starting point. Jin Taeyeon sat on the bed, hugging her knees, and stared out the window. She wouldn’t go to school tomorrow, and he probably wouldn’t either.

She had a new phone, but her old one was lost, and he would certainly get a new one too. The old one and the lost one were similar. Why was it so coincidental? It was like everything that had happened between them. But this ending... was too coincidental and made her feel helpless and sad.

(Thank you, fallenone.xi, for the support. Thank you, sooyeon.xi and zhi'ai yan yunxi.xi, for the support. Everyone, I posted early today. Have you all voted and added to your favorites? O(∩_∩)O. Thank you to everyone who votes every day. I bow to you. Thank you. zzang. O(∩_∩)O)

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