On Rainy Days

The office is eerily quiet and literally it’s like no one dares to speak a word. The only noise they make is by whispering to each other but excluded some of the peers for some obvious reason.

Jihyo sits in her office, sinks her back into her chair and breathes out a long sigh. Since yesterday night, her alumni’s group chat never stopped flooding, some with merciful words but some were just trashes who probably never did something good in their lives than gossiping about someone else.

“Guys, Soojung sunbaenim, our upperclassman back in our school days had passed away this evening. Please pray for her and her family.”

Seunghee was responsible to announce to them all, and some of their former classmates were asking who Soojung was, which one was her, and some were making guesses.

“Are you talking about Soojung sunbaenim who had a huge scandal with Yang Woohyuk sunbaenim before?”

“Heol~ I think it’s really her!”

“Doesn’t she deserve that though? She had damaged our school and Woohyuk sunbaenim’s good name!”

“Let’s not forget she had with him when she was dating Park Jihyo!”

“Oh, b!tch!”

Jihyo clenches her fist around her phone tightly and wants to throw the device to the ground until it’s broken and all. Their nasty words are disgusting and Jihyo wants to give a punch on each of their faces as they sent those messages.

She decides to head out and talk with Nayeon when Son Naeun emerges out from her office. “I’m going to the funeral and visit Lee Mijoo. Anyone wants to tag along with me?”

Jihyo doesn’t know how Son Naeun can still appear calm and elegant in this madness. She’s curious of what the woman has inside her mind regarding the whole situation.

“I want to come with you, ma’am!” Jiyeon rises on her feet and takes her handbag with her.

“Me too, ma’am!” Mina tails behind the two older women’s steps surprisingly and Jihyo wonders to herself how the half Japanese still has some conscience left inside her for Mijoo.

“Is our director perhaps has lost her mind?! How could she go to the funeral and face Lee Mijoo despite knowing that had lied to us?!”

“Maybe Mijoo put something to bewitch Director Son that she’d become much softer like that?!”

“Let’s not forget how Jiyeon and Mina tag along with her! Wow, hanging out with Lee Mijoo had really made them lost their minds!”

The department’s employees scoff and continue with the trash talks. The team leader has gotten sick and grown tired of their constant insults and them saying stuffs like they’d known the full story, but Jihyo herself is too coward to open to make things right.

“Guys, stop with the talks please! Go back to work!” Nayeon commands on behalf of her best friend who looks overly distressed more than anything.

“Stop acting like a saint, Nayeon! It’s not like what we said is false! Mijoo not only lied to us about not having a family or any relatives left and had our pities, but she also bothered and harrassed our Jihyo, your own best friend!” One of the guys snorted. “Then suddenly she said her sister had passed away, you know how ridiculous that sounded like to us?! Your own fiancee was the one who said it all, how could we not believe that and be mad?”

That’s where the problem lies, honestly. There were other witnesses when Mijoo raged out on Jihyo at the parking lot and saw how the older girl was being rough. To cover up Jihyo’s sin, Jeongyeon assured the witnesses that Mijoo was the one who had an obsession over Jihyo and started assaulting and being abusive. It makes Jihyo mad that she can do nothing to make things fall into the right places back.

Nayeon huffs and rubs her face before glaring at her colleagues. They’re really crossing the line with their words and antics and honestly she’s losing her patient. As one of the people who actually knew the truth, it’s hard for her to swallow every bad word the other guys throw towards Mijoo.  “I’m really going to talk to Jeongyeon about this! She should’ve sealed than making things worse!”

Jihyo wishes she has the courage and strong principle like her best friend has. Meanwhile herself, the team leader that everyone looked up to, the woman who gained respects from each of her peers, the lady who had her husband’s trust and love, is actually really weak and full of flaws that they’d never seen. It’s like her acts of kindness had made everyone turned blind for her.

A hand cupping her arm shakes her out from her train of thoughts. “Are you planning to go to the funeral too?” Nayeon’s gaze is warm and makes her feel better. But it’s not enough to convince to go visit Soojung for the last time.

“Nope, I’m not going!” she said.

Her best friend heaves out a small sigh. “Suit yourself!”

***

The funeral hall is filled with more people with black attires than the three visitors had imagined. They enter the hall and pay respect to the decease before turning to Mijoo. Their hearts prickled at the sight of Mijoo’s tears-stained face. They have never thought the woman could cry that much, and it seems like she hasn’t stopped crying for a while.

Mijoo rises her head a little and is really thankful for Son Naeun, Jiyeon and Mina’s mere presence. She might have lied to them about her family thing, but their supports for her in this situation mean a lot to her.

The director steps a little forward before engulfing the poor woman in a warm embrace. “I’m sorry for your lost, Mijoo.”

Mijoo cries harder at the woman’s sincere wish. Her sobs have gotten louder and the three others can really feel her pain of losing her only sister. Jiyeon al