CHAPTER VII

**YERIN**

“Be careful with that!” I heard my mom yell at the home moving service personnel who was lifting the box full of her cherished doll collection which could have sold at a hefty price had she been willing to give them up. Unfortunately for us, she was not.

I felt a slight shiver down my spine at the thought of those creepy doll orbs that seemed to follow me as I walked around in our previous home just because my mother opted that it would be quite a sight to scatter her collection in every corner of the place. I was glad I don’t have to endure that disturbing feeling any longer. Why, you ask?

“Because I’ll be leaving home starting today.”

A big sigh escaped my lips as I, once again, remembered my current problem- saying goodbye to my family. It’s harder than I thought it would be. While riding a taxi back to the hotel my family was staying to tell them my not-so-good news, I really thought bidding them farewell would be easy, that it wouldn’t feel so heart-wrenching but being a sensitive person, even though I don’t show it outside, I can’t help but feel heartsick at the fact that it will be long before I could see my family again especially dear Eunhye. It will be weeks or probably months before I can feel the warmth of a family again. And that isn’t the only thing I’m most worried about. It’s the thought of leaving them without me to care for them. I know mom and dad could handle the responsibilities but ever since, I have been the one to somehow put everything into place in the household, the one to maintain peace as much as possible. Leaving would change something if not everything within the routine of mom, dad, and my siblings but I really don’t have a choice, do I?

“Are you alright?” dad approached from behind me, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. He must have felt my melancholic aura. I glanced at him and offered a weak smile. Having him beside me somehow lifted a bit of the burden I’m carrying and it felt kind of pleasing. I know he may not have been the best dad one could have with his constant bickering with mom but I know I wouldn’t ask for any other dad.

“I’m fine,” I lied, pretending to feel great when inside my mind was a hurricane of what-ifs after I made the decision to accept the job offered to me earlier this day.

“You don’t have to do this, you know,” he reminded me and I simply nodded. Those were the exact same words he kept on telling me since he knew of my situation after I told mom and him about what I signed up for. I know he only felt like I shouldn’t do it because his fatherly instincts are kicking in but I couldn’t just let this big opportunity slip. My family was already offered a place to stay for free and all I have to do is act and a massive amount of money is what I’ll have by the end of the month. Not to mention, Taehyung even volunteered to pay for my debt at my previous workplace.

“Which makes him not so bad after all…”

“I don’t but I want to,” I said as I removed his hand from my shoulder, holding it in my own. “Look on the brighter side, dad. This is huge. We can finally live with no worries. The money you and mom earn will be solely used for the twins and Eunhye’s schooling. There will be no more bills to pay.” This is me trying my best to convince not only my dad but myself as well because I know that no matter how good my job offer is, it will always be painful with our family being broken apart.

“WE can finally live with no worries,” he repeated, placing emphasize on the first word. “It’s a ‘we’ without you, Yerin and it won’t be the same. It’ll never be the same. What’s the point of all these if you can’t be with us?” I knew this was coming. After I was done narrating everything to them what happened this morning, my dad seemed off even though mom looked quite pleased at the idea. Despite the smile he offered me, I can clearly see the disapproval behind the façade. He was obviously against the job conditions but he kept quiet about it because he saw how eager I was at the offer. He wanted to support me even though it hurt him.

A single tear rolled down my eye as I looked at my dad, face to face. He had a sullen look as he gazed at me. It must have felt like a stab in the heart seeing your daughter suffer just to see the whole family live in comfort.

“You don’t have to do this,” he told me once more only this time, it was barely audible as it came out more of a whisper because dad, too, was on the verge of tearing up. Only his manly pride was holding him off from bawling his eyes out.

I smiled amidst the aching feeling in my chest at the sight of dad. This is the first time I’m seeing him in such a vulnerable state and I can’t help but hurt more inside. Saying goodbye just seems to get tougher by the minute.

“Promise me you’ll fight less with mom and that you’ll take good care of the twins and Eunhye,” I said to divert ourselves from completely crying. The situation’s already hard enough. “Always remember to make scrambled eggs for breakfast if you can. Those are Eunhye’s favorites. As for the twins, they like to have some extra spicy tteokbokki from time to time so be sure to make those, too.”

My voice was already cracking as I told dad everything he, along with mom, needs to do in my place while I’m gone. Just as I was about to end, Eunhye showed up, carrying her favorite stuffed toy with her.

She walked slowly to where we were, her steps dragging and I could tell she knows what’s going on without me having to say it to her. She has always been the smartest one among the four of us siblings.

“Are you leaving us, unnie?” she asked, looking up at me with sad and tearful eyes which makes me want to lie so much to her to tell her I’m staying, that I’m not going anywhere but that would only make things worse. Instead, I crouched so that I was nearly on her level and I placed a hand on her head, ruffling her hair.

“I am but it’s only for a short time. I’ll be back soon so while I’m gone, you have to promise to be good to mom, dad, and your brothers, okay?” I gave her the widest smile I could muster as I continued to offer comfort to her and fortunately enough, it seems to be working.

Eunhye returned the smile and nodded enthusiastically. “I promise but you also have to promise me one thing.”

I raised my brow, waiting for her to continue and she beamed at me before pulling me into a tight hug as she whispered in my ear.

“Be happy wherever you will be.”

And right then and there, the tears I was trying so hard to hold in flowed freely from my eyes as I held Eunhye in an embrace while releasing all the sadness I was bottling inside as I cried my heart out.

**YUNA**

I wandered my eyes out the window of Jungkook’s car. We just made our way out of the heart of Seoul and the sun was already setting. I have no idea where we were going but I wasn’t one to complain also. I felt like this getaway is what I need after those stressful days of classes full of reports and deadlines.

“You’re not planning on taking me somewhere inhabited to kill me, are you?” I joked, looking at the driver beside me as he glanced for a second in my direction with a smirk.

“Who would want to kill such a beautiful creature such as you?” Without looking away from the road, Jungkook grabbed my left hand with his right and brought it up to his lips for a kiss. I looked slightly away, blushing. After all these years of hearing such cheesy lines, I still couldn’t help but feel quite embarrassed whenever Jungkook puts his ‘romantic boyfriend mode’ on.

“One more of your cheesiness and you’ll find yourself kicked out of this damn car.” I quickly tried to cover my emotions with sass, removing my hand from his even though I immediately regretted it once his warmth left my skin and I felt the strong urge to hold his hand one more time. I pushed away the itch though and pretended to be annoyed by crossing my arms over my chest.

“This must be why he thinks I’m so unpredictable,” I thought as I soon realized how quickly I was switching moods.

Instead of a reply, Jungkook simply chuckled, shaking his head. He must have thought it would be better not to let my supposed anger escalate. He knew better than to get on my bad side anyway.

Silence followed. I turned off the radio minutes ago when I grasped that there were no more good songs being played and fortunately enough, Jungkook had the same thing in mind.

I rested my elbow by the window and placed my chin on my arm, enjoying the view outside although we were mostly passing just a bunch of trees and some other nature stuffs as we travelled farther away from the city.

“Where are we going?” I finally asked after a while of guessing and coming up with no definite answer.

“You’ll see.”

~~~~~

“Yuna, wake up. We’re here.”

I groaned as I opened my eyes. I didn’t even realize I fell asleep during the ride. How long has it been? An hour? I’m quite not sure.

“Where are we?” I asked in a drowsy tone before I stifled a yawn and stretched my limbs which were aching probably due to my previous sleeping position.

“Why don’t you get out of the car and see for yourself?” Jungkook said as he opened the car door wider, gesturing me to step out.

I haven’t even moved my feet but the breeze that greeted me and the scent that came with it told me exactly where we were. I closed my eyes and took in as much of the fresh air as I could before releasing it in one long exhale.

“We’re at the beach,” I whispered with really no intention of letting Jungkook hear but he heard anyway.

“Exactly. I figured you missed this place. It’s been months since we last came here.”

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter