Thank you.

It took three knocks on the wooden door before the delirious confrontation took place. Ha Yeon was mentally prepared for this—she had spent her hours productively in the plane planning out her ‘speech’.

A best friend had to do what she had to do—to demand the truth from her cousin.

The latter eased the door open and she gasped in terror when realization struck her: she’s doomed.

“Unnie?” Consternation in her voice, she was alarmed to see her cousin without any prior notice. Yeon Hee felt a chill sprint down her spine and she was breaking into cold perspiration albeit no action from the latter.

Ha Yeon responded with a sardonic smile, raising her sunglasses to get a better view of her little cousin. Their eyes locked, Ha Yeon’s inexorable eyes made Yeon Hee wither in fear. She knew whatever that was going to unfold next was going to be ugly.

“I wasn’t expecting you… You should called earlier so that I could fetch you—”

“Well, I didn’t want to ruin the surprise,” the elder smirked in triumph, she was going to crush the latter with her hands to end the unnecessary disarray. Ha Yeon was determined to cease Eunji’s and her little game.

“I’ll go straight to the point,” Ha Yeon brushed her cousin off and walked into the apartment. She glanced around, hoping to spot her little friend. “Where’s that witch?”

“There’s only me here…”

There was a moment of silence, Ha Yeon was fuming quietly and Yeon Hee was worrying, her mind filled with uncanny thoughts. After gathering her thoughts together, Ha Yeon began, “Since you refuse to tell me where Eunji is then you will have to answer me by yourself.”

The latter nodded meekly, already on the verge of crying because Ha Yeon was just that intimidating.

“So… what do you think you’re doing? Creating havoc? This little game of yours has to end. You are hurting many people—the hell are you doing???”

And this had already sent her cousin into a crying wreck. Ha Yeon was taken aback for a moment, unable to grasp the fact that she made already her cry within thirty seconds.

 “I’m sorry Unnie,” Yeon Hee knelt on the ground, her hair stuck onto her crying face. She sobbed quietly at first but it didn’t take her long before her wails became hysterical.

“I just—I wanted to help a friend… She was my pillar of strength when I was depressed and she’s really important to me. I—”

She gasped for her breath and coughs escaped the edges of her lips. Ha Yeon almost burst into tears, seeing her so emotional—but she refrained herself and blinked her tears—of guilt—away.

“I’ve done so many bad things but I don’t regret it…” Yeon Hee swept her bangs with her fingers and diverted her attention to Ha Yeon. Despite the tears that blurred her vision, she looked into her cousin’s eyes and spoke truthfully, “It’s all for my best friend.”

That led to Ha Yeon springing out of the seat and hugging her cousin. She felt a little awkward and dramatic doing that—after all, she was the one who made the latter cry. She patted her head and comforted Yeon Hee with words of ‘it’s okay’ and ‘I understand’. However, she couldn’t give in just yet.

She still needed answers.

“I need to know the whole story,” it came out as a mere whisper. Ha Yeon knew what situation her cousin was in. Friendship was something so innocent yet so complicated. She only wanted to help a friend…

“Eunji has liked Myungsoo since the first year of high school. But he has never looked at her once. She just wanted love, you know? A boyfriend that treats her well. Yeah, I know she shouldn’t have gone to such extent but… she really likes him. I thought that she should at least stand a chance? Don’t you think so, unnie? Love has driven her to do such things… You can’t blame her totally.”

“Life . it up,” she was speaking from her experiences.

Sometimes, you can’t get what you want in life. it up, people. Life is a —a battle to fight and you’ll win someday, just maybe not today.

“I’m sure she’ll find someone for herself. She shouldn’t pin all her hopes on a taken guy. I know you want to help her but you can’t get her out of her delusion like this. Why don’t you try other methods—that don’t involve breaking up a wonderful couple? Help her meet other people.”

The latter nodded her head gratefully; a smile began to appear on her face. Ha Yeon had already wiped away the trance of tears. Sometimes, you need to listen to the harsh words because they speak nothing but the truth.

 “I’ll talk to Eunji, all right? She’s not like that actually… She’s really nice to me. She just likes him so much… I guess, she’ll need to move on? I’ll help her.”

They both shared a smile, realizing that it had been so long since they had last done something like that. After Yeon Hee went overseas to study, their relationship grew to become distant. But since Ha Yeon was here, Yeon Hee hoped to become closer like before.

“Unnie,” she called out and her cousin turned towards her, “Thank you.”

★

Myungsoo woke up with the sunlight pouring through the window glass and into his eyes. Surely, it wasn’t a good morning greeting—to be blinded when he first opened his eyes—but it was better than nothing. The sunlight made him feel much alive. After a long deprived sleep, he finally felt refreshed.

He noticed Hyeri sprawled on the floor with his photography guidebooks and Hoya resting on his couch. Both of them looked so drained out and that left Myungsoo wondering what they did before.

Kicking his covers off him, he bent down to Hyeri and scooped her petite self into his arms. He noticed dried saliva on the edge of her lips and chuckled silently to himself.

“This girl never changes,” he thought in his mind. Looking at his girlfriend so vividly, he felt a tug at his heartstrings. She was so beautiful. He wanted to embrace her so endearingly and never let her leave his arms. He placed her gently on his bed and tugged her under the warm covers, just like how she did for him the night before.

After settling her into bed, his eyes paused at the mess on the floor. His camera had also been taken out of the dry-box. Something seemed suspicious. Hyeri knew that he didn’t like people touching his camera. Thus, he looked at his camera intensely and realisation hit him hard on the head. He could only gasp—lost at words.

Hyeri stirred i