Chapter 6: The Broken-heart

It was Saturday morning, and Changmin had called and asked me to come to his house. As I arrived, he was still in his pajamas, though he still looked as handsome as ever. I put my bag and started to clean the house. A while later he came out of his room, cleaned up already. He smelled so refreshing. I felt intoxicated by it.

 

“Be conscious, Lee Yoora!” I slapped myself.

 

“Baegopha~,” Changmin sang. “You’re making breakfast today, right?” He sat on a chair in the kitchen and started playing with his cell phone.

 

“Can’t you see I’m busy? Make your own food!” I snapped.

 

“Shireo! Remember that you’re my slave. Don’t object my command, okay?”

 

Aish. My days with him would never be as quiet as normal people have. As soon as I finished cleaning, I put on the apron and looked at his refrigerator. I took some ingredients for breakfast without saying anything. I washed the vegetables and potatoes while waiting for the water boiled. Changmin was observing my work. Once in a while he would comment my work and criticize me.

 

"Did you learn how to cook from your mom?" he asked.

 

"Of course," I said simply.

 

"How is she doing? Has she ever asked about me?"

 

I thought for the answer. Had mom ever asked me about him? "Mm...I guess."

 

"What do you mean you guess? Does she forget about me?"

 

"I don't know. I'll ask when I get on the phone with her."

 

Changmin didn't replay me. Was he mad? So I turned to face him. He was playing with his phone, maybe checking some messages, because I saw him typing on it. I sighed. He might not care about it. If it were me, I would be so disappointed if his parents had forgotten about me.

 

I put the ingredients on the pot as the water started to boil, and chopped the vegetables. I put the already-chopped-vegetables on the pot and waited until it well cooked. I turned to Changmin whose eyes still glued on his phone screen. He seemed uneasy. As his eyes turned to me he said, “What?”

 

I just shook my head and continued my work.

 

“Yah, Lee Yoora!” he called.

 

“What?” I asked without looking at him.

 

“You don’t have to put much effort to make the breakfast, okay? As long as it’s edible, I will surely finish it.”

 

Well, this sounded strange. So I turned to him again. It didn’t sound like Changmin at all. If I could make it very tasty, then why would I have to make it as ordinary-tasty?

 

“Yah, don’t look at me with that strange gaze!” I didn’t answer him, so he just continued. “My friend’s going to visit.”

 

Just then, we heard the bell rang. Who’s this friend he was talking about? I was curious. After finishing my cooking, I went to look at his guest. To my surprise, it was Kang Minkyung, the girl who was in the gossip with Changmin. Of course, I expected his guest was her, why wouldn’t I?

 

To make my heart more hurt, Minkyung brought some food too for Changmin. It was wrapped in cute wrapper. As I looked at it, I felt like my cooking was nothing compared to hers. She saw me, and gave me strange look. Changmin who realized the situation quickly explained to her.

 

“She’s Yoora. She attends our university too. Have you ever met her?” he asked Minkyung.

 

Her strange gaze changed into friendly one. She smiled and said, “I don’t think I’ve met her before, but nice to meet you, Yoora-ssi. I’m Minkyung.” She held out her right hand, and I shook it. “But, why are you here, and wearing that apron…,” she looked confused. “Are you bullying her, Oppa?”

 

Like a thunderbolt in a sunny day, the word ‘oppa’ that came out from surprised me. She called him ‘oppa’? What did it mean? I looked at Changmin who also looked at me. He opened his mouth as if going to explain something. I didn’t know they’re this close. Yes, I knew they were close, but not up to the extent of ‘oppa-dongsaeng’ relationship. They were being formal to each other in school, but now this view was really make my head dizzy.

 

As if it was a movie, the scene was being paused. Nobody said a thing. Minkyung and I looked at Changmin, and he looked at me.

 

“Uh, how about we have breakfast together?” Minkyung tried to warm up the atmosphere.

 

“Yeah, right. Let’s just have breakfast together,” said Changmin.

 

I still couldn’t understand the situation. Actually, what was I doing here? I looked so stupid standing in the same room with them, and I really hated this feeling. Changmin had already gone to the dining room with the food Minkyung brought. Minkyung then followed him, leaving me dazed alone in my place. Why did my heart ache?

 

“Yoora-ya, why don’t you take your cooking out? Let’s have breakfast! Aren’t you hungry?”

 

It’s really strange. What the heck was wrong with him? Honestly, I really hated this Changmin right now. I hated that he treated me well when there’s Minkyung around. Why are you being like this Shim Changmin? I shouted out in my mind.

 

“Yah!” he touched me on the shoulder. “Gaja!”

 

I looked at him, and he smiled. The smile I used to like today was being the smile I hated the most. That was a fake smile. I turned my heels toward the kitchen, while Changmin and Minkyung were arranging the dine table. I looked at my cooking and sighed heavily. It’s really nothing compared to Minkyung’s food. And I didn’t want to be compared when they eat this food and her food by turns. I knew I was being so mean with this food, but I hoped God would forgive me. I took the pan with my gloves, and then as if my hands slip, I dropped the pan on the floor. Its contents were shattered on the floor. The sounds invited Changmin and Minkyung to come to the kitchen.

 

“What’s wrong?” he asked worriedly.

 

“Mianhae, Changmin-ah. I…my hands are slip. I accidentally dropped it. Jinjja mian!” I didn’t dare to look at his face. This lie was too much. My hands were shaking. I was really too much.

 

I heard Changmin sighed loudly. “It’s okay. We still can eat the food Minkyung just brought.”

 

Hell, I won’t eat it! I cursed in my mind. “Anniya, I’ll clean it first.”

 

“You don’t have to! Let’s just eat our breakfast first.”

 

“Actually, I have promise with Heewon today. I can’t eat with you guys. I’m really sorry. I’ll clean it, after that I’ll leave.”

 

Changmin was giving me disapproving look. Minkyung stepped up to me. “Are you okay, Yoora-ssi? It must be hot. You didn’t hurt your hands, right?”

 

What was she doing? I felt worse. What had I done? I had never felt this bad before. How could I hate this perfect girl in front of me?

 

“I’m okay, really. I’m sorry I’ve ruined everything.” I looked at Changmin. I really tried hard to hold my tears now.

 

“That’s okay. I’ll clean it after I have breakfast. You’ve worked since morning. You can leave, Yoora-ya.”

 

“Are you letting her leave without having breakfast? Neomuhae, Oppa!” Minkyung scolded him. I couldn’t describe my feeling right now. It’s so hurt, and I couldn’t blame anybody about it but me. I was the antagonist here.

 

“Gwenchanayo, Minkyung-ssi. I’ll have breakfast with my friend anyway,” I answered her. “Changmin-ah, jinjja mianhae. I’ll make up for everything tomorrow, okay?” I faked a smile. He nodded, and then I took my bag and left.

 

I ran as fast as my feet could do. My feet stopped in an empty alley, far enough from his house. My body’s limp, and I fell to the ground. What had gone into me? How could I be so mean? Was my feeling for Changmin actually not right? I sobbed. I was really the worst girl ever. I couldn’t stop blaming myself.

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I groaned, as I heard someone banging on my door. I had to be either Heewon or Soyu.

 

“Yoora-ya, open the door!” shouted Heewon from the outside.

 

I lazily sat up. My hair was in a mess, and I could feel my eyes swelling. I was tired of thinking about Changmin and Minkyung. I cried all night, and now I didn’t want them to see me like this. I didn’t like crying in front of people.

 

“Wait up!” I shouted back.

 

I took some wet tissues, and wiped my face with them. It’s no help at all. How could I cover my eyes? Suddenly, I thought of something. I needed not cover my eyes. I just needed to lie a bit more. Really, I’d been turned into a liar, and honestly I couldn’t stand it.

 

I opened the door, and Heewon looked at me strangely. “What happened with your eyes? Were you crying last night?”

 

“I watched sad movies last night. I cried all night,” I lied. I swear I hate lying to my friends!

 

“Ah, is that so? Just wanna let you know Soyu and I will go out, so do you wanna join us or just be alone at home?” she asked me just like a mother usually asked her child.

 

“I don’t feel like going out. You guys just go, and have fun!” I said.

 

Finally they left me alone. I didn’t have anything to do now. At weekends I usually spend time with them shopping for grocery or just watching movies and being lazy, but since they’re out I didn’t want to do that alone.

 

I just randomly changed the TV program channels, but nothing’s attracted me. I felt my stomach groaned, and I realized I hadn’t had my breakfast yet. I opened the refrigerator to find nothing edible there. How could they leave me without something to eat? Aish… I had no choice but went to shop for grocery alone.

 

At the supermarket, I took everything I wanted into my basket. Most of it was ramen, since it’s simpler to make. And also some bottles of mineral water and sodas.

 

It was sunny when I went out to do the groceries, but now it’s raining hard. I didn’t bring umbrella with me. Who would expect the weather could change drastically? I stood in the front of supermarket with a pretty big black plastic bag in my hand, waiting for the rain to stop.

 

After a while, the rain changed into drizzle, and I took the opportunity to run to the nearest bus stop. But I thought today was really my bad day. As I started to run, the rain was being hard again. Without any choice, I stopped in a sheltered place that is in front of a shop.

 

The rain fell down rapidly. It's so hard, that I barely could see the road. Some parts of my body drenched by the rain. Suddenly a car pulled off in front of me.

 

"YOORA-SSI! Get in, hurry!" I saw Minkyung was in the driver seat. She called me over, and said she was going to drive me home. She could sense that I was being doubtful whether to go with her or not. She waited, and finally I chose to go with her. "Let's go to my house first. You can clean up, while your shirt is being drained."

 

"Annieyo. You can drop me off in the bus stop," I insisted.

 

"In that state?" she asked. I looked at myself. My shirt was being transparent for it was wet. Minkyung chuckled.

 

I didn't have any choice, so I just followed her suggestion. The car entered a wide green yard in front of Minkyung's house. Her house is quite big. I wondered how many people lived there.

 

As I entered her house, I couldn't help but being amazed by everything inside. There's a large photo frame in the main room. One of four people in the picture is Minkyung. The other two are her parents, and the other one is her sister, I guessed.

 

"That's my family. My sister is in States right now. So only the three of us and some helpers live here," she said as if she could read my mind. I was amazed of how she called the maids as helpers. "Let's go up to my room!"

 

I followed her behind. She led me to the room at the end of the corridor. Must be her room, I thought.

 

I scanned her room. It's so neat and fragrant. All her stuff was arranged neatly.

 

"That's the bathroom. I have a clean bathrobe there, and you can use it." She was so nice. No wonder Changmin likes to be near her.

 

The bathroom was big too. It could fit 5 people to bath together. I quickly washed myself and wore the bathrobe. And then I washed my own clothes. As I got out, a maid was putting two cup of hot milk on the table. She saw my hands were holding my wet clothes and offered me help to dry it. A moment later, Minkyung came into the room.

 

"Hot milk is good to warm up your body," she said referring me to drink it. I took a sip, and it felt nice.

 

I examined her room again. There were some cute picture frames in her night stand. As I looked closer, I recognized the man in the picture was no other than Changmin. There were three picture frames, and one of them was the picture of her and Changmin together. Changmin had his arm on Minkyung’s shoulder, while Minkyung made piece sign. Both of them smiled widely, and everybody who saw the picture could sense that love was in the air. Once again, I felt my heart ached over that little thing.

 

“That picture is taken 2 years ago after a prom party in our school,” she explained referring to the picture I was looking at. I didn’t want to hear their story, but my mind telling me that I wanted to know more about their relationship. Stupid, right? “Ah, right. Yoora-ssi, I heard you and Changmin Oppa were childhood friend.”

 

“Yes, we were.” I realized, the words were in past tense, it meant we’re not anymore.

 

“Then you must have a lot of pictures with him. I bet your childhood time was so fun,” she kept talking. I was just quiet and sometimes nodded at her questions.

 

“Actually, I heard some rumors about you and Changmin at school.” I brought the topic again. I couldn’t hold it. I really wanted to know the truth. I knew I wouldn’t get any answer from Changmin, but I thought Minkyung would tell me.

 

“What rumors?” she asked patiently. It was as if she used to be gossiped around by people.

 

“You know, about you and Changmin. They said you guys are in that kind of relationship.” I was being careful with my words. I didn’t want it to be seemed as if I was interrogating her. “I’m actually just curious, because everybody talked about it.”

 

“Um… what can I say?” she said, asking herself. I waited for her to continue. “Actually, there were those times we’re boyfriend and girlfriend. Yeah, we were ever been in that kind of relationship.”

 

This time, my heart really broke into million pieces hearing her confession.

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A/N: "Sorry for the boring chapter.

Next chapter will be about Minkyung's story, I guess.

Bear with me, please..." :(