Chapter 10

Distance

 

The gunshots could be heard piercing through the dark night.

“YOU !” one screams at the other, “Idiot! Let’s just get out of here!”

The two scramble away and leave the crime they committed.

Finding the small strength I have left, I take out my phone to call for help.

“Thank you ma’am. We’ll be there ASAP.”

The call ends. I’m left alone with him. I turn to look him in the eyes. Brushing his hair away, my breathing gets shaky. My voice has sorrow.

“I’m so sorry this had to happen. Why couldn’t it be me?” I sob, holding him close.

He turns his head to cough out the blood that’s been trapped. He looks back to me with his jaw quivering. I cry even more into his shoulder. His hand is rubbing my back for the assurance I desperately need.

“Don’t ever say that. You deserve to live your life to the fullest. I would take a bullet for you any day at any time.” His voice slowly wanes away. The last thing he says is, “I love you, Park Eunmi.”

His head collapses to the ground. His eyes are shut from life. I forcefully grab onto the fabric of his jacket and shake his body.

“No. No! Please don’t! Don’t leave me,” I scream. The tears will not stop. They dampen his clothes, although most of it is already wet due to the blood. I give up and allow myself to breakdown in the middle of the dark alleyway.

Then I felt it.

Death makes its way to his body. Death fights its way past me and reaches for his soul. Resting the soul in its arms, Death looks at me in the eyes. Its eyes are neither malicious nor accusing. Instead, it contains the feeling of sorrow and sympathy. It is looking at me with pity.

Finally, Death rises and carries the body away to another world.

I am only left to face the corpse with no soul.

Then the police arrive along with the ambulance and paramedics. The healers rush to his body. The police restrain me from him. And I fight them with a new found strength. The strength of not letting go.

“LET ME GO!” I shriek. My hands reach out to the body being tested for a pulse.

Two policemen fight back. One gives me such ridiculous hope.

“Ma’am I must hold you back. If you touch his body, he may never live again.”

Tears are accompanied with the yelling. “What use is there?! I know he’s already dead! Just let me go so I could be with him.”

I break down in their arms. The police say nothing else. They only offer me pats on the back as a pathetic attempt for comfort.

The paramedics are waving to the police. They’re shaking their heads.

“No. We can’t find a pulse. He’s dead.”

Later that night, the police question me as I cry. They accuse me as I cry (although they know it’s not true). They allow me to tell the events I witnessed as I cry.

 

~*~*~*~

 

“Hey. Eunmi. HEY EUNMI!”

I jolt up to a sitting position. My eyes are wide as I scan the room. Arms are in the air, slowly being set down to my sides. Legs are being controlled again and put back to a neater position. I notice that one hand is grabbing wildly at the empty air and the other is clenched into a tight fist. My body is a feral animal.

“What… What did I do?”                                                                                         

Wooyoung comes closer and brushes the messy lock of hair away from my eyes. I flinch at his gesture, to which he frowns upon. He then gives in to explain the situation to me.

“Well, I was trying to wake you up, but you were fighting me. You were throwing punches and grabbing for my neck. You were kicking me with no mercy.” His hand is on my shoulder as the look on his face shows concern. “What did you dream about that made you so violent?”

With a shaking hand, I take his hand off of my shoulder and stand up. “Nothing,” was my reply, and it was an obvious lie.

Wooyoung stands up with me. “Tell me,” was his small request. However, I simply couldn’t open up to him like that. I shake my head.

Wooyoung is persistent and presses on with his questions.

Fear is closing in on me.

Relying on instincts, I run out of the room to the washroom.

“Yah! PARK EUNMI COME BACK HERE!”

Wooyoung chases me, but it only leads to me locking him out and locking me in the washroom. With ragged breathing, I slide down against the side of the door.

“Eunmi!”

By now, Wooyoung is banging the door. To no extent would I open the door. Instead, I make sure it’s locked and look at my bare hands. The hands are capable to kill. The hands are ready to defend.

But I don’t have anyone else to defend now.

Flashes of the dream come back to me. With the image of the dead man, I break down on the bathroom floor. I’m shaking and crying. My body is curled up into a ball. My heart feels like metal, heavy and cold.

**Let me tell you one thing before we continue.**

The dream was a reality. It was a simple, dreaded event from the past.

“Eunmi, open this door!”

He is relentless about getting in here.

“No!” I shout, “Just leave me the alone. Can’t you tell when to leave someone in solitude?”

I told him off. After that, all movements cease. Nothing is heard from Wooyoung.

With the peace silence offers, I grip the edge of the sink and rise to face the mirror. The reflection shown is not me. She is simply someone who looks like me.

The girl has frantic, wide eyes, and panic is written everywhere on her. Her hair is messy and tangled. It seems like she hasn’t slept for days. It seems like she’s going mad.

How could this happen to me just because of one dream?

Get a grip Park Eunmi, I thought, you’re better than this.

And I am.

in a deep breath, I focus on my eyes first. I must get that panicked emotion out of my eyes, and then I can start on the rest. Successfully calming myself, I brush my hair and tie it up so it won’t get wet when I get in the shower. A warm shower does help calm you. Well, it helps for me anyway. Stepping out of the tiles, I grab for a towel and let my hair out of its bun. It cascades down my back in a tangled mess. I began the process of detangling it and then get dressed back into the clothes I woke up with.

Letting out a sigh, I turn the taunting knob and leave the heavenly solitude.

And I come to meet his eyes.

Wooyoung is right in front of me. He doesn’t say anything nor does he pull me close. All he does is stare back with worry.

Not wanting to look at anyone, I walk past him to his room and find my shorts. I pull them on and turn around. Wooyoung is leaning against the doorframe, watching me with the same expression he wore before.

The meek female makes hesitant steps towards the male blocking the doorway. I stop in front of him. I speak with a small voice and sad eyes.

“Wooyoung, I need to go.”

He could only whisper my name before I forcefully push him to the side. Jamming my shoes on, I run out the door. Zipping down the streets, I whip my head around to gladly see that Wooyoung isn’t following me. I catch my breath first and then continue back home to Minah’s place.

 

“I’m home!” I yelled.

Minah was sitting on the couch watching TV until I came in. She turned her head to me with a nonchalant expression.

“Where were you last night and this morning?” she questions, “And why are you wearing a guy’s shirt?”

I looked down at the top half of my body. Sure enough, I was still in Wooyoung’s shirt.

“Um…” I stammered. Might as well tell her the truth. “I was out with friends last night and got drunk. I was too drunk to go home, so a friend took me back to their place. Honestly, all I remember later that night was more drinking and that’s it.”

Now, Minah was in front of me. She was rubbing the hem of his shirt. She looked up at me with the question in her eyes.

“I had to find something to sleep in, so I found this,” I answered.

She sighs and straightens her position. “Eunmi, were you with Wooyoung?”

I nod guiltily.

“And is this his shirt?”

I nod again.

Her reaction was unexpected. Instead of being pissed off, Minah was grinning slyly. I cocked my head at her in confusion.

“What?”

“I’m gonna ask you two things okay?”

I nod.

“Did you sleep with him?”

“Well… technically yes.”

Minah jumps up while squealing like a schoolgirl. I slap her arm playfully.

“Yah!”

After she calms down, Minah moves on to the second question.

“Okay… Did you or did you not have with him?”

“Minah!” I exclaim with surprise. She looks at me with innocent eyes but has a smirk. I roll my eyes and answer her. “I did not do it with him.”

Her face fell a bit.

“Yah! Why are you disappointed?”

Her head falls back into a laugh. “Well how many times have you hung out with Wooyoung. It’s obvious you two are dating.”

“We are not dating!” I deny, “And it’s not obvious!”

“Whatever you say Bestie.”

For the rest of the day, Minah and I just hang out. We go to watch a movie and then out to dinner. And I’m distracted from Wooyoung.

For the next week, I go to work with Minah and continue practice with Wooyoung.

Practices with him now are very… disconnected. The level of talking between the both of us is reduced. It isn’t lighthearted anymore. As time progresses, we grow apart a bit because I push him away. He does attempt to get closer, but I never allow him the chance to.

Finally, during one of the practices at night, he has courage to ask.

“Eunmi, why are you distancing yourself?” he confronts.

I simply shrug with no emotion. “Why not?”

He gives up. Taking my shoulders, he pierces me with his eyes. Tell me, it begs, just open up to me.

I glare at him, ready to fight.

The questions come out as a blur.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to.”

“But we’re close right?”

“Um, correction: we’re not close at all.”

“That’s because you pushed me away.”

“That’s because you were getting too close.”

He yelled in frustration and let me go. Rubbing my arm a little, I picked up my bag and walked to the exit. I made the mistake of looking back at Wooyoung’s pitiful form. He was on his knees giving me such a desperate look. This kneeling man seems lost without answers… without my answers.

My eyes soften a tiny bit. The last words from me are soft and delicate, almost inaudible.

“I’m scared to fall in love.”

Before he could react, I’m out the door. He probably didn’t even hear what I said, but there’s a tiny part of me that wants him to have heard. Why?

Shaking my head, I drown that part with my suppressed fears. Men confuse me. He confuses me. Love confuses me.

 

Time passes by and there’s two weeks left before the competition. In the duration of that time, I’ve made an effort to become harsh, sarcastic, and to ignore him.

**An example of the work**

“Hey Eunmi are you hungry?”

No answer.

“Eunmi… I’m talking to you.”

No reaction.

“Fine. How about we do this move?”

“No, that seems weak. We should do this instead.”

“…okay… whatever you say.”

I’ve become successful in frustrating him. In some cases, it was fun to do so but it kind of hurt me a little too. Well... I really wouldn’t call it hurt, more like pity.

 Anyway, we’ve been on edge with each other lately. Snapping when things get a little out of hand. Arguing about almost everything. Glaring like it could kill. It’s surprising that he doesn’t just give up on me.

However, all of this tension would help with the dance wouldn’t it? Doesn’t the tango need to be strong and aggressive? And The hip hop stuff would do well with the defined movements right? …That’s my logic mind you.

 

**A/N**

**Hello~! Yes, this ending is rather… eh, BUT the next chapter is... well... interesting? I don't know where I'm going with this anymore. xP

**Okay, today’s challenge is here! For the next update, I would like to know who you think Eunmi was dreaming about in the beginning. Please leave your guesses in the comment section below. Thanks.

**Annyeong! Thanks for reading! Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

CHAPTER 11 TEASER:

Anger begins to boil inside her. “Why is it always her?” she mutters angrily to herself, “She always gets everything! Well not this time. This time he’s mine!” Delirious, Miyoung starts chuckling like a maniac. She pulls out her phone and makes a call.

                         

Nichkhun noticed and tilted his head. “Why don’t you-“

“Eunmi?”

They both turned around to the owner of the voice. Eunmi’s eyes widened.

This is not happening.