Chapter Sixteen

"The last thing she'd want to hear is my name."

2nd of January 2015

“Are you… going tomorrow?” Minseok asked, peeking from his camera to catch her playing with the surface of the water by the river. She looked as if she wasn’t paying much attention and true enough, she wasn’t. The burden she felt in her heart, the amount of hidden pain she would never let anyone see; it was all too much for her. No one ever noticed how many years of pain she’s went through and she dare not show that because once she did, she doesn’t know when she’ll be able to stop.

However, a small smile crept onto Minseok’s face as he turned his body a bit, getting the perfect angle as he was a few steps away from her. He too, was sitting on the ground like her but she was much closer to the river than he was. He leaned back, gripping onto his camera expertly before he took a few clicks. He glanced at the screen of his camera, flicking through the pictures he took and he wanted a few more.

Just because.

He closed his left eye again, focusing properly but he frowned when she wasn’t there. He pulled away, lowering his camera down with an evident look of confusion on his face but it evaporated and a look of shock took over so quick.

“Show me the pictures.”

“Jesus,” He breathed out, gasping as he jerked away from her when she was suddenly right beside him, “How the-?”

She couldn’t help but just laugh a bit, sitting down beside him before he allowed her to take his camera away from his hands. His lips gaped at her, his eyes staring right at her every move. He saw how she had tried to hide her smile as she flicked through the pictures and he thought it was pictures of her or the ones he recently took. He inched closer, pressing his arm against hers to see that she was looking through pictures from years ago – the precious ones he’d keep in his memory card.

His eyes widened as he glanced at her expression before back to her face. That… that picture was taken exactly three years ago.

“God damn it, the both of you graduated high school! Can you not look so dead, please?”

Minseok laughed, poking Hee Young’s arm, “I’m pretty sure she means you.”

Hee Young rolled her eyes at Minseok, “Do you want me in the picture or not?”

Minseok nodded twice hurriedly, “Yes, yes, yes! Smile!”

And with an arm he managed to put around her shoulder with that small smile Hee Young had that could easily melt his heart… click.

Hee Young pressed next, flicking through a few pictures before she reached another picture. It was a bit blur but surely, she could tell it was- “When did you take this?” She asked curiously as she turned to look at him. He nervously rubbed the back of his neck, shrugging a bit, “I think it was shortly after Joonmyun passed out on the sofa.”

She managed to break out into a wider grin, remembering how their friend couldn’t even take alcohol well but he kept on pestering that he deserved to be treated like an adult after graduating high school, “He can’t even drink to save his life.”

With that remark, he laughed. And he laughed sincerely. It’s been quite a while since he had her to himself and as selfish as that sounds, it was true. It felt like just suddenly she could be taken away and… he didn’t want that. Not when he didn’t have the courage to do what he’s been wanting to do after so long. Getting into the same high school, same classes and now, in the same college? He felt like this could be fate.

“You have really good skills, Min,” She commented, passing him back his camera before she moved to lie down on the grass. He blinked at her as he switched off his camera, putting it down to his side as he stared at her. She folded her arms behind her head before she let out a sigh – her mind bubbled up so many thoughts, she thought it could explode from over excessiveness.

“T-Thanks, Hee Young-ah…” He mumbled quietly, unsure of what to do as he stayed like that, slightly tilting his body back to look at her clearly.

She shook her head as her eyes peeked open to look at him, “For what?”

He gathered up the courage to move his body, lying down beside her. He turned his head gently, meeting with her gaze before he said, “For coming here with me. I mean… it must’ve been a lot to take in a moment ago and… thank you for helping me.”

She sighed and looked away, facing up to the skies that were slowly turning grey as she said, “You know, I don’t know if it’s puberty or the soap dramas that’s making you talk this way.”

He found himself mirroring her, moving his head to stare up to the skies before he said, “You know, a simple ‘you’re welcome’ would be just fine.”

Not quickly but surely, she mumbled back loud enough for him to hear, “You’re welcome, then.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, The Coffee Club?” Minseok smiled with everything he had as he stood by her door. She leaned against the doorframe and lightly responded to his fist bump, “I don’t have a choice, do I?”

He snickered, pulling his hand back as he shook his head, “Nope, not really.”

“Get back to your dorm, it’s almost late.”

Minseok wanted to leave but instead of just that, he remembered something. “Ah, didn’t you say you wanted to hand in your report to Mrs. Lim today? Since I’m passing by, I’ll hand it for you.”

Hee Young’s eyes widened almost too soon and he could see how shocked she was. “,” She mumbled, turning around as she hurriedly pulled her drawer open to pull out a clear plastic file. She paced back towards the door and nearly shoved it into Minseok’s hands, “You better start running.”

He gave another hearty smile before he said his goodbyes quick, “Got it!”

And with a few thuds later, his figure disappeared when he made a sharp left turn. She shook her head before she stepped back, closing the door in front of her. When she wanted to lock the door, she heard another faint knock that made her eyes widen. Did Minseok forget something again?

She almost too immediately opened the door, her lips parted to scold him for being forgetful, “What did you forget now?”

Like that, her words changed, “Oh… U-Unnie…”

Hee Min gave her a weird look before stepping into her dorm, “Someone doesn’t look that happy to see her sister.”

Hee Young easily moved away, allowing her sister to walk in before she closed the door behind her. Hee Young locked the door and in the next, she was scratching the back of her head with a small frown, “What are you doing here?”

The older woman sighed as she put her bag on the bed, resting her hands on her lap. She glanced up to look at her younger sister, definitely confused, “I just want to see how my baby sister’s doing. Is that wrong?”

Hee Young looked around for a moment, noticing her sister wasn’t wrong in any aspects until she remembered…

“But you usually visit on weekends. And you only visit me on weekdays when something’s wrong-“ Hee Young easily stopped talking when her sister stood before her. Before she could register what was going on, Hee Min placed her hands on Hee Young’s shoulders. Hee Min came closer to say, “I came because you’re not alright.”

Hee Young shook her head, shaking her shoulders, “I swear, if MInseok said something-“

“It’s not him, you idiot.” She mumbled, reaching over to hug her tight. Hee Min wrapped her arms around her sister, urging her to do the same as she muttered under her breath, “Just appreciate me being here, alright?”

As much as Hee Young didn’t want to, she held her sister tight, knowing that Hee Min was one of the most important people in her life.

“It’s been ages since I’ve seen you, Hee Min.” Mr. Kang smiled, giving the latter a hug. “I know,” She squeezed out of her chest as she returned the hug just as tight. She leaned away with a cheeky grin, “Life happened, you know?”

The both of them burst out into a small smile as they stood by the corridor. Coindentally, Kai came by to pass Mr. Kang something he asked him to get a moment ago.

“Mr. Kang, here.” Kai passed over a few files and immediately, Kai and Hee Min switched looks. Hee Min lifted her chin to point at Kai’s face, “Oh… you’re…”

Mr. Kang smiled politely, balancing the files in one hand while the other patted Kai’s shoulder, “Hee Min, this is Kim Jongin but he goes by Kai around here. And Kai, this is-“

“Kwan Hee Min.” Kai breathed out quietly, glancing over to take note of Mr. Kang’s minor shocked look. “Oh? The both of you know each other?”

Hee Min shook her head along with Kai but she took the initiative to say, “Not really but… we’ve seen one another before.”

Mr. Kang nodded slowly as he gave Kai another pat on the shoulder, “Well, this is the guy who suggested you to come by to see her.”

Hee Min’s eyes widened as she looked at Mr. Kang, “I-It wasn’t you?”

Mr. Kang shook his head with a small smile, “I wish it was.” He then nudged Kai by the shoulder, “Kai will walk you to her dorm because I have things to do. You guys better get going.”

“But-“ Hee Min tried to say something but Mr. Kang had gone away like the damn wind. Kai instinctively stepped forward, turning back to look at her, “Are you coming?”

Hee Min nodded twice quickly before working on her foot coordination to catch up beside him as the both of them walked.

A few turns here and there, Kai broke the silence.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to do anything.”

Hee Min furrowed her eyebrows as she glanced to look at him as the both of them walked out of the building. They walked by the pathway towards the buildings that consisted of the dorms.

“I… I just think she needs someone there for her, at this moment.”

Kai casually put his hands in his pockets, taking a glance at her way to see that she was already staring at him. He looked away the same time she did when their eyes met, sensing the slight awkwardness. Before she knew it, he had stopped walking when the both of them reached in front of the building of where all the dorms were. She stopped walking a few steps after, turning around to see that he indeed stopped. She wanted to say something but… he had beaten her to it.

“I think it’s best that you go on your own to her dorm. It’s not too far from here and I’m sure it’s safe on the way there.”

“Kai-“ She wanted to thank him and yet, she wanted to ask a few things as well. But she couldn’t when he had cut things short.

“I have a slight favor, though. If it’s not too much.”

She didn’t know why but she felt like she had to agree. That look in his eyes, that silent plea – it felt impossible to say no to that. Slowly, she gave a meek nod as an agreement.

“Please don’t tell her about this? The last thing she’d want to hear is my name.”

It felt like she was talking to another person – was this really the Kim Jongin, Hee Young refers to?

“S-Sure…”

With a curt nod, Kai took a step back with a bow, “Thank you. Goodnight.”

To confirm his leave, Kai gave a small wave in which Hee Min replied politely.

It was then that Hee Min could take note of.

Kai wasn’t a bad person.

Mind my language because I'm going to be very honest here. If you can't take that, please don't read this part. However, if you do, I thank you.

 Author’s Note;   I somehow feel like no one comments anymore. People don’t even know how much I’m working on this story even though I’m on the point of discontinuing this. I’m not continuing this for the sake of anyone but myself; I’m going to finish it because I want to finish it – not because of the number of subscribers this story has. So for those who wants to continue showing support in the comments, you have no idea how much it helps me. I, for one, write a lot in a day and I give at least two thousand words in a chapter – all I’m asking for is some feedback. And if that can’t be given, it’s alright, it’s okay, I’ve decided to ignore that. People only tend to care when the author has decided that the story is done  for, so I say, that. I don't care anymore. So many author’s quit writing because of the lack of feedback and I agree. It’s not hard to just type out a few words of encouragement. And it that after I post one chapter, already people are asking for more. I have my own life and so what if the updates are slow? If I’m giving my all in a story, I don’t care how slow I go – as long as I deliver. If I am bound to lose subscribers because of this and my honesty, by all means, go ahead. If not, if you decide to stick by me until the end of this story, I thank you – because this may be my last. Thank you for reading this author note and have a nice day.