Chapter 28

It had been weeks now. She had stayed home for weeks. She hadn’t even been able to leave the house without her father hovering behind her, glaring over her shoulder.

The first week she had tried to get into contact with Gina, but after her parents found out, they took her phone and computer. She felt like a prisoner, isolated from the world around her. Sometimes Joon would come and visit even though she had told him to stay away. She had to admit that she liked his visits from time to time. Joon was the only person her parents allowed her to see, they believed that he could “change her back”.

“Has Hyunsung tried to contact you?” Joon asked as they sat in the middle of her bed.

“Nope,” Hyuna said and threw another card. They were playing Godori, and so far none of them had won. It was probably because none of them kept track on the points.

Joon threw a card and looked up at her, his eyes meeting hers. He smiled, but the smile he received was just a shaking and sad smile. He didn’t like to see her like this, but there was nothing he could do.

Hyuna sighed and placed her cards down.

“I know this sound strange,” She started and picked a card to throw out to the others. “I miss him... I miss Hyunseung and the life we had before”.

Once again Joon looked up.

“He wasn’t good for you,” he said and looked at his card, obviously considering his next move.

“Maybe,” She answered and leaned forward to get a peek at his card. “But he was good to me”.

The room went silent; it was as if everything froze. Both of them were staring down at their cards, none of them moved, both taking in the words she just had spoken.

Suddenly Joon threw the cards from him. All the cards were now one huge mess on the bed. Without as much as saying anything, he stood up and stumbled towards the door.

“Where are you going?” Hyuna asked and was about to stand up, when he suddenly turned around and walked towards her with long and fast steps. He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her down against the bed, hovering over her. His warm hands were still holding her shoulders down, making her panic and push against him.

“Joon!” She half yelled and spoke.

“We don’t treat your right?” Joon asked, anger flashing behind his dark eyes. “You want to go out there with him and become some kind of criminal, who has to be on the run every day?”

She tried to push him away again, but no matter how hard she pushed, he didn’t budge. She ended up hitting him with fists, but he didn’t seem to take notice of it.

“Get away from me!” Hyuna yelled and tried to move away from him.

“Why can’t you see what he has done to you!” Joon said a bit in panic as he leaned forward to press her harder into bed. “Hyuna, you are not like this! You are kind, gentle and careful! You are not yourself!”

She trashed underneath him, almost crying out of happiness as she got her hand free. She didn’t even think it through before she felt her hand tighten into a fist and it flew through the air towards Joon. Her fist hit the side of his cheek, sending him stumbling to the side as he fell down from the bed, landing on the floor with a groan of pain.

“Sorry,” Hyuna said and sat up as she started to examine her hand. It stung a bit. “But you seriously asked for it”.

Without uttering another word, she stood up and walked towards the door. She took one last glance at Joon who slowly was getting up from the floor.

Hyuna closed the door and ran down the stairs before Joon could follow her. A smile planted itself on her lips as she went outside. Her parents weren’t home so there was no one to stop her.

Shaking her hand a bit, she started to run down the street. She had to get away. She couldn’t stay in that house any longer, not like some kind of prisoner!

She ran for what felt like hours. She ran towards the center of Seoul, a place where she would be hard to find due to all the people who lived there. It wasn’t until she reached the main street that she slowed down and started to walk in a calm manner. She was out of breath and tried her best to hide it so people wouldn’t stare at her for too long.

Pulling the hood over her head, she walked towards the park. She just needed a bit of silence to forget about the world around her.

With her hands in her pockets, she entered the park. It was small and nice. Children were running around, chasing each other, while their parents stood nearby and studied their children with a smile on their lips. It was a relative warm day, so it didn’t surprise her that the park was filled with people, even though, she preferred to stay here than in the middle of the street in Seoul.

She smiled as she spotted a boy and a girl sitting in front of each other. The girl was crying over her failed sand castle, it was now broken and only looked like a small pile. The boy was trying to dry her tears away as he let his hands touch her cheek, but it was without much luck, the girl kept crying. Out of nowhere, he pulled the girl into a hug and she went silent, laughter suddenly appearing from .

Hyuna shook her head. For a second she thought about Hyunseung. She would have loved to have him by her side to witness those two small children becoming friends. It was a beautiful, cute, sight.

With one last huff, she started to walk again. Her destination was only a few meters away from her. On top of the hill was there a tall chestnut tree. It had been standing there for ages, which clearly could be seen owing to the big and wide trunk.

Satisfied she sat down, holding her knees to her chest as she looked around. The small lake beside her was filled with small fishes, all of them gathering at the same spot since an elderly couple was throwing bread into the water. A flock of ducks were quick to swim towards the bread, all of them almost getting into a fight as all of them wanted something to eat.

She rested her head against her knees and closed her eyes for a second. It was really peaceful. She took a deep breath and exhaled. Her entire body was relaxing, only the sounds from the quacking ducks and the children’s laughter could be heard.

A shadow suddenly appeared before her, keeping the sun from reaching her.

Annoyed, she opened her eyes to see a dark silhouette of her person she couldn’t recognize.  

“Can I help you?” She asked as she placed her hand above her eyes to see the person, but without luck.

“Hyuna,” a familiar voice suddenly said, which made Hyuna jump.

The person sat down in front of her so she clearly could see the person.

“Gina!” Hyuna smiled and threw herself at her friend. The two girls hugged each other for a while, both enjoying that they finally were able to see each other without being disturbed by parents or other troubles.

Gina pulled away and looked down at her.

“You look beautiful,” She said as she eyes Hyuna.

“Thanks,” Hyuna said, looking down, a bit flustered over the compliment. “But… How are you Gina? It has been ages”.

Gina laughed and sat down beside her, pulling her knees to her chest like Hyuna had done before she arrived.

“I’m fine,” Gina laughed and looked at the younger one beside her. “What about you? I mean, the last couple of weeks must have been hard”.

“They were,” Hyuna laughed and ran a hand through her hair. “I’m glad to get away from my parent, they have seriously been stalking me, I swear!”

Gina laughed, but her smile quickly faltered as she looked down. Her hands were fumbling with each other as she looked away from Hyuna, down towards the like.

“I’m sorry, I haven’t called,” Hyuna said and grabbed her friends hand. “They took my phone, and… when I was with Hyunseung… I didn’t really have the time”.

“It’s okay, darling,” Gina said and brushed a bit of blonde hair away from Hyunas face. “I expected them to take it”.

Once again Gina got tense. She suddenly turned around so she now was sitting on her knees, both of her hands were now locked around Hyunas. Confused eyes meet nervous.

“What is it?” Hyuna asked and smiled.

“I actually came here because,” She swallowed. “Hyunseung contacted me”.

Hyuna felt her smile disappear from her lips, her hands losing their grip inside Ginas as they fell down into her lap. It was as if everything around them disappeared, every laughter, every sound.

“Hyunseung contacted you?”