Chapter 18

My body's never felt so stiff before. It was as if I was stuck between two walls that were caving in on my body. It was hard to breathe. I didn't know if my eyes were opened or not. I was scared. I felt alone. What more could I feel just from feeling so stiff? I don't know. But maybe I was just stuck in a dream. Maybe... Maybe Se Hun will come save me. He seemed to always be there when I was having a difficult time, but I guess he only came when I thought everything was going to end for me. I guess right now... I wished that everything could end. I didn't like this feeling. I wanted to be saved right now. Please...

"Is she waking up?" I could hear a familiar voice talking around me; it sounded like my mom. "The doctor said that she should be getting up soon."

"Where did that boy go?" It was my father. He sounded a little stern and dull.

"He said he had to go home." My mother replied. "I... I don't even know how to repay him."

"It was a good thing he was there..." My father's breath seemed heavy. "What would have happened if he wasn't? She could have died out there."

My eyes suddenly decided to open. My father's eyes widened in shock while my mother couldn't contain her tears. She was about to hug me, but I held up my hand to stop her. If it wasn't enough last time to make me suffocate under her again... I would appreciate it if she would just give me some space. I understand that she was worried and all, but how could she not understand that a hug would not make me feel relieved under all this pain? Talking about pain, I looked over to my arm and saw that it was bandaged up. I reached over and touched it lightly, only to feel that it was wet.

"Soo Jin..." My mother grabbed my hand. "How... How did this happen to you?"

"Honey, are you feeling okay?" My father asked as he pushed my mother aside.

I sat up and stared at them and started laughing. They all looked at me like I was crazy. Okay. Maybe I kind of was. I just got hurt again, I'm in the hopsital, and I'm pretty sure I shouldn't be here laughing. They're probably going to think that I've become mentally ill. I decide to stop laughing when I saw that their faces had turned to confused to serious. "Ahem... I... I'm sorry..." I said as I hung my head.

"How could you be laughing in this situation?" My father asked with a smile. "We were so worried about you." He leaned forward and patted down my back lightly. "Are you feeling better?"

I nodded my head. "How long have I been in here?"

"You've been out for almost a day." My mother said pressing her lips together. "You lost of blood this time and they had to give you some."

I heaved a sigh as I tilted my head to the side. "Great. It's really going to leave a scar this time."

"You're worried about a scar at this time?" My father raised his eyebrow and shook his head with laughter. "Do you know that you shouldn't be worried about such a thing? You should be worrying about your health and your safety!"

"Who... Who took me here?" I asked looking at them both.

"That one blonde headed kid..." My father placed his hands on his hips. "Are you dating the kid?"

"What?" My eyes widened.

"Well, it seems as though you two are dating." My father shrugged. "He seemed very worried about you."

"Why isn't he here then?" I groaned under my breath. I don't know why, but I was kind of upset that if it was Se Hun, he couldn't have stayed to see if I was okay? Maybe I was overreacting, but the least he could do was to say hi before leaving or anything!

"He said he had things to go finish up and he couldn't stay to see you wake up." My mom pressed her lips together. "You owe him a lot, Ahn Soo Jin. He saved your life twice."

Seems like my mom and Jung Ah really had something in common; counting how many times Se Hun had saved me or anything. I leaned back on the bed and closed my eyes. I was frustrated and tired and in pain. Could this day get any worse? Let's not jinx that. My parents left me alone without saying anything, probably getting the hint that I really wanted to be alone and I didn't want to talk to them.

After the doctor had rechecked my arm and rebandaged it, they had decided to discharge me and let me go home. Thank goodness. Thinking about being stuck in a hospital for another day, even if I wasn't awake, made me cringe. I needed to get to school again and go do something. I can't stay stuck at home forever. I convinced my parents to go into work and told them that I'd be okay even if they weren't here because I'm a big girl... Haha. I know. What an excuse, but I really did and they left. Even though my arm was in pain and even worse than last time, I decided to get dressed and head to school.

When I got outside, it was colder than the morning. I only had a white long sleeve shirt under my tan jacket and jeans with my combat boots. I didn't care to go back inside my house to grab a scarf or anything else. I waited by the bus stop and to my luck, there was no one there and the bus had arrived earlier than I thought. I got on and found an open seat in the back. Maybe today was kind of a good day since I didn't have to deal with people on the bus this time. I sat down and played with my phone until my stop had arrived.

The gates were surprisingly opened today, so I walked in casually, not caring if the ahjusshi was there or not. I made my way to the school and decided to call Jung Ah since I haven't contacted her and she must have not found out about me getting cut again. Hah. She was going to flip out when she heard. 

"Why aren't you at school?" Was the first thing I heard when Jung Ah picked up the phone. 

"I'm in school right now." I replied as I laughed. "Where-"

"You're not going to believe it." She cut me off before I could ask where she was. "You have to come to the cafeteria."

"Why?" I asked as I turned the corner to make my way to the cafeteria.

"Hurry." She hung up before I could even get my answer.

Jung Ah was always in the middle of gossip somewhere. I made my way towards the cafeteria, but saw nothing new. Everyone was sitting down at their own tables eating lunch comfortably. I looked over to where Jung Ah was and she was sitting alone, on her phone. Wow. She could have just stayed on the phone with me. I made my way over and sat down next to her. Bad idea. She grabbed my bad arm and squeezed it. I started crying. It hurt so bad. Seeing this, Jung Ah let go of my arm.

"What? What did I do? Are you okay?" Jung Ah asked as she handed me a napkin to wipe my tears.

"Oh... No... I'm okay..." I lied as I wiped my tears away. "Something was in my eyes."

"Oh..." She still felt bad.

"What'd you have to tell me?" I asked, still wanting to cry.

"You know how the school was going to give us a festival for our exams and everything?" I nodded my head. "Well, Jae Hyun convinved his father to send us fourth years to Busan instead!"

"What?" My eyes widened. "Busan?"

"Mmhmm! We'll be going there for sight seeing, eating, having fun, anything you can name!" Her eyes shot wide open. 

I don't know why I didn't feel excited about the change of plans. Maybe it was because that was where Se Hun's grandpa was and it only reminded me of sadness. I know, I was close to him, but it still hurt my heart. I was there to see him and it kind of did make a difference in my life, especially the letter he had written for me just before his heart attack. It's weird, huh? It was as if he knew something was going to happen and he had to write us letters just in case it came any sooner. God... That kind of hurt my heart thinking about it. I started to cry again, not even realizing it. 

"Why are you crying? It's supposed to be exciting news..." Jung Ah threw another napkin at me. "Are you alright?"

I only nodded my head, but I still couldn't stop crying. Instead, I rested my head onto my folded arms on the table and started to sob. Jung Ah patted my back lightly, not saying a word. She probably already knew I was lying to her about something but she knew better to ask me when I was sobbing. This was the first time that I had ever cried in front of her. She must be really surprised right now. I guess I couldn't blame her. I came to school and was crying; who would have known what to do? Not even I, who was being stupid, knew what to do right now.

On my way to the teacher's office, I was trying to cool down my eyes with a small juice bottle that I had just bought from the cafeteria. I didn't want to go to my teacher's office and have her see my eyes look like this; she might have worried or even ask me questions or even worse; couseling. That wouldn't happen. I hope... Anyways, I walked into the office and knocked on the door when I spotted my teacher. She waved me in and I put my bottle of juice down away from my face and walked over to her desk.

"Your parents had called in you sick, but you look fine today." She teased as she clicked through her computer. "Are you here to grab your homework again?"

I nodded my head. "I didn't want to stay home and not do anything."

"I figured you were going to come anyways." My teacher laughed as she took out a folder and handed it to me. "Everything we did in class and will be doing in afternoon class is all in here. You shouldn't be missing anything."

"Thank you." I looked through the folder of notes.

"Before you leave, Soo Jin, I have to ask you a question about the trip to Busan." My teacher stopped me before I had left the office.

"What is it?" I asked as I turned back around to face her.

"Is there any way that you can find the hotel for us?" I froze. Was my teacher serious? Me? A student? Look for a hotel for the whole fourth year? Was she out of her mind? "I'm too busy and all the other teachers are busily prepping our activities and I know you're smart enough to find a great place for us to enjoy."

"I guess." I said as I let my shoulders sink in. "Does price matter?"

On my way out of school, I stopped by the entrance and took a deep breath. I was overwhelmed with my arm, the fact that we were heading to Busan, and because I kind of wanted to see Se Hun. What the heck was I doing here at school thinking about these things and feeling this way? I don't know. It was a really frustrating atmosphere for me, even if I was the only one around it. I was just about to push through the doors of the school, but I heard someone cough, as if they wanted me to know that they were there. I turned around and saw Jae Hyun standing there, staring at me innocently.

"What do you want?" I asked flatly, only because I was confused to why out of all the people I could see right now, it was him. "Do you need something or are you here to rub something in my face?"

"Why do you always think that?" He scoffed at me as he rolled his eyes and made his way over to me.

"Then what do you want?" I asked flatly again.

"Well geez, Soo Jin. I'm sorry that we can't have a real conversation." Jae Hyun pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Look..." He held a hand in front of me, as if he was going to stop me. "I'm sorry. Let's not start it out this way."

This was weird seeing Jae Hyun act like this. I didn't know what to say or do so I waited for him to speak up.

"Are you okay?" His eyes avoided mine.

"What are you talking about?" I asked crossing my arm, realizing that I had just strained my bad arm.

"I... I saw you crying at lunch." He was now staring at me and he actually looked worried, like that one time in lunch when he had beat up Soo Hyuk. It was weird. 

"Choi Jae Hyun, I think you should be asking yourself that question..." I didn't know what to say. I didn't even see him when I had gone to the cafeteria. Was he secretly watching me somewhere from afar?

"I'm serious." His eyes turned dark. "Did something happen to you again?"

"What?" He was really weird today.

"Your arm..." He reached over and touched my bad arm, making me flinch. "Did you get hurt again because of Se Hun?"

"What is wrong with you, Jae Hyun?" I shoved his hand away from my arm.

"I think you should stop seeing Se Hun." Jae Hyun's voice went low, as if he didn't want anyone to hear.

"I haven't talked or seen him for a week now." I rolled my eyes annoyed.

"Then how did that happen?" His eyes were piercing right through me. For once, he looked intimidating.

"What? Are you saying that just because I get hurt, it's Oh Se Hun's fault?" I scoffed. "You're thinking too much, Jae Hyun. Don't forget; you're the one who started this whole bet."

"I don't even care about the bet right now, Ahn Soo Jin." Jae Hyun bit his lip in frustration. "You... I don't want to see you get hurt just because of a stupid bet."

I kind of laughed at this.

"It's not funny. I'm being dead serious." He grabbed my good arm and pulled me towards him. "You need to take care of yourself. If you're getting hurt, don't you think I'd feel guilty?"

"Guilty?" Why was he acting like this again?

"Go home, Soo Jin." Jae Hyun let go of my arm, but we were still close to each other. "You shouldn't be here in your condition."

I was just about to say something to him, but he walked away from me. I didn't feel like screaming or chasing after him so I stood there and watched as he disappeared to another hallway. This was probably the second time I've seen Jae Hyun act so different. Maybe his douchebag like of a personality was just all a cover up? Who knows. It was something I was now kind of curious about.