She wasn’t crazy. No, she couldn’t be. It wasn’t her fault, either. It was that little part of her mind that took over whenever people got to close to her, whenever she was scared, whenever her anxiety took over. Hyuna wasn’t crazy. She wasn’t. She couldn’t be.

“Do you... Like me?”

“I’m sorry.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“I can’t, not right now, not anymore.”

“It hurts.”

“You don’t understand.”

“You won’t let me.”

She pushed people away that she didn’t want to. She was constantly dragged into endless situations that reeked of drama, making her reputation sink to the bottom of the deepest ocean there was. Hyuna clung to the few friendships she had left, but soon, they too were gone. And it was all because of her past, because of her mother.

For three years, she ran and hid form everything that she deemed reckless. But then, something in her snapped. She began drifting, her mind going back to the nightmares she lived as a child, and leaving her memory blank.

She was like this as she sat at the bus stop, hugging her arms, her legs bouncing and rocking herself back and forth, muttering to herself. Her eyes were glazed over, a distant look in them, but once a man sat down next to her, she snapped out of it.

“Excuses me Miss,” The man spoke lightly, his voice soothing as Hyuna looked up at him, her eyes wide and blinking. “You seem to be going on a lot about being sorry for something. May I ask what that is, if it’ll help get it off your mind for just a bit?”

So Hyuna broke, spilling everything to the mysterious man. How she lost friend after friend because she couldn’t help herself, her mind sending her into a dark, brooding past. She told him of the relationships and soon the burden was off of her, but she soon began to mutter her endless apologies again, and after a moment or two the man pulled her into a tight embrace.

“Hyuna... I think you need to tell them. Maybe not right this moment, or anytime too soon, but you need to tell them what’s happened. If you don’t, they own’t come to good terms with you. Maybe they won’t be your friends again, but at least they would’ve heard your words and listened. It’d be their fault to let you go, even if you explained yourself to them. That’s the thing; once you do this, you’ll find out who’s your true friend. You’ll find out who will stay by your side, who’ll be there for you. And then you’ll find happiness,” The man rocked her gently in his arms as she sobbed into his chest, his hand running over her hand gently.

“Wh-Who are you?” She mumbled through sobs, nearly choking on her words.

The man smiled. “Lee Hyunwoo, the tear collector, at your service.”

“Thank you, Hyunwoo-ssi.”

“Don’t thank me,” Hyunwoo said gently, brushing Hyuna’s hair from her face and giving a soft kiss to her forehead. “It’s what friends are for. I’m just merely being a friend.”

“I-I... I’m not used to it...” She mumbled once more, looking down bashfully.

Hyunwoo tipped her chin up, planting a soft kiss on her lips this time. “Get used to it. Because I know people care about you, deep down, so don’t let them go. Ever.”

⎛ end ⎠

♛ Author Note ♛

Not much to say here, actually. I just wanted to write about this in a short little story this time... I hope that it can be enough for you guys~