Chapter 3: Home

Naeun had moved to Paris with her childhood friend Jung Eunji, she was studying at one of the many prestigious universities in Paris. She was like a sister to Naeun. They had each others backs.

Eunji and her lived in a somewhat unconventional home; it was an old milliners factory, which had been converted into comfortable living quarters.

An elderly couple occupied the lower apartment whilst her and Eunji lived at the top. It was beautifully refurbished without totally destroying it's original features.

It was an industrial building, with striped down brick walls and black wrought iron everywhere. Completed with soft furnishings and antiques they had unearthed in the many flea markets in Paris. It had a marble fireplace which god knows how it ended up there, a rooftop with one of the best view of Paris and a galleries worth of art filled their humble abode.

It was a monster in comparison to the avant garde duplexes of Paris.
It was an absolute beast.
And Naeun loved it.

For it's threadbare simplicity and  it's raw glorious build in the middle of a bohemian paradise.

She swiftly climbed the stairs taking them two at a time since her potted plant was heavy.

“Eunji! I'm home!” she shouted  as she entered the apartment and set her orchids on her desk.
Instead of the lively revelation she expected, she as greeted by a deafening silence. A note left in scribly handwriting; the writer was obviously in a hurry.

I'll be home by 8. I'm going out with Hoya.

-EUNJI

'Typical. Just typical'.Naeun thought.

Lee Howon or Hoya was a student in the same university as Eunji and they had develop a fondness for each other, though neither would openly admit it. Much to the annoyance of their friends.

He was also the reason for Eunji's recent negligence of their friendship. They rarely had dinner together anymore coz the he would take her to all those fancy restaurants that charge 10 Euro's for water.

'You're simply jealous you don't have someone doing that for you! ' that nagging voice in her head would sneer.

She was not jealous.

Probably.

But then another part of her truly wondered what the nature of their relationship was.
They were too restrained to be lovers, yet too affectionate to be just friends.

They obviously had a mutual attraction....
And sometimes she had felt the urge of pushing Eunji, just a tiny push.

In the right direction of course.

Eunji had finally found someone that made her happy.

Naeun wanted to make sure she didn't lose that.

For she had known how painful it is to lose, not just the people you love, but to lose yourself in the process.

It is very hard to recover from that.
Naeun had experienced it first hand to know.

It was 8 o'clock at night when Eunji came back from meeting Hoya.

“Naeun ah! I'm back!”she called out happily.

She dropped her keys into a glass-blown bowl by the door, took of her shoes. Then energetically skipped to the sofa where Naeun was curled into a foetal position and plopped down next to her. The TV was on being obsolete; a Spanish telenovela playing and the heater blowing softly in the room.

Naeun yawned and looked at Eunji lazily.

“You ditched me” she pronounced, whilst pouting. Eunji chuckled and eye smiled at her friend.

“Well... I won't neglect you tomorrow”

“Why you're not gonna be on a date with Hoya again?”

“We're not dating” Eunji shook her head; denying it.

“Puh-lease” Naeun scoffed.

“Anyway Naeun ah, you look so pretty today...are those new orchids? They're lovely”

“Why are you buttering me up....what do you want unnie?” Naeun asked; her eyes narrowed in suspicion of Eunji's weird behaviour.

“You're so fast to accuse...nothing much...just”

“Just” Naeun stated, her forehead creasing unsurely.

“You see...Howon invited me tomorrow...and he also invited one of our classmates...”

“And you want me to come too?” Naeun finished her sentence.

“Yes! It would be so awkward. And he's a really great guy! He's intelligent and handsome...Though he can be slightly conceited and stuck up at times-”

“Are you trying to set me up?” Naeun cut her off abruptly.

“Well...I wouldn't use those words. But in theory ...yes. I just want you to open up a bit to others”

“You know exactly why I don't open up” she pointed out, sinking deeper into the sofa.

“It's been a year Naeun ah, you can't let his actions rule your life forever!” Eunji groaned exasperatedly, not thinking straight how poisonous her words were.

Naeun winced at the mention of what happened last year and instinctively touched her left wrist. There was once a marked there, but it vanished with time.

She just wished the mental scar would fade too.

The elder girl looked away, guilt washing over her like tidal waves.

“I'm sorry I shouldnt have mentioned it” Eunji apologized quietly at the slip of her tongue, too ashamed to look at Naeun.

“It's okay” Naeun gulped and patted the elder's shoulder nonchalantly.

Like it did not affect her...

“Will you come?”Eunji asked in a small voice.

“Sure” Naeun sighed.

“Great! And can you please make an effort to dress up?”

“What's that suppose to mean?!” Naeun retorted slightly annoyed.

“It means you look lifeless in these type of clothes” Eunji wrinkled her nose in distaste.

Offended, Naeun resorted to throwing a pillow at her; which she successfully avoided by ducking.

“I'll wear black” Naeun proclaimed not caring what Eunji or her blind date would think of her.

“Might aswell go there in a trashbag” Eunji quipped under her breath.

This time earning a pillow to the face.

“Ow”

“You deserve that” 

Eunji threw the pillow back to Naeun and this continued for awhile. Escalating into a full-out pillow fight, making the place look like a warzone of feathers.
After awhile of rabid insanity, both of the girls fell back onto the sofa in a fit of giggles.

“Pabo!” They shouted in sync as they laughed loudly; clutching their stomachs.

All of the previous dark reminder forgotten just like that.

"A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you"

                                                  -Elbert Hubbard

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a/n:

just wanted to write about naeun and eunjis relationship....

its meh i know...but ill do better next time...hopefully....

im just really /yawn/ tired and /yawn/ sleepy...

ok guys plz comment.... reading your lovely comments would make me feel better!!!

kamsa~