Tao

From the first moment I saw her I noticed the blue bracelet on her wrist. It had the university logo on it. Everyone knew what it meant, that’s probably why everyone avoided her. It meant that she was depressed. Probably suicidal or something. Just like everyone else in our class, I thought the worst. But unlike the rest of them, I decided that it would be okay to talk to her. That it would be okay to move on from the band around her wrist and try to form a friendship.

Our project helped us form a better bond than we could have imagined. Although, JiYong was always hanging around, in the corner, just watching or reading or typing away at his laptop doing whatever it is he does. I didn't questioned Hana about her strange friend. But she always looked at me apologetically when he followed her around. They barely exchanged words and when they did they were at each-other’s throats.

It made it easier to communicate with Hana. Her having something that she constantly wanted to vent about and me just going with it. She always complained about him, how he would just clean up her house and walk into her room without knocking. She said that he was like her guardian provided by the psychologist at the medical centre here. Once she vented, I would vent, then we would have a civilised conversation much alike twenty questions.

We discovered our likes, our dislikes, our similarities and our many differences. But that made us come stronger together as friends. To be honest, I have no clue what half the conversations we had were about. Even now I don’t know how conversation flows. It just does.

JiYong is still always there in the background, glaring at me like I have killed a man.

To be honest it scares me. I swear he likes her, but he can’t do anything about it. He must think I am here to take Hana away, to sweep her off her feet – and maybe I am – but I won’t. I am here to support Hana, to make her feel like there is nothing wrong in the world. That she is loved. That she has me to lean on in her times of need.

I know I won’t help much, that ice-cream and romantic comedies or horror movies won’t fix what is already broken. But it may bring her back to her cheerful façade. The one where I don’t have to pretend not to notice the semi-circles on her arms or stomach. The one where I can walk freely and not step on a landmine that might explode in my face.

But I know that if I am here, to talk with her, to watch movies with her. I know that she will be okay. Just for a little while.