HOLDING ON Part 9

"Congratulations, Dr. Kang!" her girlfriends wished in unison. All of them bundled up together for a group hug.

HyeoYeon grinned from ear-to-ear. "Thanks, girls. I couldn't have done it without all of you. You girls were my pillar of support. You girls were the ones who forced me through my assignments. You girls were the ones taking care of me when I couldn't take care of myself. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I love you girls so much!"

"Awww," all of them cooed and tightened their hugs. "We love you too, Yeonnie."

"We're so proud of you, Yeonnie," MinJee told her. "Thanks to you, we have a PhD certified person in the family! All of us will look smarter now just by standing next to you," they laughed.

"Thanks, MinJee-ah. I feel smarter too. It's crazy hard work. But it all paid off in the end." It seems that HyeoYeon couldn't stop grinning.

"Of course!" TaeRin chimed in. "I should brag about this to the whole world too. I bet JaeJoong is regretting screwing things up with you. Having an awesomely intelligent fianc-"

TaeRin was harshly shoved aside by MinJee before she could finish her sentence. Realising belatedly, TaeRin smacked her own lips for throwing out words without thinking. She glanced at HyeoYeon and cringed a little. The brightness in HyeoYeon's smile and gaze just now dimmed significantly. She mouthed 'Sorry' to everyone else and hid to cry behind MinJee's shoulders. She really didn't mean to upset her bestfriend on such a happy day.

Clapping her hands loudly to distract everyone's attention, and hopefully neutralize the atmosphere, MinJee happily announced, "Okay. Let's have lunch at Le Montmartre! Special occasion calls for the most expensive treat! Who's in?"

***

MinJee kept a really close eye on her bestest friend all throughout the car ride home. Ever since JaeJoong's name was accidentally brought up, HyeoYeon hadn't been able to put that genuine smile back on. More often than not, she seem to be having distant thoughts and hadn't fully participated in her own congratulatory party.

Out of the four of them, MinJee was the closest to HyeoYeon. And MinJee could guess pretty much what had been on HyeoYeon's mind since this morning. All she needed now is for HyeoYeon to actually voice them out. Keeping those thoughts burried inside for long couldn't be a good thing for someone with a broken heart.

"I shouldn't have let you drive," MinJee casually started. She intended to slowly thread her way to get HyeoYeon to share her thoughts and feelings with her. Since JaeJoong returned to her the supposed-to-be wedding ring almost three years ago, HyeoYeon hadn't been acting the same anymore. And MinJee was dying to know what was really in HyeoYeon's mind.

There was a soft chuckle. "Why not?" HyeoYeon replied softly. "It's not like I'm drunk or anything. We barely touched any alcohol."

"It's not that." MinJee was glad that only the two of them was in the car. "It's just... Your eyes looks unseeing, so I was a bit worried. You might get us into an accident."

HyeoYeon forced a laugh. "Hey, don't say things like that out loud. Your wish could come true."

MinJee laughed along for her sake. She went on talking a bit more about her own skills in driving and such, and waited until they were safely parked by the roadside in front of MinJee's home, before she finally said, "We're sorry about earlier."

"About what?" HyeoYeon pretended to have forgotten.

"We all know TaeRin had the tendency to do that, right?" MinJee pushed on, knowing well HyeoYeon knew exactly what she was talking about. "She really speaks her mind, that girl. We're really sorry on her behalf. We didn't mean to ruin such a perfectly happy day for you."

HyeoYeon was really quiet for a moment. She stared at her lap and bit her lips. It breaks MinJee's heart just to see her like that.

"You can tell me anything, Yeonnie. I'll become your punching bag anytime you want. I'm all ears and shoulders for you whenever you need them. That's what friends are for, right?"

HyeoYeon was still unresponsive. She was still as quiet as ever.

"You know," MinJee kept on trying. "You have been keeping things to yourself for the past three years. You haven't even gone on dates. You've been succumbing yourself to your studies for a long long time. I really think that it is time that you let this go. Your heart needs to be free-"

"Can we not talk about this?"

"How much longer will you run away, Yeonnie? It's already been three years. Normal people would've moved on by now, be happy, get married and have children-"

"I have moved on! It's just that I'm not interested in any of those. Can't you just leave it alone?" HyeoYeon wanted to bang her head on the steering wheel, or strangle her friend's neck. Either way.

MinJee paused for a moment, letting the visual sink in. "No, I can't. Because obviously you're lying, even to yourself. Just look at you."

"What? Look at me what? Do I look like a walking dead, huh? Do I look like a corpse? Am I going to die?" HyeoYeon challen