There must be some kind of magic happened to you because you made it home by yourself without getting lost. You were not on your right state of mind, definitely not, so it was a miracle that you managed to literally take subway and bus then walked home.

You did miss your destination station twice and had to take another subway back. When you were waiting for the bus, you missed the bus also twice because you were dozing off and couldn’t focus. Fortunately, you managed to take the correct bus. And last one, throughout your life, that night was the first time you were bumping into so many things around you. People, trashcans, walls, and even bushes near the pavements. You barely heard people who you bumped into murmuring something unpleasant, but you didn’t have the energy to apologize or talk back.

Minkyung was really concerned at the moment you stepped inside the house that night. You didn’t hear exactly what she was saying, but you got it that she was asking why you were home so late, where were you, and why you looked sick. You pressed your lips shut, avoiding her question. The incident turned your mind at its disequilibrium state and honestly, you couldn’t comprehend what was happening, so instead of answering her, you pushed her aside lightly and walked straight to your room. You didn’t forget to lock it—as usual.

Inside your room, you didn’t take a shower or do something important—you basically were just lying on your bed, staring at the ceiling. You heard Minkyung knocking on your door, but again you felt there was no reason for you to answer or open the door for her. All you wanted to do was figuring out the whole scene and making it makes sense for you. You ended up staring blankly at the ceiling and fell asleep after a few minutes. It was great though, forgetting about your conflict for a while.

When you woke up the next morning, it was already 10 A.M. Minkyung sent you a message, telling you that she was trying to wake you up but you didn’t, so she left for school. She also said she cooked you beansprout soup and told you to heat it up before eating it. At the end of her message, Minkyung told you to take care and better explain everything when she got home.

Aside from Minkyung’s message, you got more than 10 missed calls and around 25 messages from both Soohyun and Yeri. There were messages from last night too, mostly asking why Minkyung called them and asked them if they knew where you were to be exact. Clearly, they showed concern and you were grateful about it. You sent each of them a message indicating you were okay and would stay at home for today. The most ironic thing was you didn’t get any message from the guy whom you were dying to get an explanation from.

Staying at home alone was your best chance to cry your heart out without disturbing anybody, but in fact, you didn’t. You ate Minkyung’s beansprout soup, you washed the dishes. You sat on the couch, turning on the TV even though you didn’t concentrate on it. At least, you were doing just fine, just a little bit more sluggish than usual.

Until Minkyung got home, you still didn’t want to explain things to her and it seemed that Minkyung understood if you didn’t want to tell her yet.

“Okay, you refused to explain why you’re being like this, but can I at least know where you were going?” Minkyung asked carefully. When you went to search for Chanyeol, you didn’t tell Soohyun and Yeri that you were going to Incheon and you also didn’t tell Minkyung about it when you informed her through message that you would come home late. They must be had no idea at all, so they wanted to know what happened to you that night.

You silenced yourself, but Minkyung waited for you to answer. It wasn’t fair for her to know nothing, though, so you spoke up.

“I went to Incheon, I was looking for Chanyeol,” you answered while trying so hard to be calm. At the moment you mentioned his name, your tongue felt a little numb.

Minkyung was taken aback, you could tell. “So Chanyeol is in Incheon? He’s absent today but nobody knows why. Even Baekhyun asked me about Chanyeol, but of course I couldn’t answer because I didn’t know,” Minkyung said, more like a monologue because you didn’t respond to her.

Observing your attitude, Minkyung sighed. “Alright, you don’t want to explain things to me right now, but you know you should right? Promise me you will,” she demanded, holding out her pink finger in front of your face.

You jerked back a bit by the sudden proximity and intertwined your pinky finger with hers. “Promise,” you mumbled.

Minkyung looked concern, but she tried to smile. “Alright, what do you want to eat for dinner? I’ll cook. You can take a rest.”

“I’m not a sick person, Minkyung-ah,” you rebelled as you heard ‘rest’.

Minkyung stared at you before finally stating, “You look like one, though.”

The next day which was today, you braced yourself to go to school. Besides, your Dad was finally returned from his business trip abroad last night and he said he would stay at home for today. Dad would ask if you didn’t go to school, so you still prepared for school even though you were slightly late. It was actually the result of staying up all night, tossing around here and there without really sleeping. A lot of thoughts were crossing your mind, made your brain couldn’t take a rest.