Ahn Hyejin (pt I)
class of 2017»»---¤---««
"How was your first week back?"
Hyejin glances up from her food and blinks, surprised at her mother's question. The two had been sitting at the dining table for almost twenty minutes now, both had kept their eyes on their food and the only noise that could be heard was from the soft ticking of the clock that hung in the adjacent living room. Each minute that ticked by was another minute wasted. All Hyejin wanted to do was to be away from her mother's presence. The woman opposite her almost seemed like a stranger living in her mother's body - a far cry from the warm and affectionate mother Hyejin once knew her to be, three years ago.
The woman opposite her was cold, insensitive and harsh with her words. Her face was taut, fine lines etched her face while her coarse, greying hair was pulled into a neat but tight bun.
Her mother sat with pursed lips, almost as if she were waiting for her daughter to ignore her just so she could have an excuse to argue with her.
"It was fine . . . same old same old."
That couldn't have been more farther than the truth. It was definitely not 'same old same old'. In fact after those few years in that high school, Hyejin had never experiencd a week like that - ever. Yet she wasn't going to indulge this to her mother. To be frank, her mother couldn't give a sh*t. As long as her grades were up to par, what Hyejin did in and outside of school wasn't a concern of her mother's.
Her mother gives her a curt nod before resuming to eat. The two of them finish their dinner in silence.
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It was a saturday night and Hyejin found herself sprawled across her bed, phone in hand, scrolling through her social media. Normally she would be drowning away her sorrows at a house party but not tonight. Tonight she had decided to recuperate . . . Okay the real reason she wasn't at a house party was that there was a probability of bumping into her ex. Damn the fact that they both had overlapping social circles, Hyejin thinks to herself.
As well as that, Yongsun had told her with a determined attitude that she was shunning any type of party this year. Hyejin had initially scoffed at the idea but later on decided to humour her and told her good luck . But she knew the brunette far better than anyone. Hyejin could gurantee that Yongsun will be at a party the following week, drink in hand, screaming about God knows what and tripping over thin air. Sober Yongsun was already hazardous enough but add in a bit of alcohol . . . the results were deadly, which is why Hyejin always has to accompany Yongsun to any type of social event.
Okay, so yeah to reiterate, the two reasons as to why Hyejin was home on a Saturday night:
1. She much rather avoid another confrontation from her ex.
2. Her best friend was now a self proclaimed hermit.
Hyejin's phone vibrates against her bed, several notifications flooding in, her poor phone of three years was struggling to keep up.
Hyejin was the type of person to only open notifications from close friends. So that really meant Yongsun and Irene, and maybe she'd like the occasional meme that Namjoon sends her but other than that she'd usually skim over the rest.
Creeping on people's profiles was a secret hobby of hers. It was her guilty pleasure. It wasn't for malicious reasons no, Hyejin was merely curious about everyone outside of her social circle.
This week it was the girl from the cafeteria. Hyejin was curious indeed.
From first glance, she could tell straight away that the girl wasn't use to being the centre of attention from the way she gulped to the blush that crept onto her cheeks almost instantly. Hyejin was wary of their growing audience. Everyone around them were speaking in hushed tones; Some, wondering what on Earth was happening and others sat in glee at the prospect of their boring first day back being a day to gossip about for the remainder of the week.
Hyejin was all to familiar with being the subject of gossip. To be really honest, she hated it. She found it dumb that people focussed more on her life rather than their own. And it was always the same thing over and over: Who she kissed at a party or who she was dating. Who gives a sh*t? She was just a normal teenager, enjoying her last few years at high school. Why should she be ashamed of kissing guys at parties while the guys in question were paraded around like a damn god? It just didn't make sense and it was unfair.
The girl that stood in front of her, was looking anywhere but at her. Hyejin grew sympathetic at the sight. The scene looked like a child waiting to be scolded by an authority figure. Hyejin had tried her best to look friendly, even giving her a small smile. She had hoped her smile was able to convey what she wanted to say without words, like hey I'm actually a nice person, don't be scared of me but no matter what the girl just wouldn't look at her.
Admitting to defeat, she swiftly walked past her and sat back down with her friends.
"What was that about?" Irene had asked.
Hyejin shrugged in response and instead of giving a verbal answer, distracted herself with her phone instead.
The following night, she had decided to do a little creeping on Facebook and surely enough, she found her in no time.
Without a second thought, Hyejin had sent her a friend request and fallen asleep with ease unaware that on the street opposite to hers and five houses down, someone couldn't fall asleep.
Wheein had spent the night staring at the ceiling of her room, just waiting for tiredness to take over her body . . . but it never did.
"She's going to think I hate her." She thought to herself.
Now, Hyejin clicks onto her activity log. Her latest activity read, "You searched for Jung Wheein."
Clicking onto the profile she wonders if now she could view her whole profile.
. . .
. . .
Hyejin frowns at the "Add friend" button. That can't be right. She already sent her a friend request.
. . .
But then that means . . .
"What is this girl's deal?" Hyejin says angrily.
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author's note: your comments motivate and make me smile. Hope you're having a lovely day :)
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