Dear Chapter 2

Jung SoMi~

2:45 A.M. read the time on my phone. My left eye glued shut in response to the blue light emitting from the electronic device. I turned the phone over on the nightstand. The room was dead silent as SooHyun was such a deep sleeper.

I rolled onto my back, staring at the ceiling above me. Only the sounds of my languid breathing were heard. My head felt heavy to the point it was hard for me to keep my eyes open. I realized that it was a headache. I became worried that if I didn’t fall back asleep soon that I would have a hard time focusing at my part time job that I needed to be at this morning. I hated moments like these.

A moment where there was nothing else to occupy me, and the memories gradually trickled into my mind similar to how a drug slowly enters the bloodstream once injected with a syringe. The memories were paralyzing and debilitating. No matter how hard I tried to forget and erase those gruesome images, they remained vivid as ever within my memory bank. They even caused nightmares. I never had any that strayed from the truth. Those nightmares incessantly reenacted the events of the kidnapping, forcing me to relive the most terrifying moments of my convoluted childhood. My sole wish, which I know won’t ever come true, was to forget.

But a part of me desperately didn’t want to forget because those harrowing memories were my only recollection of Ahjussi. It has been so long that I couldn’t exactly remember how he looked. I only remembered that he was very tall and how his eyes spoke volumes. The only thing I remembered perfectly about him was his gaze. It sent chills down my spine how someone could look so utterly broken, yet still warm. Guilt lacerated me at the mere fleeting thought of him. He went to jail because of me. I earnestly wished for his happiness. I could still recall how his embrace made me feel at ease as if there was nothing in the world that could bring me down. Even to this very day, I still sought for that feeling. As my headache weighed on my head like a ton of bricks, my body began to succumb back to sleep.

“Jung SoMi.” I looked up from scanning the beauty products when the male customer called my name that was pinned to my blouse. “When do you get off work? I would like to buy dinner if you have time.” The customer frequented the beauty store where I worked part time on the weekends to fill my schedule with. He would come in during my shifts, browse the shelves, and then always leave with a product in hand. I could only shyly smile at him before declining his offer.

“I’m sorry but I have to refuse your date request. I have a boyfriend.” I told him, averting my attention back to the cashier and feeling embarrassed for having to turn him down.

“Ahh. Okay. Of course such a gorgeous girl like you would already be taken. Haha.” I noticed that he laughed nervously to alleviate the awkwardness. He inserted his chip into the card reader and turned away as soon as the gift bag was in his hands. The chimes of the bell struck at his departure. 

My hand touched the top of my forehead, for the headache was still persistent. Brushing it aside, thinking that it would go away I focused on my work instead. I smiled, helping the young teenage customers try on the new lip colors and complimented them on their looks. When the next employee came to work on the floor, I went to the storage area to double check the inventory as per request of my boss. The younger employee walked into the storage unit, tapping my shoulder for attention.

“Yeah?”

“Unni. Do you mind taking over the floor to help with the customers? I have to use the restroom.” Her voice was full of aegyo, which amused me.

“Yeah of course.” I replied, giggling at her and then I took over her part and assisted the customers with their purchases. The day was going well as the shop was busy. I glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that it was time for our lunch break, however for some odd reason I wasn’t hungry. In fact, I felt pain in my stomach. Much to the dismay of my fellow coworkers, I urged them to get lunch without me as I opted to work the cashier while they were gone. I just preferred to stay busy.

A genuine smile etched across my rouged lips at the sight of my boyfriend waiting outside the shop. Putting on my plaid coat and grabbing my purse, I left the shop in a hurry to meet him. Despite the fact that we had seen each other yesterday, my boyfriend just missed me too much to spend time away from me. I had no problem with it. I loved it. WooHyun held my hand as we took the bus to his apartment.

Yawning, I rested my head on WooHyun’s broad shoulder with an ear bud plugged into my ear. But then he moved and took out the ear buds before carrying me to the bed. Initially, I was surprised by the sudden action but the