—JIMIN—

"We knew... each other b-before, didn't we?"

Her jaw clenched as her eyes fell on the ground. She sighed before looking at me with tearful eyes.

"Yes, we did." She whispered, waiting nervously for my reaction.

I was right.

But even though I had my doubts before, her confirmation set my entire body on fire. I could feel my heartbeat fastened and the pulsations reaching my temples. It felt so good. Finally finding a new missing piece of my life.

And yet another question popped into my head.

"My friends didn't know, did they?"

That made her chuckle. The cute sound made the corner of my lips slightly rise.

"If they did, they would have murdered me on the spot and locked you up to brainwash you."

"Okay class, today we're going to continue where we left off yesterday." yelled the teacher interrupting our conversation, startling me in the process.

"Can we talk later?" I whispered to her, once I regained my composure.

I had to know. I needed to know. I had so many questions and it was always 'Why? 'or 'How?’.

She nodded, "Sure." She gave me a soft reassuring smile but not the same one she had used before. This time it was... brighter. Lighter. She seemed happier, something in her eyes I had yet to see. Even her features were a bit different. Less tensed than earlier.

Happiness looked good on her. Wait...what?

What am I thinking?

When the bell rang, we both left as fast as we could. We had five minutes in between classes and I needed as much explanation as I could get. I probably had a lot to catch up on.

Unfortunately, once we reached the hallway the girls were waiting for me at the other end of it.

Minjeong immediately flipped around in panic.

"Do you still have the same phone number as before?" she whispered, faking looking through her backpack.

"Yes." I answered without moving my lips too much because the girls were watching.

"Good, I'll call you in the evening." With that, she walked behind me toward the other end of the hallway.

Ningning was excitingly waving at me from afar as the rest of the girls looked around like they were about to murder anyone that dared to look toward their direction. How was Ningning even friends with them? Us? She was so nice and innocent compared to the rest of us. I was sure she never did anything bad in her life. That girl was like a tiger cub sometimes.

That thought alone made me laugh. I waved back, walking toward them but my mind was already busy playing the different scenarios of what Minjeong could possibly reveal to me.

_

It was now 7pm and Minjeong still hadn't called. I passed the entire day wondering about what she would tell me. I couldn't focus on anything else the entire day, so much that people thought I had another headache.

So far, I only knew we were friends, that was it. But were we occasional friends, greeting each other and having small talk or were we close friends?

Earlier, Minjeong made it sound like we were close friends. It made me think of what nurse Yoona unnie had said. That Minjeong came crying at the hospital after my accident. That fact alone made me believe we were close friends.

I checked my phone again. Nothing.

I let out a frustrated sigh. It was now 7:34 pm, I've been pacing back and forth in my room for almost an hour already. Not able to concentrate my attention on anything else. I needed to know. Minjeong was the key to unlock an entirely new part of my past life. Our friendship was a secret which meant they were things that only she knew.

"Jimin! Are you okay?"

My mother's voice startled me. I jumped back a little, bumping into the dresser behind me. There was a faint thump noise of something heavy falling on the floor. I turned back, searching for what I had maybe broken but there was nothing apparent.

"Jimin, sweetie?"

I turned back, looking at my mother, who looked at me with concern.

"Sorry, I am... fine. J-Just a... little nervous about school... t-that is all." I lied, sending her a smile to emphasize my point.

"Maybe you should get some sleep? Give your body and mind some rest. The doctor said it will help." She replied, moving closer.

"Ok, I... will."

"Good night, sweetie." She whispered kissing my forehead.

"Good night, mom."

After she closed the door, I started looking around. I knew something fell but what? And where? Something definitely did, I wasn't crazy. Well, Minjeong was driving me crazy but not to that point.

It was near my dresser. Somewhere. I took a few steps back to assess the whole area and there it was, underneath it. It was some kind of box from what I could see where I was standing. I got closer and kneeled carefully in front of it, taking it easy with my injured leg. Bending my leg was always difficult now. Actually, doing anything with it was difficult now.

I carefully took the brown box and sat on my bed, setting it on my lap.

The box had duct tape on the side, it must have been duct taped beneath the dresser.

But why? My life became a mystery more and more every passing day. I mean what's next? Am I going to learn that I'm secretly part of a gang or something? Damn. Why was my life so complicated?

That box was in my room, so it must have been mine. But why giving myself all that trouble to hide it?

What was in it that necessitated that must secrecy? Something I didn't want anyone to find out for sure.

I put my shaking hand on the lid, hesitant and nervous. On one hand, I couldn't wait to find out what it was but on the other hand, I was scared as hell. Apprehensive of what it could possibly behold. What if it was something bad? Like a dark unspeakable secret? The gang thing didn't seem that crazy suddenly.

Ok, maybe I was going too far.

I inhaled deeply and opened the box, putting the lid aside.

When my eyes fell on the content nothing seemed to be awful inside. That seemed actually rather