VIII

"I'll never fall in love again," she once said with such certainty in her voice.

Then she met him. It was inevitable. He was too much like him.

She couldn't help it no matter how much she tried denying her feelings. The similarities were just too much for her young self to handle.

"I'll never let him go," she said to her sister. She wasn't going to let her ruin everything for her again.

It happened once and she was going to make sure it never happens again.

By the time the sun set behind the horizon, Woohyun reached Rina's house. The two got off and bid farewell in front of the door. Just as he was about to leave, Rina's family came home.

The two parties stared at each other with a murderous aura emitting mostly from Rina.

"Go home. I'll see you at school." she told Woohyun.

The reluctant boy backed away and got inside his car. He soon sped off, leaving the scene.

"Rina!" her older sister exclaimed, running towards her with open arms. "You've grown up so much!" She hugged her, much to her distaste.

The hard blow of rejection hit Rie when her little sister forcefully pulled away from her. "Don't touch me," she whispered in her ear.

Rina spun around and entered the house. She felt someone grab onto her wrist but she yanked it away before locking herself in her room.

Throwing her things on the ground, she collapsed onto her bed and shut her eyes, falling into a restless slumber.

When she awoke the next morning for mass, she felt like murdering someone. She groggily trudged around as she got ready.

With an unwilling groan, she unlocked her door. As much as she wanted to go to a different church, she knew she couldn't. Therefore, she had to go to church with her family(which included Rie). Rina knew that she had to get used to her sister being around because who knew how long she'd be staying but she didn't want to.

She could hear the normal daily activities of the Kim family going on downstairs. When she entered the kitchen, everyone stopped what they were doing to look at her.

"Oh, Rina, you're awake." her mom acknowledged.

"Good morning, Rina! Did you have a good sleep?" Rie asked, flashing her signature wide grin.

She ignored her as she sat down next to Ryan, snatching a piece of bacon off of his plate.

Rie's smile slightly faltered. "Will you be going to church with us?" she kept on pushing, trying to get an answer out of the girl.

Rina was starting to get annoyed now. "If someone ignores you, learn to leave them alone!" she barked at the elder sibling.

"Kim Rina!" Mrs.Kim yelled. "Be nice!"

Rina screamed, jumping up out of her chair as she fled the kitchen. "I hate Rie, I hate Rie! I hate her! She took away everything! She stole my only piece of happiness!" She ran out of the house, clutching onto her head and screaming those words over and over again.

Somehow, she found herself in front of the run-down bookstore. Rina found peace overtake her when she saw Nami sorting through some antique books to be put on display.

The girl looked up from her work and noticed Rina standing in front of the store. She took note of the visible tear stains on her face. "Oh, Rina. What're you doing here today?"

Rina pressed her lips together in hopes of trying to at least smile a little bit but it didn't work out. "Would you like to go to church with me?" she asked.

Nami was surprised by such a sudden question but agreed nonetheless. She got her stuff and the two headed towards the bus stop. They held small talks along the way and being the generous person she was, Nami decided not to ask about why the poor girl had been crying.

"If someone took away something very precious to you, would you hate that person?" Rina asked out of nowhere, shocking Nami a bit.

Nami blinked several times before shaking her head. "No, I wouldn't. I'd eventually forgive them, you know. I'm not that much of a materialistic person."

They reached the stop just as their bus arrived.

Rina sighed, ruffling her hair. "You're just too good for my own good."

Her friend chuckled.

They got on the bus and took a seat at the very back.

"Well—what if it was a person?"

Nami thought about it for a few seconds then shrugged. "It's never happened before so I don't know. Why?"

Rina shook her head. "It's nothing," she sighed. "Look, it's our stop."

---

"Rina," Rie called, running over to her little sister after church ended.

Oh great, just my luck.

"Nami, let's go." Rina said, pulling Nami by her wrist in the opposite direction of her older sister.

"B-b..." Rina gave her a look, making her shut .

The two quickly got away from the Kim family.

Rie frowned, turning to look at her mom. Mrs.Kim squeezed her hand.

"It's okay, noona. That girl will come around soon enough. My sister isn't a bad person," Ryan reassured his eldest sibling. "She'll come around."

"Wasn't that your family?" Nami asked when they arrived back at the book store.

Rina plopped down on the rocking chair, grabbing a book from the table beside her. She didn't answer Nami's question on purpose and instead, flipped to a random page.

Nami pouted, understanding that Rina didn't want to talk about it. She was just such a confusing girl; impossible to read and the complete opposite of a book.

Rina breathed out a stressed sigh.

"But your sister, she was the one you were talking about earlier, right? Who did she take from you? Can't you tell me?"

Gosh, déjà vu.

Seeing that she had no choice, she decided to tell the curious girl. "Lee Jong Suk wasn't just my only childhood friend. There was another boy. We were the best of friends and without me knowing it, I started to develop feelings for him. 6th grade, was it? It was in the States. Yeah, the States. It was probably middle school when I found out that he liked my older sister. No, he loved her. For years he had harbored the same feelings that I had for him, for her.

But do you know what she did? She lured him in, then mercilessly shattered his heart. She knew of my feelings but she still chose to do such a thing. She drove him away. That drove away my only happiness!"

By now, Rina was drowning in her own tears. "I-I always thought my sister was a good person. I was willing to let go, I really was. I—..."

Nami knelt down beside her, rubbing Rina's back in comfort.

"When Shi Hoo came along, I became greedy. I didn't want to surrender to my sister again. Shi Hoo and him, they were so alike. I really couldn't help myself, Nami-ah," she managed to choke out through her hiccups and tears. "I miss him, Nami-ah. I m—"

The slam of a car door interrupted Rina from continuing her sentence. The two girls looked up towards the entrance.

"J-JoJo," Rina gasped.

He stormed into the store, yanking her up from the chair. "Didn't I tell you not to talk about him? Huh? It's been 4 years, dammit! Rina Kim, forget about him!" he yelled, tightening his grip around her wrist.

"I-It hurts," she whimpered, another round of tears welling up in her eyes.

Jong Suk ignored her cries as he dragged her out to the car. Once he shoved her through the passenger door, he looked back to give Nami a grateful look. He fastened Rina's seatbelt before his own and turned the engine on.

"You need to stop being such a greedy, selfish little thing. Think about others around you and get your head in the game! Shi Hoo is worried about your mentality and Rie cries at night, muttering about how she's done wrong and all that ! Don't beat around the bush and just tell us what happened between the two of you!" Jong Suk scolded, dangerously making sharp turns at corners without a care in the world.

"Slow down! It's dangerous!" Rina yelped, clutching onto his right arm. She squeezed her eyes shut, lowering her head in fear. "Lee Jong Suk, stop the car!"

She started to cough which was soon followed by her trying to catch a breath and then hyperventilation.

The car pulled up by a sidewalk as the young man started freaking out. "Oh God, what do I do? Where's your inhaler? Nana, stay with me!"

Rina clutched onto her chest in pain. "M-m—b-ba—"

That was all Jong Suk needed to hear. He grabbed her small purse on the ground, opening it and taking out her inhaler in mere milliseconds. He shook it up for her before releasing a puff in .

After he saw her eyes become calm again, only then did Jong Suk start breathing again. He didn't even realize that he had been holding his breath.

"Damn you, JoJo." Rina said the moment her breathing went back to normal.

Jong Suk managed a smile. "Now that's the kid I know."

"Shut up! Scold me and drive like that again and I'll be the one DJ-ing at your funeral!" she snarled with a glare.

He casually chuckled, putting the car into drive again. This time(because of Rina) he drove slower. "About earlier—don't misunderstand. Sure, I miss that bastard but sometimes we need to move on."

"But you don't understand, JoJo. I—I-I liked him!"

Jong Suk swerved the car to the right in shock, abruptly stopping the car at the side of the road again. "Are you serious?" he yelled in bewilderment.

Rina rolled her eyes. "We're never going to get home if you keep on stopping."

"I must have been blind back then..." Jong Suk murmured, questioning his whole life while getting back on the road once again.

It took longer than it should have to get home even though it was less than 10 minutes by car on the main road.

Rina saw Shi Hoo's car in the driveway and sighed. "I don't really want to face them right now. I'm not mentally prepared."

"Excuses, excuses."

He got out of the car and headed inside first.

"Wait for me!" Rina called after him.

Inside the house, the first thing that she saw was Shi Hoo and Rie laughing together, looking more like a couple than Shi Hoo and herself. When she was with him, it looked like he was babysitting her. The scene in front of her made her feel so self-conscious.

Rie looked up at the door. "Oh, Rina-ah!"

Shi Hoo's eyes widened, putting his arm back by his side when he noticed that his arm had been around Rie's shoulder. "O-oh, you're back."

Rina showed no reaction whatsoever and instead pulled Jong Suk upstairs into her room. "Did you see that?" she asked, sitting on her bed. "His arm was around her! My boyfriend's arm was around her!"

"Calm down," he ordered. "You know that they're really good friends."

She couldn't believe that it was just that. She knew that her sister once liked him and who knows if she still does?

"This is why I don't trust her, JoJo. I'd rather die than have someone else stolen from me because of her!"