No More Dreams

Chapter 30

"What are you doing here at this hour?" Ji Hyuk was walking around the neighbourhood when he saw Hyun Soo sitting on the door steps of the house where Jiyeon used to live.

"Nothing." Was all that came out from him. He didn't even do anything, he just sat with his head down. Obviously, he was feeling down, he probably missed Jiyeon.

 Ji Hyuk sat next to him but didn't speak as well. He knew Hyun Soo was going to speak his heart and mind if he wanted to. So all Ji Hyuk was going to do was to wait. Nothing more. Minutes passed as the night became darker and colder. No words were spoken, only their breathing was heard and finally, Hyun Soo broke the silence.

"I miss her."

Never in a million years, Hyun Soo would have believed such small words could break his heart like that, but now it hurt him strongly. The days didn't flow by quickly, it was harder than before not thinking about Jiyeon. Hyun Soo stopped watching TV just not to see her smile, he stopped listening to the radio just in case he heard her soft voice and he hardly went to the city centre or mall only because he didn't want to see her on posters.

 But there was SooAh who reminded him of her every day. He couldn't escape her. She was quietly sitting in her seat listening to music most of the time and sometimes talked to her friends. Whenever ByungHee took her with him she looked brighter and happier. She had that sad smile Jiyeon had in the beginning. 

Hyun Soo wasn't dreaming. It wasn't her imagination. He wished it was a dream so he could wake up from it. But that became his reality, the one he wished he could escape.

"This whole new school thing .. I hate it." 

Hyun Soo was a smart kid, but the lazy type. Jiyeon had helped him overcome his lazy-ness and focus on his studies. Jiyeon brought his better side all the time. Even now Hyun Soo couldn't turn his back on school, because of Jiyeon. He didn't hate the school itself, he hated seeing the girl who reminded him of her. He didn't want to admit it though.

"It's full of snobby guys and girls. They're always in front of our eyes. I'm tired of it."

Ji Hyuk looked at him. He knew Hyun Soo wasn't the type to care so much for snobs, he just ignored them. He knew that wasn't the problem, but Hyun Soo didn't want to admit it yet. That made things hard for all of them tho.

"Why don't you like SooAh?" He asked Hyun Soo. Things had to go to their places.

Hyun Soo just quietly spoke Jiyeon's name. That was all. That one word, one name made every piece fall into their own place to finish the puzzle.

--/---

It was one of the days when Rian felt like if someone bumped into her she'd just fall down just like that. Her whole body was shaking from nervousness. The morning she woke up early, picked her most comfortable clothes and got ready. Black leggings, a T-shirt and a sweatshirt. To most people these were regular clothes, however, the sweatshirt had a whole another meaning.

That was one of the few things Jiyeon 'borrowed' from Hyun Soo but never actually returned. She rarely wore them, but she hugged them whenever she felt like it. There were times when she wore them and just looked at herself in the mirror imagining Hyun Soo's face. A lot of time had passed since she saw him smiling with another girl in the amusement park, but the memory kept replaying at night.

That memory kept her going. Wherever it was Jiyeon or Rian it was hard to pick out now. Her new daily life was to practice, to smile wherever she went and be on her best behaviour. Nana and Ailee were next to her, they were her new family along with Siwoo and JB. She and her new family became more and more popular with every day. She received love and attention from many people.