CHAPTER 20: INFLAME

Even before Bomi could put down her things, Hani already enveloped her in a tight hug. Sobs continued to fill up the quiet room and not too long, she could already feel the dampness on her collar. Bomi rubbed the older one’s back, trying to appease her and also apologizing for coming later than what she had promised.

“Thank you…thank you so much for being here…” Tears continue to stream down even after Hani pulled away from the hug.

“It’s going to be fine, Heeyeon-ah…He’s going to be okay.” Bomi then wiped the tears off of the latter’s cheeks. “And do you think your dad would feel better if he sees you like this? Wait, did you eat already?”

With her hands covering her face as she tried to calm herself down, Hani didn’t speak and just shook her head in response. Just then, the door opened and Hani’s mom and younger brother entered with duffel bags, arriving back from their house after getting some clothes for the next coming nights. Bomi showed courtesy, and albeit distressed, Mrs. Ahn managed to greet with a smile.

Knowing how she has always been a daddy’s girl, it took a lot of convincing before Bomi was able to pull Hani out of her father’s room to eat. The thought of something bad happening to her dad while she’s away just kept on haunting her like a living nightmare, which made her feel uneasy  even if he’s already in a stable condition. If not for the persuading that Mrs. Ahn did, Hani would’ve still been crying beside her father’s bed.

“Naeun-ah asked me to bring these to you, so please eat as much as you can. We don’t want another sick person, do we?” Bomi placed the foods on a table and prepared her plate, while Hani just quietly watched her do so, dazed and still worried.

A warm touch on her shoulder snapped her back out of trance. “Huh? Were you saying something?”

Bomi then lightly patted it and gave a tight-lipped smile as she urged her to eat. “He’ll be fine, Heeyeon-ah. I know it’s impossible for you not to worry, but try not thinking about it that much.”

Hani replied with a hesitant nod as she stared at the food right in front of her, trying her best to bring back the appetite that has been buried down by the unfortunate incident a while ago. She forked a piece of steak and chewed it, but the horrible sight of her dad collapsing on the floor and gasping for help that kept on replaying right before her eyes just made it really difficult for her to swallow the food.

“Besides, he’s in good hands since the doctor said that they’ll monitor him and do further examinations to make sure he’s alright.” Bomi added after hearing no response from the latter.

Hani heaved a tired sigh, but this time for a different reason. “That would really be nice, but we have no choice but to take him home immediately…” her voice faltered, while the numbers on their hospital bills echoed loudly within her head.

“You won’t make him go under further observations? Why?” Bomi furrowed her eyebrows as she gave a concerned look. “What if he has some complications?”

“Trust me, we would if we could.”

The younger one immediately got what Hani was implying. “Hey, don’t worry about that. I’ll try to pitch in as much as I could to help. Naeun also said that she would help in any way that she can, so please, let Mr. Ahn take those tests.”

“But Bomi-ah…”

“No buts, Ahn Heeyeon. You want your dad to be back in –“

Even before Bomi could reason out, Hani already lunged in for another tight hug. “Thank you, Bomi. Thank you for everything…” Tears threatened to fall once again as she expressed her gratitude towards the latter.

“Come on, it’s nothing.” The optimistic Yoon Bomi returned the hug. “That’s what friends are for, right?”

The last sentence may be filled with genuine warmth, but it sure stung like a cold knife for Hani. For sure, Bomi didn’t mean any ill intentions, but she felt pain after hearing those words escape from . Was that all she was for Bomi? Did she already lose even before she knew it? The thoughts about her dad were now replaced with a completely different matter, and that was her encounter with Ilhoon a few weeks ago. She then remembered the deal that was offered to her, along with the pictures that she tried so hard to forget.

Gratefulness and hope suddenly turned into bitterness and jealousy.

A vibration from her pocket made her pull away from the hug. “Oh wait, I’ll be back in a while. I just have to take this call…” Bomi then excused herself and quickly walked towards the garden that was located just outside the cafeteria.

Hani on the other hand, didn’t miss the sudden change of tone from the latter so she decided to secretly follow. She wasn’t even that close yet, but she already stopped on her tracks upon seeing the panic on Bomi’s face. With that, she did not need to listen to the conversation to know that the younger one was soon to leave, and it was the least thing that she would want to happen.

All she needed right now is Yoon Bomi, and she just had to do something to keep her by her side.

“Bomi-ah, we need to go back now! Dad –“ Hani ran and held her hands, but even before she could finish the sentence, Bomi already freed herself from the grasp.

“I’m sorry, Hani, but I have to go now. It’s an emergency.” She then started rushing towards the exit without any second thoughts.

“Stay with me, please.”

She heard a plea and felt a tug on her wrist, and guilt suddenly sunk in upon seeing the outright desperation straight from Hani’s still swollen eyes. She felt really sorry that she had to leave the latter in a dreadful state, but her heart is clearly leading her towards somewhere else. A beg was heard once more, but Bomi was only able to respond with a stare worth a thousand words as she gently unclasped the hand from her wrist before running away.

Meanwhile, Hani couldn’t do anything at the moment but to blankly stare at Bomi’s disappearing figure. A few more minutes have passed, and even after the latter was gone from her vision, she still stood on the same spot, feeling nothing but helplessness and self-pity. Hani felt stupid as she thought of her now broken self after falling off of the high pedestal that she had put herself on.

“Well…that was sad.” A voice she wished not to hear again unfortunately spoke behind her, full of obvious mockery over the situation that he witnessed.

Hani took a deep breath and collected herself before turning around. “What are you doing here?” she asked harshly, clearly not elated with his presence.

“I wasn’t really planning to visit, but after I found out that he was admitted in this prestigious hospital, I changed my mind.” His infamous smug then appeared.

“If you’re thinking that I’ll ask for your help, I’m sorry to burst your bubble but I will never do that. Not even in my wildest dreams.”

“We’re not sure about that, Ms. Ahn.” With the same kind of smile plastered on his face, he waved his index finger in disagreement. “Aside from the number of digits on your hospital fees, you also got ditched by the person you love for something…or maybe, for someone far more important than you. The offer is still –“

“Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t need your money, Mr. Jung. I don’t need you.” Hani scoffed, glaring at him for a few seconds before she walking away with clenched fists.

Ilhoon was left impressed with her steadfast attitude but at the same time, he felt utmost pity towards the stubborn woman because he was a hundred percent sure that it wouldn’t take that long before Hani would come back crawling and begging for his help.

“Oh you will, Ahn Heeyeon. You will definitely need me.”

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“Can you tell me the details of the man who tried to attack you? Anything, may it be clothes, hair color, facial features…” The cop interviewed Chorong, who was still dazed after being assaulted by some unknown man while she was walking on her way home from the convenience store. Good thing she was able to scream and attract attention, because something worse could’ve happened if not.

As she described everything that she can recall to the police, Eunji, who can still feel Chorong trembling, just sat beside her and held her hands, trying to make her feel secure again. Eunji arrived half an hour ago after receiving the alarming text from the latter, and she found her best friend being accompanied by a good Samaritan, which was the same person who managed fend off Chorong’s offender and called the police.

The two didn’t notice that while they were getting questioned, Bomi was already on the other side of the road, her chest heaving out of exhaustion. While she was trying to stabilize her breathing, she was also trying to sort out herself. An influx of emotions flooded her system after seeing Chorong being treated by a medic, and she just wasn’t sure what to feel anymore.

After a few more minutes, only Chorong and Eunji were left at the scene, and that was when Bomi decided to reveal herself.

“Wait… Yoon Bomi?” Eunji’s eyes widened when she finally saw her friend walking towards their place. It was already close to two in the morning, and considering the nature of Bomi’s work in which she has little to no time to sleep, she really didn’t expect the latter to waste the only resting time she had.

Chorong was just as surprised as Eunji when she looked towards the direction where her best friend was staring at. “You called her?!”

“I didn’t, okay? I just told her about what happened and –“

“Yah! Park Chorong!” Bomi was fuming, and the two were taken aback with the latter’s odd behavior. “What do you think were you doing?!” she continued to lash out at the clueless Chorong.

“Why are you even mad?” Today wasn’t a good day for Chorong, and this unreasonable anger that she’s receiving from the person she least expected just made her feel worse than ever. It led her to unintentionally raising her voice as well. “I was the one who almost got molested, and yet you’re mad at me?!”

“Yes!” The younger one stayed firm and argued back. “It’s already past midnight, and you’re out walking alone for goodness’ sake! What if no one heard you?! What if that bastard ended up killing you?! Don’t you know how worried I got when Eunji told me that you got assaulted by some lowlife ert? You have no idea how relieved I am to see you okay, because if something bad happened to you I swear I…I…” Bomi became flustered, never expecting that the answer to the golden question would occur to her this way. At the same time, the boldness that she had vanished into thin air when her eyes met with Chorong’s glinting ones. She then noticed the grin on the older one’s face, and that’s when she realized that she also gave the answer away.

No words were needed as Chorong decided to just snake her arms around Bomi’s torso, diving in for a tight embrace. Anxiety, concern, fear, relief – those were probably among of the many emotions that the taller one is currently experiencing and now, she can clearly understand where the sudden outburst came from. Even though she felt like heaven after hearing those words, it also made her kind of confused as to if this was a form of admittance and confession, or Bomi was just simply really worried about her. Nevertheless, she would still stick to what she said about not forcing anything and just wait for the younger one to say it herself.

Letting out a deep breath, Bomi’s arms also found its way around Chorong’s neck as she embraced her like she finally found her missing stuffed toy. That’s when she decided to summarize what she wanted to say earlier in a single sentence. The emotionally driven girl went with something that her heart and mind would say in unison if both had the ability to speak by themselves: simple, yet meaningful.

“You— you just…really drive me crazy, Park Chorong.”

The two got lost in their own world that they forgot about Eunji, who was wearing a motherly smile as she witnessed a live lesbian chick flick right in front of her.

“You two get a room, while I go get back to my room.”  Eunji stood up and pulled a disgusted face before walking away.

“Worry about yourself!” was the only thing Chorong was able to come up without dropping names, considering the certainty of a scandal if she mentions Naeun and link it to someone of the same gender. At the same time, Bomi’s shyness finally kicked in, which made her break the hug and face the opposite direction.

Unbeknownst to them who just experienced heaven here on earth, someone’s cries of agony just echoed within the cold and quiet halls of the vicinity as she crashed down to hell.

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A/N: Well, I’m back with some ChoMi for everyone ^^ Sorry for the delay once again as I was working on an oneshot that I ended up not finishing /gets bricked/. I’m such a failure orz Anyway, all I can say is that…it’s going to happen soon. In regards to that, I’m already building my own Great Wall of China around me lmao

Like always, thank you for patiently waiting, reading, subscribing (hello to my new subs! I hope I won't disappoint you ^^), commenting, and liking this story. I love you all! ^^