Pure and simple.

Ji Yeon was a b****.

And there’s no one more than herself could agree to that.

She knew she was a walking disease to everyone around her but she didn’t care as she had lived her whole life as one and she wouldn’t want to change it. It had long been decided and she would just go with the flow.

The 17-year-old teenager stared at the two pills in her hand, wondering if she should consume it or throw it away. Drugs were already a part of her body and soul, she just couldn’t stand without having one a day.

She was about to pop the pills into , only to be stopped when someone held her hands. She frowned and looked up at the culprit. Soongi.

“Unnie! You know this isn’t good for you!” The 12-year-old girl screamed as Ji Yeon struggled to get the pills away from her.

“I don’t give a f*** of whatever is good for me!” Ji Yeon said angrily as she glared at the smaller girl before slapping her across the face.

The girl held her already red cheek and tears began to fill her eyes. Ji Yeon shrugged it off before swallowing the drugs down , her lips. She stared down at the weeping girl, expressionless.

“You think that hurts? Just you wait.” Ji Yeon scoffed, leaving the girl alone. She halted her tracks and called out, “By the way, I was never your unnie.”

After a while Soongi wiped the tears from her eyes and brought herself to the bed. She hated Ji Yeon. She was disappointed by her cousin’s sick behaviour but somewhere; she was worried for the older girl.

Soongi glanced at a faced-down photo frame beside the window. She picked it up, blowing the dust off of it before gazing into the glass. A younger, happier Ji Yeon held a toddler Soongi as she blew raspberries on her pink, chubby cheeks.

This sort of scene used to bring smile on her face but at that moment, she could only sigh as she wished she could go back in time to see her used-to-be-beloved cousin.

Again, Ji Yeon paid no attention to the psychiatrist in front of her. It’d been a week since they had called him over but yet, Ji Yeon never acted like he was there. She chose to slouch into the sofa, boring holes into the wall while her mind wandered around the smallest thing. The psychiatrist didn’t seem to mind as he still continued their so-called therapy, hoping that when she was ready, she’d start talking. Even if it was the smallest thing.

“It’s going to be March 19th.” Kim Hyung Soo said out of nowhere.

Ji Yeon hummed a response and closed her eyes tiredly. Hyung Soo smiled knowingly. Well, that’s an improvement, he thought. He cleared his throat, reaching a hand into his jacket and pulled out an envelope. He placed it gently on the edge of the ivory table placed between them.

“Until March 19th, do not open this.” He said as he pulled back, smiling satisfactorily at the girl.

Ji Yeon snapped her eyes open, staring not so politely at the man before leaving the room, ignoring the item on the table. Mr. Kim sighed as he scooped up the envelope, planning to give it later. 

As Ji Yeon left the room, a hand suddenly wrapped around her wrist, startling her a bit. Soongi rubbed her eyes as she yawned widely. It was past her bedtime but she had to wait for Ji Yeon.

“Unnie?” Soongi called.

Ji Yeon's eyebrows twitched at that, pulling her hand away harshly.

“I’m not your unnie.” She said firmly as she knelt down, scrutinizing Soongi young face before pinching her cheeks, hard. Soongi cried out in pain.

“If I catch you call me that again, I won't be so nice.” Ji Yeon finished with a pat on Soongi’s cheeks.

As Ji Yeon turned around to walk away, Soongi quickly got up and trailed after the older girl. Ignoring the girl, Ji Yeon headed towards her bedroom, where her ‘precious’ possessions laid.

“Un—J-Ji Yeon-shi, your birthday is coming up.” Soongi spoke up, stammering the words. She wasn’t used to be informal with the elders but she didn’t want to be slapped again. Ji Yeon may not look like it but she’s pretty strong and violent.

“I don’t care.”

“Well, I do. So what do you want for a present?” Soongi said in excited manner. Ji Yeon quirked an eyebrow at that.

“Why would I celebrate the day when I was born to this f***ing world?” Ji Yeon asked her lazily, looking at her.

Soongi bit her lips, trying to choose her words carefully. “It’s an important day for me. Without it, you wouldn’t be here with me.”

Ji Yeon scoffed and rolled her eyes. At least, she didn’t hit me, Soongi thought.

“If you’re so persistent about this—Ji Yeon smirked as she thought of something—I want a true friend then.”

Soongi looked up, shocked at Ji Yeon’s words. Ji Yeon was home schooled and her bad girl profile scared the teenagers around the neighbourhood. Ji Yeon had hypocrite friends, drug addict friends, gangster friends and friends with benefit but Soongi never thought that the girl would want a real friend of her own.

“Sure! That’s no problem!” Soongi grinned cutely.

Ji Yeon smirked at the smiling girl. How naïve is this brat? She thought.

“You do know that I say true friend, right?” Ji Yeon leaned in, pushing Soongi’s forehead playfully. “A true friend is someone who you care for and he cares for you in return. Someone you do the s***test things around and will always be forgiven. Someone who will remembers you after time pass by because they touched your heart and stayed there. They have the abilities to change you even if they don’t have them. Someone who you won’t forget. Can you give me that, Soongi-ah?”

Soongi was dumbfounded by Ji Yeon’s clear statement. She figured that it was completely impossible to give Ji Yeon ‘that’. She knew a lot of people, yes, but she has never seen a friendship that ‘intense’.

She gulped but she didn’t want to back down. “Don’t worry. I’ll find you someone.”

 “Oh. Do try.” Ji Yeon chucked darkly. “And if you don’t, don’t ever come back because I may carve a ‘LIAR’ sign on that pretty face of yours.”

For the whole day, Soongi tried her best to look around Seoul for what she guessed ‘a true friend’. Soongi was young but she could see if the person can be trusted or not.

She stood around the subway, watching everyone very carefully. A few times, the passerbys looked at her weirdly and took a quick grab of their bags, as if they were afraid she was going to mug them. Soongi was a bit annoyed of this. Why did people become so suspicious of everything these days? An elderly woman before shook her cane at her, waving her off whenever she walked close by. And she was kicked out of restaurants couple of times for checking in without ordering anything.

She released a deep sigh. The world is collapsing, she thought sadly, just like how Ji Yeon collapsed.

“Get out of the way!” Her head snapped up instinctually as a zooming train approached her station. She quickly stepped back and gawked at the passing train. Part of her head would’ve gone if it weren’t for the sudden warning.

“You okay?” Someone asked her. Feeling grateful, Soongi looked up to thank the person.

A boy, older than her by a few years, stared at her in concern while his hands were clutching two kids' hands. They were holding onto lollipops and their lips were smeared with chocolate, so Soongi figured that they came back from shopping. The sight was so sweet that she had to smile.

“Yeah, I’m fine, thank you.” She smiled reassuringly at the boy. The boy stared at her blankly, and she frowned in an uncomfortable manner from his stare.

“Ee Hyon, could you fetch me a bit of caramel cube? Aish. I’ll get it myself.” He said in different tone of voices and poked his hand into the plastic bag, making weird faces as he fumbled around.

Soongi wrinkled her eyebrows at the boy’s weird behaviour but she was taken by surprise when the boy popped a cube into her hanging mouth.

“But hyung! How come you give her the poisonous one?” The older one of the kids cried out, pointing at the caramel cubes in the boy’s hands. Soongi raised her eyebrows at them.

“It’s a poison that only big people can eat.” The boy said with a bland look. “ You’ll get to eat them when you’re tall as me, Ee Hyon.”

Soongi snickered at their conversation. What a weird family, she thought. She was jolted out of her thoughts when someone yanked her T-shirt softly. She glanced at the youngest boy and crouched down to his eye level, smiling.

“Hi, is there anything you want to say?” She asked as she touched the boy’s hair.

“Noona, you shouldn’t space out a lot or you’ll be like Taehyung-hyung.” The boy said.

Taehyung heard that and complained, “Yah! Ee Wan! You’re lucky that you’re cute or I’ll be feeding you to Soonsim!”

Soongi laughed again at their weird interaction and couldn’t help but imagine Ji Yeon and herself in their place. Instantly she was reminded of her mission, and she quickly turned towards the one she thought was Taehyung.

“What’s your name?” She asked out of desperation.

“Kim Taehyung.” He answered so easily that Soongi thought he was bluffing. 

“Kim Taehyung-oppa.” Soongi confirmed. “Can we meet again?”

“Ah—”

“Please! It's a life and death situation!” Well, it was the truth, Soongi thought. Someone is aching to carve my face!

He looked into Soongi’s eyes, more like gazing really. She was scared a bit by his catlike eyes but she glared back, in hope that he wouldn’t decline. 

“All right.”