Chapter 5 : Eyes On You

“Good heavens, where in the world is that girl?” Ms. Zhang muttered to herself, while looking out the window from the living room and her eyes roamed for the sight of the missing YeonAe. She left her alone at home a couple of hours earlier to buy some groceries, and since YeonAe was sleeping, she’d rather not wake her up. Ms. Zhang locked the door when she left, but by the time she reached home the door was slightly left ajar. They were lucky that no one broke into their house.

Ms. Zhang then searched for her, and the girl was not in her room. Ms. Zhang tried to contact her but YeonAe left her phone at home. She had no idea for how long had YeonAe been gone, and she was extremely concerned. Deep down, she knew that YeonAe still wasn’t in her right state of mind, and that she was still in grieve hence Ms. Zhang was worried of her being alone.

When she checked on her earlier before she left, Ms. Zhang saw that she was sleeping on the bed while holding onto Yixing’s letter as if she was clinging to her dear life. She’d assumed that the girl had been crying all night.

Ms. Zhang also checked the rooftop when she found out that YeonAe wasn’t home, but she wasn’t there either. In the end, Ms. Zhang concluded that YeonAe must’ve wandered alone in the streets. She wanted to look for her, but she also wanted to be there if ever she got home.

Eventually, after what seemed like a long time, worry surpassed everything and Ms. Zhang decided to go out and look for her. She can’t stand waiting anxiously at home for YeonAe. Anything could happen to her, for all she knew. The young lass’s thoughts were still clouded with the images of Yixing and lament was still cloaking her. She wouldn’t even notice if she were to get into trouble.

Grabbing her coat and keys, Ms. Zhang wrote a quick note on a piece of paper, telling YeonAe to contact her if she was home. She also took the chance of grabbing YeonAe’s coat as well, as she assumed that the girl left the house wearing thin clothes while it was cold outside.

Besides, YeonAe had only one coat, hence Ms. Zhang knew if she went out without wearing the clothes that could keep herself warm. Once she’d made sure that everything was okay in the house, Ms. Zhang opened the front door to get out but before she could even set a foot outside, a box greeted her in front of the house.

She was surprised for a moment or two, believing that the box wasn’t there when she got home in the first place. Ms. Zhang looked around for the sight of the person responsible, but there was no one in her vicinity. The corridor was in fact very quiet, as if no one had ever passed by before. She didn’t hear anything from inside the house either, despite having sitting in the living room the whole time.

The box was black in color, just the size of a normal shoebox. There was nothing written on it, except for her name on the lid. Seeing her name, she was sure that the box was for her and was not put there by mistake.

As much as she was tempted to open it, Ms. Zhang simply put it aside first since her priority was to look for YeonAe. She put it outside the house next to the front door, not daring to put anything strange inside her house. She closed the door behind her and locked it, before headed towards the stairs. Ms. Zhang hurried her pace, with her phone in one hand and YeonAe’s coat in the other.

“Where on Earth have you gone to, YeonAe?” Ms. Zhang said to herself as she walked further from the apartment and away from the premises. She’d only managed to make a few steps from the front gate when she was welcomed with the sight of both YeonAe and TaeHyung, and she huffed in shock once she was them.

It seemed that they were both about to enter the gate the same time as Ms. Zhang wanted to walk out.

“YeonAe!” She exclaimed, pulling the girl into a tight squeeze. “Where have you been? I’ve been so worried when I came home and you were nowhere to be found. You even left your phone and your coat. I was just about to look for you.” Ms. Zhang broke the hug and cupped YeonAe’s face. “Just as I thought, you’re freezing! Don’t do it again, young lady or I’ll have to ground you.”

YeonAe kept still, not saying a single word or moved at all. Her nose was red due to the cold, and somehow her eyes softened at the sight of troubled Ms. Zhang right in front of her. She did feel guilty to make her worry, but didn’t have the energy to say it.

Ignoring her silence, Ms. Zhang was about to wrap the static YeonAe in her coat when she noticed that YeonAe was already wearing one. It was a bit big and masculine looking for her and Ms. Zhang knew that it wasn’t YeonAe’s, as she hadn’t seen her with it before. Her eyes then moved to the person behind YeonAe who’d kept quiet the whole time.

Somehow, she’d supposed that the coat belonged to the lad, and it turned out that she was right. The boy was only wearing his school uniforms, and she knew that he wasn’t stupid enough to wear thin clothes in such weather. She didn’t know how, but she had a feeling that TaeHyung actually lent his coat to YeonAe, considering that they were both there in front of her. “Hi, TaeHyung. It’s nice to see you again.” She welcomed.

“Likewise, Ms. Zhang.” TaeHyung greeted with his signature friendly smile.

“How fancy meeting you here. Can I be of assistance?” Ms. Zhang asked.

Still with a smile on his face, TaeHyung said, “Well, it’s nothing actually. I just walked YeonAe home. I ran into her earlier and I suppose it wasn’t safe for her to be walking home alone, so I decided to accompany her.”

Ms. Zhang raised an eyebrow at YeonAe, who looked everywhere but the two of them. From the look on her face, Ms. Zhang knew that something had happened previously which TaeHyung didn’t mention. She’d known YeonAe long enough to know when she did something wrong but trying to hide it. She had the habit of not making eye contact when others discovered her and would rather pretend nothing ever occurred.

Ms. Zhang looked back at TaeHyung and gave him a did-something-happen- look. A big part of her told her that something must’ve occurred for TaeHyung to walk her daughter home. She knew that YeonAe wouldn’t have automatically agreed for TaeHyung to follow her around, and that the boy himself wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of making sure YeonAe arrived home safely for no reason. 

TaeHyung, getting the message in some way, only nodded his head with a soft exhale. He’d rather not tell Ms. Zhang what came to pass with YeonAe being there, as the girl might think that he was someone who liked to bust other people out.

Besides, he had a feeling that YeonAe should be the one to tell Ms. Zhang what happened as it was because of her anyway. Even if she didn’t, TaeHyung was sure that Ms. Zhang would seek him to know what came about. 

“Would you like to come in for a hot drink? You know, as a gratitude for walking my daughter home. She went out without her phone and coat, and who knew what would’ve happened to her by walking out as she liked without telling me. ” Ms. Zhang invited, sending a glare at YeonAe who gulped nervously at the side at the same time.

Oh yes, she was in a big trouble all right.

TaeHyung smiled but shook his head at the offer. “That’s very nice of you but I need to be someplace else right now. I just needed to ensure that YeonAe made it home all right and since you’re already here, I can leave her with you.” He turned to YeonAe who was staring at the gate as if it was the most interesting thing, and said, “Hope you get better soon, YeonAe. See you in school in a little while.”

YeonAe nodded and shrugged of his coat that draped on her shoulder and returned them to TaeHyung. “Thanks.” She muttered, and walked off towards the apartment, leaving Ms. Zhang and TaeHyung at the front gate.

The both of them could only watch her back as she paced away, and once she was out of view, Ms. Zhang exhaled deeply. “I don’t know what else I should do with her.” She sighed. “She’s been extremely down, causing her not being able to attend school for two weeks. I tried talking to her, encouraging her but her grieve is overpowering. She stays locked inside her room every day and she barely eats. I’m so worried that it would affect her health somehow.”

“I believe she needs more time. Looking at her condition right now, Yixing’s passing definitely has an emotional impact to her. Still, she can’t keep this up for too long. She needs to get back on her feet and move ahead.” TaeHyung added and Ms. Zhang couldn’t agree more. She can’t believe how much YeonAe had changed after Yixing passed away. As much as her son’s loss affected herself greatly, she too wished that YeonAe would be able to leave her sadness behind and move on with her life.

The girl was still young, and she still had her whole life waiting for her. She still had her dreams to achieve, and things to prove. She needed to show the mother who left her behind that she survived, and that she made it in this cruel world. She can’t waste that all while kept herself drowning deeper and deeper in sorrow.

“Yixing wouldn’t want to see her that way.” Ms. Zhang said, and TaeHyung nodded with a sad smile. “Yes, he wouldn’t. I’m sure if he does see her now, he would be just as broken.”

After all the walking without any specific directions whatsoever, it definitely had taken up most of YeonAe’s energy, causing her to be famished right after she entered the small-sized apartment. She didn’t even realize that she hadn’t had breakfast, and it was already lunchtime.

YeonAe headed straight to the kitchen and began searching for what she could eat. Unfortunately, for her, the refrigerator was somehow empty and so were the cabinets. It then clicked her mind that Ms. Zhang went out earlier to buy some groceries since they ran out.

YeonAe looked around the floor and noticed shopping bags left at the side, with things still inside them. It dawned on her then that Ms. Zhang must’ve left them on the side when she got home to look for her, as she’d gone missing by the time Ms. Zhang was home.

YeonAe sighed and felt guilty at the thought. Not only she didn’t help Ms. Zhang to carry the heavy groceries, she too must’ve been extremely worried when she can’t find her anywhere once she’d returned home.

What a nuisance and burden she was being right now.

YeonAe picked up the groceries bags and put them on the table before starting to put the foodstuffs away. The least she could do was to help her mother with them after all the trouble she’d caused.

She was just keeping some bottles of milk inside the fridge when Ms. Zhang entered the house, and joined her in the kitchen. She helped her with the groceries and once they were about done, Ms. Zhang asked, “Are you hungry? You haven’t even had breakfast yet. I bet you’re starving after wandering around the streets. I can make you something for you to eat.”

YeonAe looked up to her and slowly nodded her head. “I am, but it’s okay. I can cook something by myself. You must’ve been exhausted too, mother. You carried all the groceries by yourself from the store and then you headed out again to look for me.”

Ms. Zhang smiled at her and rubbed her shoulders, before grabbing some ingredients to cook something for her daughter. “Well, I can’t say that I’m not mad at you, but I don’t want to lecture you either. You’re not a small kid to be scolded or reprimanded anymore. You’re old enough to think on your own, isn’t that so?”

YeonAe nodded her head quietly