In the end, Jieun lost two jobs in the span of one day. At least the manager from the café was considerate enough to pay her for the two weeks she had worked into the month. However, the manager from the flyer part time job was not as kind; she was dismissed with a mere sentence of: ‘You don’t have to come anymore.’ after showing up 15 minutes later than she was supposed to.

Well, handing out flyers is boring.

Which was why Jieun woke up exceptionally early the next day because she could not afford to lose her last remaining part time job in the early morning. Although earlier than usual, the newspaper pickup point was already running with the papers all sorted and arranged. After getting the newspaper, Jieun pedalled her bicycle to the nearby warehouse to collect the milks she was supposed to deliver daily.

She liked that she was able to do two jobs at one time and right after the delivery she could go straight to her lectures.

Looking at the sky, Jieun was relieved that she was earlier because it looked like there would be a morning drizzle but she was already halfway done with her delivery. Jieun was confident that she would finish the delivery before the rain pours. At this thought, although pretty much sleep-deprived, Jieun’s spirit lifted slightly and she pedalled even faster, hoping to get her jobs done.

As she took a sharp turn into the right junction, briefly noticed that the lamp post was beginning to dim, indicating that dawn was breaking-

The front bicycle tyre jerked as if being stuck, yet the inertia from the motion of bicycle which was relatively fast had Jieun pitched forward and fell headlong on the asphalt road. That split moment as she lurched forward, Jieun noticed a thin wire string which was connected between the lamp post and the hand rail on the other side.

Then, the sound of glass breaking, bottles rolling downhill and the dull thuds of the scattered newspapers around the sloping hill brought Jieun’s senses back. Only then she realized beside the cooling liquid of the spilled milk, there was also warm and coppery liquid that she smelled in the early morning air.

Jieun moved slightly, wincing as she felt shards of glasses digging further into her wounds, not entirely sure why would there be such trap until a few pair of feet appeared by the end of the decline.

“She really fell for the trap!”

“Oh my, the place is a mess…tsk tsk.”

As their voices getting closer, Jieun saw three unfamiliar faces while still struggled to push her body away from the ground.

“She really is poor now, to the point that she needs to deliver milk and newspaper!”

The only girl in the among the three spoke as she tittered, joining her friends in kicking the milk bottles and stepping on the newspapers, no longer salvageable.

Their chuckles grew louder and one even clapped out of gaiety when they noticed that Jieun had yet to stand up and only squirmed around. The two guys crouched beside her, pushed her head as they snickered.

“Let’s see if you still want to be snobbish after this!”

“Just disappear and don’t show up in campus anymore. You’re such an eyesore.”

Jieun was both rankled and confused that the only question she wanted to ask in exasperation was Who the hell are you all but she kept quiet and focused on getting up like a toddler.

By the time she finally sat up, the overdue rain begun and washed away milk from the ground as if the milk never spilled, Jieun felt as if she was being returned the command of her body. Standing up, Jieun looked around, the drizzle might have washed away the trace of the white dairy liquid, but the remains of the broken bottles and newspapers that were either soaked or torn were the harsh reminder of what happened.

Picking up her bike, Jieun’s hand gripped hard on the handle. For that moment, Jieun felt as if her existence was the same as the ruins on the ground. Just because she was Lee Jieun, the one who everyone laughed at her misfortune and hated, so she was ultimately the punching bag. No matter what, she was the one at fault and this was what she deserved.

This was exactly what came into Suho’s view when he was on the way back from the hospital after visiting his father who had been hospitalized the day before. The rain had gotten heavier, but the small figure never budged, standing with her back so straight in the middle of the road, as if unfazed by the rain and the absolute mess on the ground.

However, Suho saw how her fists clenched and he knew immediately that Jieun was not how she seemed on the outside. He asked the driver to halt the car and went straight for her. It was too late when Suho realized he had nothing to shield Jieun from the rain, hence, without any hesitation, he took off his flannel shirt and draped over her head.

Unknowingly, Suho’s tone was soft gentle as he bent slightly to take a closer look at Jieun’s pale face and noticed the bleeding wounds on her chin and cheeks.

“What happened?”

His heart clenched when he saw the scarlet liquid mixed with the rain that never stopped streamed down and eventually stained her white shirt and trickled down into her shoes. If he never happened to pass by here, how long would Jieun stand in the rain alone, remaining mute as how she is now?

Even with her vision partially blocked by the pouring rain, Suho’s features clearly printed in her mind, bearing the same expression as he had held when he was younger as he defended her from the bullying. It was an expression with worried, bravery, determination with a hint of awkwardness thrown together.

Seeing how his jet-black hair was drenched, with droplets of water dripping down to his elegant nose, his pale cheeks and dull-coloured lips from the cold and the deep set of gentle eyes behind the pairs of long eyelashes, with tiny water droplets. Jieun almost tempted to collapse into his embrace and snivel as she used to when they were young.

“It’s best that you head inside now, the rain is getting heavier and not stopping any soon.”

The intrusion of a new voice broke the two out of their own thoughts and Jieun nearly laughed at her own foolishness for having such thought when she saw the familiar gaze at her by the driver that she never missed in the Kim’s household, especially from Suho’s mother. It was a gaze of disproval and disdain.

Jieun immediately shifted herself and as she raised her head again, her entire demeanour was biting and steely, reverting to how she had always held herself in front of others.

Suho who had been closely watching Jieun clearly noticed her change of mien, but not the gaze of the driver which was the cause of her change. Seeing how his shirt was soaked as well, he gently ushered her to go with him.

“Xiao En, I’ll give you a lift, the rain is too hea-”

“No, I’m fine. Thanks.”

Jieun’s immediate refusal made Suho’e eyebrows furrowed, but his gaze followed hers and noticed the bicycle that was on the ground.

“Don’t worry about the bicycle, I’ll ask Mr.Jung to mount the it. Let’s go into the car.”

“No, really, I don’t want to dirty your car.”

At Jieun’s second blunt refusal, Suho threw away the piece of clothing he held in exasperation. Confused and hurt by Jieun’s decline of his help, Suho could not help but to raise his voice.

“Lee Jieun! Are you insinuating that whatever I’m doing right now, or last time in the coffee shop is only an act? Is this how you really see me? Even with our relation, your pride is more important than receiving my help?”

Relation?

Our relation? That’s right, before all the mess, Suho was her bosom friend.

Not waiting nor expecting a response, Suho grabbed onto her hand and led her with him into the car. After so many years and finally holding her hand in his, Suho was reminded that she was only a petite girl, one who hid behind her domineering mask. Even her fist which used to intimidate others fitted easily into his palm, soft and small under his grasp.

Suho was too immersed with the turmoil of feelings inside him that he still hadn’t release Jieun’s hand until Mr Jung went into the car with his soaked shoulders, giving him the silent question where to go.

His hand jerked and released the small hand yet hovered above it for a moment before taking his hand back and cleared his throat out of awkwardness.

“Let’s head back home.”

Jieun visibly flinched at Suho’s words and the latter noticed the resistance in her eyes. After a momentary pause, Suho reassured her as he found out what caused her discomfort.

“No one is at home, my mum is accompanying dad in the hospital.”

Suho’s words were not able to reassure Jieun as her whole being remained stiff, unable to hide her distaste of going back to the Kim household; it reminded her the day she found out that her father had been sold out by his closest friend and the father of the person sitting beside her.

Jieun did not expect Suho to fathom what she felt the moment he said to go to the very place where she felt as if her world collapsed after learning the truth, all she knew that she did not want to be there. As if on reflex, Jieun’s hand shot out for the door handle, barely gripped on it before pulled back by such force that she felt the air in the lungs pushed out the moment Suho caged her in his embrace.

“Are you out of your mind? The car is moving!”

Jieun’s mouth was shut tight, just as how the arms around her were while her right ear was on the firm chest, listening to the rhythmic beat. Albeit slightly faster than usual, it finally gave her the assurance she needed; perhaps Suho had never once stopped being her closest friend, not when his iron grip on her bespoke his fear of losing her.

Nevertheless, there were so many sides to a human heart, a person’s intention could always change just like how her father was betrayed by Suho’s father.

Can she trust him? Can she truly relish in the warmth radiated from Suho who was holding her close?

She was so tired, maybe she should take a breather and lean on the shoulder offered by him.

Just for a short while.

〜❅〜

Suho’s frown deepened as he picked out the glass shards from Jieun’s wounds. All this while, the girl cladded in his oversize shirt kept quiet, but being at such close promiximity, Suho saw how her lips trembled and how her shoulders stilled as she held her breath from time to time to withstand the pain.

None of them uttered another word after stepping into Suho’s house and as he took care of Jieun’s wounds, he remembered the times where he used to do so every time after they fought with each other. It was the time they had fought hard and fierce whenever they wanted to get attention from Goomi- Jieun’s mother, but of course how could a girl overpower a boy, hence Jieun was always the one ended up with more injury.

Earlier when Suho had hugged her earlier, her thin frame was even more noticeable now that she was wearing his shirt and shorts; smaller and thinner than two years ago. Even the baby fat in her cheeks were gone. Suho’s eyes flicked to her eyes before returning to focus the wound on her chin as he dabbed antiseptic.

But the fire in her eyes is as strong as ever.

Comforted by this thought, Suho’s frown loosened as he worked with the cotton bud. Making sure that there were no more glass shards, Suho naturally leaned in closer to check on the wound. Then, suddenly, his gaze was no longer on the chin, but her lips which the bottom was redder from the lip biting all the while.

Being this close, Suho could take a whiff of Jieun’s natural scent along with the fragrance of his shower gel. Any closer, he could-

Jieun hissed in pain when Suho accidentally pressed the cotton bud too hard on the wound. Panicking slightly and feeling apologetic, Suho gently cupped one side of her face as he blew on the wound. Before he knew it, his mouth moved on its own.

“Pain, pain, go away.”

It was a phrase Goomi always used when she tried to comfort her daughter; Suho who had seen it countless times when they were younger, subconsciously used it as well when he saw that Jieun was in pain.

Jieun’s intertwined fingers on her lap tightened after registering what Suho had said. Just then, a person shuffled in and told them that their clothes were dried up.

Realizing what he had done, Suho was embarrassed and shifted himself away from Jieun. Trying to keep his trembling fingers busy, he tidied up the first aid kit without another word.

“Can I-“

Suho’s head whipped so fast towards her that Jieun paused momentarily, confused with his big reaction before continuing her sentence.

“-borrow your phone?”

Suho’s shoulders relaxed in response as he reached for his phone on the table and handed it to her. He thought that Jieun wanted to leave straightaway and he did not like that.

After latching up the first aid kit, Suho sat down on the couch as he looked at the petite figure while she was softly talking into the phone. After a short while, he could hear that the person on the phone was not happy with what Jieun had said regarding the morning incident.

Soon, Jieun ended the call with a resigned sigh. Putting pieces together, especially after the ordeal in the coffee shop, Suho knew that Jieun was working as part-timer and she must had been doing the milk and newspaper delivery as well until the incident this morning.

“What happened this morning?”

Suho knew Jieun was not careless so something must had happened which caused her to fall down and lost her job.

“It was nothing. Just a prank.”

“Just a prank?” Suho’s voice unintentionally rose higher as he thought what happened was far more than a prank. Other than causing her to lose her job, she was even wounded badly.

“Who did it? Are they the same people from the coffee shop?”

Jieun stared at him for a short while before shrugging, which Suho was not sure if she meant she did not know who was behind the prank or denying that the girls from the coffee shop were the cause of the incident.

“You can tell me. I can help you.”

Suho stood up, following behind Jieun as she reached for her dried clothes. His hand on her shoulder, turning her around so that she could look at him. He was more than willing to help her out, but could not if she did not say what were the problems.

“How do you want to help?”

Jieun finally muttered while her eyes bore straight into Suho’s.

“I don’t even know most of the people who hate me. Even if I know and I tell you, what are you going to do? Beat them up? You wouldn’t.”

“Not every solution has to be violence. We could tell the campus and warn them.”

Jieun snorted at Suho’s suggestions.

“If mere warning and talking could stop them, then in the beginning they wouldn’t listen to baseless rumours and blindly hating on me.”

“Then, what do you want me to do? I want to help but you wouldn’t let me to!”

Suho said in exasperation. He didn’t understand, they were supposed to be closest friends, but why was she so resistant of the idea of asking help from him?

Jieun no longer wanted to discuss this anymore and being in the house where her request of help was thrown back in her face two years ago made it even more infuriating now that the future owner of this house was asking her to receive his help.

“I’m leaving, I have classes to attend.”

What Jieun said momentarily distracted Suho as he grabbed onto her hand, opposing what she had said.

“You should rest for today, I can help you to call Mr.Kim and ask for a sick leave.”

“I couldn’t afford to skip one class now that all my part time jobs are blown.”

Jieun’s response was immediate and calm, but Suho took a moment to get used to what she had said. The Lee Jieun he knew never had to worry about money, but here she was, being meticulous anything that had to do with money. At this, Suho knew there was nothing he could do to prevent her from leaving.

His hand gripped on the door handle as he watched Jieun walking away with the bicycle of hers. Suho was determined to help her out no matter what.

He just had to try like how Jieun had always tried to be with him, to match his strides, to talk to him and so much more.