#consoled (1/1)

Chapter 3I was riding the bus with Myung’s little brother, Cheondung. Well, I can’t actually call him little because he’s a lot taller than me. But yeah, he’s my best friend's little brother – the cute little guy who had a great growth spurt and turned out to be a dashing young man who is very well-known among school girls. But beyond that great façade, he’s also a very cheerful and caring brother. And it showed a while ago, when he was telling me how worried he is about his sister.And just a little while ago, when Cheondungie didn’t doze off to sleep on my shoulders, she told me in detail how his sister has been acting lately. Myunghee, according to him, was very moody, seldom eats and often locked herself in her room nowadays. Most of them, especially her parents tried to ask her about her problem, but it was all in vain.“Does Siwon-oppa know about this yet?” I asked again. I could see worry wrinkling the forehead of Cheondungie. “No, I was planning to. He’s very busy with his life as a university student.”“Well, that’s good,” I replied. “You can’t tell him until I tell you so, okay?” Cheondungie nodded weakly and stared outside the window. After a few minutes, his head landed onto mine. I bet this guy’s so worried about his sister that he missed his sleep.We were nearing our stop, so I started to wake Cheondung up.“Cheondungie, we’re here,” I poked the tall sleeping guy beside.We were greeted by Mrs. Park, their mother, when we arrived at their place.“How is..” I was about to ask about Jia’s condition when Cheondung kept giving me eye signals (often blinking so fast) paired with head shaking and silent message mouthing. That was enough for me to know that her mother didn’t know about Myunghee crying last night.“What is it Jia-ssi?” Mrs. Park asked, intending me to go on.“Uhm,” Jia started, unable to find words.“Noona’s here to give their homework personally to Myung-noona, umma,” Cheondung quickly retorted. “Now if you’ll just excuse us.”Cheondung was now grabbing me upstairs walking so fast, away from Mrs. Park.“Slow down, Cheondungie!” I exclaimed. “I don’t have long legs like you. And by the way, thanks for saving me from your mom a while ago.”“Nah,” Cheondung replied. “That’s nothing, now go and visit my poor sister.”I nodded as I followed him towards Myunghee’s room.“I’ll prepare snacks for you two, Jia-ssi!” Mrs. Park shouted from below.“Umma!” Cheondung shouted back. “You don’t have to; this’ll just be a quick visit.”And with that we have arrived in front of his sister’s room.Tok! Tok! Tok! “Leave me alone!” A screaming Myunghee retorted.“Noona, Jia-noona’s here,” Cheondung said. He tried to sound cheerful but it wasn’t even 25% of his real cheerful voice.A loud thump was heard, then after a few minutes, the door opened.JIA'S POVI was shocked by what I saw. Myunghee’s joyful face was replaced with a deranged one – unkempt hair, dull, lifeless eyes, and a very heavy aura. It took almost all of my energy to keep myself composed. It pains me to see my best friend in this state. It’s such a far cry from her usual personality.“So, uhm,” she stuttered. “What brought you here, Ji?”I smiled. It seemed like a long time has passed since I heard the nickname she gave me.“Just checking up on you,” I replied. I closed the door of her room, giving her little brother a smile to assure him that I’ll try to take care of this. “Is there something you’re not telling me, Myung-ah?”Her eyes wandered on the floor and her hands clutched the ends of her bed’s sheets. “Nothing much.”“Your little brother’s worried,” I retorted as I let her sit on her bed while I positioned myself on the chair in front of her vanity area. “And so am I. What happened? I’ve never seen you so desolated before.” I could hear worry in my voice, I wished Myunghee heard that, too. She was reading my expression. Probably arguing with herself if she should tell me the problem or not.Respecting her privacy, I stood up, readying myself to go out.“Myung-ah, I don’t know what’s happening but Cheondung and I are so worried about you. You can stop acting strong when you’re in front of me. We’re best friends right? Even the greatest animal cry out for help. If, well…if you can’t share it now, I’ll wait for the right time. Just,.. just don’t keep yourself away from us- from the people who cares for you.”I was about to open the door when Myunghee suddenly hugged me from the back and cried hard.MYUNGHEE'S POVIt was about 10 minutes that I cried on Ji’s back. I never realized that I’ve been pushing people away because of this miserable feeling. In those 10 minutes of silent sobbing, Jia just patted my back three times, hugged me and waited silently and patiently for me to say what I had to say – if I had to say something. I thank God she’s my best friend.“I’m sorry I’ve made you all worried,” I started talking between sniffing.“Yeah? Uhm, I really don’t  know what to say,” Jia sheepishly answered, still holding and caressing my hand.I gave out a little laugh. “What a best friend. I forgot you, you aren’t mushy after all.”“Well,” Jia said. “I’m glad I made you laugh a little bit. But yeah, I really don’t know how to comfort people. But I can listen.” She then gave me her reassuring smile.“That’s more than enough, Ji,” I replied and placed a genuine smile on my face. It’s been a long time since I smiled like this.“I miss that smile, Myung,” she said, tears threatening to fall off her eyes.“Well, after I share to you what really is happening to me,” I said, wiping the tears that have fallen of her eyes. “I hope I’ll be myself again.”And so I told her about all that’s bothering me – how my happy-go-lucky relationship with Doojoon ended up like this. We both cried a lot, I can see that Jia’s empathizing with me. After I poured my heart out to her, a comforting silence enveloped us. It gave us time to catch our breath and rearrange our thoughts.“Don’t let that napun namja ruin your life, Myung,” Jia said. “It’s our last year in senior high – you’re a great student. Please come back. I’ll help you.”“I will,” I said. “I just hope I would know what I did wrong, why the relationship ended up like this.”“In that, I can’t help you. I haven’t been in love like you,” Ji replied. “Heck, I can’t even understand why you’re ruining your life because of Doojoon. He’s not worthy. Don’t worry; I’ll keep you away from him in the meantime. Just enough for you to pull your grades back up. And come here, I want to hug you. Thanks for sharing this all to me, Myung.”“Well,” I replied with a smile. “You ARE my best friend.”JIA POVAfter talking with Myunghee, and reassuring Cheondung that her noona is fine, I walked back home. I was a little bit refreshed, finally knowing the reason why Myung’s been acting like that. And whenever I think of that bastard guy of a Doojoon, my blood just boils up on its own. If that guy ever gets near my best friend, he’ll be the first to feel the great pain of Han Jia’s black belt Judo moves.I visited my minihompie, checking if I got instant messages. I didn’t have IMs so I just scrolled down, reading the updates from my friends when something caught my eye. I scrolled faster this time, registering the information I am seeing as of the moment. And then I could feel the temperature in me rising, my blood instantly boiled to life. All of Yoon Doojoon’s posts were liked by Kim Hyuna. I should’ve known. I breathed in a great amount of air. That bastard is with a bi-atch. I should’ve known.