WITH GRACE.

5장

i spent the weekend confined alone at home. the boys' sleepover was supposedly for a night only, but i received jungwon's call early on saturday morning informing me of their extended weekend with friends. one of their older friends, which happens to be their crew's mentor, will be taking them out to a mountain camp for team building and relaxation. the two were apologizing on the line for leaving me by myself even longer, but i assured them, saying i will be fine... which i guess i pretty much am.

well, for one, being alone made me realize just how silent and dull it is when it's just me, my thoughts and the walls of this apartment. i may be extroverted, but i'm more of the kind who gets energy from socializing, but enjoys time on my own. unfortunately, ever since attending university, i have drawn far from socializing with people ㅡ making me seem like a true introvert. truth is, getting a job and looking after two boys already took a lot of my time. i crave for social interaction once in a while, but it's compensated by the boys' presence and affection. aside from that, i don't really stick out in the crowd so i tend to be easily overlooked. i prefer being plain and simple, thus the more reason for people to not bother interacting with me.

i spent the weekends doing housework. i cleaned the apartment, washed my laundry ㅡ and some of jungwon's laundry that i found lying under his bed (this child lacks the idea of orderliness) ㅡ and bought grocery for next week's consumption. desoite doing all those, i still got some time to spare so i ended up baking another oreo cake (jungwon's favorite) and making myself some chocolate eclairs. in totality, i spent a productive weekend.

what i didn't ㅡ or forget  rather ㅡ to foresee was my monthly cycle. it's sunday afternoon already. i was laying idly on my bed, exhausted for some reason. it's good to note that my head was also throbbing in pain. when i went to the comfort room to pee, it was then that i realized i was having my period today ㅡ explaining the headache i suffered from.

fortunately, i still had one pad spared from my previous cycle. it was better than nothing. however, with how heavy my period gets, one pad cannot suffice for a couple of hours. i needed to buy myself some pads, but my headache was disturbingly painful, rendering me almost unable to walk. i could only hope the two would come back soon.

as if my wishful thinking got granted, i heard the shuffling of feet towards my direction.

"noona! we're back!" dongkyu swung my door open.

however, my unsightly appearance greeted them. i was curled into a ball, hugging a pillow tight like my life depended on it.

"thank goodness you're back. i need your help," i croaked in desperation.

"what's wrong, noona?" jungwon took initiative to ask.

"period," their eyes widened in realization.

"oh," the two of them chorused.

suddenly, another set of figures made an appearance by my door.

"is there something wrong?" i heard a voice asking.

i looked up and was genuinely horrified to see four familiar faces staring at me...and my horrible state.

i sat up abruptly, startling the rest of the people in my room. my headache throbbed even worse with what i just did and i aww-ed in pain.

"are you okay?" jake asked.

"yes i am. i mean, no. wait. god, i'm fine, i'm fine. it's just the throbbing headache and some discomfort...yeah," i rambled while rubbing my temples.

"dongkyu, jungwon, i need some help," both of them went closer to me, as if assisting me to stand. "no, not that. come closer, i need to tell you something,"