The Sweetest Kind

Set Up

"You came home late on Saturday night." Jin Ah's mother says to open their conversation. It's Monday morning and Jin Ah really wants the week to roll immediately so she can forget about last weekend.

"Jin Woo Eomma asked for help in her cafe. Sorry, I didn't tell you." Jin Ah answers solemnly. She keeps stirring her cereal in front of her. Her mother stops what she's doing and stares at her only daughter.

"Min Tae Gu was here." That stops Jin Ah's movement for a second. Hearing his name reminds her of his forlorn expression at the bus stop. His remorse was visible, as was his disbelief.

She glances up to her mother and finds her staring, "He was?"

Was it before or after he came to the cafe?

"Yes. He asked about where you were and I only said you were with Jin Woo? No — wait. Jin Woo also asked about it about an hour before that."

"Oh. Okay." She starts stirring her cereal again.

"Is everything okay, Jin Ah? You look like the weight of the world is on your shoulder." Her mother says softly.

Clearly, the answer is no.

Despite her feeling like she exhausted her tears the night before, she kept crying the whole Sunday. Whenever Tae Gu's face came to mind, the waterworks started.

And now, her whole body can feel it. Her head is pounding from too much thinking, her eyes are puffy from too much crying, her hands are tired from releasing her emotion to her diary.

And her heart is heavy.

A very contrast feeling from last weekend, where her heart was flying. Just last week, she was busy finding a place for her Kitty on her bed. Changing it several times so that she could send the picture to a certain someone.

And she made a box that she named 'The Things That Are'. It was where she put everything that reminded her of her handsome tutee; the hairpin, the problematic keychain and all of his short notes calling her to the rooftop. She was so sure, as their relationship grew, she'd kept filling it with other things.

Yesterday, she was pacing in her bedroom, glancing at the same Kitty doll and the box with heartache. The hurt had driven her to the add the n't on the 'Are'.

"Ugh, stop staring at me, Kitty. No, not with those sad eyes. It reminds me of Min Tae Gu," Jin Ah stopped the pacing. "He looked at me with those eyes yesterday. But is it wrong for me to protect my heart? What if he, or his friends, pulls something like that again? Huh?"

"So, I will put you in that box, okay? I can't look at you without thinking about him. And I need to stop doing that. I need to stop looking at my message app to check whether he sends me anything again. So, the box, that's where you belong. Is liking someone supposed to be this hard? Ugh."

That night, exhaustion creeped in and as she lied on the bed, she looked at the picture of Kitty in the box that she took. And finally posted it on her SNS. What did she expect from the post? To send message to Tae Gu? Or to send message to her heart?

Because later that night, she took Kitty back and placed it on her bed one more time, finally falling asleep while hugging it.

"Everything is fine, Eomma. I'm just... not feeling too well."

"Oh, do you want to stay at home? I can call your teacher."

Tempting. Very tempting. And so she nods. "Can I, Eomma? I want to lie down."

"Of course, Jin Ah. Go, rest. I'll tell Jin Woo to go to school without you if he's here."

"Thank you, Eomma. You're the best." Jin Ah stands up and goes upstairs. But her mother calls her before she even steps on the stair.