❝ if you were to choose between two people-
would you choose the person you love or the
person who loves you? ❞
━ a poignant narrative that weaves through the tapestry of girlhood, boyhood, friendship, parenthood, love, and loss. It follows the li...
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AS YOONGI PROMISED HOSEOK, the boarding house did receive a phone call from him that morning he left.
"He said he just felt like staying over at his friend's house," Yoon Solbitna—who, at the time, happened to be the one that picked up the phone—told everyone later that evening in Pureom's bedroom. They were watching Keanu Reeves' Speed on her Sony trinitron TV. "He hasn't seen Hoseok in months so he missed him. That's all he told me."
"I still don't buy it," expressed Jimin with a frown. Looking at Taehyung—who sat cross legged on Pureom's bed while leaning his back against the wall, fully mesmerized by Sandra Bullock's charming appeal in the film—he said to him, "Is that really the only reason why, man?"
"What?" Taehyung replied obliviously.
"Is Yoongi really only staying at Hoseok's place because he misses him?" Jimin repeated.
"Trust me bro, it is," replied Taehyung. There was a sort of authenticity in his voice and demeanour that made it easy for the others to believe that his words were not false. "I, too, sometimes have the urge to meet my hometown friends in the middle of the night. Don't we all?"
Jimin heard Pureom laugh.
"Sure, you have a point but what kind of idiot actually leaves the house past midnight to see their friend?" She contradicted, her eyes fixed on the television screen the entire time. "Unless I was going through hard shit, then I would probably go see them in a rush and even stay over for a few days. But if I just missed them, don't you think that a phone call's enough? 'Oh hey man, I miss you a lot. How are you doing? Blah, blah, blah'—I would've said that. I don't think it's necessary to run all the way to their house."
"Maybe they're just really close, Pureom," Solbitna muttered flippantly. "Yoongi probably considers Hoseok as a very special friend of his—who knows?"
The nineteen year old turned her head slowly to the younger girl with a dumbfounded expression. Special...Friend...Special friend. Suddenly, it struck her. Pureom understood or, at least, hypothesized something that no else in the room ever thought about. She gasped at the assumption and her reaction was loud enough for the others to turn their attention to her.
"What's wrong?" Jimin questioned worriedly.
"Nothing," Pureom said instantly, grinning sheepishly to herself. "I'm just reacting to the movie."
May 12, 1997 Monday
Time did go on for everyone without Min Yoongi; when the first day of the midterm exam week arrived, still no news came about him. The trio—Jimin, Pureom and Taehyung—still spent most hours and days together. They were practically inseparable according to Solbitna, who always—though, by coincidence—trailed behind them while on her way to the bus station. She would occasionally look up to catch a glimpse of the three figures conversing with each other. Kim Taehyung usually stood in between the two extroverts—with Jimin on his right and Pureom on his left. On some days, she'd hear Pureom gossiping about her acquaintances at school and mouthing profanities directed at them; other times, they laughed heartily about god knows what. When the first day of exams ended at five o'clock, Solbitna arrived home to the trio, along with Seora, playing Monopoly in the living room. They never drank inside the house—only outside on the rooftop or in the yard—due to their immense fear of possibly hearing Mr. Yoon's reprimands.
