Our Summer

Chapter 17

"He likes Seori", Miyeon traces the tables aimlessly with her index finger, sighing heavily. "We are just friends he said and I think that was one clear sign of rejection, to me"

Miyeon gulps at the pain creeping on her heart, closing her eyes at the thought of her long time crush, Kang SeungHo. She has always liked him. No, she loves him. But they have been friends for so long she might have lost her only chance to take everything further. SeungHo and her have been friends since they were small and they practically watched each other grow . They have seen all sides of each other and gone through everything together, side by side.

Miyeon thought they both were meant to be. Not until SeungHo started dating someone five years ago and all hopes were gone. She saw a dead end and she swore to never ruin the friendship she had built with SeungHo just for the sake of her broken heart. Nobody knew about her feelings except Taehyung. She made him promise not to tell and he kept it.

"I better get going", Miyeon suddenly sounds cheerful. "Give me a call if you need any help with Seori"

-

Seori finds herself standing in the middle of a bright room, tall white walls and striking lights illuminating the big empty space to the point she has to squint her eyes to see better. There is no one else but her. Her shallow breaths echo into the void, bouncing back to her like an eerie sound. She turns around again and again, her heart beating like a drum so loud it reaches her ears.

This is it. This is the dream she fears so much. Being in this space, alone.

She looks at her hands, so pale she can see her veins. She looks at her body, tugging on the white dress she has on and the remembrance of it sends shivers down her spine. She tries to get rid of it, tugging on the loose strings, pulling the collar with her cold hands but after all those aimless struggle, she fails to do so. It is like the dress is latched onto her, forever.

Then she hears a cry. A familiar cry echoing through the walls of the room and she twirls around to search for it. She knows this voice. She recognizes by heart and it breaks her when the voice cries harder, like the person is in pain and trying to find a way to end the agony.

"Taeri?", her voice breaking as tears pool at the corner of her eyes. "Taeri!? I am here. Please"

She runs towards a direction, not knowing where to go but she wants to find Taeri. She needs to find her just to comfort her. She wants to hug her and take away all her pain.

She comes to halt when she feels something on her hand and when she looks at them, trails of blood cover her hands up to her elbows. She gasps in horror, rubbing them away, wiping them on her white dress as she cries, desperately wanting to get rid of them. Desperately wants to reach Taeri at the same time.

"No, Taeri, I am coming to you. Please don't go, not yet", she cries, starting to get irritated at herself when the blood just won't get off her hands. "No no no, please"

She drops to her knees, aggressively rubbing her hands as the sound of Taeri's cries surrounds her. She feels like the space is swallowing her up as she feels out of breath, like she is choking on her own tears as she cries to herself. Her face is wet, her hair is disheveled and her heart is pounding under her ribcage so painfully loud and hard. And it gets louder and louder and she has to cover her ears as she screams into the void, wanting everything to stop.

Then she hears a voice, a different one. A man's voice.

"Park Seori, wake up"