fatal flaw - kang sae-byeok

(6)

she turned to look at sae-byeok, who was deep in thought. it was probably the wrong time to be thinking like this, but mia was emotional at the sight of sae-byeok in a setting like this. for a second, she pretended that she had taken her back to her hometown, and was about to introduce her to her parents.

snapping her out of her fantasy, a guard signalled to mia and sae-byeok to follow him. they walked through the toy town and were left in the back corner.

the girls were each handed a bag of marbles.

shit. mia thought. she was never good at these types of games.

better me than her.

'''in this game, use your ten marbles to compete with the partner next to you. the player who takes all ten marbles from their partner wins''.

''i told you so'', sae-byeok tried to lighten the mood, despite the obvious.

''sae'', mia used her newly-founded nickname. ''this is it''.

sae-byeok took a step forward and cupped mia's face.

''it will be ok. i promise''.

mia took a second to breathe in sae-byeok's scent, feel her touch, take in the freckles that scattered her cheeks like stars in the night sky.

having her in front of her actually made mia believe that everything would be ok.

''yeah''.

''ok, let's do this''.

''any ideas?''

''can we get it done in one round? i know that gives us less time but that look on your face is already killing me''. that comment alone gave mia butterflies, which quickly turned into heartache.

''yeah...yes i agree''.

''ok, how about a throwing competition? quick and simple''.

mia's lip quivered, but she nodded nonetheless.

''come here''.

the girls, leant against a brick wall, held each other in silence. no words could describe their thoughts in that moment.

all they knew is that they needed each other, but they couldn't have each other.

''why are you here? why play the game?'' mia tried to distract them from what they were both thinking.

''i need to provide a safe home for my little brother'', mia smiled at her response, ''he deserves the world''.

mia squeezed her hand as sae-byeok's eyes filled with tears.

''what about you?''

''i made some stupid mistakes. did some stupid things to some stupid people''. mia surprised herself at how closed off she was being. perhaps she didn't want sae-byeok to truly know her. she was ashamed.

''we should get on with it''.

getting even more attached at this point would be counter-productive.

''who's going first?''

''rock, paper, scissors?''

''winner goes first? get it out of the way?'' sae-byeok nodded in agreement.

''rock''

''paper''

''scissors''

''shoot''

sae's scissors beat mia's paper.

she took a deep breath, glanced at mia, and tossed the marble as far as she could. it rolled just short of the brick wall that they were just leant against.

''your turn''.

mia took a deep breath. she locked eyes with the girl in front of her. the girl that got her through hell. the girl whose smile could light up any dark situation. the girl who had time for her.

the girl that deserved the world.

the girl that she loved.

the warm feeling in her heart that she got just from looking at sae-byeok told mia everything she needed to know.

it had to be her.

so, she dropped the marble.

it bounced in slow motion, before settling just next to her feet.

she gave sae-byeok a bittersweet smile.

''no! no no no'', sae-byeok rushed toward the girl, ''what have you done?''

she placed her hands on top of sae-byeok's who were shaking mia's shoulders in an angry panic.

''it's ok, you said it would be ok, and it is'', mia said with a sad smile.

''you can't do this. i can't do this'', sae-byeok choked out.

out of the corner of her eye, mia saw a guard in red walking towards her.

''kang sae-byeok. there is nobody that i would rather have done this with. thank you. you showed me what love is. and now i'm showing you what it is. think of me when your brother is playing in your mansion,'' mia stifled a laugh.

sae-byeok couldn't reply. she was frozen. she felt as if her heart had been ripped out and stomped on. she was paralysed with guilt, sadness, and love.

her biggest regret was not telling her.

''sae, turn around. i love you''.

that gunshot would echo in sae-byeok's mind for the rest of her life.

the sound of heartbreak.

love can be sad, beautiful, and tragic. it can be exhilarating, painful, and passionate.

it can make or break a person.

for mia and sae-byeok, it did both.

for mia, it was her fatal flaw.