De Novo

Chapter 42

Wheein and hyejin were lounging on the living room floor with Ggomo comfortably lying beside them. Hyejin looked amused watching her friend with a camera in her hand, busy snapping candid photos of the sleeping cat who looks adorable with a stuffed toy curled in between his paws.

They were taking pictures of ggomo for almost an hour now, and it was also an hour since hyejin wonder why yongsun shut herself in her room.

Earlier, if hyejin remembers correctly, yongsun arrived at precisely 4 am. She arrived so early that hyejin have to curse the saints above about why she needed to be the one opening the door. Yongsun undoubtedly has her keys with her, but now she's ruining hyejin's sleep just because she kept pounding the door.

Hyejin planned to get sassy with the latter but the moment she opened the door, her voice retreated back into her throat as she decided to keep her mouth shut. She's not sure if she can see it well, or if she's just simply hallucinating because she just woke up, but yongsun's eyes appear as if they came from crying. The woman also made her way into her room without saying anything as soon as the door opened.

In addition to her speculation, yongsun was still in her room at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, isolating herself without reasonable explanation. Hyejin is quite accustomed to this scene. It was similar to the previous months, when yongsun was problematic, refusing to go out or denying her friends' attendance.

Hyejin is unsure. However, this was all too common... too common that her hands are itching to knock on yongsun's door and inquire as to what was wrong with her.

"Whee, do you sense anything peculiar from yongsun?"

Wheein's eyes immediately turn to Hyejin as she stops using the phone's camera. Her brows furrowed as she made a tight grimace. She remained silent for five seconds, before shrugging her shoulders and expressing confusion at what Hyejin was saying.

As far as she was aware, her friend was doing fine. After moonbyul awoke from the dead, everything is fine.

"Peculiar? Like?"

Wheein shrugs and gets back to taking pictures of ggomo, who was now sprawled out on the carpet with his stomach exposed. Wheein let out a little whine while beaming broadly at how adorable her cat is. Hyejin, on the other hand, rolled her eyes at her friend's whining though she also find the cat adorable.

"Like.. she's not coming out of her room and it's already 3 pm. The last time I saw her acting like this was when after she was released from the hospital."

"What's so unusual about that? They've been out all night doing--" wheein stopped as she wave her hands up in the air, gesturing randomly, while hyejin rolled her eyes, "-- whatever they doing. You know what I mean, right?" Wheein added.

Hyejin responded with a scoff, "Yes. You mean fucking?" which caused the latter to grin wickedly.

"Yes," Wheein adds, "therefore they must have stayed all night, and now yongsun is recharging herself."

Though hyejin knows her friend has a point, she was still unable to explain why yongsun felt emotional when she answered the door. The light illuminates yongsun's wet eyes and hyejin knew by the fact something was wrong. She does not, however, wish to draw a quick conclusion. She just woke up, her mind drowsy and tired. She must have been experiencing mental illusions or false perceptions as a result.

But the tears appear serious.

"I know but.." Hyejin closes her eyes, "I suppose yongsun was crying when I opened the door, though I can't be sure since I just woke up."