The Hidden Treasure

~31~

Hyejin passed her days as she had before. There was a steady stream of customers, mostly regulars. She had stayed at her spot behind the counter, staring at the reading corner with her father's over-stuffed chair.

"Yah, Hyejin-ah, snap out of it." Jinjoo snapped her fingers under Hyejin's nose, making her startled.

"Auntie! You're here," smiled Hyejin.

"What's up with you lately? You're daydreaming a lot. Are you sick? Hurting somewhere? Should I take you to the doctor? Are you eating enough? How about sleeping?" Jinjoo came closer to her with every question, her overly concerned face staring intensely at Hyejin.

Hyejin laughed and put her hands up. "Auntie, I'm fine. Really." She smiled warmly at the older woman. She was glad Jinjoo had been there after her parents' deaths. Even if the woman could be a bit overbearing sometimes. "What's in that bag? Did you bring me dinner? Hmmmm?" She grinned mischievously at Jinjoo and walked around the counter to snatch the bags from the woman's hands.

"Aaahhhh!!! How did you know I was in the mood for chicken?!" Hyejin danced back around the counter, quickly removing the boxes from the bags and setting them on the counter.

The two women sat down at the counter and began enjoying their dinner. They chit chatted about different topics and laughed. Jinjoo noticed a look of sadness in Hyejin's eyes but she didn't push her to find out about it. She knew the girl would tell her in her own time. Till then, she just wanted to make sure Hyejin ate properly and was healthy.

Hyejin wiped her fingers off and sighed contentedly. "Thanks for the meal, Auntie. I think I ate too much." She patted her stomach and giggled. Truthfully, she hadn't eaten much the last few days. She just hadn't had an appetite. She wasn't sure why, but she decided to just go along with what her body wanted to do or not do. She could stand to lose a little weight anyway.

"I guess it's time for me to go home. Feel free to close up early tonight if you want, Auntie. We've not had a lot of business today. So I don't think that's going to change tonight." She slowly stood up from her stool and grabbed her jacket and bag.

"Be careful going home and-"

"Yes, Auntie, I know. I know! Don't talk to strangers." She waved her hand and left the shop quickly.

Once outside her shoulders dropped and she breathed a sigh of relief. She couldn't keep this act up in front of Jinjoo much longer. She had to act happy so her aunt wouldn't worry. She looked down at her phone and saw no new messages.

It had been the same since Namjoon left, even after asking if he could message her.

No messages at all.

She stuffed her phone back into her pocket and walked into the dusk that was settling on the city. She felt like it was a shadow on her own soul. Why was his absence bothering her so much? Why was she letting it? He had said they were just friends. But she felt like he was insisting on that too much, therefore making his protests look a little too fake.

She breathed out making a large white cloud of vapor. Just then her pocket buzzed and she stopped short, fumbling in her pocket to pull out her phone.

New Message from Kim Namjoon

She froze and stared at the phone.

"Lady, don't stop in the middle of the sidewalk." A soft male voice came from behind her as a body lightly nudged her shoulder and went past, glancing over his shoulder as he kept walking.

She glanced up to see him walking away and then he stopped and walked backwards to her.

"Sorry, I was kind of rude. I guess I wasn't watching where I was going either." He laughed nervously and bowed slightly in apology.