OUT OF MIND / MYG.

TWENTY NINE

as expected, chaeyoung was in the common room.

but, this time she chose to ignore me.

not a single comment escaped her mouth.

it worried me.

this wasn't chaeyoung.

i breathed before opening my mouth.

"chae, are you okay?"

i heard a sniffle momentarily.

then a glare was thrown my way.

"no, i'm not okay!"

i've never seen chaeyoung cry.

but here we were and tears were streaming down her face.

she was a light shade of pink with bloated eyes.

those eyes was transfixed, hazy.

i froze.

"why? what happened?"

i asked timidly.

weirdly enough, i cared about chaeyoung.

our relationship was love-hate.

more so hate but i knew deep down,

past all the psychological defects,

chaeyoung cared about me.

at least, that's what i like to believe.

i'm not for certain.

chae glanced up at me once more.

"they took her away."

i shook my head, confused.

"took who away?"

chae mumbled a name.

my legs locked up.

my breathing hitched.

my throat closed up.

my vision blurred.

it's like everything was in slow motion.

all i could hear was my distorted heartbeat hammering inside my chest.

i wish it would stop.

because maybe then i'd finally catch a break.

maybe then i could pretend i was happy.

but it seems that life hates me.

because i'm always dealt the bad hand.

i always draw the short end of the stick.

i'm never going to be happy, no matter how hard i try.

i'm going to be paying for the rest of my life.

"w-what? no, where is she??"

i force my lips to move, but all i want to do is cry.

"her mom picked her up a few hours ago. she's probably already halfway to busan."

that's when i cry.

because i didn't get a chance to say goodbye.

because she was my only friend.

because crying is all i can do right now.

then i find dr. choi.

because it's all his fault.

and he's not getting off that easy.