ELECTRIC ϟ LEE HAECHAN

forty two

"But it's not wrong until you... cheat, I guess." she continued, which made her head finally turn upwards.

"It's okay to grow out of things, or people, in your case. The only thing you have to do is be honest with him, Hyuck, and especially yourself."

Pursing her lips in thought, Minseo didn't even have the courage to give a slight nod. Honesty, the one thing she didn't take with her to the Republic. Standing in an empty gymnasium with orange contacts in her eyes and a friend she had lied to way too many times, it felt like a sin.

"What if I can't do it? I mean, he's been my life for the last three years."

Hyerin bit her lip in thought, gathering up the right words. "I think that's the issue."

Minseo tilted her head in curiosity. "What's the issue?" she questioned, forehead wrinkling from her distress.

"The only reason you're holding onto him is because he's the only thing that's familiar to you. I don't have much experience, but from what I can tell, moving is scary." she began, leaning onto the green cart filled with balls. "You don't want to let go because he feels like Jaegu, a piece of your life before coming here. He was there for you when no one else was, but quite frankly, I think you have a lot more people who care about you here— people who might care about you even more."

Minseo was frozen in place, words hitting her like a harsh cold breeze. It was sharp and striking, yet it was almost like a huge gust of wind as she stood in the Sahara. Beneficial, but sudden. Overwhelming over everything.

There wasn't a single thought in her mind that could deny the logic, yet it was like swallowing cough medicine. Bitterly disgusting, but necessary. And the cold, hard truth just so happened to be her least favorite flavor.

"I just know once I finally let go, I might lose a piece of myself." she confessed, forehead wrinkling in distress. Her breaths became shallow at the thought, looking at the ground again, the same laces that were loosely tied.

"Everything I've done in the last three years was for him. I spend holidays with him, he knows my family. Hell, he knows me better than anyone else- I feel like he's just taken so much from me." she panted out, eyes trailing over the amount of wooden planks beneath her.

One, two, three, four-

"Love isn't about taking, it's about sharing." Hyerin frowned, watching her closely as she watched her emotions come out in the shaky exhales. "If you feel like he's threateningly taken too much of your youth, that isn't love."

Minseo didn't have the courage to look up, the gymnasium lights burning at her neck. Moistness built up on her neck, fear raining down on her. I can't come to terms with it, I can't, she panicked.

"Does he know you better than anyone else, or does he know your weak spots? How to make you vulnerable?"

Shut up, shut up.

A deep breath in went through her lungs unsteadily, gripping the material of the ball with her hands. Her fingernails almost dug through the smoothness, creating crescent shaped indents on the blank white. It grew warm in her palms, a burning sensation building up on her flesh.

"Minseo, I'm saying this because I care-"

"Because you care? He claims he cares about me, yet I'm fucking traumatized from the last three years. I'm so stuck between staying or leaving just because I don't know who truly cares. You constantly reminding me about it isn't helping- I'm so torn!" she exclaimed, slamming the ball onto the ground with all of her strength.

It struck an overhead light, sparking slightly at the impact. As it came down, the smell of smoke emitted from the surface, the lamp ultimately dying out.

Both of their eyes widened as it fell in the gap right between them, the material appearing a dark brown color. As expected, a hot gas was steaming out of it, the aroma becoming stronger. Minseo looked above them to see the dimness that encased them like the opposite of a spotlight, mouth falling agape.

"Shit, I broke the light." she mumbled, the rage inside of her sizzling down. Hyerin's eyes flickered between the now useless volleyball, to her palms, then to her face. Her jaw had dropped in the slightest as she looked above them, contemplating all the possibilities in her head.

The ball is literally burnt, she repeated in her head in shock.

The image of sparks igniting at the impact replayed in her memory, staring down at the once perfectly white sphere in shock. The placement of the faults were too coincidental, too perfectly in place for it to have been from just the lamp breaking.

The ball is burnt exactly where her palms were.

forty two — burns

i assume you guys are smart enough to figure this out

currently my phone has broken and i don't have the usual banners for this book LOL so uhhh till i get that fixed or make a new one... these updates will stay bannerless

mentally speaking, daily updating this book has been hard to balance with everything else in my life :( i will be updating frequently (hopefully), but mental health comes first!!
and that goes for all of you my lovely readers,
perhaps, peaches? LOL i feel like its so weird if i call u by a name, but itd make it somewhat easier looooool. stay safe fr though <3