thirteen months ago
Hyeri winced, and tightened her grip on Soonyoung's hand when she felt the sharp prick of the needle deep in her skin.
"Does it hurt?" Yunho asked, sweetly.
"No, it doesn't," Hyeri lied easily, whilst simultaneously tightening her grip on Soonyoung's poor arm. Yunho, who noticed it, let out a soft laugh.
"It's totally okay to admit when you're in pain, Hyeri. There's no way anyone can help you otherwise."
Soonyoung quietly observed Hyeri's wincing, which seemed to be caused more by Yunho's words, than his gentle ministrations on her foot.
He had a strong feeling that something was horribly wrong with Hyeri, but didn't bring it up just yet.
Yunho, after skilfully sewing her torn skin back, patiently advised Hyeri to not strain that foot of hers unless absolutely necessary, and to use a crutch or any other form of support while moving.
"And I really mean this, Hyeri. Don't ignore this doctor's advice, like you always do, because the consequences can be much more severe this time."
Hyeri nodded sadly, thanking Yunho for his help. Soonyoung escorted the doctor to the front door, feeling supremely grateful for his help.
"It would be helpful if you could keep an eye on her, and make sure she doesn't exert the foot. I know for a fact that she's very stubborn and will be up on her feet in an hour, if no one's surveilling her. I would do so myself, but I don't think her husband appreciates me coming over to his house to meet his wife," Yunho said, folding his coat over his arms.
Soonyoung cringes at his words. "Yeah, Seungcheol can be. . . a little possessive, at times."
Yunho laughed dryly. "That's an understatement. But anyways, I hope you can visit her often and make sure she doesn't do anything stupid."
Soonyoung nodded solemnly. "You can count on me."
-
"Soonyoung? Are you not coming?" Wonwoo asked, standing at the door of his room.
"Huh? What?" Soonyoung shook out of his reverie. He was coming up with some ideas for his side hustle, and had completely zoned out.
"We're all going out for dinner. Jihoon didn't inform you?"
Soonyoung widened his eyes. He had totally forgotten about the dinner they had planned.
"Your expression says that you forgot about it." Wonwoo sighed.
"No, I just. . . have some other plans. . ." Soonyoung trailed off, Hyeri's face in his mind. It had barely been a day since he'd last visited Hyeri, who insisted on him leaving and not come knocking on her door every single day.
Just as Yunho had predicted, Hyeri was moving around on her injured foot easily. "It's nothing I can't take," she had said, shrugging when Soonyoung scolded her.
She was definitely not telling him something, and it bothered him a lot. He was going to find out what it was.
"Alright, we'll leave you to it. Do you want us to bring you something from the restaurant?" Wonwoo's deep voice shook Soonyoung out of his thoughts.
"No, I'll get something for myself, thanks. You guys enjoy." Soonyoung smiled at his friend's thoughtfulness, but the smile dropped once he left.
He brought out his phone and dialled Hyeri's number, who answered the call after almost ten rings. Soonyoung stayed quiet for a few seconds, and heard muffled noises.
"H-hello?" Hyeri's voice called out after a second. Soonyoung didn't respond.
"Hello? Soonyoung? Are you there?"
Just as he opened his mouth to respond, he heard it again; a sniffle followed by a shaky breath. A tell-tale sign that she was crying. He sighed.
"You're crying, aren't you?"
Hyeri immediately ended the call.
"Alright, I'm on my way," he said to no one in particular, grabbing his car keys.
-
"What are you doing here?!"
Hyeri scrambled to wipe her face to rid any evidence of her tears. A futile attempt, since Soonyoung already knew she was crying.
"You really cannot cry on call and expect me to not do anything about it, Ri," he deadpanned, removing the beanie from his head.
Hyeri groaned. "I really should change the passcode of the door."
"You wouldn't dare. Anyways, shut up and tell me what happened."
"What do you mean?"
"Hyeri, stop stalling and just tell me why you're crying."
"I'm not—"
Soonyoung grabbed her arm and pulled her to sit on the couch, effectively shutting up her poorly made lie.
"Where's Seungcheol?"
"Oh, he's out for some work," she muttered.
"Isn't he usually at home during weekends?"
"His workload increased, so he isn't at home often. . ."
Hyeri was picking at her nails while saying all that, not making eye contact at all. She didn't want her best friend to see the tears threatening to fall off her eyes at any moment.
"Look at me in the eye and repeat whatever you said." Soonyoung knew that Hyeri couldn't lie straight to anyone's face.
When she refused to lift her head, Soonyoung pushed her chin upwards and stared into her teary eyes. He shook his head and sighed sadly.
"Why are you lying, Hyeri? What is it that you're not telling me? What's actually going on?"
Those words triggered something in her, and caused her to let go of all her control over her tears and emotions. She burst into tears, sobbing lightly.
Soonyoung, startled at her outburst, pulled her into a tight embrace, letting her cry on his chest. "What's wrong, Ri? What happened?" Soonyoung asked softly, rubbing circles on her back.
Hyeri pulled back and stared at him with teary eyes. She hiccuped, rubbing at her eyes. "It's Seungcheol. . ."
"What about him? What did he do?"
"I don't know! It's just. . . he's been weird lately, and we've been fighting a lot more often, and I'm just—" Hyeri let out a short scream of frustration at the end of her sentence.
"Hey, hey, calm down, I'm right here. Tell me what's been happening. Tell me everything." Soonyoung grabbed Hyeri's hands and held them, staring at her hesitant face.
"I'm scared, Soonie. . . I'm so, so, so scared," she whispered.
"Scared of what?"
"Scared about the marriage falling apart. . ."
"What?"
"You don't get it, Soonyoung, he's become so. . . different lately, and I don't know what's wrong. Every time I try to find out, he lashes out at me, and we end up arguing. He doesn't tell me anything anymore. I'm scared of what he's been hiding from me. Things are changing, and I hate it so much, but nothing I'm doing is helping. I just feel so helpless, and so alone. He's the only person I had, and now even he's changed."
"Did anything major happen for such a significant change? Any incident you recall that might've caused this?"
"No, I don't think so," Hyeri responded hesitantly.
"Do you want me to talk to him about this?"
"No!" Hyeri started panicking. "Don't mention a word about this to him. Please."
"Has he been hurting you?" Soonyoung asked slowly, his voice deadly serious.
"Not intentionally. . ."
"He's been hurting you?!" Soonyoung was on his feet.
"It's not like that, Soonie, trust me. He's just been drinking a lot more recently and isn't sober when he returns and doesn't realise what he's doing."
"Hyeri, no, I have to have a word with Seungcheol about this."
"Kwon Soonyoung, I swear to God, if you utter a word about this to anyone, I will end our friendship then and there."
"So, what, you want me to nothing about this and sit aside pretending as if he isn't abusing you? Are you serious?"
"Soonie, listen to me, it's not as bad as it seems, I'm just overreacting, I promise. I don't even know why I made such a big deal out of it right now."
"Because it is a big deal, Hyeri."
"Trust me, I promise I will reach out to you if it gets out of hand."
"Hyeri. . ."
"He'll get better, I just know it; he'll realise soon enough, and he'll apologise to me. He still loves me, and I still love him. I have hope in my husband."
xx
woah, so many dialogues
everyone's got so much to say, but I don't lol
[ April, 2022 ]