Narrator
"Hello?!" Haerin yelled out.
"Hello?!" She whispered in defeat.
As a 5 year old being lost was a scary thing. You constantly needed someone to guide you to where you were going....
But Haerin didn't have that pleasure.
Not after her she ended up getting lost at the beach on a warm summer evening.
"Hello?!" Haerin tried to yell again, but her voice had given out.
Haerin had been lost for the last 5 hours. She was starting to feel as if her family left her behind on purpose. She was starting to accept that maybe this wasn't what her parents wanted.
"Hello?" Haerin whispered, curling up next to the ocean waves.
"Hi!" A random voice suddenly reached her.
Haerin looked up to find a kid around her age staring down at her.
"The ocean is so much funner when the sun goes down, huh? There's no one at the beach and there's so much more room to play in!" The kid excitedly exclaimed.
- Y/N POV -
It had been 12 years since I found Haerin seating by the side of the ocean, but Haerin still had the same lost eyes as back then.
"How's college going?" Grandma asked.
"It's okay," I lowly replied.
I was too distracted by Haerin's silence to be in the mood to talk about silly things.
Ever since I had started college, I had been worried about Haerin. I wanted to know that she was doing well in school, that she was eating well, that she wasn't feeling like she lacked anything.
But, of course, how can you feel like you're not lacking when your parents happened to just forget you on the beach one day.
"Do you want some of this?" I asked Haerin, watching her play with her food.
I had brought her an assortment of fruits and veggies. It was a bit expensive, but I didn't mind doing so to see Haerin's smile.
"Mhm," she hummed out.
I got up to wash the cucumber I had presented her and peeled it a little, before walking up to hover it over her mouth.
"Aahhh~" I signaled.
Haerin smiled a little and slowly opened her mouth.
My heart sighed of relief when I finally saw that smile I loved so much creep up to her face.
"Ahhhh~" Haerin cutely hummed as I placed the cucumber in her mouth.
- Haerin POV -
Y/n had only started college a few months prior, but with them out of the house.....
I felt just as lost as I did as a kid.
"Are you okay?" Y/n asked, as I got ready for bed.
"Mhm," I nodded in response.
Y/n sighed, in the way they did when they don't believe me, and asked... "Do you want to sleep with me tonight?"
My heart fluttered a little bit and I nodded in response.
Soon enough, Y/n and I were cuddled up in their bed. We were watching movies and just catching up on life.
It was my last year of high school and all I could wonder was who would show up to my graduation. I kept on thinking if Y/n would even have the time to come or if their exams were around that time.
Still, Y/n always tried to ease my mind.
"Should we watch Meet the-"
"Nuh uh!" I quickly rejected Y/n's offer.
I already knew what Y/n was about to suggest. Y/n often liked to watch "Meet The Robinson" with me. It was their way of reminding me that maybe there was a reason I was left behind.
Even though, I always appreciated Y/n's efforts in making me feel special or less of a burden.... sometimes it hurt too much...
"We'll find them, don't worry," Y/n kissed my forehead a little, before gently closing my eyes so I could go to sleep.
- Y/N POV -
My weekend had come to an end and Haerin was throwing a fit, like always.
"NOOO!!" She kept on crying.
Ever since I started school, I did my best to come home to visit her. Grandma always said that Haerin silently cried like she did as a kid, so I did my best to come and keep her company.
Just that when it was time for me to leave, Haerin would start crying.
"DON'T LEAVE ME!!" She kept on crying.
"YOU DON'T NEED TO GO TO SCHOOL. YOU'RE LYING. YOU WON'T BE BACK!!" Haerin kept yelling.
It was like Haerin would revert back to her 5 year old self.
"Your parents will be back soon. They just got a little lost on the way over," My grandmother would tell her when we were kids.
"They're just at work. Don't worry," My grandma tried to make any excuse to make sure Haerin didn't cry.
"Your parents love you. They'll be right back as soon as they can," Grandma always did her best.
Still, Haerin would painfully cry throughout the night.
And every time I had to go back to college, Haerin would do the same. She'd scream and cry just like she did when she was 5.
"Haerin, I will be back next weekend. I promise!" I kept trying to get Haerin off me.
"Haerin, Y/n will come back Friday night. Just like they have been for the last 6 months!" Grandma tried to help me.
"NOOOO!!!" Haerin painfully screeched.
It was a painful thing to watch to this day.
Haerin's eyes would look lost and desperate. Tears would be streaming down her cheeks, without an end in sight. Her cries would get louder and louder. Even when her voice gave out, she'd be screaming for someone to come back for her.
"Haerin-ei, I'll be right back. I'll call you as I drive back to school. I'll call and text you every day. I will be back just like I always have. We can FaceTime and I'll send you gifts. I promise," I tried to reason with her.
"Gifts?" She sniffled out.
"Mhm, I'll send you a postcard and something from The University store. Just tell me what you want and by the time it gets here, I'll get to see how good it looks on you," I always did my best to make sure Haerin didn't feel abandoned.
"Are you- are you sure it'll get here in time? Last time, you had to w-wait two weeks to see what it looked like on me?" Haerin sniffled out, starting to calm down.
"Mhm, I'll do it as soon as I get to school. That way we don't have to wait too long," I tried to ease her mind.
Haerin was a bit of a hassle in this state.
As much as I wanted to be there for her, I knew I couldn't. Life wouldn't just stop amd wait until I got the chance to fix Haerin or got the chance to find her parents. Life kept going and it got just a little when Haeein couldn't get a hold of her emotions.
- Haerin POV -
"Okay," I told Y/n in shame.
I knew it was really childish of me to cry for Y/n as if they were my parents, but I couldn't help it.
Y/n was the one to find me, the one to always be by my side when I cried, the one who made sure I understood that it wasn't fair and it wasn't okay for people to tease me because of it....
Y/n was the one person I could lean on when I felt the most lost in life.
"I will be right back," Y/n kissed my forehead goodbye and quickly walked out of the house before I could stop them.
I knew it was childish.
I knew there was a lot of trauma I had to overcome.
I knew that it was painful for Y/n and their grandma to watch me cry out like a little kid, but they always let me act out. They never made me feel like it wasn't okay for me not to...
"Do you want some of the fruity snacks Y/n left for you?" Granny asked.
I sniffled a bit, trying to get a hold of myself, and nodded in response.
Granny and Y/n always did their best to make me feel loved and cared for.
I probably had thousands of gifts from the both of them, and they'd always leave these cute notes on them.
"Ditti- bitti- do!"
"Monsters are my friends!"
"Funny how aliens have never been seen again since you were born!"
"Cats don't need owners. They own the world!"
They were silly.
Y/n and their Grandma were silly.
"Y/n just has to study for a bit. They'll be back as soon as they can!" Granny said as she handed me a bowl of my favorite snacks.
"Thank you," I softly responded.
*COUGH, COUGH*
*COUGH, COUGH, COUGH*
*COUGHT*
"Should I call Y/n back?!" I asked a bit concerned.
Granny had been sick for a while now.
I think that's why I always turned to crying and clinging onto to Y/n when they tried to leave.
Granny was getting worse and worse. She was sick and she refused to go to the hospital. She'd throw up blood, she'd soil herself, she'd get really weak and bedridden at times.
It was only a matter of time before I was left alone again.
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