note: huge ass chapter ahead so buckle up :D
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"Where are you taking me, San?" Haneul asked, as she looked around her from inside the car, trying to figure out where they were going. "Haru made you do this, didn't she?"
San glanced at her. Every time they passed a street light, it would illuminate her face in such a way that the glitters on her eyelids would sparkle, giving off a glimmer of the colors blue and purple. It made her look ethereal. Or at least that's what San thought. He never knew glitter eyeshadows could look so good on anyone.
"She did tell me to take you away from there, " San began as he looked straight, "but didn't tell me where. I chose to come here. And I think you're gonna like it." He smiled a little.
Haneul frowned a bit at his words and rolled her eyes. "Gosh. They worry way too much. I'm totally fine. Now we're gonna miss the lights-out ceremony." She huffed and looked at her wrist. It was nearing midnight.
"Well, you're right. But, " he paused for second and looked outside his window to point straight, "look."
Haneul now realized where San had brought her. It was that park. That same park where she used to hang out during high school. And even more to her surprise, both sides of the roads were filled with cherry blossom trees.
San parked the car by one side of the road and both of them came out. Haneul may been gotten a bit too excited since she thought that all the petals had already fallen off. But no. If San hadn't brought her here, she probably wouldn't have gotten to see them for another whole year. Her work makes it difficult to have these kind of outings.
She quickly slipped out of the car towards a tree and stood under it, closing her eyes in the process, taking in the sweet smell and the familiarity. It was a place close to her heart as it held many great memories. She felt good to be back.
San wanted to open the door for her but she had already gotten out. A loving smile crept up on his lips as he saw Haneul all giddy and happy. He took out his phone and without thinking much he clicked her pictures. It was a bit breezy that day, making petals fall vigorously from the trees. She looked so heavenly under the trees that San couldn't help himself from capturing the moment.
The sound of picture clicking brought Haneul back from her little bubble and she walked back to where San was now standing and he quickly shoved his phone in his coat pocket, not wanting to be caught.
"Sorry, I can't hold myself back when I see cherry blossoms. I love them!" She smiled sheepishly and didn't even try to hide to excitement in her voice. San found her extremely cute and laughed.
"It's totally fine. I love the cherry blossoms too. They're really pretty!" San exclaimed.
"I haven't been here since forever, let's walk around a bit?" Haneul tilted her head and asked.
"Yes, definitely." San answered as they started walking away from the car.
The whole park was empty making the atmosphere even more enchanting. They walked in silence, none of them saying anything, just enjoying the walk. But for San, he actually couldn't find anything to say. He didn't know what to say. He didn't want to make Haneul uncomfortable but then again he was curious as to why Byeol suddenly had an outburst like that.
It was a bit chilly that night and he noticed the thin cardigan that she was wearing wasn't actually helping. So he took off his coat and draped it over her shoulders. Haneul jumped a little from the rather sudden contact of the coat but soon calmed down after she understood what it was.
"Thanks," she said as she wrapped the coat snugly to her body. San only nodded in response.
Before he could open his mouth, her voice broke the silence.
"Also, thank you for bringing me here, San. It helped to you know, get my mind of the things that happened." She smiled at him.
"Ayy, you don't have to say thank you." San said as he too, smiled, his eyes becoming crescents as he did. "I would've brought you here anyways since you love the cherry blossoms, " the last part came out rather like a mumble as he awkwardly scratched his nape.
Haneul giggled a little at his reaction and kept on walking. "So," she began, "you're not gonna ask what happened and why it happened?"
San looked at her, eyes widened a little. He didn't expect her to actually bring up the topic.
"I don't want to make you uneasy. It's fine if you don't wanna talk about it." He replied.
"But what if I want to? Would you like to hear, San?" She asked, eyes shifting to him now.
San didn't say anything and simply took her wrist and guided her to the nearest bench to sit down.
"You wanna sit down?" Haneul asked, with questioning eyes. San gave her a tight-lipped smile and bobbed his up and down. Haneul let out a hearty giggle at his expression. She didn't know San could be this cute.
"Sitting down makes it easier to pay attention," He said.
"Okay. Well, where do I even start?" She heaved a deep sigh.
"Tell me, Haneul. Let everything out. Well that is only, if you want to," San said, his voice low and gentle. Haneul looked at him and locked eyes for a moment. This was the first time she had properly taken a look at his eyes. They were beautiful dark marbles. A soft breeze was blowing making some locks of his hair move and him occasionally running a hand through it. His hair wasn't slicked back like it would be usually. This time he let them fall over his eyes.
"Me, Byeol, Yuri and Bom used to be very good friends from the beginning of high school. Bomi was the second person after Byeol who was the most close to me. When Byeol wasn't there, she would always be my second best friend. Everything was fine. We would talk, laugh like there's no tomorrow and honestly, I had thought that I found the friends who would last me a lifetime. But it all started going wrong when Bomi became friends with Heeji.
"I used to think Heeji was a kind person. She was, but only to an extent. She had this harsh habit of turning people's insecurities into jokes. She would do this every time we hung out at her place. At first it was only about people outside our circle. Then when some of us wouldn't be present there, she would point out their shortcomings and everyone would laugh. I found it very disturbing. Bomi used to dislike her for that as well. She would tell me, Byeol and Yuri that all the time." Haneul stopped to catch her breath and then continued.
"So one day, Byeol, Bomi, Yuri and I were having lunch together and Bomi was talking about Heeji. How she hated her guts and everything. Every time, Bomi would sound like Heeji was the most despised person in her life. And her loathing towards Heeji only heightened. Byeol and I also expressed how we hated that habit of hers. What we didn't realize is that Heeji was right behind us. But actually she hadn't heard much of what Bomi was saying.
"So when we went back to our classrooms, Heeji approached and questioned me. She asked me what we were talking about but I refused to say anything and tried to change the topic. But it didn't work and she pestered me for a whole period and eventually I gave in, thinking that it probably would be the best to tell the truth rather than hide it as the cat was already out of the bag. So I told her and that's where everything went haywire." Haneul spoke, her breath trembling. Not from the coldness of the night.
"The next few days were completely normal. Bomi was normal ,so was Heeji and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. But I should've known, it was only the calm before the storm. 1 month had passed by and I don't remember what the reason was, but Bomi and I had a fight. The next day she gave me a note and I swear, the things that were written on it, they weren't things a friend would say to another friend. I don't remember the exact words but, " her voice started breaking a little, eyes glistening with tears.
All this time San sat by her side, listening to her intently. Not once shifting his gaze away from her. He never knew she was hiding all this pain under her usual happy and cheerful facade. Her long black hair that used to hide most of her emotions had failed to do so this time. San could see through every word that came out of her mouth. She was broken.
"I remember the pain I felt when read those words. It was utterly disturbing. After that, all of them, Bomi, Yuri and Heeji came and confronted me. Bomi called me disgusting things and questioned my character. She claimed that she had never once said before that she hated Heeji. We were shocked. Because clearly, that wasn't the truth. And when Byeol defended saying that it wasn't true, Yuri never once spoke up. She knew Bomi was lying. But nonetheless decided to side with her. Byeol was really hurt by Yuri's change.
"Bomi and Heeji made everyone turn their backs on me. Everyone avoided me and spoke behind my back. I wasn't myself for a very long. Their sudden change in behavior really got to me and I felt like I was thrown in the darkest pit to exist. The mental trauma that I had to go through when none of them talked to me was something no one else can understand unless they go through it.
"The craziest bit was when I thought we would be friends forever. And I used to get mad every time Haru would say that one day all these would fade away, " Haneul let out a bitter laugh. "At one point, I even thought that Byeol was gonna leave me too. But she proved otherwise. She stayed with me through it all and never once left. If it wasn't for her, I don't think I would've been able to find myself back," She finished as she looked down and gripped the hem of her dress, calling this a incidents.
"But Haru was right and I was naive." She finished and finally looked up to see his reaction. He only watched her as she spoke, nodding a few times. His eyes weren't neither judging or pitying her. Rather they were calm and still, like the silence in midnight. A silence that tells you a lot of stories. Those eyes gave away nothing but tenderness and compassion.
Before she could say anything, she felt his arms pulling her closer to him and eventually wrapping her small frame against his in a warm embrace. She was a little startled by his sudden action but slowly wrapped her arms around him as well.
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A/N:
Helloooooo I'm back. We reached 600 reads oml ;-; I can't thank you guys enough ;-;
Also I didn't proofread just yet but I will so overlook the mistakes and chap 16 will be out by tomorrow :D
Word count: 1948