third person's pov
"eat well girls!"
the five girls hurriedly ran downstairs and straight to the kitchen to eat their dinner. yuna was the first one to slide off from the room together with chaeryoung who kept on repeating how she was feeling really hungry, meanwhile yeji, lia and ryujin were the last ones left to leave the room so yeji slowly closed and locked the door of the room to secure their things.
"thank you so much auntie choi!"
yuna exclaimed, her eyes obviously beaming with happiness as she slowly sat down on the chair infront of the table and asked chaeryoung to sit beside her.
"here, come and sit comfortably." auntie choi spoke to ryujin calmly, offering her a vacant seat beside lia while smiling. ryujin thanked lia's mom who acted really kind and gentle towards her eversince she stepped inside the house.
"thank you auntie," ryujin said. "will you come sit and eat with us now?" she asked.
"no dear, it's okay," auntie choi spoke in a gentle and low tone, tapping ryujin's shoulder slowly. "i'll eat right after you girls are done."
"are you sure, mom?" lia asked her mom, sounding worried and concerned. "you can sit beside here with me." she said as she pointed her index finger on the vacant spot beside her, lending it to her mom. auntie choi shook her head at lia before smiling warmly.
"i'll eat later," she said, walking towards the trash bin. "i'll take these garbage out first, you girls can start eating now." auntie choi said while carrying two plastic bags on her hands, walking outside the house. as soon as lia's mom went out, yuna squeaked all of a sudden, her mouth still stuffed with food.
"lia-unnie, your mom really cooks tasty and delicious foods!" she said, her eyes scanning around the table looking for more food to fill up the spaces on her plate. "oh how i wish, i can live here forever so that i can get to eat really tasty foods and snacks everyday."
"pff, as if lia wants to live here with a noisy brat like you." ryujin said sarcastically which led yuna to roll her eyes over at her friend sitting infront of her, biting another piece of food again.
"here lia, eat more." yeji said offering some of her food to lia who is quietly and slowly taking small bites on her food. lia noticed her friend's sudden action towards her and she slowly shook her head off at yeji.
"yeji-ah, it's okay. my plate is actually full now." lia said but she didn't hesitate at all to refuse yeji's offers to her, instead she just let yeji pass all of the food to her while giggling a little.
"yejinie, you can pass some of your food on mine and i wouldn't complain at all," yuna said while smirking at yeji trying to catch her friends' attention. "oh look, my plate is now emtpy. mind if you can fill it up, unnie?" she said while trying to reach out for yeji. yeji just looked over at yuna who is acting childish all of a sudden whilst chuckling.
"lia, um. do you have any ice cubes?" chaeryoung asked while holding her glass of water.
"oh yeah sure," lia said as she slowly stood up off the chair, looking around the refrigerator and looked back at chaeryoung again. "wait here for a second, i'll go ask mom outside whether she had made some ice cubes recently."
"okay, thank you unnie." chaeryoung said happily and nodded back at her. lia walked away from the kitchen and went straight outside of the house. ryujin who was quietly eating and taking such small and few bites couldn't help but to glance and look at lia walking away from their direction.
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the cold and fresh wind from the outside night rushed across lia's bare and pale skin as soon as she stepped outside the door. she always knew how the atmosphere that the night gives always linger across her body. lia always admired seeing the darkness across the streets and nothing else to be heard but quietness. after a few looks and glances, she then noticed that there is no figure to be seen on their front gate where her mom usually throw the garbage bags away.
lia breathed heavily, thick and foggy air spewing out from her mouth as she fished her cold hands inside the pocket of her shorts. she realized how cold the air is today and which made her even feel more worried about her mom staying out on this cold night.
"mom?" lia spoke, glancing around her free spaces looking for a sign of her mother. she took a few more steps outside to take a clear and wide vision around her. "mom? where are you?" she asked once again and heard a few whispers and mumbles behind their garage. she noticed it and thought that maybe they are only the young teens roaming around this late at night behind their backyard, not until when she heard a familiar name being mentioned.
"what happened, jinsung? why did you call me today?"
lia heard her mom's voice. she was sure it was her mom because of the raspy and shaky voice it gives, so she walked closer to the area where she heard her mom talking and whispering. while getting even more closer, her heart starts to beat faster and she starts to feel more nervous. she knew something isn't right.
"hellooo, chonhee is this you? aahh, i missed you so much that is why i called you today. really, um, you know what i think i've been failing a lot these days. mihyun and i aren't really in good terms now, she isn't talking to me recently and it just hurts me badly."
lia's eyes widened as soon as she heard the voice on the other call, it's her dad. upon listening to the breathy voice, it seems like he is drunk again. she leaned even more closer and listened to their conversation.
"what do you mean?"
"yahh, mihyun just keeps on shouting at me, especially when i go home from work, telling me that i should stop drinking and all; i mean, what's wrong with it anyway? hahahaha. chonhee, i feel like this has been my karma now for leaving you and lia behind back then. i always realized how i felt lonely and incomplete whenever i don't see the two of you. chonhee, i'm sorry for everything. i'm so sorry for hurting and leaving you in the past. i always knew that mihyun couldn't refill the gaps in my heart, but only you. chonhee, please forgive me.. i still love you.. i miss you and lia so much, and i couldn't go off a day without seeing the two of you smile..."
lia stopped from her position, hearing the message her dad delivers across the call. her heart suddenly just felt heavy, and so is her feelings and thoughts too. the unanswered questions inside her mind started to run and increase again. lia's dove-like eyes soon started to be filled with tears streaming down across her face. she covered her mouth keeping herself not to make any noise or to disturb her mom. she closed her eyes tightly as she cried in silence. lia heard her mom sniffing and making soft weeps, which even made her heart feel even more heavier than before. lia doesn't know what caused her to feel bad and heavy, whether if it is her mom crying again because of her dad or her dad asking for sudden forgiveness from her mom.
she turned around and hurriedly walked away from the scene and ran inside the house while still covering her mouth; her eyes still flowing with tears.
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"just shut up, yuna." ryujin said while flicking yuna's forehead. yuna just kept on mumbling and whining inside as if she owned the house, her loud whines and wails filling up the corners of the kitchen. "alright, eat everything you want. i'm full now anyway."
"yah! i didn't even beg for your food, but this is even more better so thanks jinnie." yuna said while side-smiling at her friend and quickly took out the few foods placed on ryujin's plate.
"where's lia?" yeji asked all of a sudden. ryujin saw lia walking out from the door earlier and maybe she just looked for her mom outside.
"i saw her go out earlier," ryujin answered while tapping her fingers on the table. "because chaeryoung asked for double ice cubs, lia went out to ask her mom." she said, looking over at chaeryoung who still haven't drank on her cup, her face who is obviously getting concerned about asking ice cubes for lia.
after that they heard a loud bang on the living room, which made the four girls jump and flinch on their seats.
"what the fuck was that!" yuna said, holding her fork up high while looking around the house. they soon saw lia who is in a hurry, running across the living room and not even taking a short glance at them.
"unnie, i'm so sorry! i guess my water is fine now and i will not ask for ice cubes anymore!" chaeryoung spoke to lia but lia just ran upstairs without talking or even physically answering back at them.
"what happened to lia?" yeji asked who quickly stood up leaving her plate on the table. they all started to get worried about lia and when they were about to go upstairs, lia's mom eventually went inside.
"are you girls done eating?" she asked and they noticed their aunt's eyes became a bit red and her cheeks also. lia's mom looked at them one by one and asked, "where's lia?"
"we just saw her running upstairs and it seems like she's in a hurry. i also noticed her entire face is covered with her hair and she's covering her mouth too." yeji answered her aunt back which caused her eyes to be widen and gulp a little. the girls knew something was not quite right and auntie choi spoke calmly and softly;
"can you talk to lia? i'm sure she'll listen attentively when you girls talk to her since you are all really close with each other."
the four girls looked at each other trying to figure out what their aunt said. they all agreed on what their aunt have said but this is their first time trying to initiate a peaceful, open and mindful talk to their friend. they all looked over at yeji who is nervous and kept on biting her lower lip. yeji noticed how all of their eyes were over her and she shook her head together with her hands infront of her face.
"you go talk to her! you guys have been bestfriends eversince so i'm pretty sure she's really comfortable with you!" yuna said poking at yeji who is trembling endlessly.
"please, no. i tried talking to her openly and peacefully back then in the past, and so instead of her feeling more better and calm; i even made her cry even more and i really felt bad with that!" yeji complained while pouting. they all sighed deeply still deciding who will try to talk to lia. after a few more minutes, a voice came up between their messy talks while raising her hand.
"i'll talk to her."
it was ryujin.
they all looked over at ryujin who looked very serious and calm, still raising her hand and finally volunteered.
"i'll try to talk to her." ryujin added before smiling a little. auntie choi looked at ryujin with mesmerized eyes before walking up close to her and held her hands slowly and gently. ryujin noitced how lia's mom was getting teary-eyed and she spoke again for reassurance;
"don't worry, auntie choi. i'll talk to lia."
and with that, auntie choi wrapped her arms around ryujin, patting her back gently. ryujin had never felt more secured for years as soon as she felt a warm and safe hug once again.
"thank you so much, ryujin."
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lia went to the empty and dark rooftop while wearing the thick and purple hoodie ryujin handed over to her last week, because maybe; maybe this can also calm her down.
she stood still on the huge space while staring across the endless distance of darkness embracing her emtpy mood. the voice of her dad is still whispering across her ears and her mom's soft and quiet cries is still breaking her heart apart.
her unexpressed cries soon started to fall and stream down across her tired and sleepy eyes, as she fell down on the ground, hugging her knees tightly while crying herself out. the quietness she started to admire is soon filled up with her loud cries.
"why does it have to be like this? why am i hurting so badly like this?" lia mumbled across her cries. "i didn't wish for us to be like this.." she whined as she held on tightly on the hoodie she's wearing.
"i'm tired.." lia spoke softly with her cries starting to fade. "i just want to rest." she said as she buried her entire face in between of her knees still sitting on the cold ground.
"is everything okay?"
a soft and passionate voice was heard after lia spoke. she slowly looked up and saw her standing infront of her, a smile plastered on her face. and even by watching her stand infront of her is still breaking her heart.
"what are you doing up here?"
lia watched ryujin speak and move infront of her, admiring her small gestures and listening to her gently voice ringing into her heart. her heart suddenly feel even more lighter when she saw ryujin being on her company. it seems like the sadness she's been carrying immediately faded away. her eyes started to be filled again with her glass-like tears, but as soon as she was about to break down; lia stood up on her feet and hugged ryujin tightly, leaning herself closer to her and buried her wet face into ryujin's shoulder. as soon as she hugged her, she left her weight be leaned across ryujin's while tightly gripping onto ryujin's shirt behind.
"there is nothing for you to be sad about now.." ryujin whispered while gently patting lia's back while her other hand is embraced around her. "i'll be right here with you."
the words ryujin had expressed just hit lia's heavy and tired heart and finally leaving it answers. her warm and sweet voice touching her heart and soul, making her feel more better and calm. maybe ryujin was right, there is nothing for her to be sad now; because she now have someone by her side. maybe lia was feeling really lonely and her heart was eager for a company and assurances for her to feel pure serenity. she never knew that ryujin's presence would make her feel relaxed and still.
and maybe now's the time for her to open up her heart for ryujin now.
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(A/N): here's the update! i think i'll be writing the next chapter later at night, so hopefully i'd get to publish it tomorrow!! ♡
anyway, thank you so much for 3.26k reads!! >w<