She brought me to her place. Her mom even welcomed me with open arms. We were now sitting on the floor next to her bed.
Her room was unlike what I expected it to be, It was normal. There were no weird posters on the walls and her room wasnt overly full of cute stuff either. But it was full of pictures of them. Her friends and her. Based on what she looks like right now, it seems like the photo was maybe a year or two ago.
"Why did you even bring me here?" She handed me a sandwich that her mom made for us. "I need your help"
Her room was full of pictures of her with her friends. And there are lots of them, I didnt care enough to count though. Why would she even want MY help? There's Yuri, Eunbi unnie, Chaeyeon, Hyewon unnie and lots more.
"Why me?" She moved closer to me and grabbed me by the shoulders. "My friends wouldnt believe anything I say" I think they have a reason for that. But since i'm already here, I might just do it.
"What is it?" She looked around her room then back to me. "Remember when I told you that someone is following me?" I nodded.
"I know who the person is" my eyes widened. So does this mean that someone is really following her? But i've been with her most of the time today. How could she possibly know who the person is? "Who is it?"
"My teacher last year. At first I thought the person was a girl but it's a guy. It's that weird teacher who kept on following me, even last year" this is more serious than I thought. If it's really a teacher then we might need help.
"Does anyone else know this?" She shaked her head. "What do you want me to do?" It's not like I can confront the teacher and tell him to stop following her. Should I tell her friends? Parents?
"Firstly, you have to promise that you'll help me. Whatever it takes" she pulled out her phone and told me that she'll record me saying that I promise. So I did what I was told.
She never told me what we were gonna do. She just made me promise to help her no matter what. This all seems fishy but I dont mind doing things. It's not like I really did something in the past.
"You know, there's a high chance we would fail this. What do you think?" I moved my gaze to her. I have no idea what kind of mission or plan she's thinking about. But I did make a promise and i'll try to fulfill that.
"No, Chaewon said she'd help. She promised" I didnt get to answer her question from earlier. Now I get that she wasnt really talking to me but to herself.
"Yuri? No, she wouldnt ..." I noticed her mom peeking from the door. I greeted her and she asked me to go to her. Yena unnie didnt seem to notice anything about me leaving her.
Her mom invited me downstairs and said that Yena unnie wouldnt notice even if I left. She prepared tea for the both of us as I gladly accepted everything that was given to me.
"It's been so long since Yena invited someone over. I'm glad you came" she had this hopeful smile in her face that I just didnt want to disappoint.
"You just transferred here. Am I correct?" I nodded.
"Please take care of our dear Yena. She just needs a bit of understanding" I know that already, and everyone around me has told me this. I smiled as we both had this silence.
"if you dont mind me asking do you know Yuri? Jo Yuri? She's a dear friend to our Yena and i'm just curious if they're still friends" of course they're still friends. You can even see the worry in her eyes every time she and Yena unnie part ways.
"All of them are still with her" she nodded.
"That sounds great" hearing that her daughter still has her friends brought joy to her. I might not know much about Yena unnie or her friends but i'm sure that they were super close friends.
I stayed there for a while but Yena unnie never came down. Her mom told me stories and showed me pictures but I wasnt really the type to listen. I left without saying goodbye to her.
My mom would never believe this
if I ever told this to her.
The next day, school was normal. And by normal I mean, Yena unnie staring at me while I look out the window. We havent said anything to each other since yesterday.
They let me join them for lunch everyday, which i'm thankful of (less problems to worry about). Yena unnie went to a different table with Yuri.
Their other friends were also here today and they introduced themselves to me. Sakura unnie was also in my class but I didnt even notice her. The others were in Yuri's class and they seem like really nice people.
"What did you do with Yena yesterday?" Hyewon said as she ate her food. They all looked at me as if my answer was really crucial.
"Nothing. She just invited me to her house and asked me for help" I saw them gave glances to each other.
"Dont take this the wrong way but we're just worried about Yena unnie" Yujin said as she tapped me on the shoulder.
"Oh- her mom says she misses your visits" they giggled at the thought. They really look like they've been friends for a long time. Even if I dont seem to notice them talking to each other in class.
We got to know each other more as they welcomed me to their group. I'm happy that I made friends but i'm also worried since this is the first time that i've done this.
I glanced at Yena unnie and Yuri's table. She was talking to Yuri about something but it wasnt my business to listen to them.
After a few minutes Yuri rushed to our table and sat next to me. "What did Yena unnie tell you!?" She was freaking out about something but I just stayed calm.
"She said wants my help and I said yes" she tried to hide her worry and calmed down. The others were confused but when Yuri said the name Yena. It was pretty obvious about what we were dealing with.
"What happened to her? Why did she ask YOU for help?" She was creating a fuss but others were trying to calm her down. I looked around but I couldnt see Yena unnie anywhere. "She said that you wouldnt believe her. No one would"
"You dont know her as much as I do" I dlnt want to be stuck in this mess. If it werent for the promise i'll probably bail on her.
"Someone has been following her" she stayed quiet and waited for everything that I had to say. "She said that you wouldnt believe her even if she told you"
Hyewon unnie leaned closer to me. "Who? Who's following her?"
"Her teacher last year" They looked at each other. "Which teacher?"
"Her male teacher last year. He's been following her everywhere at school. That's why she asked me for help" Yuri was mumbling stuff to herself as the others gave glances.
"No, no, this is worse than I thought. Yena unnie doesnt trust me anymore. But she trusts ... you? How can this eve-"
"What's wrong about that? You should be thinking of helping her and not that. Who cares if she asked for my help? It's not like she doesnt trust you anymore" Yuri left our table as Hyewon unnie and Minju followed her.
Yujin shaked her head as she placed her hand on my shoulder. "You dont get it Chaewon unnie"
"Get what?" A few of them left the table. Hitomi and Eunbi unnie were the only ones who stayed.
"Chaewon-ah ..." Hitomi said as I gave her a glance. "We dont have a male teacher at this school. And we never had one"
"We've been with Yena for three years now. And there was never a time where we had a male teacher" Eunbi unnie said as she sighed.
"Yuri is being like that because Yena unnie told you about this and not to her. It's kinda scary how Yena unnie might change" the bell rang as she left the table leaving me and just Eunbi unnie.
"Let them be, they're just really sad about Yena" she stood up and told me that we should go back to the classroom.
So ... I guess there was never a teacher following
her in the first place? The real question is why is Yena unnie doing all this? I know she has "problems" but I still dont get it.