never grow up.

15. LOST

(LOST-(G)I-DLE)

(Hey guys! My laptop is broken so please bare with me as I wait for a new one. I type most of the chapters on my phone. It is so tedious)

"Yeh Shuhua."  A man's voice spoke into the phone.

"Who is this?"

"Hello. This is a friend of Soojin's. I believe you're wondering where your things are."

I drew my knees up to my chest. I remained quiet because I was too scared to even speak.

"I confiscated them and took them back to Taiwan because you don't belong here. Soojin's request. Your internship is next on the chopping block."

"Huh?" I didn't even believe that. It sounded too good to be true that my stuff was being sent home.

"She needs to....be herself. And you're say...making her feel distant from herself."

"Who is this?"

"Soojin's friend."

"Hui?" I demanded.

He cackled on the phone. "I think I'll let you stay here since you seem so....cute. You should have thought about your morals before you met Soojin."

The call ended. I grabbed the blanket as I tried to fall asleep. What did this all mean? Why was Soojin pushing me away? Was she really pushing me away? I laid my head on my pillow, trying to force myself to sleep. But, the man's voice haunted my thoughts. It sounded so dark and horrid. I decided to stay up, replaying his voice in my mind. I re-read all the messages Soojin sent me, the sweet ones, the sexy ones.

I missed her face. I knew it. Yuqi was right. I was as good as dead messing around with people like her. The way her life was set up would not allow me in it. How could I have been so stupid? I held myself close.

When I woke up from a restless sleep, Yuqi was making breakfast and a blender was going on. I rose from the sofa and held my hands behind my back. She was continuing her day as normal. It sort of seemed disturbing. The routinely moving around the kitchen seemed to be a facade. I tried to read her, but I knew my judgement was poor. I mean, shit. I was in a lustful stupor for a damn month.

"Good morning, Shu," Yuqi chirped.

The happiness bothered me. It was too fake. "Hey." My tone differed from hers. I sounded wounded.

"Rough night?"

"I didn't get much sleep." I sat at her counter and poured myself some orange juice.

"Went clubbing, didn't you?" Yuqi asked. "And don't spare me the 'how do you know'. I was never sleep. I was up watching a drama and I heard the door chime."

I gaped my mouth open and felt completely embarrassed. "Well, you can tell me that you told me so about Soojin." I played with my thumbs. No point in hiding what she already knew. That was the transparency in our friendship. "I saw her last night with another woman."

Yuqi watched the eggs sizzle in the pain. "Soyeon actually called me last night about that."

"So, she is talking to you?"

"Listen," Yuqi said, turning to me while she made sure the heat was down. "It was inevitable. She said she wanted to apologize and compensate for your things. Soojin went completely MIA on Soyeon, too."

I raised an eyebrow. "Aren't they friends?"

"Soyeon cleaned Soojin's dirty money. They're partners."

"Do you know how they met?"

"No." Yuqi began to make a pot of rice. "She wouldn't tell me."

I noticed that shit was even deeper than I imagined. Soojin definitely was not the woman I wanted her to be. Or dreamed of. The foggy mirrors were finally wiped clean. I can see a lot more clearly I guess.