Your Name || yejisu

Chapter 14

"Stop hurting her. Let her go, you psycho!" Ningning yelled, rushing inside the treehouse.

Yeji and I were both taken aback, frozen in place. Yeji still had her hands on my leg and I knew it looked weird for an exterior point of view. What must Ningning think of this?

The girl in question kept coming forward, with a rage like I had never seen before until she violently pushed Yeji away who crashed on the floor dragging with her some of the bottles who spilled their contents around.

Ningning took a hold of my shoulders trying to 'help me' but all I saw was the panicked expression on Yeji's face, she looked like she was starting to relive some traumas and I couldn't let that continue.

"Ningning ca...calm down. Stop!"  I screamed, taking her hands off of my shoulders.

She straightened up, confused but at that moment I didn't care. All I wanted was to stop Yeji from reliving her painful past. I quickly went to her side, yet I didn't know how to process. What would be over the line? What would make it worse?

I took her cheeks between my hands, like on instinct. Her panicked eyes immediately attached to mine, I could see some recognition inside them and she started to take deep breaths. She put her hands over mine, her breathing becoming more steady.

"Are you ok?"  I asked.

She nodded, whispering a weak 'Yeah' before looking at Ningning who was staring at the scene happening before her completely lost.

"What the hell is going on?"  she breathed in shock.

It was the first time I heard her said the word 'hell' which for her was probably a swear word.

I started getting up which was difficult due to my leg and Yeji immediately rose up to help me despite the state she was in.

"Ningning, please just...let me explain," She sent a death glare at Yeji  " Yeji is not hurting m...me, ok? She is my f...friend,"

Her brows furrowed and her eyes passed from me to Yeji back and forth, her mouth slightly open in disbelief.

" Your...friend?"

" Will you let m..me explain?"  I pleaded. She looked at Yeji, assessing her before looking back at me.

"No more lies,"  she said, raising her index finger in the air.

"Promise,"

She nodded then took one of the chairs and sat down crossing her arms.

"I'm listening,"

I sighed and looked at Yeji who seemed a bit better, she nodded to tell me she was ok. I sighed again before sitting back on the bean bag. Yeji hadn't really moved from her spot, instead, she placed her back against the wall and slide down. She pushed her knees against her chest, hands tightly gripping her knees. She looked so small like that and so defenseless.

I didn't only do this for me, I was doing it for Yeji too. I had to be strong.

"Do you remember when I said Yeji kept staring at me?" I started.

"Of course," Ningning replied sharply, sending a death glare at Yeji.

" It turned out...that Yeji and I knew ea...each other before my accident,"

" No shit," she said before putting her hand over her mouth, turning red " Sorry,"  she said in a small voice " but you shared classes, so of course you knew each other,"

Yeji and I exchanged a look. Indecision took over me. Should I tell her everything or was it better to lie. Nonetheless, here we were. I needed to be the one to say it, I was tired of lying. Lying was so goddamn exhausting.

Ningning looked at the both of us, frowning.

"Wait...were you friends before?"

I glanced at Yeji who became more uncomfortable, my heart was pounding. How was I supposed to tell her? She was getting closer all by herself but she still needed a little push. How could I tell her? I didn't want to be too straightforward to not shock her. The truth in itself will be shocking to her anyway.

"Kind of,"

" Kind...of," she looked at us back and forth again and I could feel the cogs turning inside her head. Yeji looked anywhere but at Ningning. The awkward tension was insufferable. It was time for me to explain but before I could do so Ningning's eyes widened so much I thought they were going to pop out of their sockets.

"Girlfriends?" she squealed.

"Yes," I half-whispered.

She got up in a jolt  " No...No...That can't be....No,"

"Ningning...let me...explain,"

She suddenly kneeled in front of me, taking my hands in hers and looked straight into my eyes.

"Did she force you?"

"OH, COME ON,"  shouted Yeji, getting up from where she was.

Ningning stood up, immediately shielding me like I needed to be protected from Yeji. She had a defying look and so did Yeji.

"STOP," Ningning looked back at me, confused  " Sit d...down and let...me finish, p...please,"

She looked back at Yeji for a few seconds in clear anger but eventually nodded and went to sit. Yeji too got back to her original spot.

-
I told her everything, from the past, from my accident to now. I didn't leave out any details and I got to say it felt freeing. During the entirety of the story, Yeji assisted me. As unbelievable as it was, Ningning listened to it without a word but her facial expressions said a lot. Little by little anger disappeared leaving place to curiosity and perplexity.

"You can un...understand why I lied..now?"  I finished.

She inhaled deeply, getting up and passing her hands through her hair.

"This is insane.....You....you..."  she looked at me before shaking her head dramatically, starting to pace around the room. I glanced at Yeji who was staring at Ningning, her foot shaking nervously.

"Ningning?" I called hesitantly.

The tiny girl turned around slowly and stopped her rambling. She looked she was having an internal crisis. She actually got back to be the Ningning I knew. The lovely little Ningning. At that moment, I had faith. Faith that maybe she would be on our side.

" Please don't say anything?"