secret tape - penthouse

xii

warning: mentions of suicide

not thinking about min seola was proving to be difficult for yebin.

the week following seola's death, yebin did her best to keep herself busy. last time she was this upset, yebin sat in her own thoughts, letting her guilt eat her up. this time however, the young girl did the opposite, hanging out with her friends any chance she got. now that seola was presumably out of their lives, they didn't bring her up as much, making it easier for her to join in on their plans and avoid her thoughts as much as possible.

she was particularly grateful for the upcoming trip, the getaway allowing her to focus on much simpler things like what headband would go best with her luggage bag or which colored contacts would best match the activities they planned out. but no matter how much yebin tried to fill her head with tedious planning , the heaviness of her heart never lightened up, keeping min seola in the back of her mind like a scratch she could't quite reach. 

she wan't exactly close to the seola, only recently being able to get on good terms with her. still, she felt terrible about what happened, especially knowing that she was once the cause of her pain. though she didn't feel like all the blame was to be put onto her shoulders, there was still more yebin could've done for her. even something as small as sending her a smile during school when no one was looking could've been enough to make seola stay just a little longer. knowing she could've made a difference made yebin feel as though she didn't have the right to feel bad about what happened, which is why she tried to distract herself as much as she could. 

yebin didn't realize she had let her thoughts drift off until her cat jumped on her bed, dark fur barely visible through the tears that clouded yebin's vision. yebin sighed, wiping away her tears and sitting up in her bed. it was always the nighttime when yebin wasn't able to avoid her thoughts, the silence of her home making it difficult to focus on anything else, especially with her parents suddenly becoming more busy, throwing themselves into work once again. 

"are u tired?" yebin asked her cat, shinbi, who replied with a soft meow. the black cat stretched it's limbs, soft purrs filling the air when yebin reached over to stroke it's fur. a small smile grazed the young girls face, a sense of peace washing over her as she looked at the small animal. and just for a moment she felt as though everything would be okay. 

☁︎

the sun shone brightly on yebin's face, slightly hindering her vision from how brightly it shone. it was the first day of the little hera club's trip, the group of friends starting it off with a day of golf. though she wasn't the best at the game, yebin was still enjoying herself, making conversation with her friends instead of really focusing on the game. "hey, move closer." she told her caddie, who was supposed to be following her around with an umbrella to shield her from the burning sun. they muttered a quiet "yes ma'am." before stretching their arm further, providing yebin with the shade she needed  for her to see seokyung swing her club in a fast, fluid motion.

seokyung let out a huff of frustration, something she had been doing form the very beginning.  despite the caddie at her side telling her exactly what to do, seokyung couldn't catch a break, having the worst score out of everyone playing. yebin watched as the ball she hit rolled down the grassy hill and land just a few centimeters away from the hole. the small group did their best to hold in their laughter, a few chuckles slipping past their lips as seokyung bitched at the caddie over the miscalculation.