Got Her Back

Friends With Whom?

"Rona," Yoonhee said to her daughter, who seemed to be experiencing night terrors again. Then as her daughter's eyes opened, she had a terrified expression on her face. 

Rona looked at her, her eyes watering. Rona got out of bed, and Yoonhee tried to approach her to calm her, but Rona immediately stepped back, her face filled with horror. 

"Rona," she called out, but her daughter had just pushed past her. She followed her daughter to the door and then out of the room. "What's wrong, Rona?" she asked. 

Rona did not turn around and walked out of the house. Yoonhee stood by the door, bewildered. "Is she still mad at me?"

***

"I need to get away from her," Rona mumbled to herself as she walked out of the house. 

As she got closer to the painted stairs, tears began to stream down her cheeks. 

What am I going to do now? 

She was startled when she felt a grip on her wrist. "Rona."

She looked to her right and met Seokhoon's gaze, which was filled with concern. She immediately averted her gaze, ready to walk past him, but Seokhoon pulled her in closer and wrapped his arms around her. Rona wants to pull away but she was too preoccupied with something else to do so. So she buried her face into his chest instead. 

***

"What happened?" Seokhoon asked her and she glanced up at him. 

Seokhoon brought her here, to a nearby convenience store. When she realized that they were headed here, she was about to protest, but then she remembered that it wasn't yet her shift time. And since he was already aware of it, she decided to let him bring her inside the store.

"Nightmare," she gave a straight answer, her gaze set on the small box of chocolate milk she was holding. 

"Same nightmare?" he asked, most likely referring to the nightmare she told him yesterday. 

She responded with a nod.

"Don't worry too much about it. We'll make sure that Ms. Cheon won't do that to your mother."

Her eyes welled up again as she felt a chill run down her spine. "But," she began.

"The one pushing her in that dream," she paused as she felt the urge to take a deep breath before continuing, "was me."

She looked down as tears began to trickle down her face again. "What am I going to do, Seokhoon-ah?" she asked.

Then, in her peripheral view, she noticed Seokhoon rising from his seat. And as he sat in the chair beside her, she watched him putting his hands on top of hers.

"Rona, that was only a dream," he said. "Maybe what you heard from where we went yesterday inspired your dream. This is my fault. I should have really stopped you from going there, but I chose to join instead."

It's not your fault. Rona wanted to tell him, but she couldn't get the words out of her mouth. 

"I'm sorry, you must have been terrified." 

"Why are you apologizing? It's not your fault." She thanked herself for finally telling him that. "But, what brought you here?"

Seokhoon's mouth opened slightly. And Rona came to the conclusion that he might be doing it again. "Are you stalking me again?" she asked.

"Should we go back to your house? I'm sure your mother is worried," he said instead, avoiding answering Rona's question. 

She responded, "No, I don't think I'd be able to face Mom yet. It's better to—"