18 | CHAPTER EIGHTEEN — NEEDING YOU ❝ that was enough for me ❞
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"WHAT ABOUT YU-RI?" The group had moved on from the topic of Dae-su's crush on Wu-jin's sister, to telling stories of their lives before the zombie outbreak, each person sharing something sentimental and sad.
Yu-ri looked up from the fire at the mention of her name and frowned upon seeing everyone's eyes on her. She had hoped they wouldn't bother with asking her because she didn't feel like speaking, especially about her boring, non-existent life. "What?" She mumbled.
"Tell us something," Wu-jin said. "I feel like we know nothing about you."
"What do you wanna know?" Yu-ri asked, awkwardly tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Anything. You're always so quiet." Dae-su added. "So quiet, it's scary. I used to be afraid of you, you know?"
"Me too." Cheong-san joked playfully, making Yu-ri roll her eyes as the others chuckled.
"I don't know what to say," Yu-ri's voice started small, almost as if she hadn't talked in a while. "I guess I never know what to say. It's always been that way, I think."
That wasn't true, Su-hyeok thought as he watched her fiddle with her fingers. When they were younger, Yu-ri was unbearably talkative. She'd always crack jokes or conjure up some bizarre stories from her imagination that Su-hyeok never quite understood, but he'd always smile and pretend to understand just for her.
"My mom and dad made it difficult. They were always so busy for me and every time i'd tell them something, they'd just brush it off. Maybe it was accidental, maybe it was on purpose but," Yu-ri sighed. "It made me feel like I wasn't worthy of sharing anything at all."
The others listened intently, allowing the girl to speak freely without interruption.
"I was an only child and didn't have many friends growing up so I never talked to anyone else." She paused, contemplating her next words carefully. "Except for one boy."
Su-hyeok's head shot up.
"We met a long time ago and grew super close, I swore I told him everything. When things got boring or difficult in life, he'd be my diary. He'd listen to all I had to say and never made me feel bad for going on and on, though I'm sure he got tired of it,"
He knew she was talking about him and it made his stomach churn.
"He was my best friend. Then, one summer, he stopped talking to me. He hung out with some bad people, some bullies who were always cruel to me. I'd try reaching out but that didn't matter because he'd never answer,"
