the 1

25

Autumn has come around the corner. Leaves fall from branches, children play around the city while their laughter echoed throughout the entire place making passerbys smile too. It was a joyous moment, a joyous season. But maybe, not for everyone.

Breathing has become a difficult thing to do for Jungeun whenever she felt the suffocating tears down her throat, wanting to get out and wanting to be free from her eyes holding it back. It has exactly been a month after Karina's funeral and she was there, by herself, all alone with flowers in her hands.

A month has passed but Jungeun could still remember how everything went down. Jungeun was being comforted by Sooyoung and told her that Karina must've been just stressed out. Hyejoo even teased Sooyoung that time that she might have a crush on Jungeun and the pink haired didn't fail to catch how Jinsoul and Jiwoo's faces became dull.

The doctor who she was laughing at for his actions suddenly bid them goodbye and ran away from the group of girls and rushed downstairs when they heard a crowd of people murmur in panic.

"What's happening over there?" Heads peeked up downstairs and they were all filled up with curiosity, wanting to know what was going down there and wanted to ask but when the girls saw how everyone was in an absolute state of fear, they didn't interfere.

Nurses came out of each corner and rushed downstairs as well while other nurses were left there to take an eye on the patients and their acquaintances.

To everyone's surprise, a male nurse was yelling something inaudible to Jungeun as of the moment but when he got nearer to where the girls were, he simply said, "Kim Jungeun, the purplehead says she loves you, she really does! Please come and save her..please please.."

Jungeun's eyes grew wide and everyone held their breath in for a moment before the pink haired felt her body wanting to die on the spot upon hearing all those words. She ran to the male nurse,

"I'm Jungeun. Where's the purplehead?"

Walls that surrounded her throat have been blocked out. Her airway couldn't function properly as her lips started to tremble when she heard the nurse's reply, "She's downstairs. Please come with me. She's terribly bleeding!" The nurse exclaimed and Jungeun didn't waste another second and came rushing down the stairs.

"Where is she? Where is she!?" Her voice was recognizable from the rest for it came out something like a screech, something that told everyone that she was yelling and she needed to see the purplehead, she needed to see Karina.

But even if she was at full speed, she couldn't manage to get up once her knees sank on the cold hospital floor when the doctor announced that Karina was dead on arrival.

It had been over a month of overwhelming pain washing over her every night. She could've saved Karina if she didn't let her go out of her way like that, she could've saved her if she tried to fix things with Karina instead of staying behind with her former friends.

The what ifs and the could've beens haunted Jungeun nonstop and she would always end up blaming herself for everything that have happened even though Karina wouldn't like it.

She likes to think that maybe Karina is watching over her from the blue skies where she rests well, where she's getting the peace that she deserves, the tranquility she never got to experience growing up.

So even if it hurts to accept it, Jungeun has finally realized that no matter how many times she would blame herself or cry herself to sleep at night reminiscing Karina, nothing would ever make her come back to the pink haired.

To move forward is what Jungeun has to do.

She knows that. In over a month of mourning for Karina and her presence, Jungeun has totally lost track of everything that has been going on around her life but there were small things she knew about what was happening to her friends.