When I Leave | EXO

(3) Now I was happy

I rested one foot on the step before the front door. Fear coursed my veins. I was still shaken up from Elizabeth, and I was still afraid about Preston being in an orphanage.

Did it all have to happen so quickly? I lost the things I needed in life, all in the span of two full years. I lost my mother, Xiumin, Kai, and now Elizabeth and Preston. God had to be punishing me for something I did. What did I do?!

Then Tao texted me out of nowhere.

*From Tao:
Hey, what's up?

*To Tao:
Just got home, I'll text you in a few.

The door creaked when I slowly cracked it open. There sat Hajae, a very worried look on her face. When she heard the door open, she turned to me, and stood automatically.

"Hyojin! You're okay!" She shouted through the whole house.

I didn't speak back. I just blankly stared at her and walked straight passed her, toward the stairs to go upstairs.

"What happened?" She called out behind me, concern in her voice.

I still didn't say a single word, or even look at her. It was hard to even stop thinking about what I witnessed. It was heartbreaking, watching a mother break right in front of you.

I stopped in front of my bedroom, and I broke down. What do I say? 'Elizabeth finally tried to kill herself'? 'I just nearly witnessed suicide'? 'Preston is in an orphanage because his mother is insane'? That's not exactly a normal thing to say, and out of the blue like this, she might take it harder than it should be taken.

"Sung Hyojin!" Hajae interrupted my mind. "What in the hell happened that you're too upset to answer your best friend?"

A stinging sensation burned in the corners of my brown eyes. Was I seriously about to cry over a girl I only know for a year trying to kill herself? Was it even Elizabeth that was upsetting me? Or was I thinking about... No, it wasn't that.

"Uh, sorry." I blinked away any tears threatening to spill. "Dude, Elizabeth tried to kill herself at the store."

I couldn't look at her, the way her eyes widened in realization. "She did?"

As I confirmed this once again, I opened my door and tried to close it before Hajae could enter. But she stuck herself in my room before I could shut her out.

In my room, dirty clothes scattered the carpet, and my bed was unmade and ruffled. Anything could be under my blanket at this point, and I wouldn't know. A Block B poster hung on the back of my closed closet door, and my notebook with my song lyrics was scattered across my desk.

The lyrics I wrote were special. By special, I meant no one was allowed to read them. Not even Hajae.

"Babe, talk to me." That was the first time she used my nickname since they left.

"You haven't-"

"I know, I haven't called you that since my brother and Kai left."

She might not have known how special my relationship with Xiumin was. She didn't see that he was actually a friend, not just her brother, to me.

"Minseok didn't like when I called you that."

I remember once that Hajae called me Babe in front of Xiumin, and he started a huge speech.

"No, she isn't Babe. You shan't call her that, or it'll be off with your head."

If she couldn't realize that Xiumin and I used to be best friends, she was an idiot.