The Elephant Between Us || SKZ

chapter three

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A GUILTY MIND NEEDS NO ACCUSER

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Nobody likes to spend the whole night with their eyes focused on the lamp hanging on the ceiling while listening to the snoring of their roommate or, at the very best, of their older brother.

Jeongmin thought that would be the night of their lives: the night where the mattresses they laid their backs on were theirs and nobody else's and, most importantly, where none of them had to stay up to watch the window. She had spent days daydreaming about that night, yet it turned out worse than she could have ever expected. 

She was dead tired, yet she couldn't close her eyes for a minute during the whole night. Her heartbeat accelerated whenever a car went past the building, and her world was about to end whenever sirens were heard.

On the other side of the mattress, Jeongin slept and snored and changed positions peacefully.

How do you do that?

"Morning, sis!" Jeongin suddenly entered the kitchen, finding his sister sitting near the table with her chin resting on one of her hands. Passing by her on his way to the fridge, he kissed her forehead with tenderness.

"Morning." She said, following him with her gaze.

"What's up with you?" He took the milk and butter out of the fridge, preparing their breakfast as he noticed Jeongmin had done nothing for herself yet. "You look like you just lost your best friend, sis. Didn't you sleep well?" The eyebags on her face said enough. "Okay, you know what? Let's go get us some lemonade after breakfast, hum?"

Then, he handed her a buttered toast and a glass of milk, getting a tired smile in return.

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When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. That's what they say, yet Jeongmin has never subscribed to that. Your lemon is not the same as your neighbour's, and no matter how much sugar or water or whatever you put in there, those lemonades will never be the same. You don't even have to try it yourself, it's pure logic. And that's the problem.

But when your lemons have the exact same properties, colour and taste as your neighbour's, the way you squeeze the lemons is what makes the difference. That was the pure logic for Jeongmin.

Her whole life, Jeongmin had been wondering why she had received rotten, smashed, squished lemons, as well as what she was supposed to transform them into if it was even possible.

"This village is definitely much hotter than our town, don't you think?" Jeongin said while shaking his hands next to Jeongmin, interrupting her thinking. "You better drink that before I borrow you the glass." He smiled, taking a sip of his lemonade. "You won't see it again if I do, I guarantee you."

"Look around, Jeongin." She said, and he looked around innocently, a little confused. "There are so many people inside a café, just imagine how much more there are outside this middle of nowhere." He agreed with his head, his lips glued to the straw. "So tell me: why do we have to be the ones playing the fugitives?" 

"You lost me, sis."

"Why on earth do we have to run away from everywhere?" She approached her face to his, lowering her tone. "Why not them? Why us?"

"You definitely didn't get any decent sleep."

"I am serious."

"Look, I wished I had those answers. I would do anything to get a single clue, but it's not up to me, and neither is it to you. We gotta play with the cards we got, sis." 

"That is so unfair." Jeongin could see the round tears forming on the edges of her eyes, tears she avoided and forced herself to hide by looking away from him.

"Accept it, or waste your life denying it. Up to you-"

A boy suddenly went past the beaded door curtains of the café, automatically catching Jeongmin's attention as her frustrated face turned into a smiling one. 

Jeongin, whose back was turned to the door, could already bet who it was.

Such an actress.

"Bangchan!" She called him, waving her hand.

Jeongin grabbed the untouched lemonade from his sister in a second, rolling his eyes once he felt Bangchan right behind him.

"Hey!" The boy smiled, timidly hiding his hands inside his pockets.

"Do you wanna sit with us?" Jeongmin asked Bangchan and glanced at her brother as a signal for him to welcome the male as well, getting a huge-mouthed 'no' in return.

"Ahm... yeah, sure." Before sitting, Bangchan pointed at Jeongin, who still refused to exchange gazes with him. "Is he okay?" He mouthed silently to Jeongmin, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

She nodded, and Jeongin rolled his eyes for the thirtieth time.

"A coffee, please!" Bangchan ordered, smiling widely as his request was accepted by the employee behind the counter right away.

"So, ahm... how's your brother's adaptation going on?" Jeongmin asked, gulping as she felt the immense weight of his brother's glare on her. 

"It's going great, actually. He's enjoying the village, the food, the temperature... he's made some friends already."

"Already?" She asked, acting surprised. 

"Yeah, he's pretty social." Bangchan laughed, glancing at Jeongin.

"Guess that runs in the family," Jeongmin commented, placing an elbow over the table as she rested her chin on one of her thin wrists.

"Oh-" The boy blushed slightly. "No, I- I am not as social as my brother. He's a lot more talented."

"You can't convince me, Bangchan. I mean, just look at you: hanging out with two new friends on your second day in this village."

Jeongin sighed and Jeongmin kicked his leg under the table. Above it, Jeongmin and Bangchan smiled at each other, yet the male's eyes were fast falling to her wrist. 

To the deep bruises she had on her skin.

"Hey, Jeongmin, what happened here?" As Bangchan approached her wrist to look closer, Jeongin widened his eyes, turning his face to quickly glare at him.

Suddenly, the chairs got upside down, the table fell, and the glasses got shattered on the ground, lemonade flooding their feet and wetting their clothes.

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