Remember me || JHS ||

11.

YN POV:

The ringing of my alarm clock startles me out of a dreamless sleep. Exhausted, I let my head sink back into the pillows and close my eyes.

I lie there for about five minutes before forcing myself to get up and walk to my bathroom.

I get ready and decide to get my breakfast on the way. So I grab my bag, stuff my wallet in it and lock my door behind me.

I decide to go to the café where Hoseok works, but only because it's on my direct route to university. I get my usual order and check how much time I have left.

As it's only ten past eight, I decide to go to the park before our meeting.

I sit back down on the bench I sat on last time and start eating my breakfast.

"Yn-Eonni!" I look around in surprise and see Mina running towards me.

She stops in front of me and needs a little time to breathe normally again. My gaze glides to her hand with which she holds a flower out to me again.

I take it carefully. "Thank you little girl, it's beautiful." I say as I admire the flower, which is an unusual blue color.

She smiles and like last time, sits down next to me again. We just sit quietly next to each other for a few minutes before I decide to find out a little about her. "Mina, how old are you?"

"I'm seven and my mom and I moved here a few weeks ago. What about you? Have you always lived here?"

"I'm 20 years old and I'm actually from Busan. I also moved here a few weeks ago to go to university."

"Oh great, then we can both get used to our new home together." She says with a broad smile on her face. "You know, I've been wanting to go to the new museum all this time but mom doesn't like museus. Do you want to go with me?" She asks, looking at me again with puppy eyes.

"Maybe you should ask your mom for permission first." There is surprise in her blue eyes as she turns to me. "Does that mean you'd go there with me?"

"Yeah, I think so." I wink at her and she jumps up. I give her a puzzled look as she pulls me up with her and runs off somewhere, dragging me behind her.

As we walk, I am lost in thought. It's unusual for a seven-year-old to want to visit a museum. I mean, I love museums too, but aren't there more exciting things for a child?

She suddenly stops abruptly, which causes me to almost trip over her. Sitting on a bench in front of us is a woman in her thirties, with long blonde hair and blue eyes that match Mina's.

My conclusion: her mother.

She looks puzzled at her daughter and then at me.

"Eomma, look. This is Yn. She's going to the museum with me tomorrow." Wait, what? I look at her in amazement.

"Good afternoon miss. We just wanted to ask if that would be all right." I take a look at a happily bouncing Mina. "We haven't arranged a day yet. We wanted to ask permission first."

Mina's mother gives me a sympathetic smile and nods. "My daughter likes to decide everything on her own. I think it's okay, she likes you, she's always talked about you when we've been to the park and you seem reliable. To be honest, I'm also very happy that she has a friend now."

She motions for me to sit next to her while Mina watches butterflies in the meadow. "I'd even be happy if you could go with her tomorrow. You know, I have a job interview tomorrow and I wouldn't know where else to put her for that time."

"I see, actually I only have one lecture tomorrow, I could pick her up afterwards if you don't mind." She looks at me gratefully. "That would be great. I'd wait here in the park with her at half past eleven."

I quickly say goodbye after checking the time and make my way to my appointment with Hoseok.

When I arrive at the library, I check all the tables to see if he's already there. Since he isn't, I leave my things at a table and quickly go to the toilet to fill up my bottle with water. I fill it half full and put the flower Mina gave me in it. She hangs her head a little and as soon as I get to my table, I put it on the table next to me.

It's been about twenty minutes since our appointment and I've already written two sheets of paper full of information.

Then I notice a person quickly approaching my table and when I look up, I see that it's Hoseok. However, he doesn't look so good. He has dark shadows under his eyes, his hair is disheveled and his face is an unusually pale color.

I want to call him by his name, but then I remember what he asked me to do. So I force myself to call him by his nickname. "Morning Hobi." I greet him and he drops into the chair opposite me.

"Good morning Yn, sorry I'm late." I look at him and worry arises in me. "Hey, you don't look well. Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just slept badly." He says as he smiles weakly at me.

I finish my last sentence before looking back up at him. His eyes are unfocused into space and when I call out to him, I get no answer from him.

With a sigh, I get up and walk around the table to squat in front of him. Still no reaction.

I shake his arm and call his name. He jerks his head in my direction, causing me to almost fall over backwards in shock.

"Sorry, what did you say?" He scratches the back of his head with his hand and laughs sheepishly. "I asked if you were okay. You don't look well. Did I infect you last time?" Concerned, I put my hand on his forehead.

"Uh, no. Everything's fine, I just slept badly." Satisfied with the answer, I nod slightly and make my way back to my chair.

"Let's finally get started on this project, the sooner we do it, the sooner we'll be done. Look, I already have most of the first three tasks," I say proudly as I show him my notes.

~

We've been sitting together in the library for about two hours and I notice how Hoseok is becoming less attentive by the minute. He plays with his pens instead of writing something down, wiggles his legs the whole time and when I ask him a question, he must ask me to repeat it three times.

Something is very, very wrong. I'm starting to worry about him.

"Hobi." I say as I tap him on the hand. "Let's stop for today and get something to eat." He nods slightly and gives me a small smile.

We pack up our things and make our way out of the library. "Where are we going?" the boy asks me, walking a little behind me like a little kid following you.

"To get pizza, come on." I grab his hand and quicken my pace. "We didn't really get much done today, did we?" I laugh, "No, not really. And I have a feeling you're not up to much today anyway."

I hear him sigh behind me, "I'm sorry." I turn to him briefly and see that he must have taken that the wrong way. He looks sad and pretty shattered.

Great, now I feel guilty too.

"It's all right, we still have plenty of time and I didn't feel like it either." I smile at him and hope that makes him feel a little better. "And as soon as we have our pizza, you're going to tell me why you look like you've been rejected by the love of your life." I hear him laughing bitterly behind me, but I ignore it.

I must have hit a nerve. I always have to say the wrong thing.

As we walk on, I stop talking and curse myself inwardly for my loose mouth.