MIDNIGHT | NEWJEANS

CH. 8 MY SWEET SERENITY

Narrator's Point Of View

Every story must come to an end, sometimes even before it begins.

Memories, how they carve themselves into every fiber of our being, the lovely ones brings warmth and butterflies, the chaotic memories of the past that kept us up all night, the mistakes that we wish to change, and the painful ones you wish to erase.

Haerin smiled with so much pain and sadness, remembering the memories she had shared with her friends, especially her roommate, the night she met Hanni at a party, the sleepless nights talking on the phone, endless midnight walks, the fun beach house weekend, the banquet, and her most treasured memory of the girl, their kiss. To temporarily let go of the memories that brought her happiness, to say goodbye to the people who meant the world to her, who gave her another chance to feel pure and genuine happiness.

To treat them as mere ghosts of the past, memories to remember on rainy days, slow nights at the hospital, or at a 'Remember when' moment. Her heart aches but she keeps on writing, she was never good with words, but for tonight she tried her best to interpret her unexplainable feelings. "They deserve to know the importance of their existence in my life, even if it's for the last time."

The night she kissed Hanni, solidified a decision she'd been contemplating. The girl was right, she was a damn flight risk, she couldn't deny the fact that she leaves at the most emotionally difficult of times.

"Are you sure about all of this, Rin?" Her brother asks.

It has only been a month since the kiss, a month of preparing for her departure, finally finished with the pile of paperwork her father gave her, to think it was just for business and school, was more of a finalizing the papers she's going to leave behind.

"I need to find answers to what I'm feeling, I need to follow this path that was given to me, and for one, dad's actually happy I'm leaving for London. His only daughter is pursuing Medicine overseas." Haerin was now, back at her family house, in her old bedroom filled with pictures of a person she considered home.
"What about Hanni?" Soobin knew he was pressing on a matter Haerin didn't want to discuss.
"A love story without an ending, I guess. I need to know what she means to me, I can't do that here, not when Jihye's in the picture. Hanni doesn't deserve half of me, not by a long shot."
"And if she realizes that she's not in love with you anymore?" He asked again, Haerin stared at the letters she had made. She's thought about it before.
"That's okay, I'm doing my part in finding my truest feelings for her. I'm not the type to start something under false pretense. Again, she doesn't deserve it, not after what she's been through."

Airport, 12:00am
Haerin's Point Of View

Leaving a place I once called home and friends who saw my weakest and strongest self, a bittersweet ending to my story in a city called Ador.

"Haerin we need to board, keep your shit together, don't weep." We? I looked at my brother, curiously enough, he was smiling.
"Excuse me? We?" I ask
"Do all the soul searching you want, but you need someone you can lean on, and I can confidently say that it's me."

It's too much to ask of you, but wait for me for just a little more. I thought I could find the answers here with you, but I couldn't, because when I start looking all I remember is someone else.

Eunchae's Apartment
Hanni's Point Of View

"You're loving me at my worst but you deserve to be with me at my best, trust me when I say, that's exactly what I'm trying to do. In a world full of mad and mayhem, you're my sweet serenity."

Sincerely,
Kang Haerin

"Those were the last words from her letter." I kept fighting the tears threatening to fall down my cheeks. It's been a week since we received the letters, as soon as Eunchae received a call from Soobin about the letters, she called us and asked us to come over.
"Did Soobin tell you why they left?" Yunjin asks Eunchae who nods her head, the three of us look at her with anticipation.
"Haerin was soul searching?.....I didn't really get it." Yunjin slumped backwards, Hyein groaned in annoyance, and I was disappointed.