Beyond Us [Bangchan] [Finished]

Chapter 60

I barely recovered from the shock when I managed to call an ambulance. After that, I felt everything happened way too fast.

My grandmother passed away, and I had no clue about what to do. I received guidance at the hospital while my dad urgently flew to Seoul again, but I was at loss. I took two days off from work, and my boss was very attentive and told me to ask for help if needed. I also called Richard to notify him I was going to be off those days, he didn't care about that; the first thing he asked was how I was dealing with my grandma's death. He worried more than I could have imagined after the fellout we had before I went back to South Korea.

I couldn't have time with Chan until Monday night. We made a video call, I didn't want to worry him so I tried to cool down and put myself together but I ended up being a sobbing mess at the end. I was feeling damn lonely going through those days all alone.

My dad arrived on Tuesday and I don't think I've ever hugged him so tight in my entire life. I couldn't have a grasp of how he was feeling either. Imagine losing both of your parents in less than a year, it would be an amazingly hard pill to swallow.

While my dad took care of legal things and organized the funeral, I went back to work. I had a hard time concentrating though. It's not that my grandma's decease hit me that hard but it made me question myself a few things. I was far from my family, and I couldn't see them often, what if something like this happened to my parents as well? Or my brother? Or my friends?

The girls tried their best to comfort me when they got the news. They even went to the office to pick me up and spend some time with me. I was more than grateful. That same day I called my friends and told them how much I missed them, I texted them often, but it wasn't the same thing as before. My mom called me every day, I could tell she was worried about Dad too.

Unexpectedly, I got a call from Hyun-u on Friday. He asked me if we could meet for lunch, I had no idea he was back in Seoul. But when I saw him at the restaurant, I knew something had happened, he looked awful.

He asked me how I was doing, and I answered honestly, that the last few months weren't great. I told him about my grandma too, and he broke. His best friend had died the previous week too, that's why he was back, he had committed suicide and he felt tremendously guilty about it.

Hyun-u was feeling lonely too because at the funeral almost any of their friends showed up, and most didn't even care. He was also questioning himself a lot of things.

We didn't give reassuring words to each other because I think both knew it was meaningless at some point, but we gave each other company and a sense of understanding.

The funeral of Grandma was not as sad as I thought it would be. A lot of people went to give their condolences, seems like my grandma was quite popular, and I heard many stories about her youthful days and funny stories about her and Grandpa at their dating stage. Somehow, it was heartwarming.

The following week, Hyun-u and I hung out almost every day over lunch or after work for a cup of coffee. We didn't talk much, to be honest, but that silence was just what I needed. If I talked with my friends, they would give me soothing words or show concern but I didn't want that. It just made me keep overthinking things, I just wanted to think about something else or nothing at all.

"What do you want to do?" Asked Dad that night after we had dinner.

"I'm not sure. Maybe I should move to Seoul, it's more convenient. But it's your parents' house after all, you grew up here. If you want to keep the house, I understand, I can take care of it while I'm here". He nodded and stayed silent for the rest of the night.

The following days were a rollercoaster. Photos of me and Hyun-u were on SnS claiming I was cheating on Chan. I got randoms gathering outside our door demanding an explanation, my dad was confused as heck. He even called the police, but that didn't help much. At that point, I had to tell him what was going on. He got angry, of course, and he nagged me because I didn't say anything earlier, but he said he would try to help as well.

Of course, Chan called me worried as heck a day after the photos started circulating and told me he had already talked with people in the company to deal with it. We had been texting each other almost every day, and he knew I had met with Hyun-u that week. Since he didn't feel comfortable about him, I told him I was meeting him in advance.

"Chan-ah, are you busy right now? Tell me when you can talk, I need to discuss something with you", I texted Chan on Sunday morning. I knew he was on his way to Seoul so he might not even have reception but I felt like I couldn't wait more.

"What are you doing? Did you miss me? I'll be back soon". I received a notification in the evening. Yeah, it was Chan, but on Bubble. A few minutes later it was a message for me. "Can I call you now?"

"Yes!" I replied swiftly. My phone started buzzing in 2 minutes.

"Mia, did something happen?" I heard Chan's worried voice.

"Nothing new, don't worry. Uhm... it's just", it was a sensitive subject to talk about, "Do you remember what we talked about the last time?" He remained silent for a moment.

"About you moving to Seoul?" He asked. I sighed.

"There are still people waiting outside the house, my dad is worried. And since we have said nothing about the thing going on with Hyun-u yet, there is more speculation. The only thing that's left is that someone shows up at work and everyone at the office gets to know about this. I'm tired, and you are not helping at all". I said it slowly, trying not to rush or sound harsh.

"I'm rushing things out, I'll be back tomorrow and we will solve this quickly".

"What do you mean by solving this? For how long? Do you not remember I have your bubble? I read the messages you send every time, how is that helping the situation? I sometimes think that you depend on this parasocial relationship too much".

"Mia, you know it's part of my job too. And there's more to it". He sounded upset.

"There are limits, Chan". I felt a bit disappointed, I thought that at that point he would understand.

"I'll be back tomorrow. Can we talk then? I don't want to talk about this over the phone". He said after a long sigh.

"Fine".

 "I'm going to call you as soon as I can go over there".

"I can wait in Seoul if you want".

"I'll call you". He probably didn't know if we could meet right away.

"Ok".

"See you tomorrow".

"Hm".

"Mia", he called my name before ending the call.

"Hm?"

"I-" He paused for a second, "Nothing, see you tomorrow".

"Ok". I waited on the phone for a few seconds before the call ended.

I bit my lower lip holding back my tears, I think we were in a very bad situation.