Proven Wrong

Chapter 13

We were sitting at one of the diners close to the center of the city, waiting for our food in an uncomfortable silence. We tried to make small talk but the hint of sadness in the brunette eyes just made me unable to continue the conversations. I asked her if she wanted to go to the Coffee Shop, hoping that the familiarity would bring her at least some joy but she refused. Then again if Ryujin didn't go home for Christmas we might actually bump into her so I convinced myself it was better not to go there.

Lost in thoughts, I jumped a little when I felt Minjeong's cold hand take mine on the table, she was smiling softly at me. "Don't feel bad."

I frowned, "I'm really sorry I brought that up, I feel like I'm ruining your Christmas." I played with her hands as I watched them instead of looking at her.

She chuckled, the sound made my chest loosened up a little bit. I looked up to see her smiling widely. "That's silly, you're giving me a very good one, one of the best I ever had." I rolled my eyes but couldn't help my smile at her grin. "I'm serious." She stated and I looked at her, her eyes boring into mine. "What I'm gonna tell you, I hope it won't make you pity me."

"I won't, but you really don't have to." I reassured her.

But she shook her head, her smile turned into a tight line. "I want to." She said, looking at me like she was waiting for an answer.

So I nodded, "Okay." I squeezed her hand.

Taking a deep breath, she looked away at the window. "I'm sure you already assumed that I have never spent Christmas with my parents, until I got back, and my father invited me to spend a day before the holiday to talk to me for five minutes as his party guest." She smiled, still not facing me but her hand gripped mine tightly. "Back in Yangsan, my sister Mina, and her family, spent theirs with me and I always had good times with them. It felt normal, exchanging gifts, dinner together, singing together and we watched a lot of Christmas movies all day." She looked back at me and I could see the pain in her eyes. "It was always at the twenty fourth."

I brought my other hand up to the table and squeezed her hand as my eyebrow knitted together. She shook her head, telling me that she was okay.

"It didn't matter at first, it wasn't a problem for me every time they go to visit their families the day after. It was their right to do so and they were kind enough to make sure I at least had a replacement." She nodded at herself, trying to convince her words were true. "Until I was thirteen, Mina always pretended to be sick on Christmas. She would not go with them and take me to walk around the city, looking at the Christmas lights, and families spending time together." Tears started to pool in her eyes, and I could feel my throat getting dry. "After three Christmas we spent together, the last one she had with me when I was sixteen, she had a fight with her parents a day before Christmas, my very own Christmas, they told her that the family was asking for her and even if she was sick, she should still go, but she refused, they were yelling and shouting about how ungrateful she was being and I felt bad, so I told Mina to go with them, that I was okay." She sniffed and wiped at her eyes. "But she burst out, she told me that it was unfair for me to be alone, she said she always felt sad during Christmas because she kept thinking about me and couldn't enjoy her time at all, and the guilt stayed until New Year, where we could spend another party together. She said during those nights, she couldn't sleep because of the guilt, she kept checking me in my room to see if I was secretly crying even though I wasn't, she still felt bad."

The brunette shook her head and I offered her a tissue that she took to dab at her eyes, I held back my tears from seeing her so agitated, telling a story she buried deep down in her heart.

She started again with a scoff, probably from her own tears that she was holding back. "Knowing that, I snuck out during the night and left a note for her to go to with her parents." Her lips formed a tiny smile. "I took a cab and went out of the town to stay at a hotel until New Year, turning off my phone and just, think." She took another deep breath and looked down, her hands now in her lap, playing with the tissue she was holding. "I came back on New Year's eve, to police cars and a worried Mina, my dad was there too." She glanced at me, she looked almost embarrassed. "They told me they were so worried, and that night, looking at Mina crying with relief that I was okay, I made a promise to her not to do that again the next year." Her tears suddenly dripped down her face as she looked up at me with guilt in her eyes. "I didn't have a chance to fulfill my promise as she died in August the year after."