Strange Hearts || Heeseung

3

"What a great picture, it would be nice if the teachers could see it."

Yuju kicked a street lamp in anger. He had been annoying her with it for the rest of the school day. During class, he had whispered similar sentences in her ear while secretly looking at his cell phone.

It annoyed Yuju, very much so. Under no circumstances should Heeseung show the picture to the teachers, she would be expelled from school immediately and want to kill herself faster than her illness would allow.

It was already after 3 p.m. and Yuju went to her part-time job at the café. Most students go to tutoring after school because they sleep through most of their classes and have to catch up on the material later. Yuju didn't listen to the teacher most of the time either, but she could teach herself the subject later. She couldn't sleep anyway, so she studied until 2 a.m.

When she arrived at the café, Yuju went to the staff changing room. There she put her backpack in her locker and changed into her café uniform. When she was ready, she went to the counter and stood at the cash register. Although her job involved dealing with people, she tried to communicate with them as little as possible. Of course, there were always attempts at flirting from boys her age or from disgusting 50-year-old married men, but Yuju tried to ignore it.

"You're already here, Yuju," her boss greeted her with a smile. Yuju quickly smiled back and concentrated on getting the coffee beans into the coffee machines.

Her boss's name was Sim Jaeyun, and he owned the café. He was maybe only five years older than Yuju. She had met him two years ago at the hospital when Yuju had to go to the emergency room. At the time, Jaeyun was at the hospital because his father owned it. And so he struck up a short conversation with Yuju. He offered her a job at his café because his father knew about her living situation. Yuju hated that he knew about her problems and just wished he would forget about it soon. It was bad enough that his father insisted that Yuju would be the perfect girlfriend for Jaeyun.

"You look great today," Jaeyun grinned at her as he fetched the new cups. Yuju forced a smile. Jaeyun had never even asked her out on a date. Yuju had always refused because she didn't want to start a romance with her boss and, besides, she wasn't attracted to him.

"Yuju, the customers are waiting," Jaeyun nudged her from the side. Yuju nodded and went to the cash register to take the orders.

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It was just after 7 o'clock and Yuju was on her way home. It was already evening, but Seoul was still full of people. Before she got home, however, she went into a convenience store and bought herself a rice triangle. She loved these things, and she didn't have any left at home.

When she arrived at her apartment and stood in front of the door, she heard Yuria having an angry outburst. Yuju opened the door and went inside. Yuria was sitting on the floor in despair, staring at her cell phone. It looked as if she might throw it against the wall at any second.

"Yuju," she saw her and crawled over to her and sat in front of Yuju, who was standing. Yuju had no idea what was going on until Yuria held her cell phone up to her face.

"THAT BITCH," Yuria screamed and rolled back and forth on the floor. Her aunt had written to Yuria that she was moving to Singapore and would no longer be paying her electricity bills. That meant Yuria and Yuju would have to do it themselves now.

"Did she write anything else?" Yuju wanted to know. Yuria looked at her tearfully.

"She blocked me right after that! Um, Yuju, my sweet little sister," Yuria crawled back to Yuju and took her hand in hers. Yuju knew what was coming next. Her sister would now beg her to cover all the costs.

"Before you say it, no. We'll split the costs," Yuju decided and pulled her hand away from Yuria's. Yuju didn't think it was fair that Yuria expected her to pay too. Yuju was still in school and only had a small job, while Yuria had every opportunity in the world to find a good job. But Yuju knew that if she didn't cover half the costs, they would have to live on the streets.

"But Yuju..." her sister whined. Yuju was about to go into her room when she turned to Yuria in annoyance.

"I said no. It's embarrassing enough that you're 25 and spend all your money on skimpy outfits and alcohol," Yuju told her.

"But I usually don't have any money left at the end of the month..."

"Then drink less alcohol and don't go to clubs," Yuju said irritably, closing the door behind her and going into her room. She took a strawberry milk from her mini fridge and some Cheetos from one of her shelves. She made herself comfortable on the floor and ate her food. She almost forgot her rice triangle.

When Yuju buys certain foods for herself, she hides them in her room so that Yuria can't find them. Yuju always does the weekly shopping for the two of them anyway, so she allows herself to hide food from her sister.

It was already 10 p.m., and Yuju had just finished her homework when she briefly scrolled through Instagram and discovered Heeseung's account. Curious, she clicked on it and saw his latest post. The post showed him sitting behind Yuju in the classroom. When Yuju looked closer, she saw that she was also visible in the picture from behind.

So he had turned around on purpose so that she would be in the picture too?

The caption read, "Found today a great victim." Yuju exhaled angrily and read through the comments from girls in her town. There were comments like, "I can be your victim!" or "bae, I will be everything for you."

Disgusted, Yuju turned off her phone and stared out the window at the stars. Sometimes she imagined that the two stars she saw in the sky every day were her parents.

She didn't know her parents, but she was sure they loved her. If that weren't the case, why would they have accepted a girl with a terminal illness? Her parents weren't rich, but they had enough money to send her to Bangladesh and let her die there if they didn't want her. But that wasn't the case.

Tired, Yuju leaned against her bed. She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight either. Her insomnia made it impossible for her to fall asleep. Her sick heart also played a big role in this.

She didn't want anyone else to know about her illness because she was afraid of being bullied. That's why she is quiet at school and has no friends. Sometimes that really bothers her.