Sentience

39

Belle was again at her favourite spot; the pool, floating herself on the surface as she looked up, totally not looking at any specific thing. Her mind was too occupied to multitask, only filling up with the thought of running away while the adults were talking in the house a few floors down.

Ji Changmin was there too, at the edge of the pool, feet dipped. He was just being on alert if anything was going to happen to the girl like previously. His eyes trailed the movement of her body, sailing through the wide pool, pondering what was in her head.

He wanted to know. He wanted to dive inside the space of her brain, digging thoroughly just to find a little hint of what she was thinking since at the graveyard. Because crying over a cut obviously wasn't the case.

Her bandage was now new; he changed it to the adhesive type for her. That was why she could jump into the water. Because she knew, Changmin wouldn't be yelling for ruining his masterpiece.

"I think maybe it's about time..."

The sudden statement not only made Changmin flinch at its abruptness but also made him gasp. For a brief moment, he thought that he and Belle were sharing the same brain cells and that the girl could easily read his mind. Otherwise, how could she know that he was about to open his mouth to ask her a set of questions?

He remained silent as Belle flipped her body, dipping herself into the water; her shoulders and her head were in the air. She was slightly judging his expression; she couldn't help it, because Ji Changmin being surprised wasn't what she had in mind.

Within the silence, Changmin shrugged his mind off, returning to reality real quickly. "W-What do you mean? About time for what?"

At that, Belle swam closer to her friend at the edge of the pool and halted about thirteen inches away from him. Her eyes seemed to be full of calculation; she was being careful with her words.

"To... start anew?" She said that sounded like a question. Perhaps, she was still hesitant with her own stance. "With my mom?"

Right there and then, Ji Changmin gasped the loudest. His eyes grew bigger, his jaw slightly dropped and his hands unknowingly furiously flapped in the air. He's excited, Belle could've guessed.

"Arabelle!" Changmin suddenly squealed. Without an ounce of hesitancy, suddenly he jumped into the water, splashing the droplet all over Belle. "You know how ecstatic I am!"

Wiping the water off her face, Belle slightly chuckled. She never thought that just a simple opinion could transform this boy into a seal. She swore she could've seen his feet change into tails, ready to swim around the pool.

However, she wouldn't say anything about his excitement. She'd seen him talking highly about her mother; he had even taken care of her since the early days the two met. Although Changmin had bad thoughts about her mother's daughters, Brianna and her, who left the woman alone and never came back, Belle would never blame him for that.

Nonetheless, it did not mean that she wasn't disturbed by the thought itself.

And that had led Belle to turn around, giving back at him as she viewed the picturesque view she could catch from this floor.

Changmin used to hold a grudge against the daughter; he often lashed the person out without knowing that the person he was talking about was sitting right next to him. Belle witnessed with her own two eyes how furious Changmin was every time he talked about the abandoned woman.

Belle wasn't sure if he had changed his mindset. After all, he did say that he didn't mind if he lost her.

So, she unknowingly sighed before she said, "You must have been so angry at me..."

"Huh?" The neurons inside his head seemed to fail to connect, it was blurry to understand what did she mean.

Belle glanced over her shoulder, a bit hesitant to look him in the eyes. It was scary, Changmin's eyes were always scary.

"I am the daughter who left her Mother behind and never came back," she let out a small scoff as she looked at her wavy reflection in the water. "You used to be so red at Mother's daughter."

"Belle..." Changmin rushed towards her; a bit struggling to walk in the water. As their reflection in the water clashed with each other, then only the girl looked up, meeting his shiny orbs that seemed to panic. "Please... pleaseeeee erase your memory about that!"

He was pleading.

"Huh?" It was the girl's turn to be confused.

"Okay... Alright!" Changmin raised both of his hands in the air, in the form of surrender. "I was mad, I admit. But, that is before I know the details. Now that I've heard the story from your side, I'm no longer mad. Besides, it's you, Belle! You know I can't be mad at you for too long!"

If it was other girls, they might have had a heart attack by now, questioning what are we? However, Arabelle was just too pure and oblivious. 

Thus, her reaction was only, "agreed..."

And just like that, the topic was concluded before the two got out of the water, engulfing themselves in dry towels to go back down to Belle's unit. It almost seemed like they had never talked about anything; the previous conversation seemed to vanish into thin air.

It was only when they were in the elevator, while Belle was looking at the display showing the floor number, she highlighted, "Why do you think she never remembered me?"

Changmin found his breath hitched at the question. It was quite a sensitive query and he needed to be super careful in answering. Otherwise, Belle would be hurt.

"She did... When you appear in front of her," he pursed his lips.

"Tch..." Belle hugged herself tighter under the towel. "I don't need the answer. So, you don't need to be too worked up in explaining. I told you, right? I don't want her to remember me either."

Although she said it herself, letting the words out of her mouth, Changmin could see from the side of her face that she didn't mean it. Instead, she was damn serious that she was really curious because deep down, Arabelle was hoping that her mother would remember her. Even a little.

Maybe she had opened her heart; Changmin smirked in secrecy while his soul was laughing.

"You surely are good at lying," then he said as they stepped out of the elevator; Belle granted him a slap on the stomach, which he groaned in no time. "What's that for?!"

"You make me feel offended!"

"I was stating a fact!"

"It's not true so it's a slander!"

In the middle of the cute argument in the corridor leading to her doorstep, it was then that the sound of one of the doors unlocked could be heard. A small figure of Jinwoo appeared from behind the door, excitedly running towards his sister as soon as he spotted her.

"Belle! Belle!" He jumped like a spring was installed under his heels while holding the girl's hand. Which Belle had to hold tight, worried that he would fall. "We are eating meat today!"

"Okay then... Changmin should join us," she glanced over at the long-neck boy; he nodded before she looked down at Jinwoo again. "What's the occasion? Does Mom cook it?"

"No..."

The answer was something Belle didn't expect to hear. But, she did not get the chance to ask the little boy to elaborate when the pitter-patter of footsteps was heard coming from the same direction: her house.

"Oh, you guys are here," it was her Stepmom, endearingly smiling at the door. "Come in, Belle... Your mom cooks specially for you."