I let the note fall out of my hand, the tears falling down my face. Shaking my head, I began running around the house, searching in each room. He had to be here, he just had to be. It was all a joke. He'd appear in front of me at any moment. I forced myself to laugh as I stood in the middle of the bedroom.
"Nuhyun.... Jokes over! You can come out now!" I shouted, hopeful that despite wherever he was hidden, he could hear me. "I give up looking for you!" As I spoke, I closed my eyes and threw my head back. Moments later, I was left in shock yet again. He didn't come out. He didn't wrap his arms around my waist and pull me into a hug. He didn't care.
All the energy had been drained from my body, leaving me to practically drag myself out of the room and down to the living room. Once there, I collapsed onto the couch face down. My emotions got the better of me and tears fell down my cheeks like a waterfall.
How long I was like that, I don't know. All I know is that the sun was risen by the time Yoonjung found me. Yoonjung was Nuhyun's younger sister. Throughout the years, she also became my best friend. Yoonjung sat down beside me and pulled me into a hug. If anyone was going to know how I felt, it would be her. Hell, she probably felt worse than I did right now. I wrapped my arms around her, and we both just sobbed. No words were needed. We just let the tears fall.
Pulling away, Yoonjung reached into her bag. It was visually obvious that she was not her usual self. Her once sparkling, warm brown eyes were bloodshot, showing a mix of emotions; sorrow, longing, grief and heartbreak. Her wavy chestnuts brown hair was pulled up into a ponytail, rather than falling below her shoulders.
She pulled out a few items. The first of which was a packet of tissues. We shared a short laugh as we both took one tissue out of the packet which we used to dry our tears.
My grief was nothing compared to how she must have been feeling. We both knew exactly what we needed, what we wanted more than anything. We both wanted the exact same thing.
Nuhyun.
That day, my grieving turned into compassion for the other. For I lost a love, but she lost a brother. Love is replaceable, family is not.
