The Hidden Treasure

~13~

Hyejin and Jinjoo walked away from the hospital.  The funeral had been held quickly and after a few hours of greeting guests, friends, and family, nonstop crying, and trying to shove some food down a tight throat, Hyejin was ready to collapse. 

"Your mom and dad had talked to me a while back.  They said that if anything happened you should come live with me.  They left legal documents requesting it, so there should be no legal troubles."  Jinjoo, emotionally and physically drained herself, kept a firm grip on the young girl's shoulders.  

Hyejin just slowly nodded. 

"We'll go get all your things at school tomorrow and work on getting you transferred to a school closer to my house.  Don't worry about anything else.  Let the adults handle it and you just work on taking care of you, okay?"  Her voice cracked a bit. 

Hyejin wasn't really hearing anything she said right now.  All she could think of was how everything was just fine in her world a while ago and now everything was in shambles.  She watched her black shoes take one step after another and she frowned.  She missed her red sneakers.  They were a source of familiarity to her right now and that's what she very much wanted at this very moment. 

As much as she loved her "aunt", even her hugs right now felt strange.  She felt alone and abandoned by everything.  She hated the thought of transferring.  Even Namjoon's smug smirk would be a welcome sight right now. 

Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. 

The next day, Jinjoo walked into the staff office with Hyejin and requested her things and transfer papers.  Hyejin went to her locker to remove her books, odds and ends.  She was glad it was a class period so no one was in the halls. 

She passed her home room on the way to her locker.  She kept her head down and walked quickly, but couldn't help but steal a glance through the glass and saw Namjoon sitting there, his nose buried in a book as usual.  She felt a lump form in her throat.  She would probably not see him again.  Or maybe they would meet again sometime.  

Her sneakers squeaked as she walked quickly to her locker, removing her personal items.  With a heavy sigh and one last look down the hall, she left.

* * *

The rest of the day after Hyejin went running from the school, Namjoon tried not to worry.  Something must have happened to her parents.  He felt a sick sense of foreboding and nothing he did helped him get rid of it. 

The next day she did not show up for classes.  He kind of expected that.  You can just waltz back into life when something serious happens in your family. He had not slept well because he was concerned for her, but he couldn't get any information from anyone about what had happened.  

He decided to do what felt natural and normal to him to help distract himself.  Pulling out his latest read, he delved into it and tried to keep his mind off Hyejin.  It was a self-study time so the room was quiet except for the occasional rustle of papers or sound of a zipper from a backpack. 

As he read he heard an out of place sound.  It was faint, but it made him jerk his head up and look towards the hall.  Seeing no one in the hallway, he slowly returned back to his book.   He could have swore he heard the sound of squeaky sneakers.

* * *

"How have I been?" Namjoon laughed lightly at her question. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she genuinely meant it. It wasn't just a flippant conversation starter.