Substitute Soulmate

It Hurts

Sehun...

His name suddenly sounded smooth and cool. He watched her go through the sliding doors and into the elevator. Suddenly, he felt very lighthearted. Now he was certain that despite Namjoo's cold shoulders, she didn't dislike him.

As he drove out he glanced back at the apartment building. He'd remember this place for sure. Next time, maybe he'd even get to go up to where she lived.

When he returned home he showered and once in comfortable clothes, he went over the recipe book he'd used that morning. If the meat had been too salty he'd just cook it again.

The following day at work he waited in his car for Namjoo to drive into the parking lot. Sehun checked the time three times before he was nearly late clocking in. He'd made lunch again, had cooked with less salt this time. Whatever good may have happened last night, Namjoo didn't come to work.

¤¤¤¤¤

Namjoo's heart was still beating fast. She had checked her rearview mirror several times on the way back and Sehun had indeed followed her back just to make sure she arrived safely. Knowing it made her feel warm. Positive feelings for him engulfed her on her ride up to her apartment. She couldn't stop thinking about how he talked to her so comfortably as if he'd known her a long time. Who else had ever made her feel this way but Yeol? Sehun came so close to it she couldn't keep from wavering.

The good feelings came to a pause when she spotted a woman sitting in front of her door hugging herself, appearing tiny and afraid. Nearing Namjoo recognized Yeol's younger sister, Mina.

"Mina?" Namjoo called out stopping behind her.

The young girl sobbed. Turning around to look at her Namjoo saw a face streaked with tears and running mascara.

"Namjoo," the girl cried, "what do I do? It's all my fault! It's all my fault!" Mina buried her face into her hands, sobbed harder, louder.

Yeol's father had been rushed to the ER after a heated argument with his daughter about her dreams. She wanted to drop out because an entertainment company was finally making love calls. Yeol had always been the patient mediator between the daughter and parents, because he had been the eldest, he was wise, smart, and successful so his parents heeded him. They looked at Namjoo in the same light. Now that Yeol was gone, Namjoo had to stand in Yeol's place.

She expected Yeol's father to spend the night in the hospital, be better after some intravenous therapy but that wasn't the case. Park Chunghee had been diagnosed with high blood pressure when Yeol started high school. At times his father's high blood pressure waned due to his diet outside of the house. That was when Yeol's mother started taking a step up to control the food in the house, but after Yeol's death it seemed depression spread among the household.

Nowadays, Park Chunghee only worked in his tiny workshop, spending a lot of his time refinishing projects. Controlling his blood pressure was a challenge. The man ate homemade meals sometimes and a lot of other times, drank and ate fatty foods. It looked like he was trying to shorten his life span.

Yeol's household seemed to be on the verge of breakdown. There was Mina, a college student, who may have her own goals, but on the contrary, she was still a student. Yeol's parents had saved hard to send her to college, get her a decent education. Their effort was going to naught. Mina barely studied. Her parents no longer gave her attention. They mourned for their elder son more than they loved their only daughter. Yeol's mother struggled to juggle her husband's needs and Mina's. The old woman was breaking down inside her steady shell.

And Namjoo was unable to move on from this crisis. Glued right there in the middle of their family.

It hurt and it hurt, and it hurt some more.