Chapter 11

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"Ong Hyejin!" they look towards the kitchen, where the trio's father come out from, wiping his hands dry. Hyejin freezes, while Yunu stands next to Heesun, who had no idea of what was happening.

"Come here..." she steps forward until she's right in front of him, and looks down.

"Did you skip lessons today?" he spoke with the most cold, flat voice anyone heard. She shook her head, and felt a huge thud on her head. Yunu and Heesun stood there gasping at her father's actions.

"Look up. Did you skip lessons today?" she shook her head again, and felt a stronger one on her other side, causing her to fall. Heesun was now holding Yunu back from going in. Hyejin quickly collected herself and stood up.

"Stand straight! Did. You. Skip. Lessons. Today." she shook her head again, tears now slowly falling, and saw her father raising his hand. She closed her eyes and flinched, but felt nothing. She peeked and saw a back in front of her. His hand was in mid air as a human wall stood between them.

"Tateishi Yunu, what do you think you're doing? Get out of the way!" Yunu reached one hand behind and held Hyejin's.

"It's not her fault. We had no classes anyways, so I took her to Ansan to eat. I forced her to come, so you might as well hit me. She had nothing to do with this." Yunu's anger could be felt in his words, and the father only stared at the boy.

"Dad..." the four look to see Hansol standing at the door, back from his football training. They looked back at each other, and the old man retrieved his hand to his side.

"I'll let you go, but next time I won't be so nice..." he spoke to Yunu as he walked passed him, going upstairs to his room. Once she heard the door close and was sure her father was gone, Hyejin hugged Yunu's back, crying into his shirt. She clutched his shirt tightly, and he slowly turned around to hold her as she cried non stop. Heesun sat down on a chair, massaging her temples, while Hansol walked up to Yunu.

"Yunu... More than football tricks... teach me to be like you. That way I can always help her instead of running away." Yunu smiled at the boy, but, just as he was about to let go, he felt Hyejin fall, and grabbed her quickly. He looked at her, and saw her eyes closed, and her hold of him had weakened. Heesun ran up to them and inspected her sister's face.

"She's fainted, and has a temperature. Take her up, I'll bring medicine." Yunu put an arm behind her back, and another behind her knees and carried her up, taking her upstairs to her room. He laid her down on her bed and sat next to her on the floor, caressing her hand, then her face.

Sorry... I should have listened to you...

Heesun soon came up with medicine, and helped her swallow, and the two left her to rest. They went down, and Yunu stayed for dinner. They all ate in silence, only the sound of chopsticks and spoons clinking against the plates being heard. Once they finished, Yunu went back upstairs to check on Hyejin, who was sitting in bed, head in her arms on her knees. He walked up to her, and sat in front, holding her hand.

"Hyejin... How are you feeling?" she slowly lifted her head, looking pale and weak, as if she was a ghost. She stared at Yunu, expressionless, and he moved closer, hugging her tight.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have taken you there. It's my fault you're like this..."

"No... It's not. It's not like you knew he was there. I should learn to be stronger." she hugged him back, and they stayed like that for a while, before the door creaked. Hyejin peeked, and froze on her spot. Before Yunu could turn and see who it was, he already knew by the voice.

"You! Get out! What do you think you're doing!?!" the old man stood there, red eyed. Yunu didn't hesitate, and turned to face him straight away.

"At least it's better than what you do! Do you have a problem with someone comforting your daughter!?!" he stood face to face with her father, and Heesun and Hansol were soon in the room, not knowing what to do.

"Tch... Daughter? I never accepted her. It was all my wife's decision, not mine. And I don't need her ruining the family's reputation. I'd rather have her get lost than do that!" all the youth could do nothing but stare at him as he left the room.

Hyejin sat silently, tears slowly falling down her face. Heesun sat next to her, and hugged her from the side, and Hansol did the same. Yunu walked up to them as they released, and Heesun stood up.

"Yunu... I'm really... Surprised? I don't know what to tell you..." he ignored her words and sat next to Hyejin, caressing her hand, holding it tightly in his, as she leaned on his shoulder.

-+-

One month later...

Yunu is awakened by the sound of his phone. He gets annoyed and hits it, but soon realised it was not an alarm. He picked it up to see someone calling, and answered without checking the caller id.

"Hello..."

"Yunu! Are you at home?"

"Oh Heesun. Yea, I'm home."

"With Hyejin?"

"What? No! I'm alone! Why?"

"S***! You better come quickly! I'll leave the back door open."

He sprung up and got ready in five minutes before going to the back yard. He went into their house, and followed Hansol upstairs to Hyejin's room. But the only thing different, there was nothing 'Hyejin' in the room.

"Heesun... Why is her room empty? Where did she go? Where are her things?" Yunu held Heesun by her shoulders and shook her lightly. She only pursed her lips and shook her head, tears starting to come out.

"We... Don't know. I came in this morning to call her for breakfast, but... this happened. Everything looked normal last night, but now this." she cried. Yunu looked around the room.

All the furniture were still there, only her presence from the house was as if it was erased. Nothing left a trace that she existed. He walked around, looking for something, anything that could give them a little idea, and found a note on her bed, written in failed Japanese.

Yunu,
I'm sorry. I couldn't live in this hell hole anymore. Thanks for being an awesome friend. I'll never forget you, but please forget me. Don't let me stop you from your future. That goes to all of you. I can't be a burden even after I'm gone.
I wrote like this so only you could read. Tell them I simply ran away. That's all. Tell Heesun and Hansol I love them. If you can, tell dad I didn't always hate him since he was my father after all.
And don't try to find me. I can't guarantee that I'll still be alive by the time you read this. I want to erase myself from the memory of the house, and you guys.
-Hyejin

Yunu unknowingly teared up at the letter. He gripped the paper tightly, almost ripping it apart, and stormed out of the room, to the old man's office. Heesun followed behind, trying to stop him from being so aggressive. He barged into the room, and the father looked up at him shocked. Yunu threw the paper onto the desk in front of him.

"Happy now? You were finally able to get rid of your trash!" he studied the paper, then looked at Heesun for an explanation.

"Dad... Hyejin... She ra.... Ran awa.. y..." he eyes darted back at the paper, then to Yunu, who could burn holes into him with his stare. Th father then became expressionless, putting the paper down and turning back to his files.

"ARE YOU EVEN HUMAN?" Yunu shouted as he took the paper back and ran out of their house back to his. He crashed into bed, tears now continuously flowing down his cheeks. After a while, Hansol suddenly came, barging into his room.

"Yu... nu... I... Can't take... This anymore..." he fell to the floor crying. Yunu got up and held the boy, hugging him to calm him down. He knew Hansol loved his sister. Because of his huge age gap with Heesun, and their mother's early death, he had only Hyejin all his life. Now, he has no one. Yunu thought that if he himself felt this way, Hansol must be hurt ten times more.

Hyejin... Why...

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