Crimson Sky| Taennie

[Chapter 10] "I would never."

I woke up to murmurs.

I squint as my eyes take time to adjust to the light.

It took me time to figure out where I was. I was home. In my room and for a second I wished that everything went back to normal, to the time when nothing had happened but reality hit me like a truck. Tears streamed down my cheeks as my head continued to throb in pain. I held my head and pressed against it to stop the pain but it din't help. The ringing sound was back and the photo frames around enraged me.

"She is up!"I hear Jungkook shout. Taehyung bursts into the room as I try to sit up.

"How long was I out for?" I ask frantically.

"Seven hours or so, Noona, are you okay?"Jungkook looks at me,panic visible in his voice.

Taehyung rushes to my side, I drop my hand down. The ringing sound seems to finally come to a stop and my vision is clear now.

"You want some water?" He asks as he hands me a glass of water.

"Yea, thank you," I say as I take the glass with trembling fingers.

"The Doctor was here to check and he asked you to eat well," Taehyung says.
I nod understanding.

"Noona, I thought you would leave too," Jungkook says as tears trickle down his cheeks.

I gulp down the water and place the cup on the table beside.

"I would never," I hug him.

"Promise?" He asks.

"Promise!" I smile.

He wipes his tears before breaking the hug.

____

26 July, 2016

Me, Jungkook and mom lived in the same house but we acted like strangers.

Three years had passed since the accident. At first she fed us lies. She tried convincing us that she wasn't wrong and that what she had done was the right thing. We never bothered to listen.

When she knew that I was keen on not changing my mind she had tried convincing Jungkook.

She had often taken Jungkook out on dinner but he never went along with anything she had told him.

Every night he would come to my room and we had spent hours on discussing about how our day had gone. He used to tell me everything that she had told him. He called her a fool for trying to convince him.

When she was sure that we wouldn't listen to her nonsense she showed us her real self. She brought home different men every night. Every night it was someone new. Between the moans, me and Jungkook would make plans. We made plans to leave the house, to abandon her.
She was strict but she never cut down on our weekly allowances, she earned a lot.

When I would be officially eighteen, we would run away. We still hadn't decided on where we would stay but we had enough time to. I was seventeen now and Jungkook, fifteen.

At first we fantasized on leaving this house but soon we made it our goal.

We both weren't interested in living here and mostly living with her. In these three years, we barely had a proper conversation with her. She gave us enough money to spend. She even took care of our meals but those were the only things she did well as a mother. I had saved up enough in these years and I knew that I could manage.

I was in my second last year of school. Generally I was good at studying but I had barely managed to pass the year when dad had left us. It was too much to take in for me. My friends at first had given me sad glances and people often came up to me to ask about what had happened. All this soon died down. They never bothered. The only one who still cared was Taehyung.

Losing my friends all of a sudden was unexpected. Maybe they pitied me but I had continued to maintain the distance.

At first I was depressed and I even had went on to harm myself but Taehyung had figured it out.
He had given me about an hour long lecture on why I shouldn't and I had stopped. I had never picked up a blade after that. I knew he was worried and he was one among the people who still cared.

Later on it was hard for me to eat. I had spent weeks without eating. The moment I filled my plate, my mind was filled with the thoughts of that day when I had fed dad.

Taehyung helped me here too, he would come up to my class on our breaks and I would spent the next twenty minutes joking around with him. I was so engrossed in teasing him that I would at times even forget that I had already finished eating my food.

He was there with me when I had my panic attacks. I would sweat profusely and that ringing sound was back. He knew how to bring me back to reality.
I din't know how but he always seemed to help.

I wanted to major in business later on and me and Taehyung had even made plans on which university to attend.

This was his last year in school and I was already scared about what I would do if he left.

He had told me that he was planning on returning to Daegu to study and maybe I wanted to do the same when it was my turn but I wouldn't leave Jungkook behind this time,
because I had promised him.