Philophobia | kth

21

Soomins eyes fluttered open and shut several times before they adjusted to the brightness of the room. She slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes, they were still sore from crying the previous night. She looked around and noticed she was in her room rather than the couch in her sitting room which she frequently fell asleep on whilst watching movies on her laptop or catching up on assignments.

She groggily got up from her bed and walked out of her room, as she passed by the mirror she wasn't even surprised by how badly messed up her hair and face was. She was used to it.

She entered the kitchen, sat on the stool and rested her hands on the countertop. Her eyes wandered to the empty pan on the stove, she thought about making breakfast but she didn't have any appetite.

Her mind wandered to last night's events, the party, Namjoon and Taehyung. She suddenly remembered how she forgot to text him last night, she was supposed to let him know she got home safe. Scrambling to her feet she looked for her phone in her bag and found it, however it was dead.

''Shit,'' she muttered to herself.

She hurriedly looked for her charger and plugged in her phone, waiting for it to turn on  impatiently.

Jimin, hearing a lot of noise coming from his sisters room, carefully knocked on the door, waiting for Soomins signal to come in. He didn't hear anything in response however, so he let himself in. He laid his eyes upon Soomin who was sitting on the floor with her phone in her hands, a focused expression visible on her face.

''Soomin? Is everything okay?'' he asked.

Soomin looked up from her phone and pointed to the open door.

''Don't you know how to knock?''

Jimin snorted at his sisters question. ''I knocked twice, you didn't hear me though.''

Soomin rolled her eyes.

''Whatever.''

Jimin walked over to her and sat on the ground next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders.

''Soomin,'' he started, taking a deep breath as he thought of what to say. ''You called me really late last night asking me to pick you up, you looked awful and you were all alone, did something happen?'' he asked worriedly.

Soomin let out a sigh as Jimin pulled her into a hug. They used to this all the time when they were younger, it was a tradition they could never be too old for. Sometimes, actions spoke more than words could, and hugs were their way of telling one another that they weren't feeling okay.

If Soomin didn't want to tell him what exactly happened, she didn't need to, but he wanted her to know that he'd be there for her no matter what and that she could depend on him whenever she needed to.

Soomin wrapped her arms around his body, pulling him in tight. She felt much better already, although last night's events still stalked her.

She couldn't get rid of Namjoon, he was constantly bothering her, his presence in her mind alone was bothersome.

Jimin pulled away and gently patted Soomins head, warning a smile from her.

Soomin opened her mouth to say something but she was rudely interrupted by loud knocking. She quickly scrambled to her feet and made her way to the front door, wondering who it could be at such an early hour.

She opened the door and didn't even realise when Yeri jumped onto her form and let out a high pitched squeak. Soomin took a step back as she was still half asleep and needed a moment to process what had just happened. Before she knew it Yeris arms were wrapped around her waist and her head rested against her chest.

''I was so worried! You disappeared on me last night!'' she exclaimed, her voice coming out muffled as her face was still buried in Soomins chest.

Soomin closed the door with her foot and couldn't hold back a wide grin as her best friend clinged onto her for dear life.

''I'm sorry, Yeri, I didn't mean to dissappear on you, you must've been worried sick,'' she said.

Yeri pulled away and stared at Soomin, her eyes glistening with worry.

''From what I can see, you're alive, which is good. Are you okay?''

Soomin couldn't retrain from sighing out loud, she hated that question with a passion.

''I'm okay, Yeri, really, I'll be fine,'' she said, flashing her a weak smile hoping that'd reassure her.

But it didn't, not really. After all, Yeri knew about the events that happened last night. She was ridden with worry about her best friend, she knew just how she felt about Namjoon and how he affected her. Kissing her was one of the stupidest things he could've done.

Yeri stood on her tippy toes and whispered into Soomins ear. '' I know about what happened last night, with Namjoon.''

Soomin took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. It was a signal for Yeri that'd they'd talk about it later, Yeri simply nodded and followed her into the kitchen.

Soomin and Yeri sat at the kitchen table with cups of scalding coffee placed on the table under their noses. Jimin joined them along with a plate filled with food that was soon enough devoured by an always hungry Yeri.

The trio spent some quality time together as they talked about all sorts of topics and joked around, Soomin didn't see the point in moping and didn't say a word about Namjoon. Yeri respected that meanwhile Jimin was curious as to what had made his sister so shaken up last night.

''Soomin? Can I ask you something?'' Jimin said.

Soomin braced herself for the obvious question.

''Sure.''

''What happened last night?''

Soomin sadly gazed into her empty cup that lay on the table.

''Namjoon, Namjoon happened.''

Jimins expression changed instantly, his eyes darkened form the mere mention of Namjoons name.

''I told him countless times to stay away and fuck off but he wouldn't listen, and yesterday, I met him at the party. He kissed me,'' she explained.

''Fucking hell,'' he said in a sardonic way. ''Doesn't he know what he did to you? Did he forget already?''

''Well, he doesn't know about the exact damage, no,'' she confessed.

Jimin turned to look at her. "What?''

''Well I haven't told him about-''

''Actually, I told him last night,'' interrupted Yeri.

Both Soomin and Jimin simultaneously turned their heads to look at Yeri. Soomins mouth was wide open and Jimin had a quizzical expression on his face.

Yeri nervously scratched the back of her head, suddenly feeling scared for herself. She just blurted out something that she couldn't get out of, she could only hope that Soomin wouldn't murder her.

''I told him, Soomin. I told him about your philophobia, I told him just how much of a dickhead he is and how much he's hurting you, I'm sorry it slipped out. The minute he told me he kissed you, I was fuming and-''

Yeri found herself interrupted by Soomins words. ''Yeri, it's okay, I'm not angry.''

Yeri felt as if a rock had been lifted off her chest and released a sigh of relief.

''Thank god, I was just thinking about the kind of casket I wanted for my funeral.''

Jimin snorted at that. Even Soomin couldn't help but chuckle at the silly remark.

A loud knocking sound disrupted the moment, Jimin quickly got up from his seat and made his way to open the door.

Yeri gestured to the front door. ''Who could that be? Are you expecting someone?''

Soomin shook her head. ''No, I've no idea.''

''Soomin! You've got a guest.''

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