Shin Soora lives cloistered in her apartment due to illness. Everything she does is online, which turns her into a really lonely young adult.
None of the other neighbors can really understand her, and most end up treating her like a weirdo. Except f...
The delicious smell of grilled meat enveloped Shin Soo-Ra's apartment, heightening the young woman's appetite more and more.
Hobi sat at the table, across from her as he stared at his dinner with disinterest. Shin Soo's mouth watered with each inhale of the aroma there, but her mouth complained about the mismatched taste of the food in front of her.
"Aish. Did they really have to do barbecue? Today of all days?" He complained, dropping his chopsticks violently on the table.
"You want to go there, don't you?" Soora asked, eyes cast down, laying her chopsticks on its proper support.
She felt like a terrible person for separating Hoseok from his friends, surely he would have a much better time at the barbecue than there with her.
"No, no, it's not like that." He hurried to say, waving his hands frantically. "It's just that... they're making me look bad."
"What do you mean?
"The food..." He spoke, eyes wandering to the meal he had prepared, so forlornly. "I'm sorry, it looks awful.
"That's not true! This food is fine."
Shin Soo's eyes widened as she grabbed her chopsticks, scooping up as much food as she could and bringing it to her mouth. At the same time, she bobbed her head affirmatively and let out little interjections of appreciation, trying to positively reaffirm her opinion.
"Don't do that, don't eat anymore." He commanded with a grimace, removing the plates of food from Soora's reach.
Defeated, she sighed deeply and helped him remove the rest of the dishes. In silence the two of them cleaned up everything and a garbage bag was put outside the house, for Hobi to take as soon as he got out of there.
After everything was cleaned up, the two went into the living room and sat on the same couch. That was the fourth time they had done this and each time Hoseok felt himself explode with happiness inside. He was so proud of Soora's progress that he was even considering giving up the idea of sending Yoongi away.
The game that happened that afternoon took him down memory lane, and it made him miss it. He felt homesickness, and longing for Suga's company. He missed talking with him about everything and always getting along.
"Are you all right?" Soora asked as she noticed a tear rolling down her best friend's face.
"Huh?" Hoseok blinked, only then realizing that he was crying and hurriedly wiping his face. "Oh, don't mind, that scene made me tear up a little." He lied, pointing to the screen and watching a horde of undead running after the good guys.
Nothing in the scene was emotional, scary at best, so soon Soora realized that this was a lie, and it frustrated her. Why wouldn't he open up to her? Why did he have to carry the burden alone? Did he think she was so fragile that she would be unable to support him?
"You are lying." She muttered angrily, hugging her stuffed Totoro tightly while staring at the TV screen without actually watching what was going on. "You know I hate being lied to."
"I'm not-"
"Don't lie to me again." Her voice was nothing more than a whisper, which was scarier to him than if she were actually screaming.
" Ra-ya, I just..."
"This was supposed to be a two-way friendship, you know? I really appreciate everything you do for me, but... I'm your friend too. You don't have to treat me like I'm just a burden that you kindly go out of your way to help." She spat out the words, frustrated with herself and Hoseok.
"You are not a burden!" He retorted, squatting down on the couch to face her and staring at her wide-eyed, not really understanding her friend's reaction.
Soora took the TV control and paused the movie, turning to face Hobi as well, but staring at him with an angry frown.
"So what am I, huh? Because if you considered me a real friend, you would open up to me. I won't break, you know, I may be very, very screwed up, I may need help more than I can provide it, but I will do everything, everything to be a good friend to you. And right now you're just making me feel worthless." She confessed, her tone of voice swinging between emotional and angry.
"You're not useless, Shin Soora, you're good company, a good friend. You care about me, you enjoy my annoying presence, you..."
"STOP!" She shouted, her eyes squeezed shut, causing him to stop talking and stare at her in shock.
Soora shook her head and raked her fingers through her hair, letting out frustrated interjections.
"I'm such a terrible friend, I'm a horrible person. Somehow I managed to make this discussion about me and not about you. Now I understand why you don't want to open up to me."
"Noona!" Hoseok scolded her, not agreeing at all with those words.
"Please... just go. Go away!" She shouted again, pointing to the street door.
Hoseok looked at her with tears in his eyes, and even though he didn't want to leave, he did so, heartbroken.
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I really don't like to see my rice balls fighting :(
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What do you think of Soo-Ra's reaction? Do you think she's being dramatic or that she's right to be upset that Hobi doesn't open up to her?
