Thespians | Kim Taehyung

Chapter Nine

Before they knew it, two weeks had flied by and Rain was fully indulged into her difficult workshop, too distracted to focus on anything but that.

     Her socials were dead. She did not find time to update much because of how much time the workshop actually took away from her. Sometimes, they kept her and Nae for twelve hours straight. She came home too tired to even unlock her phone.

The weekend was approaching fast and the women were going to have a trip to Busan to visit Eunae's parents and to finally meet the infamous Haneul.

It was Friday and Rain and Eunae managed to get out of the workshop early for their nightly road trip. The women had bonded immensely in the few days they had spent together.

"Should I post it? It's embarrassing, Nae," Rain whined as she packed her last belongings into her travel bag. It was one in the afternoon and they were about to leave for Busan.

"Bitch, if you consider that embarrassing, my whole socials would be the mockery of the world. Your damn voice is beautiful. Post the darned video before I post it myself."

"Potty mouth," mumbled Rain.

"Just like you. I want to see you press that upload button."

     "Fine," Rain was about to close her computer, but Eunae was quicker. The latter pressed the upload button and her video went live. It was a cover of Billie Eilish's when the party's over. "Fuck, Nae, I was going to do it when I was ready."

      "That's what you get for trying to fool me. Now, let's hit the road."

     "You mean, 'let's hit the train'," Rain commented dryly.

     "Come on, bi." [bi, pronounced bee = rain in Korean].

      Rain had not mentioned anything to her friend, but she was feeling quite sad as of late. After she recorded her cover of Billie's song, a couple of tears rolled down her pale cheeks. She had wiped them off immediately. The foreigner sighed at her own dreadful memory, shook her head, and locked her apartment's door.

The train ride was silent. The women slept on each other's shoulders for about twenty minutes. They also watched some k-dramas and YouTube videos together. Eunae was very perceptive and, even if Rain didn't speak of it, she knew that her friend was not doing so well. She was very worried.

They arrived at Busan at 6:37 in the evening. They waited at the train station for Eunae's parents to pick them up. The latter was very excited because she missed her mom and dad deeply. The elders arrived and were properly introduced. Although they did not know English, they were very sweet to Rain. Both hugged the small woman. She felt at home and loved. This made her feel even emptier inside because she missed her mother greatly.

     Rain had been in communication with her mom. They talked every day, but she still missed her warm embrace. Her mother was everything to her.

      While in the car on the way to the Lee household, a lump had formed on Rain's throat. She took a deep breath and let out a shaky sigh. Eunae noticed this and reached over to grab Rain's hand. The latter smiled sadly and a single tear fell from her left eye. The translator scooted over toward her friend and Rain broke down, sobbing silently. She whispered countless of apologies, only to be shushed by her dear Korean friend.

      Eunae's mom noticed that there was something wrong and turned around. She instructed her husband to stop the car and changed to the back seat. She made her daughter scoot over with Rain. She then sat down next to the young lady and gave her the warmest smile she could muster. She then gestured the girl to come to her and she did. The slim woman embraced her and she hugged back like her life depended on it. Eunae laid on Rain and embraced her, too.