GEOMBI RETURN | PTG JINHO ✔️

CHAPTER III

The life you hold onto so dearly
Will once scar
But that is life way
Teaching you how to spar

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"So you are telling me that you saw a figure beneath the bushes, observing us!" I have to smack him over his head to keep him quiet.

His eyes turned big and his ears gotten red as a sign he's 'welcoming' my action. "What was that for?" He hissed while glaring at me at the same time.

"Mum is home." I said those three words in whispers before throwing glances over the sofa where Mum sits, eyes focus on the laptop.

"So?"

"Are you nuts? If Mum finds out that we are out without her permission, we will be grounded. And, things will become worst if she knows about the figure I mentioned earlier, when the truth behind it wasn't known yet." I explained in one breath. He cleared his throat and tried to argue back when Mum suddenly spoke up. "You are going to school by next week. Let's go to the town to buy your stuff tomorrow."

My eyes widened to the word 'SCHOOL'. Immediately I turned to Kino and held his hand dramatically. "We are finally going back to school!" I cheered, gaining a smirked from the boy.

I then shifted my look to Mum in joy. "How is the school, Mum? Is it far from home? Will we walk to school or take the bus? Is there a-"

"Jiyoung." Her voice lingered in the little hall, which eventually shut us in the instance. Her eyes were shaking as if there is a huge reason that halted her from speaking. Why is she making me edgy all of a sudden?
So, should I expect a bad news?

I watched carefully the way her eyes lowered to the tiles, which separate us from the cold cement beneath. Softly, I uttered. "Mum, is everything alright?"

"Sweetie, I'm so sorry but the school I had just mentioned is an all boys' school. I could not find one that suits you. So, I was thinking of tutoring you from home. I will get you one of the best tutor out there-"

"Mum..."

"Jiyoung, this is the best for you that I could come out with. In your current condition, all schools hardly accept-"

"I don't want to hear any of this now!" Mum looked taken aback by my words. However, I couldn't help it. My mind was clouding.

I stomped away from the sofa and was about to run upstairs when I heard Mum said, "I'm doing the best for you."

I might have set a bad show to my only brother, but I could not care more. With a lump in my throat, I replied, "The best for me? Pushing me far from people I cheer most is the best you could do for your daughter? Mum, do you even know how hard I cried while waking up every morning to this surrounding which is very unfamiliar? You would not know. Because you thought me keeping a silence mean I could adapt. No, you are wrong. Send me back to Seoul, where at least Sejong High School could accept me. That is the real best thing you could do for your daughter."

Mum's reply echoes in the background but my eardrums were refusing those voice. I quickly run into my room and locked myself there.

I could not cry, though my heart was arching. My tears were all dried up from years of crying, or so do I believe. I sat on the edge of my bed with my right hand grasping on the pain I felt over my chest. The voices of people who would have come to my side at times like this lingers in mind. Sometimes, all we need is an ear that is willing to take all our rant and complain - and convert those into a smile that mend our shabby day.