The Close Strangers

t w e n t y - f i v e

"Hey, sweetie," Hyewon greets Yerim once she opens her dorm room. "What is this sudden visitㅡ"

She can't finish her words when Yerim suddenly bursts out of tears while hugging her tightly.

Hyewon closes the door before hugging her friend back. There must be something's up.

"I thought I could endure the pain, but I actually can't do that at all," Yerim explains.

Hyewon strokes Yerim's hair slowly, "Take your time to cry. I'll wait, Yerim-ah."

It takes around ten minutes until Yerim can control herself. She pulls herself away from Hyewon, wiping her tears away.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your study session," She says as Hyewon drags her to her bed.

"No, you're not," Hyewon replies even though she knows Yerim can see her notebooks all over her desk, showing that she's really studying earlier.

She tucks Yerim's hair behind her ears, giving her the calming look.

"I look like crap, aren't I?" Yerim asks, but still receives a shook from her friend.

Yerim squints her eyes, so it becomes smaller than it already does.

Hyewon chuckles, "I'm sorry. Your eyes are so much smaller and your eyebags are out of control. You want to talk about something?"

Yerim suddenly texted her earlier, telling Hyewon that she wants to come over if she's not bothered. Since Hyewon is also bored and she's almost done with her studying for the first exam on Monday, she agreed. Well, she didn't know Yerim would end up crying this hard.

"I just need someone to talk and you ended up becoming the first one who comes up my mind."

Hyewon nods, "Thank you. I feel honored."

Yerim can't help but chuckle as she takes her phone out, "I wonder what the others are doing."

Hyewon shrugs as she comes closer to see Yerim's phone screen.

"Should we ask them to come over?" She asks Yerim, causing the girl to turn her head in surprise.

"We can do that?" Yerim reassures.

"Of course, we can," Hyewon replies. "Yerim-ah, I know you need not only me but actually all of us."

Yerim nods slowly, "You're right." She gets up, walking towards Hyewon's study desk.

"What were you studying?" She asks as she tries to read what's written in the notebook.

Yerim flips the pages, "Should we study first before they come?"

She knows she' s sad, but grades are still important for her. She can't believe that she ends up exploding again this time.

"I think we shouldn't," Hyewon replies, "You won't be able to concentrate with your mind full of something else. Should we watch movies instead?"

Yerim smiles, realizing how her friend knows her way to well even though they've only met at the beginning of this semester.

"But, if you want to try then I'm fine too," Hyewon gives a chance for Yerim to choose.

Yerim knocks the desk, "Let's try first, I guess?"

The two girls end up studying for the exam they'll have in two days. Yerim has not talked about anything yet and Hyewon also doesn't try to ask for it. The others will come around because Yerim says they'll have a sleepover to study together too. Besides, they come over to accompany the sad girl.