goodbye; moonsun

part two: ten nights

"I'll let you go after exactly ten nights pass"

in which byul tries to
let go of the late yongsun in ten nights

----------------------------
Night one

Byul lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling- something she'd done a lot of in the past week. She'd practically lived in her bedroom for the last seven days, only leaving occasionally to make herself a bowl of instant noodles before returning to the darkness of her room. She hadn't been up to much; she'd wake up in the morning and stare at the ceiling for the next twelve hours until the sun set and it was time to sleep again. What day was it? Was it morning? Was it evening? She had no idea. She didn't want to know either. It's not like she had anybody to talk to. Wheein and Hyejin were busy with work and school, and she didn't want to bother them.

The rain fell outside her bedroom window, the rhythmic tapping of raindrops slowly drawing her into a light slumber. Just then, the sharp chime of the doorbell woke her up.

The brunette groaned as she got up and hobbled over to the door on her crutches, her leg still in its cast from the accident. Before she could even look up to see who it was, Wheein pulled her into a hug, relieved to see that Byul was alright.

"Byulyi-unnie! Where have you been?"

"Yeah unnie, have you been here this whole time?" Hyejin said as she realised that all the windows were closed and the curtains were drawn,.

"We sent you so many texts and called so many times but you didn't respond to any of them. " Hyejin chided as they sat down on the couch.

Oh right, her phone. It was probably dead somewhere under the pile of undone laundry in her room. She hadn't seen it in days.

"Hyejin even came by the other day after class, but you didn't answer the door. We were so worried about you. I was this close to filing a missing persons report, you know," Wheein put her hand on the older girl's lap.

-------------

Byul remembered that day. She was staring at the ceiling again when she heard the doorbell ring, but she couldn't bring herself to get up and open the door.

"They'll give up and leave eventually," she thought as she continued staring at the ceiling.

And true enough, the mystery visitor did leave.

But what she didn't know was that Hyejin had been standing outside the door, silently hoping that the door would open or that one of the lights in the apartment would switch on, hoping for any sign of life through the apartment window.

"She's not here, Wheeinie," Hyejin whispered into the phone as she tried not to cry. "I really don't know where she is."

------------

Byul just sighed and continued staring at the floor.

"I'm sorry that I made both of you worry. Don't worry about me, I'm fine, really."

Am I fine though? It's been two weeks but I still miss Yong. When she left she left a hole in my heart and it's only been growing bigger. I know I can't go on like this, but I don't know what else to do. I'm slowly dying inside and I don't know how to save myself.

"You don't look fine to me, unnie"

"Yeah, Byul. Don't try to lie to me again, I can see right through you." Wheein said sternly as she remembered the day she found her friend drunk on her bedroom floor.