𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 | 𝖪𝗂𝗆 𝖭𝖺𝗆𝗃𝗈𝗈𝗇 [𝐎𝐍 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐃]

F I V E

05
L I T T L E  H E A R T S

˚✧₊⁎⁺˳✧༚

   THERE WERE ONLY four times Hyerim had ever been off of work in her entire nine years of working at Vineyard. The first was the time she fell off the ladder at the bookstore, which resulted in needing to go to the hospital to inspect her sprained wrist. Despite those conditions, she still worked the next day, sweeping things up and carrying drinks to their tables with her free hand. The second, she needed to babysit her neighbor's son; the third and fourth were days she studied for exams and took them.

For Hyerim not to show up to work, sending Taehyung to inform Mrs. Lee, the elderly owner of the café, that she wouldn't be to come in, was out of the blue. When Taehyung had asked if she was all right, all she said was that she wanted to think about things.

The young woman knew Mrs. Lee wouldn't mind, as she always nagged at her to take more days off rather than spending a large majority of her time working there. Despite that, there was a pitch of guilt that lingered in her.

When she thought of why she took a day off, she shuddered, bringing her sheets closer to her. Her eyes narrowed at her drawer that was far from her bed where the letter sat next to her charging phone.

She glared at the inanimate object. Words weren't enough to reveal how—how Hyerim would call it—traumatized she felt.

She turned to her side and looked at the pugs next to her. She heaved a sigh and draped her arm on their backs, making them move closer to her. "I would let you read it, but I don't think you can read, nor do I want to leave you traumatized," Hyerim mumbled, rubbing her dog's wrinkly backs.

Even as she closed her eyes, she still recalled what she had read. It wasn't necessarily terrible, but it did make her uncomfortable. For as long as she could remember, the only letters she got were bills and such, never some love letter from a man with a (possible) girlfriend. She was confused and uncomfortable.

She rubbed her closed eyelids before letting her hand fall to her side, staring at the ceiling above her. She regretted not going into work, but at the same time, something inside her told her that if she went, the man would be there and she would have to face him, which she didn't want to and wanted to avoid that situation for as long as she could.

With a sigh, she got up, her dogs perking their heads up as she grabbed her phone and envelope that was on top of the drawer. She sat back on her bed, heaving another sigh as she looked at the letter with unease.

The hearts that were drawn on the red envelope was enough to make her uncomfortable. She decided to read it once again, believing if she did, it would get better. The way you opened a fridge before shutting it and opening it once again, believing food would magically appear in it.

Hyerim opened it up, carefully pulling the folded paper out. Unlike last time, there were no initials that informed her of who it was for specifically. Nor was there a name. It was just there. Throughout the letter, small hearts were splattered around, and it made her eyes narrow in slight displeasure towards seeing it.

Dear Her,

Thank you, thank you for giving me the opportunity to improve more and more. I appreciate it, I really do. At first, I was going to give the letter you wrote to my girlfriend, but that would be cheating in love. It would eat my conscious up later, so I'm working on new letters for her. Thank for the inspiration!