Before Her Very Eyes

Chapter 15

4 years ago...

The ambulance was not very far away from where her mother died. The area had tons of medical emergencies after the death of the pop star. One girl with asthma died because the shock at the concert was too much for her lungs. Three girls fainted. One girl tried to kill herself. There was also, of course, the fanboy that was found dead in the venue.

The ambulance took her mother away within minutes, assuming she was a fan and that her death was the result of the shock or trauma that everyone in the area was also suffering from.

Arin was one of these suffering people, but unlike the girl who attempted suicide, the ones that fainted, the and the girl with asthma, the symptoms of Arin's shock were not deemed extreme enough for the attention of the various doctors, police, and social workers roaming that miserly site.

As far as everyone else was concerned, Arin was just a shocked fan aimlessly wandering the area with a distant, empty look in her eyes. She was not crying hysterically, not kneeling on the floor with her hand over her heart, not screaming as loud as she can. Unlike many other disturbed fangirls in the area, she did not need help, they thought.

Eventually, however, someone did offer to help her.

Amidst the chaos around the concert hall, only one person seemed to know what Arin had just experienced. A young woman with long jet black hair.

"Let me help you, Arin," was the first thing that the stranger said.

-

With every passing minute, Arin's curiosity grew. Who left the trash? Who orchestrated this wicked plan that led to Arin's estrangement from her only friend?

MRS. That was what ~ suspected.

"They did this, Arrie. MRS doesn't want me to stay with you. They separated us, because they don't want me to protect you anymore."

It was cruel, and it hurt Arin so much. It was the pain of loss reminiscent of what she felt when the people she loved had passed. It was only lulled with ~'s voice, which for Arin was like reassurance that ~ hadn't completely left her the same way that her mother, Minghao, S.Coups, and Joshua had. The pain was severe, but it wasn't crippling.

Where pain fell short, anger took over. Arin was furious at the person who took ~ away from her, furious at the way things had to turn out.

She could not just sit there and feel sorry for herself. She had to do something. Driven by this overwhelming urge to hold someone accountable, she rushed down to Jeonghan's apartment and rung the doorbell.

"Who is it?" Jeonghan yelled.

"It's Arin."

"What do you want?" he groaned.

"I need to see the footage from the security cameras. I... I want to know who trashed the lobby." It was only when she said it out loud that she realized how ridiculous she was being. Of course he wasn't going to listen to her. Of course he wasn't just going to show her the security footage just because she asked him to. Although she knew it was hopeless, she deeply prayed that he would for once relent and be kind enough to honor her request.

"You just do your job and leave chasing the delinquents to me. Now stop wasting my time and go away," he yelled.

"Please, Jeonghan," she begged. "Please. The person who did it took something away from me..." She trailed off, feeling dumb for over-sharing to someone who will probably just yell at her for it.