The Big Bad Wolf

Chapter 17

It's the day before the wedding and Hyunjin couldn't be anymore excited. I am too of course, but I'm not the one sniffing his clothes all day to make finding me easier tomorrow. Honestly, it was really adorable. Minho was sitting down at the living room with me talking while sipping some hot tea.

It's now autumn and the brightly colored leaves are littering the forest floor and dancing in the air with every icy gust of wind.

"I'm sure you already know this, but you make Hyunjin so happy every day. You know he wasn't like this for a long time until you came around."

"Well, people sometimes change when they get into relationships. That level of commitment has some definite changes on person's attitude. But surely he didn't change drastically, right?"

"Oh, honey, he most certainly did! For as long as I've been here he was always really cold and serious. He acted more like a strict old man than a teenager! It honestly freaked me the hell out until Jisung explained to me he was really going through it."

That would make sense, but even so it was hard to imagine Hyunjin as this cold, closed off person. I thought back to when we first met, and I guess he wasn't exactly a great communicator back then. It kind of reminded me how Caroline was when I first met her in the 4th grade.

"You know, I think an old friend of mine was very similar to him then. Do you mind if I talk about her?"

"Of course I don't mind. I love your stories about your other life."

I smiled and proceeded to tell him the story of my friendship with Caroline. Since the very first moments I laid eyes on her she was a huge tomboy which greatly clashed with her pretty name. She hated her name because and I quote, "It's a sissy name, and I'll eat a live frog before I let anyone call me a sissy!"

She had moved from Texas and was very vocal about how much she hated her new life. She got into fights constantly and everyone in our class didn't like her because of how aggressive her whole attitude was. That is, everyone except for me. I would tell my parents about the things that Caroline did and unlike most parents who would tell you to not talk to that kind of kid they told me I should try to be friends with her since she's probably lonely in this new place.

It certainly wasn't easy since she tried to push me away saying she just wanted to be alone. But she couldn't fight me off for long and she started letting me hang out with her. She opened up to me and told me the reason she moved. Her parents got divorced and her mom took her and her brothers leaving her father. It would be 3 years until she learned the reason why her mom left her dad.

He had major drug addiction problems and apparently he was high almost all the time. Caroline never realized there was anything wrong with him because she was used to seeing him like that as were her brothers. All of them except for the oldest, Elijah, just thought he was a happy, silly guy. Caroline admitted once she found out it explained why her dad stayed home all day because he couldn't hold a job, and he just said he wanted to spend as much time with his kids. They also were constantly struggling for money despite Caroline's mom having a large salary.

The last straw for her mom was when she found out he was selling things from their house without telling anyone else! Caroline's dresses, pantyhose, and church shoes kept disappearing which Caroline of course didn't mind, but when her mom connected the dots she lost it! She remembered the last time she saw her dad her mom called him a sick bastard and through him out of the house!