Vulnerable Heart

Chapter 7: Day 7: The Stroke of Midnight

{G}

It was quite early. The sun was yet to rise and Ga Eul sleepily continued to finish packing the last of her things. Beside her, Ariel was laying dramatically face down on Ga Eul's bed as she moped. Jae Ha sleepily laid beside her patting Ariel's back occasionally. When Ga Eul had arrived home the previous night Ariel's mother had already asked if Ga Eul was allowed to accompany Yi Jeong on the trip.

"How did she know about this?" Ga Eul had found herself asking but later dismissed that thought when she realized her friend's mother was too eccentric to truly figure out.

"He should ask us properly instead of having someone else ask for him." Ga Eul's father had spoken to her.

She'd thought previously that her parents would scold her for arriving so late the previous night. Instead, they'd asked her to call if she was staying out late. Her father had warned her to not let herself be enchanted by a boy who would speak of giving her the moon and the stars and not comply once she gave him something he wanted. Remembering this Ga Eul blushed. Shaking her head, Ga Eul finished packing her things. A yawn escaped Jae Ha and Ga Eul sighed.

"You really should go back home. You're not going on this trip with us."

"Neither am I." Came Ariel's muffled voice.

"What happened again?" Ga Eul questioned. Her friend hadn't told her what happened. Only that when she had arrived in Ga Eul's home that morning Jae Ha came attached with her. Her friend's eyes were bloodshot and the cloud of depression that loomed over her was so weird Ga Eul thought she'd been dreaming.

There was a muffled sound that came from the bed as Jae Ha patted Ariel's head sympathetically and then turned to Ga Eul.

"She doesn't want to talk about it." He spoke but there was a frown on his face which told Ga Eul two things. One, that whatever it was Ariel had definitely told Jae Ha about it. Two, whatever it was it was bad enough for Jae Ha to go big brother on Ariel.

"Come on skunk girl. We need to go get your bags." Jae Ha told her gently.

"I said I wasn't going," Ariel spoke finally looking up. She looked tired and it seemed like she'd hardly slept the previous night.

"This wasn't your fault you were just trying to help." Jae Ha reasoned.

"I'm a horrible person," Ariel spoke tears in her eyes.

"Come on." Jae Ha spoke sighing pulling her up from the bed and dragged her out.

With not much time to say anything all Ga Eul could really do was briefly grab on to Jae Ha's jacket sleeve. Jae Ha offered her a smile and then dragged Ariel along with him. Sighing Ga Eul checked her phone. She'd received a message from Yi Jeong that they would have to leave at five and realized there were at least 30 minutes left. Hugging the large bear that was on her bed she wanted to get some sleep. Just like her friend she had not slept much. But while Ariel seemed to be having some other problems Ga Eul had spent the past few hours trying to calm her racing heart and reliving every single aspect of the previous night every single time she closed her eyes. Biting her lip, she rolled to her back reaching for the heart in her room. Though her eyes were closed and she was aware that she was not dreaming she could still see the fireworks and hear them in her head.

"Good morning Ga Eul-yang"

"Sunbae." Surprised Ga Eul sat on her bed quickly only to meet a bright smile from So Yi Jeong.

"Ready to go?"

***

The morning was cold. Fog still lingered on the ground. It seemed like the clouds had descended from earth and decided to play on the ground leaving cold and remnants of evidence that they had indeed come down. The road was remotely empty and Yi Jeong was glad to be alone with his thoughts. The previous night while it had certainly been a good experience overall. Remembering the last of it left a bitter taste in his mouth and he felt for the first time a bit dirty.