Flowers and Broken Hearts

Memories

Song Jinhee, 25, Present day

It all happened so fast.

One minute, Jinhee was pushing the bookshelf with all her might to a new corner, then a second after, the boxes above it came tumbling down to scatter all over the floor. They all fell with loud 'thud!'s, spilling contents of random projectiles everywhere, rumbling as they announced their arrival. One large volume even dared landing on her head with a smack before joining the others - the reason to why Jinhee's loud curse echoed off the empty house.

She winced, holding her head whilst sending death glares to the object that hit her. It was her old Physics book from highschool; a subject she very much hated. The fact that it bounced off her forehead made Jinhee loath it more with incredible ferocity; it was just plain cruel. Still cursing those bloody formulas about acceleration and velocity, she took one of the empty boxes that fell, then threw in the wicked book.

Sighing, she began to clear up the mess strewn around her once clear room. She realize with sudden glee that she had stumbled upon her highschool stuff. It was weird; she felt like she showered on memories.

There so many things: old spare notebooks she'd still be able to use, a small sling bag she once borrowed from an old friend but was never able to give back, lost pens she had picked up after the classes were done. She even spied a clean cafeteria tissue along with her signature-filled P.E. t-shirt. Her school bag was there too, faded and dusty with time, packed with her old school books. One large paper bag held a black lacy cloth, and when she reached in to see what it was, something flimsy touched her fingertips. Curious, she pulled it closer.

Delight surged in her veins; it was a picture of her in her senior prom dress. Jinhee had had her back to the camera, face slightly turned to the left to showcase her made-up face. Her back was covered with tied black laces ending in a bow similar to a corset, and the skirt was puffy above her waist. Her hair was in a gorgeous bridal bun, a silver tiara on top of it. Chin's father had taken the picture, she remembered, after she won 'Duchess of the Night' at their senior school prom.

Jinhee reached over for the paper bag that held her gown, pulling the handles apart, then taking it the cloth out carefully. It was as amazing as ever, glittering in the sunlight and strapless, ending in a puffy circle that reached her ankles. At the bottom of the bag laid the tiara and her stilettos. There was also a pair of gloves.

She spread the gown on her bed alongside the other things she had found. She would try it on later - it'd probably be too tight, but it was worth a try. Excited, she hurried to clean the other mess.

Just when she had placed the last box above the bookshelf, something underneath her bed glinted, catching her eye. She sighed irritably before fishing it out - she was already done cleaning - it turned out to be another photo, this time framed.

Squinting, she saw that standing beside her in the picture was Chin and Kyungmin, and Jinhee wore a blue toga, with a graduation cap on her head.

Jinhee laughed out loud. It was her highschool graduation, another photo taken by Chin's dad. The picture was too hurried - Chin was looking at Jinhee, lips in the middle of a shout, and Jinhee was smiling, but not at the camera. She had been looking somewhere over the left side of Chin's dad. The background was filled with blurs of blue movements, even Jinhee's hand blurred. Only Kyungmin looked decent, smiling dazedly, almond hair slicked to the side.

Jinhee remembered where she had been looking at the time when the photo was taken; her smile fell. Something had caught her attention through the ramble of students in the school ground, and that something, was Jimin.

They hadn't met each other yet that day; Jinhee merely looked over to where he stood out of curiosity and envy; she'd never be able to experience how joyful it was to have her parents at her graduation - they were dead. He was being flanked by whom looked liked his mom and dad, and as she stared on in jealousy, a group of boys were clapping his back and congratulating him. He had everything she could have ever wanted - the friends, the happiness, the family - and yet there he was, having it all, looking . . . dead. Pale and worn, forcing a smile that did not reach his eyes. His sleek blond hair matched the toga ridiculously, but it turned dull, like it lost its color.

Jinhee had pitied him. She knew how it felt being fake, pretending to be happy when you're not, forcing yourself to stay strong even when you know you're being dragged down to the abyss. She looked on, feeling his sadness in the air, watching his expressions.

Jimin had never caught Jinhee's eye.

A soft melodic ringing rang through the house, slipping her out of her reverie. It was odd, no one ever came to her house at Sundays. Mails and packages were out of the question, and even Chin seemed impossible, with the rift between them. Either way, she dropped the frame beside her prom gown, then hurried down the stairs.

The doorbell never rang again.

Confused and suspicious at the same time, she turned the knob. And there he stood, red thick blood underneath his shoes, bleeding from the cut on his wrist.

"Jinhee," Jimin had said, right before her collapsed into her arms. "Jinhee, I need you."