BEHIND THE SCENES

chapter 93: tears, tears and more tears

<OST: Tell me about your day - Kwon Jin Ah>

It was fine.

Byulyi closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Everything is okay, Moon Byulyi. You have to focus on what's important.

There were so many things more important than he was, wasn't there? Like... writing. Yes, writing. Writing which they were supposed to do together. But of course, there were other things. Like... Like...

Byulyi couldn't seem to think of anything.

Ding! Dong!

Ah, perfect. What was it this time? A parcel? Right. A parcel would take her mind of things for a moment. New clothes? A new house gadget? Ah, online shopping. She could do that, later. Shopping could cure any problem, for sure. Byulyi dabbed at her eyes with her fingers, checked her reflection in the mirror once more, before swinging open the door with a huge smile.

"Good afternoon!"

Byulyi's smile faded as soon as she saw the person who was standing at her very doorstep, all her baggage and things in hand. And her eyes. Her eyes, they were puffy. Clearly from tears. And she looked miserable.

"Jieun-ah...?" Byulyi's eyes widened as she rushed forward, hugging Jieun before she could even utter a word. "My baby... What happened...?"

"Unnie..." Jieun burst in tears from mere human contact. She had been holding in her tears way too long - the entire time, on public transport. And now, in the safety of her best friend's embrace, she didn't need to pretend any longer. She wailed and wailed non-stop, the tears just kept coming. "Unnie... I... I..."

"Shh... It's alright... Shh..." Byulyi stroked her hair gently, momentarily forgetting all her struggles and sorrow in that moment as she attended to her little friend. "It's okay, you can tell me later. Come on, let's head inside first."

Grabbing Jieun's things for her, Byulyi welcomed her back into her apartment. Jieun walked in, scanning her old apartment that still... surprisingly, felt like home to her. Nothing had changed at all.

"Oh... if you're wondering what happened to that housemate of mine..." Byulyi struggled to find a proper explanation. "Well... I... he... um... well... you see..."

"He really works fast." Jieun choked back tears. "He really meant it when he said he wanted me gone."

"Huh...?" Byulyi frowned. "Who? Who wants you gone? What happened? Can you tell me now? I'm just really confused..."

"Your housemate... Seokjin-oppa..." Jieun turn to glance at Byulyi with her red swollen eyes. "He left because that guy called him back."

"Huh? No, he didn't actually-" Byulyi tried to explain. "Actually the two of us got into a-"

"He called him back so that he could get rid of me!" Jieun burst into tears again as she flung herself down onto the couch, bawling her eyes out. "He said he hated me... I can't believe this... I too can't believe what I did to him... I'd hate me too..."

"Who? What? How? When? Why? Where?" Byulyi spluttered as she took a seat on the couch next to Jieun, looking extremely worried. "Jeon Jungkook? Why? Why does he hate you? What happened? Jieun-ah, talk to me so that I can help you!"

"Unnie..." Jieun sobbed, taking short shallow breaths as she sat up straight and tried her best to look directly into Byulyi's eyes. "He... He found out."

Byulyi already knew what she was referring to, but she still had to reconfirm it, because of how much she wished it wasn't true. "He found out what?"