Tale of Our Love // Pucca (EXTENDED)

Chapter 10

Try as they might, their efforts in trying to save their old friend resulted in a failure. It was natural for people to fail. Failure often helps people grow, inspiring them into becoming better at what they were planning on doing. Yet, sometimes, that said failure can bring despair and hopelessness upon a person if the consequences for it are severe enough to shatter a person to pieces. For the people who tried to rescue Ring-Ring from the clutches of her abusive father and yet failed, it was that kind of failure. It was a kind of failure that cannot be taken back, no matter how many times the person tried.

It became such a burden for them all to even help things go back to normal ever since that day. Hiding it behind a cheerful façade was hard enough, but seeing their old friend suffer tremendously broke that façade into pieces, making it helplessly shatter all over the floor... like pieces of broken glass. Now the happy aura that they attempted to put on showed it's true colors. It was at that moment that Pucca realized it. The human world may not be as beautiful as she thought it was.

When she stayed in Heaven, was she ever treated the same way Ring-Ring was? Did she remember a day where she and her siblings all despair like the way the group of friends she currently with was? She tried to remember. She tried to remember if she ever had a day like that. However, nothing similar ever came to her mind. There was one time where Soo scolded her very badly, but a scolding was different from abuse. Scolding was meant so that the child could learn from it and become better. Abuse was meant so that the child could suffer and tremble in fear. Soo never ripped up Pucca's favorite stuffed toy just for his own satisfaction.

"So, um, guys!" Ching as usual tried to lighten up the gloomy mood that they were in. "How was your sleep today?"

"......Fine."

All of them responded with just one word or two, not even trying to put on their happy demeanor any longer. The joyful aura that they once tried to put on had crumbled into pieces, never to be seen ever again. All of them were extremely desperate to rescue Ring-Ring from the clutches of her father, but none of them could do anything.

Last night, Bruce took Pucca and Garu back to their houses. Their fathers were exceedingly worried about them for sneaking out like that in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, neither of them could respond, knowing that what they did was illegal. However, since the both of them were only kids, they were left off with a warning. Bruce explained the situation to both of their fathers, and both fathers scolded their children immensely. That was the first time their fathers ever scolded them a lot. This scolding was more out of worry than of anger that their child did something wrong, however.

Realizing that her attempts to lighten up the mood wasn't going to work, Ching decided to remain quiet instead. Pucca hadn't realized it, but the wall that they tried to create was frail. Just one stone and it would immediately shatter into pieces. That stone was the situation that their friend was in. A bond between close friends was stronger than one would think. Once a friend was in trouble, then all of that person's said friends would be in distress making attempts to save her. That was what was going on with them at the moment.

"Here are your orders...!"

Dada, who had started working for the restaurant not long ago, handed the group the food that they had just ordered. Everyone simpy gave him a small nod as well as a muffled thanks. Their energetic voices were nowhere to be seen or heard. Dada wasn't sure what to do by that, so he just bowed a little and dashed to the inside of the kitchen once again. The kids simply stared at the food on the table. The food was welcoming them to eat, but none of them had an appetite.

It was Garu who started eating first, though he did it in a slow-paced manner. He had always been very polite and never caused a mess while he ate, but the way he was acting was still different from how he usually would. He wasn't wearing that kind and shy smile that they saw everyday, rather he looked extremely depressed. That was something no one in the town would expect from a young boy who's only at the age of eight. Garu had always been wise beyond his years, so he understood how heavy the situation was. And he didn't like it.