From Seoul With Love✅

15; Heartstrings in Hangul.

I don't want to resume school. I don't want to resume school. I don't want to resume school!!

"Amma bakida mutunci. You've forgotten everyone since we graduated. Haba, Amina. Ordinary calls every now and then ma ya gagara?"

Amina sighed, looking away for a brief second. She didn't know what to say to the woman seated beside her, knowing everything will sound like an excuse. So, she chose to say the first thing that came to her mind. "It's nothing personal really, Benazir. You know how I am, sometimes I hate interacting in general."

Benazir Bello Tafida, Amina's high school best friend and the one friend she genuinely appreciated having back in the days sent a glare her way, one that she'd grown used to when they were younger.

Now, even though a little over five years has passed, and they've all changed, Amina could still see the traces of resemblance between the Benazir from five years ago and the woman seated in front of her.

The old Benazir was young, cute and just the sweetest soul to be around. She was one of those friends that gave it their all with no questions asked. On days Amina detested secondary school days, Benazir understood her troubles and stood by her side.

She truly was a good friend, one that Amina would've held close in her heart even if their paths never aligned again.

The woman sitting in front of her though seemed older, no surprise there, and more matured. Gone were the braces she wore during their last year in high school and the highlights she'd gotten, which drove her parent mad every single time.

Though her hair was covered with a vintage scarf, Amina doubted she was still into the hair highlights. It has to be had left behind in the past along with that childish image she seemed to have shrugged off, and instead, embraced this image of a woman others would envy.

In response to Amina's statement, all Benazir gave was a hum, one that in Nigerian terms would be 'I hear you', the sarcastic statement that shows one doesn't exactly agree with you, but will let you have it anyway.

"Five years, AIB, five years since we last saw or spoke to each other." Benazir stated as a matter of fact. "There's so much to catch up on, you know. It's like you'd disappeared off the face of the earth."

"You're exaggerating."

"I'm not. You even changed numbers. No socials as well. No one knows the university you went to, heck your family even moved. Buya kikayi kawai abunki." God knows she's tried her best to look for her old best friend, but all efforts proved futile.

It was like she never existed.

"I took a break from social media." She casually shrugged in response, like it's no big deal because to her, it really isn't. "I needed to do it for my mental health."

In this era, how can one even survive without social media? Especially someone of their generation.

It's possible, and Amina did it for a out two years. It was one of the best decisions she'd made really.

See, she was never particularly fond of her secondary school. It was a stage in her life that she never wishes to go back to, not even in her dreams.

She wasn't bullied or anything, it just wasn't the best stage in her life. It was toxic, and mentally draining. How could she still keep ties with anything that would remind her of it?

Sure, she ghosted everyone, including those that were good to her. However, to her, it was part of the healing process. And that led to another reason she did just that.