WORDS. |Kim Seungmin

Twenty Seven.

Almost a week.

It's been almost a week since Aria saw Seungmin. It's been almost a week since he rushed out of the café after the strange encounter with the rude customer. Almost one week since he ever stepped out of his house.

Aria felt helpless. All her attempts to reach him were nothing but failure. He didn't open the door when she knocked. He kept his curtains closed. He didn't reply to her texts. He didn't react to Felix bringing food to his doorstep. He didn't attend classes and he didn't even attend his project's first presentation. He acted like he wasn't in that house.

But he was in.

Aria knew he was in because she was watching through her room's window all day and night. She stayed there, hoping she would be able to catch a glimpse of him. The only thing she could catch was the movement of the curtains and every time they move, her hopes would build up but then they would drop again once he walks away without opening those curtains.

She never knew what was happening inside that house but she was sure something was off. It was easy to guess that from the loud thudding sounds that would be heard coming from the house, the weird flashes flickering in his room every now and then, and the muffled sobbing voices echoed late at night.

Although Aria started losing her hopes, she didn't give up. She kept knocking on his door every morning and each night. She would ask questions that she knew would never get answers to. She would tell him about her day at classes or even at the café. She would tell him how much Felix was feeling lonely again without him being around. She would plead for him to at least accept one of the meals they send him.

It's been a week since Aria started thinking of all their conversations together, all the hangouts, all the studying sessions, and all the debates about their project. She was trying to remember any word or any action that could give her a hint about what was happening but then, she knew nothing about him. He's a neighbor, a partner, a classmate who hates literature, a boy that seems to be nerd and quiet but is not. And then, nothing.

All the thinking that Aria was doing for a week led her to nothing. Only one thing kept ticking her off. Only one scene kept replaying in her mind. Only one voice kept echoing through her ears.

"FUCK OFF!"

That voice said.

"FUCK OFF!"

That voice she heard for the first time.

"FUCK OFF!"

That voice had no owner.

"FUCK OFF!"

That voice couldn't belong to the only one who was popping in Aria's mind whenever she replayed the scene.

"Fuck off." Aria mumbled to herself as she was doing for the last hour. She was lying flat on her back to her bed while staring at the ceiling. She kept repeating those two words over and over while replaying the scene. Those two words kept her busy all week. She even asked Changbin if he remembered who yelled that but he didn't even notice. The scene was total chaos.

Aria lifted herself up then stood to her feet and walked to the window. Again, she was watching. She sighed when she noticed that the house was the same, dark inside out. She wanted to try her luck with a new idea. Maybe if she brings him the notes from the classes he missed, he would open the door. He dreaded college but wanted to graduate after all.

Aria walked to her desk, pulled her backpack, and sat down. She pushed her hand inside the bag and that hand came back with a notebook that Aria uses for nearly all subjects.

Aria opened the note and started turning the pages back to the beginning of the week since Seungmin stopped showing up. As she was turning the pages, her eyes came across something that was written in a different handwriting than hers. Aria stopped at that page and started reading it. She remembered those words clearly. That page was written by Seungmin when they were working on the presentation of their project. The first few lines were the intro that Seungmin wrote but Aria didn't agree to so, they changed it.

Aria read the words over and over again. She kept reading them to herself as she was coming close to a conclusion. Actually, she came close to that conclusion days ago but she kept excluding it, not wanting to admit that she might be right. That her brother and her friend might have been right all along.

Aria made up her mind. She tore that page from the notebook, stood to her feet, and then rushed out of her room followed by the whole house. Her destination was obvious. She made her way to the front door of Seungmin's house and started knocking on the door while clutching the paper.

She was almost sure about what he meant.

About what his words meant.