Poor Unfortunate Souls | Mingi ✓

nine

9

"Yoon?" I hear the soft knocks on wood and as I'm still in place in my foetus position, already habituated to the darkness, I'm not sure what scares me more: the sound of Jungha's voice, awfully hoarse, or the twist of the knob before the door squeaks, because I forgot to lock it.

It's probably best to feign unconsciousness. Hopefully, Jungha gets the message and leaves but something tells me today holds quite the remarkable difference from the past two weeks.

"Yoon," she calls again. "I know you're awake. Not even heartbreak could make you sleep before eleven thirty."

My heart skips a beat. That's very specific, I think. How is she so certain I'm suffering from heartbreak? If I'm permitted to call it that.

"Yoon? Please." Her voice breaks and then it proceeds to do what it should: break me as well.

That's when I know I can't take it anymore. "I'm sorry."

"You're my best friend and yet I have to find out about you from others," she scolds softly, "what kind of a person does that make me?"

"A good one?"

I gather enough momentum to sit up and look at her, at least where I think she is. The room is pitch black. I now regret my choice of wanting to have that particular presence of gloom to fit in with my mood, so I turned the lights off. It's embarrassing what I'm about to do but what other choice do I have?

"Um," I clear my throat, "could you ... um, turn on the lights?"

Footsteps follow a scoff and before I know it I'm getting blinded. It takes a good seven seconds to adjust to my room's brightness. I do eventually and see Jungha's smile drop when she takes in my appearance. Within milliseconds, she's by my side.

"Gee, no one said you'd have to kill yourself because you're trying to hide from me," she jokes. However it does nothing to calm my nerves, I'm still being kept on my toes because I highly doubt anyone in their rightest senses should act this way after finding out.

"I'm—"

"Yeah, yeah, you're sorry," Jungha intercepts my apology, waving off with a frustrated groan like all I've succeeded to do is pester her with unwanted hassle. "If you truly are, you'd be explaining yourself."

I can't string together the words and I remain mute. Tears jab at their ducts yet again, and biting down on my bottom lip is the only way to keep them at bay.

"You should be mad."

"Whoever said I wasn't?" She asks. A weight drops on my shoulders. Her arm. Jungha pulls me into a side hug. "In fact I planned a cat fight, but these past few days had me reflecting ... like you ... because I assume that's the other thing you've been doing aside from crying, right?"

I'm willing to let her have that benefit. "Uh, yes."

The brunette scoffs again. "Pathetic. But yeah, I thought about it and truth be told, I realised it was about time I stopped kidding myself."

"Hm?"

"Mingi doesn't like me. Truly I wonder if he ever did."

"He d—"

"Yoon, sorry to say but you're daftness at its best," I frown, "uh-huh. You like to think you're so pathetic that no guy would ever look at you, so you shun them out when they eventually come. There's Yunho, there's that cute barista at Starbucks—"

"That's not true."

And it isn't. I eventually found out his name from his tag. Sunwoo. And while I've never questioned how he's always the one that serves us, I'm a tad bit aware of when he's trying to make conversation with me even with the girls around. But I'd be too stupid to think, "Mr. Mercedes certainly is one of King's best works," meant a guy fancies me. I just so coincidentally happened to own a book his favourite author wrote.

According to Ryujin, I'd be too stupid to think, "Mr. Mercedes certainly is one of King's best works," didn't mean a guy fancies me.

Guess the brain works in different ways, huh.

"Again," she gauged me from head to toe. "Daftness at its finest."

I add a pout to my frown this time because it is normal reaction to be that way when I feel insulted.

"Then there's Mingi." Her voice softens along with uttering his name. It reminds me how truly whipped my friend is for him and it's the other way round. Even if Mingi's head hasn't been right these days. "And no matter how you both try to convince yourselves that your little run-in orientation week didn't birth something, it changes nothing. Apparently I was in the way ... and Mingi broke before you did. Poor guy, as shitty as you, thinks you're never ever going to speak to him again. At least he had the decency to break up with me."

My head jolts up at that. Both eyes widen a few times over, my heart plummets in my chest, at the same time it flutters. However, not because I'm happy they've broken up.

Gosh, I'm not that heartless!

"Jungha, I—"

"Hush, Yoon. I don't think I want hearing anything from you until I'm done. I'm trying to make some sense here so shut up and listen."

I do just that.

"Yes, Mingi and I are through. No, he doesn't love me. Maybe, I'm a bit upset about that considering I haven't the foggiest idea when he fell out of it. I guess rebound me became too much to handle, besides, the sexual tension between the both of you was becoming suffocating." She shakes her head. "Aish, you're just a bunch of cowards." A smile falls on her lips as she proceeds to add, "Now, before you get about doing that shit where you'll refuse to come to terms with your feelings and go to him because you think you're protecting me, I'll have you know that I won't be forgiving you until you've both kissed the crap out of each other. Now you can speak."

And words have yet again done that thing where they fail me, and I'm left looking like 'Dumbest' to 'Dumb and Dumber'. However my head currently rings with the fact that right before me is the best friend I could ever wish for. But still I have mixed feelings and as if she's aware of what's going on in that jumbled mess I call a brain, she reaches for my phone on the end table. Watching her type away sets me in a state of unease until she's done.

Jungha smirks. "You just sent him a text to meet behind the football field in ten. Don't keep him waiting."