I LOVE YOU SO
Chapter Four
❛ The end of the world. ❜

EVERYONE NEEDS SOMEONE who they can depend on in their life; someone to give it structure. Someone to give it meaning. To achieve goals together, listen to one another, have each other's back. To do silly dances in the rain together, to share a matcha flavoured ice cream that's on a fish shaped cone, make each other heartfelt playlists, sing at the top of their lungs on the roof together even if it pisses the neighbours off.

Kang Sae-byeok once had that with another being, that exact kind of delight in her life. It gave her a reason to push herself forward every day. Speaking figuratively, all her life she'd been sticking to one path and as she strolled onwards, Sae-byeok held on to her former friend's hand tightly and never strayed off that path without that former friend.

That former friend was Hwang Aera- and when she disappeared from her life, it dug a void within Sae-byeok's mind. Aera seized her heart and tossed to where she disappeared to, the great unknown.

Recalling her fond childhood, Sae-byeok smiled softly to herself, it bittersweetly tugged at the corner of her lips. She remembered the enormous skeletal tree in her hometown, and how miniature lemons would grow on the branches every spring, it was where Aera and Sae-byeok would meet up before school.

Never liking the feeling of being late, Sae-byeok would arrive at the lemon tree early, the sun would've reached its mid, shining directly on the large tree. She'd have her green bike by her feet, and whenever she looked at it, she felt an immense amount of gratitude. On her twelfth birthday, she remembered when Aera dragged her towards the river bank, it was rainy that day, but Sae-byeok loved it. Right beside the river was her gleaming green bike, her heart swelled at the generous gift.

Sae-byeok could retell the story on how she got her bicycle in strong detail, the memory never left her mind. She remembered what Aera said when she gave it to her, "so you don't have to sit on the back of my bike every time we cycle to school," little Aera had said with a cheerful grin. After that, Sae-byeok embraced her quickly. After while, she bashfully let go first. But Aera tugged her back, hugging her for a little longer.

When Aera finally met up with Sae-byeok at the lemon tree before school, the two of them would begin cycling, the roads were usually quiet, so they had the whole path to themselves, it felt like true freedom.

They continued this up until the age of fifteen. That was when Aera grew distant, she would be hesitant whenever Sae-byeok asked what was wrong, feeling sensitive about the topic, she would change it hastily, making Sae-byeok even more concerned.

The path Sae-byeok grew to stick by, began to rumble.

"I don't get it . . .you've changed." Sae-byeok had blotchy red cheeks, ones that were warm from crying, she swallowed thickly and kept her eyes on Aera. "What happened? Did I do something wrong?"

"I told you, nothing's changed. Nothings happened, nothing is going to happen- Let's just go to school, we're going to be late," kicking at her pedal, Aera gripped her bicycle handles tightly and rode onwards, "let's continue this talk tomorrow," she yelled from the distance, her tone wavering.

But, there was no 'tomorrow.' The talk never happened, because Aera left Seoul to God knows where the very next day, with no notice, no text, no email, no nothing.

For the past few years, Sae-byeok was haunted by the ghostly presence of Aera, no matter how hard she tried to forget about her, she only thought of her more.

What was the point of holding on to the past anyways, it wasn't like Aera remembered her.

"Hey, hey, hey! Open the door, you jerks!" Bang, bang, bang went Mi-nyeo's palm on one of the exit's door- this pulled Sae-byeok away from her pool of thoughts, it stopped her from drowning in them. At the racket, you could hear the players in the room, groan in exasperation.

"Oh! Finally I found you," appearing from behind a wall, Aera felt 067 jolt against her arm when she whispered harshly next to her, thus breaking 067's train of thoughts.

"What do you want," throwing her head back with a well concealed eye roll, the hard glare that 067 held never left her face.

"How did you know I hated fried egg? Thank you for taking it, when I saw it in the tin they gave us I never panicked so much before in my life," trying to make the silence between them lighthearted, Aera chuckled nervously.

"From the way your face turned sour, anyone would've eaten it for you, I was just doing them a favour," fixating her eyes on one of the exits, 067's face stayed emotionless, her arms were crossed tightly as she leant back on the wall, her jaw clenched.

Fiddling with the hem of her jacket, "right . . ." she rubbed at her cheek as an unsteady smile tugged at Aera's lips, "well, why are you up? Other than the fact that Mi-nyeo is keeping everyone up, of course." She asked slowly, not knowing where the conversation was going.

I'm asking you the same thing. Simply shrugging and leaning on her other foot, "I just am," agitation began to course through 067's veins.

Gulping, Aera sighed heavily. Nodding to herself, a little too much, the silence between them was almost unbearable, it made Aera's muscles twitch, if it were a balloon, she would've burst it with a needle in a heartbeat. Small-talk was definitely one of her pet peeves. "If you're wondering why I'm sleeping, I can answer that, I know you're dying to know. Um," clearing her throat, "well Mi-nyeo tore my pillow apart, and I don't have a pillow now. I will get that bitch back though, I will," she wrinkled her nose.

Being unable to keep it in, 067 rolled her eyes once again, though being in the shadows, it made it difficult to see it. She gripped onto her pocket knife securely, one that was hidden behind her back, ready to use. It took all her might to not use it on Aera, despite how irritating she was.

"Hey, let me use the bathroom for one second. Jeez, come on! Look, it's mostly men in here, okay? Want a puddle here?" Still whining, a hand still slammed against the metal door, Mi-nyeo's voice pierced through every ear drum in the room. "Damn it! Damn you, scumbags!"

Deciding to let the raven haired girl be, with a hint of frustration in her steps, Aera was tired of this monstrosity, stomping next to Mi-nyeo, "look here- pink-marshmallow-looking person! Yeah I know you can hear us through that mask!"

Behind the wall, 067 shook her head and rubbed at her temples as she watched the disastrous scene unfold.

"What are you doing?" Mi-nyeo hissed, eyes widening.

"I'm helping you, what does it look like I'm doing?" She moved her arms about, as if to say 'duh!' Mainly, she was trying to earn a moment of pure silence, just so the other players could sleep. So she could sleep. Quite frankly, she needed to escape for a moment, perhaps find Jun-ho on the way. But still, Aera could feel a bucket full of rage at how unfair the supervisors were being towards Mi-nyeo.

Grinning wildly, Mi-nyeo swayed a little before returning her contemptuous gaze towards the window, her eyebrows drawn downwards, "yeah look here," pointing accusingly at the supervisor, "treat us like humans, damn it! Who do you think you are?"

"Yeah! Who. Do. You. Think. You. Are!" Aera hollered over-excitedly.

"You, triangle. I don't need you. Get me your supervisor. Just get me that uh- some . . . square head guy!"

"Yeah! Get us some square head guy . . . right about now!" Jumping from foot to foot, with both fists up ready to fight whatever combat might be thrown in her way, Aera kept her game face on.

Cringing, 067 narrowed her eyes, "idiot," muttering through gritted teeth, her head fell into her palms, feeling humiliated for the two of them. Though a prideful grin manoeuvred itself onto 067's face, ever so.

"You may not leave this room when it is past your given curfew," a new supervisor, with, a square painted on the forehead area of the mask, stated simply, almost robotically.

"Damn it. You masked guys think you control when I'm supposed to pee, huh?"

Pushing Mi-nyeo aside with her lips pressed firmly into a line, true fury boiled through Aera's veins, "you narcissistic, imbecile of a little bitch! You let us use the toilets right now, or I will thrust this very fist into your face and send you toppling like a bowling pin!"

Without wasting a second- thud! The square shaped peep hole was slammed shut by the square masked supervisor.

"Oh, what the," Mi-nyeo curled her lip, "you fucking bastards," this this gave her an invitation to slam her palms against the door, several times, once again. "You don't think I'll go pee right about now? Shit."

"Wait you can't be serious," flicking her head around, with her thrilled grin slipping away, a more alarmed one replaced it as Aera stopped banging her fists against the door repetitively, the whites around Aera's eyes expanded, her pupils grew at the sight of Mi-nyeo squating on the floor.

"Oh I am serious," Mi-nyeo bellowed as she slipped her green trousers off, "here I go, you all ready to hear some rain?"

With a slacken jaw, Aera covered her shocked eyes with her elbows in an instant, not wanting to have such an image in her head for days. "You are one crazy, crazy woman," muttering into her jacket sleeves, a humoured chuckle escaped from her lips at that moment. 067 saw this from around the corner, the way Aera's shoulders shook as she tried to contain her laughter, being infected by it, 067 tried her hardest not to smile widely at it all.

Click. The door opened sheepishly, "follow me," the masked man, but the one with the role as a triangle, had their arm extended as they left the door ajar.

"About time, don't want us ruining your precious hardwood floor now do we," shaking her head, mocking them, Aera pouted her lips humorously, "don't want to get grounded by your big scary boss? Now that, would the end of the world."

Mi-nyeo tutted alongside her, shooting lasers with a deathly glare, "damn, people won't listen to someone until they start screaming at you. Goddammit," baring her teeth, Mi-nyeo eyed them with such hostility.

Finding the right time, "I gotta go," 067 shoved Aera away lightly, a gratified grin was hidden behind her hard exterior. From the corner of her eye, she could see Aera tilt her head, puzzled.

Spinning on her heel, a flash of disbelief ran through Mi-nyeo's features, "oh yeah? I beg to get the damn toilet, and you're gonna sit right on top of it like that? Hey," poking 067's temple, "you're a pretty annoying girl, aren't you?"

"That's not very nice," Aera faintly commented from behind them.

Completely disregarding what Mi-nyeo said, nothing made 067's disinterested expression change, scanning Mi-nyeo from her toes to her face, 067 left Mi-nyeo with a rigid expression, "what a rude little brat," stepping out of the door, "hey."

Hugging her arms and furrowing her eyebrows together, Aera stood idly by the door, suddenly feeling strange at the lack of familiar faces surrounding her. Standing on her toes, still behind the door, she tried scanning the hallway for the two.

Throwing her hands up, "hey! Mi-nyeo, wait up! Where's my thank you?- Hey!" Waving her palms around, she almost whacked the supervisor in the face.

Instinctively, it made them grab their large weapon in defence. Click, the sound of the gun cocking resonated beside her.

Shuddering, she turned around sheepishly to face the supervisor that was beside her, "I am so sorry," Aera sucked in a breath, and watched carefully as they tucked the gun back into their pocket, in that moment she stopped fearing for her life. Shit, where are they? Aera hurried out of the door, "wait up you guys!"

( 2272 words )

DEAR ALL,

Mi-nyeo, Aera and Sae-byeok are going to be a little trio in the next few scenes🧍🏻‍♀️🧍🏻‍♀️🧍🏻‍♀️🤝❤️‍🔥 #mygirls

Plus I call Sae-byeok, 067, in most of these scenes because Aera still does not know her name, so when she does, 067's name will slip into the writing👍🏻👍🏻

Also have a great day/night my bffies😇

WITH LOVE, SYLVIA