Coffee and Morning Trains
One - Stains
People say that coincidences are things that don’t happen everyday, just like how the train was half-empty that morning. But he knew this before he even got on; the platform was a little empty, the line waiting in anticipation for the door opening at each post had dwindled, even the air in the station felt somehow cleaner, less stuffy.
He was gloating in it all.
… until he suddenly felt hot liquid showering him and he felt his balls on fire.
He looked up and saw a pale-faced girl aghast, a foam cup of presumably coffee in her hand. He glared at her, simply too angry and shocked to utter a word. Then he exploded.
“YAH! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING??!”
“I… I’m sorry…” The woman whispered, her voice trembling.
The coffee was rapidly seeping through his dress pants, leaving a conspicuously misleading stain right smack in the crotch.
“God, I can’t believe this…” he muttered under his breath as he rummaged in his pockets for a tissue, his face reddening in embarrassment.
The girl unconsciously glanced at his crotch-it would’ve been hard to not look at such a visible stain in such a visible spot-and snorted.
She thought he didn’t notice. But he did.
“You think this is funny?” He asked, pointing to his crotch before he even realized how wrong the implicative gesture looked.
The girl tried to stifle a laugh and forced herself to shift her gaze up to his face.
“No, of course not,” she replied, her voice barely escaping her lips as she was afraid that laughter would erupt if she had fully opened her mouth.
The man grumbled and continued muttering to himself as he shifted into the corner of the seat and finally getting those much needed tissues out.
At least the train wasn’t full… that would’ve been 100 times more embarrassing.
The girl stood there stiffly as she watched him dab at the stain, unsure if she should stay because she was responsible for the stain or if she should leave because the scene in front of her felt inexplicably weird.
"Genie Lee!"
A voice called out to her, followed by a frantic series of footsteps, pulling her out of her dilemma.
"What are you doing? We're getting off soon," huffed a tanned-skin girl in English, hands set her hips.
"Uh..." Genie shifted her gaze from her friend to the man, who had stopped wiping at his stain and was watching the English-speaking girl in surprise. The friend folllowed her gaze.
"HAHAHAHAHAH!!!!" She pointed at the man's crotch and burst out laughing for the whole train to hear.
Genie widened her eyes in horror as she smacked her friend furiously, "Hyuna!!!"
"Hyuna? Park Hyuna?" The man suddenly spoke.
Only then did Hyuna actually look at the man's face. She froze as if all air had been sucked out of her.
"Park Jaebum?"
- - -
Two - Reunion
Genie looked between her friend and this man named Park Jaebum in bewilderment.
"You know each other??"
Genie's voice sounded like distant echoes to Hyuna's ears. She was sinking in the quicksand of past memories as they pulled her down and enveloped her effortlessly. The strange thing was, she didn't even try to fight it. Perhaps, she knew the struggle would be useless.
It was not even her own past weighing her down.
"Hyuna?" Genie called her out of her trance.
"Huh?"
"You know him?"
Hyuna looked at Park Jaebum, whose eyes were fixated on her as if he was looking into her soul and poking at the wounds hidden there.
Are you going to say it?
"We know each other from high school," said Jaebum, his gaze now directed at Genie. He was no longer looking at Hyuna.
"Oh..." Genie said quietly. She could sense tension between the two, the air separating them relentlessly rigid. The train began to slow and pull into the station. Genie saw the sign flash across her eyes and said, "Oh! This is our stop."
Hyuna immediately moved towards the doors as the train stopped. She was looking away out the window but she could feel Jaebum's eyes on her--or at least in her direction--out of the corner of her eye. She refused to think right now, her mind already numbed.
"Uh.. I'm really sorry about earlier..." Genie apologized and bowed quickly for the last time before following her friend to the opening train doors.
The doors opened, and they stepped off. As Hyuna's foot landed on the platform, she turned around unthinkingly and met his eyes that locked hers for an instant.
And she tripped and almost fell flat on her face, if not for Genie who was quick enough to grab her arm.
#$$*#)@*$($#*$!!!! What the fuck...
Hyuna quickly got back on her feet, her face heating up in embarrassment. The doors closed behind her and the train began to move. She didn't want to, and couldn't, turn around in fear of seeing Jaebum pointing at her and laughing his head off. Not that she should care.
On the train, Jaebum was no longer looking out the window, though he had definitely seen her trip. A smirk crept up his face as he shook his head and chuckled.
You haven't changed a bit, Park Hyuna.
- - -
"So who was that?" Genie asked. They were walking towards the exit out to the streets. Hyuna had been silent ever since they got off the train.
"Just... someone that went to my high school," mumbled Hyuna. Genie watched her and the wavering flickers in her eyes. She debated with herself if she should pry. Hyuna had not told her much about her life back in the US, but Genie was not the type of person to ask unless it was necessary.
"Arasso..." Genie said quietly, deciding that the questioning wasn't necessary. Hyuna clearly looked uncomfortable at the mere sight of him.
It had been two years since Genie and Hyuna were coincidentally paired as roommates in college. Genie was born and raised in the US, but had previously moved back to Korea for the latter half of high school, and Hyuna had just arrived in Seoul as an international student. Sharing a similar background, the two freshmen girls immediately hit it off and became best friends, the easygoing Hyuna complementing the level-headed Genie, companions in the misery of school work but otherwise conquering the world left and right.
"Genie..." said Hyuna, suddenly stopping in her track and turning to her friend.
"Hm?"
"Let's go eat ddukbokgi!"
Geez... that was a quick change in the mood. Genie thought, arching her brows in amusement at the abrupt sparkles in Hyuna's eyes.
- - -
"Gosh, Hyuna, do you even have any money left in your wallet??"
Hyuna peered inside her wallet - empty as a peapod without peas. Hyuna had dragged Genie to the nearest restaurant and proceeded to gorge herself on ddukbokgi, while Genie watched in horror.
"Eh." Hyuna shrugged. "I was emo-eating... couldn't stop." She smacked her lips in satisfaction.
Genie looked at her friend, half-disgusted and half-concerned.
"Yeah... okay." Should I ask now? Genie knew something was definitely bothering Hyuna, but she was still hesitant. Suddenly, Hyuna's face began to distort as if she just had a stick shoved up her ass.
"W-what? Hyuna? Are you okay?" Genie cried out in panic.
Hyuna clutched her stomach and ran to the curb. With one hand on a tree, she slouched over and began to gag, but nothing came up. Genie ran to Hyuna's side but instinctively pulled back as the sounds of gagging reached her ears. She began to feel her regurgitation reflex kick in and looked away. Her eyes landed on a random guy standing on the other side of the tree. He looked visibly grossed out and petrified with his entire face scrunched up. Hyuna was now squatting on the ground, hands still clenching over her abdomen and her head pulled towards her chest, the pained expression on her face hidden.
"Hyuna! What's wrong??" Genie squatted down next to her and placed a worried hand on her friend's back. Hyuna shook her head; she was in so much agony that she couldn't even utter a word.
"Wooyoung-ah!"
A Mercedez suddenly pulled to the curb and a voice called out from inside as the side window rolled down. Genie looked up. She couldn't see who was the driver since the person was away from the curb, but it seemed like he was calling the guy standing by the tree who began to move towards the car. He glanced at Hyuna and Genie before opening the door to get into the passenger seat.
"Hyuna?"
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Genie arched her neck and saw who it was sitting in front of the steering wheel.
"Isn't that... Park Jaebum-sshi?" Genie said out loud. Hyuna bore her pain and strained to look up. Jaebum had already gotten out of the car and was now crouching down, holding her eyes with a serious gaze.
"Um... do you need to go?"
"What? Go where?" Hyuna replied weakly without thinking.
"Go... relieve yourself," Jaebum rolled his eyes and looked as if he didn't know he should be frustrated or amused.
"..." Hyuna ignored him, annoyed. Genie answered in her instead. "She has a stomachache I think... she was gonna throw up."
Jaebum looked at her, and, without a word, he pulled her up and then carried her bridal-style with ease.
"What are you doing..." said Hyuna, her voice faint and washed over by the pain, but she had no strength to resist.
"Take you to the hospital." Jaebum said. He motioned for Wooyoung to get in. Genie stood there, not knowing whether she should scream for a potential abduction of her friend or try to save her herself.
"No... I don't wanna go to the hospital..." Hyuna struggled to argue.
"Just shut up unless you wanna have your intestines all chewed up," Jaebum spat, his words so harsh that Hyuna gave up trying to talk him out of it.
"Uh... you might wanna get in too." Wooyoung called to Genie before he got into the passenger's seat.
Ugh, what the hell. Genie groaned inwardly as she hurriedly got into the car. Jaebum gently laid Hyuna down in the back, and Genie pulled her closer and took her head onto her lap. Hyuna's eyes were closed. Mortified, Genie widened her eyes and shrieked.
"HYUNA!! WAKE UP!! DON'T DIE ON ME! DON'T YOU DARE-"
"YAH!" Jaebum yelled from the front, cutting her off. "Shut up! She's not dead, stupid, she just fainted."
He called me stupid? What a meanie. Genie was indignant but went quiet anyway. She wondered about who he was, why he was such a jerk but kindly offered to take a random person to the hospital. But Hyuna isn't just a random person to him, is she? Jaebum stepped on the gas and the car sped off, leaving Genie's questions in the dust.
- - -
Three - Another Trip Down Memory Lane
Genie peered into the room where Hyuna was hooked up to the IV, asleep. Then she turned her attention to the doctor who was explaining Hyuna's situation to Jaebum.
"She had an ulcer, I doubt she was aware of it because it was actually pretty dormant, until she ate all that ddukbokgi..." The doctor glanced at Genie as if blaming her for failing at preventing her friend's hospitalization.
"What? I didn't tell her to eat it!" Genie cried defensively, "She said she was--never mind..." her voice trailed off as it occurred to her that the three men staring at her probably would not understand the significant of emo-eating.
"Anyway, please continue, Dr. Yoon," Jaebum tossed Genie a glare as he prompted the doctor.
"Right, so we've successfully moved the ulcer so now she's fine, just needs some rest. However we'd like to keep her overnight just for observation. If all is well, she can go home tomorrow."
"Great, thank you Dr. Yoon." Jaebum said as he bowed to the doctor. Wooyoung and Genie did the same.
"Jaebum-sshi, if you have any questions, just let me know." Dr. Yoon said as he smiled at Jaebum, who nodded and bowed again.
Hm... they seem to know each other... why is that? Genie wondered silently as she watched the exchange between the two, another one added to her inventory of question marks.
"Has she been stressed out lately?" Jaebum suddenly turned to Genie and asked.
"Huh? Um..." a frowned appeared as she tried to think. "She just finished her term paper for her hardest class, that might be it."
"I see..." Jaebum replied mindlessly as he moved away from Genie and towards Hyuna's room.
"I didn't know she was that stressed out though..." Genie mumbled and pouted as she felt guilt tide over her, the thought that she should've known as her roommate and best friend.
"It's not your fault," a voice popped up behind her. She started and whipped around. It was the other guy named Wooyoung.
"Dr. Yoon said it was dormant, no one could've known anyway," he continued his consolation, though his eyes were on Jaebum who was peering through the glass with his arms crossed and bearing a stern look.
Genie looked at Wooyoung and the way he was watching Jaebum with an unreadable expression. More questions arose in her mind.
"Um... can I ask you something?" Genie started gingerly.
Wooyoung looked at her, wariness evident in his eyes. He glanced at Jaebum again. Then he abruptly touched Genie's elbow and gently steered her around.
"Let's go sit over there."
As the two turned around and headed towards the benches a distance away, Jaebum turned the door knob and slipped into the room.
- - -
Hyuna's eyes began to flutter open. She felt as if she had slept for days and her brain felt like a messy turd of tofu. The room was dark except for the bedside lamp emanating weakly, as if designed to not disturb a patient's sleep. She groaned as she shifted, her body feeling heavy and numb. Then she sensed a movement beside her bed. Someone was there. Her panic was intercepted by the familiar voice.
"You woke up."
- - -
"Nom nom nom."
Genie cast a weirded-out look at Wooyoung, who was sitting next to her and chewing audibly on a fish cake with his cheeks puffed up as like a squirrel.
"Uh... you must be really hungry huh," she said as she took a bite of her own. Keke... he looks pretty cute with his cheeks, I kinda wanna--
Genie shook her head furiously in the middle of her thought. Geez what am I thinking, I JUST met this guy.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah... Jaebum hyung was gonna take me to dinner but he just HAD to take care of your friend," said Wooyoung as he finished the fish cake with one last chomp, then sighing in satisfaction.
Genie squinted her eyes at him. She couldn't tell if he was being truthful or sarcastic. Or both, if that was even possible.
"Did you know that Jaebum-sshi knew Hyuna before too?"
"Uh... kind of. Not really. He didn't really talk about his life back in the US." Wooyoung replied, avoiding Genie's gaze.
Genie squinted her eyes again suspiciously.
"I didn't say they knew each other back in the US."
"..." Wooyoung widened his eyes at her and she could clearly see he had a oh-crap-why-did-I-say-that look.
"Ahem." He suddenly cleared his throat as if to divert her attention from the slip-up. "So where are you from? I heard you speak English back in the car."
- - -
"I--"
"You--"
They spoke simultaneously, eliciting a look of awkwardness from each other.
"Go ahead," Jaebum said softly in English, looking down at his hands. Hyuna opened her mouth but no longer remembered what she was going to say. When she found her voice again, something else came out.
"Uh... thanks for taking me here..." she said barely above a whisper.
He didn't reply with a "You're welcome" or "No problem". He said nothing in return. Not even a "Mmm" as acknowledgement of her gratitude.
Maybe he thought he had to help me because--
Hyuna's train of thought was interrupted as he suddenly spoke.
"I'd never thought I'd see you ever again."
There was no maliciousness nor bitterness in his voice. He said it as if he was stating a fact, something that carried no sentimental value.
Hyuna looked him in the eye. What she saw in those eyes made her shudder, as if they were sucking her into something unknown but not unfamiliar.
"Why did you do it?" Hyuna heard herself say. She could hear resentment seeping from those words. She wondered if he could hear it too.
Jaebum was silent. He was studying her, her face dominated by indignity and her eyes holding something he knew has been there all these years. As it should.
"Tell me." She persisted. Memories came tumbling and swallowing her alive, she could no longer hold back as she had been in the past. "Why did you break up with her?"
---
Four - The Truth
"So where are you from? I heard you speak English back in the car."
"Oh, I was born and raised in the US. Hyuna, too, plus she just came here like 2 years ago, we pretty much speak Korglish," said Genie with a shrug as she finished her fish cake.
"Korglish?"
"Yeah, Korean mixed with English, Korglish." Genie looked at Wooyoung as if he was asking her to define "ice cream."
"Ah..."
"Anyway, you're pretty close with Jaebum-sshi, right?" Genie changed the subject in a flash.
"Eh?" Wooyoung was caught off-guard. "I-yeah, I guess we're pretty close," he said, mock-nonchalant.
"So... did you like, grow up together? How did you guys meet?" Genie continued to interrogate.
"Tch, of course we didn't grow up together," Wooyoung glanced at her as if she just asked him if he was Korean or not. "He grew up in the US and I obviously didn't so-"
"Oh..." Genie said. Then, mumbling to herself, "I guess Hyuna was telling the truth..."
"What was that?"
"Nothing. So um, what does he do?" Genie threw Wooyoung another question.
"He's..." Wooyoung began, but paused as if trying to think of an answer that would appease her but not too revealing. "He oversees... stuff. People."
Genie frowned at the ambiguous answer.
"So what does that mean? He's a boss or something?"
"Uh..." Wooyoung wavered in replying with a pair of eyes intently on him. "Hey!" said he suddenly as he reached out towards her clavicle, slightly fingering the necklace resting atop.
"That's pretty. Where'd you get it from?"
At the inadvertent touch from his finger that grazed her skin, Genie froze, but her heart did just the opposite.
- - -
"Why did you break up with her?"
Jaebum was still, as if the question had never reached him but instead had been suspended in midair. The aggressive desperation was not heard in her words; it was transparent in her eyes that were holding his.
"ANSWER ME GODDAMIT!" She screamed this time. Jaebum didn't even flinch. He simply watched as tears came streaming down her cheeks, as if tagging along the pain hidden in the back of her throat. She gripped the bedsheets so hard that her knuckles were turning white.
He soundlessly got up and walked up to the windows, bracing himself with his back to her.
"Jay Park." She said his full English name, one that hadn't been uttered ever since he left, her tone abrasive. "You broke her heart and disappeared without any explanation. How the fuck did you live with yourself these past two years? Did you even love her?" she scoffed.
"I did. I loved her with all my heart." He finally spoke, the words calm but heavy.
"How DARE you say that?? If you really loved her, you would've been there for her when she needed you the most. You would have stayed." Hyuna spat.
Jaebum turned around and faced her. She thought she saw mist in his eyes.
She believed her eyes were playing tricks on her.
"I loved her, and that's exactly why I had to leave."
Hyuna stared at him, incredulous of the words that had just come out of his mouth.
"Don't give me that bullshit. I'm not in high school anymore, just tell me the damn truth. I can handle it."
Jaebum paused for a moment, one that was not short enough for him but painstakingly long for her.
"I did it. The gang beating. I ordered it."
(Flashback to two years ago)
"Hyuna..." The voice breathed the words, panting.
"Lynn? Where have you been?? I've been-"
"Hyuna... I'm hurt... really bad..." She said, her voice shaky. "Can you come... get me..."
Lynn told Hyuna where she was - in the back of a park near their school. Hyuna ran there as fast as she could and when she got there, she found her best friend incompletely clothed and covered in bruises and blood stains, on the verge of passing out.
"Oh my god... Lynn..." Hyuna broke into tears the instant she came near, cradling Lynn's head in her lap. "How... who did this to you??"
"I didn't... see... they blindfolded me..." said Lynn faintly.
"Hang in there, okay? I'm gonna call 911," said Hyuna as she took out her cell phone with trembling hands. "You'll be okay. Just hang in there." She said as reassuringly as she could, though the never-ending tears seemed to betray those words.
With half-closed lids, Lynn watched Hyuna dial for the police and ambulance.
"Sweetie, they're coming soon, okay? Just hang in there. Stay with me." Hyuna cooed, her hand caressing her friend's battered cheek. Suddenly, she thought of something and took out her cell phone again. She scrolled through her address book and was about to press Call when a hand covered hers and brought it down with a strength that was absent everywhere else.
"No... don't tell Jay... I don't want him to know..." said Lynn as she attempted to take away Hyuna's phone. Hyuna, on the other hand, was too dazed to resist.
"B-But why not?? He needs to know!" Hyuna stared at her friend, bewildered. Lynn just shook her head imperceptibly.
So Hyuna complied and didn't call Jay. But that didn't stop him from finding out.
Lynn was hospitalized for three weeks; she had sustained severe injuries all over; there were lacerations and gashes in her head and face, she had several broken ribs most likely from fighting back. And she was raped. She fell into a coma due to brain injuries.
Hyuna and Jay took shifts with Lynn's parents to watch her at the hospital. Neither of them slept, ate or talked much. During her watch, Hyuna thought of how they met in high school, how they became best friends, how she met Jay and then started dating, how the three of them were like the three musketeers, with Jay being the closest embodiment of an outlaw, since his older brother was supposedly involved in a gang. She kept thinking and remembering. And her heart just seemed to just keep breaking into even smaller pieces.
Jay faithfully attended to Lynn for the first two days. On the third day, he suddenly called up Hyuna and said he couldn't make it. He asked her to watch Hyuna in his place. Just for that day.
Later on that same day, news came on to the television that there had been a major gang beating in the neighborhood. The victims were three students that went to Hyuna's school. They were found brutally beat up with barely a breath left in them. A note was found taped to each of their chests. It said, "I sexually assaulted Evelyn Kim. Arrest me." After they were treated and began to recover, they admitted to their crime. However, the cousin of one of the victims was the leader of a local drug ring. As a result, things spiraled out of control, more violence ensued, police was involved, and the whole situation evolved in a huge mess.
On the seventh day, Lynn woke up. Jay came on his shift, as he had promised Hyuna.
Two hours later, Jay left the room with Evelyn sobbing into her chest, tears drenching her hospital gown.
(End flashback)
"If I didn't leave, things would get even worse for her. The compromise was that they would leave her alone, on the condition that I never show my face in that country again."
People say that coincidences are things that don’t happen everyday, just like how the train was half-empty that morning. But he knew this before he even got on; the platform was a little empty, the line waiting in anticipation for the door opening at each post had dwindled, even the air in the station felt somehow cleaner, less stuffy.
He was gloating in it all.
… until he suddenly felt hot liquid showering him and he felt his balls on fire.
He looked up and saw a pale-faced girl aghast, a foam cup of presumably coffee in her hand. He glared at her, simply too angry and shocked to utter a word. Then he exploded.
“YAH! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING??!”
“I… I’m sorry…” The woman whispered, her voice trembling.
The coffee was rapidly seeping through his dress pants, leaving a conspicuously misleading stain right smack in the crotch.
“God, I can’t believe this…” he muttered under his breath as he rummaged in his pockets for a tissue, his face reddening in embarrassment.
The girl unconsciously glanced at his crotch-it would’ve been hard to not look at such a visible stain in such a visible spot-and snorted.
She thought he didn’t notice. But he did.
“You think this is funny?” He asked, pointing to his crotch before he even realized how wrong the implicative gesture looked.
The girl tried to stifle a laugh and forced herself to shift her gaze up to his face.
“No, of course not,” she replied, her voice barely escaping her lips as she was afraid that laughter would erupt if she had fully opened her mouth.
The man grumbled and continued muttering to himself as he shifted into the corner of the seat and finally getting those much needed tissues out.
At least the train wasn’t full… that would’ve been 100 times more embarrassing.
The girl stood there stiffly as she watched him dab at the stain, unsure if she should stay because she was responsible for the stain or if she should leave because the scene in front of her felt inexplicably weird.
"Genie Lee!"
A voice called out to her, followed by a frantic series of footsteps, pulling her out of her dilemma.
"What are you doing? We're getting off soon," huffed a tanned-skin girl in English, hands set her hips.
"Uh..." Genie shifted her gaze from her friend to the man, who had stopped wiping at his stain and was watching the English-speaking girl in surprise. The friend folllowed her gaze.
"HAHAHAHAHAH!!!!" She pointed at the man's crotch and burst out laughing for the whole train to hear.
Genie widened her eyes in horror as she smacked her friend furiously, "Hyuna!!!"
"Hyuna? Park Hyuna?" The man suddenly spoke.
Only then did Hyuna actually look at the man's face. She froze as if all air had been sucked out of her.
"Park Jaebum?"
- - -
Two - Reunion
Genie looked between her friend and this man named Park Jaebum in bewilderment.
"You know each other??"
Genie's voice sounded like distant echoes to Hyuna's ears. She was sinking in the quicksand of past memories as they pulled her down and enveloped her effortlessly. The strange thing was, she didn't even try to fight it. Perhaps, she knew the struggle would be useless.
It was not even her own past weighing her down.
"Hyuna?" Genie called her out of her trance.
"Huh?"
"You know him?"
Hyuna looked at Park Jaebum, whose eyes were fixated on her as if he was looking into her soul and poking at the wounds hidden there.
Are you going to say it?
"We know each other from high school," said Jaebum, his gaze now directed at Genie. He was no longer looking at Hyuna.
"Oh..." Genie said quietly. She could sense tension between the two, the air separating them relentlessly rigid. The train began to slow and pull into the station. Genie saw the sign flash across her eyes and said, "Oh! This is our stop."
Hyuna immediately moved towards the doors as the train stopped. She was looking away out the window but she could feel Jaebum's eyes on her--or at least in her direction--out of the corner of her eye. She refused to think right now, her mind already numbed.
"Uh.. I'm really sorry about earlier..." Genie apologized and bowed quickly for the last time before following her friend to the opening train doors.
The doors opened, and they stepped off. As Hyuna's foot landed on the platform, she turned around unthinkingly and met his eyes that locked hers for an instant.
And she tripped and almost fell flat on her face, if not for Genie who was quick enough to grab her arm.
#$$*#)@*$($#*$!!!! What the fuck...
Hyuna quickly got back on her feet, her face heating up in embarrassment. The doors closed behind her and the train began to move. She didn't want to, and couldn't, turn around in fear of seeing Jaebum pointing at her and laughing his head off. Not that she should care.
On the train, Jaebum was no longer looking out the window, though he had definitely seen her trip. A smirk crept up his face as he shook his head and chuckled.
You haven't changed a bit, Park Hyuna.
- - -
"So who was that?" Genie asked. They were walking towards the exit out to the streets. Hyuna had been silent ever since they got off the train.
"Just... someone that went to my high school," mumbled Hyuna. Genie watched her and the wavering flickers in her eyes. She debated with herself if she should pry. Hyuna had not told her much about her life back in the US, but Genie was not the type of person to ask unless it was necessary.
"Arasso..." Genie said quietly, deciding that the questioning wasn't necessary. Hyuna clearly looked uncomfortable at the mere sight of him.
It had been two years since Genie and Hyuna were coincidentally paired as roommates in college. Genie was born and raised in the US, but had previously moved back to Korea for the latter half of high school, and Hyuna had just arrived in Seoul as an international student. Sharing a similar background, the two freshmen girls immediately hit it off and became best friends, the easygoing Hyuna complementing the level-headed Genie, companions in the misery of school work but otherwise conquering the world left and right.
"Genie..." said Hyuna, suddenly stopping in her track and turning to her friend.
"Hm?"
"Let's go eat ddukbokgi!"
Geez... that was a quick change in the mood. Genie thought, arching her brows in amusement at the abrupt sparkles in Hyuna's eyes.
- - -
"Gosh, Hyuna, do you even have any money left in your wallet??"
Hyuna peered inside her wallet - empty as a peapod without peas. Hyuna had dragged Genie to the nearest restaurant and proceeded to gorge herself on ddukbokgi, while Genie watched in horror.
"Eh." Hyuna shrugged. "I was emo-eating... couldn't stop." She smacked her lips in satisfaction.
Genie looked at her friend, half-disgusted and half-concerned.
"Yeah... okay." Should I ask now? Genie knew something was definitely bothering Hyuna, but she was still hesitant. Suddenly, Hyuna's face began to distort as if she just had a stick shoved up her ass.
"W-what? Hyuna? Are you okay?" Genie cried out in panic.
Hyuna clutched her stomach and ran to the curb. With one hand on a tree, she slouched over and began to gag, but nothing came up. Genie ran to Hyuna's side but instinctively pulled back as the sounds of gagging reached her ears. She began to feel her regurgitation reflex kick in and looked away. Her eyes landed on a random guy standing on the other side of the tree. He looked visibly grossed out and petrified with his entire face scrunched up. Hyuna was now squatting on the ground, hands still clenching over her abdomen and her head pulled towards her chest, the pained expression on her face hidden.
"Hyuna! What's wrong??" Genie squatted down next to her and placed a worried hand on her friend's back. Hyuna shook her head; she was in so much agony that she couldn't even utter a word.
"Wooyoung-ah!"
A Mercedez suddenly pulled to the curb and a voice called out from inside as the side window rolled down. Genie looked up. She couldn't see who was the driver since the person was away from the curb, but it seemed like he was calling the guy standing by the tree who began to move towards the car. He glanced at Hyuna and Genie before opening the door to get into the passenger seat.
"Hyuna?"
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Genie arched her neck and saw who it was sitting in front of the steering wheel.
"Isn't that... Park Jaebum-sshi?" Genie said out loud. Hyuna bore her pain and strained to look up. Jaebum had already gotten out of the car and was now crouching down, holding her eyes with a serious gaze.
"Um... do you need to go?"
"What? Go where?" Hyuna replied weakly without thinking.
"Go... relieve yourself," Jaebum rolled his eyes and looked as if he didn't know he should be frustrated or amused.
"..." Hyuna ignored him, annoyed. Genie answered in her instead. "She has a stomachache I think... she was gonna throw up."
Jaebum looked at her, and, without a word, he pulled her up and then carried her bridal-style with ease.
"What are you doing..." said Hyuna, her voice faint and washed over by the pain, but she had no strength to resist.
"Take you to the hospital." Jaebum said. He motioned for Wooyoung to get in. Genie stood there, not knowing whether she should scream for a potential abduction of her friend or try to save her herself.
"No... I don't wanna go to the hospital..." Hyuna struggled to argue.
"Just shut up unless you wanna have your intestines all chewed up," Jaebum spat, his words so harsh that Hyuna gave up trying to talk him out of it.
"Uh... you might wanna get in too." Wooyoung called to Genie before he got into the passenger's seat.
Ugh, what the hell. Genie groaned inwardly as she hurriedly got into the car. Jaebum gently laid Hyuna down in the back, and Genie pulled her closer and took her head onto her lap. Hyuna's eyes were closed. Mortified, Genie widened her eyes and shrieked.
"HYUNA!! WAKE UP!! DON'T DIE ON ME! DON'T YOU DARE-"
"YAH!" Jaebum yelled from the front, cutting her off. "Shut up! She's not dead, stupid, she just fainted."
He called me stupid? What a meanie. Genie was indignant but went quiet anyway. She wondered about who he was, why he was such a jerk but kindly offered to take a random person to the hospital. But Hyuna isn't just a random person to him, is she? Jaebum stepped on the gas and the car sped off, leaving Genie's questions in the dust.
- - -
Three - Another Trip Down Memory Lane
Genie peered into the room where Hyuna was hooked up to the IV, asleep. Then she turned her attention to the doctor who was explaining Hyuna's situation to Jaebum.
"She had an ulcer, I doubt she was aware of it because it was actually pretty dormant, until she ate all that ddukbokgi..." The doctor glanced at Genie as if blaming her for failing at preventing her friend's hospitalization.
"What? I didn't tell her to eat it!" Genie cried defensively, "She said she was--never mind..." her voice trailed off as it occurred to her that the three men staring at her probably would not understand the significant of emo-eating.
"Anyway, please continue, Dr. Yoon," Jaebum tossed Genie a glare as he prompted the doctor.
"Right, so we've successfully moved the ulcer so now she's fine, just needs some rest. However we'd like to keep her overnight just for observation. If all is well, she can go home tomorrow."
"Great, thank you Dr. Yoon." Jaebum said as he bowed to the doctor. Wooyoung and Genie did the same.
"Jaebum-sshi, if you have any questions, just let me know." Dr. Yoon said as he smiled at Jaebum, who nodded and bowed again.
Hm... they seem to know each other... why is that? Genie wondered silently as she watched the exchange between the two, another one added to her inventory of question marks.
"Has she been stressed out lately?" Jaebum suddenly turned to Genie and asked.
"Huh? Um..." a frowned appeared as she tried to think. "She just finished her term paper for her hardest class, that might be it."
"I see..." Jaebum replied mindlessly as he moved away from Genie and towards Hyuna's room.
"I didn't know she was that stressed out though..." Genie mumbled and pouted as she felt guilt tide over her, the thought that she should've known as her roommate and best friend.
"It's not your fault," a voice popped up behind her. She started and whipped around. It was the other guy named Wooyoung.
"Dr. Yoon said it was dormant, no one could've known anyway," he continued his consolation, though his eyes were on Jaebum who was peering through the glass with his arms crossed and bearing a stern look.
Genie looked at Wooyoung and the way he was watching Jaebum with an unreadable expression. More questions arose in her mind.
"Um... can I ask you something?" Genie started gingerly.
Wooyoung looked at her, wariness evident in his eyes. He glanced at Jaebum again. Then he abruptly touched Genie's elbow and gently steered her around.
"Let's go sit over there."
As the two turned around and headed towards the benches a distance away, Jaebum turned the door knob and slipped into the room.
- - -
Hyuna's eyes began to flutter open. She felt as if she had slept for days and her brain felt like a messy turd of tofu. The room was dark except for the bedside lamp emanating weakly, as if designed to not disturb a patient's sleep. She groaned as she shifted, her body feeling heavy and numb. Then she sensed a movement beside her bed. Someone was there. Her panic was intercepted by the familiar voice.
"You woke up."
- - -
"Nom nom nom."
Genie cast a weirded-out look at Wooyoung, who was sitting next to her and chewing audibly on a fish cake with his cheeks puffed up as like a squirrel.
"Uh... you must be really hungry huh," she said as she took a bite of her own. Keke... he looks pretty cute with his cheeks, I kinda wanna--
Genie shook her head furiously in the middle of her thought. Geez what am I thinking, I JUST met this guy.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah... Jaebum hyung was gonna take me to dinner but he just HAD to take care of your friend," said Wooyoung as he finished the fish cake with one last chomp, then sighing in satisfaction.
Genie squinted her eyes at him. She couldn't tell if he was being truthful or sarcastic. Or both, if that was even possible.
"Did you know that Jaebum-sshi knew Hyuna before too?"
"Uh... kind of. Not really. He didn't really talk about his life back in the US." Wooyoung replied, avoiding Genie's gaze.
Genie squinted her eyes again suspiciously.
"I didn't say they knew each other back in the US."
"..." Wooyoung widened his eyes at her and she could clearly see he had a oh-crap-why-did-I-say-that look.
"Ahem." He suddenly cleared his throat as if to divert her attention from the slip-up. "So where are you from? I heard you speak English back in the car."
- - -
"I--"
"You--"
They spoke simultaneously, eliciting a look of awkwardness from each other.
"Go ahead," Jaebum said softly in English, looking down at his hands. Hyuna opened her mouth but no longer remembered what she was going to say. When she found her voice again, something else came out.
"Uh... thanks for taking me here..." she said barely above a whisper.
He didn't reply with a "You're welcome" or "No problem". He said nothing in return. Not even a "Mmm" as acknowledgement of her gratitude.
Maybe he thought he had to help me because--
Hyuna's train of thought was interrupted as he suddenly spoke.
"I'd never thought I'd see you ever again."
There was no maliciousness nor bitterness in his voice. He said it as if he was stating a fact, something that carried no sentimental value.
Hyuna looked him in the eye. What she saw in those eyes made her shudder, as if they were sucking her into something unknown but not unfamiliar.
"Why did you do it?" Hyuna heard herself say. She could hear resentment seeping from those words. She wondered if he could hear it too.
Jaebum was silent. He was studying her, her face dominated by indignity and her eyes holding something he knew has been there all these years. As it should.
"Tell me." She persisted. Memories came tumbling and swallowing her alive, she could no longer hold back as she had been in the past. "Why did you break up with her?"
---
Four - The Truth
"So where are you from? I heard you speak English back in the car."
"Oh, I was born and raised in the US. Hyuna, too, plus she just came here like 2 years ago, we pretty much speak Korglish," said Genie with a shrug as she finished her fish cake.
"Korglish?"
"Yeah, Korean mixed with English, Korglish." Genie looked at Wooyoung as if he was asking her to define "ice cream."
"Ah..."
"Anyway, you're pretty close with Jaebum-sshi, right?" Genie changed the subject in a flash.
"Eh?" Wooyoung was caught off-guard. "I-yeah, I guess we're pretty close," he said, mock-nonchalant.
"So... did you like, grow up together? How did you guys meet?" Genie continued to interrogate.
"Tch, of course we didn't grow up together," Wooyoung glanced at her as if she just asked him if he was Korean or not. "He grew up in the US and I obviously didn't so-"
"Oh..." Genie said. Then, mumbling to herself, "I guess Hyuna was telling the truth..."
"What was that?"
"Nothing. So um, what does he do?" Genie threw Wooyoung another question.
"He's..." Wooyoung began, but paused as if trying to think of an answer that would appease her but not too revealing. "He oversees... stuff. People."
Genie frowned at the ambiguous answer.
"So what does that mean? He's a boss or something?"
"Uh..." Wooyoung wavered in replying with a pair of eyes intently on him. "Hey!" said he suddenly as he reached out towards her clavicle, slightly fingering the necklace resting atop.
"That's pretty. Where'd you get it from?"
At the inadvertent touch from his finger that grazed her skin, Genie froze, but her heart did just the opposite.
- - -
"Why did you break up with her?"
Jaebum was still, as if the question had never reached him but instead had been suspended in midair. The aggressive desperation was not heard in her words; it was transparent in her eyes that were holding his.
"ANSWER ME GODDAMIT!" She screamed this time. Jaebum didn't even flinch. He simply watched as tears came streaming down her cheeks, as if tagging along the pain hidden in the back of her throat. She gripped the bedsheets so hard that her knuckles were turning white.
He soundlessly got up and walked up to the windows, bracing himself with his back to her.
"Jay Park." She said his full English name, one that hadn't been uttered ever since he left, her tone abrasive. "You broke her heart and disappeared without any explanation. How the fuck did you live with yourself these past two years? Did you even love her?" she scoffed.
"I did. I loved her with all my heart." He finally spoke, the words calm but heavy.
"How DARE you say that?? If you really loved her, you would've been there for her when she needed you the most. You would have stayed." Hyuna spat.
Jaebum turned around and faced her. She thought she saw mist in his eyes.
She believed her eyes were playing tricks on her.
"I loved her, and that's exactly why I had to leave."
Hyuna stared at him, incredulous of the words that had just come out of his mouth.
"Don't give me that bullshit. I'm not in high school anymore, just tell me the damn truth. I can handle it."
Jaebum paused for a moment, one that was not short enough for him but painstakingly long for her.
"I did it. The gang beating. I ordered it."
(Flashback to two years ago)
"Hyuna..." The voice breathed the words, panting.
"Lynn? Where have you been?? I've been-"
"Hyuna... I'm hurt... really bad..." She said, her voice shaky. "Can you come... get me..."
Lynn told Hyuna where she was - in the back of a park near their school. Hyuna ran there as fast as she could and when she got there, she found her best friend incompletely clothed and covered in bruises and blood stains, on the verge of passing out.
"Oh my god... Lynn..." Hyuna broke into tears the instant she came near, cradling Lynn's head in her lap. "How... who did this to you??"
"I didn't... see... they blindfolded me..." said Lynn faintly.
"Hang in there, okay? I'm gonna call 911," said Hyuna as she took out her cell phone with trembling hands. "You'll be okay. Just hang in there." She said as reassuringly as she could, though the never-ending tears seemed to betray those words.
With half-closed lids, Lynn watched Hyuna dial for the police and ambulance.
"Sweetie, they're coming soon, okay? Just hang in there. Stay with me." Hyuna cooed, her hand caressing her friend's battered cheek. Suddenly, she thought of something and took out her cell phone again. She scrolled through her address book and was about to press Call when a hand covered hers and brought it down with a strength that was absent everywhere else.
"No... don't tell Jay... I don't want him to know..." said Lynn as she attempted to take away Hyuna's phone. Hyuna, on the other hand, was too dazed to resist.
"B-But why not?? He needs to know!" Hyuna stared at her friend, bewildered. Lynn just shook her head imperceptibly.
So Hyuna complied and didn't call Jay. But that didn't stop him from finding out.
Lynn was hospitalized for three weeks; she had sustained severe injuries all over; there were lacerations and gashes in her head and face, she had several broken ribs most likely from fighting back. And she was raped. She fell into a coma due to brain injuries.
Hyuna and Jay took shifts with Lynn's parents to watch her at the hospital. Neither of them slept, ate or talked much. During her watch, Hyuna thought of how they met in high school, how they became best friends, how she met Jay and then started dating, how the three of them were like the three musketeers, with Jay being the closest embodiment of an outlaw, since his older brother was supposedly involved in a gang. She kept thinking and remembering. And her heart just seemed to just keep breaking into even smaller pieces.
Jay faithfully attended to Lynn for the first two days. On the third day, he suddenly called up Hyuna and said he couldn't make it. He asked her to watch Hyuna in his place. Just for that day.
Later on that same day, news came on to the television that there had been a major gang beating in the neighborhood. The victims were three students that went to Hyuna's school. They were found brutally beat up with barely a breath left in them. A note was found taped to each of their chests. It said, "I sexually assaulted Evelyn Kim. Arrest me." After they were treated and began to recover, they admitted to their crime. However, the cousin of one of the victims was the leader of a local drug ring. As a result, things spiraled out of control, more violence ensued, police was involved, and the whole situation evolved in a huge mess.
On the seventh day, Lynn woke up. Jay came on his shift, as he had promised Hyuna.
Two hours later, Jay left the room with Evelyn sobbing into her chest, tears drenching her hospital gown.
(End flashback)
"If I didn't leave, things would get even worse for her. The compromise was that they would leave her alone, on the condition that I never show my face in that country again."