Chapter 24
It surprised Siyeon that she hadn’t seen much of Minji for the remainder of the break and didn’t really see much of her online. She wouldn’t even read any of her messages and honestly, she didn’t know what she was hoping for since she was told many times she was rude.
Yoohyeon had been texting Dong, trying to find some kind of peace within herself. It made her feel a little better that Dong wouldn’t be at the university anymore, allowing her to feel happy that she wouldn’t run into her in passing.
“Do you think it’s dumb to meet up with Dong?” Yoohyeon frowned after they fully moved back into their dorm apartment.
“Uh… I don’t know…” Siyeon sighed. “I’m not doing great relationship-wise…”
“Minji still giving you the silent treatment?” Yoohyeon asked.
“Yup,” The older woman sighed.
“Well, you kind of made her sound like a slut… She hadn’t been with anyone for months and you just dropped that on her…” Yoohyeon frowned.
“Well… Yeah…” Siyeon frowned.
Their classes had started, and everything had been busy. Siyeon had tried to call Minji, but after several rings, it had gone to voicemail and she was beginning to grow worried. So after her last class, she made her way over to the apartment, hesitating when she raised her fist to the door.
She couldn’t help but think that maybe Minji didn’t want to see her anymore and was ignoring her because this was her way of breaking up… Her way of telling Siyeon to go off and leave her alone for the rest of her life. She let out a sigh, shaking her head before hearing footsteps behind her.
“What are you doing here?”
Siyeon quickly turned around, seeing Minji with her hair tied up and glasses on her face. Her hair was dyed back to black, her face tired, and she just looked all around exhausted.
“I… I’ve been trying to get in touch with you…” Siyeon whispered.
“Right…” Minji sighed before walking toward her apartment door. She pulled out her keys, unlocking the door before being greeted with a few yaps.
“You have Cherry?” Siyeon lit up at the sight of the little dog, watching her bolt out of the apartment and put her little paws on Siyeon’s legs. She bent down to pet the little fluffy ball, happy to see her again.
“Yeah… Look… I have a lot of work to do,” Minji mumbled.
“Can we talk?” Siyeon asked, looking up at the older woman.
“Now isn’t the best time.”
“I’ll be quick.”
The apartment was different since she last came. More things were in the small space, dog necessities scattered everywhere, more clothes, blankets, a better couch, and even a bookcase. Siyeon wondered where everything had come from, but she didn’t dare to ask.
“I’m sorry about what I said… I shouldn’t have said it… And honestly, I regret it,” Siyeon finally spoke.
Minji walked into the kitchen, digging through a drawer as Siyeon spoke.
“I know you hadn’t been with anyone while we were together… And it was entirely uncalled for. I shouldn’t have… Thought of you as dirty like that…” She frowned while watching her, realizing she wasn’t entirely paying attention. “Minji, I’m trying to apologize…”
“Here.” Minji handed over a few envelopes, and Siyeon stared at her hand, wondering just exactly why she was being handed the papers. “Take them.” She shoved the envelopes into the younger’s hands, watching her take the medical documents out and scan them over.
“You… You got tested?” Siyeon looked up at her, seeing the different dates and everything that happened. She frowned when she saw a prescription charge and everything…
“I had a UTI and I needed to get antibiotics for it during the third visit. They told me I didn’t need to be tested that much… But… I wanted to make sure I was clean…” Minji whispered. “And the sad thing was… I was hoping I had something just so you would break up with me,” She muttered.
“Break up with you?” Siyeon frowned.
“You hurt me Siyeon… And I do think it’s fair after everything I did to you… But I… I love you, and hearing those words come out of your mouth… I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Like you had just taken the lungs out of my chest…” Minji frowned. “But I’m clean… And I honestly don’t even know if I want to take that step anymore…” She whispered.
Siyeon frowned when she heard those words. She hated herself more now.
“If we’re being honest… I… I’m not interested in the… sexual side of anything,” Siyeon whispered. “I don’t know what came over me… and… I just said it…” She frowned. “But I… I understand if you wanted to break up with me because of that… I-I think I would break up with me…” She shrugged her shoulders, trying to fight the lump in her throat that was now turning more and more into a sharp pain.
Minji let out a sigh, tears now pricking her eyes. She saw how Siyeon was fighting her own tears and everything was extremely overwhelming for both of them.
“Do you trust me?” Minji whispered. “And don’t say what you think I want to hear…”
Siyeon opened her mouth to answer, but she wasn’t sure of her own answer. Which led to the most horrible scene in front of her. She watched as Minji’s hopeful face went right to sudden pain, and then the rejection just washed over her.
“I guess there’s my answer,” She whispered before staring at the ground. When she looked back up, a few tears had escaped, causing the tears to start to drop from Siyeon’s eyes.
“I want to trust you,” Siyeon sniffed.
“But you can’t. You hesitated and you… You can’t trust me…” She whispered. “And I’m not even mad…” She sniffed.
Siyeon just wanted everything to stop. She wanted to go back in time and make herself not say what she had said. Her chest felt like it was being ripped open with a dull knife and it felt like a thousand sharp needles were stabbing her heart. Her throat had incredible sharp pains through it as she tried to fight more tears from escaping.
“Just… Say it so we can move on with our lives,” Minji whispered.
“Say what?” Siyeon cried.
“Just end it.”
“I don’t want to,” She whimpered.
“You can’t trust me. How can we keep this going?!” Minji snapped.
Siyeon stepped forward, wrapping her arms tightly around Minji. Both of them cried harder into each other’s shoulders, clinging to one another. Everything hurt.
“I think… we should break things off between us…” She finally muttered, tightening her grip on Minji. More tears fell at her own words, the pain worsening in her own body as the reality of everything started to wash over them.
Minji sat in her apartment hours later, the exhaustion from earlier overtaking her. Her eyes landed on the little dog that was currently curled up in her bed, watching her owner from across the room. The light from the nearby street light outside flooded through the one open window, and the rest of the apartment filled with darkness as she failed to turn on at least one light before the sun went down.
“Just you and me now…” She sniffed.