Chapter 26
“Hard to believe you’ve been dating her for this long without even a proper meeting,” Dong chuckled while staring Yubin down.
“What can I say, I wanted to make sure she stuck,” Yubin smiled. “Besides, she’s Minji’s best friend… I didn’t want to make things awkward…” She frowned.
“Bora’s a fantastic woman, I’m really happy for you. But I do want that proper meeting.” The older woman pointed at her best friend, watching her nod her head. “I need to threaten her as she threatened me when I was dating Minji,” She smiled.
“Oh no, I get that.” Yubin smiled. “Speaking of, I’m going to have to head out of here soon. Going to her place for movie night.” She sighed.
“Bora’s?”
“Minji’s. Bora is hosting it there.” Yubin muttered. “You know, I really hate going there…”
“Because of the past?” Dong asked.
“Yeah and she’s just so quiet. I don’t understand why… She knows I’m your best friend… But she doesn’t even respond to Bora either… She just hums or nods or shakes her head. It’s kind of annoying to have to go there…” She sighed. “I might just bring Gahyeon along to at least have someone else to talk to that isn’t like that…”
Dong let out a hum, earning a slap on the arm from Yubin. She couldn’t help but laugh, shaking her head at her own joke.
“I’m just poking fun!” Dong laughed.
“Well don’t! It’s annoying!” Yubin complained.
Yubin found herself seated on a couch, listening to Bora yelling at Minji in another room. She wanted to keep scrolling on her phone, but every time she clicked on a mildly interesting video to watch, the screaming would get louder.
“All you’ve been doing is going to your classes and moping around! You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself and start learning that this is life!” Bora shouted.
Yubin didn’t get to hear the answer since Minji was clearly not in a screaming mood today.
“So?! You really don’t care?!”
Yubin pursed her lips as she tried to read an article, frowning when she heard her girlfriend’s tone shift.
“Fine. Then I’m fucking done too!” Bora screamed.
Yubin heard the angry footsteps and then a door slam against a wall.
“Come on Yubin, we’re leaving.”
Yubin let out a sigh, stood up from the couch, and stepped to follow her girlfriend. She couldn’t help but peek down the hall, seeing the opened bedroom door.
She knew Minji was rather clean, keeping everything tidy, but from the mess she saw in the room, she figured she was either too busy to keep up with her cleaning or just didn’t care anymore.
“Where are we going?” Yubin asked while shutting the door to the apartment.
“My place. We’re giving up on Minji,” Bora muttered.
“Giving up?” Yubin frowned. “What were we trying before?” She asked.
“I was trying to cheer her up after her break up, but she doesn’t want help. She said she was done with the bullshit and so I said I was done too. I’m done trying to pick up her mess.” She grumbled while walking to Yubin’s car. “Why is it always me? Why do I have to clean up her messes? Why can’t she do it herself?” She frowned.
“Bora… I think you’re just overwhelmed… Work is a lot and you’re already stressing yourself over something you can’t control…” Yubin whispered before wrapping her arms tightly around Bora’s waist. “Minji’s been your best friend since grade school… Fights are bound to happen,” She sighed.
Bora hugged her girlfriend tightly, enjoying the warm feeling that always came with her hugs.
“You’re right… I’m just… I want her to be happy again… She’s been sad for so long…” She frowned while burying her face into Yubin’s shoulder.
“Give her time. It’ll come back to her,” She smiled.
Yubin loved Bora. And with that came the nagging feeling in the back of her head that Bora wasn’t alright.
It had been two weeks since her last fight with Minji, and there had been a shift. Bora was quieter, checking her phone more and not at all interested in the dramas she had still been attempting to keep up with.
“Talk to me…” Yubin whispered when they finally got into bed together.
“She hasn’t talked to me… I’m scared…” Bora frowned.
“She’ll come around,” Yubin reassured.
“What if she does something to herself?”
“She’s not that stupid.”
“But she’s that depressed.”
Yubin watched as Bora sat up, running a hand through her hair.
“If she was, you wouldn’t have said you were giving up on her…” Yubin frowned.
“You don’t get it…” Bora frowned.
The older felt the younger sit up, then felt a hand on her back.
“Then help me understand…” Yubin frowned.
“Minji… She… Growing up she wasn’t loved…” Bora frowned. “My parents noticed it right away. And I didn’t until we were older. She would flinch whenever my dad and brother would yell, and would keep a distance from my mom… but I didn’t notice it when we were kids. I just thought she was jumpy and weird… We never hung out at her place, always mine… and one night when we were sixteen… she called me asking if she could sneak into my house and stay with me…” Bora frowned.
Yubin rubbed her back gently, letting her know it was okay to keep going.
“I opened my window and she was there. She climbed in and she had marks covering her neck and I wanted to get my mom but she was sobbing telling me not to get her… That she would be gone by morning anyway. And I asked her if her parents even loved her and she said no,” Bora whispered. “I didn’t get any of it until my mom asked me who I was talking to and I told her everything… She said… I needed to stop letting strays in the house and find better friends. That she was going to turn me into a horrible person when I grew up… But I ended up fighting her and told her that if I didn’t keep Minji in my life then who would?” She frowned.
“Minji isn’t your responsibility…” Yubin whispered.
“But who’s going to love her?” Bora sniffed.
“You can still love her, but she isn’t your responsibility. Just like I told Dongie… Minji isn’t… Isn’t a task to complete. She’s a person with her own thoughts and feelings. If she doesn’t want to accept anything… then it’s on her. Not you.” Yubin tried her best to word it perfectly for Bora. She knew the exact words she told Dongie. She referred to Minji as a problem. But Minji wasn’t a problem for Bora.
“I have a really bad feeling…” Bora whispered, wiping her tears before checking her phone again.
“It’s just your mind focusing on all the negatives in your life again. You did this with your articles. Remember? All the worry for nothing,” Yubin rubbed her back before pulling her in for a tight hug. “I’m sure Minji is just up late studying or she could be asleep,” She whispered. “Which we should be sleeping too. I have an early class tomorrow and you have work.”
Bora nodded her head, deciding to lay back with Yubin. Her mind wouldn’t let her calm, at least not until she grabbed her phone and pulled up her message thread with Minji.
BboyaBirb: hey, I love you. Please sleep well.