Chapter 27
Siyeon frowned when she saw a box at her door. Her hands were full which meant she had to nudge it in with her foot. Only for it to be heavier than expected. She let out a grunt before giving up on the box, deciding to get it after she unloaded her stuff.
“What did you order Yoohyeon?” She grumbled.
She went back and dragged the box inside, not bothering to check who it was for since she knew she hadn’t ordered anything in a while. Nothing was on back order or pre-sale so she really assumed it was for Yoohyeon.
It was a few hours before Yoohyeon came home, frowning when she saw the rather large box behind the couch. She checked it for a label, and didn’t see anything, causing her to frown.
“What’s with the box?” Yoohyeon asked when she passed Siyeon’s room.
“It’s not yours?” Siyeon lifted her head up from her book, frowning.
“No, and there’s no label on it…” Yoohyeon stopped in her tracks, backing up to Siyeon’s room.
“Do… we open it?” Siyeon whispered.
“And unleash whatever unholy demon is packed inside? What if it isn’t ours!” Yoohyeon jumped into Siyeon’s room, peeking out at the ominous box. “Can we even open it?” She frowned.
“I’m having Gahyeon come over… she’s the closest thing we have to a lawyer right now…” Siyeon muttered while texting her best friend.
It was another hour before Gahyeon showed up, staring at the box.
“So?” Yoohyeon asked.
“Well… legally you can open it… Since it was left in front of your door without an address,” Gahyeon muttered. “If it’s unholy demons or a cursed artifact, I’m just a criminal lawyer in school… Not a demonologist,” She shrugged.
“Do you know any?” Siyeon asked quietly.
“Not yet,” Gahyeon smiled. “But I’ll open it.” She held out her hand, letting Yoohyeon hand her the scissors.
The older two watched in both curiosity and horror, afraid of what would come out of the box the second the tape was cut open.
“Uh… Weird…” Gahyeon mumbled while setting down the scissors. She pulled out a large box and Siyeon immediately knew what it was.
“How did this come back? And like this?” Siyeon took the special box Minji had ordered for the geode to sit in. It was heavier since the base was a heavy plastic, held with a softer material and then a glass casing to cover it.
“What’s this?” Yoohyeon pulled out various items Siyeon knew she gave Minji during their time together. She reached in and pulled out envelopes, frowning when she recognized Minji’s handwriting.
“There’s one for each of you…” Gahyeon whispered.
“Siyeon… how upset was Minji when you broke up with her?” Yoohyeon asked.
“A lot…” Siyeon frowned. “Why?”
“Um… No.. No particular reason… I just need to go check something real quick?” She stood up and quickly grabbed her coat, running out of the apartment.
“So what’s it say?” Gahyeon asked when she heard the envelope open.
“Can I have two minutes to read it?” Siyeon glared.
“No,” Gahyeon giggled while standing up to read over her best friend’s shoulder.
Yoohyeon felt the burning in her chest as she ran down the street. She heard stories. Stories of places on campus that were the go to sites for people who were going to end everything.
She stopped by one of them, grateful that she didn’t see anyone standing over the railing to the skybridge. She hurried by, deciding to cut through the garden area, knowing it would be faster to get across campus when she saw someone sitting on the bridge there.
It wasn’t a known spot, especially since it wasn’t even high enough. Just enough to look at the little river below it. And honestly it was beautiful.
Yoohyeon took a cautious step forward, trying to recognize if it was Minji or not. The closer she got, the more she recognized the woman.
“Hey… what are you doing here?”
Minji glanced up slowly, not answering her before looking back down at the slow moving water below her.
“It’s kind of cold… do you have a coat?” Yoohyeon sat next to the woman on the bridge, not hearing an answer. “Unnie…?” She finally whispered.
It was scary seeing her like this. The last time she saw her she was smiling and laughing while chasing Cherry around.
“Um… I’m sorry… we haven’t talked much…” Yoohyeon whispered. “I’ve been busy with classes and I start my internship next semester…” She frowned. “It’s not an excuse because if you care about someone you make time for them… but I kind of forgot…”
“Did Dong ever message you back?” Minji’s voice was quiet, slightly hoarse but enough for the younger woman to hear her.
“Oh.. uh yeah… we’ve been kind of seeing each other for a few weeks now… it’s been… nice,” She smiled while staring at the wooden planks below her.
“Good… you deserve to be happy,” Minji whispered.
Yoohyeon watched as Minji rested her head against the railing next to her. She saw how pale her skin was, how tired she looked… it scared her.
“Are you okay?” Yoohyeon frowned.
“Just sick.” Minji didn’t look at her. It frightened Yoohyeon more that Minji was out in the fall weather without a coat, in a thin long sleeve shirt and was already sick.
“You should go home and rest…not stay out here and make yourself worse…” the younger frowned.
“I’ll be okay.” Minji closed her eyes briefly, letting out a breath before glancing down at the river under her.
“Why did you give Siyeon all that stuff?” Yoohyeon finally asked.
“Wasn’t mine to keep,” Minji mumbled.
“She gifted them to you… therefore yours to keep,” Yoohyeon whispered.
“Don’t.” Minji closed her eyes, frowning at her words. “Please just go home… Don’t give them back. Don’t let Siyeon give them back either…” She frowned. “Just leave okay?” She sniffed.
“You’re sick, I’m not going to just go home until I know you’re in your apartment safe!” Yoohyeon nearly shouted. She watched Minji wince at the tone, causing her to quickly apologize. “Unnie please…”
“I’ll go home eventually.”
“Okay…” Yoohyeon frowned as she stood up. Every fiber in her being told her to stay but she wasn’t this close with Minji. She couldn’t force her hand at anything. So she took her coat off, shivering when she felt the immediate chill in the air. She draped it over Minji’s shoulders, patting her shoulders before she hugged herself and left.
She hoped she would be warm enough in the coat.