Chapter 28
Bora had enough of the silence after another two weeks. She barged into Minji’s apartment, frowning when she saw it nearly in shambles.
It wasn’t shambles, but it was a mess.
She was greeted with yapping, and immediately she picked the small dog up, feeling the little kisses on her chin as she walked through the apartment.
She made her way to the bedroom, frowning when she saw the lump under the covers. She peeled the covers back, frowning even more when she saw Minji’s sleeping form. She saw the tissues that littered one side of the bedroom and the various wrappers and bottles of medicine that were scattered on her nightstand.
“Minji…” Bora shook her gently, hearing her groan. She let out a breath, happy she was alive.
She stayed longer, cleaning up the entire apartment and making sure Cherry was taken care of before she made her way into the back bedroom, picking up everything that was thrown on the floor.
After a few hours, she cleaned the entire apartment and had Minji sitting up in her bed with a towel wrapped around her.
“Here…” Bora helped her get dressed, frowning when she saw her wincing. “I think you need to see a doctor…”
“No,” Minji was entirely congested, shaking her head. “I’ll be fine,” She sniffed.
Bora decided not to push, knowing how stubborn her friend was. So she just helped. She made her a quick bowl of soup, making sure she ate some of it before she took Cherry out again.
When she got back, she was surprised to see Minji still on the couch with a blanket wrapped around her. She was completely asleep, causing Bora to feel a little more at ease with her resting.
“Minji… let’s go to bed…” She urged the woman up, helping her down the hall to the bedroom. “That’s it… stay in bed okay? I’ll come by tomorrow and check on you,” She whispered before moving the few hairs out of her face.
Yoohyeon was in the middle of making ramen when she heard the doorbell sound, causing her to walk over and open the door.
“May I help you?” She frowned when she saw the short woman standing there. She knew who she was. She was Minji’s best friend.
“Hi… uh… is Siyeon here?” Bora frowned.
“No, she’s in class, why?” Yoohyeon asked.
“Minji is sick… and I work a full eight tomorrow…” Bora whispered. “She’s the only other person with a key to Minji’s apartment…”
“She gave it back… Last month,” Yoohyeon whispered. “Wait, she's still sick?” She frowned.
“You knew she was sick?”
“I saw her a few weeks ago… She was sitting in the garden without a coat… She sounded sick then and looked awful. She said she was sick and I really wanted to take her back home but she refused…” Yoohyeon mumbled.
“Sounds like her… great,” Bora sighed. “Thanks anyway,” She waved at Yoohyeon before leaving, causing the tall woman to worry.
If Minji was still sick then it was much worse. But she couldn’t do anything.
Bora would visit daily, and with every day that Bora came, she saw more and more progress with the older woman. Saw that she wasn’t as sick as the day before and was able to do much more. By the third day, she was sitting up, catching up on missed assignments, and had already let Cherry out briefly.
“Minji…?” Bora whispered, catching her best friend’s attention. “Yoohyeon told me… That you were in the garden without a coat… Why?” She frowned.
Minji let out a sigh, shaking her head.
“Tell me or I’ll leave and never come back,” Bora pointed.
“I just needed to clear my head…” Minji answered. “I gave back everything Siyeon had gotten me… I wrote a small letter to Siyeon and Yoohyeon, thanking them for their hospitality over the summer and I was exhausted after dragging the entire box… So I cut through the garden because it was quicker to my apartment… But my legs were so tired… So I just stopped on the bridge and sat down…” She shrugged. “I didn’t mean to stay there for hours, but I really couldn’t get up,” She frowned.
“Why didn’t you call me?” Bora whispered.
“Becuase you gave up on me… I didn’t want to burden you anymore…” She shrugged before looking at her laptop.
“How did you get home?” Bora asked.
“Eventually I just pushed myself up and made it to the little gazebo. I sat there for a bit and then forced myself up and kept walking… Which reminds me…” Minji stood up from the couch, setting her laptop down before walking to the bedroom and pulling a coat off the hook. “If you see Yoohyeon… Can you give this back? I washed and dried it… But clearly, I couldn’t give it back…” She handed the brown coat over to the smaller woman, watching her unchanging surprised expression.
“Why can’t you do it?” Bora frowned.
“Because I don’t want to risk seeing Siyeon… It hurts too much still.” Minji didn’t want to see Siyeon. She hated that there was this wall between them now. Hated that she couldn’t just get over it, but it was daunting.
“I think it would make more sense if you gave it back to Yoohyeon…” Bora frowned. “It would look kind of bad if I did it…” She set the coat down next to her, watching Minji shake her head. “Minji, you’re going to have to get over this eventually… It’s been a month… I know you guys dated for a while… but… Really… You need to just… Find a way to start to get over this,” She sighed.
“What if I can’t? What if I see her again and the same horrible feeling switches back on and I become this horribly obsessed person again?” Minji whispered. “What if I hurt her again?” She sniffed.
“Then you tell me and I’ll beat you with a stick… Simple as that,” Bora shrugged.
It took another week before Minji was able to gain the courage to go to the apartment with the coat in hand. She felt better and knew that Yoohyeon needed her coat. She wasn’t sure if it was her only one, and she hoped it wasn’t.
She rang the bell, waiting a few moments before getting antsy. She wanted to just drape it on the handle but she also didn’t want it to hit the ground when Yoohyeon opened the door…
She was about to leave when the door clicked open, revealing the one person she didn’t want to see…
“Oh…” Siyeon whispered.
“H-Hi…” Minji managed to spit out.
“I… I got your box…” Siyeon mumbled.
“I know…” Minji frowned. “Um… I… I came to…” She wrung the coat in her hands, nerves building in her chest.
“Siyeon, I can’t get the stupid numbers to add up…” Another voice called out. One that didn’t sound like Yoohyeon. Minji watched as Siyeon looked behind her, and that was when Minji saw it.
“I’ll help in a minute…” Siyeon called back to the other woman.
“Sorry… You’re clearly entertaining…” Minji mumbled. “Um… Yoohyeon’s coat…” She held up the coat, watching Siyeon give her a confused look. “She… She let me borrow it…”
“Oh, okay… I’ll throw it on her stuff…” Siyeon shrugged.
“Baby! Hurry! I want to get this done!”
Minji froze at the name.
“I should get back…” Siyeon whispered.
“Right… See you,” Minji gave a small wave before turning and leaving. She held her coat tight around her, trying to fight the tears in her eyes. Her entire chest felt like it was on fire and she just wanted everything that happened to be erased from her memory with a giant laser.
Siyeon was already moving on with other people…
And Minji was still hung up on her like a lovesick puppy.