[edited]

The door to the cabin opened slowly to reveal two girls.

One was a little shorter than the other one and whispered incoherent words to the other.

The other one was rather pale and had her eyes directed towards the floor. She looked...lost. Like, something had her drowned in her own thoughts.

The shorter girl came forward and bowed at Jin who, in turn smiled at her encouragingly and asked the both of them to take a seat.

The girl started,
"Good evening Dr.. I am Kim Nia and this is my friend Park Aera."

Park Aera.
A beautiful name.
Jin thought.

As soon as she heard her name, Aera lifted her head a little to look at Jin through her eyelashes.

Jin flashed a beautiful and a totally friendly smile at her so that she felt comfortable.

Why?
Why is he so much like him?
Aera asked herself.

Is he different? Different than everyone else?

Jin on the other hand, even when she was pale and looked sick, found Aera stunning. Her eyes, her hair, her face. Everything reminded him of her.

Jin sighed.

He could only imagine what she looked like if she had been alright. Here.

It was his job to cure her and all, but, he couldn't help but be curious as to why such a girl was in a condition such as this.

"First, can I...maybe, talk to you for a moment, privately?" He directed his question to Nia.

"Yeah sure. Ofcourse."

He picked up the telephone on the table to dial his assistant's number and as soon as she picked up, asked her to take Aera with her for a moment.

As soon as Aera left with Naomi, Nia spoke up.
"Dr.Kim, I would like to tell you that this girl I brought here today with me trusts only those who she considers as her friends. Can I trust you with her?" she said.

"Ofcourse, I'll to the best I can to get her back to normal. So...firstly, can you tell me how she is like and what had happened?" Jin asked.

Thinking for a moment or so, she finally replied,
"Aera was...the only person who even after being through so much, treated me like a sister."

Jin hummed, then asked,
"What do you mean by 'being through so much'?"

Nia sighed, then continued.
"When she was 8, Aera and her family had met with an accident which took her mother away from her. Her father had gone into a coma. Aera was then took in by her uncle but she faced ill treatment there and after a year or so when her father recovered and found out about his daughter's condition, a fight took place between her father and her uncle. After which, her father transferred to Seoul."

"Where were they before this?" asked Jin.

"Daegu."
Jin took down some notes as Nia spoke.

"Her school life in school isn't one of her best memories either. Kids bullied her on being the silent one. She had met me one day and we became friends."

Jin hummed along.

"Then she had met with a boy. They had both fallen in love and he had asked her out. Everything had finally started to fall into place, until now."

Jin looked up from his notepad and asked,
"What happened?"

She took a stuttering breath.

"Her father and her boyfriend, she found them murdered when she returned home from school."

Jin's eyes widened slightly on hearing this.

"Look, everything which has happened to her, small and big, affected her badly. Her childhood, her past, and even the present. And when she was finally starting to heal, this occurred. And this broke her completely. Earlier, she had her father. Now she thinks she's all alone. She needs people who she can truly trust. So before anything, can you do that? Can you earn her trust?"

Jin thought for a moment.

Nia continued,
"I trust you, because I know you. But she doesn't. You're the best person who can bring my friend back to me."

"I understand. I'll try my best. But firstly, to do so, I should be atleast a friend to her. So...can I talk to her now?" Jin asked.

"Yeah, sure." Nia said and smiled.
Jin called up Naomi and asked her to bring Aera back in.

The door opened and Aera stepped in hesitantly, eyes directed downwards as usual.

Her body language spoke for her.
Fear.
Of the cruel world.

Jin softly called out to her.
"Aera..."

As soon as her name slipped out of his mouth, Aera looked up at him with an unreadable expression.

You really are like him.

--

"I wish was there when you needed someone,
I promise I'll be there when you'll need that 'someone'..."

🔸°🔸

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