h u n d r e d e l e v e n

they were planning to take a train to daegu in the next week. and every time areum's mother asked about walking around seoul to explore and see the town, her daughter strictly prohibited it for some reason.

areum's mother picked up the hotel phone on the night stand and dialed the number on the television screen. she told them everything she knew, and she told them the child was with her now in the hotel room. though she was areum's mother, and the child's grandmother, she knew that what her daughter was doing was wrong and she needed to pay for it.

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so the next morning i didn't get a good morning text because we were just friends. no text wondering how i slept or asking if i was awake. i must have checked my phone about a thousand times. but as the time came to go to work, i steeled myself and told myself this was for the best. we needed distance from each other.

so i also decided not to go above and beyond for him anymore. and that included picking him up in the mornings and taking back home after work. i went straight to work and our co workers were shocked to see me arrive alone.

one of our friends said "where's A?" and i shrugged. "idk. probably still at his house." and she then asked the follow up question. "are you okay? you look sad. did you guys fight again?" she said again, making it known to me that her and others had heard us arguing at work before. that was lowkey embarassing. but whatever. i gave a shake of my head. "nah, everything's fine."

he arrived ten minutes later and i overheard her asking him if everything was fine. he said quietly, "yeah." and when she asked him if we were mad at each othe, he looked at me. i could feel his eyes on me. and i glimpsed at him from the corner of my eye. he looked sad and broken too, just like me. but he forced a smile and told her. "nope. we're cool. i just overslept and didn't want her to wait on me."

it really sucked then when they placed us at the same station. bc we had to be within two feet of each other. not making eye contact, not talking. it was so awkward.

-clary