Childlike innocence

She was holding on to a flower bouquet while she stepped into the cemetery. Stopping in front of the certain graveyard, she bent down to place the flowers in front of it before taking a step back.

Then, she stared at the name engraved on the tombstone— Min Jisoo. A smile formed on her features as she extended her hand towards it.

Rubbing the name, she said, “I am here to see you, Jisoo. Was it lonely these days without having anyone to visit you? I think this is my last time visiting you.”

Min Jisoo, when she was unable to continue with her life anymore, committed suicide in order to end her life.

Although one would think Jisoo did not pay for everything she did to Yura, Yura would beg to differ. If Jisoo thought that death was the only escape, that did mean that she reached a worse point than her.

That was because Yura never wanted to kill herself after all that torment. She wanted to live on for the sake of revenge. The fact that Jisoo did not have that will meant that she was way too broken for it.

In the end, it was Yura who was smiling and living. When she was the one who ended with so many benefit, how could she even hold any grudge against Jisoo?

She could recall about how smug Jisoo when Yura’s life was starting to go towards the negative direction. However, in the end, Jisoo was the one who shed the tears of misery.

At least Yura would be able to die with peace and satisfaction.

The day when she was Jisoo’s true side was vivid in her mind to this day

°°°

Pulling the girl to the washroom, Yura stared at Jisoo with a perplexed and desperate expression. Jisoo, on the other hand, had ridicule in her eyes while she stood in front of Yura.

Holding on to Jisoo’s hand, Yura said, “Jisoo, what is going on?”

Yura was able to notice how things were starting to change slowly. At first, she wanted to ignore it, thinking how it was momentarily, but eventually, she realized that wasn’t the case.

Everything felt way too confusing to her.

Youngjae only responded to her after she called out to him multiple number of times, and for the most part, it felt as if he was ignoring her.

Lately, he had been hanging out with Jisoo more than her, and this caused her to feel quite unsettled. It was as if he suddenly built a barrier around him.

The rest of the students she shared classes with was starting to change as well.

She could feel couple of them gossiping about her, and few of then even rudely confronted her too. She wasn’t able to guess their reasons behind doing something like that.

Not only that, she was able to sense that it was building up into something larger, and this gave rise to a fear within her. It made her wonder when the things had actually gone wrong.

Jisoo let out a chuckle and said, “What do you mean, Yura?”

“You know what I am saying. You and Youngjae are getting way too close. I don’t have a problem with that.

You know, I trust you two. But aren’t you both acting way too much distant to me? Did I do anything wrong?”

A glint then appeared in Jisoo’s eyes while she extended her hand towards Yura and touched her shoulder. Something about the contact right then caused a chill to go down Yura’s spine.

“My naïve cousin, you shouldn’t be so trusting of us. What you are probably fearing is happening,” she confessed. Those eyes of hers were filled with smugness.

Min Yura’s eyes widened after listening to those words, and disbelief was present in them. There was no way that could be the case.

“You are lying,” she said, “Both of you can’t do that to me. This must be a bad joke right. There is no way this is true.”

Jisoo and Youngjae was the closest person to her. Both of them were what she found comfort in, and they were her solace.

“This attitude of yours fucking irritates me! Why can’t you see how the things are? Everyone hates you now, Yura. Come out of the bubble you are in. Seeing you right now is quite disturbing.”

A scoff left Min Jisoo’s mouth while she crashed her shoulder against Yura’s before walking away. Tears started to form at the corner of her eyes.

While the tears dripped down her cheeks, all Yura wished for this to be a terrible nightmare. She did not want to lose all of this.

Having a hard time breathing, she clutched on to her chest while she sat on knees. Biting her lower lip, she held in her urge to cry out loudly.

°°°

Min Yura said, “That life lesson from you was useful. I was too oblivious and naïve. Thank you for being a part in me growing up. Because of this, I am able to have this kind of joy, and it is better than what I have experienced before.”

“You are here.”

Hearing that familiar voice caused her to turn her head in that direction. Facing him did not cause the smile on her face to falter.

“Ryu Yejoon,” she uttered, “It’s a pleasant surprise seeing you here. Did you come to see Jisoo as well?”

The wounds Jisoo gave Ryu Yejoon were more than hers, and it must be tormenting him. Unlike her, it did not appear as if he was able to let go of the past properly.

This made her pity the man. No matter what opinion the world had of him, she was the one who had seen him in his desperate times and held his hand.

Noticing the bouquet of red roses in his hand, she bowed and voiced out, “I will leave you with her then.”

Whilst she was about to walk away, she felt his hand on her shoulder, and this caused her to halt in her steps. Turning back, she stared at him questioningly.

“What is it?” she asked.

Holding the bouquet in front of her, he said, “This is for you, and I have come here to meet you. I would like to invite you over for dinner.”

Staring at the bouquet of roses, there was hesitation present in her gaze. Then, noticing the slight desperation in his eyes, she decided to concede.

Last time around, she was too abrupt with him, and maybe that had left doubts in his head. There was no harm in meeting him one last time and clearing everything.

“Sure,” she replied, “that sounds great. Lead the way.”

Accepting the red roses, she smelled the fresh flowers. She could see the small smile that spread through his face, and there was a hint of childlike innocence in his eyes.

This wasn’t what one would expect from his image, but Yura believed that it suited him quite a lot.