Quite brave

"Youngjae?" she uttered, standing beside him.

Her eyes were on how he and her cousin, Min Jisoo, was still holding hands. She hoped that she would have a decent reason for this.

Seeing how he did not response to her caused her eyes to widen. She pulled her lips into a thin line, seeing how he was still concentrating on her cousin. It seemed that two of them were immersed in a world of their own.

Concluding that he probably wasn't able to hear her clearly, she repeated, "Youngjae? Youngjae?"

Anxiety began to rise inside her while she extended her hand towards him. This was the first time she had seen him act in such a way. 

Over this period, he had been too sweet to her, and pulling a prank on her wasn't something he opted for.

Extending her hand towards him, she touched on his shoulder and shook it in order to catch his attention. It seemed that finally she was able to do so.

But having him slap her hand away from his shoulder caused her eyes to dilate further, and staring down at her hand, confusion showed on her face.

She wasn't able to figure out the reason why he was acting in such a peculiar way. 

It seemed that he wasn't planning to ignore her anymore for he had stood up. A gentle smile sat on his face while he did so.

"Oh, Yura. Why don't you go and sit somewhere else today? I want to be beside Jisoo today," he expressed.

Then, she took a glance and noticed the smug expression on her face. This caused her to feel completely unsettled.

"What do you mean, Youngjae?" she asked, not being able to figure out the situation.

Although she wasn't exactly able to pinpoint it, there was something wrong with the situation. Everyone had their eyes on her, and she could notice how some of them held mock in their eyes.

Nonetheless, right now, she was too concerned with Youngjae to spare them her mind. 

"It is exactly as it is, Yura," he stated, "Now don't create a scene, and go somewhere else. This is quite disturbing."

"Alright, but why are you talking like this all of a sudden? Did anything—"

Before she was able to continue further, she felt someone hit her at the back of her head. The creases between both of her eyebrows deepened at that.

Turning back, she noticed the paper plane that laid on the ground, and all of a sudden, to her it felt as if she was being watched by a malicious gazes.

Brushing that thought from her mind, she picked up that paper plane and opened it up. The note in it caused her eyes to widen.

"Why don't you just disappear, You Bitch!? Can't you see how annoying you are!?"

It seemed that her expression right then provided amusement for them for they all started to laugh. Feeling horrified, she turned to face Youngjae.

But all he did was stare at her coldly.

°°°

Shaking her head, she drove those last memories from her head. That was the day everything started to go wrong— at least that's what she had thought of it before.

But right now, she was grateful that things were this way. Before everything could be ruined further, the secrets got revealed to her, and she was able to see how the people around her were.

That caused her to grow as a person, and although she had to suffer from some pain, in the end, it was all worth it. Things might have been worse if she was oblivious throughout the entire time.

The feeling of independence she had right now was all due to that.

Staring at the picture before her, she held no regrets when tearing it down as she recalled about the variety of emotions she once towards it.

At first, it was bliss, and then, that turned to sadness and pain. After that, she felt intense anger towards it which converted to her feeling numb towards her.

Right now, she felt lucky. If all this did not happen, she wouldn't reach this point of life, where she felt the highest. 

Everything was just perfect right now.

As the torn pieces of the photo laid on the ground, she smiled at it. Never had she imagined that she would be able to let go of it so easily.

Running her hand through her hair, she fell back on the bed and started to laugh. Tears started to form at the corner of her eyes due to the immense happiness she felt right then.

"Everything is over," she repeated to herself. "You can finally smile; there is no need to be afraid of anything."

Excited squeals followed after that.

°°°

Stench of alcohol followed by something much more nasty surrounded this entire place. Yura scrunched up her nose slightly while she entered into the alley.

This was the desolate part of the town, and there was barely any signs of decent people at here.

Nonetheless, not bothered by that, she approached the man seated in the alley. While he appeared to be crouched down, his hand held on to a cigarette.

As he smoked that, she expressed, "You look terrible."

Hearing her voice caused him to turn this head towards her. A rotten smell came from the man. The clothing on him was covered with dirt and was ripped at places.

His hair was messy, and it was evident that he hadn't shaved for days. Back then, she never imagined that she would be able to see him in such a haggard appearance.

Time really did wonders. 

"You are really brave for coming at here," he expressed, throwing away that cigarette.

Mock was clearly visible in his eyes while he stood up. Nonetheless, the smile on her face did not fade away due to that.

"I wouldn't say that I wasn't scared, but I really wanted to see you, Youngjae."