wind flower | jeonghyo

wind flower

CW! Alcoholism

It's been a year.

365 days since Jihyo was last seen smiling. Although technically speaking, she had been seen smiling here and there, but the smile never quite reached her eyes. There was always something missing in how she usually smiled over the course of a year. The light in her eyes was still there, yes, but it was much dimmer than it originally had been.

Everyone knew not to pester her about it. She'd rather distract herself with the task of finishing her job or helping others with their own work than talk about why the light inside her eyes was faded and darker than it was before.

Jihyo had woken up at 5:00 am. It was now 6 o'clock and Jihyo was still staring at the ceiling. Her phone produced a series of tones to alert her of this. She sat still for just a few more minutes before getting up. She didn't notice that what she felt like "just a few more minutes" was actually almost half an hour. It was past rush hour and the traffic was going to be hell to go through.

Jihyo entered the campus in a big jacket that didn't quite match with the overall vibe of the outfit underneath it, not that it had much of a vibe going on in the first place. Instead of one of her more corporate-looking attires that her university students were used to seeing, she was wearing a knitted jumper. It was in a dull light green color, with flecks of yellow dancing across the clothing due to the type of yarn used to make it. It was paired with gray sweatpants that clearly haven't been ironed out.

Today was starting off quite roughly for Jihyo and she hasn't even gotten the day fully started yet.

Entering her office, she passes by her friend Sana. Sana always had been bright and cheery and would greet Jihyo enthusiastically every time she would enter the office in the morning. She would also hand Jihyo a cup of coffee, something Jihyo was always thankful for.

Today was different. As she passed by Sana, Jihyo saw that the girl was on her computer and already slaving away as she worked on another presentation for a lecture that was due for her class in a week. It was an unusual sight. Usually Sana chatted and lounged for the whole morning until someone (usually Jihyo) tells her to actually do her job.

Sana looked up as she noticed Jihyo pass and gave the younger girl a small smile. That smile that always seemed to be paired with Sana's sparkling eyes, today, it didn't quite reach her eyes either. Jihyo mirrored her expression before moving on.

As she reached her respective table, she felt stares piercing through the back of her head. Stopping at her chair, she glanced around her. Her instincts were right. Nayeon, her colleague and closest friend here at work was staring at her worriedly. She wasn't the only one, of course. Jihyo noticed six other girls, one of which was Sana, all looking at her with at least some worry in their eyes. Jihyo felt suffocated by their stares, and in an attempt to ease their worry, Jihyo flashed them a small smile.

She settled down onto her office chair before taking a deep breath. She was thankful her hair wasn't unruly, seeing as she put it in a bun. She was grateful she grew it out long. She wouldn't want to think about trying to tame the short blonde hair she had last year. It was the only thing that seemed to look neat in the mess that was this day.

Opening her laptop, she noticed a small white coffee cup at the far right side of her desk with a sticky note attached to it.

"Don't be too hard on yourself today, Jihyoling."

The note tugged at Jihyo's heart. She doesn't deserve these girls.

That day, everyone took care of Jihyo.