The boy next door

Part 10

I laid on top of my bed. How in the hell am I supposed to beat Felix? I mean if it was only my section, I could have but the school board included of the whole school. Wow, he must be really good at studies. 

Haneul told that she would pick me up at 7 so I decided to rest for a bit. On waking up, I went to mirror. I am getting a lot skinnier. Why? I dressed myself in a baggy sweater and ripped jeans. That must do. A car honked downstairs. That must be Haneul. I ran down the stairs but soon stopped in front of oppa's room. I heard some weird noise in ther- oh my gawd. Eww. 

I ran back upstairs and wrote a note saying, 'I will be out with Haneul. Will come back as soon as possible. Enjoy ;).' I stuck the note on his door and ran out of the house. 'Get in,' Haneul said and opened the car door for me. 'Are you even allowed to drive a car? I mean do you have your license?' I asked worriedly. 'I dont but I practice driving around the neighborhood. No one will catch me there,' she winked at me. 

After a few minutes, we stopped in front of her hous-- um sorry, mansion. It was huge and freaking luxurious. I mean my house was big enough but not as big as this. It had a pool and two jacuzzies. Man the Lees' must really be spoiled. Or at least I thought they were. 

'Since you are the only daughter, you must be pampered right?' I asked. 'Ehh something like that,' she fake smiled. It was too big to be true.

'Welcome, to my humble abode,' she said as she pushed open the doors of the huge house. 'Wow your house is great,' I complimented. 'Thanks, should we go to my room?' she suggested. I nodded my head and went up the stairs.

Her room was on the 3rd floor. 'Welcome,' she said as we entered her room. It was decorated with green things. Plants and posters. 'Your room is so cool. Mine is as simple as black,' I giggled. We sat down and discussed about our game next week.

'Should we play in offense or defense?' I asked. 'Knowing the boys, they will probably play is offense so....,' she stopped. 'We should play in defense,' I completed her sentence. She shook her head as a mischievous smile crept up her face. 'We will play in offense too.'

'We are not weak. They think we are. They will think we will play in defense so they will not take the game seriously. And when they don't,' she smirked again. 'We take our opportunity and beat them,' I smirked too. 'Exactly.'

'Do you want to watch a movie?' Haneul asked. 'Sure,' I replied. We went down the stairs and sat on the huge couch in front of the tv. 'What should we watch?' she asked. 'Have you watched 13 reasons why?' I asked. 'Yes it's so good. But I only have finished one season,' she pouted. 'Then let's watch it.'

We started watching the series with a feeling of mystery creeping up. Suddenly the door opened and an elderly woman entered. Haneul stood up immediately as I did too. 'You must be Hanuel's friend,' the woman said and put out her hand for me to shake. 'Hanuel....dear, introduce me,' the woman eyed her.

Hanuel cleared her voice before beginning, 'Hyerin. This is my...,' she stopped again. What was wrong? There was some sort of tension among them both. 'Mother,' the woman continued. 'I am Hanuel's mother,' she said and smiled as I smiled back.

'Haneul, dear, come with me for a second. Sorry Hyerin, please excuse her,' Hanuel's mother said and dragged her into the kitchen. I sat there, in an awkward position. What am I supposed to do? Just then I heard some yelling. Should I go? Should I? I probably shouldn't. It's their family matter.

I kept still and after a while Hanuel walked out of the kitchen, with tears in her eyes and a few red marks on her face. Just like that day. 'What happened?' I rushed to her side and hugged her.

'Its nothing. I tried to cook something and then this happened,' she did not look straight at my eyes. 'Tell me the truth Haneul, I promise to keep it a secret,' I said. She nodded and told me to follow her upstairs. I did and sat on her bed. 'You can trust me, Haneul,' I said and patted her back.

'17 years ago, my father cheated on my mother while she had just gotten pregnant with me. My mother found out.....and boom. She lost it. She became a savage and ran around the house. One day, they both decided to speak together and come in terms of what to do. My father's so called "mistress" came and ranted out everything. My father already had a son with her....two years ago. That son is Lee know.'

'She became pregnant again and so did my mother. My mother asked my father to choose......between her and his mistress. And you know what? He chose his mistress. Not my mother. They both got divorced and my mother moved to my grandparents house still with me in her belly. My father got married to his mistress and now his so called wife. They had a son. Felix.'

I was born while my mother still lived at my grandparent's house. One day....she suicided. And in her will....she wrote that my father had to take care of me. I was brought in this house.....15 years ago while I was just 2. From then on, my brothers, aah, sorry, stepbrothers and my step mom started hating me. Lee know doesn't hate me that much but Felix does. For no reason whatsoever. My father still loves me but he is seldom home.'

She burst out crying as I hugged her. What kind of a friend was I? I should have known. She was hurting all this while. Those two brothers of hers meant this when they said that she wasn't their sister.

'Why did your mother hurt you now?'I asked after she had calmed down a bit. 'She wants us to have a family dinner. With my brothers and my mom, who both hate me. I declined and then she slapped me. I never bothered to tell dad because then she would come up with some lame excuse and then I would be the villain all over again.' She smiled bitterly.

'Maybe they dont hate you that much. Why dont you try having dinner with them once? For me?' I asked. I know I shouldn't interfere but she would only end up getting hurt if she declined. 'Alright,'she nodded. I smiled at her but it soon vanished when I heard what she said next.

'Can you stay with me Hyerin? Through dinner? I dont want to go through it alone.'