The boy next door

Part 16

Hyerin's POV

It's been five days. Oppa visits me constantly while my mom calls me sixty times a day. Literally. Haneul never came to visit me after the first day. It's okay. She probably has her reasons. And now is one of the times my mom is called me again.

'Hyerin? Have you eaten, dear?' she asked me. 'Yes mom. I just ate a huge lunch,' I said and pretended to rub my stomach. It was true, I really had a huge lunch. 'Thank god. Hyerin, be the real self you are. And tell me if anyone bullies you, okay?' she asked me, her voice breaking at the end. 'Mom, no one bullied me. And if they do bully me, I will fight back. I won't let myself get bullied, okay?' I said even if it wasn't true. The only time i was about to get bullied, I bashed them back, respectfully. But I dont think anyone will understand.

But something which has been constantly disturbing me is the fact about Felix. Why was he on that picture? Was he really a patient since that long? That's worrisome. He may have some serious condition. What if I ask Allsion. She seems to be close to him. A little information wont hurt.

That day, my appointment was from seven pm at night. I knocked on her door as she opened it with a smile. 'You look a lot better Hyerin. Stand on that weighing machine,'she signalled me to stand on machine as I did. Please be fifty. I can leave as soon as I reach fifty. Please be fifty. Please be fifty--

'Good progress. Gaining five kgs in five days isn't bad. Two more days, try to gain as much weight as possible. You look heartbroken here. I want you to go back to what you love most. Basketball. Try to win,' she gave me a fighting sign as I giggled and took a seat. 'So.....what's new?' she asked me.

'I forgot to tell you this, but my best friend, from Australia actually has a huge crush on my brother,' I said and forgot to smile. 'Are you not okay with that?' she asked me. 'No trust me. I am happy. It first bothered me a little but it soon became a habit. She is going to be my family if she ends up marrying my brother,' I whispered the last part as she smiled. That hit me. I was a tad bit hurt when I realized that Mads liked oppa. That means, Haneul will probably be hurt too if I said I liked one of her brothers. Two to be exact.

'You are a very easy girl to be with,' Allison smiled as she hit me with a compliment. 'Allison, is it okay if I ask you something?' I asked. She nodded her head again and smiled. Gosh she smiles a lot.

'What's about Felix?' I finally got out of myself. 'Felix? You know him? How?' she asked me, definitely surprised. 'Ummm. He goes to my school. And ummm, we are friends,' I blurted out. Shit shit. Why did I say that? What if she tells Felix. God, what did I do?

'Oh you know Felix? That's great. Then you probably bonded the other day,' she smiled. Yeah we bonded. So much that he pushed me to a wall and death threatened me just because I called his real name. Stupid.

'Yeah we did,'I answered as I put on a poker face. Lies. Why am I even lying? Cant I just not know anything about him? 'Oh, what he's been through?' she looked at her feet as I noticed a tear. Hold up-- is she crying? Wait, what am I supposed to do? Console her? Stay put? Shit I am bad at these.

'He has been through a lot. Ever since he was little,' she began. What has he been through? The only person who has been through a lot of things is Haneul. I rolled my eyes which was probably a rude thing to do as a person in front of me was crying.

'He suffers from ADHD. Or you can commonly call it the anxiety disorder,' she stopped and looked at me. Oh right. Now it matches. He was peeling the skin around his nail cuticle the day we were in the art room. Was he having an anxiety attack then? Because of me?

'But that's just a part of it. You see, he was kidnapped. When he was eight. He was gone for a long time. His parents tried to find him but could not. Apparently he was kidnapped by a mobster who just wanted money from his parents. Those sick bastards kidnapped a cheerful child like him and made him what he is now. Cold. They locked him up in a dark room for a month. They made him have only one meal every two days. He suffered a lot. His mother used to come here as she also had a little problem. Most of the days Felix tagged along. He was a very cheerful kid who gave company to the other kids here.'

'But everything was gone after he came back. He had become as thin as a stick. He also started having claustrophobia, fear of closed spaces. The kid who once came here to play with the others, came next to get treated. For claustrophobia and anxiety. I had twins you see. One boy and one girl. They both died in a car accident along with my husband. I was heartbroken and kept looking at their picture day and night. That's when Felix came in and offered to be my son. He was a kid who thought about others. But you cant fix a broken mirror.'

Unknowingly, a tear fell from my eye. Wow. He has gone through a lot. My god. I could not even imagine. 'Thank you for telling me Allison,' I said and smiled but she was crying at that point. She really loved Felix. I stood up and gave her a comforting hug. Something clicked in my mind. I couldn't help Felix get over his condition but I could and would help Allison. She doesn't deserve to loose both of her children. 'Allsion?' I called her. She looked at me as she sniffled her nose.

'Will you stop hurting if I became your other child?'