afterglow ‣ s.jy

023

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JAKE

Three nights ago, Jake received an eerie call from his best friend. Even after asking about it the next day, the mystery remains unsolved.

Three nights later, his phone began to ring again, and like the other time, he pressed answer without even looking at the caller's id. Patiently, he waited for the other to start the conversation. Fortunately, that didn't take long, as Hyejin's voice appeared a few seconds after answering.

"Hyejin? What is it?" Jake asked her, hoping she won't leave him hanging like last time.

Her answer then proved insufficient to clear the questions running around his head. Actually, it added even more than the initial amount, which was already too much for him to count manually.

"We were wrong," Hyejin stated. "You have to save her."

"You have to save her."

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"Orphanage?" Jake asked in bewilderment when he heard the destination he and Siyeon were heading to for the day.

Initially, it was a rather dull day for him, having nothing planned for the upcoming hours other than lazing around or staring at his computer. An hour after his conclusion that it'd be an austere day, he received a text from the person who had been too busy to spare him time since their school break had begun. Siyeon invited him to one of her trips, which, much to her surprise, was quickly complied with by him. Half an hour later, he was outside his house and in front of hers.

She wore a blue coat secured with a belt around her waist paired with black pants. Her hair was straightened, falling to her chest, noticeable enough that she had not yet run her hand on it, much like what she usually does when they are in school. Eyeing the car, she heads in that direction, opening the door to the seat next to him before sitting on it while simultaneously letting out a groan of annoyance. It was a feat he hadn't quite anticipated when he watched her exit the gate and made her way to him.

Soon, Jake asked where they were heading as her invitation failed to state where he was driving off to. Her answer led them to the current moment where Jake's eyes were wide while she had an annoyed expression on her face with both her arms crossed.

"Yeah. It's an orphanage the Jo family has been donating to for years. Normally, they send Haeseong and me for good publicity. Still, he can't join me today." Siyeon explained. "Don't think, by the way, that I invited you because you're my brother's replacement."

"Then why did you invite me? This seems like something you don't usually invite someone to." He asked.

"I don't know." She answered almost immediately as if she didn't even think of an answer or any sentence that could better explain. "I didn't want to do this alone... then I thought of you."

Jake bit the bottom of his lip, stifling a smile after overhearing a useless yet heartwarming answer. The embarrassment on her face made the reply even better, quickly dissipating back to its annoyed state as though that look was her resting face. Suddenly reminded that he hadn't asked about her bad mood, his next question had been about that.

"My parents dressed me to look good in front of the cameras. Fun, isn't it? I thought they weren't going to ask me to go because... my brother is unavailable, but they really went overboard this time." It hadn't even crossed her mind that in between those words, she had started to rumble to him about her parents again.

He should've guessed that only three people could give her that expression: her parents and him. Yet her annoyance had been one he understood, reminded of how Hana hated being instructed what to wear. It was an aversion where only he knew, given the number of times he went to a gathering with her, watching her force herself to grow on the dress picked by her father or any piece of clothing deemed appropriate. Jake soon realized how involved he was with people who harbored issues with their parents; for Hana, he understood, while for Siyeon, he still could not fully comprehend what made the Jo family dysfunctional.