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08 | the unspoken truths

08. THE UNSPOKEN TRUTHS

— ANAIS POV

The midterm test is in two days, but Anais was distracted by the fact that Jay neither replied to her text nor would he return her calls since the last time they met before. Her initial plan was to have another revision session with him but the silent treatment she earned in return definitely bothered Anais to the core. She cannot comprehend Jay's reasonings behind this; is it has something to do with the awkward incident between her and Heeseung the other night? The sudden thought of it already embarrassed the hell out of herself, let alone when Jay was there inside her apartment to discover such unpleasant sights.

She tries her best to stay focus on those scattered notes right before her but after thirty minutes of memorising lines after lines of those theories facts, she eventually gives up. Anais just lays there on her back, staring at the ceilings of her room while pondering about one name that momentarily tucks in her brain. Jay. Reaching for her phone on the bedside table, she unlocks the screen just to dial on Jay's number again. Although she already made multiple of calls previously, she's hoping there'll be a glimmer of hope for the male to answer on the other line. Fourth beep emitted into her ears as she's waiting, waiting, and waiting until. . .

"Hello?" Anais slightly jolts at his simple yet cold greet on the line. Before the female could speaks, she clears her throat briefly as a heavy lump seems to be stuck. "—Hey Jay. I was wondering if you're okay? I tried to reach you out but to no avail, you weren't answering." She directly asks him although there is a hint of nervous tone in her voice.

"Yeah, I am okay. Don't worry about me" Jay commands, his voice sounds rather cold than usual— as if he's hiding the truth beneath his tongue as he speaks. Instead of concluding the situation with an alleged statement, Anais tries to tackle him by asking about the midterm test, "Oh ya, see, I tried to call you to ask about our midterm test in a few days. I was wondering if you're free for another catch up together?" Anais retorts while slightly tilting her head.

"–Sorry Anais. I can't right now. I am actually kinda busy with something." The male declines flatly. Knowing Jay, he's not the type to act cold around Anais but his persona at this moment really weirds her out. She tries for another shot of asking him, "What about tomorrow? I have some free time before my shift hour—" She was cut by him completely.

"I can't, Anais. I really can't. I am very sorry."

"Why? Can't you tell me why?"

She catches him heaves a heavy sigh on the other line while pausing in the middle of their conversation. There's definitely a weighty tension hovering when Jay takes about a minute to respond to the subject again.

"Anais, why don't you ask your boyfriend about it? Wouldn't it be better that way?"

"Wait, what just happened? Did Heeseung say something to you about us?"

"You can ask him about it" Jay states nonchalantly. "I have to go now"

"Jay, can we atleast meet up and talk it out?" Anais desperately wants to convince him but fails miserably.

"Sorry, Anais. I can't really be near you right now" is the last phrase Jay utters before he hangs up the call with Anais. And just like that, as clueless she is, Anais throws her phone to the side, trying to seek for unknown answer for what really happened between Jay and Heeseung.

𖦹彡

The following day has been super hectic for Anais as she has couple of errands that needs to be completed today— buy the groceries that has been running out, pay a visit to her mother, study for the test tomorrow and other stuffs that she might've not figured just yet. After taking a long, hot shower, she quickly grabs out a comfy outfit for the day from the closet and snuggles into a wide cut jeans. With just a single tint, Anais spreads the liquid across her cheek bones and lips to ensure that she still appears presentable for a simple errand.

Collecting the stuffs along with her, she jogs out of her apartment to catch for a bus nearby. Luckily, Anais is right on time as it was just a minute away before the bus could depart. Though the journey from her apartment to the hospital merely takes about 10 minutes, she still finds herself is drowning away with the lingering thoughts in her mind. The words that left from Jay's property yesterday are still playing at the back of her head, 'I can't be near you right now'. As she's taking off her bus and arriving at her destination, she tries to brush off those remaining thoughts in her brain.

Anais doesn't want to appear vulnerable in front of her mother because at the end of the day, she can never hides whatever bothers her mentally. It will be written all over her face no matter how hard she tries to hide, a mother will surely knows what's within their daughter. With a warm and convincing smile plastered against her lips, Anais greets her lovely birth giver and runs up to hug her, "Mother, how are you feeling today? Are you good?".

"Oh my sweet Anais! I am beyond great. What about you? Have you eaten?"

Anais shakes her head as a no, "I will have my lunch in a bit, okay? Sunoo's coming over later on and I will have him to accompany me."

"Tsk, why are you eating so late, huh?" There is a worrying tone wavering in the air.

"Mom, I am fine alright? Besides, it's my pay day today. I want to have a big lunch with Sunoo."

"How about your school? Is everything well?" Mrs Kim asks another question to her daughter as it's been awhile since Anais talks about her university stuffs.

"Good", she responds boredly. "I will sit for my midterm test tomorrow. Hope I am passing with flying colours."

The conversation between Anais and her mother just escalated quickly as soon as they delve deeper into different topics and each other's daily updates. Other than Sunoo, having her mother around to chat about some stuffs could also be a stress-reliever to her. She misses her so much. She misses to have her mother running around their apartment like before— her usual self where she'd be like any other normal mothers who scold, blabber, and getting furious over simple matters. She misses that side of her.

An hour has passed and Sunoo is eventually arriving just right before she's about to leave for lunch. Somewhere outside of the hospital's area, there's a barbecue restaurant that Anais and Sunoo would visit from time to time, therefore both of them are enthusiastically heading towards their desired lunch spot.

After the lunch, Anais excused herself from her little brother to buy some painkillers and hot patch at the pharmacy next door. Apparently, she ran out of those two items for the preparation of her upcoming monthly menstruation. She navigates through the racks that display most of the female items, until the store was greeted by a tall, decent figure in full black.

Anais turns up to find that Jay stands at the counter cluelessly. She goes after him and snaps, "—Jay?".

The male swirls himself to her, with those freshly dark purple bruise against his lips. . .

THE END OF CHAPTER