Moonlight | Kim Taehyung

13: Luna

It's been over a week since dad left. Things have taken quite a turn and everything seems to be normal again. I've finally come to the decision to forgive my mum and I've managed to make two friends over the course of the weeks. Taehyung and Aurora. I haven't had a friend ever since I was 13, when things were normal. I hope this normality will last. I so badly want to live the life of an ordinary teenager.

---

I'm sitting face to face with Aurora, as we have lunch together. Aurora is twirling her fork around the spaghetti on the plate in front of her, but she never puts it into her mouth. She sighs and props her chin up on her hand.

I put down my fork and stop eating, "What's wrong?"

She looks up at me, then looks back down at her plate, "It's nothing."

"Look at me," I say.

I don't expect her to listen, but she does and she's looking at me as she sighs again.

"I'm fine, seriously," She assures, but I don't believe her.

She looks upset and tired. Her eyes used to have some sort of child-like spark, but now they seem dull. She's sitting with her back slouched and the corners of her lips are bent downwards.

"You're definitely not fine," I say firmly.

"Okay, okay. I'm not," she gives up pretending that she's fine and leans back against the chair.

"Tell me what's going on," I say gently as I smile at her, "It'll make you feel better."

I know this because of Taehyung. Talking to him made me feel a lot better, it felt so good to finally let out my pain. It felt amazing for the words to just tumble out of my mouth. It's like my mind has been set free from the unpleasant thoughts that trapped it. It's like opening a gate to flowing water. It's like getting rid of some sort of horrid curse.

"Okay..." Aurora mutters and breathes in deeply, "It's my parents."

She hesitates for a while and she avoids my gaze. I reach out to hold her hand and soothe her.

"The truth is, Coral and I aren't actually related," she says quietly, "My real parents left me when I was just three. They were poor and didn't have the money to raise a child properly, so they took me to an orphanage. I stayed there for a couple of years before Coral's parents adopted me. They were so nice and kind to me. Giving me anything I wanted. Coral welcomed me as well and she was happy to have a sister. She was nine at the time and I was six. I haven't seen my biological parents for fourteen years, but today... they came to see me. They're still at my apartment, I kind of ran away from them. Apparently, they contacted my parents to find out that I was living here. I didn't know how to face them, I was afraid. I wanted to ignore the situation, but I can't help but feel so upset."

I kind of guessed that Aurora and Coral weren't biologically related, but I didn't think that she used to be an orphan. Seeing her real parents again after such a long time must be tough for her.

"Will you come with me to confront them?" she asks.

I look at her in surprise, "You want me to come with you?"

"Yeah," she nods, "You're my only friend and Coral is with her boyfriend now."

"Then, sure," I say and squeeze her hand, "It'll be okay."

She smiles at me, "Thank you."

"But, why are you and Coral living alone now?" I ask curiously.

"Oh, that's because Coral's college is in this area, so she has to move here, then I just decided to move together with her too," she replies.