THE TRANSFER STUDENT

Loss and Lost, Pt. 7

"Hey."

"Mm, hey."

Byulyi and Jisoo sat opposite each other in Byulyi's tiny apartment, looking at anywhere else but each other. Taehyung had left a while ago, leaving the atmosphere in the apartment a million times more awkward than it already was. Byulyi could barely breathe.

"So," Byulyi cleared her throat. "I heard... I heard you left home?"

"I did. Um..." Jisoo thought for a while, as if she was about to add something, but gave up eventually. "Yeah, I did."

"Well," Byulyi bit her lower lip. "I hope my house isn't too... shabby for you, I live alone with my grandma, and-"

"No, not at all," Jisoo shook her head profusely. "I understand. I've heard about your situation before."

The room fell silent.

"So, um," Byulyi got up from the floor. "We only have two rooms in this apartment, so I was thinking... you can take my room and I'll sleep in the living room."

"No, please," Jisoo waved her hands frantically. "Please, you can have your room. I'll stay in the living room. It's just one night after all."

"It's cold out here," Byulyi insisted. "Please take the room, I'm used to the cold."

"We can..." Jisoo hesitated. "We can share the room, perhaps?"

Byulyi shifted uncomfortably on the spot. "Well... um, yeah. We could."

"Um..." Jisoo pursed her lips. "If it makes you uncomfortable, it's alright - um, I mean, it's just a suggestion, so-"

"No," Byulyi pursed her lips. "It's alright."

The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds, before Byulyi finally broke eye contact. "Um, I'll go- I'll go check on my grandma. Please, make yourself comfortable."

"Oh, um, sure. I mean, thanks. Thanks, Byulyi. I really appreciate it."

~~~

"Jieun, I-" Jungkook stood up, turning to face Jieun. "You're- You're awake."

Truth be told, Jieun had been awake the entire day. Ever since she had returned from the columbarium, she lay in bed all day, unable to do anything else but think.

She knew what she had to do... and it hurt.

The text messages from Jungkook... she was them all. She wished she could just reply all of them all. She wanted to pick up his call, she wanted to hear his voice, but she knew she couldn't.

She shouldn't.

She slept for a bit, then woke up, cried a little, then drifted back to sleep. Soon, she heard an unfamiliar voice coming from the living room, so she went out to take a look...

And it was him, sitting in her living room, talking to her parents. He was talking about how she was the first one to have changed him, how she got him out of his shell... and how he loved her.

It all felt like a dream.

But it wasn't, and Jieun froze as she saw Jungkook turn around to look at her, his handsome features etched with worry. But he smiled as he noticed her.

"Jieun!" Mrs Lee jumped up from her seat, walking over to Jieun's side and grabbing her hand. "Do you feel better after a good nap? We were just talking your friend Jungkook over here and- um, he came to see you so we invited him in-"

"Mom," Jieun pursed her lips, avoiding eye contact with Jungkook at all costs. "I told you I'm not in a mood."

Jieun tried her best not to look at Jungkook, though she knew what his face right now probably looked like - pure confusion. Well, she'd be too, if she were him - he knew nothing about what happened.