THE TRANSFER STUDENT

The Truth, Pt. 2

"But I don't understand-" Jieun wiped away the tears from her face, scanning the letter once more, looking for answers as if new information would appear if she stared hard enough. "This letter is heartbreaking, but I still don't-"

"I chanced upon this letter in my uncle's drawer the night of the incident, Jieun," Jungkook swallowed hard, wiping away the tears from his tear-streaked face. "Together with the necklace."

The necklace with the "S" on it. The one Jieun had seen for the first time in the nurse's office and that pissed Jungkook off so badly when she asked about it. She'd never seen him that angry before, and now she knew why. She had been so taken aback then that she vowed never to ask him about it ever again.

Jungkook reached behind his neck, detaching the chain from his neck and placing the charm on his palm, examining it with his sad eyes. "I never stopped wearing this necklace ever since the day I received it. It brings me a lot of comfort to imagine that I still have a little piece of her left with me."

And Jieun understood.

Jungkook clicked a small little button on the underside of the necklace and the charm opened, revealing a photo inside it that Jieun had never seen before. Jieun almost gasped as she saw the two next to each other for the first time.

The resemblance was striking.

Jieun swallowed hard as she recalled all of a sudden why she felt that way on the first day of school - those familiar doe eyes, the familiar sharp nose and even their surname-

But there was something that really bothered Jieun. Why had Somi never mentioned about her brother? Whenever Jieun asked about her family, she always told her that her parents had passed away early and she was the only child. Why didn't she tell Jieun everything? She was her best friend.

"I guess... the letter wasn't meant to find its way to me so early," Jungkook swallowed hard, closing the charm on his necklace as he glanced up at Jieun once more with his tear-filled eyes. "She had passed it to my uncle, who was supposed to pass it to me after she- she was gone, but my uncle happened to ask me to help him with organising his room that night, and that's how I chanced upon it. I raced to her house immediately after reading the letter. My mind was in a mess - tears were just flowing non-stop and snot was all over my face - but I didn't care. I wanted to make sure that I got there to see her before she left - for whatever reason it was."

"But you didn't make it," Jieun deduced. "Because of the fire."

"No, I did," Jungkook pursed his lips. "I got to her before the fire did."

Jieun paused, her eyes widening. "Oh."

"When I reached the house, her apartment, was in flames," Jungkook nodded slowly. "The curtain had caught fire from the stove."

"That's my doing," Jieun hung her head. "I left the stove on before leaving the house to get ramen because she ran out... it was my fault..."

"But it wasn't that huge yet when I arrived," Jungkook continued, trying to stay calm. "I tried my best to put out the fire, but it just kept spreading and spreading. So my first instinct was to get to her first-"

Jungkook's voice cracked. "I found her in her room. She was really surprised to see me - we hadn't met up in months. But I had no time to spare - I scooped her up in my arms and raced towards the door before the fire could block our way. I did so just in the nick of time because... the moment we made it out-"

"The house erupted into flames," Jieun finished Jungkook's sentence, a look of shock and realisation spreading across her face. "I- I'm not the one who caused Somi's death after all."