CLOSE TO ME | MARK LEE

16

Areum POV
I went outside with Jooyeon. Honestly I was fuming. How come he just disappeared out of my life without telling me anything? He didn't bother telling me where he had been.

I darted my eyes at him and just stared at him but not to my surprise, he was staring at the floor. "Where have you been all this time?" I asked demandingly.

"Areum, how are you?" He asked in a gentle voice trying to avert the question.

"I asked you something first."

"I moved to a different part of Seoul and then I got hired as a choreographer."

"Yeah I can see that but where's my brother. You and him just left all of a sudden without saying anything. It's been years since I've seen him. Do you even know what a rough time I have been having? I was about 14 when you two just left. Me and grandad had such a rough time and even he's missing now." My voice got progressively louder in the corridor but at that moment, I couldn't think straight. I found my brother's best friend but not my brother.

Jooyeon just stared at me trying to process all the information he just got. I needed an answer from him but he just wasn't giving anything which annoyed me even more. "Aren't you going to say anything?!" I was screaming whilst crying at this point.

"Areum. I don't know where your brother is. After we left, we both rented a place together which we stayed in for about 6 months. Until, I came back home one day and there was a note from him saying that he'll be going far away and there would no point trying to find him. Ever since I also haven't seen him and that was about 4 and half years ago."

I dropped to the floor and continued to cry. I felt like I had lost all hope. First my brother and then my grandad. I was truly alone. Jooyeon just awkwardly stood in front of me, having no idea what to do. I could tell that I needed my inhaler but it was inside the practice room. Without thinking I ran back inside the room whilst looking like a mess and just grabbed my bag and ran.

Mark POV
I was worried about Areum ever since she left. How did she even know our choreographer? I wanted to ask her but it would just be rude.

All of a sudden, the door flung open with a crying Areum. She ran towards her bag, picked it up and ran. She was covering her face and it was obvious that she had been crying a lot. What did that man do to her? Without thinking twice, I ran behind her to see if she was alright. But she couldn't be as she was panting and she had asthma.

I could see her  running at a distance but I ran just that bit faster to reach up to her.  She turned the corner and so did I. She had slammed her back on the wall and slowly fell down. She grabbed out her inhaler from her bag and used it, still panting. I crouched down to her and look at her distressed face. "Areum..."
I put out both of my arms and she leaned forward. She needed the hug and you could tell. I continued hugging her as she continued crying. I slowly rubbed her back so she could calm down as her breathing was still rough. Johnny and Winwin came running round the corner trying to understand what's going on.

"Are you alright Manager-nim?" Winwin asked.

"What happened Areum?" Johnny also asked.

Those questions were exactly on my mind but they said them before me. She hadn't stopped crying but within her sniffles she managed to say. "I have no one, they all left me."
Areum was truly upset and I wonder what the choreographer did to make her be in this state.