Strangers With Memories [DaraGon/NyongDal]

{ 23 }

{ 23 }

Dara was frozen on her spot, once again. She stared at his gentle brown orbs for a while before his words rang through her ears over and over again.

“Noona, mianhae.”

It was all blurry for her. She knew she was sitting on a wooden bench, with Jiyong kneeling in front of her while holding her hand, and then all of a sudden there was this invisible piercing pain which tore right through her– all raw and sharp and cutting.

“Noona, mianhae.”

She remained silent, and he did too. Neither of them were able to say a word after what Jiyong stated. The two of them stayed there, unmoving. Dara felt an impossibly big lump forming on her throat, and no matter what she does to prevent it, tears will still spill.

“Noona, mianhae.”

She did her best to smile at Jiyong, hoping that it didn’t end up like a grimace. The latter squeezed her hand, as if wanting to comfort her, but what he did only added fuel to the fire. A solitary tear ran down to her cheeks.

“Noona, mianhae.”

She smiled at him. “Jiyong-ah, it’s okay. It’s been hard on you, too.”

“Noona–”

She gently retracted her hand from his hold and tapped his shoulder. “I wish you wouldn’t call me noona anymore.” After that, she got up and mumbled her goodbyes to Jiyong, leaving before the enormous amount of tears her eyes amassed render him more speechless.

--

It was all a blur. Dara couldn’t even remember that she called Donghae to pick her up in front of their old university. It wasn’t until Donghae arrived that she realized she was a crying mess, sitting on the curb while some bystanders look at her in pity. She hadn’t even realized that she walked to the university all the way from the park, which was a thirty-minute drive.

“Dee?” Donghae softly called out, and Dara tilted her head to meet Donghae’s worried eyes. “Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

Donghae helped her up, but she felt her knees buckling. He made her lean into him for support as he helped her get in the car. After he made sure she was all strapped in, he rushed over to the driver’s seat and talked to Dara. “Dee, c’mon, talk to me. Don’t you need to go to the hospital or something?”

Dara only shook her head, but she continued crying. Donghae sighed. “You’re sure you aren’t hurt anywhere, okay?”

She nodded. Donghae tried to comfort her by rubbing her back. “It will be okay, Dara.” He delicately whispered before driving off to the nearest coffee house to calm her down.

--

Jiyong was aghast. He didn’t know what went on in his mind to say those words to her. He knew that he had hurt her. Even though she wanted to mask her pain by smiling at him, her eyes betrayed her. In there he could see the tremendous amount of pain he had given her, and he doesn’t know how to make up to that.