Wedding Bells

7

Siyeon waited for me to get a grip on my emotions, making herself comfortable in the meantime. She had clearly warmed up to me after seeing my pain, because she had settled in a spot much closer to me than before. In just a short amount of time, I had seen a much kinder side of her personality. In fact, the way she was smiling at me while I composed myself was starting to give me butterflies. Nice as it was, though, her smile had nothing on Minji's. Speaking of Minji, I think I was finally coming to terms with everything I had just unloaded. With one last sniffle, I figured that I had gotten most everything out of my system.

"Thanks for your patience. I have no idea what came over me just now. You can go ahead any time you want," I told her.

Siyeon shook her head, "You don't need to thank me. Holding on to feelings like that for as long as you have can do a real number on your emotions. I thought I had it bad, and I've only known Yoohyeon for, like, a third of the time you've known Minji! Even still, I have no idea what telling you about my past with her is going to do to me," she warned me, her expression darkening.

I furrowed my eyebrows in concern at her change in demeanor. It was clear that whatever she was about to tell me was going to be painful for her. I grabbed her hand with both of mine, prompting her to look at me.

"You have my full permission to cry as much as you need to, or punch a wall, or whatever you have to do. You already know more about my innermost thoughts and feelings than, like, pretty much everyone I know, so we're in this together. You can tell me anything," I promised her with a smile.

Siyeon blinked, probably taken aback by how friendly I was being. We were still basically strangers, after all. I blushed a bit and let go of her hands, biting my lip nervously. This action prompted her to giggle like mad, putting a hand over her mouth. My eyes narrowed at her reaction. I was just trying to be a good person. Why the hell was she laughing like that? Did she want me to go back to not being able to stand her?

"I'm sorry, I probably seem like such an asshole! That was just so cute! Your hands are so tiny, I'm-" I cut Siyeon off with a hard punch to her shoulder.

"See if I'm ever nice to you again!" I shouted angrily, my cheeks pink.

Siyeon kept snickering, holding onto the shoulder I had bruised. It gave me some satisfaction to see that I had done at least a little bit of damage. Not so cute and tiny now, am I? Siyeon, aware that I was annoyed with her, decided to mend things over.

"Okay, okay, no need to get upset. I'm sorry for laughing at you. It's just, you seemed to really hate me before, so I guess I didn't expect you to be so nice to me this quickly. To be honest, I'm not used to people liking me much, aside from Yoohyeon. You'll realize that soon enough, though, because I'm finally about to tell you what you wanted to hear all along," she explained.

I nodded, pleased with her apology. I was somewhat hesitant to touch her, in fear that she would point out the size of my hands again, but ended up placing my hand on her arm in encouragement. Siyeon took a deep breath before sending us both on a journey into her past.
~
Six Years Ago

Siyeon leaned against the wall of the building, hands in her pockets. As usual, the first day of classes fell on a brisk, chilly day. It was as if all of the warmth in the world died with the hopes and dreams of students as they were trapped in the educational system once more. It was her second year of college, and she was already eager to get out of this hellhole.

She had just wanted to become a musician right away, but her parents had insisted that she should get some kind of degree first. She had had a hell of a time persuading them to let her choose music as her major. Now she was trapped in a program filled with haughty, arrogant people who only cared about their fragile egos. Cutting class had become her sanctuary, since she could be away from those terrible people and have time to herself. She had to be careful, though, because if she got kicked out of university, her parents made it clear that she would be on her own financially. Siyeon wasn't stupid, she knew it was pretty hard to make it in music. She would need her family's support as a fallback if things didn't go as planned, otherwise she would end up on the streets.