"What does kalon mean?"
"It means beauty that is skin deep. Beauty that does not end on the surface rather which flows from deep within."
A word that perfectly comprehends her existence to him.
A word that perfectly comprehends his existence to he...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
...
His arms felt like a safe haven to her. It was a feeling odd yet so welcoming that she couldn't help but reciprocate the embrace.
"You've been through a lot, Haneul. I'm sorry you had to go through all that. You don't deserve it, " San spoke, softly. His voice was peaceful in the still of the night.
"How can you be so sure? What if I actually did deserve it?" Her voice came out like a whisper. She doubted herself like that from time to time. And Byeol would threaten to slap her every time she did.
"No you don't. Don't ever say that. We haven't been friends for long but I know you enough to say that you are a wonderful person. And that you deserved none of that." San spoke as he pulled away from the embrace. He felt reluctant but did so anyway.
"You know, they never really were your friends. Because if they were, they wouldn't have left you like that. Real friends don't leave, ever." San added.
Haneul let out a small sigh. "You know what terrifies me the most?"
"And what is that?" San asked.
"The look in Bomi's eyes that day. We used to be such good friends and understood each other. But within split seconds, she became a stranger. Just like that. I know I made mistakes but trust me, I regretted every single one of them. If I ever hurt them in any way, I always apologized first even if they were wrong. I thought that they would forget about it but no, I was too naive to believe that," Haneul spoke as she looked into the distance.
San didn't say anything and just simply stared at her. His eyes never once left her as she spoke without stopping, pouring out all the emotions that was deep within for a long time. His gaze was gentle like the spring breeze which comforts you.
At that moment, San wanted to do anything and everything for the chaos in her little world to end. He felt angry. Angry at the audacity of the people who broke her. Humans are the best creatures to exist but they could be just as cruel. He wanted to break the faces of every person who even dared to bend so much as a single strand of her hair.
"You know, this might seem like a very minor matter. But the fear, the trauma that I developed, caused me to push away so many people. Didn't let anyone get too close. Every time someone would approach me and I would get scared. Scared that they might do the same things to me. All over again. That's why I don't have friends aside from you guys." She finished.
"No, it's not minor," San said.
"You really think so?" Haneul asked.
San nodded. "It's okay, Haneul. It's okay to be not okay. What you went through might not be like the usual troubles among friends. But that doesn't necessarily mean it's nothing. Everyone fights their own kind of battles." He paused a bit and then spoke again.
