165 Settled Grudges (1/2)

Nighttime, in a small apartment near S University.

Yeo Ri's eyes suddenly snapped open in the middle of the night. Her back was slightly covered with cold sweat and she was panting lightly. Her eyes shook as if she had just woken up from a bad dream. She slowly sat up, trying to control her breathing so the man sleeping soundly next to her—Gun—would not wake up.

This was a common occurrence.

Yeo Ri blinked her eyes once, twice, thrice, until the sense of disorientation and grogginess finally wore off. She glanced around the room, as though confirming that she was indeed in their new house and not that scary room.

She heaved a silent breath of relief, loosening her tightened fists. Quietly, she stood up, careful not to startle Gun from his rest. This had been an almost daily happening; perhaps it was due to her unfamiliarity to the new place.

She headed towards the study desk that Gun had assembled for her, and sat down on the matching chair. She turned the desk lamp on, shining some light in the otherwise dark room.

From the corner of her eyes, she could see the somewhat shiny surface of the full-sized mirror hanging on the wall to her right. She turned her head slightly to look at her reflection and narrowed her eyes.

She pursed her lips, muttering, ”Ugly.”

”Dirty little sl*t,” she added.

”Why are you so ugly?” She repeated, staring into the reflected pair of dimmed eyes. She was deathly pale and resembled a walking corpse. 'So ugly, so dirty,' she thought. 'So dumb.'

A slight hint of hatred flashed within her dull orbs, making her look rather alive.

As if unable to stand looking at herself anymore, she turned away, instead focusing on the various items laid out on the desk.

She picked out a clean, blank piece of paper from a stack to her left and chose a black-inked pen. This, too, was a common occurrence.

When she found herself unable to fall asleep, she would start writing another letter to send to Hyuk. It eased her loneliness somewhat; whenever she wrote to him, it felt as if he was quietly listening to her talk. It was rather therapeutic.

Though, despite her newfound habit, she never wrote anything about her bad dreams or her insomnia to him; as usual, she liked to keep certain things to herself so he wouldn't worry.

Uncapping the cap, she began to write...

'Dear Hyuk-oppa,

How are you? I hope you're healthy and out of trouble. Hehe, something funny happened today! I went to visit Ra Hee at the hospital and... ... ...'

...

..

.

Morning.

When Gun woke up, Yeo Ri was already up and about, a rag in her hand. She looked to be cleaning the one-room apartment restlessly.

”Can't sleep again?” Gun asked, disapproval in his tone. ”Yeo Ri-ah, why didn't you wake me up? Oppa would've accompanied you until you fall asleep again.”

Yeo Ri smiled apologetically but shook her head at Gun, ”I can't do that, Oppa. I saw online that university students rarely get enough sleep, so they should charge up during the holidays. You'll be a university student in just a few more weeks. I can't let you take that risk.” She looked at him seriously, determined to stick with her reasoning.

”I can never win against you, can I?” Gun complained, his eyes softening indulgently as he gazed at his adorable baby sister.