« status for send a number in for a fic » → accepting !
1. things you said at 1am.
There were nights that passed slowly. Those were the nights Jieun spent laying of the wooden floor with her phone turned off. They were nights that seemed endless, and she would have thought time paused if not for the cars that drove by and illuminated her home for a few brief seconds before disappearing. they were nights after she had done what she had to do to keep her end of the deal, to be sure that one day she would be able to end it all.
end it all to be free, she echoed, whispering to no one and yet someone was always listening. I want to see them.
Her thoughts fall to green, and suddenly she’s awake in her home with her back against the warm grass of her backyard. She can imagine the persimmon tree looming over, the laughter of her family echoing with music playing in the air. Had she really lived a life this free before?
Of course I have, she thought to herself, it’s just been so long since I’ve felt the sun on my skin and felt as though I was free.
She sat up, opening her eyes in hopes that she would see her family but all she saw was the darkness of her room. A figure loomed in the corner, and she peered over her shoulder to take note of his presence.
“Well done,” He spoke. “With this, you are one step closer to freedom.”
“I hate you.” She expected no one to reply, which was why her eyes widened in shock when she heard the soft lull of a voice she had become so familiar to hearing. She looked over and saw a half worried, half-confused Yerin sitting against the edge of her bed. Had she always been here?
“I’m sorry.” She said, turning away from the girl. “I just, I don’t know.”
The girl’s silence begged for more, and somewhere between the soft sniffles and the sighs that escaped, she found refuge in someone who didn’t belong in her world.
“I’m scared more than anything, Yerin.” She pulled her knees to her chest, covering herself like the coward she was. She must’ve looked pathetic, but Yerin said nothing about it. She said nothing at all, to be honest. “What I’ve done to get what I want, it’s unimaginable. not right, but I can’t stop even if I wanted to. Even if it gets better, I always lose. And I’m tired of losing all the damn time.”
She stopped speaking after that. At least, for a while. She didn’t want her voice to crack, and instead resumed her position on the floor without glancing at the girl with stardust in her eyes. When all was settled, and she asked her to leave, she left her with words she prepared herself to say to everyone she met.
“Don’t try to help me. You can’t do anything to help me.” They weren’t out of spite. They were a warning from a concerned friend to another. “I’ve got to do this on my own.”
