━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
JAY
The drive was silent.
Jay wasn't used to seeing Yuri so down. When he saw her in the streets, looking so depressed with a plastic bag filled with alcohol, that's when he knew she was in pain. She wanted to be intoxicated, to be numb from the unbearable pain in her chest. He understood her very well, which is why he took the liberty of bringing her to the place that have helped him control his emotions.
The place he wanted to bring her was two hours from where they were but it seemed the girl lost track of time when she did not question him. He made occasional glances at her to make sure she was okay but she just stared at the dark sky, emotionless.
"We're here." He announced once he was finished parking the car.
She looked around the place and saw nothing but a few lights and trees. Getting out of the car, Jay was immediately welcomed by the cold air. He was fortunate enough to wear a coat before driving all the way there.
"What is this place?" Yuri asked, wrapping her arms around herself. Jay didn't answer and instead began to walk forward, leaving the girl behind with no choice but to follow him.
And then they arrived at the top, there was a railing in the front to keep anyone from falling down the cliff. He looked at Yuri and immediately saw how mesmerized she was by the view of the city lights from above. He used to come here all the time in order to heal himself or if ever he missed a certain someone.
"This place is beautiful." She gasped, her eyes still fixed at the city lights. "The night is always so relaxing." She inhales the air, closing her eyes for a minute.
He stood next to her and smiled. "See I told you there are ways to forget about everything aside from drinking."
She chuckles slightly. "As expected, you're always there to scold me." She said. "My ex came to my apartment earlier to get his stuff. I thought I was getting better but when I saw all his stuff, I suddenly remembered all the empty promises we made to each other. Even though he broke me and took my ability to trust anyone fully, he still was the person who was there for me when I needed someone."
Jay was now seeing another side of Kim Yuri. When she was drunk, she was nothing like this. When she's sober, she had this playful smile and intimidating look in her face. But now here he was, standing next to another new side of her. This was her vulnerable side, a side that she was willing to show him for some reason.
He wanted to know who she really was. This urge to know more about her grew even more, he wanted to know what turned her like this.
"It's always like that. We think we're getting better but in truth, we're really not." He says, staring at the city view. "I thought I would get over her the moment she left the country but for some reason, I'm still holding unto her. I don't want to hold on anymore but I can't seem to let go."
She smiles. "When we're emotionally attached to someone, letting go of them would always scare you." She tells him. "You know, this scenery just makes me want to drink."
He glared at her. "I already hid your alcohol so you would have to try not to drink." She frowned at him which she later replaced with a laugh.
He stared at her and he noticed how captivating she looked like at that moment. Even though her eyes were filled with this unspoken sadness, there was something about how the moonlight hit her face. He could only imagine how mesmerizing she must look like if she were genuinely happy.
Jay looked away from her to avoid getting caught staring. "Do you know how handsome you look right now? This is exactly why I call you single freak." He glanced back at her and saw she was now staring at him.
"You still aren't over that nickname?" He snickers the moment she brought up the nickname again. "But thanks for the compliment." He says shyly.
Do you know how beautiful you look right now? He thought but refused to say it out loud.
The two of them stayed for a little bit longer until he heard her yawning. It was almost midnight after all so he really needed to bring her home.
"I don't want to go yet but I'm really sleepy." She pouts like a little child who is being forced to go home by her parents.
"We can always return here. Just text me whenever you want, I'll make time to bring you back here." He offered.
"Alright then. I'll bring snacks next time." She said, leaning on the window to close her eyes. "Thank you for today, Jay. If it weren't for you, you would've seen a tower of empty cans in my apartment."
"Anytime, Yuri."
For the first time in months, Jay did not check his phone not even once to see if Jia has texted him back.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"So would you please explain to me now why you ditched me in the streets last night?" Jake crossed his arms as they walk. "I had to ask Sunghoon to pick me up just so I could go home."
If Jay was being honest, he actually forgot that he left Jake in the streets last night. He was so focused in Yuri last night that it slipped out of his mind.
"I forgot, okay? I was busy with something." He says, trying not to say what made him forget in the first place.
"I texted you though? Didn't you at least check your phone?" Jake asked.
Jay realized he hasn't checked his phone at all last night. When he got home, he headed straight to his bed because of how tired he was. This morning, he still didn't check his phone and immediately got dressed to catch his morning class.
"I..." He trailed off. "Haven't checked my phone since last night."
Jake's eyes widened. He knew his friend could not last an hour without at least checking it so he was genuinely shock that he lasted this long. "Huh?! What were you doing last night that got you that busy?"
Jay scratched the back of his neck nervously. "I was with Yuri." He mumbles but it was coherent enough for his friend to hear.
"You were with who?!" Jake exaggerates.
"Jeez, talk louder. I'm sure the whole campus hasn't heard you." He glares. "So what if I was with her? We're friends and you know that."
His friend crossed his arms and stopped walking to look at Jay. "We've been best friends for over five years and you're always in your phone whenever we're together. Yuri, on the other hand, has been your friend for two weeks."
Jay sighed. "She was sad yesterday. I couldn't just set that aside." He frowns. "Now that you think about it, I really need to check my phone."
Grabbing his phone from his pocket, his notification were filled with texts from his friends. Jake being the person who sent him the most text. He was replying to them one by one until he stumbled into Jia's text. It was a picture of her holding a familiar book, it was the same book she gave him on Christmas.
A smile appeared on his lips as he stared at it. "Is that Jia?" Jake asked next to him. "Does she know you still have feelings for her?"
"I think she still does, she just pretends not to know it." Jay replies.
"I think you should move on from her now. Believe it or not, I don't think you stand a chance with her. She's on the other side of the world and you know very well the other person who likes her." Jake said in a serious tone. "You're making progress now! Yesterday, you barely checked your phone. Which means you're starting to not think about her as much as you usually do."
"That's because I was busy with Yuri." He argues.
"Then find another reason to be busy. Stop succumbing yourself into this unrequited love. It's time for you to be happy again." Jake tells him. "It doesn't have to be now or tomorrow, I know the heart does not easily forget, but slow progress is still progress."
Jake was right. If he keeps doing this to himself, he'll end up being unhappy for a very long time. For months, he barely made any progress with moving on. It was like he refused to leave the dark room he entrapped himself in. Even if he tried to turn the doorknob or even open the door, there was this thing that kept pulling him back in.
Can he really leave this place?
As he played on his phone to get all the dark thoughts from his head, he forgot to open the text Yuri sent him.
He laughed. At least he was sure that inside this dark, cold, and empty room, he had a friend with him that was sharing the same struggle. And it was a constant reminder to him that he wasn't alone.
After two weeks of wondering, their sudden friendship now made sense to him.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
AUTHOR'S NOTE :
stay strong engenes ! we have to stay strong for enha <3