I leaned against the navy blue walls of our shared toilet my chest heaving as I closed my eyes. It had been weeks since Yonna's funeral. My parents for some unknown reason tried as hard as they could to remain happy around me even though I knew it was all a facade. The both of them had been behaving strange since I returned from the hospital. My guess is that I had to do with my medical reports which they refused to tell me.
"Yuri... You have to eat something..." My mother's worried voice echoed from the dining downstairs. My appetite had reduced drastically. I didn't have that much of an appetite when Yonna was alive and now that she wasn't...
I let out a sigh. My brain doing an automatic recount of the past events. Who was it? There had to be someone. Someone who had a reason to kill my sister. I racked my brain hard but there was nothing. I couldn't even come up with a name.
The detective in charge of my sister's case visited days earlier. Her case had been pronounced as suicide but I could see from his face that there was more to it he wasn't spilling. Were they going to investigate secretly? I couldn't help but wonder.
My head was hurting. My mind a total mess. I couldn't just accept it. I refused to accept it. I needed a lead. If I was going to find out who was behind my sister's death I needed somewhere to begin.
My eyes shot open. I found where to begin. The suicide cases. They were all rumored to be connected to the Sorority club. Speaking of Sorority club there was someone who I had never understood why he chose to be with my sister of all people. He was the last person she had talked to that day. He wasn't even at her funeral. I could feel my blood boil. No, he was there. At her funeral, I had seen him huddled behind the crowd. He didn't even pay his last respects. He just stood at the entrance. Why? Was it guilt? Was there something he knew but refused to tell the detectives?
That prick dervived pleasure from being excessively dramatic about everything. The fact that he wasn't meant he was probably hiding something.
I sprang to my feet. My spiritless eyes finally having a reason to shimmer. I opened the door stepping into our room directly. I hear my phone vibrate and I picked it up from the study table.
I press the side button turning it on. As the screen came alive, over an hundred messages greeted me. Mostly from Jiwon inquiring why I hadn't shown up at school. I paused trying to recollect how she got my number. I tossed it on the bed inhaling sharply. She had a lot of dreams... She never got to fulfill any.
I take a quick glance round the hive of memories.
Yonna's books laid organized towering above themselves on her study table. The red wallpaper had been our choice but the pink bedsheets were hers. I could vividly recollect we both argued on it for days. My gaze landed on our frame of pictures beside the mirror. I unconsciously took a step towards it. It had become an habit for the both of us to hang a picture that held a significant meaning to the both of us. I took off Minhwan's picture.
He meant a lot to her yet he couldn't even properly attend her funeral. I ruthlessly squeezed the picture. He better began praying he had nothing to do with all of this. That was the only way he could prevent hell being set loose on him. I grabbed my jacket and stormed out.
~~~
I twirl the glass of whiskey in my hand slowly. My mind had automatically blocked the loud music from the clubhouse. I had to find a way to get in the Sorority club. Minhwan wanted her to join. The second and last category of students were never invited to join the Sorority club. They had been dating for almost a year. Why did he ask her to now? A thought struck me. The students who committed suicide, did he also invite them?
If he did, it proved my suspicions, there was something going on in the Sorority club. Something even the school authorities were probably not aware of. But what was it?
Students committed suicide because of it. My sister became a victim of what they had going on. I chug down the remaining liquid in my glass. I set the glass down. That seemed to be the only thing I didn't throw back up. The burning sensation lingering in my chest brought my consciousness to where I was.
I stared silently at the glass.
"Refill?" I hear someone ask. I recognized this voice. I turned my gaze towards him. "Why are you here?" I irritatedly ask Minhwan who slouches in the chair beside me. "Freedom of movement." He replied with a smug grin that I desperately wanted to slap off. He called the attention of the bartender. "Refills." He motioned to our glass.
He returned his attention to me. "What about you? Why are you here?" I ignore him completely focusing on the bartender refilling my glass.
"Come on Yuri, a little conversation wouldn't kill you know." He raised his refilled glass to his lips. "It would." I collect the bottle from the bartender. "If you would please." I return my attention to him finishing my earlier sentence. " It would kill you."
He chuckled huskily. "I strangely don't mind."
He was drunk. I could tell from how unfocused his eyes were. "Go home. I have nothing to converse with you." I said as a matter of fact.
He dropped his head on the table. His brown orbs drilling holes in me. "You've seen enough?" I snapped getting to the apex of my patience. "You are still sad about Yonna right." He said lightly. I scoff. "You recognize sympathy??" I snickered.
I hear him sigh. He went silent for a while I was almost tempted to check if he had fallen asleep but I hear his voice again. "I liked her a lot. Your sister. She had this captivating smile on her face whenever she saw me. I liked how her moon shaped eyes curved crescent whenever she laughed. I liked how her thin pale lips were always pressed into a straight line whenever she studied..."
I emptied my glass taking on big gulp and made to refill it. It was just as I said earlier, he derived pleasure from being excessively dramatic about everything. He finally finished his poem.
I stared at the liquor in my hands. "You say all that but you didn't attend her funeral." I spat without reservation.
I turned to look at him in time to catch the suprised expression on his face. He looked like someone who had been caught in the middle of a crime. I smirked pleased with myself for wiping off that annoying grin off his face.
He raised his head catching my gaze. His eyes peering into mine. "You noticed??" He seemed more surprised I noticed his absence than being caught for not attending his girlfriend's funeral. I furrowed my brows watching him. This guy...
"I had my reasons. I wanted to be there really." He stared down at his glass continuing, "It still hurts me Yuri. You have no idea how much I cried that night. To think I had been the last person that saw her, it haunts me Yuri.... Why did I not see it? I keep asking myself why she did that. She had you... She had me... Why didn't she confide in anyone of us?" His voice cracked- his shoulders quivering.
I shuddered. The realization hit me hard. He was crying? Park Minhwan was crying?? It was my turn to be shocked. He raised his head, his teary eyes catching my gaze once more. "I can sense it Yuri. We are both hurting. It's so heart wrenching I couldn't attend her funeral."
No. He was just being excessively dramatic. He was trying to play the sympathy card. He's so f*cking good at acting he could win an Oscar. He probably thought he could win me over with this.
He stretched his hands and cupped my face. "You want to escape. You desperately need to run away from the pain before it consumes you."
His touch on my face was revolting. I wanted to slap his hand away so bad but I didn't. I needed to find out more about the Sorority club. A way was presenting itself infront of me. I was going to grab every opportunity. Even if that meant putting up with this shameless b*stard.
He leaned in closing the distance between us. I could feel his hot breath on my face. His eyes darted watchfully from my eyes to my lips. Trying figure out my thoughts. "Just give me a chance Yuri. A chance to help you with the pain."
It took my entire willpower to hold back from punching him.
"Can you?" He breathed against my lips. Without waiting to hear my earnest answer he sealed my lips with his.