A New Friend to the List

"Love cures people—both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it." -Karl Menninger

"You've been following me for days, Haneen," I sighed pinching my nose bridge, "What do you want?"

"We're friends, remember?" he skipped beside the sidewalk, "I just want to hang out"

Haneen has been bugging me since forever asking me to go with him to a restaurant that only opened a week ago. I'd asked him to take one of his guy friends but NO...he keeps pestering me to go with him every day after school. Jimin still didn't approve of him and always sulked with jealousy by glaring daggers at the guy. It was fun watching him pouting and pulling me towards him, trying to get my attention by kissing on my cheek and all. Cringey kid!

"This dude is seriously pissing me off," Jimin gritted his teeth.

"Please?!! Please? I won't ask for anything after that for a while," he begged.

"Mia, don'-"

"Urg, fine," I rolled my eyes, "But you're paying"

"Sure!" he chirped smiling widely.

"Why?!" Jimin whined clutching my arm making me stagger a little.

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"The interior is amazing, right?" Haneen smiled looking around the place.

"Yeah," I sat down eyeing the sulking form of Jimin.

"So, what do you want to get? Order anything!" he said with a thumbs up.

I rolled my eyes and picked up the menu. Mm, the place sure does have good food but it's only evening. I just ordered pasta and a mint lime while Haneen ordered a pile of I-can't-count-stuff.

"That's it?" he asked right after we placed the order, "I thought you're gonna order more"

"I may be cold but I'm not merciless," I said blankly, "The food is expensive"

"Woah! This's why I say you're cool," he said but I raised an eyebrow, "If I'd bought my friends they would have ordered anything and everything on this menu. I'll go bankrupt" he dramatically shivered at the thought.

He really reminds me of Jung Hoseok from BTS.

"So, it'll take some time," he folded his hands and placed them on the table leaning forward, "What do you want to talk about?"

"How about 'nothing'?" I asked my attention on Jimin who was sitting bored on the chair and looking around occasionally smiling at the couples coming inside the restaurant. His eyes caught another cute couple holding hands and staring at each other.

"Mia!" he called turning to me with a bright smile, "I would like us to be like that"

I smiled at his excited form as always.

"Mia?" my head snapped to Hannen who'd cracked some joke, I think, "Did I see that, right? Did you just smile at my joke?"

"No," I replied, "Tell me, Hannen. Why did you want to become friends with me.." he opened his mouth but I cut him off, "..apart from the lame excuse that I'm cool?"

I stared at him as he sighed defeatedly after seeing my stern expression.

"Okay," he slumped in his seat, "You actually remind me of my sister"

I raised an eyebrow.

"She was just like you. Smart, brilliant yet cold outside but beautiful and kind inside. She was the topper of her whole school and was the treasure of my family," he smiled absentmindedly.

"You do realize that you're talking in the past tense, right?" I asked.

"Yes," I saw him fidgeting with his necktie, "She is..no more" he looked away.

My eyes softened and Jimin sensed the atmosphere without even knowing the topic. I waited for him to regain his composure and he finally did, stabilizing his breathing.

"She committed suicide. She said she was alone and had no one to talk to. She said that no one listened to her and eventually she fell into depression. I...I didn't know anything about that. In front of all of us, she kept her small simple smile convincing us that she's alright" tears finally formed in his eyes, "She died because of overwork, she used to study hard day and night. She couldn't keep up with the tiredness and stress. She...she left us, just like that"now tears streamed down his face.

I pushed the tissue holder towards him.

He looked at me and picked it up, sniffling.

"I saw you...buying foods for the people," he hiccuped and my eyes widened, "She used to do the same, she was very kind and generous. I saw my little sister in you. You were always alone and you never talked to anyone, not even any friends. I didn't want the same to happen to you as my sister. That's why I decided to..." he trailed off.

"I understand," I nodded, "I'm very sorry about your loss. She deserved more but let's hope that she's happy up there" I smiled leaning and patted his shoulder.

He smiled back at me sniffling.

"And about me," I said glancing at a concerned Jimin, "I'm not alone. I've got a companion along with me 24/7. Don't worry about me. Besides, I think I've made a good friend today" I grinned.

"Thanks," he smiled like a Cheshire cat, "But, who's that companion?"

"My guardian angel," I said taking a brief glance at Jimin who was smiling back at me, "Trust me, you don't want to know" I winked at a confused Hannen.

"No winking, young lady" scolded Jimin but I chuckled.

Haneen shook his head and chuckled along until our food arrived.

The food was awesome as I've thought and Haneen stuffed his face with food complimenting how delicious it was saying that we should come there more often while Jimin pouted looking at the food before us. I think it's his official pouting day today.

We finished our food and were taking turns washing hands guarding our school bags. I was waiting for him to come back from the washroom when I heard a commotion.

I turned my head and looked at what's happening. There was a girl in our school uniform and a boy with a black leather jacket. He was pleading with the girl about something. Looks like he's so desperate and was holding her hands, the girl, by the way, was facing away from me so I couldn't see her face. Wait! I know that spike dude, he was Liya's date. Wasn't she dating him the last time I saw her? Is he cheating on her and is being heartbroken by another girl? The girl finally turned around.

Woah!

"Isn't that Liya?" Jimin and Hannen asked at the same time standing at each side of me in different languages.

"Yeah..." I stared at her yelling at his pathetic face and storming out of the place.

"Poor guy," Hannen said taking his bag from me, "Wait, I know him! He is that bad guy from the alley!"

"Who?" I squinted my eyes.

"He's a bad person from the city," he said, "I've heard that he and his gang are pretty popular in the city for their drug dealings and all. There were rumors that they'd killed someone, it's pretty dark. I've seen him hang around our school gates, guess it's for Liya then," he shrugged, "Isn't she your sister? Please ask her to be careful."

I nodded as I watched four guys in black rushing towards the crying man kneeling on the floor. Why the hell was he crying?

We walked past them.

I watched them closely from the corner of my eyes. They were near our age, probably from a different school. But there was this dark aura around them.

"...it's okay bro. We can take her..."

"...yeah, it won't be hard..."

I heard the whispers but Jimin came into my vision and turned my head away from them.

Why am I getting a bad feeling about them? My instincts are signaling me so hard and the alarms are literally blaring in my ears.

"Let's go" Hannen guided me out of the place after that.

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"Liya, what was that?" I asked as I leaned on her doorway.

"What're you talking about, sis?" she asked busy on her phone, violently typing away.

I sighed walking up to her and crossed my hands.

"What happened at the Agape Restaurant?" I asked demanding answers.

"I don't know," she shrugged without even looking at me.

"You know, I can read you very well," I mumbled.

"Fine!" she threw the phone on her bed and got up, "You know John, the guy you call spike? He wasn't whom I thought. He is a gangster and I didn't like the sound of that. We dated for a while but hearing that news I broke up with him. That's it. I didn't expect him to cry and all" she had a look of disgust on her face.

"Was that him you were chatting to?" I asked glancing at her phone.

"Yeah, I just blocked him" she scoffed.

"You know those guys are dangerous, right?" I mumbled, "You should be careful. They can do anything if they want to"

"Do you think I don't know?" she shouted probably because of her frustration, "I know how to take care of this, sis. Don't butt in my problem"

"Am not," I calmed myself closing my eyes, "Just know who you're playing with. Being a playgirl has its own perks"

"You-"

"Good night," I said and walked out of her room.

"Don't even think about coming to my room ev-" I shut the door on her face.

"What's going on here?" Diya asked coming up the stairs clutching her pink plushie.

"Sister problems," I shrugged and went inside my room.

I sighed leaning my back against the door after closing it.

What's this gut feeling telling me?

"Mia? You alright?" Jimin asked immediately coming towards my thinking form.

"Yeah..." I said standing straight with a frown etched upon my face, "Why is this feeling in my gut saying something bad's gonna happen? My suspicious instincts are kicking in and I can't seem to ignore it"

Jimin came up to me and took my hands placing them around his neck. He snaked his hands around my waist and stared into my eyes.

"Everything's gonna be fine, Mia" he whispered, "She might be frustrated about all that happened"

"I know," I rested my forehead against his shoulder, "I hope she'll be safe. She's my sister, after all it's my duty to protect her"

"And you're a good one to that," he petted my hair rubbing circles on my arms, "You never fail in anything as far as I'm concerned and you are not going to in the future too. We can't stop what's gonna come next but we can always react differently to it".

I raised my head to see him smiling and my worries immediately washed away. He pecked my forehead and his gaze trailed off to my lips. I smirked when I saw him gulping.

"You're needy, aren't you?" I chuckled lightly playing with his hair.

He released a groan, "I am needy for you. Just for you"

I smiled before he smashed his lips on mine.

I don't know what's waiting for me tomorrow but as long as this ghost is beside me to hold my hands, nothing can stop me.