Noodles

Byeol and Ha-Eun walked through the thunderstorm as they held each other close. Byeol held an umbrella that sheltered the two of them from the elements. Ha-Eun was laying her head on Byeol's shoulder.

The two of them walked through the streets as the water beneath their feet pushed against them, flowing into the drains on the side of the street. They walked past countless houses, all with their lights off. "You okay, Ha-Eun?"

"Yeah." Ha-Eun had definitely cheered up, she wasn't crying anymore. Her skirt was completely drenched in water and her shoe's were filled with water.

"I met this really cute guy at the cafe earlier." Byeol said out of a sudden.

"Oh yeah?" Ha-Eun lifts her head from Byeol's shoulder, looking at her. "Was he that cute?"

"He's a senior, and he's super cute. He had scruffy black hair and blue eyes that would stare into your soul. He was Korean too, and a third year." Byeol sounded all excited and her voice pitched up a little.

"Oh yeah? What's his name?" Ha-Eun asks Byeol.

"Ji-woon." Byeol says. "He has a brother in this school too, I think you mentioned his name."

"Ha-Eun looks up at Byeol. "Who?"

"Jaeneung." Byeol says while raising her eyebrows and looking up, like she's not quite sure.

"Jaeneung has a brother?" She drops Jaeneung's shoe bag on the wet floor by accident. "Shi-" Ha-Eun bends down and picks it up, water had already gone all in inside the bag.

"It's okay, we can clean it off at your place." Byeol reassures Ha-Eun. "Anyway, if you see Jaeneung, tell him his brother wants to meet him."

"Yeah." Ha-Eun is squatting down, in the rain, holding Jaeneung's wet bag.

xxxxx

"Is your mom home?" Byeol asks Ha-Eun as she unlocks the door, tuning the key in and opening it.

"No, she's working until 11 on Mondays." Ha-Eun enters the house. It's a small two floor house located in a pretty small neighbourhood.

The two of them walked in, taking off their shoe at the entrance. It was spacious, the floor was made of a pretty and varnished wood and the walls were painted a slight off white.

"How long has it been since I came to your house? It looks way prettier now." Byeol barges in, placing her bag down at the entrance and walking into the kitchen which was situated right next to the main entrance.

"Don't touch anything, my mom gets angry when I have visitors over." Ha-Eun walked up to the stairs. "How long are you going to stay here?"

"Huh?" Byeol walked out of the kitchen into the living room with a popsicle in her mouth. "Until 10:59." She takes the popsicle out of her mouth. "Oh, hope you don't mind."

"Eat whatever you want." Ha-Eun continued walking up the stairs with Jaeneung's shoe bag in her hands. She took a turn on the second floor and opened a door that was adjacent the stairs. There was a hand drawn sign on the door saying 'Ha-Eun's Little Castle' that was clearly drawn by a child.

She opened the door and it was all dark, the curtains were pulled on the window and the light wasn't turned on. She entered the room and flicked the light switch on, turning on the light. Her room was minimal, there was a bed with a stand next to it with nothing on it. There was a desk and a laptop half opened and there was a singular shelf nailed to the wall with a fake plant.

Ha-Eun placed both of the bags down on the floor and walked into the bathroom. Her bathroom, just like her room, was also minimalistic. It was tiled with white ceramics and the curtains on the bath were also plain white. She had half a tube of toothpaste on the sink and also a toothbrush with all the hairs chewed out.

She took off her shirt and her skirt, throwing it into the laundry bask tucked underneath the sink. She washed her hands and looked into the mirror. Her make up was a mess, she had make up dripping down her face and neck. She took a sigh and turned the tap on, running her face under the warm water.

"Ha-Eun!" Byeol shouted from below the stairs. "Can I eat this left over pizza?"

"Sure!" Ha-Eun wiped her face and shouted out of her room, into the living room. It sounded like a raccoon was rummaging through her kitchen and looking for food to steal. Byeol knocked over several metallic spoons and forks which she quietly put back. Ha-Eun ran her face back underneath the warm water for a little bit longer, letting all the stress and built up pain to leave her body.

She turned the tap off and took a towel from the cabinet above the sink and wiped her face. She also took out a bottle of medications, identical to the ones she took earlier today. She uncaps it and takes two pills out, swallowing them both at once without any water.

Ha-Eun walks out of the bathroom and turns the light off, walking towards the wardrobe she opens it up. She doesn't have many clothes, the clothes she does have are all black or white. She takes the shirt from the top of the pile of clothes and wears it.

She goes to her bag and takes Jaeneung's shoe bag. It was completely drenched. She unzips it and sees two old and beaten up pairs of shoes. They're white in color and has a massive hole on the side of the shoe. "He can still wear this?" She places the shoes back into the shoe bag and walks out of the room, turning the lights off and closing the door.

"Byeol! Where are you?" She says as she walks down the stairs.

"I'm cooking dinner, you don't mind instant ramen with egg right?" Byeol was in the kitchen stirring a pot of noodles.

"Where did you even get those from?" Ha-Eun looked at her weirdly, she didn't even have instant noodles.

"Oh, I keep an emergency supply at all times." Byeol picked her bag up and showed the inside of her bag. It was completely filled with noodle packets.

"Yeah I'm going back up." Ha-Eun walked back up the stairs.

"Hey! It's almost done!" Byeol shouted as steam started to erupt violently from the pot.

Ha-Eun walked up the stairs and walked into the laundry room. She opened up the washing machine and shoved Jaeneung's shoes and bag inside, closing it and turning it on.