"Arg, come on, Seo-ah! Do you have to go?" I whine. Who goes to the convenience store at midnight? Guess who, my dear best friend, Seo-ah.
"Yes, I have to go. I forgot to buy something important for Eomma's birthday tomorrow. I promise I'll be back right now," she says, already on her feet, slipping on her jacket that was hanging on the chair next to my study desk.
"Okay, hurry up so we can finish reading our manga," I say, lying back on the bed and watching her.
"I'll be back, I promise."
She never came back that night. That night haunts me like it happened yesterday. It's been a year now, but it feels like yesterday when they found her body in the morning.
"Are you not hungry?" Appa asks, placing a bowl of rice in front of me, ready to dig in. I take one scoop of rice, shove it in my mouth, and take bite of the egg omelette.
"I'm full," I say, standing up and putting on my school blazer. He sighs, looking at me with those pitying eyes.
"Had the same dream again?" He knows when I'm like this, it's because of the memories from that night. I should've stopped her from going, but…
"Bye, see you after school," I say, grabbing my backpack and walking out the door. Usually, my mornings aren't this quiet and depressing, but ever since she left, they've been that way. Today feels different though. There's something in the air I can't quite pinpoint. Maybe it's because my neighbour is weeping like someone died. Who cries so early in the morning?
"Ahhh! Did you see &Team finally debuted in Korea?!" a schoolgirl scream's excitedly as she walks past me with her friend, I assume.
"I'm soo excited for the tour and hearing the album live!" I hear them says as they walk ahead.
"Good morning, Seo-hyeon."
"Good morning, Seonsaengnim," I greet back at the guard by the gate.
"Quiet, quiet!" our homeroom teacher shouts, entering the class.
"Today is a very sad morning for as all, teachers and students. By now, everyone must have heard about Da-som's death. She committed suicide, and her body was found at the Gangseo river."
The class starts buzzing like a hive of bees. Everyone's gossiping about it. I didn't know Da-som personally, but she was my downstairs neighbour. She always greeted me with bad smile. That explains why her mother was wailing earlier, and why the top student isn't at school today. Jeong-hoon, her younger brother.
"Park Seonsaengnim, what was the cause of her death?" one girl asks. The others look at Teacher Park with curious eyes, I am curious too. She was a bubbly girl, why would she kill herself?
"Drugs. That's all I can share with you for now," he says firmly. " Tomorrow, social workers and police will come to have a talk with the whole school, so everyone must be here." He ends the topic abruptly, and the class goes back to buzzing and whispering.
"Didn't some girl also die last year from a drug overdose?" I hear one of the girls gossiping.
"Mhmmm, you're right. What was her name… Seon-ah? Seon-ahh?" another says.
I turn and give them a deadly look.
"Seo-ah," I say, staring at them.
"Ah?" one asks nervously.
"Her name was Seo-ah, not Seon-ah. And it wasn't a drug overdose. It was a murder. "
The police said it was an overdose, but I knew her. She wouldn't do drugs. Even Da-som wouldn't.
"What's wrong with her?" they whisper again.
"Ya! Don't you know? That was het best friend."