Chapter Twenty-Two: Of Bad news and Good sake
A/n: I am soooooooo sorry for not updating in so long! *internal screaming* ok. Ok. I'm calm now. I've had alot of things go on in my personal life, and it's gotten in the way of being able to update. Anyways, hopefully I can get on a more regular scheduled now. But anyways... Here's the newest chappie of Where The Skies Align! Lemme know your thoughts! And as always, thanks to everyone who has given this story a chance! I'm sincerely thankful to you all! Happy readings~!
The hug lasted for a good few minuets. Ae-Cha was hugging Tian tightly, crying softly. It seemed that the woman was unwilling to let Tian go. It seemed like she was almost afraid Tian would disappear if Ae-Cha let her go. Not that Tian minded all that much. Tian was hugging the woman back, but felt awkward as she comforted the older woman. She was never that good at comforting people. Especially if they were crying and hugging her.
After a moment, Ae-Cha pulled back, wiping at her teary eyes. Ae-Cha then locked eyes with Min-Soo, her look softening out as she pulled the younger woman into a quick, tight hug. She pulled back after a split moment, and then looked around the two other woman, hope and fear shining in her eyes.
"Where... Where is Ha-Seon?" She asked in a small voice, locking eyes with Tian.
Tian then felt the full weight of the situation land squarely on her shoulders. Tian's shoulders dropped, and any trace of a smile she had was quickly gone. her throat swelled up, her chest compressed, and her eyes prickled. She had the sudden urge to cry, but held it together for Ae-Cha's sake. She didn't want to show any form of weakness in front of the woman. She found herself unable to say anything because Tian was afraid she'd just break down and cry.
"Ae-Cha... Can we go... Inside?" Tian said softly, taking unsure, small breaks between her words. Min- Soo looked at her friend, and then at Ae-Cha as she became more serious.
Ae-Cha seemed to understand at that moment. She looked between the two girls, almost sending a silent plea to say anything. After a moment, she dropped her smile, and nodded as she stepped aside to let the two girls in.
Tian and Min-Soo sat on the couch while Ae-Cha pulled up a chair for herself before leaving the room to get some tea for the three of them. It seemed that Ae-Cha didn't wasn't to deal with this subject matter any more than the two girl's did. Tian's hands wrung together, her lips pilling into a tight line. Min-Soo glanced over at her friend, sensing and understanding her distress. Min-Soo gently laid a hand on Tian's knee, silently giving her some support. Tian looked at her, smiling slightly, trying to reassure her friend, but then looked away as her smile quickly dropped. It was at that moment, Ae-Cha came back into the room, setting the tea cups in front of the two girls, who quickly began taking sips of the steaming liquid.
"So... What happened?" Ae-Cha asked, pouring herself some tea. She didn't look at the two women, who sat their cups down, and looked at each other for a moment before looking at the middle aged woman. Ae-Cha looked directly at Tian as she took a sip, and sat down the cup. The sad look in her eyes told Tian that Ae-CHa knew her son wasn't coming home. So, she chose to explain, the best she could or wanted to, what had happened.
"He was... Well..." Tian closed her eyes, sighing heavily. She let out a shaky breath, taking a moment to gather herself. She spoke without opening her eyes."You know, we got captured. We got reunited when they were moving us to another place. We made plans to escape. It didn't go over too well. There was a fight. He got killed." Tian spoke in short, chopped sentences, trying her best to keep herself under control. She hadn't cried in weeks over what had happened, and she refused to cry now. Not when it was Ae-Cha who would need the strength.
The silence that followed was so thick, one could have cut it with a knife. Everyone seemed to let weight of the moment settle. Min-Soo was looking at her own intertwined hands, biting her lips as tears prickled at her eyes. Tian was taking deep breaths, and letting go of shaky breaths. Ae-Cha was just silent, trying to process the moment and the words that were spoken.
"I... I thought so. I hadn't heard him. Figured he would have been loudly proclaiming his presence, but when there was silence, and I saw you with that expression..." Her voice trailed off, closing her own eyes as Tian opened hers. Tian gave the older woman a sympathetic expression as Ae-CHa opened her eyes, letting go of a shaky breath." I guess I was just hoping my fear was wrong." She said in a tone so low, both Tian and Min-Soo had to lean close to hear the woman.
"We really tried our best to save him. I even had to make Tian a new dress because her last one was ruined trying to make rags-"
"We'll give you time to grieve if that's what you want. I think we all need time to process everything." Tian cut off Min-Soo's frantic rambling. Ae-Cha looked up, nodding slightly. Tian nodded,standing up. She motioned for Min-Soo to do the same, which she did.
"We'll check on you later." She said softly. Ae-Cha simply nodded, her eyes looking off. Tian and Min-Soo paused for just a moment longer before they walked out of the house together.
The two friends were walking down the street together in heavy silence. Tian's mind was going through so much. Her chest tightened, and she wanted to cry.
"Tian, are you ok?" Min-Soo asked, stopping in front of a jewelry shop. Tian looked at her, and then shrugged.
"If you see the others, let them know I'm alright. Make up any excuse you want to have them not look for me. I just want to be alone for a little bit." She told Min-Soo. The blonde woman paused, tilting her head slightly.
"Are you sure?" She questioned softly, touching her shoulders. Tian looked at her hand, and then nodded as she looked up, smiling slightly.
"I'm sure. Just let them know I'll be ok, and I'll be back later."
"Alright. Just... Don't get into any trouble, ok?" Tian nodded, smiling slightly as the two parted paths.
Min-Soo returned to the group just a short while later, surprised to see that they had actually stayed in the same spot, talking among themselves. Noticing Min-Soo's reappearance, the group stopped their talking, and turned to look at the woman. She explained what had happened, and the group as a whole seemed to understand that it was probably for the best to let Tian have some time to herself, but they still worried.
Jae-Ha decided to go for a leisurely walk through town. At least that's what he told himself. Another part of him knew he was just as worried about Tian as the others, and was just wanting to make sure she was alright. Still, he wanted to giver her some time to process her emotions on her own. He understood perfectly well that sometimes a person just needed time to process their feelings on their down without anyone else interfering.
After all, Tian had gone through something particularly bad, and hadn't had the necessary time to truly deal with it all. Maybe if she was left alone for the right amount of time, it would give her some time time to deal with just a little bit of it. Even if just a minuscule amount.
Despite that understanding, Jae-Ha didn't want Tian to shoulder all those thoughts, feelings, and everything else on her own either. He wanted to help her in some way, although he wasn't sure how, but he wasn't going to force her either.
She'll talk if and when she is ready.
Jae-Ha shook his head, trying to rid his mind of his worries, and thoughts, and tried to focus on the walk, which was supposed to be relaxing.
As he paid more attention to his surroundings, it began to feel oddly nostalgic. The gray looking, empty buildings tugged at something in his memory, and tried to recall exactly why they had looked familiar. Had he been down this way before? Then, it hit him.
This is where Tian and I first met.
He realized with a smirk, shaking his head, and looking around. It was after walking just a few more feet that he caught site of Tian, drinking from a sake cup, her chin resting on her knees with a sour expression as she took another drink. He stared for a moment, but he wasn't sure why. He was half tempted to walk on, but before his mind could make up what he wanted to do, his feet were walking towards her.
"I didn't know you drank." He voiced with a casual grin as he sat next to her. Tian looked at him, eyeing him with a critical expression before looking off with her lips slightly pursed.
"Shouldn't you be with the others?" She questioned as if Jae-Ha was annoying her. He probably was on some level, but he was just happy she didn't directly tell him to leave.
"I should ask the same thing." He replied, smirking slightly as he glanced at her. Tian shrugged, pouring herself another drink. He frowned, watching as she took small sips at it. He looked away after another moment.
"Want any?" She questioned after a few moments, when she finished the shot she had poured for herself. She had the empty sake cup in one hand, and the bottle of sake in the other, nudging both in his direction.
"I never turn down a chance to drink with good company." He said, taking both from her. He could feel her eyes on him as he poured himself a drink, and then took slow sips at it. When he finished, she took it, and began pouring herself another.
Suppose we're gonna share the same cup.
Jae-Ha thought with an amused grin as she drank at her cup.
"Mind sharing what's on your mind?" Jae-Ha questioned after a few more shots shared between the two. He was currently shaking around his own shot of sake that Tian had shakily poured for him.
"There is nothing to tell really." Tian slurred, reaching for the empty cup that Jae-Ha had sat down.
She was silent as she poured another drink. She took a sip, sighed in satisfaction before sighing in another way as she rested her head against the building, her eyes looking at the sky. Jae-Ha watched her intently, but wasn't going to say anything just yet.
"I see." He said after a moment, looking away.
"I took a walk before I came back to town, and decided to buy some... Some sake. It was a one man party till you showed up." She said, looking back at him. She then raised an eyebrow."What were you doing anyways?"
"I was just walking around, and saw you drinking by yourself. A pretty girl should never drink alone." He winked at her, pleased to see the slight blush that arose on her face.
"You keep talking like that, and you won't find any girl to settle down with." She joked, laughing slightly. Jae-Ha chuckled, taking the sake cup, and pouring himself a drink.
"There is nothing wrong with telling a girl she is pretty." He said simply, once again, smirking at the blush that again rose on her pale face.
"Whatever." She muttered, making him chuckle again.
"You seem to favor this place." He changed the subject, looking around. Tian shrugged slightly.
"It's a very secluded place. Not many people do business here anymore. It's a nice place for some peace." She answered. The two shared a few more drinks in silence together.
"How long have you been coming here for... Peace?" He questioned, feeling slightly buzzed. Tian had clearly had more than enough as she swayed slightly. He moved the sake bottle from her grasp, on the other side of himself.
"For...For awhile." She slurred between hiccups, closing her eyes for a split second. She then shook her head, opened her eyes, and glanced over at him. Jae-Ha shifted slightly at her intense stare. He glanced at her when the stare didn't go away. He could tell something was going through her mind.
"What's going on?" He questioned, feeling a bit nervous at her staring.
"You... Did it hurt?" She questioned, jarring him slightly. He didn't understand what she meant, and was almost afraid to know what she meant as she touched his wrist."It...It must have." She whispered, sounding almost apologetic.
He laughed again, looking away. He was nervous now, not understanding what she meant, and not wanting to know what she meant either. Although a deeper part probably understood exactly what she meant.
"Ah, if we don't get back to the others soon, they'll worry. We should head back." Jae-Ha was trying to change the subject to anything else before she said something he didn't want to hear. He had moved to stand up to walk away, but her hand had tightly gripped his wrist. He looked at her. She was looking at him with an intense expression.
"Don't go again." She said softly. Despite her tone, her eyes were looking at him firmly. He felt frozen, unsure what to do, but after a moment, sat back down next to her. He had to admit to himself that he liked the small smile that graced her lips."Thank you." She said softly, loosening the grip on his wrists.
"Don't mention it." He said softly, feeling a bit surprised when she suddenly laid her head against his shoulder. He looked at her, noticing her eyes closed. He was still until her breathing evened out, a sure sign she was asleep and wouldn't be disturbed. He gently moved her head off his shoulder, and then moved to pick her up, and then soared back to Min-Soo's home.