34 A Little Bit Of Regret And A Lot Of Grief

"You're kidding."

I try to spit out some sort of tangible sentence but nothing happens. No words were coming from me.

For the first few moments after Dahyeong's dad announcing Dahyeong's death, I'm left completely speechless.

Dahyeong. Dead? No way. I refuse to believe it. She was just here yesterday, smiling at me with those innocent beady eyes of hers while we waited together at the bus stop. She was the person I celebrated with yesterday on my birthday and 10th anniversary of friendship. She was the person I was with when I was at the convenience store after getting matching t-money cards - the time I swore to never leave her for as long as I lived. She was the person who never left Seoyun and me, even after all our crazy antics.

She was was a part of me.

What happens when you lose that part?

First stage: denial.

"There's no way, right?"