Chapter 4

As she entered her room, she immediately discarded the dress she was wearing and took a short bath. She then put on her old clothes that she had been wearing while waiting for the unusable dresses from her cousin. She remembered how her twelve-year-old self had asked her aunt if she could get new clothes, but what she got in response was, "Enjoy what you have been given, but do not covet for more." And so, the conversation ended like that. She made her way to her bed and climbed onto it. She picked up her phone that she had thrown earlier on the bed before leaving for the ceremony.

As she took her phone, contemplating if she should call or write a message to her friend, she decided to call. After just a few seconds, the call connected and a sweet, joyful voice came into her ears, "Hey Aurora, what’s up?" Hearing her voice made Aurora’s eyes glisten with tears. Her eyes, which were calm, now glistened with tears upon hearing her friend’s voice. She met her friend when she was still in high school. While others were either bullying her for believing Nana’s words or not interfering to help her, her friend was the only person who stood up for her. Since then, they have never been separated again.

She choked back her tears in order to respond, "Hi, sorry for calling you at this time." Even though her voice was low, her friend was still able to catch on to the fact that she was crying. Her friend asked, "My little crybaby, what happened?" Hearing that name made Aurora let out a small laugh as she wiped away her tears. "What made you believe that I'm crying?" she asked. This time her voice came back to normal, which made the person on the other end of the call smile. "Who knows you better than me, and I'm sure your nose is running with snot." This time it was Aurora's turn to laugh. "Now, now, aren't we forgetting something, my dear? I asked you a question, answer me now." The voice was sweet and a little threatening, making a chill run down her spine.

But left with no choice, she decided to tell everything while omitting the part about the dress. After hearing everything, her friend cursed, "That son of a bitch! I can't believe he would be shameless enough to say that. And that bitch of a cousin dared to sleep with a man knowing he is taken, and now dares to point a finger at you." She took a deep breath before her voice became lower, as if to praise, "But at least you didn't disappoint me. I taught you self-defense according to what my brother taught me, but you were able to surpass me. Which teacher wouldn't be proud of their student, even though I don't understand why you always put up with it?"

When Aurora heard everything, she wondered if she should laugh or cry. One thing she is sure of now is that she is tired and needs to sleep. With a yawn, she bid farewell to her friend and drifted to sleep. But when she woke up to check the time the next morning, it was already 6:54. She was about to drop her phone back on her bed when she saw a message from her friend saying, "Meet me at your favorite milk tea shop." After accepting the request, she was about to go back to sleep when the door to her room burst open and her cousin barged in as usual, shouting something like, "Wake up, lazy freak! Do you think lazing around in bed will be helpful for a useless being like you?".

I'm quite sure you came to find me early this morning for something; otherwise, I would have seen you right at approximately 10 in the morning. However, I cannot say it since it will create another dispute that I'm not interested in taking part in. But instead of leaving as she always does, she entered the room with a disgusted expression, holding a hand on her nose as if the air inside was pungent. "A filthy room for a pure whore," she said while Aurora groaned, feeling like a new problem is brewing from her way of entering the only room she never entered. But as if she wasn't done surprising her, she even sat near Aurora in order to better have access to her face. "Did you know, Aurora, from what my mother told me about your parents? Do you want to know?"She asked, her voice soft but with a hint of mockery. Her eyes glinted with joy when she caught the curiosity in the other party's eyes.

She continued, “I asked my mother out of pity for you to know more about your parents. Do you want to know?” she asked again. This time, the girl, still on her bed, nodded. As she obtained the response she wanted, the smile on her face grew wider. Her voice turned more mocking as she said, “My mom told me that yours ran away with another man, claiming that she was in love, and that your dear father, who is my father’s brother, brought you back in his arms, claiming you were his daughter. He is the one who said it himself that your mother ran away, but-"

She started laughing as if she had just cracked a joke, while Aurora's eyes grew in shock. Obviously, that was a story she didn’t expect. What she thought was the normal tune of "both my parents died in an accident" but never this. But Nana, as she said after her laughing fit came to an end, “I also remember that day 15 years ago when your younger self came to show her drawing but got hot water burn on your forearm. I still remember how those fine hands of yours turned red; it was a beautiful sight,” as she said, her hands trailed from Aurora’s arm to her hand as if to show exactly where she was talking about.