From Past To Present, I Still Love You 24 Why is Life so Hard?

Due to the excruciating pain, she couldn't even move. Yoona was physically and mentally broken.

Even within the comforts of her bed, Yoona did not feel safe. In fact, she was shaking, completely scared for her sanity. Scared of the future hardships she will face. Her heart was too fragile to handle anymore pain. She was at the edge of a cliff, hanging for her life.

To think that her two most precious friends would betray her. To think all the happy memories that they shared were fake. It was absolutely heartbreaking.

As an emotional person, this situation hurt Yoona more than she wanted for it to. Like those strong female leads, she didn't want to be bothered by the pain. She wanted to be a cold and vengeful. Who would want to cry over a bunch of betrayers? But her body did not respond accordingly. It betrayed her as well.

The funny thing was, was that no matter what people said, she stuck by the Moon Siblings because she believed in them. She saw the light in their hearts. There were a few people who warned her about their friendship, but she always brushed it off. Everyone deserved a second chance. Some people had the ability to change.

Oh, how she learned her lesson. She was humiliated and stabbed in the back.

Yoona never skipped school, but she wanted to stay home tomorrow. Seeing the mocking expressions on the Moon sibling's faces would only hurt her further. Plus, as someone who stuck by Jaeun and Jaemin's side for three years, she knew what they were capable of. With their power, they had the ability to make her life complete hell.

Her breathe got stuck in her throat.

Why did this always happen to her? Why was life so shit?

No matter how hard she tried to smile and stay positive, life always found a way to push her into a dark abyss, drowning her in desperation. Ever since she was young, she was put in these terrible situations.

It all started with her parent's divorce.

When she was born, her parents filed an immediate separation. They couldn't stand each other. In fact, Yoona had never seen them talk in a civil manner. They always screamed across the phone.

One of her youngest memories was juggling back and forth between the two houses. She always felt different. Everyone had two parents living in the same place, yet she was the only one who never seen her parents in the same room. Since Korea had a small divorce rate, there was no friends who were in similar circumstances as her. Nobody to relate to.

When she was a toddler, her parents finally decided that she should stay at the father's house. He was the only one financially stable. The mother, using this opportunity, decided to work as a housemaid to earn money.

Despite all her troubles, Yoona continuously smiled and went through kindergarten smoothly. She tried her best to do well in academics to make father smile. When father came back late from work, she would cheer him up by reciting the songs she learned at school.

Everything started to brighten up again.

But then he died. A drunk driver took his life.

One day he was there, and the next he had disappeared. There were no goodbyes. No last smiles. No more hugs. He was gone forever.

Perhaps fate took pity on her. Shortly after her father's death, in the midst of all her sadness, she found another light source.

Minhyun. The boy she met at her mother's workplace.

He understood her feelings and together, they healed the pains in their hearts. Everyday was another day to smile. A time to look forward to. Finally, there was someone to relate to. A person she could be herself around.

However, life was cruel. Just like her father, one day he was there, and the next he was gone. Mother told her he died as well.

Her young heart was shattered.

After mother left her old workplace, the duo traveled all the way to the rural seaside. There was only old people and fisherman living as their neighbors. Although she did not have friends her age, she did not complain. Using all their money, her mother had opened up a little restaurant, serving customers for more eleven hours straight. Her mother was working so hard. She didn't have the right to whine about her loneliness.

After all, she see the pain her mother was going through.

Although mother told her it was fine, the pain relief medication screamed otherwise. Nothing was okay. Everyday was a fight to survive in this cruel world.

Yoona tried her best to help mother as well, but as a kid, there was little she could do. Nonetheless, in front of the customers, to encourage them to come back, she tried her best to smile and give the best service. She couldn't let her mother do both the cooking and the serving.

As Yoona got older, her mother's workload lessened. She began to take on the extra jobs. Cooking was already hard to begin with, she couldn't slack off and make her mother do extra chores.

Soon, her mother was solely focused on the kitchen while she handled everything else. She became competent to support her family.

Using her looks to her advantage, she also helped business by attracting many of her high school admirers to the restaurant. Even though most of them lived far away, the sweet customer service she offered, made them come back.

With their newfound money, Yoona was able to hire an extra cook so that her mother could have time to rest. Soon, they began to have a loyal following of regulars who loved the food. The restaurant was finally taking off.

This was all due to the sacrifices Yoona made. In exchange for her youth, the sweet memories she could've made for high school, she opted them out to study and work. For those years, she never made any close friends. She didn't allow anyone to talk to her. After all, she didn't want to bring someone into her life only to be betrayed again. She was sick of people leaving.

Nobody could break the walls around her heart.

When university came, Yoona decided that enough was enough. The restaurant was going well on its own. With the establishment Yoona had created, her mother was able to run it without trouble.

Now, although she was still focusing on studying and working part-time, she wanted to improve her people skills. She was lonely. She wanted friends. To finally have some good memories.

That is why she was able to easily befriend Jaeun. Her heart was already vulnerable and open to meeting new people. She decided to give another shot at this whole friendship thing.

Dating was even a surprise to her as well. To think she would be romantic with another boy - it was like a dream.

Yet, after building up the courage to trust people again, this happened. She was betrayed. It was as if she wasn't meant to have any companions with the exception of her mother. Everyone seemed to leave in one way or another.

She used her sleeves to wipe away the tears.

Would she ever find someone she can truly trust?

Chapter end