[Music Recommendation: "Blue & Grey" by BTS (instrumental only)-available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in a loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter ~

Hora followed me as I ran out of our house. I ran aimlessly as I cried… past the brooks, and the many trees, past the appliance shop, and even past our school. I only stopped in front of a big lake. Seeing it meant that I was in the northwestern part of our village, where the huge park was. It was night but there were still some people jogging on the sides, or were seated on the bench beside the lake. Exhausted from all the running, I sat down on the nearest empty bench, and Hora sat beside me, still carrying my printed story.

After catching my breath, I apologized to Hora. She didn't deserve to see something like that. But she said it was okay, and rubbed my back. When she did, I ended up crying again. I cried so hard and hugged her. She cried with me, too. She had always been that soft girl who easily cries. Time passed by as we just sat there, crying like lunatics.

Probably half an hour, or maybe an hour passed by until we calmed down and wiped our tears. I tried to smile but I couldn't. Everything that happened was still so vivid in my memory.

"Hora… sniff… Why do you think mom can't just support me with what I want?"

Hora shook her head.

"Why can't she just believe in me? And why does she think that I'll fail? She hasn't even read what I wrote but she's already judging me—thinking that I'll be a failure. And seriously, what's so wrong with writing? Why is she looking down on it so much?"

"She's just not appreciating it the way we do," Hora said, pulling herself together to smile. "Auntie's never been a wide reader. She always preferred those overly dramatic telenovelas with their impossible dramas. Ha-ha-ha!"

I chuckled with her. She was right though. Mom always watched those afternoon "telenovelas" that aired on tv where there's a bunch of cheating here and there, female leads that just won't die even after being in numerous of accidents, those crazy plots that were too dramatic that it's becoming unrealistic, and their romantic lines that makes you cringe. Ugh. I've never been a fan of such dramas. I'm good with dramas as long as they're reasonable and realistic at least. Not just "some-crazy-bitch-just-decided-to-make-my-life-a-hell" kind of drama. Those telenovelas need lots of work when it comes to their villains. Seriously. Their characters were so one-dimensional. Real people aren't like that—they're complex and … ugh, I don't even know where to begin. There's only very few decent telenovelas out there. That's why I'd rather read books in my room than watch those. TV Stations at this generation would just air anything that sells to the audience, I guess… even if quality sucked. The audience wasn't that picky anyway since it's free to watch.

"You're right," I replied. "But someday, I'll show her. I'll become famous and sell lots of books. I'll be really lucky if one of them turns into a movie. But if not, that's fine, too."

"Yes! And I'm sure you'll sell lots of books! I'll be your first fan! And I'll buy lots of them," Hora kindly cheered me up. She's really sweet and kind and very supportive.

"Thank you," I smiled at her. Truly, I'm very lucky to have her as my best friend. If not, I'd probably still be crying here, all alone. "What would I do without you, Hora? I love you, bestie."

"Awww… I love you, too, bestie." She hugged me, and patted my back once more.

"Can I sleep over at your place? I don't want to go home yet."

"Ha-ha-ha! Of course you can. I'll just ask mom to call your mom."

"Yeah. I don't want to deal with mom right now. Let her cool off."

And so, we went to Hora's home which was a very stylish and modern home. Her father's an architect and her mother's a home designer that's why they ended up selling furniture for business. On the sides, they take on requests for renovating houses and other stuff related to homes. Honestly, they're so good at it that it's no wonder they're earning a lot when they made it into a living.

We went upstairs, to Hora's room which was pastel pink. All her furniture were matching, even the hangings on the walls—amazing as always. I loved looking at the design of her room even though I wasn't that much of a fan of pink. She lent me one of her spare pajamas which was also pink and too girly. I grinned trying to hide my distaste of it. Anyway, I'm just barging in so I didn't have any choice. I took a bath before bed and laid down beside her spot. Good thing her bed was wide enough to cater two or even three people. Before I knew it, I already dozed off while Hora was still busy drying her hair.

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[PS. This part is a mini Hora POV after Senara fell asleep]

"Sena, it's still Sunday tomorrow. No classes. Why don't we go—" I asked my friend but when I turned around, she was already fast asleep. Hmm… poor Sena. Her mom was really harsh on her today. How could she be so mean? Hmf!

Ping!

Suddenly, I heard a ringtone. I looked around and saw Sena's cell phone lit up on the top of my study table. I went over it and flipped her phone open.

"Did her mom message her?" I asked myself. "Oh! It's that Kai, her crush." Hmm… Should I open the full message? Or not?

But feeling a little devious, I opened it for her. My reason? What if he was asking for something urgent? I should wake her up, right? He-he-he! And so, I opened up the text message.

"I'm done reading your story. I also commented on your file so you can check your misses. Wanna hear my overall feedback? Let me know when you're free and I'll call you."

"Oooohh, wow! He read Sena's story, too? That's fast. I was only at chapter seven. That's halfway through. Oh well," I shrugged. "I should reply to him and let him know Sena's asleep."

And so, I typed in…

"Hello Kai! This is Hora, Senara's friend. She's at our house now, already sleeping so I'm doing the courtesy of replying to you. Today's not a really good day for her and she ended up crying all night. Sigh… She talked to her mom about wanting to be a writer but her mom didn't agree saying she won't make it and be popular. Seriously, she's already so pessimistic when she hasn't read what Sena wrote! It was really great and well written. She'll keep on improving in the future, too! Sena's really smart. Oh, I'm rambling, sorry. Anyway, I'm just letting you know of what happened and that she's asleep. Don't worry, I shall take care of her for the night.

PS. Pls don't tell her I replied to you or she'll get angry at me. Ha-ha-ha! I'm gonna delete this after, okie? Thanks!"

Aaand send. Alright. That should do it. Now, I'm gonna sleep. Goodnight world!