Soojung POV
"Where are we going, Soojung-ah?" Jaehyun asked.
"Somewhere... you'll know when we get there," I said to him, with a smile.
I pulled him to a playground but not just any playground... it was the playground where we first met and became friends and had memories together. We reached there.
"Soojung-ah..."
"See! I told you that you'll remember it..." I said to him. We sat at the swings.
"So, why did you bring me here?" he said.
"Just! It was the only place where we had the best time together" I said.
"You... want to talk about it?" Jaehyun asked.
"About what?"
"About what had happened today..." then I sighed.
"I just don't get it... one minute he's sweet then the other he turns to this ice-cold person"
"and he with Jieun thing is not really helping," I said.
"Yeah, seriously what the hell is that all about?" he said.
"I really don't know how they got close or became close but one thing is for sure... they are hiding something from us," I said to him.
"I know this may sound crazy but could they be dating somehow or something?" Jaehyun said. I looked at Jaehyun.
"I don't know. Jieun hates him...will dislike him before plus she wouldn't do that to me. She's not that type of girl!" I said to him.
"yeah... I guess you're right..."
"Do I still love him?! Why do I question this when I was the one who broke up with him? Why is that, Jaehyun-ah?" I said to him
"I can't really answer that for you... I guess you have to talk to him and I know you hate the idea I mean me too but you have to let him explain too... you know his side of the story and I guess from there you can decide again whether you want him back or not" he said.
"I guess you're right" I replied.
{The next day - at the university}
I was sitting at the cafeteria with everyone, waiting for him. "He will come," Eun Na said.
"Yeah... and if anything happens you know that we're here for you," Jaenyun said.
Then the cafeteria door opened and there he was but yet again to my surprise he wasn't alone. He was with Jieun. I took a step back as I saw both of them but thought to myself that it was nothing. I walked to them.
"hey..." I said.
"Oh, hey unnie!" Jieun said.
Taeyong didn't even reply or anything. He was about to walk away but Jieun pulled him back. When I saw the skinship, I was taken aback by it but I just thought as it was nothing.
"What do you want?" Taeyong said in an annoyed voice.
"I want to talk to you... in private..." I said.
"Well then, I'll just leave the both of you alone," Jieun said as she was about to walk away but Taeyong pulled her back.
I was surprised he did that but not only me but Jieun was too.
"Whatever you want to say to me, you can say it in front of Jieun," he said. Everyone in the group who was watching was surprised.
"Yah!" Jieun said while trying to let go of Taeyong's grip. I could see that Johnny was pissed at Taeyong.
"Taeyong, let go of her arm NOW!" Johnny said in an angry tone.
"What if I don't want to?" Taeyong said with a smirk.
Then, Johnny got up from his seat and walked toward us but I stopped him.
"Don't! She's fine, okay?... Just let me talk to him" I said to Johnny. Johnny was still glaring at Taeyong, pissed at his attitude.
"She'll be okay..." I said.
"Fine..." Johnny said as he went back to the table.
I turned my attention to Taeyong again.
"I mean it Taeyong, I really want to talk to you privately," I said slowly losing my patience.
"And I mean it when I said Jieun isn't going anywhere!" he said back, raising his voice which grabs everyone's attention in the cafeteria.
"Okay! I want to talk to you about a different matter but you seem to like to gravitate towards these topics instead" I said raising my voice at him. He looked at me confused. The same goes for Jieun but then she realized what I wanted to say.
"So... What is going on with the two of you? What the hell are you guys' relationship with each other?" I said to him. Both of them were shocked.
"Come on, everyone is curious by now," I said. Taeyong then looked around and literally, everyone was looking at us three. Then,
"Unnie.." Jieun suddenly said with a sigh.
"I have something to tell you and I've been wanting to tell you about it but... Taeyong oppa and I... well... we're-" I was listening carefully when someone cut Jieun.
"We're Dating!!!" it was Taeyong. He suddenly blurted out those words.
"WHAT!!?" everyone said including myself.
"YA!" Jieun said to him.
"Is that true?" I said slightly in tears.
"It is," Taeyong said.
"I wasn't talking to you..." I said looking at Jieun. She too was in tears.
"Jieun-ah... is this true? Please tell me the truth... as my best friend... please tell me his lying..." I said in tears. Everyone turned quiet.
"Unnie..." she said in tears.
"Unnie... I'm so sorry..." she said.
I was shocked. I couldn't believe it my own best friend would do something like this to me... I just couldn't think...I just can't believe what I just heard! I felt betrayed, I did the unthinkable!
I slapped Jieun!
Everyone was surprised.
"I expected it from him but not from you... I don't want to see you again. I hope both of you are happy with each other" I said as I left the cafeteria.
I can't believe I just lost my best friend because of a guy!
Jieun POV
She slapped me... I mean I was expecting it. As she said those words, I was balling my eyes out. She walked away from us and out of the cafeteria.
"Unnie!" I shouted in tears. She didn't even turn around. Then Jaehyun oppa came.
"I can't believe you would do that to her. Especially she was with you after what Mark did!" Jaehyun oppa said angrily. He then ran off after her.
"Oppa!" I said.
I just stood there, thinking about what the hell just happened just now.
I tried to walk to my friend group but instead, I stepped back.
"Oppa..." I said to Johnny.
"No...don't! What happened to you? This is not the Jieun we knew... not my Jieun..." he said. Everyone in the cafeteria was whispering.
"I can't believe she did that"
"I know right"
"First this Mark guy, then Soobin sunbae and now Taeyong oppa"
"Woah... she is such a slut"
"I wonder who she is going after later"
"I bet you Taeyong is going to dump her within the week"
"I'm jealous she got Taeyong... bitch"
"I bet you she seduced Taeyong... what a whore"
Hearing those whispering was overwhelming. I started to panic. All the memories started coming back. I had short of breath. Suddenly,
"Jieun-ah..." it was Taeyong oppa. He placed his hand on my shoulder.
Then I came back to my senses. "NO!" I pushed his hand away.
"Don't!" I said and I quickly ran to the rooftop.
{At the roof}
I sat at the ledge. Looking at the scenery. Breathing in and out of the fresh air. Trying to calm me down.
"Hey..." I peeked over my shoulder to see Taeyong oppa. I glanced at him and went back to the scenery.
"Jieun-ah... please..." he said.
"You promised!" I said and looked at him.
"You promised me that you weren't going to hurt me like before and now looked at what happened. I just lost my best friend who has been with me through everything. I lost her because I was trying to keep your secret!" I said at him, angrily.
"I'm sorry... I wasn't thinking" he said.
"Damn right you weren't thinking," I said.
"I was scared of what she was going to say, okay! With what is going on at home... I just can't have her back, knowing all of those problems haven't been solved" he said.
"If you think she is going to leave you just because of that then you don't know her at all. She loves you too much to do so" I said about to walk away. When he grabbed my hand,
"I love her too that's why I don't want her to be involved," he said.
"Well, now I'm involved too. I said I will help you with it but there was not how I thought things would end up being. Now our friends hate us. The whole university hates me, calling me names. You know exactly what happened before... I can't..." I said. He then hugged me.
"I will make it up to you," he said.
"Even Johnny oppa hates me..." I said in tears.
"I highly doubt he hates you. He loves you way too much to do so" he said.
"If he doesn't?" I said while looking at him.
"As I said, I'll make it up to you. I promise" he said.
'Stop making promises you know you can't keep, oppa' I thought to myself.
I pulled away from the hug and check the time and it was time for class. I told Taeyong oppa that we need to get back to class so I went first. I walk to the dance studio and as soon as I did I instantly got weird looks and whispers from others. I looked around the class and saw Soobin at the very back. I smiled and went towards him. I sat next to him.
"Hey," he said.
"Hi..." I said back. Taeyong oppa came in and sat not far from us.
Then the door swing opened and revealing my friend group. They glared at me and sat far away from me. I just sat there hugging my legs, thinking of what happened in the cafeteria. I looked at them again and I can see that they keep on stealing glances over to me. I can see in Soojung unnie's eyes that she was in absolute pain, betrayed, anger. Them hating me hurts me, knowing it was my fault, to begin with. I felt torn up, sitting there. It broke my heart.
Then I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked and to my surprise, it was Johnny oppa. I was shocked that he was sitting next to me.
"What are you doin-" he cut me.
"Look I know what happened!" Johnny oppa said.
I looked at him confused. "What do you mean?" I said.
"You, Taeyong, and... Lucas..." he said. My eyes widened as I heard Lucas's name.
"H-how did y-you know about Lucas?" I said, still surprised.
"Look, I know what you did to Soojung was horrible and I too felt that it was wrong, to a point that I don't know who my own best friend is because that girl earlier was not you. But that was before Taeyong told me..." he said.
"Wait...w-what? Taeyong told you" I said.
"Before coming to class, he caught me and talked to me. He told me everything because he's scared that I might hate his cousin because of it" he said.
"So he told you, huh? Until the cousin thing too?" I said back while looking down.
"Yeah... he did. He even explains why you didn't tell everyone about it too, not the one where he forces you to but because of what happened before..." he said.
"...oh, so you know now..." I said.
"Why didn't you tell me before? That something like that was happening?" he said slight pissed.
"You were in a different school back then plus I don't want you to be worried and get angry about it... when I told Taeyong oppa about it, even he didn't take it well," I said.
"Still... you could have told me about it tho..." he said.
"After what happened, I told my parents and they moved both me and Taeyong to a new school... your school... and we promised each other that we would keep our relationship a secret after that..." I said.
"I just don't want to be mistreated again. That is why I kept it a secret" I said.
"Well now, I too am keeping that secret and I promise I would not break it," he said.
"Thanks..." I said with a smile.
"I love you, don't forget that!" he said as hugged.
"I love you too..."
The teacher then came into the class.
"Btw, were you really going to hate me if Taeyong oppa didn't explain everything?" I said.
"Not exactly. It's more like I'm losing my best friend because of it" he said and went back to the teacher.
I then felt my phone buzzing. I looked at it as a message from Taeyong oppa.
*messages*
Taeyong oppa - 'I know you rather keep it between us but I just had to. I know you needed him'
Taeyong oppa - 'I told you didn't I, that I'm going to make it up to you for putting up with my shit'
*messages*
I looked back at Taeyong. I gave him a small smile and mouthed out 'Thank you'.
I know it was hard for Taeyong oppa to tell Johnny oppa about it because it does not just involve me but also him too. I know he did it for my protection but I can't help but want to expose my own secret, knowing that I'm hurting the person I care about. I'm thankful that Johnny oppa knows now but will he get hurt in the process? Can I still keep this secret after many years? Or will it be exposed and old history will repeat itself again?
Eun Na POV
I just stayed Soojung unnie after what happened. I can't believe Jieun unnie would do something like that! Especially with Taeyong oppa, someone she wasn't keen on at the beginning and also his Taeyong unnie's ex-boyfriend. Soojung unnie must feel like her whole world is breaking... She first lost her boyfriend whom she still loved dearly and now she just lost her best friend whom she trusts with all of her heart.
All of us ignored Jieun unnie and Taeyong oppa for Soojung unnie. I mean both Soojung unnie and Jaehyun oppa hates both of them. Johnny oppa is staying with Jieun unnie as he always does... and me... well I just feel like something is not right.
Even tho they have been spending a lot of time together, things just don't add up. I'm going to get to the bottom of it if I have to!
{After class}
"Eun Na, are you heading home?" Soojung unnie said, still trying to be strong with it.
"Yeah, waeyo unnie?" I said.
"Aniya...Be safe! Kaja, Jaehyun-ah" she said as she walked out with Jaehyun oppa.
As I saw Soojung unnie walked out, I saw Jieun unnie was about to head out too, and right on queue Taeyong oppa was with her. So I followed them out. I hid behind a pole and I heard their conversation.
"Thanks for telling Johnny oppa... that means a lot... after everyone hating me, him hating me is the last thing I wanted right now..." Jieun unnie said.
"No problem... besides he deserved to know... for your sake. Besides, it was my fault, to begin with" he said, looking down.
"No... I said I'm with you through all of this didn't I?" Jieun unnie said while lifting his head up. 'What the hell is these two?' I thought.
"And I have no idea how to thank you for that" Taeyong oppa said.
"Making Johnny oppa trusting me again was enough for now," she said back as she patted his back.
"So I'm heading home? You wanna come over?" Taeyong oppa said. 'What? Jieun unnie has been to Taeyong oppa's house? None of us have been there before...not even Soojung unnie' I thought.
"Nah, I better head home too. My mom is probably waiting for me" Jieun unnie said back.
"Okay...wanna ride home?" Taeyong oppa said.
"It's fine...I'll can just walk home...maybe next time," Jieun unnie said.
"Fine, but please make it home safe. Be careful and don't get hurt. If anything happens, call me, okay?" he said.
"Nae, oppa," Jieun unnie said.
She was about to walk home when "And I'm sorry again for what happened today...I really didn't mean for any of these to happen and if you are never going to forgive me, I totally understand" Taeyong oppa said.
"Hey... it's fine. It was bound to happen eventually but I just didn't expect it to happen today that's all. People had started to question both of us. And for forgiving you... you already had my forgiveness after you talked with Johnny oppa, so yes... everything is fine, oppa" Jieun unnie said to her. While listening to her, I got more confused. Until...
"Besides you're my-" she cuts her sentenced and looked around to see if anyone was there. I tried hiding behind the pole and stayed there as quiet as possible.
"You know what! Just make sure you keep the rest of your promises" Jieun unnie said.
"I promise!" Taeyong oppa said then hugged her.
I gasped a bit. They were startled and looked around again. I quickly hide and stayed quiet again. I even held my breath. They then broke the hug and parted ways. I sighed in relieved, by not getting caught. Then...
"Hey..." I was jumped. I quickly turned and it was only Jinyoung oppa.
"Oh, oppa? Hey..."
"What are you doing hiding here?" he said.
"Oh, I was just listening to Taeyong oppa and Jieun unnie's conversations"
"Yeah. I heard about that. It must have been hard on Soojung, is she okay?"
"She's trying to recover the best way she could. She has Jaehyun oppa by her, so she'll recover in no time... I hope" I said.
"That's good, right?" he said.
"Yeah... but something is just not right with Jieun unnie and Taeyong oppa tho"
"What? What do you mean? You don't think that they are a couple?" he said.
"Well, that and I feel like they're hiding something. They were being very cautious of they were saying before plus Jieun unnie won't do something like these without a reason... I'm going to find it out" I said.
"Okay, I'm in," he said.
"WHAT??!"
"What you don't like that?"
"Will..." I said, thinking.
"Or do you want me to tell Jieun and Taeyong that you were eavesdropping on their conversations," he said with a smirked.
"Okay! Fine, you can come and join. My god! There is no need to blackmail" I said.
"Great!" he said with a smile.
"Okay, tomorrow after school meets me outside the entrance, okay?" I said.
"Okay!"
"Good"
I'm going to find out what happened and bring peace back to our friend group. Even if I'll get hurt along the way!