[007] the real you

                                                                             "I want a lot more than this, Eun-jung. I want... a life of my own where I can make the rules and not have to answer to everyone. And I'd especially want a life where I don't have to kiss up to a whole bunch of rich brats. No offense."

                                                                             Eun-jung chuckles, sitting up on Beck's bed and watching the blonde pace back and forth. She was rambling like she usually did, that familiar spark in her baby blue eyes that had hooked Eun-jung in from the very beginning. "None taken, Beck. I get it. Girls like Peach are the fucking worst."

                                                                             "Thank God you're not like her. I don't think I could handle two," Beck admitted.

                                                                             "You don't have to hang out with her. We could ditch all of them and it can be the two of us like before," Eun-jung offered with a small pout.

                                                                             Although Eun-jung wasn't too worried about Peach stealing Beck away from her, she knew that Peach would stop at nothing to try. Peach Salinger was the kind of girl to always get what she wanted, sinking her perfectly manicured claws into anything and everything that caught her eye. 

                                                                             Guinevere Beck proved to be no exception. But Eun-jung was determined to see to it that Peach wouldn't win, like she had so many times before.

                                                                             Now its Beck's turn to chuckle as she approaches her best friend, sitting next to her on the bed. "It's not that simple. Being friends with Peach brings a lot more connections than before. I get a taste of the high life with her. So... as painful as it is to deal with the control and the judgement and the snide comments from Peach's friends, it's worth it when I get to advance a little more."

                                                                             "You don't need Peach for that. I can get you all the connections you need and more," Eun-jung offered. "You know that, Beck."

                                                                             "I know. But... it'd feel wrong to use you like that. You're my best friend," Beck argued.

                                                                              The word 'best friend' hangs in the air for a moment too long, turning into a dagger before stabbing Eun-jung right in the heart.

                                                                              "I'd never want to use you like that. I care about you too much," Beck adds and just like that, Eun-jung's wounded heart swells up until she feels like it's bound to explode.

                                                                               "I care about you too, Beck. More than you could ever know," Eun-jung persisted, holding onto Beck's hand.

                                                                                Beck smiles at her, giving Eun-jung's hand a gentle squeeze. "I know. And when I'm a best-selling author with millions of people reading my book, we can finally be free of people like Peach and be happy."

                                                                               "God, I can't wait for that," Eun-jung sighs in relief, resting her head on Beck's shoulder with a small, content smile. "Just don't forget about me when you become big and famous."

                                                                               "Of course not. I couldn't forget about you even if I tried," Beck admitted softly.

 (🔪🧁💔)

                                                                                 Eun-jung couldn't believe that her progress with Love was going even better than expected. She and Love were getting closer than ever - so much so that Eun-jung felt one step closer to turning Love away from Joe. But a part of Eun-jung felt... a special connection to Love that she simply couldn't ignore. She could see why Joe fell for her and Eun-jung often thought of Love far more than she even cared to admit.

                                                                                  So when Love called Eun-jung over to her apartment, she decided to bring a glass of red wine with her. She figured that she could pour them both a glass and they could talk. It was fairly late anyway so Eun-jung figured Love just wanted to hang out with her new best friend and gossip. For the sake of winning Love over, Eun-jung was willing to play along.

                                                                                  Love was all smiles when Eun-jung arrived, ushering her in to the apartment and pulling her in for a hug. Eun-jung hugged her back, lingering there long enough to smell Love's sweet perfume. She was warm to the touch (or maybe Eun-jung was colder than usual) and Eun-jung almost didn't want to pull away, forcing herself to so she could show off the wine she had brought.

                                                                                "Hey, I wasn't sure if you had wine already but I brought one so we could drink and talk. I'm assuming that's why you brought me here," Eun-jung remarked.

                                                                                "Definitely! I'll take this from you and pour us both some glasses. Come on, make yourself comfortable. As they say - mi casa, su casa," Love responded, a soft chuckle following after it.

                                                                                 Eun-jung nods, doing just that while Love brought the both of them glasses of wine. She'd hand Eun-jung a glass when she was done, holding the other one close as she watched Eun-jung. Her eyes never left Eun-jung for a moment, watching as Eun-jung took a large sip. Maybe that should've been a red flag but Eun-jung wasn't paying attention.

                                                                                That was her first mistake.

                                                                               "Guess what happened to me today?" Love questioned.

                                                                                 Eun-jung shrugged, saying, "What happened?"

                                                                               "Amy came over and we had an interesting little chat," Love started, finally taking a sip from her glass.

                                                                               "Oh, yeah? What did she say?" Eun-jung asked, trying her best to play it cool. But a part of her was now beginning to panic.

                                                                                "She told me so much. Some of it seemed a little... ridiculous. But it got me to start thinking. And I even did a little bit of research of my own," Love continued.

                                                                                "Yeah?" Eun-jung sat up a little straighter, becoming guarded. "What did you find out?"

                                                                                "I found out that my boyfriend was lying to me about everything. His name isn't even Will. It's Joe. His name's Joe," Love chuckles, although it lacked any amusement. "And his so-called best friend isn't even his best friend. According to Joe, Eun-jung Park is a crazy stalker following him all the way here from New York. You and Candace followed Joe all the way here to terrorize him."

                                                                                "That's not true," Eun-jung quickly denied.

                                                                                "So your name isn't Eun-jung Hong, a rich party girl from New York turned nobody in L.A.?" Love's eyes narrow in suspicion.

                                                                                  Eun-jung huffed. "Fine, my name is Eun-jung Park. I am from New York. But I'm not working with Candace and I'm not some crazy stalker out to get Joe. He's not innocent. He's a monster."

                                                                                 "What are you talking about?" Love scoffed.

                                                                                 "If you did your research, you'd know that people around Joe tend to either go missing or end up dead.  My best friend, Guinevere Beck, was his last victim," Eun-jung argued.

                                                                                 "You're not seriously suggesting that -?" Love began to ask.

                                                                                 "I'm not suggesting, I'm telling you that you're in danger with Joe. I came here to get justice," Eun-jung stated with a shake of her head.

                                                                                 "So you lie to me and play with my feelings? I liked you, Eun-jung. I trusted you. Did you even want to get to know me or was that all a part of your persona as Caitlyn?" Love frowned.

                                                                                 "I do like you a lot! Did I plan on it? Absolutely not. But I like you so much and I want to save you from Joe. You can't let him get in your head! If you do, you'll be dead. He tried to kill me," Eun-jung insisted.

                                                                                  Love scoffs. "You sound insane. Do you hear yourself? Joe is a liar, and so are you! How do you expect me to believe anything you say after this?"

                                                                                 "You're just gonna have to trust me," Eun-jung insisted, reaching out for Love's arm.

                                                                                 "Don't touch me. I want you to leave," Love remarked, getting up from the couch and walking away from Eun-jung. She wanted to put as much space between her and Eun-jung as possible. She hardly recognized the girl she thought to be her friend.

                                                                                 "You know me. You know that everything I told you was real, except for my name. I swear," Eun-jung persisted, now beginning to chase after Love.

                                                                                 "Just go. I don't even want to look at you right now," Love insisted, raising her voice just slightly. But it was enough to make Eun-jung falter.

                                                                                "Are you... gonna go back to him?" Eun-jung reluctantly asked.

                                                                                  Would Eun-jung have to watch another person in her life choose Joe over her?

                                                                                 "I don't think that's any of your business, Eun-jung. Now I won't ask you again. Leave me alone," Love swiftly shut Eun-jung down.

                                                                                 "Fine. But there's one more thing I need to let you know," Eun-jung replied and just then, she showed off the wound that still decorated her chest. The wound which Joe had left behind.

                                                                                   Love reaches over to touch it, completely transfixed by the sight. But Eun-jung moves away suddenly, covering it back up with her shirt and backing away from her.

                                                                                 "When you want the truth, you can come and find me," Eun-jung retorts.

                                                                                   Eun-jung storms out after that, leaving Love alone in a stunned silence. Eun-jung was surprised to find herself becoming emotional, blinking away warm tears that made her vision suddenly become blurry. She was absolutely furious that Candace had started this domino effect, exposing all of them and setting fire to all of Eun-jung's careful planning

                                                                                  But once Eun-jung arrived home, she'd be confronted by an emotion that she hadn't anticipated: sadness.

                                                                                  Eun-jung shouts, animalistic and furious, as she began throwing around the few things she had in her apartment. She kept throwing and kicking things aeound until she didn't have any more energy to, falling to the floor on her knees and beginning to sob.

                                                                                 "You're not seriously crying, are you? The Eun-jung I knew would never allow herself to be this weak."

                                                                                    Wiping at her eyes, Eun-jung looked up to see Beck now sitting across from her. Her usual smile - once so warm and inviting and sweet - now seemed to be taunting Eun-jung as she looked at her friend with an unbearably smug expression.

                                                                                   "So what if Love doesn't want you to be around? You don't need her to complete your plan. Now that Joe is exposed, you can just get rid of him. We could torture him. He shouldn't go so easily," Beck reasoned.

                                                                                   "It's not enough! Joe will find a way out of this like he always does. He'll find a way back to Love and I'll be shut out! When I get my hands on that red head bitch, I swear to God I'll finish Joe's job for him!" Eun-jung exclaimed, seething with rage.

                                                                                 "Are you really upset because Candace screwed up the plan or because Love doesn't want to be your friend anymore?" Beck questioned.

                                                                                 "What? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Eun-jung narrowed her eyes.

                                                                                 "You like her. You want to replace her with me, don't you?' Beck accused.

                                                                                   Eun-jung shakes her head, deciding to keep her feet firmly rooted in denial. "Beck, what the hell are you talking about?"

                                                                                  "You genuinely like her. It was never pretend. You're going to replace me with her and you're going to be in love with her instead. You don't need me anymore," Beck continued.

                                                                                   "No, that's not true! I'm doing all of this for you, because I love you! I will never replace you!" Eun-jung insisted.

                                                                                    But even though Eun-jung was trying to comfort Beck, not even she believed her own words. Eun-jung had begun to grow attached to Love in the same way she had been attached to Beck and now Love was pushing her away... just like Beck had.

                                                                                   "You're such a fucking liar," Beck spat.

                                                                                   "Please forgive me," Eun-jung pleaded, rushing into Beck's arms and pulling her in for a hug. Beck hugged her back but her touch was cold and when Eun-jung opened her eyes again, she'd find that she was hugging herself.

                                                                                   . Once again, Eun-jung was completely alone.

(🔪🧁💔)

word count: 2066
notes: eun-jung is so down bad that even her delusions are calling her out on it 😭 😭 😭 😭