I open the cabinet to pick her snacks, chips and popcorn before scurrying to the counter to microwave the popcorn."Would you like some juice or soft drink?",My eyes hover over the options available in the refrigerator seeking the sight of a lot of drinks but I know she's always going for her favourite litchi one."I'm okay with whatever you have.",her voice comes like a whisper from across the room so I tilt my face to look at her. Legs crossed, eyes fixated on her phone and a slight smile on her lips making me think she's talking to him."Don't you want your litchi one?",I don't close the refrigerator, keeping my eyes on her to notice her behaviour.

She seems too captivated by this one when I'm hoping that he doesn't turn out to be a bastard to her. I'm starting to doubt that he really doesn't care about her, not enough to accept whatever connection they have in his friend circle which speaks a lot of volume.

"If you have it, then bring it, otherwise I'm okay with anything.",She puts an end to the conversation so I pick two cans of coke and retrieve the bowl of popcorn along with other snacks to sit beside her on the couch."Who are you talking to?",I approach her casually, not wanting to be intrusive and she adjusts her legs to fold on the couch."Joonsu, he was asking me about the competitions.",she doesn't drift her eyes from the phone, my gaze nonchalantly gliding on her thighs. I lick my lips to stop the hazy thoughts from earlier from entering my mind when she jumps on her spot.

"Hey,",her abrupt call makes me look at her."Do you think I should go for the tennis one?",her eyebrows form a knot, anxiety surfacing on her face. "If you like it and it's fun for you, then you should go.",I straighten my back to face her and watch her zoning out in confusion. I've not seen her playing much except the occasional matches that she enjoys with her dad in their lawn but they're enough to determine her interest.

"I just…. what if I don't win and then I make a fool of myself in front of the whole school?",I discern the fear on her face, her face dipping as the mere thoughts make her push this idea on the back of her mind."So what? You'll go and play because it's fun for you.Just think of it as some game that you play with your dad and even if you lose, it isn't a big deal. There are 15 categories in the competition, pocky. Nobody really gives a shit if you win or not because everybody is just going to have a good time missing classes.",I tell her the truth and notice her giving my words a thought. She's usually very impulsive with her words but this expression on her face makes it seem like she really doubts a lot of things.

"Alright, think over it today when you go home and give your name whenever you feel like.",I shrug the tension in the room and attempt to change the topic as she peels the wrapper for her favourite snack."I'm starting it, put your headphones on.",I move my attention towards the screen, hearing a little hum from her.

— Next day —

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

11:05 A.M.

"Watch me beating the shit out of him.",Jaesung hisses at the guy who stole a girl from him. I don't think it can be called stealing when the girl was playing strings with these boys. That's what happens when you lose control of your emotions and get smitten with someone more than you should, you lose your sense of thinking."And what? They're not gonna suspend you if you pull such shit in a match supervised by umpires?",I bring the reality to him but he shrugs it with a tilt of his head as we head to the locker to change into comfortable clothes for the track, standing close to a group of boys including the one I wouldn't want to share the same space with.

"Have you done something with her?",One of them nudges joonsu, my eyes instantly switching in his direction. This better be not what I'm thinking."I don't know, I'm thinking of but she gets too sensitive sometimes.",He talks about this girl openly among her friends and I don't understand the deal about flashing someone's emotions in their absence."What do you mean? Don't tell me that you haven't even been between those hot thighs.You should at least give or receive a head, dude.",he punches his friend who doesn't answer him back, smiling cheekily.. I'm trying my best to not engage in this as I remove my hoodie to wear a tshirt.

"Who are you talking about?",A new one joins them who I've seen lingering around girls of a younger grade than ours."Y/n…that hot chubby bitch of grade C",Joonsu makes any other doubts about her identity clear in my hide and I look at them. I knew he was full of shit and after what I just heard, I don't want to leave him at freedom like this."What? Do you like her?",I await the response that this asshole is going to give because it can either save him or get his face ruined by scars."Maybe I just want to fuck all her holes?",He smirks proudly at his friends and I don't remain calm anymore. He's dead.

I lunge at him despite his friends crowding him, my hands tugging at his collar with force so he looks me in my eyes. There's a lot of commotion behind me and I sense my friends approaching me but I can't care less."Hey, kook.",He breathes a gasp, his hands coming to mine to get free of my hold but I force his body to slam against the locker."Don't fucking take my name or y/n's name out of your dirty mouth.",His hands struggle to hold my arm when I stomp my feet on his for him to feel the pain. He should've seen it coming for him."Hey, calm down. Leave him, kook.",Mingyu is the only one who approaches me so I look behind to steer him."Step behind.",I tell him calmly despite all the fury raging inside me.

"You can't come at me like this jungkook. We all know you're a sucker for pussies too so what's the deal with me getting some?",He opens her crappy mouth to spew bullshit. Is he really stooping so low after acting all chivalrous to her all these weeks? He deserves more than my tight hold on his collar."Really? You win her confidence as a friend and now you dare to stand like a fucking idiot when others talk shit about her and then act like an asshole talking so disgustingly about her? Degrading her like all the sluts that play with your little hearts?",My hands glides to hold his neck roughly so I can only hear grunts from his mouth when I look at him."Okay…", He's breathless, his body shaking with worthless tries,"How about we share?", One glimpse at his sneer is enough for my hand to leave his neck and punch his jaw so he limps on the floor with a thud.

It's as if all my ability to think has disappeared, my mind consumed by the anger that his words induce. How did he manage to act so sweet while being a fucking pevert?I squat near his figure, the bruise on his neck satisfying me to some extent but his face makes me realise that he shouldn't get another chance to even speak to her, look at her and stand in the same room as hers. She's going to feel really miserable when she gets to know about this."If I see you around her one more time, I'm not going to leave even one inch of your skin unscathed. You can go to hell and back about this in the principal's office and while you're at it, tell him your little suggestion about sharing or I will.",I take a look at the blood near her lips once and pick my pace to turn back and leave this room.Donghyun and Jaesung turn to me but they know I need some space to calm down and have a cold splash of water on my face as I exit the locker room, only to cease my steps when a familiar girl bumps into me.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to register my name and Mr.Park forgot his folder here.",She blurts in one breath without any question. Did she hear what happened inside? Was the commotion loud enough? I lick my lips to not seem suspicious in case she doesn't know about what happened inside. She might not like him that much but even so, he was a good friend to her from what I've seen and I'm not sure if she can handle the betrayal."You shouldn't go in yet. The room isn't empty so maybe come back later?",I suggest her so she turns back in her tracks and gives me a nod before going in the opposite direction without any further word.

I hope she didn't witness anything that happened in the room. That fucker has to finish his funny business with her without being a dickhead on her face."Hey, pocky!",I call her and her eyes peek at mine, her face turned to me."Good luck for the registration.", I'm glad that she decided to go for it after all the apprehension that cornered her will and the smile on her face tells me the same about her happiness."Thank you.",She returns to me cheerfully so I nod her before we walk our separate ways.

I need to get my wallet from the class before heading towards the school cafe. The name plate of our class comes into my sight so I enter without any haste, reviving the words that I said to joonsu and wondering if he'll stick to being low now. I pick my bag to fish my wallet when I sense someone entering the classroom and before I can look back, a loose hold on my shoulder distracts me."Hey",her sweet voice cooes in my ears which is the last thing I want right now."Hey.",I swirl behind to face her, her arms gliding across my waist to cling herself close to me."Where are you nowadays? I don't see you in the cafe during breaks and you're inactive in texting too.",She pursues her lips in a demanding pout. It's been a hassle if you have to drag anything for the sake of others and in this case, I'm not even bound by anything that can pressure me into being sweet to her.

"About that, I was thinking we should just stop doing this.",I gradually drift her arms from my body so as to not appear extremely harsh.Her smile drops in an instant, her eyebrows frowning in confusion when I stand back."What? What do you mean?",She forwards in my direction, fearing that she has lost me when I was never hers in the first place. This is what I was afraid of when we first started this whole ruckus.

"Calm down, danbi. I'm just saying that I don't think the things are as easy as they were earlier.We decided to not bring our feelings into this and I know you've been feeling for me.",I don't want to shoulder the blame on her but I need to be clear and set the facts straight.She bites her red lips, her hand palming the temple in frustration when she remains speechless for a few seconds."Okay.",She breathes in haste,"Is this about how I ask you to stay over? I promise I won't do that again. You can tell me what's wrong or what's bothering and we can talk about it. We can't just let it all go at once.",Her pleading voice reaches my ears and I look at the tensed face and sparkling eyes that are focused on me. This is going to be difficult.I don't want this to stress me out more than I already am because of that bastard.

"No, it's not just that. You know how I don't want to do relationships again and this arrangement that we had between us, I don't think it's on the terms that we decided at anymore. You're proving my point here. I don't want to hurt you and I know this is going to sound like shit to you because there was no "we" in the first place. I don't want to take advantage of your feelings and you know about your feelings better than me.",I blurt everything that I believe in and watch her simmering anxiously. I wait for her to respond but she must've realised the problem considering she leans back on the bench while I shove my wallet inside the pocket of my trousers.

"Is this about another girl? Have you found someone sexier and hotter that can give you more things? You know jungkook, you can just say and I'll do it for you.",She sounds like an obsessive admirer which I had no idea of. Her hands tug at my arms aggressively so I hold her arm to get free of the tight hold. This is worse than I thought and Donghyun could've predicted.

"Stop assuming ridiculous shit. You know I would've told you if that was the case. You're sounding really crazy and wrong at this moment and I think we should stay away from each other till you accept the fact that our arrangement is over.",I move past her to get out of the room at the earliest, as if I wasn't pissed enough earlier.

"I should've known.", She makes me stop in my tracks,"I should've known that you would turn out like the bastard that Soorin described you were. You just want girls who can kneel and suck your dick like whores and now that you've found yourself a better cumslut, you're leaving me.",She is obnoxiously confident when she faces me, never leaving the opportunity to bring my ex. She has done a terrible job if she thinks mentioning her would trigger me because now I know what crap she fed to our classmates before leaving the school.

"You are right because those girls would rather choke on my dick than spit bullshit like you do.",I sear the anger in her eyes and her chest rising in heavy palpitations.I would've never even seen her face if I knew she would stoop so low to hold onto me. Not wanting to continue this argument any longer, I turn back and continue my way along the corridor to have a snack before I join my friends.

—2 Days later—

Thursday, July 19, 2018

8:10 P.M.

'Y/n's P.O.V.'

My eyes land on the bodycon dress for the third time in a row, contemplating if it's a good choice for the party. I click the screen of my phone, scrolling through contacts but his name instils hesitation in my chest. He hasn't texted me for 2 days nor have I met him at our usual bus stop. We had agreed on not meeting in school because of his friends who might spread rumours about our friendship but he didn't even look me in the eye today.My phone flings on the bed and I rush towards my closet to find an alternative for this when gentle knocks erupt from the door.

"Hey, sweetheart. You ready?",he reminds of the time so I open the door for him to step inside, his eyes hovering on the dress on the mattress."I don't know, dad……I'm too confused.",I take a seat on my bed and find him sitting beside him within seconds, his gaze reflecting on me. "What happened? Are you confused about going?",His hand lands on my shoulder so I snuggle deep in his chest, feeling insecure about my appearance if I wear this dress. I might've instinctively bought it after jungkook's little speech at the mall but I don't know anymore.

"Do you think I'll good in this dress?",my eyes move behind, signalling him to take the sight of the clothing. He doesn't speak for a few seconds, his eyes scrutinising the seam of the bodycon dress, the thin straps for the shoulders and the zipper closing the entirety of it and for a minute second, I see a faint sign of disappointment on his face.

"Ofcourse, honey. You'd look beautiful in this dress. It's quite elegant and if you want to wear it even a little bit, do it and don't think about what anyone else will say.",His eyebrows dip at me and his words give me assurance as always."I know you're thinking about your mom but I doubt she would say much if I tell her I told you to wear it and if you are still in doubt, you can wear another dress.",he gives me a warm smile, caressing my back affectionately. I would have ruined my mind over this matter if he hadn't said this. I might still hear her words of judgement but at least he's on my side.

"Okay. I'm gonna wear it. I'd be out in a few minutes, I have to do my hair.",I rise from the bed, my words bringing a proud smile on his face so he fixes his glasses to stand and ruffle my hair out of habit."Alright, we're waiting for you.",He spares me a last glance before leaving me by myself and my attention lands on the black clothing. I found this gorgeous at first sight but the fear of discreet glances and judgemental opinions hadn't made this purchase much convenient for my mind. Maybe, I'll just wear it and push everything aside for the sake of my peace.

15 minutes later

"Ta-da!",The door opens so I swing my arms in the air, causing two figures to look behind me. My eyes bounce from his face to seek mom's, her pupils titillating from head to toe but I don't get to see her expressions when dad fronts ahead."There's my princess!",His arms fling around my shoulder to hug me from the side so I soak in the comfort of his clasp, a smile breaking involuntarily on my face at his enthusiastic appreciation. I take enough time to seek confidence from his arms before drifting away and looking at mom.

"What do you think of it?",My hands fiddle consciously but her stare transitions with a bolting speed."It's a bit of…. bold choice but it looks good on you.", There's some sort of reluctance in her tone but this is sufficient for now. I'm not going to ponder over her words just to take the weight of them on my heart."Thank you.",I smile at both of them so they nod and reciprocate to step ahead while I take my small handbag to accompany them.

5 minutes later

"Good evening Mr. Jeon and Mrs. Choi.",I bow to them out of respect and they approve with a welcoming nod. She's wearing a modest white dress with a skirt that flares on her knees making her look angelic while he has paired a tuxedo with her."Finally! Thank you so much for coming.",She chuckles at us, hugging my parents with the same love that they have for each other since we shifted a few months ago."You're looking beautiful,y/n!",Mrs. Choi praises me, boosting my confidence and the smile on my lips widens so I have to bite my lips and lick them to suppress the happiness."Thank you, Ms.Choi. Happy wedding anniversary to both of you!", Since the moment junghee brought me to their house for the first time, she has been the sweetest woman that I've met in my life. There's no doubt that she has almost treated me the same way as her daughter, her love and care always being incomparable.

"Thank you, sweetie! C'mon now. Junghee has been waiting and sulking for you since the party started.",She breaks into a chuckle, all of us aware of her needy behaviour."Okay, so I'll see you around?",I take my leave after they nod and engage in their personal conversations.

The moment I step aside to pick my pace and search for her, my eyes flick to the majestic chandelier illuminating in the centre of the ceiling which gives the whole hall a bright golden gleam, making it magical for everyone who's present in the room. I spot a lot of unknown people so I struggle to hustle between the crowd and reach to the counter of their kitchen and lean back to relax, my gaze overlooking the hall. This surely looks like a big celebration for their 20th wedding anniversary but the thing that I found most appealing is the love between them. I see both of them smiling like teenagers drunk on love, even after spending so many years together which is very uncommon.

"Hey, y/n!", Junghee beams her way into the kitchen, her loud voice startling me so I forward towards her and I catch a masculine figure appearing from the crowd, the one who exudes a charismatic aura.