During break, when students were flooding the hall to grab a quick snack, Soojung disappeared for a moment, then came back to class with a can of soda in her hands. She grabbed Seulgi's arm and pulled her away from her seat, leading her to the classroom where most of the popular kids were located. The two girls stood a few feet away from the classroom, waiting to see if the door would open.

"What are we doing?" Seulgi whispered.

"Hold up," Soojung said. She pushed the soda in Seulgi's hand. "Open it."

"What?"

"Open the can!" Soojung urged. 

Without a moment of hesitation, Seulgi did as she was told. She lifted the tab and opened the can. The drink fizzed, but didn't explode. She looked back at Soojung, who seemed to be keeping a keen eye at the door.

"What now?" Seulgi asked.

"Naeun comes out to use the restroom alone during this time. When she comes out, you're going to bump into her, spill the drink, say that it's your fault, and take her to he bathroom where you'll talk with her," Soojung explained.

"Oh, okay. That makes a lot of—Wait, wait, wait." Seulgi gulped nervously and had her hands around the can of open soda she had in her hand. "Y-You want me to purposely bump into Naeun?"

"Well, yeah. I figured that for you, that would be the easiest way to get close to her," Soojung said. "She only stands in crowded place, so you're going to need to be extra careful that the drink spills on her and only her."

"What about her clothes? How do I know that she has something else to wear?" Seulgi cried out.

"She has her gym uniform. If not that, then she definitely has extra clothes. She's Naeun. Naeun is always prepared for nearly everything," Soojung said.

"Wait, what am I supposed to say?"

"Talk about Jongin," Soojung said.

"Oh, that's easy. Jongin is my favorite subject—"

"And now!" Soojung whispered. The door opened and Naeun was at the entrance. Soojung pushed Seulgi towards the door and disappeared with the crowd.

Seulgi, stumbling on her feet, managed to arrive in front of Naeun. However, the drink flew out of her hand and the can hit the floor. The drink splashed all over the floor, getting on three people's shoes, including Seulgi's.

Seulgi bit her bottom lip and slowly looked up, noticing that Naeun's shoes were slightly wet while Sehun, who happened to be standing behind her, had his shoes drenched. She mentally cursed herself and looked down at her own shoes, noticing that her shoes were a bit more wet than Naeun's, but not drenched like Sehun's.

I'm so sure that none of them have extra shoes, Seulgi thought, feeling guilty. She took a step to check if the two were okay, but she accidentally slipped and lost her balance. She let out a scream before falling on her bottom, getting her skirt drenched.

She froze at her spot, mortified. A few people stared at her and looked away, while most managed a chuckle before walking away. Seulgi's cheeks grew incredibly red as she noticed what kind of situation she was in. Moreover, out of all the people who saw her fall, Sehun was standing right in front of her. She looked behind her shoulder, hoping that Soojung would make her appearance and help her out.

Sehun let out a sigh. "What are you doing?"

Seulgi remained silent, flustered. Naeun raised out her hand in concern.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Naeun asked.

Do I look okay? Seulgi wanted to say. She tried to grab for Naeun's hand, but someone else took her hand and helped her up. The three looked over at Jongin, who seemed a bit surprised to see the mess.

"What happened here?" Jongin asked.

"I-I slipped," Seulgi stuttered.

"You should go to the nurse's office. Do you have extra clothes or shoes?" Jongin asked. He turned to Sehun. "I got some extra shoes for you in my locker."

"I have an extra skirt. You seem like you'll fit my size," Naeun said to Seulgi. "Do you have any extra shoes?" Seulgi shook her head. "I don't have any extra, either. We'll have to go to the nurse's office."

"Yeah, let me just help you clean up in the bathroom," Seulgi said quickly.

"But I don't have to go to the bathroom right now," Naeun said. "I just need to head to the office."

"R-Right, yeah," Seulgi said, blinking her eyes. "Yeah, I'm the one who needs to go to the bathroom since my clothes are wet…"

"Yes. Well, I'll see you at the nurse's office or maybe later—"

"Oh my god, Seulgi!" a voice cried out. Everyone looked up and saw Soojung running towards Seulgi. She had a look of worry on her face while Seulgi looked relieved.

Soojung, my savior! What would I do without you? Seulgi thought.

"Is that my drink? Geez, I knew that I shouldn't have made you hold it. I'm so sorry that I left to use the bathroom," Soojung said. She looked at the mess. "We need to get this cleaned up." She turned to Naeun. "Naeun, can you do me a favor and go to the bathroom with Seulgi to clean herself up? I'll stay here and alert the janitor to come and clean the mess."

"I-I'll stay here, too!" Jongin said quickly.

"Dude, I need your shoes," Sehun said.

"You know my locker combination," Jongin muttered.

"I know that you changed it because you complained that I kept going through your locker too much," Sehun pointed out.

Jongin frowned. "Fine. Let's go."

The boys left while Soojung stood next to the mess. She waved to Seulgi, urging to her go on. Seulgi nodded and started to walk away with Naeun, who seemed confused and a bit lost with the situation.

As Soojung stood, she noticed Hyeri coming out of the door. The two girls eyed at each other, but didn't say anything. When Suzy poked her head out the door, her eyes grew wide.

"What happened around here?" Suzy cried out.

"Just a little accident," Soojung said. "Please be careful walking around here."

"I'll get the janitor," Hyeri said, looking at the spilled mess.

"Thanks," Soojung replied.

Hyeri didn't say anything. She left to find the janitor with Suzy, leaving Soojung to guard the mess that she helped create.

/ / / / /

"Thank you so much for helping me clean up," Seulgi said to Naeun, who used a wet towel to dab the back of Seulgi's skirt.

"No problem! I'm always happy to help," Naeun said cheerfully. "What happened, anyway?"

"Oh, um, Soojung asked me to hold her drink because she needed to use the restroom really badly. I was walking around a little and somehow ended up dropping the drink. Coincidentally, you were there and got wet," Seulgi said, making up the entire story at the spot.

"I see," Naeun said, not even questioning it. "You ought to be careful, though. You saw how you slipped. It looked painful."

"It kind of was," Seulgi mumbled, feeling a bit sore. She looked at Naeun. "You're so nice, Naeun. Thanks again for helping me."

She beamed. "Like I said, I'm happy to help!"

Seulgi paused before asking her a random question. "Do you have a boyfriend, Naeun?"

Naeun seemed a little taken aback. "Me? A boyfriend? No."

"Why not? You're really nice," Seulgi said, thinking about what had happened in the past few days. "You're smart, considerate, and kind."

Naeun giggled. "I'm flattered, but guys don't seem like they want to approach me. I don't know, I think they think too highly of me."

"Then do you have a guy you like?" Seulgi asked out of the blue.

Naeun's cheeks turned pink. "A-A guy I like? W-Well, I guess you can say that there's someone that I'm interested in…"

"Is it Jongin?" Seulgi inquired, remembering how Soojung told her to talk about Jongin.

Naeun stopped moving. She pressed her lips together firmly before continuing to dab Seulgi's skirt.

"No," she lied. "I can't love the same guy as my best friend. That's crazy, right?"

"Oh, yeah. I totally get it," Seulgi said, nodding her head. Why did Soojung tell me to talk about Jongin? It doesn't look like this conversation is going anywhere.

"But you seem quite close to Jongin," Naeun said out of the blue. She finally gazed up at Seulgi. "Are you two friends?"

"Friends?" Seulgi pressed her lips and frowned. Wait, am I considered to be close to Jongin? Is that how people see us? Oh my god. I'm making progress! I can't believe it!

"Are you two not?" Naeun asked with a bit of hope in her tone.

"W-Well, it's not like we're too close or anything, b-but yeah," Seulgi stuttered, blushing a little.

Naeun took notice and looked back down at her skirt. "A lot of people have a crush on him, but it doesn't seem like they actually try to confess."

"There's Hyeri. She's an obstacle," Seulgi said.

"Yeah, I know that a lot of people feel intimidated when Hyeri's around, but she doesn't determine who Jongin dates, right? Jongin is the one decides," Naeun pointed out. She smiled at Seulgi. "You might have a chance, you know?"

"Maybe, but—" Seulgi stopped. She slowly glanced to her side at the mirror, noticing that Naeun had a strange smile on her face. It was like she was just saying that out of politeness, but didn't really believe that she had the chance. Suddenly, Seulgi started to feel intimidated. Wait, did I even say that I like Jongin? I only said that I think I'm close to him. That doesn't mean that I like him, right? Oh, but the way I've been talking makes it seem like I do…Crap. Did I just follow her flow of the conversation?

"But what?" Naeun asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"O-Oh. Um, well, I was just going to say that I don't think I'm ready to, uh…" Seulgi wasn't sure how to rephrase her words to make it seem like she didn't like Jongin. She felt cornered, exposed, and lost. She had lowered her guard down too much and ended up losing control of the entire conversation. No matter which direction she took with the conversation, she knew that she would leak out personal information or motives.

I need help, Seulgi thought. She looked at Naeun's eyes through the mirror, where she looked back, awaiting for her response.

Before anything else could happen, the door swung open. Seunghwan came in, slightly breathless. She had a look of concern on her face as she approached Seulgi. Gently pushing Naeun away, she checked Seulgi's skirt and looked at her worriedly.

"Seulgi, what happened? I came here as fast as I could!" Seunghwan exclaimed.

"She had a small accident," Naeun said.

"Really? This doesn't look so small," Seunghwan said. She looked back at Seulgi. "What are you going to do with your skirt? Do you have an extra?"

"I have one in my locker," Naeun told her. "I'll go grab it right now."

"Sure, thanks Naeun!" Seunghwan said. Naeun nodded and walked out of the empty bathroom, leaving the two girls. Once she was gone, Seunghwan let out a small grunt and rolled her eyes. "ing . Thinks that she's all great and that."

Seulgi was slightly taken aback by Seunghwan's new personality. "What do you mean?"

"Trust me, you don't want to get too close to Naeun. She acts like an innocent rich princess, but she's not. She's just a black hole that absorbs information. Hyeri and Suzy are completely oblivious to this. Jinri and I were the only ones aware of the group, and every time Naeun screwed up, we'd get the consequences," Seunghwan explained. "Like, one time, Hyeri found out that Jongin knew that she was going to throw him a surprise birthday party and since he knew about it, he asked her not to do it. Hyeri was so mad, but no matter how many times I said that I didn't tell him, she thought it was me."

"So who told Jongin about the surprise?" Seulgi asked.

"Naeun did, duh. Hyeri only told Suzy about it, but she told her during class when Jongin wasn't in the classroom. Naeun and I sit around Hyeri, so we both heard it."

"Where was Jinri? Couldn't she have said something? She's a gossip queen."

"Jinri was absent. There was no way she would've said anything. Anyway, one day Hyeri confronted me and said that I was the one who told him. Like, why would I even want to tell him that Hyeri was throwing him a surprise party? There's no incentive for me to do that, you know?" Seunghwan continued. "The only person I could think was Naeun, but it didn't make sense because at that time, I just thought that Naeun was the sweetest person in the world." She made another face. "Of course, later I learned that being sweet and nice doesn't mean being loyal."

"So Naeun told Jongin?" Seulgi asked. "How did you find out?"

"A few days later, I saw Jongin walk back home with Naeun. Suzy and Hyeri had other school-related activities, so I was going to find Naeun, but I happened to see them walk together. Naturally, I followed, and while I was eavesdropping on their conversation, I heard Jongin thank Naeun for telling him about the party. I just don't know why she told him," Seunghwan grumbled.

"Doesn't it kind of sound like she…likes him?" Seulgi said in a small voice.

"Naeun? Like Jongin? Why would she like the same guy that Hyeri likes? That's, like, a no-no," Seunghwan said.

"But why's that a no-no?"

"If you know anything about Hyeri, you know that she's been chasing after him for years. They met when they were kids, you know?" Seunghwan sighed. "Well, I'm just glad that I don't need to deal with her. Being in the same group as her was exhausting. She's nice and kind, but she'll extract everything she wants to know about you in seconds. Then she'll use that to make herself look like a victim or to make herself look good."

Seulgi nodded. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that Naeun was actually one of the most dangerous people she had ever encountered. She was overly kind and sweet, and that facade helped hide her true intentions. Seulgi paled and shuddered.

The door opened, and Youngji came in. She was out of breath, tired, and a little bit sweaty. In her hands, she had an extra skirt and a pair of slippers. She quickly walked over to the two girls and widened her eyes.

"Seulgi, are you okay? I heard that you slipped and fell, so I came here as fast as I could!" Youngji exclaimed. "I brought an extra skirt and an extra shoe. If you want, you can change—"

Naeun walked into the bathroom with the extra skirt in her hand. She seemed a bit surprised to see Youngji standing with them. She looked at the extra skirt in Youngji's hand, then smiled awkwardly at Seulgi.

"Oh, you had a friend with an extra skirt?" Naeun said. "Should I put mine away?"

"I-It's fine, I'll wear yours," Seulgi said, taking Naeun's skirt. She gave a sharp look at Youngji, who looked confused. "You're a bit late."

Youngji blinked her eyes. "Yeah, well, I was on my here, but I was told that you were at another bathroom…"

Youngji's eyes gazed over at Seunghwan, who faked a smile.

"Oh, sorry! I really thought she was at the bathroom on the first floor. Which, now that I think about it, doesn't make any sense," Seunghwan said, laughing.

Youngji slightly scowled. "Yeah, that's what I kept saying, but you kept pushing me to check the bathroom two floors down from here—"

"If you really thought that she was here, then you should've just said that you'll check here and had me check the first floor," Seunghwan said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Youngji opened to say something, but couldn't. She knew she couldn't. She closed mouth and sealed her lips while slowly nodding.

"Yeah," she said in a bitter voice. "You're right about that."

"Well, I'm glad that you were there for me, Seunghwan," Seulgi said, giving her a hug. She pulled away and walked over to Naeun, taking her skirt. "I'll make sure to bring it tomorrow."

Naeun smiled. "Sure. Well, I'll go now. I need to see if the nurse has some extra slippers."

"Oh, take these!" Seulgi exclaimed. She lunged towards Youngji, swiped away the extra slippers, and handed it to Naeun. "I'm okay with wet shoes."

Naeun, still smiling, looked at Youngji, who seemed a bit hurt. 

"Are these yours?" Naeun asked. Youngji nodded. "Do you mind if I use it, then? I'll return it to you tomorrow, too."

"Yeah, sure," Youngji said quietly. 

"Thank you. Now, if you'll excuse me…" Naeun waved at the girls and walked away.

Seunghwan checked her phone for the time. "It's almost time to go. I'll head out first, okay? Let's have lunch later with Taehyun."

"Of course! See you then!" Seulgi exclaimed. She bid Seunghwan a "goodbye" and watched her leave the bathroom.

Just when Seulgi was about to enter the toilet stall to change, she noticed Youngji's worried expression. She didn't bother asking her what was wrong. She walked into the stall and locked it behind her before she started to change.

After a few seconds of silence, Seulgi could see Youngji's feet standing in front of her stall.

"Um, Seulgi?" Youngji said in a small voice.

"What?" Seulgi asked.

"I-I know you're making new friends, and I think that's great. You're doing a great job, but…" Youngji seemed a bit hesitant. "Well, I don't think you're making the right friends."

Seulgi stopped raising her leg. She looked at the door as if she was looking through it to see Youngji.

"What?" Seulgi repeated.

"I-I-I know this sounds crazy, and I might be jealous that my best friend is being taken away from me, but I just don't think that Seunghwan is a good friend."

"But she's popular and likable."

"I know that, but is that the only reason why you're friends with her? I didn't want to bring this up, but when I heard that you slipped and fell, I was going to the bathroom closest to where I heard that you fell. While I was going, Seunghwan met up with me and told me to check the bathrooms two floors down. She was really…scary. I-I'm not trying to make her out as a bully. She's nowhere close to that, but she's…very intimidating. I got the sense that if she didn't get her way, then she would've made some way possible to get what she wanted," Youngji said with difficulty. 

The door finally opened. Youngji turned. Her expression fell when she saw Seulgi's cold glare.

"I don't appreciate you talking like that about my friends," was the only thing Seulgi said before she left the bathroom.

Youngji stood still, frozen. Then, she let out a shaky sigh and nodded her head.

"Right," Youngji whispered. "Sorry…"