"Oh my god! She's dating our history teacher!"

Soojung almost dropped her cup and stared at Seulgi with wide eyes. She went on and on, talking about what she had seen and about Suzy's secret. Seulgi looked at Soojung.

"Did you know?" Seulgi asked her.

"…Yes," Soojung replied softly, unsure of how to handle the situation. "How did you find out?"

"I saw them in a classroom," Seulgi told her.

"When?"

"After school."

Soojung paused. "Did Myungsoo tell you to do this?"

Seulgi didn't answer her immediately. Her silence was sufficient to answer Soojung's question. Soojung wrapped her fingers into a tight fist and glared at Seulgi.

"Why did you go against my orders? I specifically told you to not do anything without my instructions!" Soojung snapped, raising her voice.

"But Soojung! We could use this information against h—"

"Seulgi!" Soojung yelled. A few people in the café turned to stare. Soojung felt the eyes piercing through her. She cleared and tried to calm herself, but her face clearly showed that she was peeved. "Seulgi, listen to me carefully, okay? I know you want popularity. I know that. I can give you that. There are many ways to be popular. The way Myungsoo does it isn't the right way—"

"But it's the most effective way, right?" Seulgi asked.

Soojung didn't answer her. "You need to trust me. I will get you that popularity, okay? Just… Just don't do what he says."

"…What if I do?" Seulgi looked at Soojung hesitantly. 

"Then I'll seriously stop helping you," Soojung declared. "I'm serious this time."

Seulgi pressed her lips. She nodded her head, then got up.

"I'm…going to go and do homework," Seulgi said. She took out her phone. "Seunghwan and Taehyun wants to study."

Soojung looked at her carefully. "I'm being serious, Seulgi. Don't do what Myungsoo tells you. You'll regret it."

"I got it," Seulgi told her. "Is it okay if I go now?"

Soojung sighed. "Yeah. Go ahead."

Seulgi smiled and walked away. Soojung watched her back, noticing that her walking pattern became more confident than before. If she had compared her to before, she could tell that Seulgi had changed. Feeling a bit sick, she rested her head against the table and took a short nap.

/ / / / /

The next day, when Jongin and Sehun ran into each other, the two boys seemed unsure of how to act. Hyeri was the first one who took notice of their strange behavior. They seemed a little bit hostile at each other, as if they…

"Did you guys fight?" Hyeri asked Jongin when the two were alone. 

Jongin seemed surprised. "What?"

"Did you fight with Sehun?" she asked again. "You two aren't talking to each other and that's rare."

Jongin looked down and played with a piece of paper that he had in his hand. "I don't know…maybe."

"About what? It must be important if you two are fighting about it and didn't make up yet," she said.

"It's just… Well, we have different thoughts, that's all. What we should do, how we should go from here—those kinds of thoughts," he said. 

"Do you not trust me?" she asked him. "You're being very vague."

He chuckled. "I don't want you to worry. Don't worry, we'll figure it out. We're just cooling off."

"I'm worried because you two aren't usually like this," she said. "I mean, I don't know what you'd do without Sehun. He's always there to help you out. He's a really good friend, you know? You should be proud to have someone like him help you out." She blushed a little. "If you have a problem and can't rely on Sehun, then I hope that you'd at least rely on me."

Sehun's not going to help me, Jongin thought. He looked at Hyeri, who tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. But Hyeri might…

"Hey, Hyeri," Jongin said. He tried to smile normally, but Hyeri could tell that he seemed a bit guilty. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Anything for you!" she said happily.

He felt something twist in his chest, but he ignored it. "After school, I'm going to give you an address. Do you mind going there…?"

/ / / / /

Hyeri went to the address Jongin had instructed her to go to. When she arrived, she waited outside, looking for Jongin who had asked her to meet her there. It was a sketchy neighborhood—a place that wasn't completely safe for her to be alone. However, she seemed comfortable being in the area, as if it was familiar to her.

I wonder where Jongin is, she thought. 

Little did she know, Jongin was hiding at a distance, waiting for something particular to happen. It had taken him all day during school to find a location where Myungsoo would be. Of course, he had called in and asked Sooyeon to make sure that Myungsoo would be around the area. Sooyeon seemed skeptical, but Jongin managed to convince her that it was because he really needed to see Myungsoo and ask him something related to university topics.

Ten minutes later, Myungsoo came out of one of the buildings. He was with a few of his friends, but when he saw Hyeri standing alone, he excused himself and walked over to Hyeri.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

Jongin quickly sent Hyeri a message that said he wouldn't be able to meet her.

Hyeri was about to respond to Myungsoo, but heard her phone ping. She checked the message, then disappointment casted across her face.

"Nothing now," she muttered.

"Did you move?" Myungsoo looked around. "Well, this neighborhood would be a bit too pricey for your standards, wouldn't it?"

Hyeri narrowed her eyes. "I was supposed to meet Jongin here, but something came up, so he can't be here now. I'm about to leave."

"How's your mother doing?" Myungsoo asked. "I met her recently."

Hyeri's eyes grew big. "You what?"

"She's very lovely," he said. "Too bad that she has trouble remembering her own daughter." Hyeri tried to strike him, but he grabbed her wrist. "Woah, did I say anything wrong?"

"You shut up about my mother," Hyeri hissed, her eyes watering. "You leave her out of anything you're planning to do."

"Like how your father threw you and your mother to the side and left you to live in a neighborhood worst than this?" he taunted.

"Look, that's personal and that's my own problem," Hyeri told him. "You have no rights to talk about her."

"Well, she talks about you. She calls you a 'strict caregiver,'" he said casually. He released Hyeri's wrist then pulled her closer, putting his arm around her shoulders. "Come on. I know my boundaries. I won't do anything related to your family or anything, so you don't need to worry about it. I just want to tell you that I'm making a genuine friendship with your mother, that's all."

Hyeri seemed a little bit more eased.

Jongin, who was watching them at a distance, couldn't hear anything that was going on. Instead, he took out his phone.

Click! Click! Click!

He pulled away and hid behind the wall, checking the photos he took. There was one photo of Myungsoo putting his arm around Hyeri.

Perfect, he thought, smiling. He pulled out Jinri's contact information and sent a message that seemed like it was directed towards Sehun. 

He waited, then Jinri responded, OMG!!! Jongin, I think you sent this photo to the wrong person! I'm not Sehun! followed by a sad emoji.

He innocently replied, Oh, whoops. Sorry. You can pretend that you never saw it.

Jinri texted. Is this Seulgi's boyfriend in the photo? Is that really Hyeri?

He messaged back. Yeah. Soojung is going to be pretty upset. She doesn't forgive anyone who hurts her friend.

Jinri didn't reply back. He let out a small sigh, knowing that things would change tomorrow in the morning. He grimaced when he looked at Hyeri, who was oblivious to everything. Then, he quickly ran away from the scene.

As he ran, Myungsoo turned his back. He smirked and Hyeri turned, seeing no one.

"What are you smiling about now?" Hyeri asked, brushing away his arm.

"Ah, nothing," he said. He looked down at his phone and began to send a text to Seulgi and Soojung separately. "You know, when you play chess, many of the inexperienced players will freak out when they lose the most powerful chess piece."

"The queen?" Hyeri asked.

"Yeah," Myungsoo said, nodding his head. He smirked at Hyeri. "Your king just made a very stupid move. The king is about to lose his queen to a mere pawn."

Hyeri didn't understand, and that was okay with Myungsoo. Myungsoo waved at Hyeri, saying that the had a meeting somewhere else. Hyeri stood still and watched him go, trying to understand what he meant.

/ / / / /

"Hi! Sorry that I'm late! I just saw your text, so I rushed over as soon as I could!" Seulgi exclaimed, rushing into bakery.

Myungsoo smiled. "Hey. It's no big deal. Sit."

She obeyed and quickly took a seat. She fixed her hair and straightened her skirt, catching her breath. Once she was settled in, she looked at him.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Seulgi asked.

"I'm curious," he started, "but did Soojung say anything about her past yet?" Seulgi shook her head. "She's still quiet? Wow. She's really trying to hide her past."

"…I know that you said that I should hear it from Soojung, but can you really not tell me? I don't think she'll ever tell me," Seulgi told him.

Myungsoo made a small smile. He looked at his drink for a few minutes, then looked at Seulgi's brown orbs.

"How far would you go to gain popularity? To get the most popular guy to like you? To be surrounded by everyone?" Myungsoo asked.

"Anything. I'd do anything," Seulgi said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Yeah, that's what Soojung said," he said, casually sipping his drink, "and that's what she did."

"With your help?" she asked.

"Well, I always said that it was merely my comment," Myungsoo said. "I never told to her to do it."

"So what did Soojung do?"

"Anything. Everything. There's nothing that she didn't do," Myungsoo said. He gently placed his cup down. "Well, then things got too out of hand and that's where she gave up everything."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Soojung knew that there could not be two people at the top. There's always number one and number two. Soojung was number two. She would do anything to get the number one spot—" Myungsoo almost laughed. "—Sorry."

"So what happened to the number one girl?" Seulgi asked, carefully drinking her coffee. She still didn't like the taste of it.

"Soojung dragged her down."

"And then what?"

"She tried to disappear."

Seulgi stopped smiling. She looked at Myungsoo, who still had a pleasant grin on his face.

"Soojung did?" Seulgi asked slowly.

"No," Myungsoo said. He finally made eye-contact with Seulgi. "The girl Soojung was after."

Seulgi felt her skin grow cold. "B-By 'disappear,' do you mean—"

"Yeah," he said with a short nod. "Of course, nothing big happened."

"What… What happened to her?"

"I said she tried to disappear. She made a huge statement during study period that she was going to do it, but she never did it. She wasn't the type who could do it anyway, but it seemed like her statement and her crazed expression gave a shock to Soojung," Myungsoo said. "Then Soojung came to me because she wanted comfort, but I couldn't give her that."

"What did she want from you?" Seulgi asked nervously.

"She wanted me to say that it wasn't her fault."

"And you didn't?"

"It wasn't," he said. "I only suggested ideas. It was Soojung who took it upon herself and pursued those actions." He laughed heartedly. "Well, I don't blame her. She was a desperate middle school kid—"

"How dare you."

Myungsoo stopped laughing. His expression froze with a smile. He rolled his eyes over his shoulder. Seulgi gulped and looked up at Soojung, who had been listening to their conversation. There was a look of anger, a look of rage displayed on her face. Seulgi had never seen such a terrible expression on her before.

"What?" he said nonchalantly.

"How dare you," Soojung repeated, "have the audacity to tell her that story without my permission."

"It's not just your story," Myungsoo said. "It's mine to tell as well." He turned his body to face her. "Besides, that's why we broke up—"

"We broke up because you refused to take fault," Soojung argued.

"It wasn't my fault—"

"You planted ideas in my head!"

"You listened to those ideas."

"I was vulnerable!"

"No, you loved me too much."

Soojung seethed in silence. Her cheeks were in deep crimson. Seulgi couldn't tell if she was blushing or if she was angry. It seemed like Soojung was full of overwhelming expression. She looked angry, maybe embarrassed, or maybe even something else.

"Seulgi!" Soojung snapped. She growled at her. "Why are you still with him?"

"I'm her 'boyfriend.' I have all the rights to be here," Myungsoo said casually.

"You make me sick!" Soojung cried out.

"Well, everything ended happily. You apologized from the bottom of your heart, the girl forgave you, and you two split ways," Myungsoo said. "Then when you got to high school, you vowed to abandon popularity because it wasn't worth your time." He eyed her. "What you fail to understand is that it wasn't worth your time because of how you achieved it."

"That's exactly what I'm trying to teach Seulgi, but you keep sabotaging my plans!" Soojung argued.

"Is it my fault that she listens to me because I'm more effective?" he asked.

"Yes! It's completely your fault!" Soojung exclaimed. "Everything you say sounds so great, so amazing, but in reality, it isn't such a sugary world!"

"So you don't believe in me? Is that what you're trying to say?"

"I don't trust you."

"What if I told you that I'm still in love with you?" He broke into a smile after seeing her puzzled expression. "Would you still think that I'm lying?"

Soojung turned red and ignored him. She turned to Seulgi, who seemed startled with everything that was going on.

"Seulgi, pick: him or me?" she asked. She inched closer to her. "Who are you going to listen to?"

"C-Can't I listen to both of you?" Seulgi stammered.

"Clearly, that's not what you've been doing," Soojung snapped. "You want popularity, right? I can give it to you—"

"One day," Myungsoo said, raising his index finger. The two girls stared at him. He looked at Seulgi seriously. "Everything is set in motion. I just need one more day, and you got what you want."

Soojung was baffled. "How many strings have you been pulling behind our backs?"

"I just need one day and you get not only popularity, but everything," Myungsoo said, enticing her. Seulgi's eyes sparkled and Soojung could see it.

"Seulgi, please," Soojung said softly. "You're going to regret it. I know you are."

"It won't end up as crazy as Soojung's situation," Myungsoo promised. "Your opponents are much stronger than Soojung's. Even if they don't get what they want, they'll live their lives."

Seulgi wasn't sure what to say. Sure, Myungsoo's words seemed too good to be true, and whenever she looked at Soojung, she could see her begging her to not take the deal. Just one more day, and she would have it all.

"Seulgi," Soojung repeated. "I'm begging you, don't do this…"

"One more day," Myungsoo said again.

Seulgi stood perfectly still. Her eyes shifted from Soojung to Myungsoo, then back to Soojung then again to Myungsoo. There was a few minutes of silence. They all watched her, anticipating on her response.

Then, she locked eyes with Myungsoo. "You said one day, right?"

Soojung widened her eyes in shock while Myungsoo grinned.

"You won't regret it," he told her. He extended his hand out for her to shake. Seulgi slowly raised her own hand and shook his hand.

"I can't believe you," Soojung murmured. She glared at Seulgi. "Kang Seulgi, you're all on your own."

"Thank you for all that you've done," Seulgi told her.

"No. I don't want any credit or part of this," Soojung declared. She stormed off, walking out of the bakery. 

Seulgi felt bad, but she was sure that Soojung would understand…at some point.

Myungsoo smiled. "So, are you ready to get Jongin as your boyfriend?"

"In just one day?" Seulgi asked. Myungsoo nodded. "Wait, but everyone knows that I'm still dating you."

"Yeah, but Jongin will look like a rebound boyfriend on the surface," Myungsoo told her.

"But wouldn't getting a rebound boyfriend make me look bad?" Seulgi asked nervously.

"It'll make you look bad if you're the one who confesses and pressures Jongin to accept," Myungsoo said. "If it's the opposite, then it'll look like a prince saving his princess."

"J-Jongin confessing to me?" Seulgi's cheeks went red. "I-I don't think that's possible." She tried to hide her smile. "I-I mean, I would love it if it was possible, b-but—"

"Don't worry," Myungsoo said. "Jinri's going to help you with that."

Seulgi stared at him. "You got Jinri to be a part of this?"

"Sort of. Jongin dug his own grave there," he said. "He got rid of Hyeri for you. You just need to give it an extra knock to make things go according to your plans."

Seulgi's smile widened. "A-Are you serious?"

"Yep," he said, nodding his head.

"W-What do I have to do?" she stuttered.

"You know that Suzy is dating the history teacher, right?" Myungsoo asked. Seulgi nodded. "Don't tell that to Suzy."

Seulgi furrowed her eyebrows. "But isn't she an obstacle?"

"You can take down both Hyeri and Suzy if you confront Hyeri about it," he assured her.

"How do I do that?" she asked.

Myungsoo smirked—a look of pure mischief filled his expression. "Call Hyeri right now. I'll give you a script to follow. Tomorrow, you will get your popularity, your boyfriend—everything…"

/ / / / /

Hyeri grunted when she saw a strange text from Seulgi. She had just returned home after waiting for Jongin to (not) appear at their meeting place, and now Seulgi wanted her to come out. Hyeri sent a message declining Seulgi's orders, but when Seulgi stressed that it was important, she felt like she had no other choice.

Before leaving, she placed her bag to the side. Her home was a one-bedroom apartment, cramped and small. The lights were completely off, but she could hear the sound from the TV. She took out of her shoes and the lights.

Suddenly, a large object rushed past her eyes. Hyeri screamed and hid behind the wall. The flying bowl crashed against the wall, shattering into pieces.

"Mom, it's me!" Hyeri yelled. "It's Hyeri, your daughter!"

"I don't have a daughter!" her mother yelled. 

Hyeri swallowed—hard. "I'm sorry, I meant to say that I'm your caregiver!"

There was a few minutes of silence.

"Did my husband tell you to come here?" her mother inquired. 

"Yes," she lied. "Your husband asked me to make you dinner. He is afraid that you haven't eaten anything."

There was another silence. "Come in."

She slowly crept out from the wall. She saw her mother, pale and sickly, her body shaking from fear. When she saw Hyeri, she seemed a bit calm and took the small table that was leaning against the wall. Her mother seemed excited to see her.

"Come in, come in!" she exclaimed. She laughed nervously. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. You just… It's such a terrible neighborhood here. My husband put me here thinking that the new place will help me, but I must be getting more paranoid!"

He left us both here because he doesn't want to deal with us, Hyeri thought. "No worries. I'll get dinner done."

Her mother smiled and watched Hyeri prepare the food from the living room. "Sweetheart, what's your name?"

"Lee Hyeri," Hyeri replied.

"That's a beautiful name," she said. "I've always told my husband that if we have a daughter, we should definitely name her Hyeri." She looked out the small window. "I haven't seen my husband in a while."

"Your husband is a busy man," Hyeri muttered.

"Oh, yes! He's very successful! Did you know that?" Her mother giggled. "My husband always says that he married me because I was beautiful and I always tell him that I married him because I love his hard-work ethics. Tell me, if we had a child, want kind of person would they be?"

"…She would be a very strong, independent child. A child that her parents would be proud of," Hyeri said. "She would be beautiful—a trait that she would get from her mother. She would get her father's ambition and work hard." Hyeri finished cooking and began to plate the items on the table. "She would fight against what she believes is wrong and will learn that not every battle she faces will be a win. She will find herself at low points, but that's okay because she will get up someday. She will be a woman that everyone will look up and love because she can share the love she learned from her family to her friends."

Her mother laughed and clapped her hands like a child. "Right? I would be extremely proud to have a daughter like that!"

Hyeri smiled softly. "Please eat. You haven't had much all day, right?"

"Oh, I don't know. I ate something," her mother said.

Hyeri watched her mother eat before her. A second later, she noticed that she was receiving a call from Seulgi. She frowned, finding this awfully suspicious. Her mother looked at her.

"Go ahead and take the call!" her mother urged.

Hyeri seemed hesitant. "It's not import–"

"Go ahead! It's fine! I won't tell my husband that you're taking a short break from your job," she said.

Hyeri grimaced. He won't care.

"I understand," Hyeri said softly. "I'll step outside for a bit."

She got up and excused herself. She walked outside in the night. Taking a deep breath, she picked up the call, annoyed.

"Finally," Seulgi said. "Did you not get my text?"

"I got it," Hyeri said cooly. "I just didn't care about them."

"I want to talk to you. It's important."

"Okay."

"Are you alone?"

"I'm at home," Hyeri told her. "What? Make it quick. I'm in the middle of dinner."

There was a long pause. Hyeri was about to hang up, but Seulgi spoke just in time:

"I know Bae Suzy's secret."

Hyeri frowned. "Huh?"

"I know Suzy's deepest secret."

"So? Everyone has secrets."

"Yes, but Suzy's is…very scandalous."

"I don't need to hear it. All secrets are scandalous."

"Lee Hyeri, this isn't something that you want to take lightly. You should listen to me."

"I don't need to listen to you," Hyeri fired back.

“But… Jinri listens to me,” Seulgi said.

Hyeri froze. She was about to hang up, but now she couldn’t. Seulgi kept quiet and Hyeri could tell that she knew that she had her complete attention.

“What are you trying to say?” Hyeri asked in a low voice.

“I’m just saying that if I told Jinri how Suzy was dating our history teacher, things would pretty much explode.” Seulgi rambled on, indirectly threatening Hyeri. “You and I both know that she’s considered to be a Gossip Queen.”

“…Kang Seulgi,” Hyeri started. Seulgi almost shuddered at the other end of the call. “If you understand what you’re doing is wrong, stop it right now.”

Under normal circumstances, Seulgi would’ve stopped. She would’ve backed away and left Hyeri alone as usual.

But Myungsoo had told her that this was a critical step, that this is what would get Seulgi everything.

And she wasn't about to lose this chance.

“What’s so wrong about me spreading the truth?” Seulgi asked dauntingly. “Unless you think that there’s something wrong with the truth.”

Hyeri gritted her teeth. “You’re being rude and inconsiderate.”

“You’re being too demanding and unrealistic.”

Hyeri almost exploded. “How? How is it demanding and unrealistic that I ask you to keep silent?”

“I’m not like Soojung,” Seulgi told her. 

“I didn’t ask if you were like Soojung,” Hyeri snapped.

“It’s really up to you,” Seulgi said. “All I’m asking is for you to do one thing and I’ll keep my mouth shut forever.”

Hyeri looked straight in front of her. She could not believe anything Seulgi was saying. This clearly blackmail.

But Hyeri couldn’t think of anything else to say. Right now, she knew that she was cornered. She didn’t have much of an option. If this involved herself, she would have no problem dealing with the situation, but it involved Suzy, her best friend. 

She couldn't just throw her best friend under the bus.

“What do you want me to do?” Hyeri asked.

She could hear soft chuckles at the other end, and she finally understood what Myungsoo was saying.

/ / / / /

The next morning, Suzy received an unusual message from Hyeri asking to meet an hour earlier than when school would start. She wasn't sure what was going on, but for Hyeri to ask her to come on campus early meant that there was something important to discuss.

She walked into their classroom, finding it completely empty except for Hyeri, who was facing the window. A small cold morning breeze flew into the building. Suzy smiled, but her smile faded when she saw Hyeri's serious expression.

Now she knew that something was very wrong.

“Hey Hyeri—“

“Suzy, let’s stop being friends,” Hyeri said without turning to face her friend. She smiled a little and stared at Suzy’s shocked expression through her reflection in the window. “I’m kind of sick of all this.”

“What?" Suzy asked, speechless. "W…Why?"

“I think we’re not meant to be best friends. The only thing we share is our history.”

“I don’t understand—“

“I mean, you like a teacher. No, you're dating a teacher. That's disgusting. Gross.”

Suzy felt her heart stop. How did she know? Who told her? Did she see? She had thought that she had been keeping her relationship with their history teacher as a secret, but could it be that she had slipped? 

She stared at Hyeri’s back, flabbergasted to hear such harsh words coming out of . If anything, Suzy had always believed that Hyeri would be the most understanding, the most accepting. Even if she didn't accept it, she would've never imagined to hear Hyeri flat-out say that her relationship to their teacher was "gross."

However, the moment she noticed that Hyeri’s back was trembling, she knew that Hyeri was preventing herself from crying.

She’s being set up, Suzy realized. She made a fist, knowing exactly what to do. “I don’t care, Hyeri. I still want to be your support and stand by your side. I—“

“Just give up,” Hyeri said in a shaky voice. She knew that Suzy was aware of what was going on. “Please.”

The tone in Hyeri’s voice begged Suzy to just go with the flow. But Suzy wasn’t ready to give up on her.

Not just yet.

“I don’t want to. You’re my precious friend. We’ve been through a lot together. I don’t want to you to go through this alone. I—“

“I wonder what would happen if this gets leaked out,” Hyeri interrupted. Her voice became soft and strained. 

Suzy stopped. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“I wouldn’t,” Hyeri murmured, “but someone else would.”

Suzy started to understand the entire situation. “Hyeri, are you being blackmailed?”

Hyeri didn’t answer. “So can we just end our friendship? I just need a new start. Seunghwan, Jinri and Naeun are all gone. There’s no point to this. I never liked it when it was between you and me.”

“I’ll save you. I’ll do something to help. I’ll—“

“Suzy, this is my choice. I don’t want to be your friend anymore,” Hyeri stated firmly.

“Stop taking all this on your own!” Suzy stormed in front of her and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her. “Who’s doing this to you?” Suzy glared. “Is it Seulgi? That ! I bet she’s behind everything! You—“

“Suzy, let’s be serious. You are under a sticky situation. If you rebel, the news gets leaked out. Your boyfriend gets fired. Your family’s reputation goes down. You will be a shame to your family.” Hyeri firmly placed her hands on her shoulder. “I can do this alone.”

“What can you do alone?” Suzy asked. Their hands fell from each other’s shoulders. Their fingers intertwined. “I’m your best friend. I don’t want to leave you alone. Friends don’t do that.”

“Go with Jinri and Naeun. They don’t trust me anymore, but just befriend them. You’ll have other people you’re close with,” Hyeri said. “Meanwhile, I’m going to get to this bottom of this.”

“How?”

Hyeri smiled. “I’m betting that she’s after my popularity. If that’s what she wants, then I’ll give it to her.”

“That ing doesn’t even deserve it—“

“It doesn’t matter who deserves it or not,” Hyeri said. “Popularity follows anyone it wants. You just need to know how to use it.”

“But—“

“Please,” Hyeri whispered. “You’re my best friend. You know me best.”

Suzy felt tears swelling up in her eyes. She clenched her teeth and looked away as drops of tears fell from her cheek.

"I really don't want to do this," Suzy cried. "This isn't fair… You don't deserve this…"

"No, Suzy. You don't deserve this," Hyeri replied. She gave her friend a big smile, showing that she would be fine. Her smile broke Suzy's heart.

“I’m sorry,” Suzy whimpered.

Hyeri let go of her hands. She turned around and lifted her head up high.

“Don’t be,” Hyeri said. “Thank you for being my best friend. Sorry that it came down to this.”

She walked away with bold steps. She could hear Suzy trying to hold back her sobs, but it was clearly futile. Hyeri, too, felt her tears threatening to fall. 

As soon as she walked out and walked away from the room, she stopped. 

"That's good enough, right?" Hyeri asked.

Seulgi, who had her phone against her lips, smiled. "Yeah. That's perfect."

"Part one ended. I'll get ready for part two," Hyeri said, still staring straight ahead.

"Okay. See you below," Seulgi said, waving. She skipped away, leaving Hyeri alone to recover from breaking ties with her last friend before they would initiate their other plan.