“Meet me at the tree as soon as you read this

                                                            -Mina”

Hyejeong plucked the post-it from her locker and kept it. One of Mina’s hobbies was to stick post-it notes on Hyejeong's things to surprise her.

She's up to something again. No wonder she disappeared so quickly after class.

Hyejeong hurried across the meadow behind the school and into the forest beyond. There, she followed a small trail until she got to a turn marked by an old signpost, whereby she left the trail. She picked her way over a rocky stream and made her way through the scant undergrowth, deeper into the woods. Finally, she reached a small clearing where a large oak tree stood in the middle of it.

The air was filled with a fresh, earthy smell. Hyejeong took a deep breath and entered the clearing.

“I’m here!”

A doe-eyed, petite girl stepped out from behind the oak tree and moved towards her, strumming a ukulele.

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Hyejeong, happy birthday to you!

Mina halted in front of Hyejeong and held out a woven necklace adorned with a sparkling sapphire pendant. It was handmade and clearly required much skill and effort to be made. Moved to tears, Hyejeong lurched forward and flung her arms around Mina…

...Only for her arms to pass through thin air.

Hyejeong jerked up, breathless and panting. Her cheeks were wet.

Another dream. No, more like a nightmare this time. Wonderful, what else could be worse?

************************************* 

Hyejeong sent her apologies to Mina shortly after her dreadful realisation. There was no excuse; she could not even recall when was the last time she had thought of Mina.

This is all my fault! How could I forget? I’m so sorry baby, I should never have agreed to go out with her…

Consumed with regret, Hyejeong stayed up the whole night, staring at her phone, hoping for Mina to reply her. Is this how she felt when she was waiting for me? Eventually, fatigue took over her and she only woke up the next morning to the sounds of Jimin preparing breakfast.

No reply from Mina. But the messaging app showed that she had seen Hyejeong’s message.

Hyejeong sighed. How was she ever gonna make it up to Mina? She had just begun to pull out her books when her phone vibrated. “A reply!” Hyejeong cried out with joy, snatching her phone up instantly. But her joy was short-lived.

“Since you already have someone else, it is over for us.”

Then a notification popped out.

“You have been blocked by this user. Your messages will no longer be seen by this user.”

************************************

Though she was silly and childish at times, Mina always careful and never made hasty decisions. This puzzled Hyejeong greatly: was Mina blocking her on purpose or was it just a coincidental prank?

It's impossible that she knows about Seolhyun, so is she merely guessing?  I know I made a huge mistake but even then, why would she go to this extent?

Hyejeong was so deep in thought that she did not notice a guy leaning against a wall in front of her and walked straight into him.

“What the hell! Watch where you're going!”

“Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! Sorry! Um...sorry!”

Hyejeong ducked away in embarrassment, turning as red as a tomato. She headed for the library, hoping to be able to cram in some last-minute revision for her exams. She wasn't very successful, however. Her mind was buzzing over Mina's cryptic final message and she simply could not concentrate for long.

"Dear students, the library will be closed in ten minutes."

Crap the library's closing and I still have so much to do! Looks like I'm really gonna flunk this time...

*********************************

Exams were over before she knew it. Hyejeong did not even manage to complete her paper, but to her relief, most of her classmates were also unable to for it was a rather difficult paper.

Disheartened by how her paper went, Hyejeong went to the park to clear her mind. As always, almost the benches were taken but this time, Hyejeong did manage to get one for herself.

Staring up at the empty sky, she was brooding over how she should make amends to Mina when a familiar face stepped in front of her.

"Hi, is this seat taken?"

"Oh it's you."

"Why the long face? Bad day?" Seolhyun plopped down onto the bench beside her.

"Screwed up my paper. And the other day, I-" Hyejeong stopped suddenly. It didn't feel right to tell Seolhyun about how she had forgotten to see Mina off, for it would seem like she was putting the blame on Seolhyun.

“Hmm? You what?”

“I-I had a great time. When can we do something like that again?”

Seolhyun grinned. She had been hoping for a chance to ask Hyejeong out. “Well, I happen to be going out tonight with my classmates. To celebrate the end of our exams.”

“Tonight?”

“Yeah. We’re going clubbing!”

A thrill shot up Hyejeong’s spine. She had never been to a club and always wondered what it felt like to do so. This was a golden opportunity for her experience something new.

“Sure, count me in!”

********************************

Excited for what was to come, Hyejeong donned her best clothes: a black, figure-hugging dress that ended above her knees. Jimin was not around; she had to do her own makeup and was therefore slightly late in meeting Seolhyun.

“Sorry I’m late, I’m really slow at putting my makeup,” Hyejeong gasped, having rushed over to where Seolhyun was waiting and staring into her pocket mirror, making sure her false eyelashes were not falling off.

“It’s okay. How do I look today?”

Hyejeong took a proper look at Seolhyun and her jaw dropped. The girl who stood before her was as beautiful as an angel.

"Well, you're gonna make me look like a squid standing next to you." Hyejeong complained, feeling as though all the effort she had put into dolling herself up had gone to waste.

"Don't say that! You're quite stunning yourself too! Come on, let's go," Seolhyun replied. "Oh, your necklace is very pretty too! Where did you buy it from?"

"My necklace?  It's a..."

It's from Mina.

Emotions welled up within her suddenly and Hyejeong found herself unable to finish her sentence.

"A present?" Seolhyun asked curiously.

"Yeah."

Seolhyun opened to ask more, but Hyejeong just shook her head, grabbed Seolhyun’s hand and continued walking.

 **********************

The club was packed full with party-goers; it was impossible to move without bumping into anyone. Flashing strobe lights penetrated the cloak of darkness that covered the place and the huge speakers blasted dance tracks nonstop. The air was filled with a mix of sweat, alcohol and various perfumes. There were scantily-clad models everywhere, a few were dancing in cages, some were swinging around stripper poles and others were on stage pouring drinks into the mouth of party-goers below.

It took Hyejeong a while for her to take in everything. The first thing she noticed was that the lack of disco balls, something which Seolhyun later told her was ‘already a thing of the past’. One of Seolhyun’s wealthy classmates had booked a table and they were all squeezed around it, chatting and laughing away merrily while chugging bottles of vodka and Jack Daniel’s.

All her worries and problems slipped from her mind as she drank more and more. Hyejeong had never felt like this. It felt like she was in a safe haven where she could only be happy. Hyejeong got to her feet shakily and pulled Seolhyun up.

“I wanna dance. With you.” Hyejeong had to raise her voice although she was already speaking into Seolhyun’s ear.

Seolhyun grinned to show her agreement and they headed to the dance floor.

Amidst the throng of bodies dancing wildly around them, they rocked their hips to the rhythm of the music and Hyejeong grinded her body against Seolhyun with such an intensity the latter was caught by surprise.

They returned to the table for another round of drinks and the cycle repeated.

Drink. Dance. Drink. Dance.

Hyejeong completely lost track of time. All she remembered later was that after she got wasted and ended up puking in the restroom, Seolhyun was by her side, helping her into a cab.

*******************************

With Hyejeong's arm around her shoulder, Seolhyun heaved the taller girl up and trudged towards the lift of her dorm. It was early in the morning, so Seolhyun tried her best to make as little noise as possible, to prevent her roommate from being awakened.

She was not a heavy drinker, but she knew her limits well and more importantly, Seolhyun knew how to control herself. It wasn’t exactly the first time she had to send a drunk friend home.

The door swung open silently on its hinges to reveal an unkempt messy room that looked as though a hurricane had swept through it. Her clothes, bedsheets, books, notes, backpacks, and even her toiletries were strewn haphazardly all over the place.

It wasn’t that Seolhyun never tried to keep her room clean, but every time she did, she would just end up making a mess again when she needed something but could not remember where she had placed it. She half-lifted, half-dragged Hyejeong over to her bed and laid the half-asleep girl on it.

“Oh darn,” She whispered. “No way she’s gonna be sleeping in that dress.”

Seolhyun picked a clean t-shirt and helped Hyejeong change into it, before she did the same for herself. She looked at the floor, then at the bed, thoughtfully.

I don’t want either of us to be on the floor. Guess we’ll have to share the bed.  

Seolhyun was about to get into bed when she heard a soft mumble escape from Hyejeong’s lips. Curious, she brought her ears closer.

“Mina... Mina I’m so sorry, I love you so much… It’s all my fault, please come back to me. I love you forever, Mina…”

These words shook Seolhyun to her core. All this time she thought she had Hyejeong‘s love. At once, fury boiled up in her chest. Her fists were clenched so tight, her knuckles turned white. She opened silent scream as sobs wracked her body.

You never did truly love me, did you?

This was never real for you.

But it was real for me.