Love Me Not

Sweet

Chapter Three

Usually when people are sad, they don't do anything. They just cry over their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change.

Chaeri blinked as she quietly read the words on Seulgi’s pink notebook. She looked up to see the girl's smiling face.

"I got it from the internet," Seulgi explained. "I mean, isn't it perfect? Especially for the poor hearts that got broken." A frown graced her features temporarily as a second passed and then she quickly lit up. "Anyways, I found loads, but I doubt it'll apply to you."

"Why not?" Chaeri asked, feigning ignorance. Of course, she knew the reason, but of course, she won't tell them what she saw.

Sooyoung rolled her eyes. "Come on, Chaeri. I mean, your relationship with the Kim Jongin is no secret."

Nodding with her lips pursed, Chaeri’s eyes glinted. As Seulgi and Sooyoung went on with their conversation, she noticed Joohyun looking at her with raised eyebrows. "What?" she asked silently, feeling accused of something she didn't know. But this is Bae Joohyun. She would've known.

"Don't 'What?' me," Joohyun whispered back dangerously, and Chaeri saw the same glint in her eyes whenever she wanted to inform someone that she knew something in the subtlest way. "What are you going to do with Soojung?"

Chaeri sighed. She wouldn't lie to Joohyun. She couldn't even give her a small fib. There was always a giveaway. "I'm not going to do anything. You shouldn't either."

She gave her a pointed look. "I never said I would. I already told you I wouldn't meddle with this affair."

"I'm perfectly fine, Joohyun. Jongin and Soojung are... well, they're close friends. No one can deny that." Chaeri sighed.

"You call frenching people friends?" Joohyun shook her head. "I'll be blunt with you, Chaeri. Do is far better than Kim."

"What? Kyungsoo and I are just friends. We don't have... romantic feelings for each other, alright?"

"How do you know?" she raised a brow.

Chaeri was a bit taken aback. She didn't know whose side Joohyun had spoken for, but it didn't matter, right? She and Kyungsoo were really just good friends. And Chaeri loves Jongin. So much. "Look, uhmm..." She stood up and gathered her stuff, finally catching Seulgi and Sooyoung’s attention. "I need to stop by the library. I'll see you guys later."

…

"Hey, Jongin."

The words came out before Chaeri could even stop herself. She didn't even know what drove her to say that. She should've just stayed quietly in the background like yesterday. What stubborn part of her soul had forced her to come forward?

Jongin and Soojung looked up at her arrival, the latter not bothering to cover her shock. She blinked a few times before grabbing her bag from Jongin and giving him a small smile of goodbye. She dashed away without even acknowledging Chaeri. The brunette put on an innocent face when she called after Soojung. "See you later, Soojung!" Her voice carried an uncanny tone of displeasure that was obvious to anyone, so she wasn't exactly surprised when Jongin grabbed her arm aggressively and made her face him.

"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded.

Chaeri’s eyes narrowed. What the hell are you doing? She wanted to answer back, to yell her inner thoughts. That it hurts. That he was hurting her unconsciously, unintentionally.

When she didn't say anything, he dragged her off to the nearest place where they would be obscured: the trees. Chaeri pursed her lips. She didn't do anything wrong. Well, not deliberately. Of course, she knew she acted like a jealous , but she didn't really mean to. It was the green monster doing all the talking, the glaring, and the acting. Not Min Chaeri.

But to Kim Jongin, it didn't matter. It was still her. His grip tightened, and it hurt, but not as much as the pain troubling her fist-sized heart. How could one person take over something the size of her fist in the first place? How did Jongin work his charm to her heart without meaning to?

. It was natural, she reasoned, to have feelings to someone from the past, but she wouldn't understand that, no matter how much she tries. She has never loved someone like this before. And so, she cried the words that not only spoke for her tortured Jongin doesn't love me aloneChaeri knew one thing, though. She didn't need to say it out loud, but it was positive. arm, but unknowingly, for her feelings as well. "It hurts."

Jongin’s grasp suddenly loosened, and even he seemed surprised for a half-second over his reaction. He immediately looked away and Chaeri didn't know if she imagined it or not when his lips moved, mouthing a small sorry.

"No, I..." she took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I'm sure you and Soojung are still friends regardless of what happened."

He didn't say anything. His eyes were blank. His face was blank. He was still. Was it a good sign? A bad one? A normal one, perhaps?

"I mean, it's natural. I shouldn't have..." Her voice trailed off and she took a deep breath again, even deeper than the first. "I shouldn't have acted that way. I was being rude. I'm sorry."

"I," Jongin paused, but continued, eyes suddenly harboring evidence of life in t