Being a popular student didn't mean all people could like you, Eunji knew it. It didn't make her life any easier either. But it came with great benefits. One of them was this. Being invited to the Valentine event held next week by most of the students existed inside the university. Jeong Eunji, along with her best friends, Yoon Bomi and Oh Hayoung, the it girls of school were literally the hottest students in their own departments.

Every time they casually walked through the hallway, people would stop on their tracks and glued their eyes to the 3 of them. Eunji, Hayoung, and Bomi would continue talking animatedly about everything they were interested in and ignore their surroundings. It was unbelievable for the 3 of them to be able to befriend with each other because of their different personalities and departments.

Jeong Eunji, the natural flirt from music producing department. The captain of the school's basketball team and got a lot of fangirls from how she played. y as hell and could get any girls or boys she wants from left and right. Her pretty eye smile and baby like cuteness were her charms that people wouldn't be able to resist, not that one had tried to. Everywhere she goes, people would flock around just to look at her.

But then, despite being popular within most of the students inside the school, it never meant she was liked by every people. It never happened. Not when 3 of the coldest student body existed inside school. And rumors had it Eunji and her friends had some kind of beefs with the 3 coldest student body members.

Just like right now. Eunji was still talking about something related to the event school was going to hold with some of the students when they heard a soft yet cold voice from behind. “Can all of you please move? You’re blocking the way.” If most people cowered from that tone alone, some shook in fright when they saw who was behind them. The holy trinity Park Chorong, Son Naeun, and Kim Namjoo. The president, vice president, and secretary of the student body. The Queen and Princesses of the school. 

Different from any of those students, Eunji looked neutral and threw a smile at Chorong’s direction in which the latter answered with a cold scowl. “Move! You’re blocking the way.” Chorong repeated with tone colder than earlier. Hearing that, Eunji and the other students had no other choices than to make way for the queen and the princesses to pass by. 

Eunji sighed and forced a smile as she turned to the students. “I’m sorry that you had to witness that. Usually, they don’t pass by this route to the office.” She apologized behalf of the queen and the princesses. 

“Why do you always apologize on behalf of them when you didn’t do anything bad?” One of the students asked with a tone that Eunji couldn’t quite interpret. 

Eunji didn’t answer the question. Not when she couldn’t find one herself. “It’s better to apologize than to let it stay and remain as grudge. I don’t want to just let it float.” Eunji shrugged when she heard that. One of them still wanted to question her again, but she just dropped it when she saw Hayoung and Bomi walking toward her. “Sorry, girls. Gotta go. Bomi and Hayoung are already here.” Flashing one last smile, Eunji went to the cafeteria with her best friends. 

Eunji was still thinking about the question the student asked. She also questioned herself about it. But the more she tried to look for the answer, the more she got confused and couldn’t find the answer. When she sighed, Bomi and Hayoung looked at her with worry completely written on their faces. “What’s wrong?” Bomi decided to ask. Eunji just shrugged and decided to keep it inside. 

When Eunji looked at Hayoung, she noticed that the younger girl was holding a cute pink bag with her. It wasn’t like herself. The Oh Hayoung she knew really hated the color pink. “What’s gotten into you? Pink? Are you sick?” Eunji decided to ask when Hayoung confidently held it with her. 

Hayoung looked at the pink bag and raised it to the same level with her face. “This bag? It’s for my wife actually. She’s obsessed with pink apparently. I wouldn’t know either if it weren’t for my mother-in-law.” Hayoung said with a slight amusement as she looked at the pink bag. Between the 3 of them, Hayoung was the only one married while Bomi was currently engaged to someone Eunji didn’t know and Eunji was the one whose status was still vague and a little bit foggy. 

Both Eunji and Bomi didn’t say anything else after hearing Hayoung’s explanation. They felt like they didn’t have any other thing to ask to the younger girl since it was her privacy and they didn’t have the rights to pry anyway. Their giant maknae decided to keep it in secret, so it was her own privacy to protect. 

Arriving at the cafeteria, Hayoung asked for her friends to find table for them to sit, but both of them insisted that they would accompany the younger girl so she wouldn’t get lost from being alone. The younger girl just shrugged and walked toward the table where she could easily spot her wife. 

To their surprise, it turned out that Hayoung’s secret wife that she’d been telling them about was the secretary of the student body and one of the princesses of the school, Kim Namjoo. Both Eunji and Bomi were surprised when they saw Hayoung putting the bag on the table in front of the girl (well, not only them. Most students were looking surprised as well.) While Eunji and Bomi stayed still behind the youngest of their group, Hayoung put down the pink bag in front of Namjoo who looked surprised by the sudden appearance of Hayoung. 

“Babe? What are you doing?” Namjoo asked without minding the questioning looks she got from Chorong and Naeun. She had time to explain herself later on. 

Hayoung let out a smile as she rested her hands on her wife’s cheeks. “Your mother told me you already left when I went to pick you up this morning so she asked me to bring your lunch with you.” Hayoung answered and Namjoo nodded her head. Usually both of them would go to school together if their schedules matched, but recently Namjoo was busy with the upcoming event for celebrating valentine. Hayoung wasn’t upset but her quality time with her wife was cut off and she didn’t like it. Not even a bit. 

“I’m only here to drop that off. Eat it well. Mom told me it’s your favorites.” Hayoung said after giving a peck on Namjoo’s cheeks. Namjoo in return had her face tinted with red hue all over. 

After being satisfied of her wife’s condition, Hayoung was ready to leave with Eunji and Bomi. But the tug on her sleeves prevented her from doing so. Namjoo was holding onto the sleeves of her shirt a little bit too hard and it made Hayoung confused. Did Hayoung leave anything behind? 

“What is it babe?” Hayoung asked gently and Namjoo looked a little bit hesitant to answer her. But Hayoung encouraged her wife to just let it out instead of keeping it inside. 

“You’re not going to ask me?” Namjoo timidly asked. She was never good in expressing what she wanted, but she was glad Hayoung was patient with her. She wouldn’t be able to be this open if it wasn’t for her straight forward wife.

Hayoung looked confused at first. But when she got what Namjoo was trying to tell her, she smiled. She turned around again, ready to leave for real. “Ever since I stood there on the aisle with you in front of the priest holding your hands tightly while saying my lifetime vows, it’s already obvious baby. I’m forever yours. You won’t need me to remind you about it. You just need to know that I love you ever since the day our parents introduced us to each other.” Hayoung had answered and it got people around them fell into silence as they didn’t know Hayoung was such a romantic person. Namjoo smiled softly, she was glad her parents chose Hayoung over all those snobby rich sons of her father’s colleague. 

“I own you for Valentine then?” Namjoo decided to ask again. 

“That’s up to you baby. I’ve become yours since day one. You don’t need to ask for my permission.” With that, Namjoo suddenly felt a surge of bravery and went to kiss Hayoung straight on the lips without minding their friends or those who are watching them together. Don’t tell the couple, but Naeun, Chorong, Bomi, and Eunji were looking at them with envy completely written on their faces. 

When Namjoo parted her lips from Hayoung’s, she whispered a soft ‘I love you’ which got Hayoung smiling and replied the same sentences to her wife. The younger girl ushered her wife to eat her lunch before her next class started and Namjoo obliged and Hayoung finally left her wife’s table to find her own with her best friends. 

Chorong and Naeun didn’t even want to ask about it anymore, they just patiently waited for their foods to devour after watching the lovey-dovey scene in front of them. Naeun was good in hiding her own feelings, but Chorong’s bitterness from the scene she had witnessed wasn’t something hard to miss. Naeun and Namjoo knew about Chorong’s love life but all they knew was about her girlfriend never cared for her and that was it. Every time they tried to pry, it either Chorong decided to drop it or the older girl ended up in the verge of tearing up while talking about it. But they did know one thing. If things didn’t change, Chorong would definitely break up with the said girlfriend of 2 years. 

…

Valentine was literally tomorrow and the student body was about to go crazy. With Valentine nearing, Chorong, Naeun, and Namjoo needed to be present whenever the preparation was going on. Great, because that was the only chance that they could witness the soft-spoken Naeun could let out a string of curses. She hated to check up everything from the start. Not to mention she needed to listen to Namjoo’s loud speaker’s voice and Chorong’s nagging like the world was about to end. Well, they were literally the ones going to be scolded if there were problems later on. She had no other choice. 

Right now, Chorong was accompanying Naeun who wanted to take a momentary break since they’ve been doing most of the preparation instead of the chosen students for hours already and Naeun was about to explode. Chorong agreed because she knew Naeun was exhausted from everything. 

Both of them headed to the park while waiting for Namjoo to finish all of her responsibility and joined them too. The main reason of why Chorong accompanied Naeun was that Naeun had something to tell to the 3 of them. About her fiancé, Naeun had said and it left Chorong wondering. Namjoo was married, Naeun was engaged, should she just reveal her secret about being engaged too or should she just wait for them to find out? Or when her so-called-girlfriend decided to finally open . That was definitely not going to happen anyway, Chorong had thought one time. But when she looked at the ring on her finger, she sadly smiled. As much as she loved her girlfriend, the title of girlfriend and fiancé had never felt so heavy and made her this vulnerable. 

Both Chorong and Naeun decided to stop and sit at their favorite spot by the oak tree. After both of them sat at the spot where it was shaded the most, Naeun leaned her back onto the trunk of the tree and let out a content sigh. “You look like you’re about to faint, Naeun-ah.” Chorong had commented as she joined Naeun leaning her back on the trunk. “I’m not about to faint, unnie. I’m about to die.” Naeun jokingly answered as she looked at Chorong and both of them laughed together from their own comments. 

“I’m even surprised that Namjoo is still willing to continue all of those works.” Chorong amusedly said as she remembered about what Namjoo had told them. 

“Well, unlike us, she got her wife helping her doing those heavy works.” Naeun replied as she took out her phone. 

“Girlie must be lucky to have a wife who’s whipped enough to do things for her.” Chorong commented finally and sighed. Naeun also agreed with her. Hayoung was too whipped for Namjoo that she started doing everything she could to help her wife when the 3 of them knew Hayoung was literally weaker than her own wife. 

“Talking about me?” The voice which definitely belonged to Namjoo startled both Naeun and Chorong and that made Namjoo burst into a laughter fits from the sight she had witnessed. Chorong with her colorful words she’d never let out and Naeun with her startled face and hand holding her heart. 

Chorong shot Namjoo a glare to make her shut up, but to no avail, Namjoo kept on laughing as she joined Chorong and Naeun by sitting beside Naeun. “I don’t know why I’m still friends with you, Namjoo-yah.” Naeun had finally said and hearing that Namjoo finally stopped laughing and let out an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Unnies. Both of you looked so serious and I can’t help it.” She sheepishly said. Chorong only let out a sigh and let it slide. 

When Naeun her phone, Namjoo sneakily tried to look into the phone too. The youngest out of the 3 widened her eyes when she saw Naeun’s lock screen. “Unnie, is that you and… AND BOMI-UN-” Unfortunately, Namjoo couldn’t continue her sentence any further because Naeun already had her hand covering Namjoo’s lips to prevent her from saying anything else. Chorong became intrigued after hearing the name of a person she knew very well. She looked at Naeun’s lock screen and turned to the younger girl with her eyes wide open. 

“The fiancé you wanted to tell us is… Bomi?” Chorong asked to make sure. When Naeun shyly smiled, both Namjoo and Chorong gasped. “How is that even possible?” Namjoo asked. Naeun turned to look at her with the sharpest glare she’d ever seen. 

“I mean, both of you are so different. Like your personalities are completely different from hers. You’re quiet, shy, timid, but quite blunt. While Bomi-unnie is just Bomi-unnie.” Namjoo simply explained herself while waving her hands to prevent any misunderstandings between the 2 of them. They might bicker with each other for most of the day, but it wasn’t a secret that Naeun cared for Namjoo as much as she cared for her skincare routine.  

Naeun sighed. This was the reason why she decided to not tell any of her friends the identity of her fiancé. She knew Namjoo would compare them. “I know, Namjoo. I know. My parents and hers have told us already. But I can’t lie that I loved so much that I’m willing to just drop everything to be with her.” Naeun replied to what Namjoo had said. Chorong who had been a silent listener could only think bitterly again. No matter what happened, Chorong wouldn’t be able to have the love like how her friends had. 

“I’m glad to hear that. I guess Bomi has been treating you well to have you lowered your walls and embraced the love she’s been trying to shower you with.” Chorong finally opened and decided to be happy for her friends’ happiness. 

Chorong knew how hard Bomi had tried to get Naeun’s heart from the past few years, but now that both of them ended up together and happily engaged, Chorong knew. She didn’t need anything other than her friends’ happiness, even if it meant giving up her own happiness. When Chorong looked at the ring on her ring finger, it has never felt so heavy than it was. She decided to take her phone from her coat’s pocket and turned it on. She didn’t want to let Naeun and Namjoo to see her lock screen and home screen wallpaper. She didn’t want to let them know who she’d foolishly and hopelessly fallen for. 

The oldest of the trio opened her chatting application and texted the most recent person she’d been texting. Opening the chatroom, Chorong felt so suffocated. She knew. She realized that it was only her who was trying to fix their ambiguous relationship. As much as Chorong hated to admit it, she was tired beyond words. Her girlfriend made her felt like she was nothing to her. With heavy feelings on her heart, Chorong had made her decision. It was for their bests. She decided to give up from the pain. It was a coward choice, Chorong understood. But she couldn’t stay being like this too. It made her felt like she was being played. 

‘Let’s just give up on each other and end all of this, Eunji-yah.’ With that, Chorong’s finally let her heart fell apart and shattered into pieces. Without even waiting for any answer, Chorong turned off the power of her phone and decided to leave the park to have her own time. That had Namjoo and Naeun interrogating her, but Chorong reassured them that she was just tired and needed to sort out her thoughts. It wasn’t entirely a lie, yet at the same time it wasn’t fully the truth. She just didn’t want them to worry about her. 

Chorong went back to the auditorium to take all her belongings and leave early to avoid Eunji. Hayoung and Bomi who were there greeted her as if they’d known about her for a long time. Chorong also greeted them politely to prevent them from interrogating her. But they did ask her something. “Why are you leaving so early?” Bomi looked at her confusedly while Hayoung only stayed silent after she asked the said question to her. Honestly, Chorong didn’t want to let them know about the truth. But one day, she hoped they would know about literally everything from Eunji herself. 

“My step brother is coming to the town and I needed to fetch him before he gets lost. I’ll see you two later. Tell Namjoo and Naeun I’ve already left if they asked for my whereabouts.” With that Chorong finally left and hurriedly went to the parking lot where her car was located. She needed to go home before Eunji could find her. 

At time like this, she was glad that the parking lot was near from her department. She could already spot her favorite black Honda Civic on the corner. She took out her key and unlocked the car as she easily walked. She smiled in relieved as she realized that Eunji was nowhere to be seen. She was the last person Chorong wanted to see that day. 

But things never worked that way. Even though Chorong wanted to avoid Eunji at all costs, there she was. Panting while holding onto her knees. When Eunji straightened her body posture, both their eyes met and Chorong could see the relief written on her face. Chorong wanted to run to her and hug her saying that she regretted her decisions. But, no. She didn’t have any plan on turning back. That was for their best. With that, Chorong got into her car and ignored Eunji who panicked at the sight of Chorong leaving. 

Eunji wanted to chase after Chorong, but she left her key at the auditorium with Hayoung and all she could do was to look at her girlfriend leaving. She shouldn’t feel like that. Chorong wasn’t leaving her forever. It was her fault, she knew it. It shouldn’t hurt that much, but why did Eunji feel like her heart was stabbed by thousands of knives? 

Not being able to do anything, Eunji fell onto the hard concrete of the parking lot as tears slowly flowing down onto her cheeks and soft sobs escaped from . She knew she should’ve listened to what Bomi had told her before. To treat the girl she loved with the utmost care, because she wouldn’t know until when the girl she loved could hold on and break herself in the process of holding on. Eunji should’ve listened and now that Chorong left her, she couldn’t do anything. She didn’t have enough strength to stand up and she just lost the person she loved the most. 

Eunji had run after Chorong after the girl sent her that message. Obviously, Eunji’s mind became blank and she was moving in autopilot. She’d rushed to the parking lot after Bomi had told her about Chorong leaving to fetch her step brother. Eunji knew it was a lie, Chorong’s step brother was still in the UK and wouldn’t return unless it was already holiday season there. God, she hated this.  

“I’m sorry…” Eunji whispered to nothing but air. No one was there to listen to her. Only the emptiness and the cars parked there. 

…

It was finally valentine, the day where Chorong, Naeun, Namjoo, Hayoung, and Bomi’s hard works was going to pay off. Every student looked enthusiast, but not with Naeun and Namjoo. Both of them looked so worried that it was starting to bother Hayoung and Bomi too. It was obvious to them what the reason for Namjoo and Naeun to worry about. Chorong was nowhere to be seen ever since their break time from yesterday. Messages sent, yet haven’t been read. Calls delivered, yet not answered. It’d been a long time since the last time Chorong closed herself like that again. 

“The preparation check is completed, the rehearsal is going well, all left is only the speech rehearsal from the president of student body. Is everything okay, Naeun-noona? I haven’t seen Chorong-noona since morning and it was kind of weird for not having her around.” Seungsik, one of the few whom Chorong trusted other than Namjoo and Naeun, asked worriedly. Hayoung put a hand on his shoulder and asked him to calm down as well. Namjoo and Naeun had their own fair share of responsibility and she didn’t want to make them become more stressed. 

“Chorong is not here and I can’t contact her either.” Naeun was already stressed because of the pressure of the event, but now that Chorong wasn’t there either just made everything worse. 

Even though Bomi was sad to see her fiancé stressing like that and couldn’t be any help to the student council, she did notice someone was missing too. And after checking around the auditorium, she became sure. She turned to look at Hayoung and decided to ask the youngest among all of them. “Speaking of which, have you seen Eunji this morning?” Hayoung shook her head. Now that Bomi mentioned it, she hadn’t seen Eunji either. What the hell was happening? First, it was Chorong. And now, it was Eunji? Did the girl realize she had her basketball practice? 

“God, what the hell is happening today?” Namjoo had exasperatedly said. Just at that moment, they could hear Seungsik’s phone ringing, signing that there was an incoming call. All of them stayed silent until Seungsik fished his phone out form his pocket and showed the caller to the others. All of them released a relieved smile. Even though they didn’t know what Chorong was doing, but they were glad that at least they could at least hear something from the president. 

Without needing any words from the girls, Seungsik answered the call and put the call into speaker so the others could listen to what Chorong wanted to say to him. “Noona? Where are you? The rehearsal is about to end already?” Seungsik worriedly asked. Well, all of them were worried to sick. But Seungsik was the only one who could help them. 

“I’m sorry, Seungsik-ah. I overslept today. Even though I know you won’t believe me, I need you to call Naeun and Namjoo. Can you do that for Noona?” After saying a soft okay, Seungsik pretended to shout Naeun and Namjoo’s names when they were literally standing across of him. 

Giving a sign to each other, Naeun and Namjoo looked at each other and walked closer to Seungsik to make it less obvious that they were there the whole time. “What are you so loud for?” Namjoo cutely complaint which had Hayoung smiling like an idiot after witnessing the cutes part of her wife. Bomi just proudly looked at her fiancé who had been silent and being so cutely chic next to the baby vitamin of theirs. 

“Namjoo-yah? Is Naeun with you?” Chorong asked from the other line. Well, her voice sounded raspy and hoarse. Maybe she was telling the truth. 

“She’s next to me, unnie. Do you want to say something?” Namjoo eyed Naeun who had been listening to what the older girl was saying since earlier. 

“Okay, the 3 of you listen. I know I’m practically late to the rehearsal. Either I come or not won’t change anything. But would you mind if I show up a bit later only to practice my speech? You can tell the others to save as much time as possible, because the opening speech wouldn’t take a long time.” Seungsik, Naeun, and Namjoo looked at each other to confirm something. But when Naeun nodded her head, Seungsik decided to say something to Chorong. 

“I can help with that, Noona. Seungwoo had told me earlier that the maximum time you had for your speech is only ten minutes at most. More than that, I’m afraid your time would be cut down.” Seungsik carefully explained and Chorong hummed as if she was thinking about it. 

After a few seconds of silence, Chorong finally spoke up and the tension surrounding them finally disappeared. “That can do. Thank you, Seungsik-ah. Please help Naeun and Namjoo if you’re still there to do the last check. I’ll be there in 20.” Chorong ended the call after saying thank you and they had one more person to worry about. 

“Now, the only one left is our resident playgirl. Miss Jeong Eunji.” Bomi had said as she took out her phone. But then she remembered about the event from yesterday. “Did anyone know the reason why Eunji had been crying yesterday?” That had Hayoung turned to her in an instant. 

“She cried? Are you sure?” Hayoung asked, surprised after hearing about Eunji crying. Never in her life had she seen the older girl crying, that was why Hayoung was so surprised. 

“I didn’t actually see her cry, but her eyes were red and puffy when she returned to the auditorium.” Bomi explained while trying to remember some pieces from yesterday’s event. 

Namjoo and Naeun who had been attentively listening looked at each other in confusion. Namjoo turned to Bomi and decided to ask. “When was that, Bom-unnie?” Namjoo asked. She had a prediction of what had happened. but she wasn’t sure if what she had in her mind was the same with what actually happened. 

“Well, I think it was after she had looked for Chorong.” Bomi said while still trying to recall what had happened. Bomi was too forgetful for her age and that had Naeun fondly rolled her eyes. But even so, what Bomi had told them was a huge surprise. Eunji looking for Chorong? For what purpose? 

It was silence for a moment. Namjoo and Naeun processing what Bomi had told them, Hayoung still thinking of why Eunji was crying, Bomi was still trying to recall what had happened, while Seungsik was just standing there without knowing what to do. He was literally stuck there. Then, the silence was broken by Bomi who finally remembered what had happened. 

“Wait, I remembered now.” Bomi exclaimed and Namjoo rushed her to explain as she didn’t want to wait anymore. 

“After Chorong told me and Hayoung she was leaving, Hayoung excused herself to buy some drinks in case you and Naeun returned. But then Eunji was running to me and asked whether I’d seen Chorong or not, in which I’d answered with she’d already left. But when Eunji asked me where Chorong was, she looked so scared, confused, and… I don’t know? Terrified?” After listening to Bomi’s explanation, the pieces in Namjoo’s head finally matched. 

“Now that explained everything.” Namjoo had said after the realization struck her hard. 

“Are you thinking like how I’m thinking?” Naeun asked and when Namjoo nodded her head, both of them let out a heavy sigh. 

The rest looked at them with confusion and looking at that, Namjoo just asked them to sit down because it was going to be a long day for all of them. 

…

Chorong didn’t think she would feel the need to lie to all of her friends just because of one person. She purposefully stayed in her cousin’s house to hide, because she knew Eunji would come to find her in her apartment to talk and change her mind. Her phone was full with unread messages and unanswered called from her favorite dongsaengs, but Eunji was the only reason why she was doing this. She hated to lie, but just because of one person, she was willing to do all of it. Would she stay as a coward this way? Rolling out of the bed, Chorong went to the closet and picked out the right outfit for the day. 

“Chorong-unnie, mom ask what do you want for breakfast.” Her cousin, Oh Seunghee asked. Chorong looked at her cousin who was leaning at the door frame with her head poking in to see what Chorong was up to. 

“Tell auntie I’ll be eating outside later.” Chorong gently answered and that had Seunghee nodded her head, but still not leaving to give her cousin a space. 

“I heard from Nayeon and Siyeon that Namjoo almost cancelled the last-minute checking because of your absence. Minji-unnie also told me that Naeun-unnie was about to lose her temper when the rehearsal didn’t go like plan. Are you sure everything’s okay?” Seunghee asked carefully as she got into Chorong’s room and plopped down onto the plush bed. 

Chorong eyed the younger girl before letting out a sigh. She wanted to let her cousin know that everything wasn’t okay. Seunghee is a smart girl. She’d be able to connect the dots once Chorong let her know everything and that wouldn’t do any good to her. Not when she was desperately trying to ignore the dull ache in her heart that she’d been trying to hide from years ago. “I’ve already told you what happened yesterday, Seunghee-yah.” Chorong had tried to convince her cousin, but it wasn’t working. One look from Seunghee had told her that it was no use to lie to her. 

“I don’t want to talk about it. Don’t push me, Seunghee-yah.” Seunghee looked at her cousin with sad eyes before she went to pull her cousin into a hug. 

“I’m not forcing you to talk to me, but you know sometimes it’s better to let it out instead of holding it in.” Seunghee whispered to her cousin and when she felt Chorong nodded her head, she finally let her cousin go and changed her clothes to the one she’d picked up before Seunghee decided to distract her. 

After Seunghee went out from her room, Chorong finally felt her heart breaking apart again. Her mind was taking her into a rollercoaster ride of memories she’d tried bury in the deepest part of her heart. Maybe this was a bad idea after all. But even if it was a bad idea, Chorong decided to do it anyway. For the sake of her friends. Yeah, for Naeun and Namjoo and the rest of the student body’s members. 

With grey hoodie, black trackpants, and oversized navy flannel, Chorong put on her cap and left the room. She spotted Seunghee in the living room on phone talking to her girlfriend that she kind of remembered the name. Seunghee’s mother was in the kitchen like she was trying out a new recipe for Seunghee to try maybe. “Auntie, I’m going now. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Chorong greeted and that had her aunt smiled and bid her goodbye. 

Chorong wondered what Namjoo and Naeun would say to her if they knew she’d been lying to them. Literally about everything because they might’ve figured everything by now. 

Leaving the house, Chorong went to her car that she’d parked in the front yard. She’d unlocked the car and entered the driver seat. After putting the key to where it belonged, Chorong started the engine and drove off after the security opened the gate for her. The street was kind of empty as if was still a few hours before lunch break. 

School was just the same. Students running here and there for their classes while some was just chilling by the bleachers, either to enjoy their times alone or to just sleep the day away and skipped classes they had. Entering the parking lot, Chorong parked her car at the very same spot she parked her car literally every day. after pulling up the hand brake and turned off the engine, Chorong took her belongings and got out from her car. She headed to the auditorium and ignored the way students were looking at her. The looks on the students’ face had her smiling a little bit. They rarely saw her in this kind of outfit whenever she had classes. It was kind of cute to see them like that. 

When Chorong was literally a few meters apart from the auditorium, her heart started to beat faster than before and suddenly she was nervous. What if Namjoo and Naeun were mad at her and they became awkward? What should she do then? Oh god, this was stressing her. She was literally stressed because of the event, but then the thoughts about Eunji and Namjoo and Hayoung just added another pressure on her shoulder. 

Ready or not, she was going to do this. She already prepared herself. She only needed to get inside, got her rehearsal done, and leave. Yeah, the faster she got it over, the faster she got to go home and enjoyed her free time before finally going to the event. 

Pushing the door opened, Chorong softly greeted the council’s members that were still working on the last check of everything. The once empty auditorium hall had become prettier with the decorations. Pink and red filled the corners and the stage was decorated with white and pink. Audio mixer on the stage, speakers, the mics was being checked and it was great. She didn’t regret for nagging the students to be more responsible and being hard at them. 

As Chorong walked toward where Seungwoo was, her eyes met with Namjoo’s dark orbs. The younger stood up and ran to where she was standing at. Chorong thought Namjoo was about to slap her or something, but turned out she was wrong. Namjoo hugged her so tight that it was hard for Chorong to breathe. “Hey.” Chorong softly said and Namjoo tightened the hug. “I’m glad you’re okay.” She heard Namjoo said. Chorong could sense that she was worried, but not about her health or anything. It was about something else that she’d rather not talk about. 

“Thank you for worrying about me. Now, can you let me go? It’s hard for me to breathe because you hug me too hard.” Chorong jokingly said and that had Namjoo removing her hands from the older girl and muttered a soft sorry. Not that Chorong mind, but she needed to get her rehearsal done. 

“I’ll catch up with you later, unnie. You had a lot of things to explain to me.” Namjoo said with her sweet smile, one that had dimples showing. 

Even though she knew Namjoo already knew, she still gave her a small smile and answered her with a soft okay before going to the backstage where Seungwoo was waiting for her. 

Seungwoo briefed her for a few minutes before giving her the mic and showed her position on the stage. Chorong didn’t prepare her speech beforehand and she only said what comes to her mind. And just like that, her speech rehearsal ended. 

Naeun was there at the backstage when she came down from the stage. Naeun shared that the preparation had been going very well, but then Chorong for keeping on stealing a glance on her fiancé every time she thought Chorong wasn’t looking at her. “Look at you being whipped for Bomi.” Chorong had that teasing smile when she said that and Naeun only pushed the older girl away without even hiding the red painting her cheeks. 

“Let’s go back to the others.” Naeun said and Chorong nodded her head. Both of them walked while talking about something funny until Naeun cutely complaint to her. “You need to treat us lunch for not showing up during the last-minute checking. Namjoo was furious about the decorations being different from what we’ve planned out to the point that she almost cancelled the whole thing and just do it herself. And also, for making me being the only target for Namjoo’s fury.” Chorong apologetically smiled at Naeun. If handling a mad Chorong was already hard enough, then it was harder to handle a furious Namjoo. But it was better to only handle one of them instead of two at the same time. 

“Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to.” Chorong apologized while rubbing her nape. Naeun replied her with an ‘It’s okay’ but Chorong knew it wasn’t okay at all. 

Chorong was sitting between Seungsik and Hayoung because apparently Hayoung wanted to ask for an advice. And after Chorong finished on helping the youngest of the group, they started to talk about where they should have their lunch. Chorong told them to leave out the expensive one, but none of them heard it and just continued talking animatedly while throwing some suggestions here and there. Chorong complaint once again, but Bomi just shut her by placing a finger on her lips, effectively making the older girl stop talking and pouted her lips cutely. It was a rare sight that people could see from the ice queen. 

Bomi was still throwing some suggestions about the restaurant when the door of the auditorium suddenly burst opened and followed by a loud voice which had Chorong tensed for a second. “YOON BOMI! YOU PROMISED TO SHOW UP AT PRACTICE TODAY! WHY ARE YO-” Chorong pulled down her cap to cover her face even more, but that didn’t even help when she caught Eunji softly calling her name. At that, Chorong flinched and the others were looking at her worriedly. She couldn’t think of anything else, but her top priority was to get out from that room as soon as she could. 

“Sorry, I need to go.” Chorong shakily said as she stood and walked toward the nearest exit which was luckily a little bit far from where Eunji was. 

“Chorong, wait!” Eunji called, hoping for Chorong to stop and turned back to look at her. But unfortunately, instead of doing that Chorong just ran faster and that had Eunji ran after her. 

Without even needing to talk, Seungsik, Namjoo, Hayoung, Naeun, and Bomi ran out to chase after the two girls to make sure nothing bad happened to them and also to make sure both of them didn’t kill each other in the process. 

In the hallway, students were witnessing the scene of Eunji chasing after Chorong while calling her name out loud. “Rong, please… we can talk it out.” But Chorong didn’t listen, instead she just fastened her pace and ignored Eunji’s plead. 

Even though Chorong had run with all her might, it seemed that she wasn’t fast enough to make Eunji lose her. She could feel Eunji’s grip on her wrist and made her stop. “Chorong, please. Let’s talk.” Eunji gently tried to persuade while still panting. Her lungs hurt like hell after running like that. 

Hearing what Eunji had said, Chorong yanked her hand back and looked at Eunji warily. “There’s nothing left to talk about. I’ve already made it clear that everything between us was over.” Chorong said with her sharp tone. Eunji tried to take a step forward, but Chorong had already stepped backwards and Eunji just stayed at her spot. 

“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it anymore, but at least tell me the reason.” Eunji sounded so desperate and it was making Chorong’s inner turmoil boiled. But weirdly, instead of getting mad at Eunji, she could feel tears forming on the edges of her eyes. 

“I’m tired of this, Eunji-yah. I’m tired of this feeling of being played by you.” Chorong had said and Eunji noticed the slight crack on her voice. 

Eunji finally realized that it was her fault Chorong became like that. She tried to get close to Chorong, but before she could do so, Chorong had continued her words and she stayed. 

“I’m tired of having to hide my feelings every time I saw you flirt with all those girls when I was literally there witnessing every single thing you did to charm them. Have you ever thought of how I was feeling when you did such a thing in front of me?” 

Namjoo and the others stopped abruptly when they heard Chorong said that. So all those times when Chorong acted so coldly towards those students and closed herself fully was because of that. Everything made sense now. The way Chorong was always mad without any reasons, the way Chorong would coldly silence the students who talked about Eunji, and the way Chorong would shut everyone out. It all made sense. “It’s okay. She never cared for me anyways.” Namjoo understood everything now. Jeong Eunji was the girlfriend Chorong had been hiding for 2 years. 

“You know I didn’t mean any of it, Rong.” Eunji tried again, this time a little bit softly. Chorong was right. 

“Yeah, you didn’t mean it. But did those girls have the same thinking way like mine?” 

Chorong didn’t stop there. She looked at Eunji with her tears finally fell onto her cheeks. Eunji desperately wanted to wipe those tears away, but as if her soles were glued to the hard concrete, she just stood there and watched Chorong crying her heart out. 

“I’ve agreed to everything you want, Eunji. Hiding our relationship because you weren’t ready yet. Hiding everything about you so people wouldn’t find out about us because you have an image to protect. But did you know how hard it had been for me? To watch all those girls flocking around you with their eyes looking at you like you were about to give them part of your heart.” 

“You never cared about me, Eunji-yah.” Naeun and Namjoo felt like they were about to cry as well. They knew Chorong was hurting, yet they couldn’t do anything to make her feel better because Chorong always keep everything to herself. Different with Hayoung and Bomi who wanted to just punch Eunji for doing that when she was already committed into a relationship.

“I’ve been protecting you like what you wanted, but what I got in return was only pain! Do you think it’s fair for me to be treated this way?” Chorong asked while wiping the tears that was still pouring down. 

Eunji couldn’t find the right words to defend herself because what Chorong had said was the truth. God, she never realized she was such an for treating Chorong so badly when she was the one who had been protecting and keeping her from troubles. 

“I’m sorry…” Eunji sounded like she was about to break down too, but then again she was the one who hurt Chorong. She had no right for it. 

“I’m so sick of you keep on saying you’re sorry. Because every time you did so, all I could do was to forgive you again and again and again until I don’t know when. It was a cycle that doesn’t seem to stop unless I do something about it.” Chorong had replied bitterly. 

“Rong, please… for the last time, please give me a change to make us become better.” 

“I’ve given you so many chances before. I’ve given you as much time you needed, yet you never changed. Not even a bit. I DIDN’T GIVE YOU 5 YEARS FOR YOU TO WASTE IN VAIN!” Chorong nearly shouted at Eunji considering the sudden rise of her voice. 

Namjoo and the others who were there could only watch them warily. One wrong move or word, who could know what Chorong might’ve done to Eunji. 

“Let’s not make it harder for me, Eunji-yah. Deciding to end everything between us and letting you go at the same time already took a toll on me. And with you asking for another chance to me is just making its harder. Let’s just cool down first and then talk. Can you at least do that for me?” Chorong asked as she raised her hands to cup Eunji’s cheeks. 

When Eunji shakily nodded her head, Chorong gave her a soft yet sad smile. The saddest Namjoo and the other had ever seen. 

While caressing Eunji’s cheeks, Chorong leaned in and gave Eunji a kiss that both of them were sure they would be missing. As Chorong moved her lips, Eunji could taste the salt on their lips. It was either hers or Chorong’s. Eunji raised her hands to grip onto Chorong’s sleeves as Chorong parted her lips and looked at Eunji sadly. 

“Goodbye, Eunji-yah. I love you so damn much.” Chorong whispered as she gave a peck onto Eunji’s forehead and removed her hands from Eunji’s cheeks. That had Eunji cried harder in front of the older girl, but still managed to answer the same I love you to Chorong who just turned her back to the younger girl and got into her car then drove off, leaving Eunji crying harder and harder and Bomi and Hayoung who went to comfort their best friends. 

Valentine was supposed to be a happy day for couples. But it looked like Namjoo was going to change that perception. Not many people could be a sweet married couple like Namjoo and Hayoung who were bound by arranged marriage. Not many people could have the patience like Naeun and Bomi when it came to love. Instead of a sweet day, Namjoo might as well called Valentine as the most hated day in her calendar. 

The worst because it had driven her mad since morning. The worst because it had made her witnessed Chorong crying and getting angry, the worst because she’d finally heard the truth of what had happened between Chorong and Eunji. And lastly, the worst out of the worst, witnessing the most heartbreaking break up between Eunji and Chorong. 

Valentine was never going to be the same again. 

|Finished|