Sojin's POV

 

He'd believed it. A part of me was very relieved that Minhyuk had just let me go, but the other part of me felt guilty. It felt so wrong to keep it a secret from him, but I also knew that he'd never allowed me to go if I'd told him. 

 

As I stood there, staring at the door in front of me, I actually wished a little that he'd stopped me. I had absolutely no idea of what it was I was going to say or do, but I knew that it had to be done. So collecting all of my courage, I rang the doorbell. It was a shrill sound, and soon after it faded out, I heard footsteps coming towards the door. Before I could prepare myself mentally, it opened. The woman that appeared looked tired and stressed, so different from the last time I'd seen her. When she realized who it was who'd rang the doorbell, her eyes widened. I bowed respectfully before I opened my mouth to greet her.

 

"Hi, Mrs. Kim."

 

"H-hello Sojin. What are you doing here?" she asked, looking around nervously.

 

"I'd like to talk to Chahyo, if that's possible?" I answered, trying to give her a reassuring smile.

 

"I'll go get her", she said, and then disappeared.

 

I took a deep breath and tried to calm down my nerves. It had been years since I last had been at Chahyo's apartment, and it felt weird to be there because of the reason I had. 

 

When I'd waited for a few minutes, I could hear a person walk towards the door, and then she stood there. The girl that'd made my life miserable. Even though her hair was a mess and she had dark circles under her eyes, it was no doubt that it was her. Chahyo looked at me with something I couldn't quite recognise.

 

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice sounding empty.

 

"I just... wanted to see how you were doing", I answered quietly.

 

She snorted loudly and smirked. 

 

"Are you serious? I doubt it that you've come all the way to my home, just to see how I was doing. Especially after everything I did to you."

 

Even though she smirked, I could see the pain and humiliation in her eyes. We looked at each other for a moment, and I tried to find the reason to why I'd found her so intimidating before. Nothing about her made me feel that horror that she'd done before. Maybe it was because of her tired look or the fact that she was alone.

 

"Which school do you go to now?" I asked eventually.

 

"It's far away. It's even worse than the old one, but I deserve it right?" she answered bitterly.

 

"Chahyo... I didn't ask them to expel you", I said carefully.

 

"Oh, I know. I know you better than you think, Sojin. And I think that you're being really dumb about this", she replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

 

"What?" I asked in shock.

 

"About this whole situation. What we did to you was horrible and it could've ended worse than it did. But you act like it's your fault that we got expelled", she said, getting more and more worked up for every word she said.

 

I didn't know what to response to that. Chahyo looked at me, tears beginning to build up in her eyes. 

 

"I haven't been able to sleep since that day, because I've felt so bad, but you act like you're fine? And you come here to do what? Tell me that you didn't want me out of the school?" she got out, the tears escaping and running down her face.

 

I watched her silently, taking her words in. Was she mad at me? Violently, she wiped the tears away and looked at me.

 

"Why?" I finally got out.

 

"What?" she asked, still crying.

 

"Why did you do it?" I asked, barely breathing.

 

She got quiet and her face went blank. My question was apparently not expected. She wiped the last tears away and sniffed, trying to win some time. 

 

"Why? I... You already hate me, so why not. Because I could. Because we could", she said, squirming with unease. 

 

"Because... You could?" I repeated with perplexity.

 

"Yes. I don't know whose idea it was from the start, but it was about not talking to you. Honestly, I think that it was ment to be a fun thing, but it became something... it became a habit. And then Kyunwoo started to say things, and since you didn't fight back, it made it so easy. And... it just happened", she said, her voice fading out in the end.

 

I stared at her, trying to find any kind of sign that she was kidding. Chahyo looked back at me with regret but didn't say anything.

 

"But... I'm... I never did anything", I got out after a while.

 

She shook her head slowly.

 

"No. And that's why I feel so bad right now. But you can't forgive me, can you?" she asked.

 

My eyebrows went up without I thought about it and I let out a sigh.

 

"No. I don't think I can", I said, my voice colder than I'd thought.

 

To my surprise, she smiled at my answer. 

 

"There you go. That's how you should act", she said.

 

I actually cracked a smile and started to back away from her.

 

"Well... Good luck in the future", I said.

 

"Thanks. You too. Oh, and by the way, Minhyuk's totally cute", she said, giving me the first real smile in a long time.

 

"I know", I replied. "By the way, where does Kyunwoo live?" 

 

Her smile immediatly changed in to a frown. "Two blocks down the road. But you shouldn't go there."

 

"Luckily, that's none of your concern."

 

With that, I turned around and left her standing. It felt weird, knowing that I'd probably never see her again. But there was no guilt in the weirdness. None.

 

It was even more nerve wrecking than ringing Chahyo's doorbell. It had taken me some time to figure out which house was his, but I'd decided on one eventually. My hand shaking, I reached it out and pushed the button in. Waiting nervously, I chewed on my lip. Suddenly, the door swung up without any warning. I jumped back in surprise and saw a short and sour looking woman stand in the door opening. She glared at me, looking me up and down.

 

"Who are you?" she asked angrily.

 

"I'm Jung Sojin, I'm looking for Lee Kyunwoo", I answered, bowing slightly.

 

The woman's eyes grew wide and she took a step back.

 

"O-oh. Wait a minute", she said before she disappeared out of my sight.

 

She must've heard my name before. I could hear voices come from inside, and it sounded like they were arguing. I wondered if I should've just walked away, but before I got the chance to do so, Kyunwoo appeared in front of me. He glared at me like I was unworthy. 

 

"What do you want?" he asked, and I could see how his muscles tensed.

 

"I-I..." I got out, but didn't get any further.

 

He smirked and leaned against the door frame. It felt just like usual. Like we were back in school and I had nothing that could protect me. 

 

"Got a nose job?" he asked.

 

My hand automatically went up to my deformed nose, causing him to laugh. Blushing, I dropped my hand.

 

"Are you here to crave an excuse? You're not getting any. Actually, you're the one who should apologize to me. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been expelled", he said, his smirk fading away.

 

I took a step back as I wasn't sure on what was going through his mind. My eyes never left his, and something that reminded me of insecurity quickly showed in his eyes to disappear just as quickly. 

 

"It's your fault... Everything", he whispered.

 

But it wasn't me he was talking to. His eyes may have been focused on me, but his words weren't directed at me. I nervously shifted my weight over to my other foot, making him snap out of his own head. His eyes grew hard and angry and he stood up straight.

 

"Get lost. I don't want to see you here again", he said with a low voice.

 

It was like something snapped inside me. Who was he to tell me to get lost? Without me even thinking it over, I took three fast steps forward. My hand raised itself and slapped him so hard over the cheek that it made a loud sound. It tingled a little in my palm, but the satisfaction took over when I saw the red mark that slowly appeared on the left side of his face. He stared at me in shock, and I quickly made a distance between us.

 

"Thank you", I said.

 

And with that, I walked away. He'd helped me see what person it was that I'd felt guilty for. He was a broken little boy. Something inside him was extremely off, and I'd been the person he'd let it out on. And with that slap, I'd gotten to feel what he'd felt when he'd hurt me. And he'd gotten to feel my pain for a moment. That was the peace I needed.