Woohyun POV

On the way home, I tried calling Minji countless times. I’m sure there were over ten miss calls on her phone, but I didn’t care. I was angry, and looking for someone to take my anger out on.

I was angry that every single word Hana said was true. It was truer than facts that were set in stone. I always treated her the way I wanted with only a fleeting consideration for her feelings. I was angry that I knew that I had screwed everything up for us. The future was so far away, but I always had a thought of Hana and I being together later on, hidden deep in the corner of my mind. Now I knew that it would be nothing more than a thought.

I was angry that Minji wasn’t picking up her phone. Why? Why was it that every time I needed her, she was never there for me? I was always there for her when she needed someone to comfort her, or if she needed a shoulder to cry on. But she was never there for me - I was beginning to question the emotional side of our relationship.

Every single little thing irritated me on the drive home. After I let Hana walk, I turned around and drove home. I was plagued by red lights, slow drivers and people who didn’t indicate when they turned. I seriously needed to get off the road before I wrapped my car around a tree and caused serious damage to myself.

Finally, I pulled into my driveway, but something struck me as odd. The light to my bedroom was on. Boohyun was out, and my parents were still at work. So why were my lights on? Fear gripped my heart as I thought of the possibilities. It could be a robber.

I quickly parked my car and tiptoed around the back, grabbing Boohyun’s baseball bat and entering the house from the back door, where I could enter the room with the element of surprise.

Heart thumping, I unlocked the back door, thanking God that my mother decided it was a good idea to keep a spare key for the back door under the pot plant in case one of us decided to lock ourselves out while gardening. Stepping out of my shoes to make less noise, I slid across the tiles in the corridor toward my room.

As I neared, I heard someone talking loudly on the phone. They were laughing until they were breathless, which made me more confused. Maybe it was just my brother, borrowing my computer or something.

I paused, mid-step, in the corridor, to try and make out the voice. My eyes widened as I recognized it – it was Minji’s. Minji? What was she doing in my room, in my house, all alone? Who was she talking to on the phone? Is that why I couldn’t reach her half an hour ago?

I gripped tighter on my baseball bat. I strode quickly into my room and my suspicions were confirmed. Minji was sitting at my table, clicking through something on my laptop while chatting animatedly to a friend on the phone. She appeared to be alone. She also did not appear to notice me in the room; she was so engrossed in her activities.

“Minji.” I spoke her name was confusion, malice, hurt and force.

She looked up from scrolling through my laptop. I saw a look of fear cross her face, but she composed herself quickly.

“Woohyun oppa,” she cooed, getting up from my chair and wrapping her arms around my neck.

I would have none of it. “What are you doing here?” I asked her, pulling her away and looking her in the eye.

I could tell that I caught her off guard. She had not have enough time to come up with an excuse. She was hoping that I would not catch her at all.

“I – “ She hesitated, biting her lip. Her cheeks were flushed red, and I knew immediately she was doing something wrong. “I just wanted to see the photos from the party last week.”

I looked at her plainly. She must’ve thought I was stupid, if I believed that.

“Oh, really? Which photos? Let me see.” I dropped my keys and walked toward the computer, but Minji stopped me by wrapping her thin arms around my waist and pulling me back.

“Minji, get off me! I’m not stupid. What are you even doing in my house when no one else is home? If you value our relationship – I am serious – then sit down on my bed and don’t move.”

I pried off her arms and moved her toward the bed. She bit her lip and looked down into her lap, avoiding my eye. This just made me more curious than ever. She was looking more and more guilty by the minute. She had a lot of explaining to do.

I sat down on my chair and woke up my laptop from sleep. When I saw what she was looking at, my heart dropped. Minji was reading Hana and I’s conversation online from our school project last year.

I turned around to glare at her. My hands were curled into fists and I had to physically fight the urge to hit something.

She opened to say something, but I cut her off. “Care to explain, Minji? What the are you doing, reading through my messages with Hana?”

She opened again, but I cut her off again.

“Can you explain some more? How did you get into my house? How did you know the password to my laptop? How did you even know that Hana and I met through the program my high school did last year?”  I yelled at her shrinking figure. At the back of my mind, I was wondering if I was over reacting. But all my anger had accumulated throughout the night, and this was the perfect outlet.

“Kim Minji, can you explain to me, please? I’m dying to know,” I said icily. “How you came to do all this.”

She looked up at me, eyes filled with tears. She pouted, but I felt nothing. All my respect for her was lost five minutes ago, when she was snooping through my things.

“I – I didn’t know you would be home so early,” she whispered.

“Yeah, I – wait,” I gaped. “How did you know I was going out with Hana tonight? I never told you. I didn’t tell anyone.”

She just looked at me like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“You tracked my phone?!” I raged. I was breathing extremely heavily. I literally needed to sit on my hands so they didn’t lash out and hit something.

“Why are you even seeing Hana anymore, Woohyun? You guys broke up, but you must think I’m stupid if can’t see you care for her more than you do for me!” She screamed at me, gaining courage from this information she could use against me in the argument.

“Don’t you change the subject,” I accused her. “What are you doing in my house? Why are you snooping through my things, tracking my phone? You have a lot of explaining to do. And I’m waiting patiently.”

She continued to look at me, but I didn’t know why. All I wanted was her to explain, or get the heck out of my sight. She was making me feel nauseous and angry at the same time. How much had she read? Is that why she was pretending to Hana that she shared the same interests as us? I found it extremely suspicious that night in the meat restaurant when Hana told me. Minji loved mango, but I hated it. She hated 2ne1, she hated everything that Hana and I liked.

“I’m waiting, Minji. And if you don’t come up with a good enough explanation why you’re doing all this, we are over. Do you understand? We’re done. I don’t need a girlfriend who stalks me and monitors everything I do. I don’t need someone to freaking research my history with my ex-girlfriend.”

“Woohyun, don’t pretend like you don’t need me. If you broke up with me, everyone will be on your for screwing up the order that’s existed in the university for about ten years before you were even born. Head cheerleaders always, always date the captain of the football team. Half of the time, they end up married. You can’t dump me if you want to remain captain of the team, Woohyun. Don’t you forget that,” she spat, crossing her arms and glaring at me.

I laughed. “Does it look like I care? If I was put as captain of the team because of who I was dating instead of my game, I would rather not be captain. It’s stupid, anyway. I was dumb enough in the first place to even do it.” I even laughed more, because I had finally realized that, in the heat of the moment.

“Still waiting for my explanation, Minji. I’m not a very patient person – you should know that.” I stared at her straight in the face, and she looked away because my gaze was too fierce. As I studied her face, I wondered. I wondered how I could ever find something with such an ugly, insecure heart attractive.

Sure, she had nice skin and a nice body, but all that paled in comparison as soon as she opened . All that paled in comparison to the things she did – the most unforgivable being reading through Hana and I’s messages. Those messages I held so close to my heart, I wouldn’t even let Boohyun or my mom read them.

“You want an explanation? Fine.” She got up and stood above me, like she had some kind of power by doing this. “I copied your key, okay? When you left your house keys in my bag, I went to the shop to get a copy before returning it to you. You never wondered why it took so long for me to get them back to you?” She stopped and laughed. I tried to speak, but no words came out of my mouth. Minji really took this whole – thing – to a new level.

“That’s how I got into your house. Okay, so what else do you want to know? I tracked your phone as soon as Hyeri – you know Hyeri? She’s my cousin. And when I found out that you guys were quite good friends, I bribed her to spy on you for me. Just in case you got into any mishaps while I wasn’t there. And she told me that you talk about Hana often. So I tracked your phone incase you were cheating on me. But it told me nothing – nothing except that you’re a coward, Woohyun, who never texts or calls someone who they seem to care so much. Tracking a phone is easy these days. You can do anything with money.

Why am I reading your messages? They’re funny, Woohyun. Do you get it? They make me laugh and cry. You’re so weak in your messages to her. You let her walk all over you; you’re nothing like who are in real life.”

I smiled to myself, despite everything. That was why I liked Hana so much – she knew the real me before the physical me.

She saw me smile, and she faltered. “Are – are you okay? Woohyun, I’m sorry – I guess,” she said, trying to salvage the situation.

I looked up. “I’m not. Bye Minji. Get out of my house, get out of my life. We are over. Done.” She gaped at me. “I’m breaking up with you.”