Though Jinri didn’t skip school again, she didn’t join us at our lunch table the following afternoon. Some of the others were beginning to question why she was avoiding us, namely Krystal and Sunyoung.

“I don’t know why she’s being such a big baby about the nose job,” Krystal said with a roll of her eyes. “She didn’t care this much when she got her jawline worked on last summer.”

“She’s not hiding out because of a nose job,” Jonghyun spat. Even though he’d kept his word and was going to let me handle Jinri in my own way, he liked her even less than he had before – which was really saying something, as he hadn’t really been able to stand her before, either. “She wouldn’t dare show her face around here after what she did.”

“What did she do?” Sunyoung asked eagerly, a mixture of intrigued and worried.

“You know all the horrible stuff that’s been happening to Narae lately?” Jonghyun began.

“Jonghyun,” I said sharply, and he stopped.

But the damage was already done. I’m sure many of them already suspected it – Key and Amber didn’t seem surprised in the least – but now it was confirmed: Jinri was the one who had been attacking me.

An uncomfortable silence settled over our lunch table. I know that some of them wouldn’t miss Jinri’s presence; Key and Jonghyun both found her annoying. But Sunyoung and Krystal were her friends, and part of me couldn’t help but worry that they would think that all of this was my fault, that I was the reason Jinri could no longer sit with them at lunch or hang out on the weekends. Almost like I had replaced her, which had certainly never been my intention. Hell, if it hadn’t been for the year-long social sciences project, I would never have even spoken to any of them.

By the weekend, I made up my mind. I didn’t like the awkwardness that had come between everyone and I didn’t want anyone to think that I was there to replace Jinri. Something needed to be done before the damage became irreparable.

I’d gotten Jinri’s address from Mr. Jung, who knew I wouldn’t use the information irresponsibly even though he probably wasn’t supposed to give it to me. She lived in the same neighborhood as Jonghyun – a neighborhood I was becoming alarmingly familiar with as the weeks passed – so it didn’t take me long to find her house. It was big, of course, but nowhere near the size of the Kims’ palatial estate. I took a deep breath and pressed the button on the intercom.

A second later, a male voice came on and asked what my business was.

“Hi, I’m a friend of Jinri’s from school,” I lied. “I borrowed a book yesterday and forgot to return it, and she’ll need it for her homework. I’d like to return it to her.”

There was only a few seconds of hesitation before the intercom beeped and the gate swung inwards to admit me. Luckily for me, Jinri’s staff wasn’t as suspicious or unwelcoming as Jonghyun’s had been when I first started coming around.

It also wasn’t as far of a trek from the gate to the front door, but when I arrived, there was a pretty woman who had clearly had a lot of reconstructive work done waiting for me. Nonetheless, she was boasting a brilliant smile.

“You’re a friend of Jinri’s?” the woman asked in a lilting voice. “That’s so wonderful! She hasn’t had many friends come round these days, and I think she’s getting a little lonely. I’m her mother. What’s your name, dear?”

I was momentarily torn. On the one hand, I didn’t want to give her my real name. If she said anything to Jinri about it, Jinri would undoubtedly tell her all sorts of horrible lies about what kind of person I was. On the other hand, I didn’t want to lie to her. I was a better person than that.

“Song Narae,” I introduced myself politely, bowing. “I have a class with Jinri and I need to return something she lent me. Is she home?”

“Of course, dear,” Jinri’s mother said happily. “Follow me. I’ll show you the way.”

She chattered non-stop about Jinri as she led me down several hallways lined with fine framed paintings and vases of fresh flowers. The house smelled like freshly baked bread and expensive perfume. She told me about how Jinri had sneaked off on her own to get a nose job without even telling her parens even though they of course would have supported her through the surgery if she had only told them, about how Jinri’s father was often away and that it was just the two of them most of the time, about how Jinri seemed to have a hard time making friends because her tastes were too fine. I only half-listened, nodding when it was appropriate. If Jinri knew her mother was saying all this to me, she might try to kill me again.

We reached a door at the end of a long hallway and Jinri’s mother knocked smartly on the wood. “Jinri love,” she called. “A friend from school is here to see you!” She winked at me. “Go on in, dear.”

With a smile that probably looked a hell of a lot more reassuring than it felt, I went into Jinri’s room and closed the door behind me.

Jinri’s bedroom was like an explosion of pink. Everywhere I looked were different shades of the color, varying from bright to dark, neon to pastel. It looked like Hello Kitty had exploded. Jinri was lying on her stomach on a bed with a frilly pink bedspread, watching a drama on an expensive laptop with a huge screen. She looked up, bored, when I came in, but her attitude changed completely when she saw that it was me.

“What the hell are you doing in my house?” she hissed, scrambling to her feet so quickly that she nearly knocked her computer off onto the carpeted floor.

“Jinri,” I began calmly, holding up my hands as if in surrender. “I just want to talk.”

“Get out!” she practically shrieked. It was a wonder her mother didn’t come tearing back into the room to see what was the matter. “How dare you show up at my house after everything you did? How dare you!”

“Just hear me out,” I said again, louder than her. “You and I can both agree that things have gotten out of hand. Let’s talk this out. We can work things out?”

“You’re going to agree to stop dating Jonghyun?” Jinri demanded archly.

I sighed. “No, I’m not going to do that.”

She turned her back on me. “Then there’s nothing to talk about. Get the hell out of my house before I have security remove you.”

“I could go to the police, you know,” I spoke up loudly. “I could tell them that you attacked me with scissors, that you tried to hurt me. They could charge you with attempted homicide.”

She became suddenly quite a lot less sure of herself. “It would never hold up in court,” she muttered. “Your word against mine? Not much of a chance there.”

“If it were my word and Jonghyun’s word, you’re the one who wouldn’t stand much of a chance,” I pointed out. “Kim Jonghyun’s family is more powerful and affluent than yours.”

She glared at me for a long moment. “What do you want from me?” she demanded finally.

“Well, for starters, I want you to stop attacking me,” I muttered. “I want you to stop treating me like the scum of the earth because I’m dating the guy you like. Believe me, it was never my intention to date Jonghyun. We got paired together for a project and we just ended up getting to know each other. I’ve never intentionally tried to hurt you, Jinri.”

She scoffed but didn’t say anything.

“And second, I’d like for us to be…well, I think friends might be asking a lot,” I conceded. “But at least we can tolerate each other. We have the same friends now, right? It’s not fair for you to stop hanging out with everyone just because I’m there.”

“Then you should make yourself scarce,” Jinri snapped.

I sighed again. “That’s not going to happen. I’m going to be around. So the choice is yours. You can either be friendless and stop hanging out with us, or you can it up and get over yourself and come back to your friends. They miss you.”

Her hard façade slipped for a moment. “Jonghyun said he would get a restraining order. I can’t go back.”

“Don’t worry about Jonghyun,” I said. “I’ll take care of him. If you and Jonghyun are meant to be, it’ll happen without you trying to kill me. If it’s not meant to happen, then you’ll find somebody else. Somebody who is even better for you.”

Her mask was back in place. “Like you know anything about it,” she muttered. “You’ve said your piece, so get out now. I’m half a second away from calling our security.”

And, since she was right and I had said what I’d wanted to, I left. I managed to find my way out – thankfully without running into Jinri’s mother and having to explain why I was leaving so soon. As I caught the bus back to my part of town, I wondered if I had done enough. 

So Narae's meeting with Jinri could've gone better, but it also could've gone a lot worse!

Also, sorry for so long between updates! Busy busy busy! >.<