“Ji Na ah, can I join you?” a voice I recognized to be Kyu Hyun’s spoke as I stared lifelessly at my lunch. That was all I could do, having no appetite at that moment. But upon hearing Kyu Hyun, I looked up from my food and nodded with a small smile as I watched him take the seat across from me. “Why are you alone? Did you and Na Mi fight?”

I let out a deep sigh to prepare for a long explanation. “It’s worse than that. Remember what I was thinking about the other day? My thoughts were wrong. Na Mi didn’t want me to like Dong Hae. I can’t believe I was so stupid to actually believe that. And now, I’m left with nothing at all.” I spoke without even thinking whether he would understand what I was blabbering about.

Sure enough, when I finished my little piece, he was looking at me with a confused expression. “Okay, can we please talk about this slowly? I didn’t get what you just said. What exactly happened between you and Na Mi?” he remarked in a comforting tone.

“She betrayed me. When we planned about this revenge plot against Dong Hae, I was in control. She was only helping me. But then, all of the sudden, she spills the cat out of the bag without telling me first. And now Dong Hae thinks I’m the evil one.” I elaborated, hoping this time he would understand better.

Unfortunately, he still didn’t get it. With his forehead furrowed, he asked me a question that really got to me. “Wait a minute, what’s wrong with that? Isn’t it part of the plan to break it to him when he’s completely fooled by you guys? And shouldn’t you be already expecting him to think that way from the day you started planning revenge against him? who wouldn’t get mad at a person who wants to ruin his life?”

He was right, it really was part of the plan to break it to Dong Hae after a while to make him feel really bad and to make him realize his mistakes. And now that Kyu Hyun mentioned it, Na Mi really just went with our plan. But then she knew how I felt, she even supported my feelings. Still, I did say before that friendship was more important than love. If that was the case, then I shouldn’t be mad at Na Mi at all. But ironically, I despised her more than ever for doing just that.

As I was busily analyzing my thoughts, Kyu Hyun was looking at me expectantly, as if waiting for me to answer. And when it was taking me a long time to do so, he finally spoke first. When he did, he looked like he just figured out something. “Yah, Choi Ji Na, you’ve fallen for your own trap, haven’t you?” he remarked, not really in an insulting or accusing way, but rather in a sympathizing tone. “You like Dong Hae now, don’t you?”

At first, I wasn’t sure how to answer that. After all, it was just a few days ago when Kyu Hyun told me that he liked me. Wouldn’t I hurt his feelings if I told him I did like Dong Hae now? But then again, even if I didn’t answer, he seemed to know what I was going to say because he looked a little saddened. And so, I decided not to say that anymore. Instead, I moved on to another topic. “You know Na Mi had known about it even before yesterday. And just yesterday, she was telling me to continue with what I felt. And then suddenly, she stabs me, not at the back but directly.” I spoke, once again bringing up my anger towards Na Mi. I just couldn’t help it. My blood was boiling at the thought of her betrayal.

Normally, when I ranted about these things, Kyu Hyun would often offer me a different perspective, something along the lines of ‘Maybe Na Mi was just upset about something so she vented out her anger on you and Dong Hae’. But for the first time ever, he didn’t do just that. “I told you before, didn’t I? You don’t deserve a friend like Na Mi. She’s been doing bad things to you behind your back from the beginning, hasn’t she?” he remarked angrily.

I