There was definitely an extreme nervousness to me that I wasn’t used to having. I walked towards the cafeteria, more like nervously slouched to the cafeteria, and took a deep breath before opening the door. I wasn’t sure if I was so nervous because I needed to apologize to a group of people, and I was never good at apologizing, or because I needed to admit that I was wrong, and wasn’t too hot at that either. I kept making excuses for myself not to go inside, most of them revolving around wanting to puke my skeleton out of my body. After at least five minutes of dramatic internal monologue, I finally toughened the up, and marched inside, towards my friends. To no surprise, Hayoung was with them, but I couldn’t channel all the energy I put into apologizing into kicking her . At least not yet. 

I know they saw me, I saw the exact moment they all looked at me from the corners of their eyes, but they were ignoring me for an unknown reason. No matter how many times I cleared my throat, they continued to look the other way. 

“So, are you guys gonna move those books, or am I being punished with the most uncomfortable seat at the table?” I asked, seeing that the only empty chair at the small table was covered in their belongings. Namjoo shifted to look at me, and I was met with a glare. I was taken back by the sheer anger in her eyes, something I had never seen in Namjoo. 

“Maybe the seat’s taken because anything would be better company than you, Jung.” I flinched, as I had never expected that comment to come from Namjoo in a serious tone. She would say that, no doubt, but she would never have said that seriously. Never with the tone of hatred that was so obvious now. 

“Just leave it alone, Namjoo.” Luhan warned her, making her switch her glare from me to him. 

“Why should I? I’m just here for the drama, aren’t I? I might as well make an effort to start it.” She turned back to me and practically spat every word she said. I was scared that if I didn’t move away, I would get hit with the poison that was oozing from her voice. 

“What?” I asked, genuinely confused. 

“Don’t start playing dumb now, Eunji. Maybe you’re the one who needs to get your head out of your .” I could tell the tables around us were getting silent. Namjoo had a reputation of being brutally honest and taking no one’s ; everyone must have been really curious as to what I did to deserve a vocal confrontation. 

“Where is this even coming fr-“ I stopped before I could finish as I remembered where I had heard these accusations before. I swear all the blood drained out of my body, and I couldn’t even open my mouth. I looked around the table at everyone’s expression; Namjoo’s anger, Bomi’s disappointment, Luhan’s discontent, and lastly, Sehun’s heartbroken expression. His eyes, full of nothing but pain, were enough to make me want to stop breathing. I couldn’t turn away from his face, feeling nothing but hatred for myself. Nothing but hatred for how easily I trusted someone, and nothing but hatred for how I was so careless, merely because I was angry. To top it off, my eyes scrolled from Sehun’s eyes long enough to observe Hayoung’s hand his arm, in an effort of comfort. Her eyes matched the disappointment found in Bomi’s, but I swear the only thing I could make out in her expression was the smirk that was fighting to be kept off of her face. 

“Remember now, ?” Namjoo’s question snapped me back into reality. I was still unable to answer. “It’s really ing funny, isn’t it, Jung? How people can help you without asking for anything in return, and you just turn around and talk about them when they aren’t around to hear you. I mean, here we were feeling sorry for your petty , talking about how we were going to forgive you because we thought you were worth it, and there you were, turning every effort we’ve put into you to .” 

My nails were digging into my palm, as I was fighting the urge to emote. Whether it would mean crying because I was upset or breaking something in anger, I didn’t know. I thought it would be best that I not speak in this situation. I took the punishment I deserved for my carelessness. 

“You know, we probably did have a good deed quota if we were willing to spend more than an hour with you.” I looked to Bomi, seeing if she would stop Namjoo from continuing, like I knew was in her character. She stared straight ahead, not even batting an eyelash. “It’s crazy, because you have no redeemable qualities, and no one in their right mind would like you for any other reason than to feel sorry for you. You’re a ing joke. You think you’re such tough , but you’re really just a with unresolved daddy issues, and I’m not here to clean up after you. No one is.” She finished, not taking her eyes off of me. I could tell she was holding her tongue from saying any more. I swear that I saw a hint of regret flash through her eyes for a split second, but that was probably me being hopeful. 

Taking in a deep breath, I looked to Sehun. His jaw was clenched, his hand was in a fist, and his eyes were unforgiving.
“We don’t need you.” He said, in a voice not louder than a whisper. It was loud enough, though. It was loud enough to drive me away in an instant, and send me stomping down the halls to the courtyard. 

Jongup was standing wit