WITH JONGIN 

I really wanted to use social media websites to stalk Public Enemy Number One, but I didn't know her name or anything about her and I was not dedicated enough to search through Kyungsoo's thousand-plus friends on SNS just so that I could find her. 

So instead, I kept reminding myself that it didn't matter if Kyungsoo and her were together because Kyungsoo and I weren't together and it was none of my business what he did in his spare time. 

And then I thought that I was doing a pretty good job of getting my mind off of him until there was a knock on my door and I opened it, only to reveal Krystal. It didn't really matter that I'd forgotten about tutoring that day because it's not like I have a bunch of social plans all the time. I was more confused as to why Krystal was carrying Minah's tiny, white fluffball of a dog under one of her arms. 

"I told Minah Unnie that I'd watch Bongie for her, but then I remembered that I had a tutoring lesson today and I had to bring her with me," she explained breathlessly. "Do you mind?" 

I actually did mind, because Bongie and I had a bit of a history together. 

It had started off okay and Bongie was just a good listener/confidant because she was a good listener, but then it quickly escalated into Bongie trying to ruin my life. For starters, one time she humped the human version of God, also known as Kim Minseok, and that was one of the most mortifying moments of my life. Like, even for me, and I'm mortified by just about everything. And then another time Bongie made me run after her across town while I was wearing a bridesmaid's gown, and when I caught up to her, she was having ual with another dog and then she peed on my dress. 

I don't know what prompted the abrupt personality change in Bongie, but I was a little bitter about it because we really could've been great friends. 

But, obviously, I couldn't tell Krystal that. 

Well, I could, but I didn't want to seem like a bigger loser than I already was. 

So I lied. 

"It's not a problem," I said, allowing Krystal to walk in, which gave me the perfect opportunity to scowl at Bongie. And I swear to God that she scowled back. "So, um, are we still covering Integration today?" I was impressed that I even remembered that. I guess that I just wanted for Krystal to know that I was earning my pay. Or that I was trying to earn my pay. I guess that I couldn't actually 'earn' it until Krystal actually passed her class. 

"So did you and Kyungsoo Oppa really break up?" she asked me, completely ignoring my totally relevant question that was totally relevant to why she was standing in the middle of my apartment in the first place. 

Also, how did she know that? Krystal didn't even live anywhere near Hanyang and she wasn't that involved in her sister's social life. Who told her? Was it Jongin? 

"I ... uh, yeah. We did," I stammered. I don't know why I had that split moment of hesitation in which I'd considered lying to her. Even if I did lie, that would make me seem like the psycho ex-girlfriend and my goal was currently for me to not make Kyungsoo hate me, which he probably did because I unsuspectedly dumped him while we were in the middle of eating ice cream. It's like I have no soul. I decided to press Krystal a little further. "How did you know that?" 

Her response was to just shrug. "People talk," she said nonchalantly. "So, why did you break up?" I knew that Krystal was nosy, but I didn't think that she was this nosy. Even though I probably should have known because it wasn't like Krystal had ever been discrete about her thoughts before.

Plus now I got the joy of trying not to tell her that Kyungsoo and I broke up because I thought that he'd cheated on me with her sister. 

"You know." No, Avery, I did not know, and you most certainly did not know either. "We just weren't meant to be." 

Krystal didn't buy it. There wasn't even anything to buy! I hadn't even given her a concrete answer; she easily could've just accepted it and then we could've on so that I could've talked to her about something that I was good at, which was the art of Integration! Why did teenagers have to be so difficult? 

"That's it? Didn't he, like, ruin a wedding just so that he could be with you?" Seriously, Krystal? Did you really have to phrase it like that? 

Even though I can now no longer deny that I was the side chick, I wasn't the only reason that the wedding had been cancelled. The main reason was that Minah was having ual relations with another man while she was still with Kyungsoo. And Krystal definitely already knew this because she was a member of Minah's bridal party and was at the wedding when this entire scene unfolded - live - to the audience. I don't know why she was action like this was new to her. Or she just didn't care that much. Apparently, Minah had been almost married before. 

"He didn't ruin the wedding." Technically I was the one that ruined the wedding because I'd bailed on my grandfather's funeral so that I could crash Minah's wedding, which I'd been formally uninvited to the night before. 

Krystal rolled her eyes at me. Was it was because I was defending Kyungsoo even though I was still mad at him for possibly-cheating on me? "Still, his wedding was called off and then the two of you got together right afterwards. Isn't that supposed to be, like, true love or whatever? Aren't the two of you supposed to never break up?" And that was how I could tell that Krystal was still a child. 

"It's not that simple," I said after a moment. 

Krystal narrowed her eyes at me. "Actually, Avery Unnie, I think that it is." 

What? Was it really? What was I missing? 

Okay, well, I knew that I was missing a lot of things, like s nad an active social life, but I meant what was I missing about it apparently being obvious that Kyungsoo and I were meant to be together? And if it was truly so obvious then did that mena Kyungsoo thought so as well? 

"So then what am I missing?" Wow, this was embarrassing. Now I was asking someone multiple years younger than me for advice on my love life. This day was only getting worse and worse. 

My phone buzzed in my hand and I instinctively looked down at it. It was Jongin. Damn my instincts. But I still read it because if Jongin was anything, he was persistent, and I didn't want nine-hundred unread messages that all said 'GIRAFFE GIRL,' which is a story within itself that I'm not sure if I'm ready to retell to the rest of the world. 

FROM: KID JONGIN 

Is Krystal there?

How did he know that Krystal was there? 

TO: KID JONGIN 

How do you know that? 

I texted back quickly. 

FROM: KID JONGIN 

I'm just good at that kind of thing. 

That didn't even make sense. How did he know that Krystal was there? Did she tell him? Did she put it on some social media site? That seemed like something that Krystal would do. She was young and young people loved updating the public about what they were doing. I mean, I guess that I would do the same thing if I actually did interesting things in my life, but telling everyone where you were seemed to be more of a teenager thing. 

TO: KID JONGIN 

Are you a stalker? 

FROM: KID JONGIN 

No. And even if I was a stalker, I don't think that I would tell you.

So is Krystal still there?

TO: KID JONGIN 

Will you just tell me how you know that she's here? It's creeping me out.

FROM: KID JONGIN 

Well that . Tell me when she leaves. I want to talk to you about something.

 He wanted to talk to me about something. 

That could mean anything. 

Jongin had told me multiple times that he wanted to talk about something and about ninety percent of the time he talked about something that I didn't even want to hear about. But since he'd agreed to help me, I wasn't sure if I was supposed to consider what he had to say for a change. I really didn't want to. I had a feeling that he'd just let me down. 

TO: KID JONGIN 

It's our tutoring session. 

I quickly typed. Krystal was now sitting on the floor and playing with Bongie, completely losing interest in the conversation that we were having. I hoped she knew that I was actually going to make her open her maths book. And read it.

 FROM: KID JONGIN 

Can I come? 

I rolled my eyes and chose to ignore him. It's a lot easier when you do that. If you don't pay enough attention to Jongin, he'll eventually grow tired and disappear. Then I turned my attention back to Krystal. "So how's maths going?" 

She looked up from her sister's dog to glare at me. "It's terrible. It's the worst class. I wouldn't even be in it it it wasn't mandatory." 

I had a hard time understanding how anyone could hate possibly the most fascination subject, but Krystal('s parents) was(were) paying for this and it was only fair for me to sympathise her. I never thought that I'd be getting paid to lie. I always thought that I'd just stick with my real job where I got paid to not do anything. 

"Um, well, that's-" 

"Minah Unnie is really surprised that you and Kyungsoo Oppa broke up," Krystal cut me off. I wasn't sure if she was saying that because she was desperately trying to avoid learning about intergrati