"..Yep. So that's basically what happened. y prom, eh?"

Lina pats Haeri's arm consolingly as the latter sighs heavily. "You deserve better," she sighs too. "That really does a lot."

Haeri nods. She's at Lina's house, the two of them enjoying some quality girl time together. "By the way," Lina asks, "Did you see who it was that dumped punch on you? We could ask around, report the kid, if you want." But Haeri shakes her head.

"Nah," she says. "I'm over it. It doesn't really matter to me any more. It was probably just some guy Sehun hired or something. School's ending... tomorrow!" she suddenly sings loudly, and Lina giggles.

"That's the right way to think," she laughs. "One more day of the horror that is high school, and we'll be free! And, you know, graduation doesn't even really count." She straightens and smiles. "I can already imagine how good that feeling is going to be when we toss our hats into the air."

"Me too!" Haeri chimes. "By the way," she questions, curious, "how did your prom go? How was Jungsik?"

"Oh," Lina gushes, "it was great. Jungsik and I... well.." she blushes, cheeks reddening. "We're kind of a thing now."

Haeri shrieks and attacks Lina with a pillow. "What!? You waited until now to tell me?"

Lina blushes even more. "I... yeah. I dunno."

"Wow," Haeri says as she sits back down. "That's great to hear. You guys are so cute together," she adds on, a bit dreamily.

"Thanks, Haeri," Lina laughs. "I'm glad you think so." She stands up. "I gotta use to the bathroom."

Haeri waves her off. Once she leaves, she lets her gaze wander around the room. It's been awhile since she's been here, but it seems that nothing much has changed. The same posters on the walls, the same little personal effects on the desk. Something on Lina's bed stand catches her attention, and she gets up to take a closer look. It's a black flip phone, something Haeri hasn't seen anybody use in a long time.

"I wonder why she has this?" Haeri wonders out loud. She looks around surreptitiously, and despite her better instincts, opens the phone. "Lina won't mind if I just take a look," she mutters, nodding to herself.

The phone opens to reveal a plain home screen with a default picture set as the background. "See?" Haeri tells herself. "Nothing." Despite her strangely growing feelings of uneasiness and guilt, she decides to poke around a little more. Judging from the style of the phone and its condition, Lina hasn't used the phone much. Haeri's just making up her mind to ask Lina about it when she comes across the messages inbox. She clicks on the little mailbox icon and scans the screen curiously.

Her blood runs cold.

It... it can't be.

With trembling hands, she clicks through the messages slowly.

Relationship not going so well lately?

Sehun must be getting bored  of her by now.

Feel like yet?

Stop being such a fatass...

And finally at the end, the first, fateful text that started it all.

Lee Haeri is a ty .

Haeri checks the phone number. It matches; of course it does. So do the dates of the messages. Everything matches up. It was Lina. It was Lina. It was-

"Haeri? What are you doing?"

Haeri drops the phone. It hits the wood floor with a too-loud clatter. Shaking, she turns around to face Lina. Lina is staring at the phone, which lies innocently on the ground between them. She looks up at Haeri slowly.

"Haeri," she says again, slowly.

"Don't!" Haeri shrieks suddenly. Lina jumps, guilt swimming in her eyes. Haeri raises a trembling finger, points it at her once best friend. "I don't want to hear your excuses. I can't believe you..." she stops, choking on impending tears. "I can't believe you would do this to me!"

"Haeri, please," Lina pleads, "I didn't mean it. I stopped! I don't know what I was thinking. I don't-"

"Why?" Haeri continues over her, voice rising ever higher. "What did you hope to gain from this? You had, you have, everything."

"No, I don't," Lina whispers. Haeri crosses her arms. All the fight has gone out of Lina. "I didn't have Sehun."

"I-" Haeri shakes her head in disbelief. "You were always more popular than me. This, this thing that happened to me - it was the best thing I had ever had in high school. And you ruined it. Because you were jealous." Lina tries to interject, but Haeri bulldozes on. "Dating Kris, this new thing you have with Jungsik - you're just using them, aren't you? You were behind the punch prank, too. You disgust me."

She sneers at Lina's crestfallen face.

"I don't ever want to talk to you or see you again."

As she whirls and makes for the door, she tosses over her shoulder, "Some friend you turned out to be." Lina's mother gives her a puzzled look when she sees Haeri, but Haeri just smiles at her and heads out of the house. Once she's out, she finds that she can't see. It's not the sunlight, but the tears that are only now making an appearance. She walks a safe distance away to the park and collapses on a park bench, holding her face in her palms.

She's angry, there's no doubt about that. But beyond all of that, she feels... betrayed. Still in half-denial, she wishes hopelessly that she hadn't seen the phone, or that this was all a joke. A hysterical sob makes its way up : she suppresses it, but a gasping noise makes its way out regardless. It's all over from then on. She gasps more and finally lets herself sob and sob and sob.

Hardly aware of what's happening or how much time has passed, she is just vaguely aware of the darkening sky and then herself, pulling out her cell phone and dialing blindly. She holds the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" a voice on the other end says. She almost sobs even more with relief.

"None of it was your fault, Sehun. None of it."