[CONTENTID1]Bitter Words, Bitter Chocolate[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]A SELECTION OF CHOCOLATE-BOYS[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

Suzy felt a lot better after one week of living in flames. Her temperature was back to normal. Though she was still pale after the bout of sickness, she was able to get out of bed on her own despite the lethargy in her muscles. That dawn, she found Heechul sitting in his chair with dark crescents underneath his eyes.

Slowly, she walked towards to inspect his face a bit more.

“Oppa…” Suzy whispered, tracing a hand over his cheek.

Her heart swelled at the sight of him. She couldn’t believe that this man sacrificed a week of his precious time just to nurse her. Truly they were growing a bond that was never present before.

Her eyes were warm with tears. She took one of his hands into both of hers, wishing of some way to show him how much he meant to her. She kissed the inside of his palm, sniffing her tears away, and rushed to get ready for college. He never stirred, not once; he was simply lost inside a peaceful dream so she opted not to wake him.

Her parents were still asleep as well when she checked on them. Her heart skipped a beat when she noticed how tired their faces her. It hurt her like a colossal stone inside. She wanted to hold their hands kiss their wrinkles away but she was only burdened with the knowledge that her distress only deepened their problems.

It seemed that Heechul had long ago fired Jackson-- that worthless scumbag. Now, she had to take the public transport to get to university. Strangely, not one of her friends bothered to ask about her health.

There was dread deep inside her. Her legs felt like jelly and all her emotions clogged inside until she was simply unable to breathe. Suzy prayed with all her heart that her friends would forgive.

After all, they were already one friend short.

-

The cold cut her to the bone. Her breath came out in condensed vapours and she snuggled herself inside her thick jacket. Suzy pulled her woollen cap further down her head to trap in the heat. She saw the grass encased inside sheets of ice. Her feet almost skidded across the rimy floor as she loped through the college entrance.

Upon witnessing the Sweety gang bickering amongst themselves, her heart sank into her stomach. Her insides fluttered with butterflies until bile rose up . All of them were there-- Nana, Jieun, Krystal, Joonmyun, Jongin, Myungsoo and Baekhyun.

All except Sungyeol.

They immediately stopped talking and turned to look at her-- they weren’t exactly welcoming stares either. It only made Suzy want to to shrivel like a damned flower and wither away in the whistle of the wind. Her chest lurched with sorrow until she thought that all the world’s problems pressed against her skull.

“Guys,” she said, her hoarse voice faltering.

Jongin gave her a smile, and to her surprise it was genuine. Before he could open his mouth to speak, Nana beat him to it.

“Why’re you here?” she hissed.

Suzy was taken aback. “Huh?”

“Haven’t you caused enough trouble?”

“Nana?” Krystal sent the girl an astonished scowl.

Everyone mumbled between themselves. Jieun and Joonmyun stared at Suzy in pity while Jongin was confused. Baekhyun seemed just as shocked as Krystal but Myungsoo was expressionless as always.

“Just get lost, Suzy!” Nana hollered, pushing Suzy’s shoulder. “It’s your fault that Sungyeol is in the hospital.”

Suzy’s lips trembled. Fresh tears brewed and slithered down her cheeks. She choked on her words, hoping to utter her remorse but Nana was faster at communication.

“If he dies,” Nana said, eyes mere slits as she regarded her friend with lurid contempt. “I will never forgive you. I can’t believe you would do this to me. How could you, like, run off with him when he was dating me?”

Suzy paused as a nerve exploded somewhere in her mind. Her right eye twitched momentarily as Nana’s words replayed in her head. What was wrong with this girl? Was her friend that delusional to believe that Sungyeol dated her?

Now when Suzy thought of it, Nana was the one who impeded her happiness. She tried so hard to bring the girl and Sungyeol together but Nana never once appreciated her benevolence. No, she would not let the girl believe in such hallucinations anymore. Suzy had been been sacrificing her potential happiness for this girl that was infatuated over a dream.

She wouldn’t let her derogatory remarks affect her any longer. For far too long she had been the submissive friend who responded to all her wishes.

Suzy’s lips twisted into an ugly grimace.

“What’re you saying? Sungyeol never dated you,” Suzy said, pointing an accusatory finger at Nana. Her sudden uproar caused the girl’s eyes to widen on her sculpted face “In fact, he never even liked you. I’m the one that he likes, but if you didn’t leech on him, he would have been happier.”

A dangerous silence ensued. Suzy saw Jongin smirk and if she didn’t know better, his eyes flickered with a message just for her. It seemed like he was saying ‘Well done, you brat. About time!’ She was about to send him a telepathic message back but a palm connected with her cheek and she was to the floor.

The right side of her face blurred and she spat out blood. Suzy groaned in pain as she slowly traced her fingers over her cheek.

“The heck did you do?” Jongin exclaimed, and Suzy realised Nana tower over her.

The girl was blinded by rage. Her chest heaved and when she breathed, she might as well have breathed fire. Nana grabbed Suzy’s hair, making the latter scream in shock. Not willing to give up, Suzy took a fistful of Nana’s sleek hair into her own hands.

The Sweety gang gasped as the two girls pulled at each other’s hair.

They swivelled around in a waltz of tears, pain and shattering friendships. Everything that they built up during the years was dusted away inside heaps of ashes. It took them a lifetime to build this bond but it only took a second for it to delipidate. What remained of that special friendship was nothing but a corpse.

“You b***h!” Nana shrieked, her voice catty and foreign to Suzy’s ears.

Her heart wrenched until it bled nothing but invisible blood inside her soul. It was too much for her bear. She heard her voice cry out in agony, from the pain in her head, and of course, the pain in her heart.

Strong arms grasped her hands, and she felt herself being hauled back. Nana was prevented from hurting her any further by Joonmyun.

Suzy glanced up at Myungsoo. She glared at him fiercely, angry that he prevented her from unleashing her anger.

“Both of you, stop it,” Krystal said.

Her eyes were sore and she wiped the tears off her face with the back of her sleeve. Jieun was silently whimpering behind her.

Nana shoved Joonmyun aside. She was sobbing, her hair dishevelled and her lipstick smeared across the left side of her face.

“Let’s go,” she told everyone else. “If one of you dare talk with her, then I’m kicking you out of the group.”

“Are you serious?” scorned Jongin. He sidled to Suzy’s side, and threw a brotherly arm across her shoulder. “Then kick me out now. I’m with Suzy, you crazy witch.”

Suzy saw his gaze flicker with compunction towards Krystal and his jaw slackened. Pride mushroomed deep inside her. No matter how many times they fought over trivial things, the string of family still tied them together.

“So be it,” Nana muttered. She glared at the others like a true ‘crazy witch’. No one dared to refute with her, not even Krystal.

Except for one.

Baekhyun watched her with a bewildered expression. “Ladies, should we really do this? I mean, is this what Sungyeol would want?”

“Like, she’s the reason that he’s in a coma!”

Baekhyun fell silent. Joonmyun cleared his throat. He hesitated before he spoke, “I’m with Nana.”

Suzy had never felt betrayal before but with each person that stood next to Nana, her heart shattered into a million pieces and more-- it started with Joonmyun. Then, Jieun followed. Baekhyun sighed in defeat and so did Krystal. Everyone was siding with Nana except for Jongin.

There was someone else too-- someone who cackled quietly to himself, shoulders shaking with each breath. The sound was sinister, and lacked any hint of joy.

“Myungsoo?” Joonmyun raised a brow.

Myungsoo glanced at them with a haughty grin plastered across his face.

“Finally,” he tittered. “I can finally ditch you.”

“What?” Krystal’s jaw hung open in a comical fashion. Pain was etched across her face. She was obviously hurt with what he said. It made Suzy question whether she felt utterly betrayed about their friendship, or if she felt anything more for the apathetic boy.

Myungsoo threw his head back and screamed in laughter. He clapped his hands in glee but no one knew why. Everyone was too shocked to utter a word. They questioned his sanity but no one