Jin woke up the following morning with a sore throat, runny nose, and an extreme case of nausea. When she tried to get up, she felt her vision blur and her head hurt, all while breaking into a fit of coughs.

“Oh dear,” Sena said when she saw Jin like this. She sat down on Jin’s bedside and put her hand Jin’s forehead, “Jin, you’re burning.”

Jin expected as much. She had been chilled to the bone yesterday going outside in her pajamas and wet hair. Not to mention the emotional distress had probably sped up the process of making her sick.

“Lay back down, you’re not going to class today,” Sena insisted, helping tuck Jin back into bed.

Jin was completely okay with not going to class. She did not want to confront Vernon again, not after what had happened yesterday. She was glad that her sickness gave her a valid excuse to do so.

“I’ll get Wonwoo to take notes for you in the classes you share, and I’ll go to your professors and let them know you’re sick,” Sena reassured, “just rest, okay.”

Jin nodded.

“Where were you yesterday?” Sena asked.

“I… I lost my diary,” Jin told Sena, “but I found it.”

“Oh thank God,” Sena seemed to relieved for Jin, but she didn’t know the full story, “no wonder you’re sick. That must have been a shock.”

Jin nodded. She wanted to cry just remembering it.

Sena made sure that Jin was entirely comfortable before she left for class. She bought Jin a whole lode of ramen and tissue boxes, turned up the heater, brought the garbage bin closer to her bed, and made her tea. Sena was too nice, Jin thought. Jin felt so guilty knowing that Sena was doing all of this for her, and Jin, in her own mind, had been nothing but hostile to her.

“I love you!” Sena told Jin, “get well soon, alright?” She blew Jin a few kisses and dashed out of the door to catch her first class (to which Jin was sure Sena would be late).

When Sena left, Jin spent most of the time blowing her nose, coughing, and lamenting her life. She knew that there was this impending disaster awaiting her because of that pig called Vernon. Maybe he’s already destroying her life. Maybe he’s going around telling every single guy on the list about her.

She wrote about it in her diary, thinking about all of the possibilities, preparing for the worst. She also spent a good section of her time cursing at and wishing death upon him, as well as asking God for forgiveness for that.

She also asked that God help her through this imminent dark time. She prayed for strength to face it, and stand up to him if he ever wrongs her. She asked that God make him merciful. Maybe he’d ask for a kiss on the cheek and everything will be forgotten? Jin cringed at the thought of kissing his cheek given how much she despised him, but she knew she would agree to it in an instant if it meant she didn’t have to worry about him revealing her secrets to everyone.

While she was writing, she spotted a piece of paper on the floor that she instantly recognized from yesterday. It was the paper with Mingyu’s phone number on it. She remembered how she had made a fool of herself in front of him the previous night.

She put in his number and texted him:

Hey, it’s the crazy girl from yesterday. Sorry for putting you through that drama, and sorry for making you uncomfortable and crying in front of you. Thank you very much for being considerate and leaving me alone when I asked you to. And thank you for standing up against him for me. I owe you one.

Almost immediately, she got a text back from him. Pajama girl! I was hoping you would text me. Don’t worry, I don’t think you’re crazy. I hope you’re okay :)

J: I am okay. A little sick, but okay.

M: Glad to hear it. Take care of yourself, okay?

J: I will, thank you.

M: :)

That was the end of that conversation. Jin took a deep breath. It made her feel better, but there was also a pang of guilt about it. Was she really allowed to talk to Mingyu without telling Wonwoo first?

It was only then that she noticed text messages from Wonwoo, Sena and Seokmin. They were asking her how she was, and if she needed anything.

Maybe I’m not as unimportant to them as I thought I was, she thought when she saw the concern her friends were showing.

Around lunchtime, Jin was just about make ramen when Sena barged in, Wonwoo and Seokmin hurrying in behind them. Jin was surprised to see them, mostly because guys were not allowed in their building.

“I snuck them in,” Sena explained as soon as she saw Jin’s shocked expression.

“How are you feeling,” Seokmin asked her when he came in. Seeing him again gave her a surge of joy she had not experienced for a long time.

“Good,” Jin responded with a smile, “what are you guys doing here?”

“How can we eat lunch without you?” Wonwoo said, sitting on Jin’s bedside and smiling at her, “it wouldn’t be the same. It’s the four of us or it’ll .”

Jin was touched. After all the bad things that had happened to her, she never thought something could make her so happy so quickly. For the first time, she realized that she wasn’t the third wheel like she thought she had been after her birthday was forgotten.

Sena felt Jin’s forehead again, and gave her antibiotics she had bought from the pharmacy. They all ate ramen as Sena told Jin how she snuck Wonwoo and Seokmin in through the window of the corridor, and how the security guard almost caught them. They laughed, and for a moment Jin forgot about all of the bad things that had been making her so depressed.

“Oh right,” Wonwoo said when he remembered, “In our theology class, Vernon asked where you were.”

Jin’s heart stopped. Her smile immediately faded, “what… did you tell him?”

“I told him you were sick,” Wonwoo continued, “and he told me ‘tell her not to worry,’ whatever that means.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Diary,

I was so depressed yesterday, but today I feel like my mood was completely reversed. I have the best friends. I truly do. I say I hate Sena sometimes, but I actually love her. And I love Wonwoo and Seokmin too. I love the three of them so much.

They made me so happy today. Sena snuck the two of them into our dorm room so we can have lunch together. Wonwoo said the four of us had to eat together, or else it would not have been the same. I felt so happy when he said that. I don’t know… I felt like I belonged, that I mattered, that I’m not that friend whose birthday will be forgotten (although it was, but I’m convinced that was an accident that will never happen again).

I just feel happy now. I know that’s weird after saying that I wanted to kill myself yesterday, but I do feel happy.

Something else that made me (relatively) happy was that apparently Vernon had asked Wonwoo to tell me “not to worry.” It probably means he won’t reveal anything. I hope it does. Dear God, please let it be so. Please.

Wonwoo asked me what that was about, and I kind of lied. I don’t know why, I just didn’t feel comfortable telling them the truth. I didn’t want them to know that Vernon read my diary, and that he now knows probably more about me than any of them do. I don’t want them to know that that douche had this power over me. Partly because I don’t want them involved.

I told them that it was about his supposed revenge that he was planning against me after I won that argument in class a few weeks ago. They all bought it…

Anyways, I have to go to classes tomorrow; I can’t afford to skip another day. And I will have to face him. I don’t what he’ll do. I don’t know if he’ll depress me again. All I know is that I’m seeing tomorrow, and that he has the power to ruin my life.

A/N: I feel like I’m pushing it with the lack of interaction between Jin and Vernon in this chapter… next chapter, I promise!

((Also, I’m just gonna leave this here because this song is the ultimate jam))