Mingyu had gone with Sena and Jin that morning to the police station to hand in the evidence and open the case. They went three hours before the bus ride, and so it was 5:00 AM and they were all dead tired.

The police had to record Sena’s voice and take down notes as she explained what happened. Jin noted how she found it extremely difficult to explain to the male policeman and in front of Mingyu, exactly what happened and how it happened. She was stuttering and trembling and the words so heavily fell from her lips.

The police were sympathetic to that. They were patient and understanding, and gave her time to collect herself before moving on to ask her more questions.

Jin also had to explain the context of the recording and what had happened throughout, Mingyu confirming it all for them.

The police said that they would find Seungcheol that morning and take him in for questioning. Jin then told them about their plans to go out of town for four days, to which the police were nonchalant.

“If a trial needs to be held or if we need to question the victim more, we will release the suspect on probation until she returns,” the police said, making Sena even shakier.

Filling the paperwork and explaining the situation took about two hours, but when they left the police station after filing the report, Jin felt a wave of relief wash over her. It was over, and hopefully, Seungcheol would just confess to the crime so no extended trial needed to be held.

“Congratulations,” Mingyu told Sena, “you did it.”

Sena could not look him in the eye. She looked ashamed of what he knew about her, and he seemed to understand everything that she was thinking.

“You’re a very strong person, Sena,” Mingyu said to her, “hold your head up and be proud of yourself for pulling through this.”

Sena smiled at him.

The three of them made their way to the bus station from where they would leave. Mingyu came along to say goodbye to Wonwoo, who arrived a bit later and was surprised to see him there with Sena and Jin.

“What are you doing here?” Wonwoo asked him.

“I was just helping Jin and Sena with a few things,” Mingyu revealed, and before Wonwoo could inquire further, Mingyu put his arm around Wonwoo’s shoulder and said: “I’m going to miss you, roomie.”

Wonwoo blushed, making Sena laugh, which made Jin smile. It was nice to hear her friend laugh; it felt like it had been a while.

“I’ll leave now," Mingyu said, "I hope you have fun on the trip, and I hope things get better for all of you." He looked specifically at Sena, who bowed to him in a sign of gratitude.

Jin noted that Wonwoo was witnessing this interaction between Sena and Mingyu. He stiffened slightly, but that did not last long, as Mingyu put his arms around Wonwoo and hugged him, affectionately wishing him a happy early birthday.

When Mingyu left, Sena said to Wonwoo: “you two are so cute together.”

Wonwoo shook his head and replied: “I actually think you two are cute together.”

-

Seokmin arrived a few minutes later, and by then, the bus had started to load. Seokmin only greeted them, quite awkwardly for someone like him.

Jin tried to imagine how he felt. He was going on an extended trip with two girls who have both led him on and later shut him out. He must have felt left out and ignored by the two of them. She felt bad for him, and also guilty for ignoring him the past few days.

The bus was more or less empty. Each person was able to take a whole row of seats, for which they were all glad given how tired they were.

Both Wonwoo and Sena took a row of chairs and immediately fell asleep. Seokmin was looking out the window listening to music when Jin took a seat beside him. She really needed to talk to him.

He was surprised when he saw her next to him. He paused his music and removed his earphones, eager to hear what she had to say.

Jin turned so that she was facing him on the seat and put the side of her head against the backrest. He did the same and waited for her to say something.

“I’m sorry I’ve been ignoring you,” Jin said to him softly so that only he could hear. Wonwoo was only a few rows down from them, and she did not want to wake him.

Seokmin shook his head, “don’t mention it.”

“I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry I led you on. The kiss was a mistake and…”

“Don’t give me that, please,” Seokmin implored her faintly, “I know you felt something, Jin. I could feel it in the way you completely surrendered to me when I kissed you. I know that you have feelings for me. And I’m sorry it took so long for me to realize that I have feelings for you too.”

Jin shook her head in response to that and averted her eyes.

He reached out and took her hands in his own, squeezing them and slowly bringing them to his lips. He kissed them and said to her, “I’ve been thinking about you ever since that day. Jin, I have always felt something special with you, but I was so deluded into thinking that I wanted Sena that I’ve completely ignored what I felt with you.”

“Stop saying that,” Jin implored him, removing her hands from his and feeling so guilty about the conversation she was having with him. “You can’t just stop liking her so suddenly. You’ve been pursuing her this entire semester.”

“I’ve been pursuing her because I saw Jiwoo in her. Jiwoo looked so much like Sena, and so of course Sena mesmerized me. I was so stuck in the past, and so I wanted the girl that was the spitting image of my Jiwoo. But the more I think about it, the more I feel like Sena is not Jiwoo, nor will she ever be.”

“Seokmin, stop,” Jin implored him, “it’s too late for you to say these things to me.”

“I can’t help what I feel,” Seokmin told her.

“And I can’t help what I feel either. And I felt like that kiss was so wrong on so many levels.”

“But did you really?”

“Yes, I did,” Jin insisted, “I may have kissed you back and I may have let it go far, but I was acting out of impulse. I’ve been regretting it so much. I betrayed Sena; I kissed the guy that she liked while she was going through such a difficult time. Do you not understand how much it would hurt her if she found out?”

Seokmin hesitated. He didn’t know what to say.

Jin then reached out to take his hand, “thank you so much for offering your heart to me, but I would like to decline it.”

Seokmin pursed his lips and nodded in understanding. “If that’s how you really feel.”

“It is,” she assured him.

“Well, it looks like I have no luck with girls,” he joked. “The love of my life died, the girl I’ve been dating dumped me and has been ignoring me since, and now, another girl that I really, really like is rejecting me because I was too late. Maybe I should just give up on my failed love life,” he said with a smile on his face that was evidently masking inner heartache.

“I’m sorry,” she told him guiltily.

“Don’t apologize,” he replied, “let’s not let this affect the trip. I’ll get over it soon. I just want us to at least go back to being close friends, okay?”

Jin nodded in agreement and also added: “don’t tell Sena about what happened between us. She does not need to know. I don’t want her to be hurt.”

“I won’t,” Seokmin said. “We’ll just pretend it never happened if that’s what you want.”

Jin nodded and then yawned. She had been awake since 4:00 AM, and the tiredness was really starting to hit her.

“Go to sleep,” Seokmin told her with warm smile. “We have to get through a whole lot of other drama today as well.”

-

After arriving and taking taxi to the pension they rented, they brought in all of their bags inside and unpacked. Seokmin did well acting like everything was exactly the way it had been. He joked around and even poked fun at Sena’s broken bag. Wonwoo and Jin also tried to adapt this kind of mood; it was only Sena who remained reserved.

The pension was small, but adequate. It had a bathroom, a kitchen, a room with a table, and a large empty room where they would all have to sleep in sleeping bags.

They unpacked silently, and later Seokmin and Wonwoo went out to find the nearest convenience story to buy food.

“I want to tell them what happened,” Sena told Jin when the boy were gone. “They’re going to find out soon anyways, they might as well hear it now from me.” Sena seemed downcast as she said it, as if she were on the verge of confessing to a crime she committed herself.

Jin nodded towards Sena and gave her an encouraging smile.

“Do you think that…” Sena hesitated to ask it: “Do you think that Seokmin would still want me after he finds out?”

Jin stiffened. She was so afraid of that question, so afraid of how Sena would react when she found out that Seokmin did not want her anymore.

“I don’t think he would think any less of you because of it,” Jin told her honestly, avoiding direclty answering the question.

When the boys were back with the food, Wonwoo and Jin worked together to make a pot of ramen as Seokmin and Sena cleaned the floor on which they would eat. Jin noted how Sena was trying to make conversation with Seokmin, who entertained her attempts with jokes and a warm smile.

They ate the ramen happily as Seokmin made fun of Wonwoo and Jin’s cooking (the ramen was only slightly overcooked). Sena laughed, and Wonwoo fought back and noted a missed spot on the floor that Sena and Seokmin had supposedly cleaned.

“That was meant to be Sena’s half,” Seokmin pointed out, “my half is clean.”

Sena raised an eyebrow at him, “my half? It was your half ,you liar,” she laughed.

“No it wasn’t,” he denied, a wide smile on his face for his happiness at getting Sena to react so passionately to accusation. She pushed him playfully.

Jin was so happy to see that Sena looked happy. Things were slowly going back to the way they had been. Slowly.

It was only after they finished eating that Sena finally decided to tell them.

She started off by lifting her long sleeves and showing them the bruises on her wrists (which had considerably healed since last Jin saw them). She then told them what happened to her.

Wonwoo reacted quietly. His eyes were wide and his body frozen. Seokmin reacted a lot more restlessly. He demanded to know who it was as soon as she told him. She refused to reveal Seungcheol’s name though, she just told Seokmin to stop thinking about avenging him and to think about her instead. That caused Seokmin to back down slightly, but the anger in him was so apparent as she described it all to him.

By the end of it, she was smiling. “I reported him this morning, and I’m happy that I did. I didn’t think it would feel so good to report him. I feel relieved and free and able to do what I want, and I have Jin and Mingyu to thank for that. Also, I’m sorry, Seokmin, for ignoring you and breaking up with you like that, but I was just so scared and…”

Seokmin shook his head at her, and pulled her head to his chest. It was the first time Jin had seen him so agitated. He looked like he was about to burst any minute, either into a fit of tears or anger or both.

“You should have told us before…” Wonwoo added.

“I agree with that,” Seokmin said to her, pulling her away from his chest, “you should have told us, and we would have helped you too. You went through it alone and I...”

“Let’s stop talking about it,” Sena requested, and both of them heeded that request.

Seokmin and Sena both volunteered to be on dishwashing duty, as Wonwoo suggested that he and Jin go for a walk. Jin immediately recognized it as an attempt to give Seokmin and Sena alone time, and Jin was nervous about that. Wonwoo seemed to expect that things would someone work out between Sena and Seokmin that they would get back together or something, but Jin knew that Seokmin was not interested in her anymore.

“Go on,” Seokmin said to Jin, as if reading her mind. He seemed to be telling her not to worry.

Jin reluctantly agreed.

-

Wonwoo and Jin went to the convenience store and bought ice cream. Wonwoo was quiet, and Jin did not really feel like talking because she was thinking about Seokmin and what would happen between them.

Jin was long over her jealousy of Sena; all she really wanted now was for Sena to be happy. But with the way things seemed to be going, Sena was not going to be happy.

Sena liked him; she liked Seokmin and she wanted him back. Seokmin did not like her back, not anymore at least. If Sena were to offer her heart to him again, would he really reject her? Or would he pretend that he still liked her? Jin did not know what he would do, but both options for Sena. Either she was going to be rejected in an already vulnerable condition, or he was going to lie to her to keep her happy.

“Do you think Sena will be okay?” Wonwoo suddenly asked as they made there way down to where the beach was.

Jin shrugged.

“I can’t believe I didn’t know about it and Mingyu did,” Wonwoo said, referring to Sena's suffering.

“He found out by himself,” Jin explained. “He was very helpful.”

“He always is,” Wonwoo said with a restrained smile. “They would make a cute couple.”

“Don’t say that,” Jin narrowed her eyes at him.

“Well, it’s true. He kinda likes her, you know. He told me that he was interested in her a few weeks ago.”

“Oh,” Jin said silently, feeling kind of sorry for Wonwoo.

“If Seokmin and Sena get together though, then that would be a bummer for him.”

Jin then decided to come clean to Wonwoo: “I kissed Seokmin,” she admitted abruptly. Wonwoo looked so surprised to hear it.

“Really?”

“A few days ago, when we were planning this trip, I went over to his dorm, and it just happened,” she shrugged. “He told me that he liked me back out of nowhere.”

Wonwoo huffed in amusement, “I totally called it.” His expression evnetualy changed into one of concern as he realized what that meant for Sena.

“I feel so bad,” she told him. “I can’t believe I did that to her, even after I knew what happened to her why she was avoiding him in the first place.”

“You should not have done it,” Wonwoo told her, “and I think you have to tell her.”

“It will hurt her so much…”

“I think it will hurt her even more if she finds out later when you start dating him.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“Isn’t it?”

“It’s not,” Jin reassured.

“Still, you have to tell her. It was secrets that tore us all apart in the first place, and so we can have no more of those between us, okay? Tell her everything. No more of this ‘I’m afraid it will hurt her’ bull, which, by the waym is the same reason she did not tell you she was dating Seokmin in the first place. So tell her.”

“But…”

“Don’t worry. She won’t be lonely after that. She’ll have Mingyu to help mend her broken heart,” Wonwoo replied half-jokingly.

-

When Wonwoo and Jin went back to the pension, they saw that Seokmin and Sena were sitting against the wall, talking silently amongst themselves. Sena’s head was on his chest, and his arms were wrapped around her lovingly.

When Wonwoo and Jin entered, Sena broke away from Seokmin’s embrace.

Jin tried to catch Seokmin’s eye, to get some kind of explanation from him, but he did not look up at her at all.

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

Dear Diary,

So, we arrived safely after successfully reporting Seungcheol. I think we are doing well. I feel like the walls between us are slowly being broken as the secrets are being let out. Sena told Wonwoo and Seokmin what happened to her.

I think Seokmin and Sena are back together now, but they haven’t said anything yet. I can just tell that they are though, and I don’t really know how to feel about that. I know that Seokmin only agreed because he felt sorry for her and not because he still wants to be with her.

He told me in the bus that he doesn’t want her anymore, that he wants me instead.

I now suddenly remember when I was so jealous of her before. I was so clueless… so absolutely and utterly clueless. And now I have everything, even the things that were supposed to be hers.

I decided to tell her what happened between me and him. She will be so hurt, but Wonwoo was right when he said that secrets were what jeopardized our friendship, and so secrets are what we need to avoid.

A/N: yay #Seventeen2ndWin :D

STREAM CARATS, STREAM. LET'S GET THEM A THIRD ONE!