“Rise and shine, Frostbite!”

That word brought her so much warmth and serenity, even in the moment she just woke up from a deep sleep. It felt almost too long since she last heard it coming from him. She opened her eyes to see him standing over her.

“We have a bus to catch in 45 minutes!” he told her, “so get your cute little tush out of bed and get ready!”

He was back. The Vernon that she knew was back. She couldn’t help but smile as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and got up from bed.

-

Vernon was back to the way he was. It was as if yesterday had not happened at all. He did not bring up his mother or show any signs of being sad for her. Jin was simultaneously relieved and concerned at the same time. Although she was glad he was back to normal, she felt like he was suppressing a lot in order to give off that impression.

They were sitting next to one another on the bus having a breakfast sandwich when Jin decided to bring yesterday up.

“Yesterday? Did that happen? What does yesterday even mean. I don’t remember a yesterday?” Vernon said with narrowed eyes. He was clearly joking, telling her to forget about what happened yesterday and never to bring it up.

“If yesterday didn’t happen, then I’m still mad at you,” Jin replied, as it was only yesterday when she forgave him.

“Okay, now I remember yesterday,” Vernon said quickly, making Jin laugh, “but the part where you stopped being mad at me is the only part of yesterday I remember,” he warned.

“The only part?”

She was hoping he would want to remember that moment between them, the moment that was interrupted ever so rudely by her ugly yawning. But he seemed adamant that the only part of yesterday he remembered was the part where she was no longer mad at him.

She slept for much of the bus ride there, still tired and drowsy from staying up the night before. When she woke up, she found that Vernon had covered her with his jacket.

She stretched her body, which was aching from the position of her sleep. Vernon, who was listening to music beside her, took off his headphones and smirked at her.

“You’re cute when you sleep,” he told her.

She gave him his back his jacket and suppressed the blush that was about form on her cheeks.

“Is it going to be harder for me to make you blush from now on?” Vernon asked her, looking dissatisfied when she did not blush.

“Probably,” Jin answered.

“Well, I won’t give up,” Vernon told her, “just because we’re not dating anymore doesn’t mean I won’t try to get those pretty little cheeks pink.”

Jin smiled softly. She was happy to see him like this, happy that he did not let there be awkwardness between them at all.

“By the way, I never got a chance to ask you about your trip. How did that go?” he asked her.

“It was successful,” Jin answered him. “We sorted a lot of things out.”

“How’s my enemy?” Vernon asked jokingly. “Did he steal your heart?”

“Seokmin?”

“My enemy,” Vernon asserted with a comical expression of disgust.

“He’s great,” Jin replied, amused by his expression, “and no, he did not steal my heart.”

“So nothing happened between you guys?” Vernon asked.

Jin shook her head, not sure why she was comfortable telling him these things. Actually, she kind of wanted him to know that Seokmin was out of the picture.

“So my enemy has not triumphed yet. He might soon though. He seems to have the upper hand to your heart right now,” Vernon continued.

No, he definitely does not, Jin thought. She wanted to say it out loud to let him know, but figured that would be too blunt. It would be like telling Vernon that she was falling for him, and she did not want to do that. And so Jin did not respond, though Vernon seemed to expect a response.

“I’m still reaching for it, you know?” Vernon told her after a slight pause, the cockiness in his face fading completely.

“What?” Jin asked, not entirely sure what he meant.

“Never mind,” Vernon told her, shaking his head.

“Reaching for what?” she asked.

He side-eyed her and smirked, “your heart."

Jin blushed. It was so cheesy, but so gratifying at the same time.

“Yes, I made you blush!” Vernon said, looking happy, “see, I’m not a complete failure with you.”

Jin bashfully looked at her hands in her lap, feeling quite stupid. She wanted to go back to him, and he wanted to go back to her too. What was it that was stopping her from truly fulfilling those desires? There was a barrier there, perhaps doubt, perhaps prudence, perhaps reason, perhaps even shyness, that was holding her back from telling him there and then that she wanted go back to him.

-

When they arrived at campus, Vernon walked her back to her room and thanked her for coming with him.

“Remember, yesterday never happened,” Vernon reminded her, obviously asking her not to reveal all that happened to other people.

Jin nodded in his direction to reassure him.

“I’ll see you in class, I guess,” Vernon said.

Jin nodded, and he waved and turned to leave.

-

Sena had not left the dorm since they got back from the trip. She had even skipped class. It was just that the fact she was was public information, and Sena was feeling too ashamed to leave her room or even to answer texts from her concerned friends. Jin literally had to drag her out to go to class the following day. Sena finally obliged, looking down at the floor as she walked.

This was the same Sena that had always walked with her chest held high, smiling brightly and greeting everyone around her. Jin never thought the day would come when Jin was more confident in public than Sena was.

It really reminded Jin of the time when Wonwoo was too ashamed to be out in public as well because people found out he was gay. The public eye really is the ultimate killer of a person, Jin thought as she watched Sena squirm every time she walked past someone.

Speaking of Wonwoo, the gay rumors had unfortunately resurfaced for him as well, and so both Sena and Wonwoo found being out in public draining.

Fortunately for Sena though, most people supported her. Jin was so happy to see that her other friends all had her back and were trying to make her comfortable in her own skin again. Random girls had approached her and called her brave and supported her. Jin could tell that Sena was touched and feeling and more comfortable being in public.

Seungcheol was a popular guy though, and so it was not all support and encouragement. Some people threw her dirty looks and many people gossiped about her, but nothing more than that happened, especially since Sena, being the popular girl that she was, had a circle of friends supporting her.

And of course, Jin heard people whisper about her, she heard people call her awful things. She heard people take the whole situation lightly, and Jin was certain that Sena heard those things too. It must have been hard for her, but the support was still much greater than the hostility.

One person who suprisingly supported her was Nayoung.

Nayoung had approached the four of them while they were eating lunch. When Sena saw her, she froze and looked so afraid, but Nayoung just told her that she was so sorry for what she went through and commended her for reporting it.

Sena responded by bowing to her and thanking her for the support.

“Don’t thank me. I should be the one thanking you. I would have never know the kind of person he was if it were not for you,” Nayoung responded. “I hope he rots in jail,” Nayoung scoffed, cringing as she thought of him.

Sena looked so happy to hear Nayoung say that.

“I know it’s awkward talking to your ’s ex-girlfriend, so I’ll just leave,” Nayoung told her, turning around to go. “Oh and Jin,” Nayoung said before leaving, “good job for breaking up with Vernon. He totally deserves to be dumped so that his petty can learn to respect girls. But even though he’s petty, I still think he’s a good guy.... Although, maybe you best not trust my judgment of good guys given that I thought Seungcheol was one of them. Oh gosh, maybe I should just shut up and leave,” Nayoung said as she turned around and dashed away for real before Jin could respond.

And as Sena was getting so much support from everyone around her, Wonwoo, on the other hand, was not...

-

Jin offered her testimony for the trial the following day. She had to give that testimony in front of Seungcheol.

Seeing him again after knowing what he did to her gave her chills, but she quickly got over it and explained the evidence she brought forth. Seungcheol tried to defend himself of the allegation by saying it was a joke, and he spun a story about all the suspicious things that he had told her. He was scarily convincing, and Jin could see that the police nodded along to what he was saying sometimes.

-

The trial was over, and Seungcheol was declared guilty and sentenced to three years in prison.

Jin was in a class when the sentence took place, but she learned from a text from Sena that it was over. Jin felt like she was about cry in the middle of the lecture from relief. Finally, it was over, and finally, they didn’t have to worry about it anymore.

After their class, Jin met Sena back at their dorm. As soon as Jin walked through the door, Sena charged at Jin and wrapped her arms around her.

“Thank you so much for everything, habibti,” Sena told her starting to cry, “I could have never done it without you…”

Jin hugged her back, also starting to tear up as she felt Sena's shoulders rise and fall from how hard she was crying.

When Sena calmed down, Jin asked her how she was feeling.

“I finally feel secure and free and not under constant threat of him. I feel like I can finally maybe go back to the way I was before. For the first time in forever, I think I feel happy,” Sena answered, and that was all Jin ever wanted to hear.

“I take back every bad thing I ever said about Vernon," Sena added. "Tell him I say thank you, will you?”

Jin narrowed her eyes. “Thank you for what?”

“Oh… you didn’t know?” Sena looked surprised.

Jin shook her head and waited eagerly for Sena to reveal it to her.

“He testified against Seungcheol. I think that was why the ruling was in my favor at the end.”

Jin eyes widened.

“It was hard for him,” Sena added, “he couldn’t look Seungcheol in the eye, and he was struggling with the awareness that he was putting his former best friend in prison. But he did. And I could not be more thankful that he did.”

“What… what did he say?” Jin asked Sena. She didn’t know that Vernon had a testimony to give let alone that he gave one.

“You should ask him that question,” Sena replied with a shrug, “I don’t want to talk about Seungcheol at all anymore.”

Jin nodded, still so stricken with surprise. That Vernon testified against Seungcheol for Sena was so staggering for her…

It never left her mind. The four of them went out to celebrate the end of the trial, but Jin was so out of it because she was thinking about Vernon.

“Earth to Jin,” Seokmin said to her, noticing how dazed she looked. “What’s wrong with you?”

“She’s in love, let her be,” Sena laughed.

“What?”

“She found out Vernon helped with the trial and has been like this ever since,” Sena told them.

“So are you finally going to get back together with him?” Wonwoo asked her, teasingly almost, as if he just knew that Jin’s answer was a resounding yes.

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

Dear Diary,

Seungcheol is in jail, and Sena can finally relax. It made me so happy when I found out, and I didn’t think I could be happier until I learned that much of the reason that Seungcheol was in jail is because of Vernon.

Vernon said something that helped Sena’s case and got Seungcheol convicted. I don’t know what it is, but whatever it is, I am so thankful to him for saying it. I guess I’ve completely forgotten everything that he did that made me not want him in the first place. I want him back now. I want him back with every bone in my body.

I just texted him a ‘thank you.’ He saw the message but did not reply, and I’m going crazy because of it. I want him to reply. I don’t know what I expect him to say to me; I just really want to hear from him.

I did not think that I could like him more than I did, but I like him so much right now. He had told me that he was still reaching for my heart; well he’s done so much more than just reach it. He has taken in it in the palm of his hands, and I feel like it will stay there for a long, long time.

I have a class with him tomorrow, and so I will see him. What am I going to say to him when I do? Do I just tell him straight out that I have feelings for him, and that I want to commit to him? Is that not too blunt? Whatever it is, I’m going to do something.

Suddenly I’m nervous that he would be the one to reject me…

A/N: This chapter was actually much easier to write than the previous so yay. And I didn’t take too long this time either im proud

Anyways, Happy Ramadan to my Muslim readers ^^