Hyeri closed her eyes. Everything felt so noisy. People kept staring at her in the halls, shocked that she was actually nominated for the Miss Inki contest. She didn't blame them, though. People thought she was done-for until her name magically appeared on the list. 

Well, not magically.

Of course, she had to give some credit to Soojung and Sehun. She wondered how many people actually voted for her. She expected the bare minimum of five, but she couldn't assume. 

"Maybe Hyeri isn't so bad? Maybe the rumors aren't true?"

"No way. She probably forced people to vote for her."

"She's super quiet these days. It's kind of annoying."

Hyeri flashed open her eyes and glared at the direction she heard the whispers. A group of girls jolted and ran out of the room. She sighed and faced the front of the classroom again. 

She heard someone plop down next to her. She didn't need to turn her head to know who decided to sit next to her.

"What do you want, Jongin?" she asked coldly.

"I…" There was a hint of hesitation in his voice. "I heard that you've been nominated for the Miss Inki contest. Congratulations."

"I didn't do anything," she said honestly. "I could've done with or without it."

"And… And I wanted to apologize," Jongin added.

"Okay."

Jongin paused. "Is that forgiveness?"

"Why would it be?"

Jongin grimaced. "Hyeri, I'm really sorry. I'm sorry for treating you like I did before. I should've been at your side. I should've defended you. I shouldn't have gotten carried away."

"Okay."

"Hyeri, are you even listening?"

Hyeri paused, then stared at him. "Should I be listening to you? I thought we decided to move on with our lives."

"Don't be like this Hyeri."

"Be like what?" Hyeri heard people whispering. "Sit somewhere else, Jongin. People are going to start talking about us. You'll have a bad reputation. It'll look like you're up to me again because I got nominated."

Jongin almost wavered and got up, but he reminded himself that those where just whispers. He clenched his fist and was about to talk until Sehun arrived. The two exchanged brief looks until Sehun sat on the other side next to Hyeri.

"Hello," Sehun greeted Hyeri.

"You, too," Hyeri said. "Sit somewhere else."

"Aw, but we've always been friends," Sehun said.

"I'm still not going to do anything about the Miss Inki contest," Hyeri said.

"That's fine. We're going to help you win," Sehun told her. He briefly looked at Jongin, then looked back at Hyeri. "So how does it feel being nominated for Miss Inki after all that's happened so far?"

Hyeri huffed and glared ahead. "Why are you both sitting next to me?"

"I always sit next to you," Jongin said.

"You always sat next to me whenever I made you sit next to me," Hyeri corrected. "Sit with Sehun."

"Jongin and I are kind of in a fight," Sehun said nonchalantly. "Besides, he has a new best friend. What was his name? Taehyun?"

Jongin looked around before whispering, "He's not my best friend. I don't even know how that rumor came up!"

"Well, you're in Seulgi's world now. Learn to love it," Hyeri snapped. "Now, both of you, sit somewhere else! I'm serious."

The two boys didn't budge. Then, Hyeri gritted her teeth and got up.

"Fine," she said. "I'll move."

She stormed out of the classroom and bumped into her teacher.

"Oh, Hyeri? Where are you going?" the teacher asked.

"The nurse's room," she said. "I'm feeling sick."

"Wait, you need to take a note—"

Before the teacher had the chance to do or say anything, Hyeri was already at the end of the halls, stomping to the nurse's office. The teacher scratched his head and looked at the class, who had only witnessed Hyeri angrily walking out. Then, he quickly told his class that he'd return soon and ran out to catch up with Hyeri to give her a proper note for the nurse. 

People began to whisper:

"And she was nominated for Miss Inki?"

"Hyeri's not going to win. That's such a bad attitude!"

"Honestly, I thought that was kind of refreshing. She has my vote."

"I wonder why she got so mad."

Jongin curled his fingers. He exchanged brief looks with Sehun, who was frowning at the negative comments. Then, Sehun got up and glared at everyone.

"Don't talk bad about Hyeri," Sehun snapped. "She's feeling sick. Leave her alone."

When the class remained silence, Sehun sat back in his seat. 

"Why's he acting so cocky?"

"Honestly, he's doing this because he likes Hyeri, right?"

"He's not Jongin's best friend anymore. He's not popular. Salty much?"

"No wonder Jongin ditched him and Hyeri for Taehyun and Seulgi. Birds flock together."

Sehun closed his eyes. He didn't really care that people were talking bad behind his back, but Hyeri was a different story. Sure, he was doing this so that Hyeri's image wouldn't further diminish, but he was also doing this because Hyeri was his friend. Even though Hyeri kept saying that she didn't need any support, he knew that she needed the most support at the moment.

Then, he heard the chairs squeak and clothes rustle. He glanced to his side and saw Jongin standing up with his head lowered. Jongin's fist were shaking and his lips trembled. He seemed scared, almost intimidating by what he was going to do next.

He whirled around and stared at his classmates with a small frown.

"Leave Sehun alone," Jongin said to the entire class. Sehun raised his eyebrows. "He did nothing wrong." Jongin looked at him. "He did nothing."

This time, the class didn't dare to erupt in whispers. They all remained quiet, just in time for the teacher to be back. The teacher beamed.

"Well, you guys are all quiet today," he said. "I'm impressed!"

Everyone sat in their seats. Jongin sat back down, getting comfortable. He saw Taehyun enter the door. The two exchanged looks. Taehyun smiled and waved. He was about to walk over to Jongin to sit next to him, but someone else took his place.

Jongin turned to his side. Sehun was casually sitting down next to him. He took out his notebooks and his textbook before staring in the front. Jongin stared at him, completely shocked.

Taehyun slowly approached the two boys. He looked at Jongin, indirectly asking him to tell Sehun to move to a different seat. Jongin pretended to not understand. Taehyun was about to say something, but he could feel the teacher gazing at his back, waiting for him to take a seat. Taehyun gulped and meekly walked to an empty seat near the back.

Sehun smirked. "Thanks."

"No…problem," Jongin stammered.

"Didn't think you'd stand up for me like that," Sehun remarked.

"I didn't do much," Jongin said. "It was just whispers." In a softer voice, he whispered again, "Just whispers…"

/ / / / /

"Like I said, I'm not going to do anything," Hyeri repeated.

Once again, Hyeri was in the same abandoned classroom with Sehun and Soojung. This time, she had Youngji sitting in with them. Soojung had refused to let Youngji in with everything, but Hyeri insisted that if they kept bringing her to this classroom during lunch, then she would have to bring Youngji so that she wouldn't eat alone.

It took a while for things to settle in. Youngji kept saying that it was fine for her to eat alone for a few minutes, but Hyeri wouldn't let her leave the room. When it became clear that there was no other choice, Sehun managed to convince Soojung to let Youngji stay as long as Youngji swore to not say anything about what happened inside the classroom.

"Okay," Sehun said slowly, trying to figure out how to deal with Hyeri's stubbornness. "We get it. You don't want to do anything, but I think we're starting to get a bit desperate here. We need you to take some sort of action."

"Actually, it's kind of a good thing that you aren't doing anything," Soojung said. She checked her phone. "According to a forum about our school, someone posted a poll to see who would be in the popular vote. A lot of people are seeing that Seulgi is winning by a large margin, so those who were nominated are calling it quits."

"And I suppose you uploaded that poll?" Hyeri asked, crossing her arms.

"No. It was Seunghwan," Soojung said. "For Seunghwan, she needs to keep a close eye on everything. Her goal is to make sure that Seulgi is going to win. Our goal, on the other hand, is to make you win."

"And I said that I don't really care about winning or not, which is why I'm not going to help you or hurt you," Hyeri said.

"Yeah, but we kind of need you to help us and do stuff so that we can help your popularity increase again," Sehun said. "There's a limit to how much popularity we can create for you when you're not doing anything."

The three continued to bicker, leaving Youngji completely lost with the entirety of the conversation. When things seemed to have cooled down, Youngji finally made a comment:

"Wow. Being popular is pretty hard, isn't it?" Youngji said.

Hyeri looked at her. "It's…complicated. Popularity isn't meant for everyone. Just because you want it, doesn't mean that you deserve it or that it'll work well with you."

Youngji slowly nodded. "Is it a good fit for Seulgi?"

Soojung snorted. "Hell no."

"She seems to be doing well, though," Youngji said.

"She's surrounded by fake friends and a fake boyfriend," Sehun declared. "She's not doing great at all."

"Oh…" Youngji pondered on the situation for a few minutes. "It would be nice if she does great."

Hyeri looked at her with a pitiful expression. "I swear. I can't believe Seulgi threw someone like you away to keep someone manipulative like Seunghwan."

"How manipulative is Seunghwan?" Sehun asked.

"She's good," Hyeri told them. "Really good. I read her section in the journal. You have a pretty good sense of how manipulative and skilled she is, but it's a lot more than that. There's a reason why I didn't have her close to me compared to some of the others. I knew what she was doing." Hyeri bit into her food. "Chances are, she's manipulating Seulgi and flattering her. She knows that she just needs to make Seulgi feel like a queen for her to act like one."

"Then we need to get rid of her," Soojung said. "I made Seulgi stick with Seunghwan because I knew that Seunghwan would clean up any of the mess Seulgi might make."

"Good luck with that. Seunghwan is glued to Seulgi right now. It's going to be really hard for you break them apart. Chances are, she'll probably end up breaking you with how much power she has right now," Hyeri warned them.

"What about Taehyun?" Sehun suggested.

"He's getting quite popular right now. If you interrupt that popularity, you'll stand out," Hyeri countered.

"…What about Jongin?" Soojung asked quietly.

Hyeri paused. "What about him?"

"Can we do something about him?" Soojung asked.

"Jongin?" Hyeri let out a sarcastic laugh. "That guy doesn't even know how to do something even if you told him. He's a fool who expects the world to revolve around him."

Sehun recalled how earlier in the day, Jongin had actually defended him. Hyeri might have lost all hope over Jongin because he basically threw her in the dark when she needed help, but Sehun knew that there was still a little bit of something left. But like Hyeri was thinking, there wasn't much that they could do to make Jongin react in any way.

"What if I show him my journal?" Soojung inquired.

Hyeri and Sehun didn't say a word. They glanced at each other, then back at Soojung.

"He won't believe you," Hyeri said.

"No," Sehun argued. "He would."

"But we can't predict what he'll do with the information," Hyeri said.

"True," Sehun said, nodding slowly, "but right now, that's the most effective way to move him."

"I don't think this is a good idea," Hyeri argued. "Jongin is fragile. You'll break him, especially since he loves you."

"But it's the only way for us to do something to the other group if you keep deciding on not doing anything," Soojung pointed out. "If we can't attack from our side, then we have to get them to attack each other in the inside."

Hyeri coldly glared at them. "You two are heartless."

"We're doing this for the greater good."

"The Miss Inki contest is in a few days. This isn't going to work. There won't be enough time for Jongin to compose himself and take action."

"But it's the only thing we can do," Sehun said.

"I don't think it's a good idea," Hyeri repeated.

"I don't like it, either," Sehun admitted.

"But what else are we going to do?" Soojung asked impatiently. "We're running out of options."

"We don't know if this is going to work," Sehun pointed out.

They argued for a little bit longer until Youngji stood up. Then, she began to clap in front of their faces, grabbing everyone's attention. They all stared at Youngji with a confused gaze.

"Okay, okay," Youngji said. She clapped her hands once more. "Your food is getting cold. You guys should eat." 

Soojung sighed. "Youngji, I'm sorry you don't understand what we're talking about, but this is really important—"

"I get it, but sometimes there's more important things to consider like properly eating your meal," Youngji said. "I don't mind if you guys keep talking, but I want you guys to eat. You guys hardly touched your food and lunch is going to end soon."

The three looked down at the meal. Sure enough, they were so passionate about their discussion, they missed the opportunity to even take a bite of their food. Youngji pointed at their meal with her chopsticks, signaling them to eat.

Hyeri sighed and was the first to take another bite of her food.

"I'm sorry I dragged you into this conversation. I didn't want to leave you alone, but I feel like I just made things more chaotic for you," Hyeri said to Youngji.

"It's okay. I don't mind. Actually, I appreciate that you're including me to this," Youngji said. She turned to them and smiled. "By the way, I'm supporting both Hyeri and Seulgi, so if you're asking me to sabotage Seulgi or force Hyeri to do something she doesn't want to do, I don't want to do that."

They all stared at her. Then, Hyeri looked at Sehun and Soojung.

"See? This is what you call an angel," Hyeri told them.

The two didn't say anything, but only agreed internally.

/ / / / /

After school, Seulgi was waiting for Jongin to leave the classroom. Seunghwan and Taehyun encouraged her to walk back home alone with Jongin for the day, claiming that the two needed to develop more chemistry with each other.

"You guys are dating and in love! Do better at showing that," Seunghwan had told her earlier in the day.

Seulgi took a deep breath. She had sent Jongin a text to walk back home with him after school, but he didn't respond. She only assumed he was busy, but there was an uneasy feeling stirring deep in her chest.

The second Jongin stepped outside, Seulgi grinned and walked over to him. She stopped a little when she saw Sehun chatting with him as they headed out. A few seconds later, Sehun locked eyes with Seulgi. He gave her a small smile and waved. Seulgi awkwardly waved back. Jongin turned and was surprised to see Seulgi standing outside of his classroom.

"Seulgi, why are you here?" Jongin asked.

"O-Oh. Um, yeah. Why, uh, why am I here?" she stammered. Normally, she had Seunghwan or Taehyun talk in for her, but the two claimed that they were going to be busy and would not be able to hang out with her after school. 

"Are you going home? Let's start walking," Sehun said. "We can walk back home together."

"Yeah…" Seulgi's voice drifted off. "Actually, I was hoping to walk back home with you, Jongin."

"Oh." Jongin paused. "Um, I was actually going to walk back home with Sehun. We have a lot of catching up to do."

"I don't mind if she joins us," Sehun said. "Come on."

Seulgi frowned. Why was Sehun acting like this? 

He's up to something, she though tot herself. Instead of saying anything, she quietly followed the two boys, who were laughing and chatting happily in the halls. Sehun was the only one who would try to bring Seulgi into their conversation, but Seulgi kept refusing to join and would keep her answers awkward and short.

Eventually, she pulled out her phone and occupied herself with her electronic device. She checked the school's forum with a bored expression. When they were walking down the stairs to the first floor, Seulgi stopped midway and gasped. Hearing her gasp, Sehun turned around.

"What's wrong?" Sehun asked.

Seulgi scurried down the stairs. She looked at Jongin with pure excitement. 

"The polls say that I'm winning the popular vote! Look!" she cried out.

She showed Jongin her phone with a wide smile. Just like she said, Seulgi was leading the polls with Hyeri following in second with some distance. At this point, the poll was clearly showing that Seulgi was going to win hands-down. Jongin returned her smile with a small nod until Sehun leaned over her shoulders.

"Let me see," Sehun said. He leaned close to Seulgi, pressing his arm against hers. She could feel his warm breath on her neck, causing her to slightly shudder. She turned a bit red and tried to compose herself, to not let her heart patter from his closeness.

Jongin blinked and stared. He could tell that there was something different about the two, but he wasn't exactly sure what was different. The atmosphere was different. To any outsider, they might think that Sehun and Seulgi were dating.

Oh. I get it. Jongin slowly nodded to himself. Those two had chemistry. That's what he was seeing. 

He made eye contact with Sehun. He gave him a sorry look, but Sehun looked away and focused his attention on Seulgi.

"You're too close," Seulgi whispered, putting some distance. She bumped into Jongin and jolted away. Heat continued to rush to her cheeks and she cursed herself for being so easy to read.

Sehun chuckled. "Sorry. I just wanted to see."

Seulgi huffed, cooling herself by waving her hand near her face. Then, Sehun checked the time on his phone before looking at Jongin.

"You know, since we're talking again, I'd like to help Seulgi continue with being in the lead," Sehun said. "A lot of people have been saying that Seulgi broke off our friendship because we weren't seen together. I thought it'd be perfect for me and Sehun to walk around and expose ourselves to people to show that Seulgi did nothing."

Seulgi was skeptical. Sehun wanted to help her all of the sudden? Why? Wasn't he rooting for Hyeri?

Maybe it's because he realizes that Hyeri can't win at all anymore, she thought.

Jongin, too, was confused with what Sehun was saying. Sure, there was some bad blood between him and Sehun, but what did that have to do with Seulgi? As far as he knew, there was no rumors over Seulgi pulling Jongin away from Sehun or anything.

But he figured that Sehun wanted to speak with Seulgi alone. With a small nod, Jongin gave his approval.

"Yeah, you guys can walk back home together, too," Jongin said. "I actually have something to do after school, so I can't walk home with you, Seulgi."

Seulgi pouted. "Oh… but the Miss Inki contest is coming up in less than a week and we should really stick together—"

"I'm sorry, Seulgi," Jongin repeated. "I'm really busy with personal stuff this evening. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Seulgi meekly nodded. Sehun cleared his throat.

"Oh, and would you mind going to this place to pick a few stuff for me?" Sehun said. He handed Jongin a small folded note. "It's important."

Jongin frowned. "What is it?"

He was about to open it, but Sehun closed it before he could see anything. Sehun gave him a small smile.

"It's important," Sehun told him. "Look at it when you go outside, okay?"

Jongin didn't say a word. He nodded and awkwardly walked away from the two.

When he arrived outside the building, he did exactly what Sehun told me and checked the contents of the note. There was a small drawing of a map to a park. It was the same park where he remembered seeing Myungsoo acting over-friendly with Soojung, even though he was dating Seulgi at the time. He remembered feeling like a mess when he saw Soojung's vulnerable expression everything Myungsoo showed affection to Seulgi.

But now I'm dating Seulgi, he thought. How ironic.

It didn't take him too long to arrive at the park, but when he did arrive, he saw someone special sitting on one of the swings. His heart skipped a beat and he stared at her with wide eyes and red cheeks.

"Soojung," he whispered.

She looked up. A shadow casted over her body as her back faced the brilliant orange sunset. She looked at him, observing the warm glow of the sunset on his body. He took a few small steps, approaching her shyly.

"Jongin," she called him. His heart skipped a beat. "I've been waiting for you."

/ / / / /

"So the Miss Inki competition is coming up soon," Sehun started.

"Yeah. I know," Seulgi replied. "So start talking."

"What?"

"I know you wanted to talk to me in private," Seulgi said coldly.

Seulgi should've known that Sehun was up to no good. The more they walked around the school, the less people they saw. If he really wanted to improve her image, he would've done it when there would be a lot of students.

"I just wanted to take a walk with you," Sehun said, blinking his eyes.

Seulgi's cheeks went red. "Stop it, Sehun. I know you're scheming something. If you're with Soojung, there's always a scheme. What is it? Why did you trick me and pull me away from Jongin?"

Sehun pursed his lips. "Honestly, I really just wanted to spend some quality time with you."

"I have a boyfriend."

"Jongin doesn't love you," he blurted.

"He does. He loves me very much."

"Come on, Seulgi. Let's not have this conversation again."

Seulgi crossed her arms and looked away. "I know that you're trying to plant ideas in my head, but that's not happening!"

Sehun let out a small sigh. A breeze came by and a leaf landed on her shoulder. Sehun reached for it, attempting to brush it away. Seulgi, however, saw this as an attempt to kiss her.

"Stop!" Seulgi yelled. She slapped away his hand, causing him to stand still, stunned. She glared at him with her cheeks burning. "You're only doing this because I'm popular now! You're only saying that you like me because I'm popular and you think that this is going to get in my head, but guess what? I can care less about your feelings. I only need Jongin. He's my boyfriend. I don't need anyone else!"

"I was just brushing off a leaf…"

"Excuses! You're making excuses!" she shouted. "You're after my popularity! That's all you care about!"

She turned away, keeping awfully silent. She waited for Sehun to say something, but he made no noise. She slowly turned her head, glancing at him carefully. She pressed her lips and gulped, feeling a tight knot in her chest after seeing Sehun's painful expression.

"It's true that I didn't notice you until you caused that scene at the cafeteria when you accused Hyeri of crying and confessing to Jongin," Sehun admitted. He looked down, "but there's so much more to why I love you." He gently grabbed her hand. Before she could pull way, he tightened his grip around her wrist. "I love you because you were awkward and different. I love how you never gave up and had a set goal in mind. I love your determination, strength, and awkwardness. You made me laugh and seeing you made my life much more colorful." He gently cupped her hands and brought them to his chest. "I love your smile, your laugh—I love your flaws, too. I want to stand by your side and be your support, to be the one who can love you back for who you are." 

Seulgi blushed. She could feel his heart pounding against his chest. She gave him a weak and troubled look, unsure of what to do in her situation. Sehun, as well, wasn't sure what to do or say. He just knew that he had to convey his feelings, to show her that he truly loved her and didn't want to leave her to be pitiful.

"Y-You're lying," she sputtered.

"I'm not," he told her. "I love you."

"B-But I have Jongin…"

"Do you really?" he inquired. "Do you really have Jongin?" He frowned. "Just why do you love Jongin?"

Why?

Seulgi blinked. Wasn't the answer obvious? Jongin was popular, handsome and kind. He was literally the perfect boyfriend in anyone's eyes. What more could a girl ask in a boyfriend?

"He's a good boyfriend," Seulgi insisted. "He's smart and cool."

"How can you say that he's a good boyfriend when you're always doubting him?" he asked.

Seulgi widened her eyes. "D-Doubt him? When did I ever doubt him?"

"I can see it in your eyes. You want to love him, but you know that he doesn't love you, so you're always hesitating. You use a lot of skin ship and public affection to assure that his loyalty lies with you, but deep in your heart, you doubt his loyalty," Sehun explained. "You probably know better than me that Jongin doesn't love you."

Seulgi didn't want to admit it. "He loves me."

"You know that's a lie."

"Jongin loves me," she repeated. "And I love Jongin."

Sehun furrowed his eyebrows. "Then what about me?"

"What about you?"

"Where do you expect me to be in all of this? I love you, but I can't stand by you when my best friend is dating you!"

"You—"

"I can't be Jongin's best friend when he's dating you, too. I know Jongin doesn't even love you. I know that I can do better than Jongin, and I know that you deserve better." Sehun kept silent for a few minutes. Then, he squeezed his fist until his knuckles went white. "Which is why Soojung is pulling out her ultimate move."

Seulgi frowned. "Ultimate move?"

Sehun locked eyes with her. "It's the last thing she wanted because it would ruin herself, but it was the only way to bring you down."

Seulgi continued to frown. The ultimate move? The last thing? What could possibly ruin Soojung, who knew exactly her flaws and her—

Her eyes widened. Her heart nearly stopped. She paled and she looked at Sehun, who realized that she knew exactly what he was talking about. He gave a small nod in response, causing Seulgi's knees to buckle.

"No," she whispered softly. She slowly shook her head and stepped back. "No. No way. I don't believe you."

"The journal," Sehun revealed. Her heart trembled. "She's going to show Jongin the journal."

"You're lying. You're trying to scare me," she accused.

"I'm not. This is something that Soojung decided to do herself," Sehun told her. "At this moment, Jongin probably met Soojung and she probably handed the journal to him."

Seulgi scoffed quietly. "You're out to ruin me."

"We're here to open your eyes."

"I can't believe you would do that!"

"Like I said, it was Soojung's choice, not mine!" Sehun yelled.

"You can't stand me being popular! You can't stand the fact that I'm happy!"

"I know you're not happy! You're surrounded by people who idolize you. You thought that their attention would bring you happiness, but deep inside, you know that their stares are taunting and hard to ignore. You're molding yourself into something you don't want to be and I don't want you to suffer through that!" Sehun exclaimed.

"Lies." She whimpered and shook her head. Tears nearly spilled out of her eyes. "I don't believe you. Jongin loves me. My friends believe in me. You're all just jealous. You don't love me. You like to toy with me."

Sehun felt a pang of pain in his chest. "I'm not toying with you."

"Liar," she whispered. She turned around. "Y-You'll see. Even if Jongin knows about the journal, he will still love me."

She walked away, leaving Sehun alone and almost broken.

/ / / / /

There was silence between Jongin and Soojung. They were quietly sitting in the swing sets, rocking themselves back and forth, trying to figure out how to continue a conversation. Jongin kept stuttering and stammering over his words while Soojung was trying to find the right opportunity to strike.

"…How is it?" Soojung asked.

"H-How's what?" Jongin stuttered.

"Dating Seulgi," she said. She looked at him. "How is it dating Seulgi?"

"Oh…" Jongin's voice fell. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I…don't know."

"You don't know?" Soojung repeated.

"It's, uh, nice. She's nice," he said. He was trying to frame his words so that it didn't sound like he was having an awful time dating her, but he didn't want to make it sound like he was having a great time, either. "I, uh, heard that you two aren't friends anymore. If you want, I can help you two be friends again."

Soojung didn't say anything. She kept swinging herself back and forth a little, moving on her toes and heels.

The sun was starting to set. The sky was dyed in fresh orange and pink. The wind came in, gently blowing the leaves and petals as the swings creaked with every movement. Then, Soojung took a deep breath through her nose.

"Sorry," she murmured.

"Huh?" Jongin didn't catch her at all.

"I'm sorry," she repeated.

"Sorry? For…what?"

"For everything," Soojung said. She knew that there wouldn't be the right timing for this situation. She had to do what she came to do. She passed him her little notebook. "I know."

"Know?" Jongin took the book. "You know what?"

She didn't say anything else. She got up from the swings, grabbed her bag, then walked away.

Jongin blinked his eyes and stared at her, dumbfounded. Then, he clumsily opened the journal. His eyes slowly grew wide open as he flipped page after page, witnessing several contents. When he arrived at his page, he read every little detail before stopping at the line that listed his crush. 

His heart nearly stopped. In seconds, his face became completely red and he could hear his heart almost leap out of his chest. He covered the lower half of his face with his hand, trembling and embarrassed over his exposed feelings.

She knew.

Soojung knew.

Jung Soojung knew that he loved her.