Around her fourteenth birthday, Jieun thought she was dying. She stood up with the other students to leave the room and head to the cafeteria for lunch. A subtle nausea bubbled in her stomach and her down there area felt a bit warm.

“Hey, you have something on your skirt,” Joohyun whispered as she grabbed her friend's elbow. Jieun looked down to check her bottoms but couldn’t find anything, making her even more confused. Other students squeezed past them to get ahead, not even noticing the red stain on her backside. Joohyun clicked her teeth and rolled her eyes before leading her down the hall and into the bathroom. Jieun walked towards a stall and stepped inside, locking it before dropping her skirt to inspect.

“Oh my god,” she yelled as blood dripped on the floor, already covering her underwear.

“I already got mine last month, remember. Didn’t your mom warn you?” Joohyun almost laughed as she stood outside of the stall for moral support. Jieun felt like crying and throwing a fit as she bunched up toilet paper in efforts to clean it. Her friend knocked on the door and Jieun hesitated, but gave in and unlocked the stall.

“Take it off,” Joohyun said, referring to the stained skirt. Jieun just cocked a brow. “We have thirty minutes before class starts, do you want to walk around looking like a mess for the rest of the day?” she said. The latter just sighed and let her friend handle the situation, removing her dirtied bottoms and handing them over. Joohyun made a face as she pinched the fabric with two fingers and carried it over to the sinks. Jieun closed the stall door and locked it again as the other girl walked to the room’s entrance and moved the trash can so the heavy and always open bathroom door would close on its own. The two girls spent the next few minutes cleaning in an awkward silence before one of them spoke up.

“This is the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me, “ Jieun whined, now resenting her body for betraying her so. Joohyun laughed over the trickle of water as she scrubbed out the last of the stain with coarse brown paper towels.

“It’s a bonding experience. Now I’m stuck with you for life, huh,” She said with a grin before turning off the water and leaning over to grab fresh papers.

“Of course. We’re both taking this to our graves,” Jieun said, glad that her best friend caught her slipping before anyone else did, saving her from who knows how much ridicule.

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