Hearing a quick buzz, I lazily reach out to grab a hold of my phone, to see another text message from Seyong. I’m still not in the mood to speak to him, (or to anyone, really) so I put the device back down again, and go back to ignoring it.

The only person who I've spoken to is Minah, and she now knows that I want some space and time to breathe.

“Hyeri-ah, what’s wrong?” questioned Minah’s worried voice, from the other line of the phone.

“It’s nothing,” I dully replied.

“You were crying when I last saw you,” she stated. “It’s taken me forever to make you pick up your phone, so I know it’s not just ‘nothing’…” There was a sigh, “I’m worried about my best friend.”

Hearing that made me crumble; I’m sorry Minah, this is really childish of me, huh?

“And speaking of since I last saw you,” she began, in a voice of discomfort. “I have something important to tell you...”

I roll over onto my other side, and let out a sigh, feeling defeated; it’s not fair to worry her, when she hasn’t done anything wrong.

“Okay, so who goes first?” I asked, “You or me?”

“You first,” she gently offered.

For some reason, I found my throat tightening up, as my stomach churned with uneasiness. “That day, when you saw me…” I slowly said. “Was when I had just told Gunwoo about my feelings...and I guess you can put two and two together, to figure out why I was how I was.”

“Omo, Hyeri-ah…” came a mumble, and I could hear the sorrow in her voice.

“It’s okay,” I dejectedly said. “He likes you, so it’s fine.”

“Eh?” said her surprised voice. “How did you know?”

“I heard two girls talking about him wanting to meet up with someone, to tell them that he likes them, and when you told me that he wanted to see you…” My voice trailed off.

“Hyeri-ah, I’m so sorry this had to happen,” apologised Minah.

I tried my best to wave it off. “I’ll be okay,” I said, although the sudden moisture in my eyes said otherwise. “Anyway, so are you two dating now, or…?”

“No,” replied Minah. “We’re not.”

“Huh?” I was confused. “Wait what, why not?”

“Because I don’t feel the same for him,” she said.

So I like Gunwoo, but he likes Minah, and she likes...no one.

Talking to her actually made me feel a lot better, but the smiles and laughter was only temporarily. I still feel like such a fool, and my feelings are all over the place right now, which is why I have been curled up inside my room for all of Friday and Saturday. It’s Sunday now, and I can predict me doing the same thing, just moping around in my embarrassment.

Honestly, I didn’t think it would hurt so much to have a one-sided crush...

Oh God, if this is a crush, I’m a little scared to know how I’ll feel if I ever came to love someone.

The sudden vibration from my phone breaks me out of my thoughts once more. Letting out a small grumble, I pick it up to see Seyong’s name, yet again.

Maybe he’ll leave me alone if I answer it?

“What,” I robotically say, upon clicking the response button.

“Where have you been?!” yells his concerned voice. “It’s like you just disappeared off the face of the Earth or something.”

“Hmm, that doesn’t sound like a bad idea, actually…”

“Yah!” he snaps. “I’ve been worried; why have you suddenly become so unreachable?”

Even though he can’t see me, I shrug. “I just haven’t been in the mood for people,” I mutter.

Seyong lets out a sigh, and then turns his tone of voice into a softer one. “Hyeri-ah, what’s wrong?” he cautiously asks.

And I don’t know why, but when he carefully speaks to me like that, it causes my lips to tremble, as the hurtful feelings rush back. “You were wrong,” I eventually say, while wiping the silent tears away from my cheeks. “Gunwoo doesn’t like me like I like him, and I feel like such an idiot.”

It’s quiet over on the other side, and the feeling inside me becomes too overbearing, so I quickly hang up, before I can say something else that's stupid.

Sitting up from bed, I give my cheeks a couple of rough pats, as an attempt to snap me out of this pathetic mood.

“Aish, stop crying!” I complain to myself.

My tears gradually stop, as I continue to take in deep soothing breaths of air. My attention then draws back to my phone, as it is suddenly vibrating again, and seeing Seyong’s name on it causes me to decline the call. Of course, that doesn’t stop him though, so I just end up turning off my phone all together.

The peace and quiet lasts for a minute or two, until I hear a knock on my door.

“Hyeri-ah, it’s me,” says umma’s voice.

I hum out a response, which allows her to open the door, and take a step inside. She then walks over to me, and then holds out the house phone, “Seyong’s looking for you.”

A small groan comes out of me, as I take the phone from her. “Seyong, I don’t want to talk about it,” I tiredly say.

And without giving him the chance to speak, my finger presses the ‘end’ button.

I return the phone back to my mother, and then go back to snuggling against my pillow. Silence envelopes the room once more, and she’s still here with me, but I don’t worry too much about her presence.

“Hyeri-ah…” she delicately begins. “What happened to you? Where did my daughter go?”

I don’t say anything, so she continues on.

“You haven’t been eating, nor have you been sleeping,” she warily points out. “You’ve just been in your room all the time, and it worries me.” She then adds, “Minah and Seyong have been calling to ask about you as well, but I can’t tell them much, since I have no idea what is making you like this.”

Frowning, I then slowly roll over onto my left, to see her worried face, softly gazing at me, and that’s when I notice that my behaviour has been affecting her as well. She appears to have been doing the same thing as me, with the developing dark circles underneath her eyes being visible. The sight of it makes my heart feel heavy, and I sigh.

What the heck is wrong with me?

I’ve been a very selfish person, to drag the people around me down with them, and for that, I need to stop, if I don’t want to hurt them anymore.

Getting up from my position, I then wrap my arms around her. “Umma, I’m really sorry for making you worry,” I murmur. “It’s just that…yeah, I’ve been feeling pretty stupid about something, and…yeah,” I lamely end.

As she embraces me into her consoling arms, I feel her relax a little. “You don’t have to deal with things on your own,” she advises, “Because I’m always here for you.” She then begins to my hair in a soothing manner, “And on top of this, you have your friends to help you, too.”

“Mm…” I mumble, wondering just how Minah and Seyong have been feeling.

Out of nowhere, the sound of the doorbell ringing causes us both to perk our heads up. Umma let’s go of me, and then stands up, pondering to herself who it can be, as she exits my room. I sit there for a bit, but then decide to get up from my spot to stretch out my limbs.

And halfway during my stretch, I hear the same male’s voice that I had hung up on not too long ago.

“Yah!” he exclaims from the doorway, making me flinch. “How dare you hang up on me like that?”