Chapter 13

Maybe

It hadn’t been a day but Jennie already missed Y/N. Actually, she always does. So after doing some errands for her dad, she went straight to her school, where Y/N said she’d be painting. She was rounding the corner, drinking her bottled water, when she collided with another body, causing her to spurt a little water. 

The two were about to apologize, but then they had a staring contest instead, or rather, glaring contest. 

”What are you doing here?” Chaeyoung spoked first, eyeing Jennie from head to toe. 

“I’m going to pick up Y/N.”

“No need, I’m already here.”

Jennie crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “So?”

“Look, I won’t back out just because you like her too.” There were a lot of times when Chaeyoung had backed out on an opportunity just because she didn’t want to compete with others. She would always give way and let the opportunity pass in front of her eyes, but she wasn’t going to do that now.

“Neither will I. And I will be the one to walk her home.”

“No, I will.”

“Let’s just ask her then!” The two marched to the basement, where the art room is located. It was almost 6:30 so there wasn’t much students in the school, except for the athletes. 

Their footsteps halted when they noticed smoke coming out of the small spaces of the doorframe. Jennie furrowed her eyebrows and squinted. “What the hell? What kind of art is she doing?” 

Chaeyoung’s eyes widened in a fraction of second. “Y/N!” She didn’t waste anymore time and ran towards the door, which was enveloped with chains and a huge lock. Out of panic, she tried pulling the chains but she couldn’t take it off without the key. Chaeyoung knocked frantically at the door, shouting Y/N’s name repeatedly, but there was no answer.

Meanwhile, Jennie looked around the hallway and saw an emergency axe by the end of the hallway. Adrenaline rushed through her and before she realised what she was doing, she punched the glass, which broke into pieces, and she quickly took the axe, hitting the lock successfully.

Jennie opened the door and was ready to go inside when the fire greeted her. 

Fire. Just like back when her mom died. She was outside of her room, while her mom was stuck inside. 

Her hands started to tremble as sudden memories of the death of her mother flashed in front of her eyes. 

Chaeyoung picked up Jennie’s water bottle at the floor and poured it all over herself before pushing Jennie aside, and running inside to save Y/N. 

A minute later, Chaeyoung came out with Y/N, who was already unconscious due to the amount of smoke she inhaled. Thankfully, there wasn’t any burn. 

“What are you doing?! Call an ambulance and the fire station!” Chaeyoung shouted, waking up Jennie from her trance.

Soon, sirens filled their ears and medical assistants came to carry Y/N and assist the two out, while firemen entered the room with hoses, putting up the fire, which thankfully haven’t spread out of the room.

Lisa watched as the paramedics carefully placed Y/N on a stretcher and placed her inside the ambulance, along with Jennie and Chaeyoung. She was late. Too late to take back what she had done, but thankfully enough, she thought, the damage wasn’t that bad. 

She lost a lot that night: the competition, probably her scholarship, her mom, her conscience. All of it replaced with guilt and regret. But the thing about making decisions is having the responsibility for it. Sure, Lisa wasn’t the mastermind, it was her mom, but she had the choice, and her choice obviously wasn’t the best. 

Jennie and Chaeyoung waited for the doctor to come out. They called Y/N’s mom and she was already on her way.

Jennie wasn’t only worried, she was blaming herself for not being of help earlier. She thought that if she wasn’t too caught up with her past, she would have helped Y/N and lessen the damage the fire made. “I’m useless.” She covered her face with her hands, holding back the tears that were threatening to fall.

“You opened the lock and called the ambulance. You weren’t useless,” Chaeyoung assured, hoping it will make the other girl feel better. There was really no point in blaming herself since both of them helped each other and was able to get Y/N out of the room. 

Y/N’s P.O.V.

Oh god why do I feel so sore? 

I could hear some shoes shuffling against the wooden floor. With a lot of strength, I fluttered my eyes open and good heavens! I feel like the light is going to blind me. Why is it so bright? Ugh. 

A little bit blurry, my vision took in a brunette, back facing me and she was looking through her bag.

“Chaeng?” I muttered with my oh so hoarse voice that almost cracked. I need water. 

“Y/N! You’re awake!” Chaeyoung pressed the button beside the bed, which I guess is to call for the nurse.

I couldn’t help but groan as I try to sit up straight. So this is how it feels like to sleep for three days straight. “What happened?”

“There was a fire at the basement and you got locked inside, but thankfully, we were able to get you out. How are you feeling?” Chaeyoung sat at the chair beside me, leaning in to brush off some strands of hair out of my face. I bet I look hideous right now.

“I’m a little bit dizzy, but fine. Can I have some water please?” If I didn’t die because of the fire, dehydration will kill me. 

“Oh. Wait. I was so worried.” Chaeyoung stood up, pouring water on the mug by the table. Thank god.

I quickly finished the water, placing it at the table beside me. “I’m sorry if I worried you… But what day is it today?”

“It’s Tuesday. You’ve been asleep for almost three days. The doctor was expecting you to be up already by yesterday, but I guess you still didn’t want to wake up.” Chaeyoung chuckled. I would’ve laughed with her only if I wasn’t reminded of school.

“Oh god.” I sighed and then turned to Chaeyoung when I realised, “But why are you here? Don’t we have classes?”

She propped herself with her left elbow on the table, leaning her body towards it. It was nice to wake up seeing that sweet smile of hers. “The principal allowed me to skip the day. They felt obligated with what happened so they couldn’t really say no to my request.”

“You didn’t have to do that. You missed a day worth of lessons because of me.” I can’t even imagine how much I already missed in that two days that I was absent. I really hope that I can be discharged today so I’ll be able to catch up on the school works.

“I couldn’t really focus at school.” She chuckled and looked around, making me confused whether she’s lying or she’s just embarrassed. Nevertheless, she continued, “Your mom went to the cashier to pay for the bills and she also went to buy lunch.”

I nodded. “Mmm…but—-“ I placed my hand over Chaeyoung’s arm but then she suddenly flinched at the touch so I retreated my hand immediately. Her arm had a bruise—-or rather it looked more like a burn. “What happened?” 

“Oh. It’s not——-“

“Was this because of what happened? The last person that I saw was you before everything went black.” I clearly remember seeing Chaeyoung that night. Now that I’ve recalled it, it almost looked like a scene from a movie. Of course I didn’t thought about that before cause I was about to die but, still, she didn’t even hesitate to save me regardless of the fire. Why does she have to be so selfless?

A grin spread on her lips and then she shrugged. “It doesn’t really hurt that mu——ouch!” She quickly moved her arm away from me after touching her bruise.

“Liar.” I glared at her, and in turn, she pouted and rubbed her arm. “Sorry. I just don’t want you to worry.”

“How can I not be worried?” I was the reason why she got the burn, of course I’ll be concerned and even guilty. I mean, even if I wasn’t the reason for it, I would still be worried. Anyone would be. 

Now the guilt is seeping through my veins. 

I held her arm, this time cautiously. It was because of me that her flawless skin got a small burn. I placed her in danger. If anything happened to her that nigh——

My thoughts were interrupted when Chaeyoung pulled her arm and laced her fingers with mine. My face is burning right now. Don’t tell me another fire will break. 

I glanced at her and saw that she was looking elsewhere with a smile on her face. I would’ve pointed out her red cheeks and if mine wasn’t the same.

Now that I’ve think about it, “How did the fire even start in the first place?” That time when I was adding finishing touches on the painting that I’ve made, which is I think, already burnt and is on it’s powdered form, god I worked hard on that. Back to the point, there was nothing unusual. As far as I’m aware, nobody was there in the room, I didn’t heard a single sound except from my brush, not until I heard clattering of metal outside and of course, the smell of something burning. I tried opening the door before the fire spread out but it was locked from the outside. The thing about the art room is, like what I first observed when I came in, was that there were no windows, except for the glass wall, which was terribly difficult to break based from my experience. 

“It was Seulgi. The CCTV caught her. She was immediately expelled from the school.” What?

“Seulgi? Why would she do that? We haven’t even talked to each other before.” As far as I can remember, there was no instance when we’ve talked. Yes, we’ve made eye contact when passing through the halls, but that’s it. Or did I do something unconsciously to her? But I doubt that I did something terrible enough to make her want to kill me. I bet nobody expected that, especially me.

Chaeng stayed for a while, easing my boredom. However, she had to go back to school for some urgent meeting about a bullying incident. So now I’m left alone with mom, who didn’t attend to any of her work for once. It makes me kind of proud that she’s able to resist the urge to reply to her emails even if I told her that it was fine and she should at least answer them. 

“The doctor said that we can go home once you finish the check up tomorrow.” Mom was cleaning the table where they ate lunch. It was kind of a painful sight since I had to eat hospital food, which was, I may say, disappointingly bland considering that this is one of the leading hospitals in the city. 

“Tomorrow? Can’t they do it today?” I certainly don’t want to spend another day here. And plus, I’m feeling fine already, only that my back hurts a little. But just a little.

“Honey, you need rest. Don’t think about school yet.” Right. Maybe I should stop worrying about school and take this as an opportunity to take a break and prepare for the week ahead of catching up.

“Fine.” I flipped through the shows on the television and the only interesting movie that was airing was Okja, which I already watched last week, but it’s not like there’s something better to do.

A couple of minutes of watching, a knock diverted my attention from the television. Whoever it may be, I hope it isn’t one of mom’s friends or something, it’ll be awkward, for me at least.

Much to my delight, a blonde haired girl peeked from the slightly opened door. Mom told her to come in and so she did, handling the fruits she brought to my mom.

“Hey. Rosé told me you already woke up, so I came straight from school.” Lisa walked over and stood beside my bed, left hand tucked inside the pocket of her skirt while her right hand scratches the back of her neck. She looked awkward, I wonder why.

“Oh. I hope she didn’t tell everyone though,” I joked, hoping to ease her awkwardness. It must’ve been because she’s uncomfortable to be in a hospital, like how I was before.

“Actually, she did.” 

I chuckled at what Lisa said but looked at her suspiciously when her face showed that she was serious. Oh no. Please tell me that didn’t happen. “Wait. You’re kidding, right?” 

I was starting to get nervous, when Lisa laughed, ruffling my already messy hair. “Yup.” I would’ve killed her for that if I wasn’t feeling sore. Be thankful. 

Lisa took a seat next to my bed, leaning on it and crossing her arms. “I’m not going to ask you how you are since you look great.”

“Good. ‘Cause I’ve been asked the same thing over and over again. I should probably record myself saying ‘I’m good’ so when someone asks me, I’ll just play it.” Mom went outside to give us some time alone, thankfully. A lot of her acquaintances came by after Chaeyoung left. It was as if I was diagnosed with cancer or something. People should chill sometimes. 

“You’re being a sloth.” She shook her head, a small smile showing on her face. 

“Sloths are cute.”

Lisa chuckled, and I don’t know how, but I’m sure it wasn’t a genuine one. It wasn’t the kind of laugh I used to hear before, there must’ve been something bothering. My theory was only proven when she was staring at me, and a single tear dropped from her eye, causing me to panic.

“Y/N. I’m sorry.” One drop of tear turned into waterfalls.

“Lisa, you didn’t do anything. Why are you apologising?” Okay, I don’t know what to do. Why is she even apologising in the first place?

She buried her face on her hands, sobbing. “I should’ve stopped it. I should’ve ran faster. I should’ve——“

“Lisa.” I held her hand, asking her to look at me