“Cho Hee, you really need to get that attitude checked,” your mother scolded, reading the letter that was sent home.

            “Your mom’s right. You’ve really been acting up lately. What happened to you?”

             You sighed, feeling bad for disappointing your parents. The principal sent a letter home about damaging Seungyeon’s locker, aka school property. Didn’t think that one through well.

             “You’ve been really impulsive lately. What’s going on with you? Getting into fights, vandalizing school property, what else is there?” your mom spoke in a softer tone, trying to understand what happened to their daughter, the one who had changed so much.

            “It’s like we don’t even know who you are anymore,” your dad chimed in.

            “You know, we give you everything,” your mom started, “we let you move and study abroad in the states. Get you a motorcycle and your own apartment.”

            You bowed your head, “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I’ll take full responsibility so you guys shouldn’t worry about the fines. I’ll pay for the locker.”

            “Not only that, but we are trading your motorcycle back.”

            “What?” You were surprised by your dad’s decision.

            Your mom stuck out her hands, palm up, “You heard him. Keys.” You reluctantly gave it to them. “It’s time we start disciplining you. We didn’t have to before, but we do now. After being in America, you changed a lot.” You could tell your parents were trying to be strong. They never were really good about punishment. Plus, they never had to punish you – well until now anyways.

            “I don’t think you’re fit to live on your own either,” your mom mentioned. “I think that you should come live with-”

            “No, please!” you said suddenly. “Please I promise you won’t hear anything bad from me anymore.”

            Your mom was skeptical, but both your parents ended up giving in – only if you explained what was going on.

            “It’s kind of a long story, but the girl I got into the fight with is the same girl who’s locker I destroyed. She used to bully me back before I left to America,” you sighed.

“Oh, Cho Hee,” your mom became sympathetic, her shoulders deflated.

“Look, I wasn’t expecting it to be like this. She just still doesn’t like me.”

            You had to find a way to explain yourself, without telling them the entire truth.

            “Is she still bullying you?” Your father asked.

            “Ummm, not quite. It’s hard to explain.”

            “Okay, just take your time. We love you, but you need to stop getting into trouble. One more strike and you’re out.” Your mom gave you fair warning.

            “Thank you for understanding. I love you guys.” You hugged the both of them, feeling bad about not being honest, but it had to be done. Now it just felt like your whole life had become into one giant lie. Lying to people you really cared about . Especially your parents; the ones who trusted and believed you most. All they wanted was just to understand what happened to you the past year.

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            “Ugh, what a long day,” you sighed, plopping back onto the sofa. “ I need to get a temporary job now, too. Gotta pay for the locker.”

            “Well, you kind of are impulsive,” Chunji added.

            You scoffed, but laid your head on his lap. “It’s not easy. I still feel like my friendship with Mina is based on lies.”

            “Veronica. This is the only way you can get back at Woohyun. The less people who know, the better. You can explain everything to your parents and Mina another time.”

            “Maybe we should just tell Mina. One more person won’t hurt. And it’s just Mina. She’s my good friend.”

            “Well, as your best friend, I say no, but do whatever you want,” he shrugged.

            “I don’t know. I’ll think about it some more. Anyways, Woohyun seems to be getting attached to me lately. Or that’s what it seems like. I really don’t know what’s up his sleeve. He wasn’t like this when I was a nerd.”

            “It’s probably just because Seungyeon is out of the picture. Don’t get too ahead of yourself. Playboys don’t get attached easily.”

             “How would you know anything about how a playboy feels,” you mocked.

              He scoffed, “Are you kidding me? I am a playboy. I don’t get attached to these noonas. Trust me I know how a playboy thinks.”

              “Yeah, sure, whatever,” you laughed, pushing his face. “You should get going though, I need to get ready because I have a ‘date’ with Whorehyun.” You did air quotes when you said “date”.

              “Alright, I’ll see you later. Tell me how it goes.”

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            “You know, girls would love being here with me right now,” Woohyun said.

            “I’m not like other girls though that’s the thing.”

            “Yeah, and that’s what I like about you,” he smiled. How greasy. “You know we’ve been dating for a little now, but I feel like I don’t know anything about you.”

            That’s because you don’t you thought to yourself. “Ummm, okay… What would you like to know..??” You weren’t sure what to say. You and Woohyun decided to go on a casual date, eating Korean BBQ.

            “Like, I don’t know. Things that make you happy, things that make you scared, things you like, things you don’t like.” He began placing meat on the grill.

            Is he really using that line on me again? He said the same thing to you when you were ‘dating’ him as a nerd. Is it some kind of way to feign being interested? Is it some kind of manipulative way to pretend to actually have a deeper conversation?

            “Woohyun, look. I’m gonna be completely honest. I don’t know what you think this is. You literally broke up with Seungyeon not too long ago. Was it even a break up? Like what is going on with the two of you – or was going on?”

            “I’ll come clean. I feel like I owe it to you.” He explained, flipping the meat onto the other side as you helped, but you couldn’t help at being a bit pissed at his sorry and pathetic attempt to get to know you with all those that “I want to get to know you better” speech. It made you wonder if he used it to lure other girls to believe he was actually interested.

            “Seungyeon and me are totally done. No strings attached or anything. We never were anything serious. Just slept with each other and just were fooling around. She’s the hot girl, I’m the hot guy. That’s all it was. And we just got together, but it wasn’t ever serious. I promise.”

            It was kind of weird seeing Woohyun like this. Seeing him a little vulnerable. Being with him when the guys were around is all fun and games, but when it was just you two, things were a bit more serious. Even during the time you were a nerd, all he would do was woo you and coo sweet words. However, now that he’s here now, there’s a side that not many see. It was unsettling, different, and it made you feel great. Like you could really tear him down at any moment.

            The date was smooth sailing. You ate to your heart’s content and learned a lot more about Woohyun and Infinite. You both left the restaurant, bill on Woohyun, and you both decided to go back to your place to kick it. You just put on the TV and talked all night long. In the midst of it, he somehow got closer to you on the couch, and pulled you in for a kiss. To be honest, it was kind of nice to have Woohyun around. Not for any special reason, but it just nice to have a boy toy and it made you wonder if this is how Seungyeon felt. It’s just the idea of having someone was cool. No special attachments or anything. No obligations, no string attached, nothing serious.

            His lips moved feverishly against yours in a light make out section. One peck after another and another. If it would have been another situation, it would’ve seemed sweet and heart warming, but to you it was nothing but luring him into your trap. You now really understood what you were getting yourself into. The lies and the manipulation. You constantly had to put up a wall and be skeptical, but make it seem like you trusted him in order to get him to trust you. You had to make it feel real. And you didn’t mind. As long as you prosper in the end, you’d do whatever.

            At the end of the night, Woohyun bid you farewell, kissing you on the lips one more time as you closed the door and headed off to bed.

            Laying in your bed at ease, and finally accepting your reality, you drifted off into a slumber. If you could lie to your parents, you could lie about anything and there was nothing that was going stop you from ripping Woohyun to shreds. 

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Hey guys! I'm sorry I haven't updated in the longest time. I will try to update when I can. Thank you for waiting patiently. I love you guys so much and thanks for staying with me :)