"Dara, I'm so--"

"Bom, it's fine." I interrupted her before she could say any words of explanation or apology. I can't believe I actually fell for this. I told myself repeatedly that I'm not the gullible over these past few years, but I have yet again proven myself wrong. How could I fall for a fake person? How come I never seriously thought about the possibility of him being fake? I've had suspicions, but they have always been quickly been dismissed. Aish. I should've thought about this more.

"Why'd you do it?" I whispered while I looked at the ground.

"It was only supposed to be ," Bom hesitated to finish her sentence, but after a minute of silence, "for fun." She finished lamely.

For fun? You made up a whole person for fun?! A person that I was really starting to fall for. Wow. Sandara Park, how could you be so stupid?

"But Dara! I really didn't think you'd start liking him and it was too late for me to tell you the truth. I'm sorry Dara." Bom started explaining. I looked up at her eyes, engulfed with sincerity and guilt. She truly was sorry, and I know that she's really guilty about it. Should I just forgive her? No. I can't just easily forgive her for tricking me, but I can't just be mad at her.

"Who else knew about this?" I asked her.

"Chaerin, she's the only one I told about this. It was really only my plan, but then when I felt that you were starting to like 'Jiyong', I told Chaerin about it and asked her what I should do."

"And so you guys kept on deceiving me?" Now I know I can't just forgive her easily. A hint of anger was visible, or maybe it was just disappointment? I was disappointed that Bom would ever think of such plan, disappointed that instead of telling me the truth she confided in Chaerin, and disappointed that she still had the nerve to continue lying to me.

"Yeah," It was barely a whisper, but my sharp ears still deciphered the words, "I'm so sorry. I really regret it. I know I shouldn't have lied to you. I shouldn't have even made up the fake account in the first place. Please forgive me, Dara." Bom pleaded.

"You know what? Let's drop this subject."

"Dara, please."

"Bom! Stop. Let me think about this first. My best friend tricked me into liking a fake guy that I continuously flirted with, and I fell for it. She didn't have the guts to tell the truth to my face so she decided to tell the girl that I'm currently arguing with." After saying this, I immediately turned around and started to walk away. I could hear Bom's pleads of forgiveness but I decided to ignore them. I need time to think about this.

--

After returning home, I confided with Minji about everything that just happened with Bom. I love having Minji as a friend mostly because she understands me; she knows what's best for me. After recalling the incident, all she did was give me a hug. I know it sounds inconsiderate, but I really needed it. I needed to know that I can still trust people, that I still have her beside me.

"Do you want some water? It might help cool you down." Minji offered.

"Yeah. I really need some water right now." I responded. Minji then stood up to go to the kitchen to fetch me a drink.

"Here you go."

"Thanks."

A comfortable silence then landed upon us. She's giving me some time to think about what I should do. Inwardly, I thanked her.

--

After re-thinking about every move Bom has made, I realized something. During her plan, she had dropped a tiny hint of her being sorry for something. The shirt she forced me to wear had purple hyacinth flowers printed on them. I was reading a book that said each flower had a different meaning to them. Curiosity got the best of me so I searched up what a purple hyacinth means. It means, "I'm sorry. Please forgive me." I don't know whether that was just a coincidence or it had a deeper meaning to them, but I now like to think that Bom purposely picked that shirt because she felt guilty about her plan.

Also, the status that "Kwon Jiyong" made that only I could see was made during the time where Bom and I went shopping that day. I'm guessing that Bom had written that status on her phone while I was changing and posted it on facebook. Due to the fact that I changed pretty quickly, she had to hastily hide her phone in her purse.

Though these are just assumptions, I have a strong feeling they're right. After all, people always said I had good deducting skills.

--

"So this Kwon Jiyong was all a lie, huh?" Looking at his profile, I just started to reminisce about "him." He's fake. I kept telling myself that, but it still hurts. He never existed. It was Bom whom I was talking to. After all those school-girl giggles, those giddy butterflies, those day dreams, my little fantasy was shattered with a single word, "Truth."

"He" leaves me with a bittersweet laugh. I fell for the male version of Bom. Bom... what should I do? How do I face her tomorrow? Do I forgive her? Should I be mad at her? Tell me what to do since I honestly don't know. Should I pretend like it doesn't affect me? No. Too late. She knows that it's already affected me by the way I acted earlier. A deep sigh escaped my lips.

I can't think about this any more. I need to sleep, but my mind couldn't fully rest knowing that my "crush" was fake. A mountain of questions filled my mind, some were just simple like, "How was the name made up?", "How come there were two Kwon Jiyongs?", "How did Bom think of it in the first place?" You know what? I'm just going to go and confront Bom about it and ask every question that's currently loitering in my brain.

--

The next day, I had confronted Bom once again. Her appearance wasn't her ordinary fresh and chic look. It was oozing with tiredness and lack of sleep. I guess she was up all night feeling guilty about her actions.

"Dara! I'm so sorry! I would have called you and texted you but I thought that you might have wanted to think about it alone so I didn't want to disrupt you or anything." Right after she spotted me, she immediately started to bombard me with explanations. She really must feel guilty. I should just forgive her. Forgive and forget, right?

"Bom, I forgive you," After my head cooled down, I started to think more rationally. Bom really did feel sorry about it and Jiyong didn't become that big of a crush. Plus, I need my best friend back, "Though, you have to answer a few questions that I have." I added.

"Anything." And thus, Bom's spirits were full of life once again. For every question I had, she was prepared to answer them no matter how trivial or minor.

"Kwon Jiyong" was invented due to Bom's curiosity on how I act when I have a crush. Its name was produced when Bom was searching random names on facebook and come across a guy named Kwon Jiyong. His profile picture intrigued Bom with his chocolate brown eyes and smoldering gaze. Bom also stated that his smile was to-die for. His smile would make all the butterflies in the world flutter in a heartbeat.

Now, I was also interested in the actual Kwon Jiyong.