“I swear, if you tell anyone, I’m going to-“

Jeongyeon’s rushed and mumbled threat dies in when she hears the squeaking of the bathroom door being opened. Sana’s bottom lip starts quivering and Jeongyeon hastily puts her hand on to stifle any upcoming sobs.

The minutes until the girl is leaving feel like an eternity. But eventually, they hear flushing, the faucet and the door closing, leaving them behind. Jeongyeon takes her hand from Sana’s lips as if they had stung her, even though Sana had stayed completely still under her touch.

“Listen”, she says, now slightly softer, but still in the same hasty tone, “you can’t say anything to anyone. Okay? We’d be sued and get in jail or worse.” Jeongyeon briefly wonders what could be worse. She can’t think of anything, but she’s sure there must be something.

“I don’t care!” Sana cries out. “Momo needs someone to talk to. She’s breaking because of this.”

“She’s got us, doesn’t she?”, Jeongyeon replies, but even she can hear how cruelly indifferent she sounds. “She can talk to us. We’re in this together.”

The school bell ringing cuts an ending to their conversation.

Sana turns her back to Jeongyeon to wipe away the tears on her cheek. She used to be so openly vulnerable in front of her, Jeongyeon remembers, before all of this happened. The thought hurts. She clears .

“Don’t say anything to anyone”, she just says before leaving Sana alone in the stall.