Contrary to what you believed earlier, Krystal can drive her moped on a decent speed.

She slowed down in front of an ice cream parlor and went inside alone. You awkwardly stood there and waited for her while playing with the straps of the helmet she let you borrow. When she went back outside, she was holding two ice cream cones with huge scoops on each of them.

“WOAH!” you literally said in a tone of kid. “Those look tasty!”

Krystal was still staring at you as she let you finish your gawking at the ice cream cones. You cleared .

“Uhhhhhh... How much do I owe you?”

“Pft. If I knew that all it would take to get rid of that gloomy look on your face was ice cream, I would’ve bought you one the moment you left the salon.”

You stared at her as she handed you a cone and settled down to sit on the curb. The ice cream was starting to melt so you brought it near your mouth. You followed her move and sat beside her; your mind was still on what she said.

“What do you mean by that?”

She was her ice cream while looking at the road. The ice cream parlor was near the separation of the town from the suburbs. Occasionally, a few cars passed the two of you by.   

“You know” she said in a matter-of-factly tone. “When I first met you? At the way you seem to be grumpy when about your appointment but you were too nice to admit it. Auntie wouldn’t stop expressing her worry about you-”

“Oh. That’s so nice of her. Please tell her that I’m okay and can you also thank her for me? For the treatment and all the other stuff.”

Krystal chuckled to herself a little.

“See? Are you deliberately trying to sell yourself as someone who’s a little goody-two-shoes or something? Honestly” then she shook her head.

You kept silent and just joined her at staring at the passing cars.

It is not new hearing the word ‘nice’ be associated with your name. You frequently hear it among your peers and honestly, you get humbled every time. It’s probably one of the attributes that you want to be remembered by. You were always the ‘nice girl’.

But sometimes, you wonder if that part of yours is still worth living up to.

I mean, being nice is the best; everybody likes you and you respect everyone around you. But as time passes, you realize that there are moments where you really feel as if you’re being taken advantage of.

And sometimes, it hurts.

It really does.

The way some people can only look at you at a certain extent and nothing more.  

You took a big bite of your ice cream; its cold feeling in your mouth tried to bury those bitter thoughts.

“I wonder what she looks like...” Krystal said in a low tone.

“Hmmm? Who?”

“Ya know.. The girl that was supposed to be you at your hair appointment; the one that seem to be really close to you, she’s your friend right? Or-?”

You sputtered out some of what you were eating. Krystal had some tissues so she handed some to you for you to wipe your chin.

“What do you-?” you were supposed to feign ignorance but judging from her tone, she’ll just probably see through you. She kept her gaze straight ahead while eating her ice cream. You pondered for a moment before heaving a deep sigh and stared at the busy streets.

“Yeah, she’s my classmate. I’ve known her for the longest that I can remember actually. As for what she looks like-“, you gave yourself a tiny pause; Krystal glanced at you at the corner of her eye. “Well, when I first saw her, I thought that she was so pretty. So pretty that I almost couldn’t believe that she was real...”

Nothing but the whizzing of cars can be heard for a few minutes.

“So yeah, I guess she’s my friend” you added.

 “Pretty long introduction with some over the top compliments for some ‘friend’ huh?” Krystal mused.

You chuckled.

“Well, I have known her for quite some time so that may be it.”

“Hmmmmmmm”

“Yeah.”

Both of you have already finished your ice creams and were just sitting there taking in the quite night and basically just hanging there.

“Is that why you call her your friend? Because you’ve known her forever?”

“Huh?”

“Well, the term ‘friend’ is such a complex thing” Krystal suddenly rants out. “You can call someone your friend for the reason that you’ve known them since you were young but you can also call it to someone whom you just met.” She turned to you. “I’m already listing you as a friend though. My mom pegged me as someone who’ll have a hard time making one since I’m new and ‘hard to approach’.”

You laughed. “We played DDR together. That automatically counts as a friendship pact.”

She gave you a high-five.

The two of you were about to stand up and probably head back when a car came nearing your place. Headlights entered your line of vision that you had to squint hard. When it came to a halt, you recognized it as the familiar red convertible known all over the town.

For its owner and for its reputation

You slightly froze.

“I knew it was you! See Irene? I told you it was your geeky best friend!” Suho probably exerted a lot of effort to emphasize on the best friend part. His car was probably blocking a part of the way but like usual, the same rules don’t apply to him and his awesome ride.

“Seul?”

Suho’s headlights were probably made out of stars because it was blinding the heck out of you and Krystal; who was scoffing loud enough to be considered rude. You can’t exactly blame her though; the light from the car was so bright and you had to shade your eyes with your hands. Its owner was showing no signs of turning it off. You finally stood up and when you did, you got a clearer view of her.

You finally saw her after a few days.

The lights from earlier were blinding but there she was sitting at the passenger seat of a sweet looking car. You immediately noticed that she was wearing something a little more festive.

She was wearing a sleek black dress; her shoulders were exposed and pink from the coldness of the air.

And she’s instantly more dazzling and captivating to your eyes.

You swore your breath hitched upon seeing her. 

“Hi” you squeaked.

Her eyes were still fixed on you and you alone. She was giving you a searching look. Then her eyes arrived at the top of your head and she leaned in and grabbed your hand to pull you closer.

“You dyed your hair?!”

“Errr.. Yes.”

“When?”

A part of you just wanted to lash out on her and just remind her of your little fiasco with regards to ditching you and stuff. But she was holding your arm and you can practically disintegrate from nervousness right there.

So like usual, you scramble to form a coherent sentence.

“Errr... I-uh-”

“She got it the last Saturday when you were supposed to meet her and kinda didn’t show.” You turned your head so fast that you almost heard it snap. Krystal was standing beside you now; her arms were crossed and she was looking at Irene with an unreadable expression.

“Excuse me who are you?” Irene barked at her.

“I’m Krystal, Seulgi’s friend.”

“First time meeting you.” Irene looked at her from head to toe. “I’m not aware that Seulgi had a friend like you.”

“Meh. We just met at the salon where you were supposed to meet her but you didn’t and she ended up coloring her hair because she didn’t want to waste the efforts of her friend—that’s you by the way, the one that ditched her—and my aunt who was waiting for you all the day. But hey, I just met her.”

Krystal was speaking in her default tone which was very monotonous and tough sounding.

Irene didn’t like it; you can very much tell so from her face.

And you were just standing there in between of god knows what.

“Are you trying to say something? Because if you are, you can just spill it out you know?” Irene spat. Krystal was about to say something more when you gave her a pleading look. She clicked her tongue and just shrugged.

Before any of them can talk again, you butted in.

“Uh. Why weren’t you at school earlier?” was the first thing that popped in your mind to ask her.

That managed to break the gaze that Irene was giving Krystal and made her turn to you. She smiled and returned to her cheery self.

“Well, me and Suho went to that concert and decided to stay in the city for the night because it ended pretty late. You wouldn’t believe how great it is there Seul. I almost didn’t want to leave.”

She always had this dreamy tone whenever she was talking about her times with Suho.

And you have always found it so annoying for obvious reasons.

“That’s cool” you said. She beamed at you widely.

“Anyways, we’re about to head to Suho’s house because his throwing a party.”

You crinkled your nose.

“A party on a Monday?”

“What can I say Kang? I just roll like that” Suho said. “Besides, we’re seniors now! Let’s make the most of our remaining time in high school!”

Irene looked at her affectionately.

You just looked at him in disbelief.

“If you like you can come with us. You can be my plus one” she said while she was flashing you that smile. Suho shifted a little uncomfortably in his seat. Your answer was clear from the start.

But it seems like you were forgetting something.

Just like that, your mind immediately flew to certain factors that Irene may have overlooked due to her over enthusiasm when she’s with her boyfriend. You remembered her mother who was probably worried sick.

“Aren’t you going home first? I’m sure Auntie’s worried. Wendy even asked me where you went. Good thing-“

“I can do that later Seul. I’ve only been gone for like two days.”

“But I’m sure that they’ll want to know that you’re okay. Have you texted them? They’re probably wondering whether you have eaten or not. Let me just-“

“GEEZ Seulgi! Can you stop being such a worry wart? You sound like a total buzzkill.”

Your ears were ringing from the inside and your head is flooded with thoughts of disbelief. All of a sudden you were feeling angry.

“Well I’m sorry for worrying about you for the past couple of days. But yeah, I guess I’m just your ‘geeky best friend’” you quoted Suho. You felt Irene’s hand fall from her earlier grip on yours. You picked Krystal’s spare helmet from the ground, “I was just really worried and I don’t want you wandering around without telling me.”

“That’s not what I mean-“

“Woah woah woah! Hold on there, what do you mean by that?” Suho quipped in, lowering the sunglasses that he was wearing; it was very unnecessary considering how dark it already was. “Are you indirectly saying that I’ll let something bad happen to her? She’s my girlfriend you know?”

Was he serious?!

You bite your lip.

Blood was rushing to your head. Your heartbeats grew faster and you were gripping the helmet that you’re holding tighter. You wanted to tell him off right there.

You wanted to remind him of the countless times that he broke her heart; the numerous times of treating her as if she was nothing; the countless moments where Ir