Sowon's POV:

My lunch with Hyejin is going well, except for the fact that she's happy -too happy.

She can't possibly be this happy. I think she's trying hard but it isn't right.

"So how are you?" I asked her which she oddly couldn't answer.

It seemed like it sounded foreign to her. "What do you mean? I'm okay." She answered.

"Everyone's concerned about Yong-unnie or Wheein's feelings and I haven't heard anyone ask you about how you feel. So I'm asking you now." I replied. Wheein used to be the first person to look out for her, but since Wheein's occupied at the moment, I put it upon myself to make sure Hyejin's okay.

Her whole demeanor changed. "I'm not doing great, but..." she trailed off, looking for the right words to say to not worry us.

"But you're trying to look like you are." I finished her sentence, looking at her disapprovingly. "For Byul."

"I'm not!" she quickly defended. "I'm doing this for all of us. I'm doing this for me." She explained.

"Ooookay." I replied; obviously not buying her excuse.

"Really. This will pass eventually, I mean its just a crush." She replied the most ridiculous reply I've ever heard.

"It suddenly downgraded into a crush? Hyejin-ah. Come on. Surely, you can do better than that." I commented.

Good luck on convincing herself that.

She sighed. "I'm pretty sure you have a good idea of how I feel, Sowon, and you're probably right. So we don't have to talk about it since it won't change anything." She stated.

"Of course it does!" I replied. She's hurting and I don't understand how she thinks she can deal with this alone.

She cannot pretend her way out of the pain.

"No it doesn't. It would just make things worse. For Byul, for us..." Of course, Byul would come first. I never imagined Hyejin to be this love struck. Oh boy, the things people do for love.

"It changes the way I feel about this whole situation, Hyejin-ah, because you're not okay. And that's not okay." I said sincerely. How can someone be okay at being hurt.

"No, Sowon. Byul-unnie doesn't like me like that. And that's fine, really." How can that be fine? How can she even say that? When someone you like doesn't like you back you can't just say that it's fine, otherwise Yongsun wouldn't be such a mess right now.

"She kissed you." I emphasized every word because every word of that sentence mattered. Byul kissed her, so it must've meant something.

I don't want to get her hopes up, but Byul-unnie wouldn't kiss her if Hyejin is just a friend to her. Byul-unnie kissed her and not the other way around.

"We've talked about it. It didn't mean to her as much as it did to me. And that's-" I interrupted before she could finish.

"I swear, Hyejin, if I hear the word 'okay' from you one more time..." I sighed in frustration. "The kiss, I totally understand where she's coming from, but still...she could've done things differently."

"Sowon, you're making it sound like she's a jerk or something." She commented.

"That's definitely not the case." I know Byul-unnie's far from a jerk, but that doesn't mean that she doesn't make awful mistakes. She really messed up on this one. "I'm sure she meant well, but still she needs to own up to her actions." I explained.

"Isn't that what she's doing? She kept on saying sorry to everyone especially to Yongsun-unnie and Wheein." Hyejin replied, trying to defend Byul, which isn't really necessary because we both know that's not my point.

"But not to you." I answered. "You shouldn't be just pushed aside. She did you wrong too. You should tell her how you feel about this whole situation, Hyejin. So she would know what to do." She keeps on putting other people first, so she ends up settling.

"Sowon, I really appreciate that you're sticking up for me. But I can handle myself." She said nicely, trying to tell me not to stick up my nose in her business at the same time trying not to offend me, but...

"That's probably what Yong-unnie thought so too, but look at her now; she's a mess, if I'm being honest." I said frankly.

."That's the point. She's a mess...because of me. If I didn't catch these feelings for Byul-unnie, none of this would've happened."

I knew it. She's still blaming herself for Byul-uunie and Wheein's breakup, even Yong-unnie's heartbreak. "That's not your fault. It's not right blaming yourself for something you have no control over." I tried to reassure her.

"How about we just finish our food?" Hyejin suggested, not-so-subtly dropping the subject at hand.

And knowing how stubborn Hyejin is, I didn't dare protest.

Later that night Minhyuk rushed on Yongsun's home when he received a text from her.

"Damn it, Minhyuk." It's been half an hour since Minhyuk arrived in Yongsun's home. It's been half an hour and that's the first thing he heard from his friend; but she'd take it instead of Yongsun's continuous crying.

"I felt really desperate. I feel desperate." Yongsun uttered, and Minhyuk completely understood because Yongsun only gets this emotional after she talks to Byul.

He really wanted to say something inspirational but he can't. Instead, he secured Yongsun in his arms.

"Maybe you should stop, Yongsun." It was a half whisper. He was hesitant to say it out loud but he did.

Minhyuk felt Yongsun stiffen. "Do you think I didn't try?" his friend asked.

"Not hard enough; no." Minhyuk answered honestly shaking his head.

Yongsun stepped back.

"I really agree that you shouldn't let anything remain unsaid, but you've already poured your heart out...and you didn't get the appropriate answer that you deserve..." Minhyuk trailed off. "And when that's the case, I don't think you should do it again...not with the same person at least."

It was really a no-brainer for Yongsun. She knows that Minhyuk is right. She has known for a long time, but she couldn't accept it. At least not out loud. "The thing is that she told me that she's in love with me, Minhyuk. I couldn't just ignore that fact."

"You shouldn't have ignored the fact that she had a girlfriend." Maybe it was harsh but Yongsun needed to hear the truth.

Yongsun closed her eyes; trying her best to control herself. Her friend didn't know how many times she wanted to kiss Byul so bad, but she needed to remind herself that the girl she loves is already in a relationship with one of their best friends.

Minhyuk didn't know how nerve-racking it is for her to stop herself from giving in to temptation. "I respected their relationship. How dare you think otherwise?" she couldn't help but feel offended.

But Byul doesn't have a girlfriend now. And Yongsun couldn't ignore that fact either. She couldn't help but think of the many possibilities that maybe this is her chance. Their chance.

"I didn't mean it like that. I just..." Minhyuk sighed, losing track of his thoughts.

"I didn't do anything wrong." She was telling it to herself, more than she was telling it to her friend.

"All I'm saying is that you deserve better." Everyone kept saying that, Yongsun heard it a million times. But what if Yongsun doesn't need anyone better?

But she's not about to argue with Minhyuk about it for the nth time. She doesn't have the energy to do so.

So she tried to think of how she could send her friend away nicely knowing that she's the one who told her to come over. "I'm sorry for bothering you, Minhyuk. But I'm tired."

"Yong, don't be like that." Minhyuk pleaded.

Yongsun just couldn't believe that that was it. 

"I'm tired, Minhyuk. Thank you for being here tonight. I'm sorry, I know I'm the one who texted you, but..."

"I know I'm not of any help..." he started.

"No. You've been really helpful." Yongsun corrected him, because the girl really appreciated her friend's effort. "I'm just really tired."

"