After a sleepless night of turning, tossing, and dreaming either of Sojin’s kisses or having nightmares about her, Sally still couldn’t forget about the damned video.  

She could never imagine Sojin like that. She never showed any signs of being violent with her, she was always so cute, sweet, and even shy. Sally had a hard time believing that was really her. But at the same time, the thought that she could be really like that scared her.  

Her head was too full of questions and uncertainty, and Sally only realized she should have been paying attention to where she was going when she bumped against someone. She looked up and her eyes widened. 

“What the are you doing?!” The girl in the middle hissed. “Look at what you’ve done! You ruined my uniform, you idiot! Don’t you know to watch where you’re going?!” 

The girl’s coffee had spilled into her uniform, and Sally felt her knees tremble. 

“I-I’m sorry, it was an accident.” Sally bowed. “I can help you clean it!” 

“The hell you are! How could you possibly clean a coffee stain, you idiot? What are you gonna do about this now? I can’t go to class like this!” 

Sally opened but no sounds came out. 

“I asked what are you gonna do about this!” The girl took a step forward and grasped Sally’s arm, shaking her enough for her to close her eyes, expecting she would get hit. 

“Enough.” A voice said, and recognizing it, Sally opened her eyes to find a hand grabbing on the girl’s wrist. “Back away.” 

Sally looked up and she had never seen such a serious look on Mimi’s face. 

“Yah, let her go, she’s part of the student council.” One of the other girls whispered. 

“She said she didn’t do it on purpose and she apologized already. Turn back and leave and I won’t report what I saw to the principal.” 

After a glare, the girl did as Mimi said. She clicked her tongue and turned, flipping her hair with the two other girls following her. 

“Go to the student council and wait for me, I’ll get you another shirt.” Mimi said, but the girl just shrugged without looking back. 

Mimi sighed and turned to Sally, smiling at her. 

“Are you okay?” 

“Y-Yes, thank you sunbae.” Sally was able to breathe again. 

“Did she hurt you? Does your arm hurt?” 

“No, I’m fine, really.” 

“I’m glad.” Mimi gave her another smile, resting her hand on her head and caressing her hair. “I’ll have to go ahead, but I would take you to your classroom if I had the time.” 

“It’s okay sunbae, you already helped me a lot.” 

“Alright, have a good day, and see you at lunch?” 

Sally opened  but thought before answering. “Maybe?” 

Mimi chuckled. “It’s okay, just sit with us if you feel like it.” 

She nodded and smiled back, watching Mimi leave first. 

When Sally reached her classroom and her eyes found Sojin, already on her seat and staring down at a new book, as usual, if felt like her heart didn’t know what to feel anymore. Both the kiss and the video came to her mind.  

She put on a smile, even if fake, and sat. 

“Sojin-ah, good morning.”  

“I saw you with Mimi.” Sojin said without taking her eyes from the book, skipping even a greeting. 

Sally frowned at her tone. “Yes, I just met up with her on the way here.” 

“What did she want with you so early in the morning? you to class again?” 

Sally was so taken aback it took her a while to answer. 

“She helped me when some girls were harassing me. Shouldn’t you be more worried about me and my safety than the fact that I was with Mimi?” She said, feeling the tears already threatening to escape. 

Sojin finally looked up with her lips apart. “Harassing you? W-What happened?” 

“It doesn’t matter, does it? It just matters that I was with Mimi. Mimi this, Mimi that. What’s your problem with her that you can’t even stand seeing me with her? Can't I be her friend? Can’t I talk to anyone else beside you?” 

“I... Of course you can, I was just joking-” 

“It isn’t funny anymore, Sojin!” Sally’s voice grew louder, as she stood up. 

“Hey wait, Xiening-” 

“And stop calling me that!” Sally said as she let loose the tears and run outside, still hearing Mina’s voice calling her name. 

The hell with class. There was too much in Sally’s head, and she couldn’t bear to be with Sojin, at least for now.  

She promised herself the video wasn’t going to change the way she saw her, so why was she so affected by it?  

She sat in the empty bleachers where she could be alone and in peace, and ended up laying down, staring at the sky. 

Was it because of Mina and Hyeyeon’s words? Was it really just the video? It was not the first time that Sojin acted jealous towards Mimi. The problem was that it seemed more possessive than jealous. What if her friends were right after all? What if Sojin was someone completely different? What if she was manipulating her to think she was a person she was not, just to hurt her in the future?  

What if Sally was blinded by love? 

She grunted and hid her face in her hands. Taking a deep breath, she allowed the memories from the day before to fill up her mind. Her words seemed so sincere, just like the way she kissed and touched her. 

Sally thought for a second she was going mad. 

With so much on her mind, she didn’t realize how tired she was, and soon, she felt her eyes closing. 

“Sally?” 

Her eyes opened and she looked around, confused. 

“S-Sunbae.” She straightened up and Mimi sat beside her. 

“Shouldn’t you be in class? Is everything okay?” 

She remained silent, her eyes facing down. An arm came to rest on her shoulders, making her meet Mimi’s eyes. 

“You can talk to me.” 

Sally sighed. “I kind of fought with Sojin.” 

Mimi gave her a small smile. “All friends fight sometimes, it’s normal and part of a relationship. Now you guys just need to talk it out. I’m sure everything’s going to be alright for you two. And I bet she doesn’t want to lose a friend like you.” 

“And I don’t want to lose her, but…” 

“But? What happened?” 

“I saw the video. Mina and Hyeyeon sent me.” 

“Oh, t-that...” Mimi looked away.  

“I thought it wouldn’t change anything but… it feels like I can’t face her without remembering those images. I don’t wanna be scared of her. The person in the video is not the Sojin I know.” 

“Hey hey,” Mimi said, pulling her into a hug. “You don’t need to change the way you see a person because of one thing that happened in the past. Instead, focus on your feelings and your heart. What does it say to you?” 

“My feelings… I like her a lot.” 

“Do you like her less after what you saw?” Mimi asked and Sally shook her head. “Then, don’t let it get to you. I bet it hurts her as much to think of it as it hurts you. So why not let it go and think of the Sojin that you do know and like?”  

Sally pulled away. 

“I never asked you but, what do you think about Sojin?”  

Mimi looked down for a few seconds. “She seems like a cheerful person when she’s with you-“  

“Sally!” A shout made both girls turn their heads to find Mina and Hyeyeon running towards them. 

“They must be worried. I’m gonna leave you with them.” Mimi squeezed her hand before walking away. 

“S-Sunbae!” Sally called, making her stop and look back. “Thank you.” 

Mimi gave her a smile and resumed her way.  

From the corner of Sally’s eyes, someone stood afar, watching them. Her heart clenched as she observed Sojin turning her back and walking away.  

“Sally, what happened?” Hyeyeon asked as they stood in front of her, when Sally was about to get up. 

“Are you okay? What did Soyee do?” Mina stepped in. 

Sally looked up and met her friends’ worried faces. 

“I’m fine.” 

“You skipped class!” 

“Yes, I did. I didn’t think it was worth it to go when I was sure I wouldn’t focus, but I’m fine now, really. Now I’m sorry, there’s something I need to do.” Sally finally stood up, walking past them. 

“Where are you going?” Mina asked. 

“I need to talk to Sojin.” 

“W-What? But, we thought you finally realized she-“ 

“Look,” Sally said with a stern voice, turning to them. “I really appreciate your concern, and I know you are doing this because you worry about me and you don’t want me to get hurt, but... my opinion didn’t change, and it won’t. If I indeed get hurt for some reason, that’s on me, and I will remember you guys warned me.”  

Before they could say anything else, Sally went on her way after her. 

There was no sign of Sojin. She had no idea where she went, so she ran. Maybe she went back to the classroom? Without a clue, Sally stepped inside the building and slowed her pace, looking around.  

“Hey, you!” A voice echoed in the hallway, and Sally was sure she had heard it before, so she turned around, just for her legs to freeze. 

“You know you ruined my shirt, right?” The girl from earlier said, eyeing Sally from head to toe, while she strode closer, her back upright and her face rigid. “What are you gonna do about it?” 

Sally gulped and looked around. No Mimi to help her out this time. She’d have to handle this on her own and stand up for herself. She filled her chest with air and shot her a glare. 

“Why would I do something about it?” She said under, crossing her arms. 

The girl’s expression changed and Sally knew she shouldn’t have said that. 

“What did you just say?!” The girl tugged on Sally’s shirt, near her chest. “You ruined it, you’ll pay for it!” 

“Why do I have to pay for something when it was not my fault? You weren’t looking at where you were going either, were you?” Sally spat, feeling her blood boiling. “Now let me go, you’re ruining my shirt too. Now we’re even.” 

At this point, Sally questioned herself if she was being brave or just plain dumb, because she knew it was going to hurt when she saw a hand being raised in the air. She closed her eyes but nothing happened. 

“If you dare touch her, I swear you’ll regret it.”  

Sally widened her eyes at the voice. The girl looked up, her face contorted in fear, and Sally understood why – Sojin was scary. 

“L-Let me go, you’re hurting me!” She cried, trying to release herself from Sojin’s strong grip. 

“Don’t you think you’re hurting her too? Get lost, or I’ll show you what really does hurt.” 

Sojin tightened her grip before letting her go. Only when the girls walked away, Sojin’s features became the ones Sally knew. For those mere seconds, Sojin became the girl of the video - scary, aggressive, in a way that even Sally felt intimidated and small under her tall stature. 

“Cowards. Were those the girls that bothered you in the morning?” 

“P-Please, don’t do anything! Don’t go after them!” Sally blurted. 

Sojin sighed. “Oh, I see. I’ve been thinking about it all day, that it could be the reason why you were so different today. You finally saw it. It’s true, isn’t it?”  

Her weak, low voice tone pierced Sally’s heart like a knife. Sally looked away, unable to answer. She felt so guilty she almost expected Sojin to snap at her, but instead, her warm hands held hers, making her met her eyes again. 

“I knew you would see it sooner or later. Just... can you please give me a chance to explain what really happened and trust me?”  

Sojin’s voice sounded so calm, so sweet, so sincere.  

“Yes, I will.”  

---

A/N: Let's see what really happened c: