𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖌𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖘𝖙 𝖑𝖔𝖛𝖊 𝖘𝖔𝖓𝖌 𝖔𝖋 𝖆𝖑𝖑 𝖙𝖎𝖒𝖊
𝕿𝖍𝖗𝖊𝖊

Byulyi comes back to the pub the week end after she discovered Hyejin's lie. To be honest, she doesn't know what to expect when she walks through the door.

Hyejin hates her now? What happened after she left?

The pub is still empty, probably It’s just opened; she never came this early but…

«Byulyi-unnie?»,Wheein calls her from behind the bar, surprised «What are you doing here this early?»
«I don’t work today, so I stopped by» she replies and sits down at the bench, smiling.
«Hyejin is not here yet, just me» the girl casually adds and takes a beer from the fridge, «For you, this is on the house»
«Thank you»
«So, how was your business trip?»
«It was a lie», Byulyi slowly takes a sip of beer «I just wanted to figure stuff out before I see her again»
Wheein nods, but doesn't say anything.
«Wheein--»
«Stop», Wheein’s eyes are sharp, if possible they are a little darker than usual «just stop. Everything is ok»
«How can it be ok?» Byulyi asks, raising her voice without thinking. It’s not like she doesn’t trust Wheein, but the girl is just too sweet to take control over Hyejin's bad choices.
«It’s all fixed now, so you don’t have to worry about it anymore», Wheein says, her lips compressed together so that her mouth looked like a tight, well-defined line «It’s alright»

It's not.

«How?»
«I can’t tell you that», Wheein’s face is inscrutable and Byulyi knows instinctively that something is just not right, «not yet»
«You’re absolutely sure that she will never take that again?» she decides to ask, and Wheein nods without hesitation. At last, the gesture reassures Byulyi a little; she keeps drinking down to the last drop, deep in her thought, without another word.
In the end, Wheein knows Hyejin better than her. She should trust Wheein's resolution. 

«She doesn’t know about you», says Wheein, after a while of awkward silence, «She thinks I find out her lie, not you. I thought...»
«It’s ok», Byulyi interrupts her, smiling gently, «all that matters is that Hyejin stopped her self-destructive behavior»
«Yes, you’re right. Just…don't say a word to anyone, please»
«Of course not», besides Yongsun, for obvious reasons.
«I’m really grateful to you Unnie», Wheein sighs, she looks tired, «I probably wouldn't have noticed until...»

It would be too late.

«Shhh, it’s ok. Nothing happened», Byulyi whispers with a sweet voice, grabbing her trembling hands, «It’s alright»
«I was so stupid. I…»
«You couldn’t know. You trusted her, Wheein. That’s what people do»
«But she lied to me! I let her hurt her health undisturbed and…»

Byulyi doesn’t say anything anymore, she just keeps holding tightly her hands. Wheein, now, really needs to let it out; her words crash on the floor, in the silence of the pub.

Byulyi can remember very well that feeling of helplessness, of weakness, that felt when Yongsun rested in her hospital bed, pale and weak; she still can’t forgive herself completely for not noticing anything.
Probably Wheein is blaming herself in that same unnecessary way.

«I cannot thank you enough, Unnie», the younger girl breaks apart from her and opens another bottle of beer, «But it’s on me tonight, order all you can drink. And I know how much you can drink»
«You must love her very much then» Byulyi laughs, accepting the drink.
«And you? You love her as much as I do?», Wheein retorts with a serious tone.
The mood changed so fast that Byulyi still wears a smile on her lips when Wheein looks away from her with rage.

«I’m sorry, I probably saw you as an enemy from the beginning Unnie. Hyejin kept talking about you and your talent with music and lyrics, and I was really envious. I consoled myself with the thought that I know her better than you and stuff like that but…you actually saved her from herself. And I really hated you for this. I...I should have noticed her behavior, not you. I hated you, and I’m really sorry about it, but», Wheein’s voice is strong, fierce, but she has watery eyes, « but don’t pity me, please»

Byulyi is amazed for a second, but immediately realizes that she accidentally touched a nerve, the worst nerve ever.
Now, now she can see it clearly, for the first time, the spectrum of unrequited love.
Oh. Oh .

«I don’t pity you, Wheein. I have no reason to» she says, carefully; seriously, parallelism with the past are starting to become too much, «actually I know very well what are you feeling»

Wheein is staring her right in the face, curious but careful, and Byulyi continues, a twinge of old pain spasming in her chest, «my best friend never loved me back, she rejected me»

It’s ironic thinking about this right now.
Yongsun was her first love, with her little dimples and her childish temperament, despite being the older one; Byulyi dreamed of what it would be like to kiss her every night, in the silence of the night, until one day she finally did it, unable to hold back anymore.
She'd be lying if she says she remembers the taste of Yongsun’s lips or bulls like that, but surely she will never forget the happiness and the sadness of that day.

Happiness, because she had tasted the forbidden fruit of her dreams.
Sadness, because Yongsun had run away from her, in tears.

What happened after…well, that was painful, Yongsun couldn't even look at Byulyi while rejecting her with unforgiving words.
 

“I want us to stay friends, I don't like you like that”
“Yes, I know”
 

«You managed to stay friend with her?», Wheein interrupts her line of thought with her shy question, «Even after the rejection?»
«At the beginning, it was very awkward, but you know what they say “time heals all wounds”, no? I loved her, I didn’t want to lose her. And I didn’t. She is going to marry a good guy, and I’m happy for her. But it took some time to get over her, not gonna lie»
«I don’t think I can do it»
«Did you confess to her? Hyejin might surprise you» she tries, but Wheein snorts and shakes her head.
«She already knows, Unnie. Hyejin is no dummy.