Summer month in South Korea…

One of the buildings in Seoul was full of people walking in different directions. Some were in a rush while others were taking their time as they talked to their friends. In the 5th floor of the building, a group of young girls were talking inside a locked classroom. One of them was crying while the others were trying to console her.

“Jisoo, it’s going to be okay. Please stop crying,” Rose said as she put her guitar case down and squatted in front of her friend.

Rose wiped her friend’s tears as she looked up to her other friend.

“Where is Jennie?” Rose asked.

“I already sent her a message. I told her to meet us here,” Lisa said as she looked at her phone. Then she caressed Jisoo’s back. “Jisoo, I don’t like seeing you like this. Don’t be sad. We’re here for you.”

“Lisa’s right. We’re here for you, Jisoo. Please talk to us,” Rose said sadly.

Just then Lisa’s phone buzzed and she checked it.

“Jennie’s here,” Lisa informed them as she walked to the door and opened it.

Jennie entered in a hurry as Lisa locked the door. She looked at her friends and immediately noticed Jisoo crying. She rushed to her side, putting her bag on the floor.

“What’s wrong?” Jennie asked as she looked at Jisoo then she turned to Rose. “What’s going on?”

“Where have you been?” Lisa asked her.

Jennie sighed.

“I talked to Sun-ho over the phone. We had an argument but everything’s cool,” Jennie explained but then she looked at Jisoo. “Enough about me. What’s going on with Jisoo?”

“That’s what we’re trying to find out,” Rose replied. “I was in my last class when Lisa sent me a message and told me that Jisoo locked herself in the ladies room and wouldn’t come out.”

“What?! Why?”Jennie asked as she looked at Lisa.

Lisa shrugged.

“I don’t know. I was emptying my locker when I saw her running towards there ladies room. I came after her but then I heard her sobbing on the other side,” Lisa explained.

Jennie held Jisoo’s hands.

“Jisoo, what’s the problem? We’re your friends. Whatever it is, you can tell us,” Jennie urged.

Jisoo kept sobbing as she looked at her friends.

“Jong Hyeon…he…he broke up with me,” Jisoo cried out.

The girls looked at each other as Jennie hugged her friend.

“Shhh…it will be okay. Stop crying,” Jennie comforted.

Jong Hyeon was Jisoo’s childhood sweetheart. They had been together for so long. It was a shocked to the 3 girls that he broke up with Jisoo because he seemed very in love with her.

Suddenly someone knocked at the door that made the girls turned their heads. Lisa went to open it and talked to someone from outside. After a while, she closed the door and went back to her friends.

“That’s the school janitor. She said she needs to clean up this room,” Lisa said.

Jennie stood and helped Jisoo with her things. Rose took her handkerchief and gave it to Jisoo to wipe her tears away.

“Let’s get out of here. Let’s talk somewhere else,” Jennie suggested as the 4 girls picked up their things and walked out of the room.

Once they got out of YGU, they girls went directly to their favorite after-school diner Blinks. They took their seat at their favorite booth and then ordered their usual. After that, it was awkward silence. Jisoo was still trying to control her tears as the 3 girls waited for her to be okay. Once the food arrived, they started eating but Jisoo seemed disinterested.

Jennie sighed.

“Jisoo, personally, I don’t know how hurt you are…what kind of pain you’re feeling right now but…please don’t shut us out,” Jennie said quietly.

“I’m not shutting you out,” Jisoo replied without looking at them.

“You’re probably not doing that on purpose but you’re making us worry about you. You’re not even eating your favorite food,” Jennie said as she pointed at Jisoo’s plate. “We should be happy today because we’re finally having a few months of vacation after slaving ourselves in getting good grades. But here you are, you’re sad and though it’s not your fault…it’s making us sad, too.”

Jisoo breathed deeply as she dabbed a napkin on her eyes.

“I…I’m sorry.”

“No…don’t apologize to us,” Rose said as she held Jisoo’s hand on the table. “We’re not blaming you because you’re making us worry about you or you’re making us sad. We just don’t like seeing you this way. We’re not use to it.”

“Yeah, you’re always the bright and sunny one among the 4 of us. Your mood is infectious, you know. So since you’re sad now, we’re kind of feeling down as well,” Lisa added.

“That’s true. And we’re here not just to eat but for you to open up,” Jennie said to her. “Whatever it is that’s hurting you, you can share that pain with us. Who knows it might help in some way…you know what they say about sharing your burden with your friends…”

Jisoo looked down at her plate. Then sighed slowly.

“I…I really don’t know what happened. It…it came like a thief in the night. We were okay 2 days ago. We were happy. He said he’ll be enlisting soon…and we even made some plans on what we should do when that time comes. So today…I don’t know…” Jisoo said sadly. “I…was taken aback when he told me.”

“What did he tell you?” Jennie asked.

“He said…he wanted out. He wanted to break up,” Jisoo said as s tear fell down. “I got confused as to why he wanted to break-up. I mean…we were okay. I…I would have understand if…if we’re having problems.

“Did he say the reason?” Rose asked.

“That’s the thing that hurts the most,”Jisoo said tearfully. “He just said he wanted out. That he realized it’s not working out for him. I don’t get it! I don’t! 10 years since I’ve known him, 5 years of dating and that’s all he’s going to tell me…that it’s not working out for him?! It hurts.”

Rose hugged her from the side as Jisoo put her head on her shoulder. Jennie caressed Jisoo’s back as Lisa looked sad for their friend.

“Was he at YGU?” Lisa asked quietly.

“Yes…he sent me a message that he was outside so I went down to meet him. I didn’t know that’s the news I would be receiving. If I knew, I wouldn’t have gone out…maybe that would have changed his mind,” Jisoo said sadly.

“No, it won’t,” Jennie said as she looked Jisoo. “I don’t want you think that way. He’s not going to change his mind if you did something different like delaying to meet him or something. He came in YGU dead-set with his plan of breaking up with you. I hate him for that. I hate him that he hurt you without giving you the reason as to why he’s breaking up with you.”

“Did he cheat?” Rose asked gently.

“No! I don’t think so,” Jisoo said in indignation. “You know that we’re always together. How could he cheat on me? We were happy. If he’s cheating then I would have known. And…he’s not that kind of guy. He’s straight-edged. You all know that.”

“True. He’s the do-gooder type. He’ll do anything that’s good and right,” Lisa said.

Jennie sighed.

“Let’s stop talking about him,” Jennie said as she looked at Jisoo. “I hate him because he hurt you. I used to like him for you but now I hate him.”

“Ditto,” Rose interjected.

“Same,” Lisa added.

“It’s okay to cry for him. You love him. We wouldn’t stop you from feeling the pain. We can tolerate it because we love you,” Jennie said to her friend. “But for now, let’s eat and then we’ll bring you home so you can rest and do some thinking. Cry it out, listen to sad music, call us if you need us…but we want you to bounce back from this.”

The other 2 girls nodded their agreement.

“I agree with Jennie. Call us if you need us whenever you feel like you need someone, no matter how late it is,” Rose told her.

“And that’s because we want the old Jisoo back just in time for our