Since that day, no threat was received, so they lived on like nothing happens and eventually forgets it ever happened. Until a month after that, Hana finds out something she will never imagine to.

She’s in the toilet cubicle when she overhears people talking.

“Yah, I have a story to tell. Remember Hana who was accused of stealing exam copies? I find out the culprit.”

“What, how?”

“I’m going to the teacher’s room to copy students list names when I opened the wrong folder and accidentally discover a CCTV recording. The person who placed it in Hana’s locker was Gina.”

“Are you sure? They are friends, right?”

Hana gasps at their words and closes with her palms in shock. Am I having illusions? Did I heard that right? But why?

“Yah, I can’t believe it too. But I’m not lying. I swear on my parent names.”

Just then a loud bang is heard, supposedly a person comes out from the cubicle.

“G-Gina ya…” the girl’s voice trembles in fear.

“Aish! How annoying. You’re too loud.”

Silence fills the room and Hana’s heart is beating fast.

“Did you talk about me just now?”

“But it is true. You framed Hana.”

“Let’s say it’s true. Can you prove it?”

“We’ll tell Hana.”

“Go ahead and see what happens. If I can do that much on her, I can do worse on you.”

Footsteps are leaving the ladies and Hana’s legs give away. She plopped on the toilet seat helplessly.

She feels like the world are crumbling over her. Maybe it is better if it did, so that she will disappear without any trace. The truth was like a big slap across her face. Her conversations with Gina keep playing like a broken cassette.

“Yes, I heard it from Sehun. I’m so glad to hear that. I’m feeling bad being accused of something I did not do. Why do you think the person did this to me?”

“I’m not sure. What I’m sure of is that the person dislikes you.”

“But why?”

“I don’t know, maybe they have something against you.”

“I don’t think I have done anything bad to others.”

“It doesn’t have to be bad. Sometimes, being nice and naïve is annoying too.”

Unknowingly, her eyes become blur with tears. Her poor brain still cannot fathom what she heard, and she feels a churn in her stomach. She feels sick immediately, and the urge to throw up forces her to stay plopped on the floor.

What is this? Where am I? Is this a dream? Please, someone wakes me up.

She blinks away the tears and forces herself to get on her feet.

Do something. Don’t just sit here and cry, Kim Hana.

She manages to somehow stand up by relying on the wall, and goes out from the cubicle. She stops at the sink and opens the water tap. She splashes the running water on her face, erasing the traces of tears away. She closes the tap and stares into her reflection, her face is scarlet, and her eyes are swollen. She inhales for a moment to get herself together and went out of the toilet. As she goes out, someone grabs her arm and she turned around to find Gina who’s standing at the entrance.

“You heard everything, don’t you?”, she asks with an expressionless face. Hana stares at the person whom used to comfort her in every hardship, she looks different today.

“Why?”, is the only question that escapes Hana’s lips after a short silence.

“Because you’re annoying.”, Gina answers and she pulls away her hands from Hana, taking a step backwards away.

Hana feels pain in , as if her neck is wrapped with thorns. She finds it hard to speak, so she stares at Gina wordlessly.

“Ever since you got closer to Sehun, you forgot about me. You used to lean a lot on me, sharing your problems but it changed soon after. You were into him that much that you abandoned me. You weren’t there when I need you. You knew my family have financial problems, yet you don’t bat an eye. I did that, so you can feel how painful it is to have people turning their back on you. I sent the bleeding mouse to show how much I was hurt inside.”

So, it is my fault. I made her like this.

“So why did you stop halfway? Why did you clear my name?”, Hana asks, her voice trembling from those mixed feelings inside.

Gina averts her gaze at Hana’s question.

“Answer me, Gina. You knew how much I love you. You’re my dearest friend. I don’t share anything lately because I knew there’s a lot going on in your mind. I don’t want to add it up.”

“That are just excuses. Did you think I don’t know that you give money to my mother occasionally from your part time job? Do I look that pitiful? I bet you’re feeling contented having to stand above me.”

Tears start to form in Hana’s eyes. She doesn’t know things will turn like this. Maybe she’s being selfish, unable to consider Gina’s feelings. Sehun was right, Gina hate these.

“I’m sorry, Gina-yah. I’m at fault, this is my fault.”

“Don’t say that, it makes me annoyed. Your sorry cannot change the fact that this happens. You don’t know how much I suffer. You weren’t there when I need you. You are one selfish human, thinking only about yourself. Do you know how it kills me every time you came running, smiling brightly talking about Sehun? Real friend shares everything, and should understand each other. But you never did that. I wish I don’t have to see your face again, it irritates me so much.”, Gina states as her eyes slowly form a pool of clear liquid.

Why do you cry then, Gina-yah. If you really hate me that much, you won’t look at me in tears. You don’t mean that.

Hana stands helplessly as she watches Gina turns her back and walks away.

..

That night, Hana asks Sehun to meet her at a convenience store. She can’t think of anyone other than him at the moment. Sehun arrived a bit later than Hana because he had some works to settle at home. When he arrived, Hana is sitting by the window, staring blankly on the table. Sehun figured out something must have happened to her. He went inside to her and she didn’t even realize he’s sitting in front of her until he snapped his finger to wake her up.

“What do you want to eat? I’ll get it for you.” Sehun tries to converse with her.

“Ermm. A cup ramen? And…anything sweet will be nice for snacks.”, she answers in a bright manner, or so she thought.

Sehun goes to pick two cup of ramen and some snacks for both of them. He even prepares the ramen before serving it to her.

They eat cup ramen and some snacks wordlessly. Sehun wants to give her space to arrange her thoughts, and Hana is contemplating whether she should tell him about what happened

In the end, Hana reluctantly told him about Gina, everything that happens. Sehun found it as unexpected because Gina had always been a nice friend. She looks like she really cares about Hana and he wonders how this could happen.

“This is all my fault, Sehun. I’m selfish and fails to recognize her pain. I heard from some students that she had been diagnosed with depression. And I don’t even know that, how can I declare myself as a good friend? How much she was hurting alone, I can’t imagine that. How hard it was for her to pretend that everything is fine in front of me. She’s crumbling, and I add up to that unknowingly.”

Sehun doesn’t sure how to respond to that, so he just gazes on her silently. He wants her to share everything in her mind so that she will feel better. He thinks that she just needs him to listen, not to comment on anything, so he tries his best to listen it all.

“..The look in her eyes when she said she hates me, it wasn’t hatred. It was a call for help. She’s hurt and in a lot of pain. So, she’s struggling and clawing like a hurt kitten hoping that someone will notice her pain. It’s a cry for help, she’s begging for someone to save her from the misery. I knew that so much, because I did that too, in the past..”

She inhales and exhales slowly before she continues.

“..I bet you don’t know this. But my father abandoned me and my mom. I’m a growing teenager that time and cannot understand what’s going on. So, I rebelled and acted up. I want someone to see my pain. I want someone to take the blame, so I hated on my mom for not holding on to my father. And one day, I found my mom dead in her room, she hung herself. I almost went crazy that time, I regret on what I had done to her. I wish I could hug her and comfort her, telling that everything will be okay. I should’ve done that when father left us. I shouldn’t leave her alone. I promised I won’t do that anymore and decides to live happily, appreciating people around me. But I hurt Gina.”

Hana looks away to the side, away from Sehun as a drop of tears rolls down her cheek. She wipes away the tear immediately and clears .

Sehun sympathized with her, he doesn’t know she went through such misfortunes. He regrets being harsh on her before this and hurt her feelings.

“A hurt person will always hurt others, right?” Hana asks as she stares in his eyes with wet eyes.

His heart breaks at the sight of her. Hana is a bright girl, and seeing her in this state feels really new to him. Sehun nods anyways at her in agreement and he reaches out to her hands, caressing the back of her hands.

“We do, unintentionally. I’ve been there, too. Everyone has their own pain to deal, and you shouldn’t blame yourself too much. You did understand her, though. Let’s hope things will get better. I will be on your side, so rest assured.”

“Even though I’m at the wrong side?”

Sehun nods slowly.

“Always, Hana. Always.” He adds.

In normal situations, his last statement will make heart flutters in joy. But not today, she feels numb and she doesn’t respond to him. Instead, she stares outside where the dark sky lies. It represents her mind right now, blank and dark.

Sehun gazes on her, giving spaces for her to take everything slowly.

You will get through this. Everyone went through heartbreak at times, that’s how we grow into a better person. And I’ll just be by your side, giving all the support you need.

..

A week passed and things don’t get better. Gina changes her seat in the class, and she sat in the front row away from Hana. Their classmates are puzzled by this, since everyone knew they both are a close friend but nobody dares to ask. Gina didn’t even glance at her once, and she made sure to converse with others by excluding Hana from her vision field.

Gina went on giggling, talking to others as if nothing happens between them the other day. As if their friendship never existed at all, and Hana herself has turned into a thin air for Gina. Hana tried to talk, to fix things but it failed every time. Gina avoided her at all cost and she never stayed alone.

Hana felt frustrated by the situations, upset that she has no control over it. She misses Gina, and she wants them to be like before.

Little that Hana knows, Gina is trying her best to not crumble away. She carries so much guilt in her that it actually eats her alive. She craves for some attention and love, she wanted Hana to understand her a bit.

Seeing Hana with Sehun made her felt jealous and unwanted. She hated how Hana goes running to him at his beck and call. Of course, she is happy for Hana, she truly does ship both of them together. But the pressure of her family problems and inner conflicts triggered her to do that. For once, she wanted Hana to feel the exact pain she did feel. She even stalked Hana, following her around to scare her out. However, she cannot continue doing all of that, she feels terrible about herself.

She’s disgusted by what she’s doing, so she went to the teachers confessing what she did. Gina has a good reputation at school, therefore the teachers decided to keep that a secret. They just have her to write a reflection letter as a punishment.

She’s thinking of how to tell the truth to Hana when the two girls exposed her. She was about to leave then when she heard a soft cry, she knew that was Hana’s voice.

Her heart sunk at the thought that Hana knew about it the hard way. She confronted Hana in expectation that Hana will go angry, upset or curse at her but she didn’t.

Hana’s eyes reflected disappointment, and that kills Gina inside. She hated how Hana is such a naïve and forgiving person. She hated how pure and thoughtless Hana is.

Gina’s heart aches seeing how Hana tried hard to fix things, to reach out to her.

Gina is ashamed of herself, and she can’t forgive her deed to Hana.

The burdens keep haunting and suffocating her as time passes and Gina’s having a hard time to keep herself sane. She wanted all of this to end. She wanted to put an end to these feelings.

Hana will surely hate her for this, but she cannot do this anymore.

I’m sorry Hana. I’m sorry.