Since the night of the party, nobody has seen Hana around – not even Hana's favourite cousin, Heejin. The Roses has tried multiple times to visit her at Kang Manor but they merely received an apology from Miss Yong, the head of the maids.

Another morning breaks as The Roses attempt to visit Hana once again. They are disappointed however when Miss Yong informs them that Hana wishes to be alone and she didn’t want anyone visiting her – not even Heejin.

"Miss Yong, do you mind giving Hana a message for me?" Lip requests.

Miss Yong smiles, nodding her head as Lip recites the words that has been on her mind for days.

"Please tell her that I'm sorry and that I never meant to hurt her."

 Miss Yong nods her head empathetically and says, “Of course, Miss Kim. I'll be sure to let Miss Hana know."  

Lip shoots the older lady a small smile before walking down the steps, swiftly sliding into the car. The other members reluctantly walks away, hopping into the car after Lip.

"Please let me know if Hana leaves her room, Miss Yong," Heejin says.

The head maid bows as Heejin turns and takes slow strides towards the car. She stops, turning to look upwards to the second floor, lucky to catch a glimpse of the subtle flutter of the curtain – pressing her lips together as she wills herself to walk away. When Hana was ready, she’ll come to them voluntarily but until then, they’ll just have to wait patiently like they always have.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the other hand, Yves continues attending school without missing a day though her attention was never truly in the same place – her mind filled with thoughts of warm sunny days under the big tree with her arms wrapped around the girl she loves but those thoughts only made her heart ache from sadness. Hence, she tries her hardest not to think. Most would say she resembled a zombie – slow, draggy feet, dark eyebags, red rimmed eyes and dishevelled appearances – she was nothing short of a hot mess.

As Yves makes her way into the halls of Eden, she pays little to no attention to her surroundings until she bumps into someone. Looking up to apologize, she is surprised when she sees Jinsoul – the black-haired beauty stares at her sympathetically, offering a small yet comforting smile. As much as she would like to, Yves couldn’t find in her to return the smile. 

“Hey, Eevee!” Jinsoul greets with her usual cheery tone. “Get it? Because your name is similar to the pokemon? That brown, small squirrel looking one?”

Yves merely nods to let Jinsoul know that she got the reference. Jinsoul sighs. She had hoped the joke would help cheer Yves up when she made it in her head – clearly it didn’t but who could blame Yves? Especially after that night – not even Lip would smile, only appearing distant and sad. She didn't react to Jinsoul's jokes like she used to – only showing her a small smile but it never truly reached her eyes. 

“Come on, Yves,” Jinsoul whispers, holding Yves’s wrist and gently leading her away from the direction of their classrooms as Yves follows without resisting. 

Jinsoul brings Yves into the student council room, shooting her a small comforting smile. They come face to face with the other members who welcomed Yves with open arms, ready to give her as much love as she needed. It didn’t take long for Yves to cry once more as she buries herself in their embrace. Once her cries reduce to hiccups and teardrops, they step away from her as Jiwoo wraps an arm around her waist and brings her to the sofa to rest. Each of them take their seats as Haseul sits opposite Yves. Jinsoul and Jiwoo on either side of Yves while the others spread around the empty seats.

“Are you feeling better?” Haseul asks with a motherly tone, her eyes oozing with concern. 

Yves nods wordlessly as Jiwoo’s arms tighten around her waist, to show that she was there for Yves.

“I can only imagine how upset you must be after that night. You have to know that we care for you, Yves and this question may be hard for you to answer but what happened after the two of you left?”

Yves begins to shake as thoughts from that night resurfaces – Hana’s cold expression and harsh words floods back to her mind like a tsunami, bringing along all her raw emotions from that night. Jinsoul and Haseul exchanged concerned looks – worried that they might have caused more harm than good to Yves by bringing up that night. 

“It’s okay, Yves. You don’t have to answer it. Haseul was just concerned – we all are,” Jinsoul whispers beside her.

“…It’s fine,” Yves croaks out hoarsely. Too much crying and the lack of words spoken has caused her voice to go rough.

“We fought when I tried asking about what happened—” Yves pauses, swallowing the lump in , “—she said I didn’t need to know and that we weren’t close enough for her to have to explain anything to me.”

Reciting Hana’s words that was forever etched inside her mind reduces Yves to tears once again. Hearing Yves’s words incites anger in the council members. Jiwoo pulls Yves closer to her as Yves rests her head on Jiwoo’s chest – whispering comforting words to Yves was the only thing Jiwoo could think of at the moment.

In a fit of anger, Jinsoul hops off the sofa, taking long strides out of the room, ignoring the calls of the others. Haseul couldn't help the sigh that left . She has an inkling of what was running through Jinsoul’s mind and usually, she would not support it but right now with a heartbroken, crying Yves sitting in front of her, she doesn’t really give a . The girl could wreak havoc and Haseul would have her back no matter what she did. 

Afterall, what were friends for?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As usual, Hana spends her morning moping around in her bed, too exhausted to move from her spot. She receives information from the head maid, Miss Yong that her friends has once again come in hopes of seeing her. Hana has Miss Yong turn them away with the same excuse. Despite having Miss Yong deliver her wishes, she can’t help but miss her friends. It was lonely without them around her – no foolish banters, no weird jokes, no teasing – no warmth. 

But, she knew she still needed some time to herself to think and clear her mind from the heavy and negative thoughts. From where she sits, she could hear chatters – voices belonging to her friends and Heejin. She slides off her bed, approaching the window as she sees the familiar car. She catches Heejin stopping midway and turning so she quickly moves away from the window to hide herself but knowing Heejin, the girl probably already caught her. When she hears the sound of the car's engine gradually thinning, she takes hesitant steps towards the window – watching as the car disappears into the thick hedges. 

She hears a knock on the door as Miss Yong steps into the room. 

"Your friends and Miss Heejin has left the property. Miss Kim has left you a message, Miss. Would you like to hear it?" Miss Yong asks.

Upon the mention of Lip, Hana's ears perk up as she answers, "Yes." 

"She says that she's sorry and that she never meant to hurt you," Miss Yong recites word for word. 

Hana 's guilt grows even deeper. Her heart aches at the thought of her best friend. It was her fault –  it wasn't Lip's, it wasn't Yves's either and yet she still made it seem like it was theirs. There was something Lip didn’t know – it was that Hana had already forgiven her – Hana was far too sensitive and it caused her to hurt multiple people that night. She regrets her unwarranted anger – she regrets everything that happened that night the moment she wakes the next morning but she was too much of a coward to say it so instead, she hides.

Kang Hana, how do you always find ways to hurt people you love?

Hana  thanks Miss Yong and tells her to go on to do her own things. The older woman bows and retreats out of Hana's room leaving her be. She stares out her window at the statue built at the center of the water fountain – the angel staring back at her with a smile that reminds Hana a little too much of Yves. Yves possesses a stunning smile that could brighten the whole room within seconds – a true angel that shines in Hana's eyes. She smiles for a second, trying to grasp at memories of Yves in her head but her smile drops when she remembers that she's the cause of Yves's smile disappearing. 

Even then, Hana still wonders how the girl is doing.

Was she eating right?

Was she walking carefully and not tripping on a random stranger?

Was she happier without Hana beside her?

Hana loses the idea of time – lost in depreciative thoughts. She breaks out of her thoughts, feeling the stuffiness of her room choking her as she decides to take a walk instead. She turns on her heels, making a swift exit out of her room. As she’s descending the stairs, she hears a loud commotion – voices arguing and yells of her name echoes throughout the confines of her home. 

“Please, Miss! Our young miss has said that she’s not receiving visitors. Please come back another day!”

“Who cares! Get that piece of down here this instant! She doesn’t deserve to hide after the storms she’s created!”

Hana frowns, recognizing Miss Yong's voice and the other – that voice sounds a lot like Jung Jinsoul.

“KANG HANA!! WAS IT NOT ENOUGH TO HURT JUNGEUN! NOW, YOU HURT YVES AS WELL! THE GIRL BAWLS EVERYTIME YOUR NAME COMES UP! GET DOWN HERE, YOU LITTLE PIECE OF !! STOP HIDING!!"

Hana clenches her fists, holding her breath as she exhales shakily. 

She's crying.... because of me. I hurt her so badly that even my name makes her cry. 

Hana bites her lips, holding in her scream.

 You're useless, Kang Hana. You don't deserve to say you love her. 

 She continues her descent down the steps as Jinsoul finally spots Hana in crestfallen state – her eyes darkening, pushing past the head maid and growling. Jinsoul throws her right hook out, landing it on Hana’s eye sending Hana to the floor with a heavy crash. Jinsoul cries out in pain, holding her fist as she glares at Hana and screams out an insult. 

“Bastard!”

“Young Miss!” Miss Yong exclaims in shock. 

Hana stops Miss Yong from coming closer. She doesn’t plan to fight back neither does she react. She deserved every inch of that for hurting Lip – for hurting Yves. Jinsoul forgets the throbbing pain in her hand as she marches over to Hana,  a handful of Hana's shirt, pulling Hana up like a ragdoll and landing another right hook to Hana’s face. Hana could taste the metal in as she allows Jinsoul to do as she pleased.

As if it would make things better.

Jinsoul punches Hana on the other cheek and was about to do it again when she was pulled off Hana by the security guards, dropping her hold on Hana who falls back to the floor with a thud. 

Jinsoul struggles against the grip of the buff men, kicking her feet out and attempts to shrug them off her.

"RELEASE ME! I'M NOT DONE!" Jinsoul screams, jerking her arms forward as she tries to loosen the bodyguards' hold on her. 

The head maid kneels beside Hana, holding Hana up carefully to avoid hurting Hana. Though, Hana refuses her help and stands on her own, ignoring the pain spreading all over her face and the ache in her right eye. 

“Enough. Let her go,” Hana commands as the security guards lay off Jinsoul.

“Do me a favour, Jinsoul.”

Jinsoul looks at Hana with a ridiculed expression. “Why the hell would I do that?”

Hana shoots her a sad look before saying, “Please let Lip know that I don’t blame her and that she’s forgiven – that I’m sorry.”

Hana’s eyes shine with tears. “As for Yves, please tell her that I take back everything I said. That she means everything to me and I’m sorry for hurting her over and over again.”

Jinsoul scoffs, adjusting her crooked blazer. “Do that yourself, Kang Bastard. If you mean it, that is.” She then turns on her heels, glaring daggers at the guards before showing herself out.

Hana silently thanks Jinsoul even if she did beat the out of her – she needed that wakeup call. 

“Young Miss, you’re bleeding and your cheeks are bruising. I’ll have someone call the doctor,” the head maid says with urgency.

Hana doesn’t get to say anything as the older woman takes off in the other direction. Shaking her head, Hana spins around and heads to the kitchen – opening the freezer and pulling out a pack of frozen meat, pressing it to her cheeks – wincing at the pain. She closes the freezer, walking back into the hallway. She takes a detour to the bathroom, surprised by the heavy bruising on her right face – her right eye was half closed and her left cheek had a smaller but still noticeable bruise. Her lower lip was busted, the side of bleeding as she takes in her current pathetic state.

Jung Jinsoul was truly a fearful force.

“YOUNG MISS! Doctor Seo is here!!” Hana could hear Miss Yong shouting at the top of her lungs.

Hana forgets about the pack of meat that she leaves on the bathroom sink, walking out the kitchen and greets the family doctor, Seo Woojin with a pained smile who stares at her with slight shock. Hana escorts him to the living room as he has her take a seat on the armchair. Opening the wooden case, he pulls out a pair of medical gloves and slides them on. He reaches into the case and brings out a small flashlight and checks her eye's response. Hana winces when he lightly touches her eye with his thumb.

"Aside from your face, are you hurt anywhere else?" Doctor Seo asks.

 Hana shakes her head, replying with a quick, "No."

He turns off the flashlight, taking a seat beside her. 

"Well, as far as I can tell, your eye vessel burst and there is slight bleeding. Your eye is also swelling so you might want to ice it. Whoever punched you must have been quite strong," Doctor Seo comments. 

Hana smiles but doesn't reply. 

"I'll put an eyepatch to cover your eye for now to make sure no infection will happen. You are to put the eyedrop twice a day. I'll have someone drop that along with some ointment and prescribed medication for your bruises and to reduce the swelling. Aside from that, I don't see any more problems. You should heal in a week or so," Doctor Seo adds.

"Thank you, Doctor Seo."  

The doctor merely nods as he carefully treats her eye, strapping the eyepatch on lastly. After he's done, he discards the gloves into the waste basket and shuts his case – locking it. 

"I'll be going now. Remember not to get your eyepatch wet. If it does, tell Miss Yong to give my assistant a call. He'll have someone come replace it," Doctor Seo says to which Hana nods. 

Hana has Miss Yong the good doctor out as she falls back against the soft cushion. She sighs deeply. What was she to do now? Miss Yong returns, fussing over her wound as she rushes to bring an ice filled cloth and presses it to Hana's face causing her to wince in pain. Miss Yong tells her to stop squirming and lie down so she could put ice on both cheeks. Hana could only take liquid food for lunch because her jaw hurt too much. As time ticks, Hana makes up her mind to go visit Lip. She'll start making amends one at a time, starting with the first person she hurt. 

She hops off the couch, telling Miss Yong that she wouldn't be home for dinner and to have the driver wait for her out front. 

"Where are you going, Miss? Your wounds have yet to heal. I don't think you should be moving around," Miss Yong says worriedly. 

Hana pauses halfway up the stairs, turning to look at Miss Yong. 

"I'm going to apologize. Plus, my wounds aren't that massive," Hana replies before continuing her path up to her room.

Hana goes to change into something decent, grabbing her wallet and phone off the table. She quickly walks out of her room, speeding down the steps and bidding Miss Yong goodbye. She sees her driver already on standby beside the open rear door as she slides in elegantly. He shuts the door and circles the car, jumping into the driver's seat. 

"I need to stop by a few places so, let's hurry," Hana commands. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After making a few stops, Hana finally arrives in front of her ultimate destination – Lip’s house. She tells her driver that she'll let him know when she's done before sliding out of the car with her hands full. She walks up the steps to the front door, knocking on it. Lip opens the door, gasping sharply when she catches sight of Hana’s bruised face.

“Hana, what happened?” Lip questions with worry laced in her tone. 

Hana tries her hardest to smile despite the pain, asking meekly, "Can I come in?"

Lip steps aside and ushers Hana in as they take a seat in Lip's living room. Hana unloads the things onto the coffee table, shocking Lip as she stares at them with eyes wide open. 

"I brought all your favourites. Your diabetes inducing boba drink from gongcha, pizza, macaroons and cake from the bakery you like. I got a slice of all your favourite flavours," Hana says, gesturing at the things on the table. 

"Are you not going to tell me what happened to your face? Your eye?" 

Hana lets out a heavy sigh. 

"Before that, I wanted to apologize, Jungeun," Hana says sincerely. "I shouldn't have yelled at you – you were drunk and I should have been more understanding. I know you didn't mean to and I should have controlled myself. I hurt you," Yves, the name left unspoken, “—and everyone by acting out. I’m really sorry Jungie." 

Lip shakes her head, reaching out to hold Hana's hands. 

"It's my fault too. I shouldn’t have drank so much that night. If I didn’t, I would have been able to control myself but I didn’t and I know how much that topic hurts you but I still said it anyway. Please forgive me." 

Hana squeezes Lip's hands and shoots her a sweet smile.   

"I forgave you already, Jungeun I hope you'll forgive me as well for hurting you."

"I do. I could never hate you, Hana. Now, please tell me what happened," Lip pushes on, wanting to know why Hana showed up with bruises.

"Your girlfriend happened. She came and delivered a few wakeup calls which I'm kinda grateful for," Hana says.

Lip frowns as she asks, "My who? Girlfriend? I don't have a girl—" 

Her eyes widening in realization, “JINSOUL?!? JUNG JINSOUL DID THAT TO YOU?!? Sweet, grinning, cute, nerdy Jinsoul did this to you? But how…”

Hana decides to ignore the numerous obvious terms of endearment that her best friend has for Jinsoul and merely laughs it off.

“I know I didn’t think she had it in her but her strength was no joke. Her punches were super solid and probably filled with anger. She’s really strong. Even the doctor said it while treating me." 

 "How can you still laugh even in that state?" 

 Hana looks down in guilt as she mumbles, "Because she knows she was the one at fault. I am the root cause of everyones suffering – all because of my foolish actions and childish attitude – I hurt everyone I love."

"Hey, don't think about that, okay? You didn't mean to lash out," Lip comforts Hana. 

Hana nods, curving her lips into a small smile.

"I’ll start making amends. I'll apologize to everyone I hurt and I'll try not to hurt anyone anymore," Hana promises. 

Lip nods as they share a tight hug. They break apart as Lip wipes off a stray tear. 

"Come on, crybaby. Let's eat before everything cools," Hana teases as Lip slaps her arm. 

As Lip sips on her diabetes inducing drink, Hana couldn't help smiling. They were going to be just fine. Now that she had made it right with Lip, there was one more person that she needed to apologize to. She just hopes it's not too late and Yves would accept her.