punched
HARBOREDthere was a loud knock on your door.
"seulgi!"
you stirred, not wanting to get up.
another knock. then you heard amber's voice again, "seulgi!"
groaning, you grogilly wiped your still sleepy eyes and slowly got up from the bed. the sight of a worried-looking amber with joohyun beside her greets you after you opened the door.
"is krystal with you?"
"yes, i'm here. what is it?" krystal's annoyed voice rang out from inside your room.
amber and joohyun looked utterly surprised.
without second thoughts, amber went into your room, bumping your shoulder in the process.
you growled.
"'what is it?' that's all you can say? you weren't in your room, krys!" said amber, panicking. "i tried calling your phone but you weren't answering! i thought--"
"i left my phone in my room, okay? and what are you doing here? you could have paid a little respect to seulgi over there. this is her room."
amber seemed not to have heard what krystal told her. "if something happens to you, your sister will kill me."
"oh. so, you're just doing this because you're afraid of jessica?"
"huh? no! of course not! what are you doing here, anyway? you have your own room, right?"
"i couldn't sleep in my room last night, and seulgi here was too kind to allow me to stay here. and you, you don't have the right to barge in here like that. where are your manners, am?"
amber looked at you and krystal. "d-did you two sleep together?"
krystal's eyebrows furrowed. "what? why are you thinking like that?"
amber walked up to you, towering you. "you didn't touch her, did you?"
there's something off with the way amber voiced her question. you stared at her, unperturbed.
"what the hell, amber! seulgi isn't like that," said krystal.
"amber, stop that..." warned joohyun.
everything is irking you at this very moment; your sleep getting disturbed, amber's lack of ethics, joohyun thinking you don't stand a chance against her girlfriend.
you feel like you're about to explode any minute now.
you don't know what's gotten into you, but you're tired and not in the mood for this morning drama. you stayed up late trying to calm a crying krystal, only to be woken up by this llama who's coming up with issues.
usually, you let things like this slide, but not today.
so, being the you are, you spoke, "and what if i touched her? does that even concern you?"
it seems to have worked because the next thing you saw is a fist approaching your face.
---
". . ."
"stay still, seulgi. we need to stop the bleeding." krystal pinched the bridge of your nose with her fingertips. "tsk. dammit, amber. look at what you have done. you're just lucky i have a medical background and knows how to handle this."
amber is sitting on the bed, looking guilty. "i'm sorry..."
"krystal already told you they did nothing. what were you thinking, huh?" joohyun crossed her arms as she paced around the room.
amber buried her face in her palms. "i'm sorry. i dunno what came over me. i just snapped. i guess i was too worried."
you felt sorry for amber, seeing her getting reprimanded by joohyun and krystal--basically not the combo anyone would want to experience.
"it's also my fault," you said, your voice nasal. "i provoked her. i woke up on the wrong side of the bed and felt y. i'm sorry, amber. i should have explained why krystal slept here last night."
amber raised her hand. "i'm sorry too, seulgi."
"speaking of that, please explain why you two slept together," said joohyun. you, krystal, and amber looked at her, mouths ajar. seeing your reactions, joohyun blinked. "i meant, why did you two sleep in together here last night?"
"it was me." krystal placed a cold pack over the bridge of your nose. "the thunder is too disturbing, so i went out of the room. i found her playing a nice piece in the piano room. we had a small talk. seulgi was nice to accommodate me."
"you could have come to my room instead," said amber. "you used to do that before, right?"
krystal raised an eyebrow. "are you serious? why would i do that when you're with your girlfriend? unlike you, i still have some decency not to disturb you when you're with joohyun unnie."
amber looked away, muttering something like, "but seulgi isn't even your girlfriend..."
"amber." joohyun glared at her.
amber sighed. she raised her palms. "fine. i got your point. but... but nothing happened between you and seulgi, right? like something... sensual...?" she asked, making everyone look at her. "i'm sorry. i'm just making sure. i mean, krystal is like a family to me and i... i dunno. i'll stop talking now."
"aish. why do you always love making things awkward for me and seulgi? we just met yesterday. seulgi has been a great confidant of mine since last night," explained krystal. "nothing happened, not even a simple flirt. i seriously think even if i seduce her, she would ignore me."
you looked up at krystal, surprised.
you are sure she's saying that to make amber feel better. because, seriously, who would ignore someone like krystal if she comes in to seduce you?
"seulgi, your nose..."
joohyun's voice pulled you back to your senses. you noticed a drop of blood on the table. you looked at the tissue you're holding, now crimson red.
"oh. i'm sorry..."
"tsk. you're such a bear." joohyun arrived on your side to wipe the blood on the table with a tissue. "tsk. is this still normal, krys? she's been bleeding for like ten minutes now."
"the bleeding has already subsided, unnie. don't worry." krystal turned to you. "seulgi, please hold the cold pack like this for a few more minutes, okay?"
your hand took over the cold pack. "ah. yeah. sure."
krystal looked at joohyun this time. "unnie, do you mind if i talk to amber alone? i want to straighten things up with her, especially her attitude."
amber lifted her head at the mention of her name. she looked like a scared kid about to get some beating from her mother.
"go ahead." joohyun nodded. "amber will have another set of talk with me later."
amber gulped.
"okay. thank you." krystal gave you a light pat on the shoulder before she walked outside the room with amber tailing her.
your room felt like a different world after the door shut behind krystal and amber.
---
this is the first time you two were alone again after what happened the other night--that night when you kissed her.
joohyun may seem calm, but you know her all too well to tell she's feeling uneasy.
"let me hold that for you." joohyun hovered her hand on the cold pack.
"no. it's fine. i can do it," you said.
joohyun stared at you for seconds before giving up with a sigh. she turned away to sit on the bed. "does it still hurt?"
"a bit."
"what were you thinking? why did you provoke amber?"
that stirred something inside you again. you felt the anger coming back. you shrugged.
"i don't know..."
"you don't know?"
"i don't know."
joohyun hummed. "you must have liked her a lot, huh?"
"who?"
"krystal. you like her, don't you?"
you knit your brows. "huh? why do you and amber always think like that?"
"because it's too obvious? you've been acting differently the moment you saw her in the car yesterday."
you sighed. "i don't like her, okay?"
"oh. okay. i'll try to believe that even if it's obvious you prefer her taking care of you now than me." joohyun crossed her legs. "i'll pretend i didn't see you two last night hugging in the piano room. not to mention you looked pissed at amber when she disturbed your alone time earlier."
of all the things joohyun said, one thing got your attention. "you saw us last night?"
"mmm-mmm. i went to your room to check on you. you weren't there, so i looked for you. found you getting all cuddly with the ice princess."
"you could have joined us. we were talking about her problem. i was comforting her."
"and third-wheel? no, thanks."
you clenched your jaw. "i've been third-wheeling you and amber for a week now. why can't you do the same for me? and for the nth time, i don't like krystal!"
joohyun jerked on her spot, surprised at the sudden rise of your voice. it was the first time you've shown her this side of yours.
"seulgi, are you okay?"
"obviously not." you sneered, rocking your chair back and forth.
"what's wrong? why are you talking like that? and please stop rocking the chair. your nose is still bleeding."
you gripped the edge of the table with your free hand to stop the chair from rocking. maybe you're getting a period or something, but you're not having it well today.
"why do you keep doing this?" you asked.
"doing what?"
"this. pretending that you care."
"because i care, of course."
"bull."
joohyun stood up. "seulgi, what's wrong with you? why do you look so mad?"
"why do i look so mad? i am mad because my freaking nose is bleeding nonstop because your freaking girlfriend punched me this early freaking morning because she thought i did freaking touch her best friend. and i still have a freaking show next week and i don't know if i can still get the freaking role because, for sure, they wouldn't want someone with a freaking purple nose acting on stage. perfect."
joohyun stared at you, confused. "you know she wouldn't have done that if you didn't provoke her. you even admitted that yourself earlier."
"yeah, right. it's my fault. tsk." you slammed the cold pack on the table.
"seulgi, what's happening to you? why are you like that?"
"i just don't understand why your girlfriend is so mad about the idea that i screwed her best friend when in fact, she's the one who's screwing my best--"
"stop that, seulgi! you're overboard now!"
you looked at joohyun. you can tell she's mad. but you're not stopping.
"wow. i'm sorry. but from what i remember, i wasn't the first one who went overboard," you said.
"what do you mean?"
"you know what i mean. the cuddling, the ring, the marriage, the dance..."
joohyun's face hardened. "this isn't the right time to talk about that."
"right. so, we're gonna pretend we didn't kiss the other night? is that what you want?"
"that... that kiss was a mistake." she looked away and around the room. "we got carried away. we were sweet the entire day and--"
"i didn't just get carried away," you said. "i wanted to do that."
joohyun held her breath, looking surprised.
"i... i've wanted to do that. i was waiting for a sign from you," you continued.
joohyun finally exhaled. she blinked, then shook her head. "no... no..."
"this has been long overdue. so, no. there's no turning back now." you got to your feet and marched forward. "to give you peace of mind, i'm telling you now, i don't like krystal. i don't like her because--"
"seulgi... no... please stop..."
"i don't care if you won't accept it, but you deserve to know this," you said, pausing a bit, observing how joohyun looked somewhat scared of what you are about to say.
then you exhaled.
"i... i have been in love with you for years."
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