Idea from this tweet

Hitomi tried living with no regrets, often making choices with the thought that, maybe, if something goes wrong, she will be able to fix it somehow, and it will give something to laugh about later. This is the reason why Hitomi barely has any regrets in life.

Today, though, she is aware of one the biggest regrets she has ever had in her short 17 years of age. Betting with Yena.

Hitomi is not the most playful in their group of friends, so she tends to just look at her friends' stupidity from the sidelines, joining only when she is certain that, at the very least, she won't lose an extremity. However, that day she just felt like doing stupid things, exhilarated by her grade at Miss Jo's class, and accepted a bet with Yena. It was the stupidest thing, something she was 100% sure she was going to win.

Until she lost.

Now, if they had been betting money, it wouldn't have been that problematic. Hitomi would have just had to pawn off a kidney or something, but they hadn't bet money. They had bet a dare.

Any dare would have been nice, acceptable to Hitomi. Really, she wouldn't have cared if she had to the pavement.

Instead, she was dared to confess to her eternal crush and (aparently) best friend, Park Chaewon.

Her first reaction was that of denial, of disbelief, but she then came to accept her situation, internally regretting ever betting with Yena. And after that acceptance, came a warped sense of determination. If she was about to lose her best friend to a love confession, she might as well go all out.

So, after devoting a whole afternoon to forming a gameplan with her friends, buying a bouquet of roses, and making a big sign that said, "Chaewon, please go out with me", she had nervously gone the next day to school, anticipating the moment school ended and she would end up confessing.

And here she was currently, standing in front of the school doors while she held the bouquet in her hands, thinking that it would have been a better idea to wear something prettier. Maybe she should have taken more time to plan things. Except that Yena wouldn't let her.

"She'll be here soon. Why are you worrying?" Yena said as she munched on a chip. The idiot had brought a bag of chips as if she was going to see an spectacle.

"You're not the one confessing, unnie," Hitomi retorted, looking again at the door, choosing to have her revenge later on. She saw Yuri walking towards them and held her breath, hoping to hear news.

"Yerim is already bringing her here. Don't worry Hitoma," Yuri said cooly. The girl had assumed the role of the leader of the whole operation since the beginning, and had continually acted like a woman on a mission since the previous day.

"Thanks, Yul." Yuri saluted her, position herself then behind Hitomi. More time passed, and students that passed her by looked at her weirdly, as if they pitied her. Hitomi only hoped it didn't jinx her chances with Chaewon. Suddenly, Yuri's phone rang, and Yuri answer it.

"She's coming. She's coming. Stay quiet, Yena unnie," Yuri said hurriedly, making Hitomi's heart beat faster. This was it. She was about to confess to her best friend. She was about to either have a nice relationship or lose any remainder of it.

"Wait, Yuri, help me with the sign!" Unable to stay calm, she lowered her head, not wanting to look at the students pitying gazes any longer.

"Oh, there's Yerim! And… what?" Before any of her friends could say anything else and ruin the confession, she closed her eyes and faced front, fearing the expression on Chaewon's face.

"I don't know how to say this!" she said loudly. "But I want to be honest about my feelings about you. I think I fell for you ever since I first saw you." She could listen to the quiet voices of Yena and Yuri quarreling, but she paid them no mind. "I wasn't sure at first, but as the days went by, I was sure about you." She heaved a deep sigh. "I like you, so much that I don't think you could understand it."

There was absolute silence for a moment, to the point that literally she couldn't hear students' chattering as they left school. She was afraid, but decided to be brave for a moment. She opened her eyes, and felt her stomach drop.

She sure did it. She had confessed to Chaewon.

She had confessed to freaking  KIM CHAEWON.

Kim Chaewon, the principal's daughter. Kim Chaewon, the most intelligent student in this whole school. Kim Chaewon, the untouchable beauty, overtly protected by her father, to the point that barely anyone could even dare to talk to her.

The same Kim Chaewon that now looked at her, shocked. And her shock was reasonable, really. A stranger, a person she hadn't really spoken to except to borrow an eraser in their sophomore year, had just confessed to her.

Hitomi wanted to laugh, laugh at her misfortune, laugh at the probable consequences this would have for her. Maybe the principal would suddenly make her transfer. Or maybe he would make Hitomi mysteriously disappear. Or maybe Chaewon would reject her soundly, making Hitomi become the biggest joke in the school. Maybe her Chaewon would believe she had a crush on Kim Chaewon and would not accept her feelings. Maybe… maybe Hitomi could pass this off as a joke, laugh it off, and then throw herself from the nearest cliff. Maybe Chaewon could laugh along and let the matter pass without much-

"I… I feel the same."

What.

Now it was her turn to look at Chaewon in shock. The girl looked shy at the confession, flustered by the public they now seemingly had, who were now hollering at both of them, either in cheers for Chaewon's apparent reciprocity or in jeers for Hitomi, who was a nobody in the social ladder.

Turning her head to look at her friends, she silently asked for help. Yena only shrugged, saying, "You're on your own, mochi," while Yuri just looked at her sympathetically.

Because, really, how could she fix this?! Laughing it off as a joke now would make her seem like the biggest tool in existence, to the point that she was completely sure now that the principal would kill her if Chaewon's admirers didn't get to her first. Maybe she could take Chaewon aside to a quiet place where she could explain the things to the girl? But that meant rejecting the girl, and she didn't want to hurt anyone.

Argh, why can't she drop dead right now?

"I like you, too, Hitomi."