That same morning, Seungwan found a lonely basketball and threw it as hard as she could, not wanting to look at anything that invoked thoughts of her. But no matter what she did, all she saw were two stupid moles and round eyes and long, beautiful hair.

It was all so ridiculous. The worst part was: she wasn’t upset that Joohyun was engaged; it was cruel, but she couldn’t care less about the collateral damage of a broken-hearted fiancé if it meant she could have Joohyun to herself. All she wanted was Joohyun—the parts Joohyun loved about herself, the parts Joohyun hated, the parts she didn’t even know yet. In all her selfish glory, Seungwan wanted every skeleton in the closet, all the dirty laundry; she wanted Joohyun to want to show her everything, for she was ready to love it all.

Her life was no longer her own; she was a vessel commanded by the great Bae Joohyun, a captain like no other. But the reign of Joohyun’s ship had never been handed to Seungwan, and that was the brunt of the brutal pain enforced on Seungwan’s heart.

Against the trunk of a tree just out of sight of the basketball court, a face buried itself into the neck of a speechless woman. If it weren’t for the umbrella in Jennie’s hand, Joohyun was sure she’d be embraced in a bone crushing hug.

“I missed you so much,” Jennie breathed into her skin.

Joohyun’s body went rigid under the touch, every nerve screaming a familiar plea to run. “What are you doing here?”

“I was complaining to your mother about how little we’ve talked, and she said I should come down here myself. Besides, there’s only a week left before it ends; I figured you’d appreciate the company in the final days.”

She closed her eyes and sighed. You’re too good for me. “That’s very sweet, Jen.”

The heavy head left the crook of Joohyun’s neck as she was met with a discerning stare. “You don’t seem happy to see me,” Jennie observed.

“No, that’s not it,” she almost shouted. “I just can’t believe you’re here.”

It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the truth. Jennie’s eyes softened at Irene’s words. I can’t believe I’m here with you. I love you so much, she thought.

“C’mon, you know I’d do anything for you.” She gave a comforting smile before tucking a piece of Irene’s hair behind her ear. “Now, let’s get out of the rain before I get pneumonia and die before I get to marry you.”

I’d do anything for you… marry you… She knew her fiancé was only joking, but it only burdened the conflicted woman. As the pressure built within her, she couldn’t hold back anymore. Joohyun flung her arms around Jennie, crying openly in her embrace.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” Concern was evident in her voice as she instantly wrapped her arms around a weeping Joohyun; worry struck her heart as she watched the way her shoulders shook with rolling waves of unknown pain.

Joohyun shook her head and continued to sob, the gravity of her mistakes weighing her down. In front of her stood a woman ready to do anything for her, and all Joohyun had to give her was betrayal. It would be easy to blame it on blinding love, but she knew it was her. Her own selfishness, her own refusal to stop running. The bottom of the cliff was not solid ground; it was a dark abyss that seemed to swallow her whole.

She had tried to control the truth, to conceal the parts she didn’t want to reveal. But to believe something so much grander than human ambitions and thoughts could be manipulated by a single woman was a result of her own hubris. And now she paid the ultimate price: she chose two women, but she lost the one.

“I’m sorry,” she managed to choke out. “I’m so sorry.”

You don’t deserve this.

Jennie was confused, but her heart told her that this wasn’t the time to press her increasingly hysterical fiancé. So she did what she could, which meant soothing her back as she guided them to the dining hall, following Joohyun’s instructions as needed.

The woman’s cries had quieted down, replaced with a hollow feeling in her chest and dread towards what awaited her. Seeing Seungwan so soon would have been disastrous, yet she was still disappointed when she couldn’t find the woman in the sea of faces.

As the dining hall’s doors opened, three girls’ heads shot up, sharing a concerned look and then staring at the couple.

Seulgi was the first to approach them, confused eyes betraying the kind smile on her face.

“Hi, Jennie,” she greeted warmly. “Joohyun, can I talk to you for a moment?”

Seulgi didn’t wait for an answer, pulling her into a corner far away from everyone else.

“What the hell are you doing?” she hissed.

“I didn’t know she was coming,” was all Joohyun had to offer.

“That’s not what I’m asking. What the hell are you doing? Where is Seungwan?”

Joohyun rubbed her temples, already feeling a headache take place behind her eyes. “I don’t know,” she mumbled.

Dejection weighed her words down, and Seulgi finally took in the entirety of her friend’s appearance. Bae Joohyun was a brilliant woman who had mastered the art of hiding her emotions, but Seulgi knew her, and she knew how to spot the small cracks in a seemingly perfect facade.

There was a slight downturn of her lips accompanying the haunted look hidden in dark brown eyes. Seulgi squinted, bracing herself for the answer to her next question:

“What happened?”

Joohyun avoided eye contact, looking at the floorboards. “I ed up so bad, Seul.”

The facade cracked a little more—her voice wavered, and the intense stare at a miniscule speck of dirt served as a desperate plea to stop incoming tears.

“Tell me everything right now,” Seulgi insisted.

With a deep breath, Joohyun recounted the dance in the gazebo, the run back to the room, how it escalated into so much more just to fall apart in the morning.

Seulgi sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “Good luck with that.”

“What?” That’s it?

Seulgi put her hands on Joohyun’s small shoulders, inviting the weak woman to look right into her eyes. She squeezed gently before letting herself speak.

“Joohyun, everything I’m about to say is out of love. You had every opportunity to minimize the hurt you inflicted on the woman you say you love. But you didn’t. You only thought of yourself, and you were unbelievably selfish. Even if you say you love Seungwan, you don’t deserve her—not like this.”

It was getting harder and harder for Joohyun to push down the lump in to choke out meaningless words.

“I know, Seulgi… I know.”

Seulgi squeezed her shoulders again. “Now please go eat; you look like . Also, don't cry—you’ll worry the kids.”

Using the hands on Joohyun’s shoulders, she brought her in for a hug, hoping the idiot in her arms understood everything she said.

With a gulp, Joohyun forced herself to keep her jaw clenched and her tongue pressed to the roof of just to hold back the emotional flood bound to happen. Quietly, she walked back to her fiancé, and Seulgi sat back down next to Yeri, quickly filling her in on what had happened.

After convincing her to eat, Joohyun led Jennie to the table with Yeri and Seulgi before leaving to get them both plates of food.

“You are Jennie Kim, the world-renowned fashion designer,” Yeri observed.

Jennie laughed nervously, not liking the simultaneously scrutinizing and adoring stare from the woman in front of her.

“Yes, that’s me. And you are?”

“Yeri. How did you end up with someone like Irene?” 

Yeri’s voice was sharpened under the newfound information she received—a sisterly rage burned beneath the surface, ready to strangle Joohyun and Jennie by association.

Jennie gave a coy smile, not noticing the fire in Yeri’s eyes. “‘Someone like Irene’? You say that as if she's not the most beautiful woman in the world.” The heiress let out a dreamy sigh as she thought of her love. Yeri raised an eyebrow, imploring her to proceed despite the growing anger in her veins.

“My entire life, my parents were trying to set me up with men, and after twenty or so years of pretending that I could do it, I broke and I confessed I liked girls. They were fairly unfazed, which meant the marriage talk didn't stop; it simply shifted genders. I’m sure Irene’s mother was doing the same thing, because our mothers were the ones who set us up. 

“By the time I met Irene, I was jaded from the countless proposals, yet somehow I still came to life the moment I saw her. She didn’t even know who I was, she just knew I was the girl her mother forced her to go out with, and I spent the entire first date thinking she hated me. But then there was a second date, and a third, and slowly but surely I managed to crack the hard exterior of Bae Joohyun, and when that happened, I was already head over heels.”

Seeing the stars in the designer’s eyes ebbed the rage within her. Irrationality aside, Yeri knew Jennie’s only mistake was falling in love with a woman who could never love her. 

“You really love her, don’t you?” she said with pity.

“Of course.” The charming woman gave a large grin before resting her head on her hand and leaning forward. “So how different is Ms. Irene from Bae Joohyun?”

You poor fool. “It’s like she’s living a completely different life,” Yeri quipped.

Seulgi squeezed the girl’s knee in an attempt to reel her in. Not now; it’s not our place, she silently pleaded. Yeri rolled her eyes and stabbed at her food, wishing it was a certain woman instead of just eggs.

When Joohyun came back with two plates, they ate in near silence. In an attempt to avoid the deathly glare directed towards her courtesy of Yeri, she kept her head down and her responses short.

Naturally, Jennie’s eyes always seemed to find their way to Joohyun’s form, tracing every curve as though she was seeing them for the first time. However, the curse of knowing someone’s body so well is knowing when something is out of place.

Jennie’s favorite finger was bare, the pale skin no longer complementing a gorgeous diamond ring. Unable to stay silent about it, she voiced her concern:

“Babe, where’s your ring?”

Joohyun’s blood ran cold; thoughts of where her hands had been last night invaded her vision, blinding her and shutting off any coherent thoughts.

“I—“

“—she’s been getting her hands really dirty, so she thought it would be best to take it off.” Yeri sent a sinister smile to the older woman, hoping Joohyun knew just how much she was hated.

Jennie narrowed her eyes, trying to understand the tension in the air. A primal protectiveness surged within her, a need to protect her fiancé, but a more human thought arrived as well:

What isn’t she telling me?

It was frustrating having to sit with her peers when all Son Joohyun wanted to do was sit with the adults in her life. She had no earthly idea what was going on when all she could pick up on was the new person in the camp and the lack of appearance from her mother.

When she walked into her cabin, she almost had a heart attack. Her mother had been missing all morning, but there she was, laying on Joohyun’s bed with a sad expression.

Noticing that she was no longer alone, the forlorn mother sat up and waved her daughter over, instantly dispelling the frown etched into her skin.

“I missed you,” Wendy cooed.

“I missed you, too. Why weren’t you at breakfast? Ms. Irene was there.”

At the mention of her name, Seungwan stiffened. “Really? That’s nice. I didn’t go, I was cleaning up our room.”

It wasn’t a lie. After ten minutes of laying on the hard blacktop and letting the rain beat against her skin, Seungwan felt even more disgusting. 

When she made the trek back to her room, her heart had quickened with anticipation to see Irene, but she cursed herself for being disappointed rather than relieved when she was greeted with an empty room.

Drawers had been flung open, with random articles of clothing scattered everywhere. Some from last night, some from this morning. She recognized a few pieces, but she wondered about the reasoning behind the others. 

She had wondered, Did you come looking for me, Hyun? Why didn’t you find me?

The sight of ruined sheets only deepened the ache in her chest; the room was in complete disarray. All she could smell was her, all she heard were her moans, all she saw was that beautiful face underneath her own—everything was still her. So she changed the sheets and put away the clothes, taking a shower herself to rid herself of memories of a burning touch.

It worked, until it didn’t. It was a suffocating feeling to be in love with someone who only infuriated you. Unfortunately, the ways of the heart never seemed to align with the path of the mind.

Desperate to feel okay again, she went to the only place that still held good in it: her daughter’s cabin. It was empty, as it was another busy day for everyone. Seungwan was sure that after breakfast, it would only get busier and she would have the room to herself, which she did, up until the moment her daughter walked in.

The mother and daughter sat side by side as Joohyun looked cautiously at her mom’s small frame, noticing how fragile she looked.

“Mom, what are you doing here?” she asked hesitantly.

There was more to her question, and they both knew it.

Seungwan ignored her, standing up and kneeling down to inspect the suitcase that laid beside the bed, overstuffed with belongings to the point where the mess had spread to the area around it.

“Yah, Joohyun, why is your stuff so messy? Come help me clean this up.”

“Okay,” she grumbled, already kneeling down to clean up. “But you didn’t answer my question.”

“What question?” Seungwan was occupying herself, using cleaning as the perfect excuse to ignore the burning world. She opened the suitcase, attempting to straighten up. Her hand reached in, almost immediately touching a silky material. Confused, she tugged on it, a bitter memory resurfacing as the material revealed itself to be a red scarf.

The red scarf wrapped around Joohyun’s neck was removed and thrown into the wind, landing in the hands of Joy. Seungwan’s eyes followed the trajectory of the material, knowing the red accessory was a white flag, a surrender.

Instantly, it became all she saw. She ran like hell, anger and sadness and love burning a bright red, propelling her as she rushed to stop Joohyun.

“Don’t go,” she cried helplessly. “Please don’t go…”

“Joohyun, why do you have this?” She whispered, tears already threatening to spill.

Joohyun kept cleaning, scrambling for an excuse as she kept her head down to avoid her mother’s stare. Panic filled her as she remembered two more things that her mom absolutely could not find: the letter and the picture of a younger Irene.

“Son Joohyun, why do you have this picture?”

Every word was sharply enunciated, forced out of an increasingly narrow throat as memories strangled her. Dots were connecting, and all Seungwan wanted to do was tear apart any threads connecting the past and the present.

In one hand was a red scarf; in the other was a picture of a young woman with a brunette bob throwing up a peace sign. Both hands were shaking, a storm forming in her veins.

“Mom, I can explain—“

“It’s okay. Now, I have to go take care of something; I’ll see you later, baby.” Seungwan stood up hastily, leaving a quick kiss on her child’s forehead before rushing out the door, picture and scarf still in hand.

The rain had eased, making her path towards a certain room in the house she had been residing in much easier. She stormed in, rushing up the stairs and not bothering to knock before entering Yeri and Seulgi’s room.

Yeri startled after seeing the way her room door had swung open; she made the choice to take a relaxing day as Seulgi and the others went about their activities. But with the way Seungwan’s eyes bur