"Oh for God's sake. I love you Kim Chaewon! I'm in love with you..."

"I'm in love with you"

You feel like the dumbest person to ever live. You feel like the worst friend, and you don't know how to deal with it. Minju's in love with you? You don't understand how or why. You treated her like absolute ...you even walked out on her...you left her again. You don't know what to think.

You knew one thing for sure, you don't want to lose the angelic nerd again. You wish you stayed and held her tighter...telling her it was okay. God you were such an idiot. You don't want this hatred between the two of you to keep going. You want to make it right. You want her back, and you would try. As long as it was for Minju, you still had the feeling deep inside to protect her, like before. You still held the feeling of wanting to hold her hands...wanting to hug her and comfort her when things were rough for the other girl.

Did you perhaps...love her too?

You possibly couldn't have...right? You were straight, you loved your boyfriend Choi Soobin. Right. You possibly couldn't feel anything more. Right? Minju's confession really messed with your head, and you don't know how to deal with it...so you ran. You always run when you don't know what else to do, you simply couldn't help it. It was like an instinctive move, and you knew you needed to change. You needed to stop being a coward for Minju.

You take a deep breath, come on Kim Chaewon, you can do this. 

You first had to confront your parents. You promised Minju you would try...so you will. You need to stop hurting hertime cou. She doesn't deserve it...she only deserves the best in the world. 

You had run away back to class, and time could not seem to have moved any slower. You just wanted the day to be over so you could find Minju and tell her you would try, for her. You would tell her you would finally stop being a coward and stop running away. You needed to confront your issues, you can't keep running away all the time and ignoring your problems.They won't go away with your method.

When you went back to class, you walked in to the teacher scolding the class for their behavior and talking about an assembly being held tomorrow for your grade level to receive a speech about fighting...or whatever else dumb thing was supposed to go on for the incident in the cafeteria. 

You thought you would get scolded for coming back late and skipping other classes, but the teacher only looked at you with a face of pity. God, you still hate the looks. The class looked at you, and you knew they were most likely thinking about how you got slapped by your boyfriend. Why can't they look away? Why do they care so much about your life. You hated it. 

When the bell finally rings and school is over, you quickly scramble your bag and ignore the calls of Chayeon trying to catch up with you. You would talk to your friends later...you had someone else on your mind right now. 

Kim Minju was in a different classroom...class 3-2, and you quicken your pace amidst all the teenagers crowing the hallways trying to go home. You catch a glimpse of brunette, wavy, hair and you can tell from the side profile it was Minju. 

You run after her, and when you finally catch up to her as she was heading back to the robotics room, away from everyone else, you grab a hold of her arm, making her turn around in surprise. When she notices it was you, her eyes widen even more, with her signature frog eyes.

"Ch-Chaewon."

When she stops, you finally let go of her arm and take heavy breaths from all the catching up you had to do to get to her.

"Minju...I-"

"Look, Chaewon. I gotta go, we're gonna be really busy today, and I don't have time for this."

Oh. She still looked hurt...I mean who could blame her? You dropped your friendship and left her a second time. You would hate yourself too. But you still tried to keep your promise. You really don't want to mess it up this time.

"Please...let me-let me make it right Minju...I-I really am sorry. Please...I-I still..I still lo-"

"Minju! Is she bothering you?"

You see another guy, he was a senior you think, Kim Wooseok. Who the hell did he think he was interrupting you conversation? Well..you know he hates you anyway with the glare he was giving you. All of her friends most likely hated you anyway, after that whole fiasco.

"No...it's fine. Let's just go Wooseok, we need to get to work."

With that, she grabs a hold of his arm and walks away from you. You don't miss the continuing glare he gives you and you hate it. She hates you...her friends hate you. You don't know what else to do.

It was too late.

With a defeated sigh, you watch their figures disappear and you walk home with a weight on your shoulders. She doesn't want to talk to you. She doesn't want anything to do with you. You really did mess it up this time. 

As you take the bus back home, you're greeted with Chaeyeon heading over to sit by you. Well...guess it was time to explain everything. Besides, you needed someone to vent to anyways. You needed to be a good friend and tell the others because they were concerned about you.

"Chaewon...you can't run anymore. You need to tell me what happened, and why haven't you dumped that abusive boyfriend of yours? Why are you still with him? What happened with Minju? What-"

She stops asking questions when she hears you sniffle. You're crying. You know how stupid your decisions are, and your friends tried to tell you. All you did was push them away and focus on your image. You just wanted to make people proud, but at the expense of those who were most important to you. You knew you had to make things right, but how could you when it seemed like everything was too late?Well

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry Chaeyeon. God I'm so ing sorry."

You look down and continue to silenty cry in your seat. You can't face your friend right now out of shame.

"Hey, hey, Chaewon it's okay. I'm here for you okay? Just tell me what happened."

You suppose you could vent to her. She deserves the right to know what's been going on anyway. You don't even know how to explain the mess. Maybe you should just start from the beginning.

"Well uh...after I left. Minju...she-she found me and comforted me. Then we just talked and things escalated,and she...she told me she loved me Chayeon...she told me she was in love with me."

Chaeyeon's eyes widen at the statement. Honestly she's not that surprised because she always noticed the worried look Minju always gave to the other girl, but she never expected for the brunette to actually confess. 

"Then I...I told her I was sorry. , I-I left her...again! I tried catching up to her earlier, which is why I ignored you but...I-I'm too late. I hurt her so much Chayeon...I should've listened to Eunbi...to you, to Hitomi, Nako, Wonyoung, I just...I ignored it because I was too scared of what others would say. I want to make things right. I want to stop being a coward, but ...I completely messed it up. I promised her I would try and I just-I screwed it up. Minju, she-she doesn't want me anymore, and I don't blame her."

You lie your head on Chaeyeon's shoulder and let it all out. You cry. You cry over how much you messed up, how much you hate being a coward, how much you hate that you hurt your friends around you. Your real friends. You cry about how you let Gayoung manipulate you and used your weakness to hurt Minju...how you made yourself think you love Soobin. How you ever told your parents about what you were feeling.

You let it all out.

"Oh Chaewon...we don't hate you. Well..Hitomi, Nako, Wonyoung, and I don't hate you. We're still here for you okay? Now I don't know about Minju...but you promised her you would try, right? You can't give up now."

You lift your head from her shoulder and slowly lessen your tears. You're grateful the girls are still there, and you vowed to be a better friend for them. However, the guilt from Minju was still eating you alive. It consumed your entirety and you hate how much of an idiot you are.

"I just...Eunbi, she...she told me not to get caught up with the wrong people. Now look at me. I just wanted to be like her. I wanted to be someone who knew what to do, someone who didn't let her insecurities get to her. I wanted to be brave...I wanted to be like Eunbi. I'm no better than Gayoung...or Soobin...or all those other athletes who care too much about their reputations in this stupid school."

The other girl comforts you by rubbing your hand on your shoulder and gives you a tight lipped smile, before sighing and looking at you.

"You could never be Eunbi. Nobody can..."

You look down and fiddle with your hands. Of course you could never be like her. You're merely a coward who always messes things up and hurts everyone. You're nothing more than a useless, y, cheerleader, who's only a pretty face. 

"But, Chaewon...Eunbi believed in you. She still does. She's your favorite dongsaeng for a reason...she knew you were going to make the right decisions. She trusts you, and she still cares about you. She knew she made the right decision in trusting you."

You smile at that. Eunbi was always there to tell you she trusted you to make the right choices, no matter how much you messed up. She always told you that you could bounce back from whatever issue you faced. She always gave you the advice you needed, even when you had hurt Minju. She still believed you could make things right.

"Now...Minju's hurt. Soobin is a . You still have the cheer team to lead for the competition...the right way. So what are you gonna do about it?"

You look at your friend...with confidence this time. You give her a grin, you can feel motivation setting in. what everyone else thinks, you're going to make it right. It's not too late, you're not going to mess things up this time. 

"I'm gonna make it right."

She gives you an encouraging smile, before getting off the bus when the vehicle stopped at the station near her home. You wave her goodbye and thank her for giving you the confidence you needed. You're gonna fix everything. You're gonna be someone who can stop the rift between the students in school. You're not gonna be a coward anymore. 

Once the bus stops at your station, you get off with a newfound confidence. You're gonna make things right, starting with your parents. You needed to tell them everything. If they weren't proud of you, then so be it. You didn't need their validation, and you realize that now. You didn't need them to be proud of someone that was always hurting people for the sake of image.

You open the door and you're greeted with the sight of your father sitting on the dinner table along with your mother. It seems like they were waiting for you, probably to talk to you about something important with their serious gazes. Ah right...the school must have told them about what happened.

But why did they look disappointed? You were the one who got slapped.

"Good evening...what's going on?" You ask as you take off your shoes at the front door step.

Your father clears his throat before speaking to you. "Chaewon...we received a call from the school earlier. We heard what happened. You and your friends got into a fight with the other kids?"

"They aren't my friends..." You mumble to yourself.

Your mother then speaks up and addresses the situation after your father. "They told us Soobin hit you...did you apologize?"

...What...?

Were you hearing things, or did your mother just ask if you apologized to the guy who hit you. The guy they praised everytime he came over to dinner. The guy they seemed to love so much and were siked about the idea of the two of you in a relationship,

Why were you the one who needed to apologize again? You were the one who was on the receving end of his slap.

"What? Why would I need to apologize to the ever so loving boyfriend who hit me? You can't be serious right?"

Your mother crosses her arms and looks at you with even more disappointment. You can't believe it. They thought this was your fault huh? How amazing, it pissed you off to no end.

"Look Chaewon...you obviously did something wrong for him to react like that. It's okay to make mistakes but you need to apologize to further prevent any conflict. Soobin is a kind gentleman, I'm sure he would understand."

You sarcastically scoff at your parents as you listen to what they're telling you. Wow, they're really putting the blame on you. On any other day, you would have accepted defeat and reply with a quick 'yes', but today was different. You made a promise, and you were gonna start here. It was time to tell them.

"No...you're wrong."

Your parents look at each other with a confused look, then at you. You've never confronted them like this before, which makes them utterly shocked and confused as you've never said anything like this before.

"Soobin...he hit me. I'm breaking things off with him."

"Chaewon you can't-" You cut your mother off quickly.

"No! I'm the one who was hurt and you're defending him. Against your own daughter! How could you two even say that? You know...all I wanted was for the both of you to be proud of me. Do you have any idea what it cost? Who I had to sacrifice? I lost Minju...you were proud that I lost my best friend. You were proud of the monster I became..."

"Minju needed to be gone Chaewon. You can't hang around the wrong crowd. And you knew her disgusting lifestyle! Those abominations don't deserve anything good going for them!" Your father stands up and yells, showing his frustration.

"You're wrong! Minju was only kind to me. She...she was always there for me. She was there when the two of you could care less about how I feel. You only ever looked down on her...when she was the only person who's been by my side since day one." 

You release a breath after your rant. It needed to be said, and you hope your parents could finally understand. You hope they could see how much Minju still means to you, how you needed to get your best friend back.

"Don't tell us...you're becoming one of them as well...?" Your mother looks at you with suspicion.

You scoff. They don't understand do they? They never will.

"...and what if I am, mother?"

"Disgusting! Don't ever say things like that again! Go to your room Chaewon." Your father points in the direction of your bedroom and you feel yourself becoming heated. They'll never get it. 

You run away. You hear them calling out for you, but you could care less. You take your bike and run away from your house. 

As you pedal, you go faster and faster with each passing second. 

It feels good. You smile at the newfound freedom. You can feel the wind breezing through your body as your bike takes you along the road faster. You feel like a bird finally being able to fly, and you love the feeling. 

You laugh as you pedal away. It feels like you've escaped from a cage you've been trapped in forever. It feels as if you became unstoppable. It may not seem like much, but you finally stood up to your parents. And with the adrenaline rush, it felt so ing amazing.

As you come back to your senses, you realize your bike was taking you to a specific someone's house. 

You look up at her bedroom window, with her lights still on, and you probably guessed she was doing homework. You park your bike near the driveway and knock on the door. 

You take a deep breath with the nervousness setting in. Now, you needed to make things right with Minju. 

You needed to get your best friend back.