It’s been a week since Jiyeon and Jungmin started dating, Sojin and Jiyeon were chatting cheerfully when Jungmin suddenly hugged Jiyeon from behind.

“Hi gorgeous.” Jungmin said before giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Jiyeon blushed and turned to see him.

“Hi there.” She answered smiling.

“Look at you, you’re so lovey dovey.” Sojin remarked.

“Come on Sojin, I can introduce a friend to you.” Jungmin .

“No thanks.” She answered with a sarcastic smile.

Sojin kept looking at the couple, Jiyeon failed to see the tint of annoyance that the girl had over her face.

“Well then, I’ll go now before I get diabetes from seeing you.” She said “Congratulations you both.” She finished with a particular tone before going away.

Jungmin frowned a bit at the girl and then turned to see Jiyeon again.

“Hey, what’s with your friend?” He asked.

“Hm? With Sojin?” She asked in confusion “Don’t know, why?”

“It seemed like she was annoyed.” He answered.

“Really? Maybe someone made her angry, I’ll ask her later.” Jiyeon answered like it wasn’t a big deal “So, what class do you have now?” She asked him.

“Math, so boring.” Jungmin answered her with a pout.

“I agree, but you have to work hard, it’s your last year.” Jiyeon reminded him.

“If I work hard, do I get a reward?” Jungmin asked her mischievously with a smile.

Jiyeon smiled at him and nodded. She approached Jungmin in order to kiss him, when a voice interrupted them.

“Jiyeon?”

The girl stopped and sighed, before separating from her boyfriend and turning to face the owner of the voice.

“What do you want Myungsoo?” She asked a bit annoyed.

Myungsoo was standing in front of them, he had his gaze down and was visibly uncomfortable.

“Sorry for interrupting you, but I wanted to talk with you.” He explained.

Jiyeon frowned. She was still a bit angry at him, but had to accept that she was starting to miss him, however, everytime she remembered how he talked to her, made her angry again, not wanting to see his face.

The girl sighed heavily and turned to see Jungmin, as if looking for an opinion, the boy smiled at her.

“Go. Maybe you can finally fix things with him.” Jungmin said to her.

Myungsoo was looking at the scene and was angry by the fact that Jungmin was the one helping him to convince Jiyeon to talk to him. But he couldn’t make the same mistake twice, so he swallowed his pride and remained silent.

“Okay.” Jiyeon finally said “But we must hurry, classes are about to start.”

“Sure. Don’t worry, I won’t make it long.” Myungsoo answered her.

“Well then I’ll leave you both to talk. I’ll see you later.” Jungmin said to Jiyeon.

He gave her a quick kiss and went away. Jiyeon was smiling like a fool and blushing, she followed him with her gaze until he can’t be seen anymore. She then faced Myungsoo and her expression changed.

“So, what do you want to talk about?” She asked him.

Myungsoo looked at her and then sighed.

“What if we go somewhere else?” Myungsoo suggested. Jiyeon seemed doubtful. “It won’t take long, I promise.” He said.

Jiyeon wondered about it for a couple of seconds and finally nodded to him.

 

They went to the cafeteria, since there wouldn’t be a lot of people there at that hour. Both sat down and Myungsoo was the first one to talk.

“First of all, I want to apologize to you. I know I acted like a child and I was in no place to say anything to you.” Myungsoo said. Jiyeon remained silent listening attentively. “I don’t want us to keep being angry at each other, to be honest I miss you, I promise I won’t do something like that again.”

Jiyeon sighed heavily before answering him.

“I also don’t want to keep being angry at you, and I obviously miss you.” She started to say “So I forgive you.” She finished with a smile.

Myungsoo chuckled and Jiyeon did as well, all the awkwardness between them suddenly fade away. Jiyeon was relieved about that fact, however there was still a topic she needed to make clear.

“But Myungsoo” she started again and the boy looked at her “There’s one thing you need to understand and accept, Jungmin is my boyfriend now, you’ll see me with him a lot and maybe you both will have to talk and stuff like that. I’ll be glad if you could get along or at least talk to each other normally.”

Myungsoo sighed with discomfort and Jiyeon noticed it.

“I don’t know Jiyeon.” He just answered.

“I’m not asking you to be friends, just don’t be a jerk with him.” Jiyeon said.

“You know what I think about him, I won’t lie to you.” Myungsoo said sincerely.

“Why are you so wary about him?” She asked.

“You’ve heard the rumors, I don’t want him to hurt you, I told you already, I don’t trust him.” Myungsoo said.

Jiyeon sighed, she knew she wouldn’t be able to convince Myungsoo that was not the case, so she just gave up.

“Alright, I understand, but please just don’t be rude with him okay?” Jiyeon asked him.

“I’ll try.” Myungsoo answered.

“Don’t worry about me, everything will be alright, you’ll see.” She said with a smile.

Myungsoo couldn’t help but to smile back at her.

“I truly hope so.” He answered sincerely.

The bell that announced the start of the day rang and both went back to their classrooms.

After that day, Myungsoo and Jiyeon were no longer distanced and they talked to each other as if nothing ever happened.

 

Months passed by like that and Jiyeon went from a silent girl with a few friends, to be one of the most known girls of high school. To be honest, it wasn’t something that she liked; she actually preferred her easygoing life without so much attention over her. But the fact that she was now Jungmin’s girlfriend wasn’t helping at all; as she became more known for being the girlfriend of one of the most popular guys, people from other classes and grades also started to know about her grades and that only made her become the main topic of a lot of conversations at school.

She wasn’t used to talk to a lot of people, even when she usually helped her classmates or some other ones, it was only in order to explain something and they actually weren’t looking to be close to her. As there were people that wanted to be her friend, there were also those that were jealous and wanted to harm her. Even when it was hard for her to deal with that much attention, she endured it all. She was happy with Jungmin and was the only thing that mattered.

With Jiyeon’s popularity growing, Myungsoo and the boys became really protective of her. Jiyeon was a nice girl and didn’t like to treat anyone badly, but they were a different story. Even when Jiyeon handled everyone nicely, they scared away anyone who tried to harm her, which was the reason why no one actually dared to do something against her.

 

“So where’s Jungmin?” Sungkyu asked Jiyeon.

They were at lunchtime, Jiyeon was eating happily with the boys.

“He went with his class to an outside activity.” Jiyeon answered him.

“I guess he’s pretty busy right now, the entrance exam is coming, right?” Woohyun said.

Jiyeon nodded while chewing her food.

“Does he already know what he wants to study?” Myungsoo asked with curiosity.

“Yes, he wants to be an engineer.” She answered smiling.

“That’s cool, he’ll have to work hard in order to get in.” Hoya remarked.

“Yeah, he’s been studying a lot and is really serious about the entrance exam.” Jiyeon said.

Sungkyu had his attention on Myungsoo, even when the boy tried to involve himself in the conversation; it was clear that Jungmin’s topic made him uncomfortable.

Sungkyu understood Myungsoo’s worry towards Jiyeon’s relationship, but up until that point, Jungmin didn’t do anything wrong to her. For sure the rumors about him being a womanizer exploded when their relationship got known and also the gossip and bets about them not lasting more than a month fired up. But little by little those rumors cooled down, since Jiyeon and Jungmin were still together and the boy hadn’t cheated on her.

It was time for Myungsoo to accept that he was wrong and get used to see them together. Otherwise, he would end up causing trouble for Jiyeon and hurting himself.

 

That day, Sungkyu decided to invite Myungsoo to hang out in order to talk with him. He talked with the boys and they agreed to not go home together that day. Sungkyu then asked Myungsoo if he was free, to what the boy answered affirmatively.

They went to the arcade, since Sungkyu wanted Myungsoo to relax a little before getting to the main topic he wanted to talk about.

After a couple of games, Sungkyu decided it was time to talk.

“Hey, I actually wanted to talk with you about something.” Sungkyu started.

“I know” Myungsoo answered still focused on the game “It’s about Jiyeon, right?”

“Yeah.” Sungkyu answered “First of all, how do you feel about all this?”

Myungsoo sighed and stopped playing, leaning completely on the chair. Sungkyu did the same.

“I’m okay, I mean, I promised Jiyeon to behave myself.” Myungsoo said looking at the ceiling.

“One thing is what you promised to do and another one is how you actually feel about it.” Sungkyu remarked.

“It still bothers me, for some reason I can’t grow to trust that guy.” Myungsoo said with little annoyance in his voice.

Sungkyu nodded before answering.

“I get that, to be honest I also had my doubts at the start, but it’s been some months and they’re still together, Jungmin hasn’t done anything bad, so I guess we can start to trust him a bit more.” Sungkyu said. Myungsoo remained silent. “Besides, Jiyeon seems happy, that’s what actually matters, right?”

“I guess you’re right.” Myungsoo answered after thinking about it for some seconds.

Silence grew between them, until Sungkyu talked again after some minutes like that.

“You’re aware that the problem isn’t about Jungmin hurting Jiyeon, right?” He asked his friend.

Myungsoo frowned and turned to look at him.

“What do you mean? Of course is about it.” He answered confused.

“No. Your problem is with any guy hurting her.” Myungsoo still looked at him confused. “The problem is with any guy getting close to Jiyeon.”

Myungsoo sighed annoyed and directed his gaze to the ceiling again.

“There you go again with the same thing.” Myungsoo said.

“Are you still going to deny that you like Jiyeon?” Sungkyu asked a bit more serious.

“I’m going to deny it until you understand it.” Myungsoo started “I love her, but not that way. I don’t like her.”

“Dude, stop fooling yourself. Ever since she became Jungmin’s girlfriend you’ve been down, even when you try to hide it. If you don’t like her, then, why does it affect you so much that she’s dating someone?” Sungkyu remarked.

“I don’t know, I just don’t like it.” Myungsoo tried to make it sound like it wasn’t a big deal.

“It seems that the one you’re trying to convince you don’t like her is yourself.” Sungkyu said.

“Nonsense.”

Myungsoo started to feel cornered by Sungkyu, at the extent that he was also starting to doubt about his feelings towards the girl.

And if it’s true? Do I actually like her? It can’t be.

“Just stop torturing yourself and ask her out already.” Sungkyu said.

“She’s with Jungmin.” Myungsoo answered automatically with a sad voice.

“So you accept it?” Sungkyu asked a bit excited.

Myungsoo realized what he just answered and frowned.

“No. I’m just stating the obvious. Even if I did like her, I can’t meddle in her relationship.” Myungsoo started explaining with a serious voice. “I can’t hurt her like that when she actually seems happy with him.” He finished with sadness reflected in his voice.

Sungkyu sighed in frustration. It was hard seeing his friend so confused and hurt, it was more than obvious he was in love with Jiyeon, but he couldn’t understand why Myungsoo tried so hard to deny it, it didn’t have sense.

“So, you’re not asking her out, because you don’t like her, but you are hurt by her relationship and it saddens you everytime you see them together, because you’re her best friend.” Sungkyu said “Pretty logic, huh?”

Myungsoo remained silent, he knew it didn’t have any sense at all.

“I won’t push you anymore, but you have to make a choice.” Sungkyu said after some seconds of silence “You either accept that you’re in love with Jiyeon and fight for her, or you keep your ‘best friend’ act, give up on her completely and support her genuinely. You can’t keep going on with this, not deciding if you want to be her friend or her lover.” Sungkyu finished with a serious tone.

“I know it.” Myungsoo answered annoyed.

“I’m serious Myungsoo, if you keep acting like this, not only will you keep hurting yourself, you’ll also bring trouble to Jiyeon. Jungmin isn’t stupid, he knows what you feel towards Jiyeon and has been putting up with it until now, but I don’t know how long will that last. So, for yours and her sake, you have to make a decision.” Sungkyu stated.

Myungsoo sighed heavily for the millionth time that evening.

He has a point. I need to get a hold of myself.

“I get what you’re trying to say.” Myungsoo started to talk now more calm “I’m going to fix this.”

“Don’t forget I’m here for you, no matter what you decide, I’ll support you.” Sungkyu finished with a smile.

“Thanks.” Myungsoo also smiled at him.

Both kept playing for a couple of hours before going home.

 

Even when Myungsoo was determined to get a hold of himself, he just wasn’t able to decide what to do. To say he was confused was the least. As weeks passed by, he started to somehow get used to see Jiyeon with Jungmin, but there were days when he just couldn’t stand them, so he then went somewhere else or just decided not to talk to Jiyeon.

He still wasn’t able to decide what his true feelings towards the girl were. He knew Sungkyu was right and he also wanted to determine once and for all what Jiyeon was to him. Was she really just a friend to him? Was he seeing her as something more than a friend? Was he in love with the girl? Those questions often revolved in his mind, causing him countless sleepless nights.

I’m about to go insane.

He thought one particular time he accidentally saw Jiyeon and Jungmin kissing. The touch of Jungmin over Jiyeon infuriated him. He wanted to go to them and take Jiyeon away, far from her boyfriend.

Even when Myungsoo was still deciding what to do, he wasn’t stupid, what he was feeling had a name, and he knew it clearly.

Jealousy.

 

He wasn’t the only one feeling jealousy though. The fact that Jiyeon and Jungmin’s relationship had lasted for almost a year and the couple didn’t seem to be separating anytime soon, started to annoy a lot of people.

Jungmin wasn’t the one he used to be. It was true that he was known for not going out with a girl for a lot of time. That was why, when his relationship with Jiyeon started, everyone made bets about them not lasting long; when a couple of months passed by, even when it was weird, everyone still thought that they would eventually separate. Now almost by the end of the year, the couple seemed as united and in love as they were at the start.

A lot of girls started to create gossip about them, especially about Jiyeon, trying to taint her reputation in order for Jungmin to break up with her. But it seemed as if nothing could get in between them. It can be noticed how dearly they loved each other.

 

“Are you nervous?” Sojin asked Jungmin.

Jiyeon, Jungmin and her were chatting outside of the girls’ classroom in between classes.

“About?” Jungmin asked back.

“The entrance exam of course. It’s next week right?” Sojin said.

“Oh that, yes it’s next week. But I’m confident about it, I know I can make it in.” Jungmin said with confidence.

“Of course you’ll make it. You’ve been working hard the past months, I bet you can pass that exam with closed eyes.” Jiyeon said to him with a smile and a proud gaze.

“With a beauty like you cheering on me and trusting me like that, I’m able to do anything.” Jungmin answered her, taking her hand to pull her closer to him and giving her a kiss on the forehead.

Sojin smiled at them and wondered about something.

“Say, what are you two going to do?” She asked.

“What do you mean?” Jiyeon asked her back.

“He’s going to college but we still have a year here, what about you two?” Sojin explained.

“That doesn’t matter.” Jungmin answered with a smile “The only difference will be that we won’t see each other as much as we do now. She won’t get rid of me that easily.” He finished like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Jiyeon smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

“You won’t get rid of me that easily either.” She said to him while taking his hand again “You’re not allowed to flirt with the girls at college, you hear me?” She scolded him with a false threatening tone of voice.

“Having you by my side. There’s no need to look at anyone else.” He answered, hugging her.

Sojin sighed and the bell announcing the next class rang, Jungmin bid farewell to the girls and returned to his classroom, the girls did the same.

 

Sojin was at the bathroom, thinking about Jiyeon and Jungmin’s relationship, when a group of girls also came in and started to talk.

“It’s almost the end of the year and they’re still together. What’s so great about Jiyeon?”

At Jiyeon’s mention, Sojin remained inside the cubicle she was in, in order to hear the conversation.

“There’s nothing great about her, Jungmin’s just blind. Of course you’re prettier than her, it makes no sense.” Some girl answered.

Sojin chuckled innerly and rolled her eyes, they were indeed one of the bunch of girls in love with her friend’s boyfriend.

Get over it already.

“I know I’m prettier than her! That’s what makes me furious! And also everyone now sees her as one of the most popular girls. It’s ridiculous. She isn’t even that pretty, and let’s not even start with her style and lack of personality.” The girl spitted venomously.

Well, she has a point. Sojin thought sarcastically.

“Even Sojin isn’t as popular now.” Other of the girls said.

Sojin frowned upon her mention and listened more attentively.

“I know, I mean, I hate that witch but I have to accept that she at least has the looks and personality to stand out. But now, even she has been overshadowed by her friend” The girl said with a mocking tone.

“Let them be, at this point they will remain together no matter what. We’ll be out of here soon, so let’s focus on our college life from now on. I bet you’ll be really popular in no time Yangmi.” Another girl said before all of them went out of the bathroom.

Sojin got out of the cubicle and leaned on the door.

“So it was that Yangmi and her entourage.” She said with a smile “Jiyeon overshadowed me?” She chuckled sarcastically “The play of the introvert girl becoming the spotlight must come to an end, you’ve enjoyed yourself far enough Jiyeon.”

 

A/N: Thank you so so much for reading, comments are appreciated ^^ stay safe and have a beautiful day <3