Jiyeon and Sojin met each other at the school entrance. It was already the first day of their third year, they were already seniors. Jiyeon was pretty excited about it as well as Sojin, though the latter was more excited about finishing high school to finally be able to get to college, unlike Jiyeon who was looking forward to enjoy that last year of her high school life.

The first thing they looked up was their respective classrooms. Jiyeon was truly happy when she saw that both remained in the same class, Sojin smiled upon that as well.

Both girls walked to their class and left their belongings there, they still had to go to the auditorium to hear the welcome speech and stuff like that, to which they were already used to. As it was expected, the speech didn’t last long and focused on welcoming the first years and encouraging the third years to work hard in order to get into college.

On their way back to the classroom, Jiyeon could feel the peace of not being the gossip of everyone. Now that Jungmin was already into college and the previous third years were already out, the peace seemed to have come back to Jiyeon’s life. It wasn’t that she didn’t miss having Jungmin studying in the same school as her, it was just awesome not having to deal with all the gossip and glances that she had to put up with the previous year.

I have the feeling this is going to be a great year. She thought excited with a smile over her face.

“Why are you so happy?” Sojin asked, making Jiyeon snap out of her thoughts.

“It’s so peaceful.” Jiyeon simply answered.

“Huh?” Sojin asked in confusion, lifting an eyebrow.

“The atmosphere is so peaceful, I don’t feel like hiding somewhere or wanting the earth to eat me. Everyone is minding their own business.” Jiyeon explained.

“Oh that, yeah, you’re no longer the main topic of the gossip, that’s a fact.” Sojin answered nonchalantly.

The girls reached their class and sat on their seats, they were side by side, so they were able to continue speaking.

“So, how’s it going between you and Jungmin?” Sojin asked.

“We´re okay, he’s pretty excited about starting his new life in college so I’m also happy for him.” Jiyeon answered with a smile and a little blush.

“Aren’t you nervous though?” Sojin asked.

“About?” Jiyeon asked back.

“What if he indeed finds someone he likes there?” Sojin stated with intrigue.

Jiyeon sighed, of course she had thought about it, she wasn’t as naïve as to think that she can trust Jungmin blindly and that the boy wouldn’t like anyone else beside her, but she decided to trust him nonetheless, she chose to trust in their love.

“I don’t know, guess we’ll have to talk things through if that actually happens” Jiyeon answered “but I trust him, I know he wouldn’t hurt me that way.”

“It’s up to you, just remember how and why he was known here.” Sojin said before looking at her cellphone camera to fix her already perfect combed hair.

Jiyeon knew it, that Jungmin was known as a womanizer, she also at first had her doubts when they started going out. But now that they had been dating for almost a year, she grew to love and trust him dearly, so everytime those thoughts haunted her, she remembered everything they’ve been through together and all her doubts faded away. If Jungmin actually didn’t want anything serious with her, then why would he remain by her side all that time, despite the gossip and hardships that everyone put them through?

“Good morning guys.”

The voice of the teacher made her snap out of her thoughts, she saw how Sojin put her cellphone away as well.

“So this is your senior year, don’t get overconfident and work hard, getting into college is tough but with discipline and hard work you guys can make it. You’ll need to start thinking which career you want to study and have at least three university options, this way you can start having goals to focus on.”

The teacher kept on talking about general things that Jiyeon already knew, she noticed how Sojin was looking at the teacher with a bored and annoyed look, she smiled at her friend’s expression. She was already sure what she wanted to be. She wanted to study bioengineering. It wouldn’t be easy but she would fight for her goal.

After that, her classes started. During the class previous to the break she started to think about Myungsoo and the others. Now that she recalled, she didn’t met them at the welcome speech.

Weird. I wonder why I didn’t see them. Well, guess I’ll see them soon. She thought cheerfully.

The bell announcing the break rang, Jiyeon stood up excitedly and turned to look at Sojin.

“I’ll go meet with Myungsoo and the guys, wanna come?” Jiyeon asked her.

Sojin seemed to doubt it for some seconds before smiling at her.

“I’ll pass, I’d rather go somewhere else to have a look at the boys.” She answered mischievously.

“Tch, girl you don’t change” Jiyeon answered with a laugh “Well if you change your mind you know where to find me.” She finished before going away.

“Myungsoo…” Sojin repeated his name in a low voice “Maybe he is what I need.” The girl finished saying with an evil smile.

 

Jiyeon walked cheerfully through the halls, looking for her friends. It wouldn’t be hard to find them, Sungjong always made them evident to everyone, besides, it was hard not to notice a gang of seven boys going together everywhere.

“Jiyeon!” She heard a loud voice calling her name.

Speaking of the devil. Jiyeon thought with a smile.

She turned and saw Sungjong running to her with a huge smile, behind him she was able to see the rest of the boys, her heart skipped a bit when she met Myungsoo’s smile. She smiled at them.

”How have you been?” Sungjong asked while he trapped her in a hug.

“I’ve been better to be honest.” Jiyeon answered laughing while struggling with the younger’s hug.

Sungjong let her go and kept the smile on his face.

“Well well, isn’t our girl Jiyeon?” Sungkyu said with a smile “Is it just me or she keeps getting more and more beautiful as time passes?”

Jiyeon smiled to him and blushed a bit upon the compliment.

“Keep you flirting stuff for other girls would you?” Myungsoo said to his friend in a teasing tone.

“I wasn’t flirting with her, I was just stating the truth.” Sungkyu said while putting his arms behind his head.

Jiyeon looked at Myungsoo, the boy seemed to be in a good mood, she was relieved to see that. She missed talking with him, maybe now they would be able to build up their friendship again.

“Yes we all know that, but don’t forget she’s already taken.” Dongwoo remarked with a teasing tone.

“Yeah, if Jungmin gets to know this, he for sure will come for you.” Sungyeol also teased Sungkyu.

“I wasn’t flirting with her! Gosh I can’t even compliment her now?” Sungkyu answered them annoyed.

Everyone laughed, even when Jiyeon noticed the awkwardness in Myungsoo’s laugh, she was thankful that he didn’t attack her boyfriend just at the sole mention of him.

 

Some months passed by like that, her senior year life was indeed more peaceful than the previous year. She and the boys kept a close relationship, now that Jungmin wasn’t in the school, they hanged out together in all their free time like they used to. The relationship with Myungsoo improved and little by little the boy seemed to be more comfortable with Jungmin’s topic.

Everything seemed to be in the right place. Aside from Sojin.

Jiyeon didn’t know why but even when things seemed to be okay, Sojin sometimes cut her off or made excuses to not hang out with her. Jiyeon tried to shove it off by thinking it was just normal for them to grow apart a little since they had different interests and goals. But it still bothered her.

Sojin was striving to become an actress and being in the media, while Jiyeon was focusing on being an engineer, of course they had different interests and sometimes the topics they wanted to talk about were completely opposite.

Jiyeon was sitting on a bench on the outside during a free period, she sighed while looking at nothing in particular.

“What’s bothering you?” She heard a voice asking her.

She didn’t even need to turn to see the owner of the voice, she didn’t know why but Myungsoo’s presence always managed to lift any burden haunting her, the donut being placed in front of her also helped to put a smile over her face.

“I don’t know why but I keep having the feeling that Sojin is acting strange.” Jiyeon said to him before taking a bite from her donut.

Myungsoo sighed and also took a bite from his donut.

“Have you talked to her about it?” He asked.

“No. I’m afraid that it’s only my imagination and she’ll take it the wrong way.” Jiyeon said before sighing again.

“If it’s a misunderstanding I don’t see why it would bother her.” Myungsoo answered confused.

“You don’t understand, she can be a bit special sometimes.” Jiyeon said.

Myungsoo looked at her and noticed she was feeling down because of that.

“Well, I don’t know her that much, but maybe your friendship is changing the same way as your interests are changing.” He said trying to comfort her.

“That’s what I’m also thinking.” Jiyeon answered with a little smile.

Myungsoo sighed, he didn’t like to see her in that state, so he thought about something to lift up her mood.

“Sooner or later you’ll have to talk to her about it.” Myungsoo said “In the meanwhile…” he started to say with a mischievous smile.

Jiyeon turned to see him and the boy was looking directly at her, the girl frowned and it was then that Myungsoo cut the gap between them and started to tickle her.

“Just be the cheerful Jiyeon you’ve always been.” Myungsoo said while tickling her.

The scene by itself was cute and heartwarming, anyone that saw them could acknowledge the close relationship between them. Jiyeon was laughing and trying to pull Myungsoo away from her. The boy indeed helped to put a smile over her face again, but while they were in their own bubble of happiness enjoying the moment, they missed the sound of a photo being taken.

 

“Guys” Sungkyu suddenly said and everyone in the table turned their attention to him “It’s nice seeing you both getting along so well again, but I don’t know if it’s actually convenient for you to spend so much time together alone.”

Jiyeon noticed how Myungsoo immediately got annoyed by Sungkyu’s remark, but she knew why he was telling them that.

Of course she had also heard it. Rumors about her started to fire up again, but this time, about her cheating on Jungmin with Myungsoo. She and her friend knew clearly that was obviously fake, but somehow, the rumors started to grow more since a couple of weeks ago. Even when Jungmin wasn’t in school anymore, that kind of rumors could get her into trouble.

“What? You’re now believing those rumors?” Myungsoo asked his friend with annoyance.

“Myungsoo” Jiyeon told him with a scolding tone.

The boy remained silent and didn’t say anything else.

“That’s not it, what I mean is-“ Sungkyu started to explain.

“I know what you want to warn us about with what you’re saying. To be honest I’ve also been thinking which can be the best way to clarify those rumors.” Jiyeon said.

“Even if you explain things, people will keep talking. In fact it would be more useful to know who started those rumors.” Hoya said with a serious tone.

“We’re leaving one main topic aside” Woohyun started to talk and everyone put attention to him “Does Jungmin know about this?”

Everyone then landed their eyes on Jiyeon and the girl denied with her head.

“He hasn’t told me anything related to that and everything seems fine.” She explained them.

“You’ll need to talk with him about it, before he gets to know by other people. It’ll be better if you explain things first to him.” Woohyun suggested her.

“Yeah, I’ve thought about it.” Jiyeon said after a big sigh.

Myungsoo was about to say something when Jiyeon’s cellphone received a text. The girl looked at it and a frown could be seen on her face.

“What’s wrong?” Myungsoo asked her with worry.

“It’s Jungmin, he’ll come to pick me up.” Jiyeon answered him, still looking at her cellphone.

“Well that’s great, you can talk about it today, right?” Sungjong said with a smile.

Jiyeon just put her cellphone away, nodded and smiled to him. She remained silent the rest of the break, not noticing the worried gaze of Myungsoo over her.

 

The end of the day arrived and Jiyeon hurried to the main entrance. She knew it. Something was off. First of all, Jungmin doesn’t pick her up from school and second, there was something wrong with the way the message was written.

He can’t know about it. There’s no way he got to know it.

Her fears were confirmed the moment she saw him. He was indeed angered by something.

“Hello” she said to him once she was in front of him.

He just looked at her with a frown, then closed his eyes putting his hands on his waist and sighing heavily.

Jiyeon started to feel more and more nervous as time passed.

“What’s wrong?” She asked him.

Jungmin opened his eyes again, still not uttering a word. He took out his cellphone and looked for something, then showed it to Jiyeon.

The girl frowned upon what she was seeing. It was a photo of Myungsoo and her. She recognized the scene, it was the day they were talking about Sojin and Myungsoo was tickling her. They did nothing wrong. But the photo by itself could obviously bring misunderstandings.

Who could’ve done that? Why taking us a picture and send it to Jungmin?

“Can you explain to me what’s the meaning of this?” Jungmin asked her in a serious tone, taking his cellphone away.

“It’s just me and Myungsoo playing.” Jiyeon answered straightforwardly.

“Come on.” Jungmin chuckled “don’t think I’m stupid.”

“I’m telling you the truth.” Jiyeon answered a bit angry.

“And you want me to believe it?! Look at the photo, I’m not blind Jiyeon” Jungmin recriminated her.

“I saw it. And I’m telling you the truth, we were just playing, there’s nothing between us.” Jiyeon explained with a serious tone.

“Oh please Jiyeon, you can’t say there’s nothing between you both.” Jungmin answered with a sarcastic tone.

“What?” Jiyeon asked with a frown.

“I’ve told you countless times, even before we starting dating, that guy is in love with you.” Jungmin said “Up until this point I was sure you weren’t in love with him, but I’m not sure anymore.”

Jiyeon sighed heavily, she couldn’t understand why they were having a discussion because of Myungsoo, when Jungmin knew that even before they started dating, Myungsoo was already a very dear person of her life. Jungmin knew it when they started dating.

“And I’ve told you he doesn’t love me that way. He’s my best friend, that’s all.” Jiyeon tried to reason with him.

“I’ve put up with him until this point because I know he’s someone important to you, but don’t ask me to stay put while looking at him flirting with you behind my back. Accept it Jiyeon, he likes you!” Jungmin said to her.

Jiyeon was about to answer him when a third voice joined the discussion.

“And if that’s the case then what?”

Jiyeon widened her eyes because of two things, the fact that she heard Myungsoo’s voice and what the boy just said.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Jungmin chuckled and crossed his arms.

“If I’m the main cause of the problem, why quarrel with her? Why not looking for me in the first place?” Myungsoo asked Jungmin.

“Myungsoo what are you doing here?” Jiyeon asked with a frown.

“I knew something was wrong, you were acting strange after receiving the text, so I waited to see if everything was alright. I wasn’t mistaken though.” Myungsoo answered her without taking his gaze off Jungmin.

Jiyeon sighed, not knowing what to do, one thing was for sure, she couldn’t let them discuss any further.

“I appreciate it, but this is a personal matter, please go back Myungsoo.” Jiyeon told him in a polite way.

Myungsoo finally looked at her with a frown, confused by her sudden request.

“You’ve heard her, go away Myungsoo.” Jungmin said.

Myungsoo chuckled and looked at him again.

“I won’t because I’ll protect her from anyone who tries to hurt her, even if it’s you.”

“So it’s true huh? You like her.” Jungmin stated with a frown.

“I do. So what?” Myungsoo answered defiantly.

“Myungsoo!” Jiyeon almost screamed his name with anger.

“This is ridiculous. Well, too bad for you, she’s my girlfriend and you can’t do anything about it.” Jungmin said to him with a smile.

“Wanna bet about it?” Myungsoo asked, also with a smile over his face.

Jungmin immediately changed his expression and Jiyeon knew he was losing his patience, to be honest she was also sick of how things were evolving.

“Enough.” She said with a firm voice standing in between them “Don’t talk as if I’m not here, I’m not a belonging or something that can go from one to another, I’ve had enough of it.”

Jungmin and Myungsoo remained silent looking at her, the first with an angered expression and the latter with an annoyed expression.

“You” she started to say to Myungsoo “I’m sick of your attitude towards Jungmin, you’re now making things up! What for? You promised to behave like a normal person but you keep doing things the wrong way. Go back I don’t want you to keep interfering.”

Before Myungsoo could say anything, Jiyeon started to speak again.

“And you” she said now turning to Jungmin “If you want to talk about it, then let’s go somewhere else, but if you’re not gonna listen to me and just believe what you see, then there’s no point to keep talking.”

Jungmin sighed heavily and then nodded at her with a calmer expression. Jiyeon also nodded at him. She then turned to face Myungsoo again.

“We’ll see each other tomorrow.” Jiyeon said to him, not leaving room for further discussion.

Myungsoo didn’t have another choice than to let her go with Jungmin. He sighed heavily while closing his eyes.

This time I really messed it up. Myungsoo what were you thinking?

The boy opened his eyes again and noticed someone looking at him with a sarcastic smile and then turning around to go away.

Sojin?

 

After that day, Jiyeon didn’t even mention Jungmin’s name. Even when she wasn’t evading Myungsoo, she tried no to spend that much time with him anymore. In the first place, because she didn’t want to have more problems with Jungmin, things were already broken enough to be able to stand another trouble; but there was also the topic she didn’t want to face.

Was Myungsoo serious about liking her?

She tried not to think about it that much, even when it was something that revolved in her mind constantly.

Jiyeon shook her head and turned to see Sojin. The girl was immersed with her phone and smiling from time to time. It’s been some days since Jiyeon noticed that Sojin didn’t left her cellphone aside, even during classes.

“Sojin” Jiyeon called her with a smile.

“Hm?” The girl answered without taking her eyes off the cellphone.

“Who are you texting so eagerly?” Jiyeon asked her chuckling.

Sojin finally turned to see her and leaned a bit to her with a mischievous smile, she then put a finger in front of her lips.

“It’s a secret.” She said in a whisper.

“Oh come on I want to know! I bet you now have a boyfriend and you’re hiding it from me!” Jiyeon pouted.

“Geez, I don’t have a boyfriend girl.” Sojin answered leaning on her chair again and taking her cellphone out.

“Yeah sure.” Jiyeon said sarcastically.

Sojin just kept texting with a smile over her face.

 

A/N: Can you guys guess what Sojin is plotting?

As always, thank you so so much for reading, comments are appreciated ^^ stay safe and have a beautiful day <3