—JIMIN—

"Stop hurting her. Let her go, you psycho!" Ningning yelled, rushing inside the treehouse.

Minjeong and I were both taken aback, frozen in place. Minjeong still had her hands on my leg and I knew it looked weird for an exterior point of view. What must Ningning think of this?

The girl in question kept coming forward, with a rage like I had never seen before until she violently pushed Minjeong away who crashed on the floor, dragging with her some of the bottles who spilled their contents around.

Ning took a hold of my shoulders trying to 'help me' but all I saw was the panicked expression on Minjeong's face, she looked like she was starting to relive some traumas and I couldn't let that continue.

"Ning ca-calm down, stop!" I screamed, taking her hands off of my shoulders.

She straightened up, confused but at that moment I didn't care. All I wanted was to stop Minjeong from reliving her painful past. I quickly went to her side, yet I didn't know how to process. What would be over the line? What would make it worse?

I took her cheeks between my hands, like on instinct. Her panicked eyes immediately attached to mine, I could see some recognition inside them and she started to take deep breaths. She put her hands over mine, her breathing becoming more steady.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

She nodded, whispering a weak 'Yeah' before looking at Ningning who was staring at the scene happening before her, completely lost.

"What the hell is going on?" she breathed in shock.

I started getting up which was difficult due to my leg and Minjeong immediately rose up to help me despite the state she was in.

"Ning, please just... let me explain." She sent a death glare at Minjeong. "Minjeong is not hurting m-me, ok? She is my f-friend."

Her brows furrowed and her eyes passed from me to Minjeong back and forth, slightly open in disbelief.

"Your... friend?"

"Will you let m-me explain?" I pleaded.

She looked at Minjeong, assessing her before looking back at me. "No more lies." she said, raising her index finger in the air.

"Promise."

She nodded then took one of the chairs and sat down crossing her arms. "I'm listening."

I sighed and looked at Minjeong who seemed a bit better, she nodded to tell me she was ok. I sighed again before sitting back on the bean bag. Minjeong hadn't really moved from her spot, instead, she placed her back against the wall and slide down. She pushed her knees against her chest, hands tightly gripping her knees. She looked so small like that and so defenseless.

I didn't only do this for me, I was doing it for Minjeong too. I had to be strong.

"Do you remember when I said Minjeong kept staring at me?" I started.

"Of course." Ningning replied sharply, sending a death glare at Minjeong.

"It turned out... that Minjeong and I knew ea-each other before my accident."

"No ," she said before putting her hand over , turning red. "Sorry.." she said in a small voice. "but you shared classes, so of course you knew each other."

Minjeong and I exchanged a look. Indecision took over me. Should I tell her everything or was it better to lie. Nonetheless, here we were. I needed to be the one to say it, I was tired of lying. Lying was so goddamn exhausting.

Ningning looked at the both of us, frowning. "Wait... were you friends before?"

I glanced at Minjeong who became more uncomfortable, my heart was pounding. How was I supposed to tell her? She was getting closer all by herself but she still needed a little push. How could I tell her? I didn't want to be too straightforward to not shock her. The truth in itself will be shocking to her anyway.

"Kind of..."

"Kind... of," she looked at us back and forth again and I could feel the cogs turning inside her head. Minjeong looked anywhere but at Ningning. The awkward tension was insufferable. 

It was time for me to explain but before I could do so, Ning's eyes widened so much I thought they were going to pop out of their sockets.

"Girlfriends?" she squealed.

"Yes.." I half-whispered.

She got up in a jolt. "No... No... That can't be... No."

"Ning-ah, let me... explain."

She suddenly kneeled in front of me, taking my hands in hers and looked straight into my eyes. "Did she force you?"

"OH, COME ON!" shouted Minjeong, getting up from where she was.

Ningning stood up, immediately shielding me like I needed to be protected from Minjeong. She had a defying look and so did Minjeong.

"STOP!" Ning looked back at me, confused. "Sit d-down and let... me finish, p-please."

She looked back at Minjeong for a few seconds in clear anger but eventually nodded and went to sit. Minjeong too got back to her original spot.

I told her everything, from the past, from my accident to now. I didn't leave out any details and I got to say it felt freeing. During the entirety of the story, Minjeong assisted me. 

As unbelievable as it was, Ningning listened to it without a word but her facial expressions said a lot. Little by little, anger disappeared leaving place to curiosity and perplexity.

"You can un-understand... why I lied now?" I finished.

She inhaled deeply, getting up and passing her hands through her hair. "This is insane... You— you..." she looked at me before shaking her head dram